The crackle of an old television losing its signal exploded deep in their minds.
Then came a nauseating sensation of being torn apart.
For Ryuen Kakeru, Ichinose Honami, and the others, the memories of just a moment ago were still vivid—
Someone was about to throw a punch. Someone was walking down a sunlit corridor with a stack of papers. Someone was elegantly lifting a cup of tea.
But the next moment, reality was brutally cut off.
There was no transition, no waking up after blacking out.
They had simply been pulled away on a physical level.
It was as if their entire bodies had been cut into countless micrometer-thin slices, starting with the cerebral cortex, then forced piece by piece through a narrow passage along their spines, organs, and limbs, before being reassembled.
"Ugh..."
When their minds regained control of their bodies, their first reaction was to stumble as gravity took hold.
"Crash!"
Sakayanagi Arisu had been sitting in a chair, but now there was nothing beneath her. Her petite body fell straight onto the wooden floor.
Without her cane to support her, she could only brace herself with both hands. Her white beret slipped off and landed beside her.
"Ah!"
Ichinose Honami cried out. The papers she had been holding hadn't come with her, and her hands grasped at empty air. She stumbled back two steps and hit the wall.
"Ugh—"
Kushida Kikyo was the worst off. She had already dropped her disguise, but in the sudden upheaval, she could only cover her face tightly with both hands to keep her usually flawless mask from falling apart completely.
Ryuen Kakeru reacted the fastest.
As a delinquent who often got into fights, he adjusted his balance the instant he landed, taking a defensive stance as he warily scanned his surroundings.
"What is this place?!"
Ryuen's angry voice rang out.
But he soon realized that none of his lackeys were around, and this wasn't the familiar Class C classroom.
It was a completely unfamiliar, enclosed room.
Outside the window was pitch-black. The room was filled with the musty smell of tatami mats, along with...
"♪ A new morning has come ♪"
"♪ A morning full of hope ♪"
A bizarrely cheerful radio exercise tune was coming from an unknown object in the middle of the room.
In the center of the room.
Under everyone's gaze, a huge, entirely black sphere, about one meter in diameter, floated there.
"...Whew."
Only then did a faint sigh come from a corner of the room.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
A boy seemed to have only just grasped what was going on. He pushed himself up from the floor in a daze, rubbing his temples as he surveyed the room with an expression that wasn't panicked, but was certainly confused.
It was Su Wei.
Of course, that was all an act.
As the administrator, he was the only one who had been prepared.
He had deliberately been the last to speak so he could enjoy the sight of these elite students displaying expressions rarely seen on their faces.
Not bad. They're a little disheveled, but calmer than I expected.
Su Wei pondered this inwardly, but outwardly pretended he had only just figured out the situation. He spoke hesitantly:
"Is that... Ichinose from Class B, and Kushida?"
"Were we kidnapped?"
Seeing a classmate, the panicked Kushida Kikyo seemed to find something to cling to.
"Su Wei?! You're here too... Kidnapped? But we were just at school..."
"Shut up!"
Ryuen Kakeru cut off the pointless chatter. He strode to the window and shoved it hard, but it didn't budge, as if it had been welded shut.
He then rushed to the only wooden door and kicked it with all his strength.
Thud!
The door shook, but still wouldn't open.
"Damn it!" Ryuen turned around, his gaze settling on Sakayanagi, who was struggling to pick up her hat. He suddenly broke into a nasty grin. "Heh. The crippled princess of Class A is here too."
"Hey, is this something Class A cooked up? You dragged us into this place, so what kind of game are you trying to play?"
Sakayanagi Arisu had put her beret back on.
Even sitting on the floor, unable to move her legs and looking somewhat disheveled, there wasn't a trace of fear in her purple eyes.
She lifted her chin slightly, gazing down at them with an air of lofty indifference, as if she were the one standing.
"Heh, Ryuen's imagination is as impoverished as ever."
"If this were Class A's doing, I would have chosen a more elegant method—not a miracle like Instant Transmission that... even modern science can't explain."
Sakayanagi pointed at the Black Sphere.
"Rather than suspecting each other, don't you think that thing over there is the key?"
