Although Ichinose Honami had fought with all her might in the simulation to unite everyone and resist, she was still just a student. There was only so much she could do. Wu Qiao in the simulation was also growing increasingly overwhelmed. Just helping Ayanokoji Kiyoha weather the storm and keeping Class D stable was exhausting enough, yet he still had to spare some of his attention to honor his promise to help Class B.
At last, during the second-year Uninhabited Island Special Exam, the conflict erupted completely. Wu Qiao was forced to unleash enough terrifying violence to shatter a massive boulder with one punch!
Whether they were juniors a year below him or the lackeys Miyabi Nagumo had sent, they were all instantly knocked down by this utterly unreasonable personal violence. Their numerical advantage became a complete joke in the face of absolute strength.
What had begun as targeted bullying of a student with no connections had directly created a genuine monster, one that chilled everyone to the bone.
Ichinose Honami watched in alarm, utterly unable to fathom where Wu Qiao had gotten the power to destroy everything. But she knew all too well that if this violence was allowed to pour out unchecked, Wu Qiao would slide completely into an uncontrollable abyss, eventually becoming someone even he no longer recognized.
As the [Enter Immersive Simulation?] option appeared on the simulation screen again, Ichinose Honami chose [Yes] without a moment's hesitation.
The moment she entered the immersive simulation, Ichinose Honami found herself standing beside some ruins on the Uninhabited Island.
The air was thick with dust and the smell of something scorched. Students lay sprawled across the ground before her, and Wu Qiao stood at the center of it all.
He slowly lowered the fist that had just shattered the enormous boulder blocking his way. Blood still stained his knuckles, and a chilling, violent coldness radiated from him.
"Wu Qiao!" Ichinose Honami called out his name, heedless of the danger, and hurried over to him.
Wu Qiao turned his head sluggishly. His once-gentle eyes were now bloodshot, as if he had just woken from a nightmare. When he saw Ichinose, the violence in his eyes receded a little, but they were still full of exhaustion and anguish. "Honami... what are you doing here? It's dangerous. Leave, quickly."
"I'm not leaving!" Ichinose Honami stared at him, her eyes reddening. "Look at yourself! Is this what you wanted? Fighting violence with violence until you become a monster you can't even stand?"
Wu Qiao fell silent. He looked at his trembling hands and spoke in a hoarse voice. "What else can I do? If I don't do this, Kiyoha will be expelled, Class D will be destroyed, and I won't be able to keep my promise to you... Miyabi Nagumo and Tsukishiro don't even treat people like people!"
"I know. I know all of that!" Ichinose Honami stepped forward and firmly grasped his still-trembling hand. "But you're not fighting alone! You still have me, everyone in Class B, and the people in Class D you've been protecting! We're a team. You don't have to bear all the darkness by yourself!"
She took a deep breath, her voice growing resolute. "Wu Qiao, stop. Don't let them force you to become a monster. We'll walk the road ahead together. Even if we have to take the clumsiest approach, even if we fail, we'll win in a way befitting human beings—not through this kind of violence that destroys everything!"
Wu Qiao stared at the resolute girl before him. Feeling the warmth of her palm, he found that the violent emotions threatening to consume him had miraculously begun to subside.
After a long while, Wu Qiao's taut body finally relaxed. He clasped Ichinose's hand in return and gave her a weary but relieved smile. "All right. I'll listen to you. Let's go."
As Wu Qiao laid down his weapon, the simulation screen began to shudder violently and exited the immersive simulation. Ichinose Honami knew she had succeeded in pulling Wu Qiao back from the edge of the abyss.
The road ahead was still difficult, but as long as they fought side by side, there was no obstacle they couldn't overcome.
However, things turned out far worse than Ichinose Honami had imagined. Though she had done everything she could to turn things around, and though Wu Qiao had regained his reason in the immersive simulation, individual struggles seemed so powerless against the inexorable current of fate.
In the end, Wu Qiao was still expelled during a Special Exam.
