[1. This book contains many of the author's opinions, including insults directed at characters. If you can't accept that, you may leave.]
[2. This is a realistic story that will cover Neon's history and explore what might happen to society if the Advanced Nurturing High School existed in real life.]
[3. It contains plenty of original plotlines, original mind-game exams, and original characters. It won't interfere with Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's main storyline. No harem, and no characters acting stupid.]
[5. The protagonist's personality in the early part of the story is all an act.]
[6. There will be some writing involving eccentric, philosophical, and nihilistic ideas. I hope you'll be able to accept it.]
"There are still some seats left. That's lucky... I thought I'd have to stand."
A girl sat down in a regular seat beside the priority seats. Her bright purple hair looked like the colors of distant stars in the sunlight. Her purple eyes gleamed as she looked around. She seemed completely out of place amid the atmosphere around her.
Wait! I'm a guy! What girl? Don't make things up!
Well, well, I have no intention of deceiving you. My profession is a "swindler," after all.
A pitiful soul living in the underworld, where lies intertwine with reality and one can perform without ever showing their true face, suppressing their real self.
My strong points? Does having a cute face count? It puts people at ease. And I'm good with words, too, I suppose. After all, I do enjoy reading books about philosophy.
The industry divided swindlers into three types. Those who cheated people out of their money were called white herons. Those who used the opposite sex to toy with people were called red herons. And those who preyed on both white and red herons—the swindlers who cheated other swindlers—were called black herons.
Of course, I wasn't nearly that capable. Yours truly was just an utterly ordinary mediocrity. An ordinary student who'd only just entered high school.
[Otonashi? Star Color] was my name. It came from The Colour Out of Space, one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. Using nothing but words, it had brought the terror of an unknown alien creature vividly to life for me. A film adaptation had come out in the 2010s. It was obscure, and my only complaint was that its title had been translated as The Alien Sex Fiend.
Ionizing radiation from radioactive elements could ionize the air and produce strange, indescribable lights. When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, large amounts of vaporized radioactive material ionized the surrounding air, creating a stunning band of radiation. It drew many people to a bridge in Chernobyl to witness a sight rarely seen in this world. Later, everyone who had watched from that bridge died of radiation sickness. The railway bridge came to be known as the Bridge of Death. If science hadn't explained it all, perhaps there really would have been a real-life legend about Star Color.
Countless encounters took place here, accompanied by just as many partings. It was the same with buses and schools alike.
Star Color's purple hair swayed gently. He closed his manga and returned to the stifling, dull world of the present.
He watched the scarlet tide of people pour into the bus's belly. Without thinking, Star Color wondered whether the bus would digest everyone into their youth, then turn them into poisonous fumes and send them out through its exhaust pipe.
Compared with the students in red jackets, Star Color felt like an outcast. Since the school allowed students to pay for custom uniforms, he'd ordered three beige-brown jackets and added a hood. They looked a little unusual, but at least they were far better than the youthful red jackets and the stuffy white shirts.
Surrounded by jackets worn by people burning through their youth, he felt more and more like an outcast. That was a bit of a problem. People who didn't fit the mainstream trend were easily ostracized, and it could even develop into something as frightening as school bullying. So he regretted it a little...
The bus stopped. The salarymen crowded off, and fresh orange-red blood flowed into the bus. Someone plopped down in the priority seat beside me, while an old woman with a heavy bag stood unsteadily beside it, holding on to the rail.
"Don't you think you should give up your seat?"
The voice, coming from close by, exploded in Star Color's ear like an explosive. At least, it made his brain buzz.
Like a startled animal, he slowly raised his head and looked at the OL Lady who'd murdered the quiet atmosphere.
Fortunately, Star Color wasn't at the center of the storm. He was just a neighbor.
The OL Lady was scolding the burly blond man occupying the priority seat beside Star Color. Star Color couldn't help thinking, How many hormones did this guy take to grow up like that in high school...?
"You, sitting over there—can't you see the old lady's having trouble?"
"That's a crazy question, Ly."
He mixed Japanese with English. Where'd you learn English, some professional rapper who never quite mastered it? Star Color was at a loss for words... Caught between everyone's stares, he could hardly sit still.
"Why should I give this seat to the old woman? There's no reason at all."
"You're sitting in a priority seat. Of course you should give it to an older person."
Star Color sincerely prayed to God, Buddha, Amaterasu, Brahma, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Please don't let this boring farce drag me into it.
"I don't understand. Even if it's a priority seat, there's no legal obligation to give it up. Whether I do so is for me, the person currently occupying the seat, to decide. Young people have to give up their seats? What a nonsense way of thinking. I'm a healthy young man. Sure, standing wouldn't be much of a problem, but sitting is clearly more comfortable and takes less energy. I don't intend to do something worthless, a meaningless good deed."
With that, Yellow-Haired Gorilla grinned and added,
"Or are you going to give me a tip?"
The OL Lady looked a little angry.
"Th-That's no way to talk to an elder!"
"An elder? It's obvious and beyond question that you've lived longer than I have, compared with the old woman. But an elder means someone of higher standing. And you have a problem, too. Even with our age difference, aren't you acting incredibly arrogant and looking down on everyone?"
"Y-You're a high school student, aren't you? When an adult is talking, just shut up and listen!"
"Come on, it's all right..."
The old woman gently stroked her back. The OL Lady, already fuming, had just been rebuffed.
"Looks like the old woman is more reasonable than you. Ah, Japanese society still has some value after all. Go ahead and enjoy the rest of your life."
Star Color thought the OL Lady was too young. Throughout the exchange, she'd been led around by the nose, and she hadn't kept her emotions in check. Controlling your emotions was the most basic rule of any discussion. Her sense of justice was too strong. A family that raised a child with such a strong sense of justice probably wasn't badly off. Perhaps her father was a teacher, police officer, firefighter, or lawyer. And the OL Lady might have a younger brother around our age. At home, she probably played the role of a strict older sister who kept him on a tight leash. That would explain the condescending, lecturing tone she'd taken during the conversation, and why she'd emphasized her age.
She must've been the sort of woman who was always saying, "I'm your big sister! Do what I say!" and "Listen to your sister!" I silently mourned for her little brother for a second. (Laughs.)
If the debate between Yellow-Haired Gorilla and the OL Lady were an exam scored out of ten, Star Color would give it a two. Their opinions were far too childish, for starters. And setting that aside, why would a rich young master refuse to take a luxury car and insist on fighting us commoners for a seat? The only son of a prestigious financial dynasty, Rokusuke Kōgenji—what a perverse sense of fun.
Suddenly, Star Color had a wild idea. Maybe there were plenty of rich, aristocratic types here. If a truck-kun for another-world reincarnation came down the opposite lane, he could steal the driver's wheel and send all these wealthy people to another world for a battle royale. What an incredible plot twist...
What a terrifying thought. Star Color shook his head lightly, intending to shake off the frightening intrusive thought.
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