As she spoke.
Everyone's attention returned to the Black Sphere.
Among them, Su Wei also put on an appropriately surprised expression and edged backward.
But inwardly, he was already struggling to keep a straight face.
All right, the beginner's guide is over.
Now that everyone's here, let's get down to business.
The music abruptly stopped.
Without warning, lines of glaring white text appeared on the surface of the Black Sphere:
[Welcome to the real world, students of Advanced Nurturing High School.]
[The make-believe game is over. This is a Special Exam stripped of pretense and protection, called survival.]
[Here, academic qualifications, family background, and lies are meaningless. Only those who survive deserve to be called "the strong."]
The text flashed again, as if in mockery:
[From this moment on, you will join the trial as the first group of Qualified Ones.]
[Your performance in this round will be tallied as S Points based on your contributions.]
[S Points can be exchanged for real-world class evaluation points at a rate of 1:10, or used to purchase equipment and reclaim your own life.]
At the mention of class evaluation points, the hostility on Ryuen Kakeru's face vanished as his pupils contracted. Even the usually composed Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't help sitting up straighter.
"Class evaluation points..."
"Exchanged at a rate of one to ten..."
Before they could digest the information, the text on the Black Sphere shifted again, accompanied by a blurry snapshot.
The photo showed a terrifying figure in a convenience store uniform. Its head had split open into several tentacles, and it was devouring something.
[Go hunt this thing.]
[Target: Parasite ×1]
[Characteristics: Its head blooms open, it hits hard, and it can think about life despite having no emotions.]
[Likes: Fresh brains, near-expiration discounted bento, and feelings of unease.]
[Catchphrase: What a pain. So annoying.]
[Time limit: 60:00]
[Failure penalty: Everyone will be eliminated.]
[Helpful tip: As newcomers, each of you may use one item for free. You have three tries each, so go ahead and be as reckless as you like.]
"Clunk—"
The text froze as a hydraulic mechanism suddenly whirred on both sides of the Black Sphere.
Like an armory opening in a sci-fi movie, the sphere slowly slid apart, revealing a blue glow inside and the weapons quietly arranged within.
There was no full set of complicated equipment like in the original. Only five gleaming X-GUN Standard Guns, Y-GUN Capture Guns, and five black hilts.
No suits.
Su Wei had clearly made those adjustments with care.
[Armory opened.]
[Please select one weapon each.]
[Friendly reminder: If you don't take one, you really will die.]
Su Wei watched their expressions freeze and laughed to himself.
Of course the beginner's tutorial had to be hardcore.
And why would he give away something as good as a suit that boosted their physical abilities tenfold for free?
They had to pay for it with points. That way, they would fight for those points.
Only when they faced monsters with their bare bodies would the urge to survive—wrenched from them as they struggled on the edge of life and death—be at its most delicious and exhilarating.
"Parasite...?"
Ichinose Honami trembled, her face pale as paper.
"E-eating brains? Does something like that really exist?"
"Hmph. What a bunch of hocus-pocus."
Ryuen Kakeru cursed, but his actions betrayed him.
He rushed straight to the open Black Sphere and instinctively grabbed a hilt.
Rather than a toy gun whose workings he didn't understand, he trusted a cold weapon he could hold in his hand.
"Guess we'll find out if it's real after one swing."
Ryuen Kakeru tested the weapon, and a black blade extended from the hilt. It sliced through the air with a shrill whistle.
"If this is a prank, I'll use this blade to chop off the arms and legs of whoever's behind it. If it's real..."
He licked his lips.
"Then this'll be even more fun."
"My, how barbaric."
Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head, her gaze fixed on the two Black Guns.
For someone whose legs didn't work, a ranged weapon seemed to be her only option.
She turned to Su Wei, a probing look in her eyes.
"Won't you choose one too? According to the Black Sphere, there are only three types of weapons. What do you think?"
Su Wei didn't answer Sakayanagi right away. Instead, he looked at the countdown on the Black Sphere, his tone turning urgent.
"Um, I think we can leave the small talk until later. Look up there—the countdown has only thirty seconds left."
[00:39]
Before you continue