That was right. The boy who had swept through the world with brute force in the first simulation, the genius who had solved the Millennium Prize Problems in the second, was erased without mercy by this cruel school.
There was no earth-shattering resistance, no miraculous reversal. Like a shooting star that had burned itself out, he illuminated Class D before falling, then vanished from everyone's sight without a sound.
Ichinose Honami stared at the glaring "Expelled" notice in the Simulator. It felt as if an invisible hand had clenched her heart in a cruel grip.
Yet Wu Qiao's departure was like a switch, awakening someone else completely.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha—the girl Wu Qiao had always shielded, who seemed unfazed by everything—appeared to become a different person the moment he was expelled. For the first time, a cold, piercing flame ignited in her usually still eyes.
She no longer stayed silent or avoided things. Instead, with a composure and decisiveness that sent a chill through everyone, she began a long-overdue reckoning.
First, she joined forces with Karuizawa Kei, Horikita Suzune, Sakura Airi, and Shiina Hiyori. Even Sakayanagi Arisu, who had once been their enemy, stood by her side.
Those who had once stood on different sides became the sharpest of blades. First, they triggered a ruthless purge targeting the traitors in their own year. Then, with swift and decisive action, they eliminated all the lackeys Miyabi Nagumo had planted in the Student Council and dealt with the troublesome juniors in the lower years in one fell swoop.
Watching the story unfold, Ichinose Honami learned a chilling truth in disbelief.
The troublesome juniors—the ones who had joined forces with Miyabi Nagumo to drive Wu Qiao into a dead end—were actually "White Room" spies sent by Ayanokoji Kiyoha's father.
Wu Qiao had been fighting not only the school's malice, but also the cold will of the vast power behind Ayanokoji Kiyoha.
They stumbled their way up to their third year through fire and blood. But the school was already devoid of the noise and energy it had once known.
Everyone in every class was listless. Too many students had been expelled, and even the survivors had been worn down in body and mind by relentless targeting. Advanced Nurturing High School had become a silent prison.
Ayanokoji Kiyoha took the position of Student Council president without a doubt. As the days passed, her iron-fisted rule kept things at school relatively stable—but that was all it was: stable.
The oppressive atmosphere made Ichinose Honami feel as though she were suffocating.
Then, shortly before their third year ended, an unexpected announcement broke the silence. A rising internet technology giant suddenly declared that it was opening its doors to graduates of every class at Advanced Nurturing High School except Class A.
It was strange. Very strange.
At a school where ability came first, students outside Class A were usually seen as "defective goods." They should never have won the favor of a top-tier company like this.
As everyone wondered what the company was after, Ayanokoji Kiyoha made a decision that shocked the whole school. She led her class into Class A, then applied to transfer herself, moving to the newly formed Class D to graduate.
Graduation season arrived as scheduled, and the mysterious technology giant began its recruitment drive right on time.
When the company's name and logo lit up the enormous holographic screen at the graduation ceremony, the entire venue fell into deathly silence. Then a familiar yet unfamiliar figure slowly walked onto the stage.
The figure wore a well-tailored black suit. His face was more mature than they remembered, the boyishness gone, replaced by the composure and calm of someone who had weathered life's hardships.
Standing beneath the spotlight, the young man calmly swept his gaze over the former classmates and former enemies in the audience. At last, as if crossing the distance between worlds, he met Ichinose Honami's eyes in the mental space.
It was Wu Qiao.
Ichinose Honami's mind went blank. So his expulsion hadn't been the end.
After leaving on his own, he had paved a road to the future for everyone the school had cast aside.
"Welcome to Ark Technology." Wu Qiao's voice carried across the entire venue through the microphone, calm and powerful. "Here, strength isn't the only measure of your worth. No matter which class you came from or what your past may be, if you're willing, this can be your new beginning."
Watching the scene, Ichinose Honami felt a rush of conflicting emotions. In his own way, Wu Qiao had protected everyone's future.