When Lies Come True, the Advance Test

A news interview was playing on the screen.

A deformed creature with a human body and an ape's face sat in a studio, dressed in a suit and speaking confidently.

Koenji raised an eyebrow. "Apes can go online and give interviews now?"

Ken Sudō ignored his teasing. Frowning, he turned up the volume on his phone so more people could hear.

On the screen, an ape-man named Charlie faced the reporter's camera and spoke in an eerily calm voice:

"I don't understand..."

"Why are humans the only ones who can't be killed and eaten?"

"If humans can eat animals, why can't we eat humans when we're animals too?"

"Holy shit!"

Yamauchi Haruki and Kanji Ike, standing nearby, looked as if they'd just swallowed something foul.

"Where'd you find this freak?"

"That thing couldn't be subdued with two bags of glutinous rice, and now it's on the news? Have the media gone crazy?"

Ken Sudō turned off the video. But instead of looking afraid, he had a fierce glint in his eyes.

It was the homepage that pushed it to me. Seems like he's some kind of spiritual leader for an extremist group."

He clenched his fist and looked toward Ichinose at the front.

"I was thinking... if the Special Exam is going to be full of things like that..."

"Then I'll probably take part."

"I can't let some beast that wants to eat people climb on my head and take a shit!"

Koenji Rokusuke looked at the hot-tempered, impulsive single-celled organism with some surprise.

"Well... you may be a savage most of the time, but that's something a man ought to say."

"Didn't expect you to be so much to my liking, Sudo."

Kanji Ike chimed in too.

"If the Special Exam is full of these inhuman freaks, I'll join in too! Nobody better try to stop me!"

"Those lowlifes with their ambition written all over their faces actually think they can challenge humanity's place?"

Watching the boys suddenly get fired up,

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka poured cold water on them.

"Didn't you read the report carefully?"

"Compared to an ape with its ambition written all over its face... the Parasites that can quietly infest humans and hide among us are much scarier."

"After all, monsters aren't scary."

"What's scary is when a monster is sitting right beside you, and you don't know it."

The air around them turned inexplicably cold.

Su Wei chuckled to himself.

Then he turned to Horikita Suzune beside him and said,

"I don't think Ayanokoji is one."

"What?"

Horikita Suzune was startled, then realized Su Wei was responding to her earlier suspicion in the library.

She gave him a cold look. "Who knows?"

"Maybe... he's accusing someone else to distract us."

Su Wei smiled. "Good point. Let's keep watching him, then."

Chapter 34: When Lies Come True, the Advance Test

When class ended,

the students from Class B and Class D, no matter how conflicted they felt, had to accept the reality that they would soon be fighting monsters.

The excitement had faded, and reason had returned. Kanji Ike scratched his head, trying to fool himself.

"Yamauchi, do you think there's any chance I'm actually the chosen one?"

"Neither the random selection before nor that unlucky Intruder thing had anything to do with me, right?"

"As long as I don't go looking for trouble and stay safe, maybe I can just coast until graduation..."

"Huh?"

Yamauchi Haruki, one of the Problem Trio, couldn't help snorting.

"If you were the protagonist, wouldn't the Black Sphere have picked you first? Then you'd punch zombies, kick Evil Spirits, lead us in blowing up the Black Sphere, and rise to the top."

"What, your protagonist's special power is just to idle around?"

"Tch, what do you know..."

Caught out, Kanji Ike blushed and tried to save face.

"That's called the idle-protagonist route! Don't look down on an old man just because he's poor. Sometimes, when you start with nothing and have a big goal, you have to take a few detours..."

Su Wei smiled at their pointless banter and looked away.

He glanced around.

Some students looked preoccupied; others huddled in groups of three or five, whispering. No one showed any sign of leaving.

The sword of Damocles hanging over their heads had turned them all into frightened birds.

Almost time.

Su Wei silently counted down.

Three, two, one.

The next second,

"Ding dong—"

"Ding dong, ding dong—"

A steady stream of notification sounds rang out through the crowd, like a chain of falling dominoes.

Everyone hurriedly checked their phones.

"What's this..."

Someone stared at the red-highlighted message on their screen and spoke in surprise.

"The Special Exam's... Advance Test?!"

Not far away, Ichinose Honami had been discussing compensation for the basketball she'd crushed with the P.E. teacher. Hearing the commotion, she took out her phone.

When she saw the all-student notice sent by the school, she froze.

[After careful consideration, the school will hold Advance Tests at irregular intervals before Special Exams from now on, to help everyone adapt as quickly as possible. One student will be randomly selected from each class. The winner will be spared and receive a reward, while the loser will be forced to enter that night's Black Sphere trial as an "Intruder."]

This...

Ichinose's hand trembled slightly as she held her phone.

What were the odds?

In the previous class, Kushida Kikyo had casually made up the possibility of the school introducing new assessment standards to calm everyone's fears.

Now class had barely ended. They hadn't even had a moment to catch their breath, and the school had already introduced something called an "Advance Test."

Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shared her disbelief.

Horikita Suzune furrowed her brows, thinking that Kushida Kikyo's intuition was frighteningly accurate. She really had something.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka slowly lifted his head and scanned the surveillance cameras scattered around them.

Is the Black Sphere watching us?

With so much information missing, Ayanokoji couldn't piece together all the fragmented clues from his memories.

As he pondered, the phone in his palm vibrated again.

A private message popped up without warning.

[Lucky one, please go to the first-floor lobby of the school building before four in the afternoon to begin the game.]

[Anyone who fails to arrive within the time limit will be considered to have forfeited. Those who forfeit will be deemed the loser.]

[Note: You can register voluntarily for tonight's Special Exam to exchange your place in this test.]

"..."

Ayanokoji stared at the message with an expressionless face.

Hirata Yosuke heard the commotion and came over. He glanced at Ayanokoji's screen, looking surprised.

"Ayanokoji, you were selected?"

Hirata furrowed his brows, his voice full of concern.

"Do you want to sign up for tonight's Special Exam?"

"Ms. Chabashira has already notified us in the group chat. Anyone who wants to sign up can go to her now."

He paused, then added,

"Although the Main Match is dangerous too, at least we know what to expect... I trust that Horikita won't act childish about something like this."

Taking one certain risk to avoid an unknown one.

As far as Hirata was concerned, it was the best option available.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka merely fell silent for a moment before giving a slight shake of his head.

"No need."

"Whether it brings good or bad luck, I can't avoid it. Rather than spend the days ahead on edge, I'd rather go and see for myself now."

"And even if I lose, I'll only be sent into the trial as an Intruder again."

As long as he wasn't outright killed, it was within an acceptable range.

More importantly, he needed information.

About the Black Sphere, about this school, and...

Seeing that Ayanokoji had made up his mind, Hirata Yosuke didn't press him. He simply gave Ayanokoji a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Be careful."

In contrast to the calm in Class D,

Class B erupted over the sudden news.

"How could this happen... Shiranami again?"

"You're so unlucky! Why is the Black Sphere so awful?"

Shiranami Chihiro had no choice but to sign up for the Special Exam.

In truth, she didn't have any other option.

She was still carrying a negative score from the previous exam. If she failed this Advance Test and was forced to enter as an Intruder...

Without knowing the Black Sphere's limits and with no Reinforcement Suit to protect her, it would practically be a death sentence.

But in the process, Shiranami Chihiro discovered a hidden rule.

"If you sign up for the Special Exam, you can nominate a companion to take your place in the Advance Test...?"

"I'll go!"

Just as Ichinose Honami was about to speak, Kanzaki Ryuji stepped forward first.

"Shiranami isn't in a state to take a risk. With Ichinose there tonight, she'll be safer."