Several days had passed since the explanation of the special exam known as the Paper Shuffle.
Today was the day before the quiz that played a major role in it.
The students of Class C were continuing their studies in their own ways, preparing for tomorrow.
"Pay attention."
Before morning homeroom began, Ryuen stood at the teacher's podium and spoke.
Immediately afterward, Kaneda leaped to his side.
After exchanging a glance with Ryuen, he opened his mouth.
"I have something to tell everyone about tomorrow's quiz.
It concerns the rule for forming pairs in this special exam. I'm going to explain that rule now."
Kaneda spoke calmly while observing each student around him.
Reactions varied. Some looked surprised while seated, others listened half-heartedly while standing.
"The rule for deciding pairs is nothing complicated.
It's a simple system: when looking at the entire class, the highest scorer pairs with the lowest scorer. For example, 100 points pairs with 0 points, 99 points with 1 point—that sort of thing."
Kaneda stuck to the essentials. It seemed Ryuen had deduced the correct answer through his own information network.
Having Kaneda explain it instead of doing it himself was probably to lend credibility—coming from someone known for academic ability—and to avoid unnecessary trouble.
"Is there any evidence that rule is correct?"
Shiina closed the paperback she had been reading and asked.
"If you ask the teachers for details about this exam, the expulsion rate was unusually low—despite it being a high-difficulty test focused purely on academic ability with multiple complicated rules."
"A low expulsion rate… In other words, there's either some kind of safeguard to prevent expulsion, or the pairings are inevitably balanced."
"Kuku, as expected of you, Hiyori. But in this school, the only safeguards against expulsion are 300 class points or 20 million private points. That rule is absolute. Which means the latter possibility is far more likely."
"I see. Thank you for the explanation."
She gave a small bow and returned to her book.
Still a complete bookworm. She hadn't changed at all since the day we enrolled.
"That's the situation. And now we get to the main point. Kaneda, continue."
Ryuen swept his gaze across the classroom once more to draw everyone's attention.
Kaneda gave an exaggerated cough and went on.
"As you can see from this rule, low scorers will automatically pair with high scorers.
Taking the quiz normally wouldn't be an issue, but to ensure pairs form reliably without exceptions, that will be our policy for the quiz."
Exceptions meant results that deviated too far—too high or too low—from a student's usual test performance.
For example, if I scored 0 points, or if Ishizaki scored 100. I would end up paired with someone near 100 points, and Ishizaki with someone near 0.
High scorers could pair together, or conversely, students who struggle to score high could pair with each other.
The former might be manageable, but the latter would practically guarantee expulsion.
To prevent such irrational outcomes, we needed to deliberately control the pairings.
"The quiz is supposed to be easy, so forming pairs should be relatively straightforward. Still, just to be safe, those whose names I call now should only write their names on today's quiz."
Kaneda consulted a sheet of paper and began reading names.
They were the bottom ten from the recent midterm exam—Ishizaki, Komiya, Nishino, and others.
Writing only their names meant scoring a deliberate 0. Normally that would affect grades, but this quiz had no impact on academic records.
This way, we could reliably produce low scorers.
"Next, those whose names I call should aim for high scores."
Kaneda continued reading.
Myself, Shiina, Kaneda himself, and the rest of the top ten from the midterm.
"Those whose names weren't just called should also target appropriate scores.
Those ranked 11th to 20th on the previous midterm should aim for 65 points or higher; those ranked 21st to 30th should aim for 45 points or lower. This should create well-balanced pairs."
With that, Kaneda wrapped up his explanation and handed the floor back to Ryuen.
Kaneda returned to his seat after finishing his task, and Ryuen spoke again.
"Anyone with questions or objections, speak up now. I'll still be nice about it—for the moment."
"…May I ask something, Ryuen?"
"Go ahead, Yajima. What is it?"
Yajima raised her hand politely.
The girls around her—who were usually friendly with her—wore slightly wary expressions.
Still, she continued without hesitation.
"I support this policy, but I do have one concern.
It's about the mid-tier students. When a strong student pairs with a weak one, the strong one can cover for them, greatly reducing the chance of expulsion.
But when two students of similar ability pair together, countermeasures become difficult. It would be especially tough if their strong and weak subjects overlap. What should those students do?"
"Good point. If anyone gets expelled in this exam, it'll probably be mid-tier pairs, just as you're worried.
We'll try to create balanced pairs as much as possible, but we can't make them perfect. The worst case—overlapping weak subjects—could still happen.
But don't worry. For everyone anxious about their scores, mid-tier or otherwise, I'll provide a place to study, opportunities, and instructors."
"…You mean one of the top ten?"
"More precisely, the top three. Hiyori, Kaneda, Kamukura… I'll set up the best possible study environment with these three as tutors.
If anyone still gets expelled after that, it's their own lack of effort. Not my problem."
With those words, Ryuen ended the discussion.
After confirming there were no further questions, he returned to his seat.
In his place, Sakagami-sensei entered the classroom, and the usual homeroom began.
…
The day's classes ended, and after-school hours arrived.
Students began heading home, each to their own plans.
"Got a minute, Kamukura?"
Amid the movement, Sakagami-sensei called out to me.
He normally addressed every student with an honorific, but in one-on-one conversations he used only the surname, as if to close the distance a little.
I indicated I was listening.
"Today the candidate opponent classes for the Paper Shuffle were finalized.
However, both Class A and Class C have nominated Class D, so there's an overlap. We'd like one representative from each class to gather after school today for a lottery."
Only A and C overlapped.
That meant Sakayanagi's plan had failed.
Whether it was a calculated failure or an unexpected one, it was already a topic that held no interest for me.
"Why me?"
"Oh? Ryuen didn't tell you?"
That tyrant had deliberately kept quiet just to annoy me.
"Yes. It seems there was a communication error on our side. But if it's only drawing lots, I don't mind. Where is it?"
"One of the conference rooms. It'll be over quickly. Follow me—I'll show you."
Sakagami-sensei and I left the classroom briskly.
We reached the destination without any trouble.
"We're a little early."
Sakagami-sensei unlocked the door and switched on the lights.
The room featured a large round table in the center, surrounded by chairs—much like the setup during the shipboard exam. It evoked the conference rooms often seen in science-fiction works.
"By the way, Kamukura, what do you think of this school? I'd like to hear your honest evaluation."
Perhaps to avoid awkward silence, Sakagami-sensei sat down and started a conversation.
He gestured for me to take a seat as well.
"Nothing special. Just think of it as a casual one-on-one chat."
Idle time was boring, so I sat facing him.
I continued the conversation.
"Considering the strict rules and the point system, it's far removed from an ordinary school. Still, I think it's a good school.
If you simply maintain a standard slightly above the general norm, you can live comfortably, and for some people the special exams are even stimulating. If anything, we're overly privileged."
"Hmm. That's a welcome opinion for the school. And I agree personally. From a teacher's perspective, the students here receive extraordinarily favorable treatment."
He made no gesture of taking notes. It really seemed to be just idle talk.
"You called the uninhabited island exam boring, but how was the shipboard exam?"
"More enjoyable than the uninhabited island exam."
"Good to hear it was fun. You rarely show emotion on your face, so I was a little worried, but it seems my concern was unnecessary."
Sakagami-sensei spoke a little more casually than when he addressed the entire class.
This, it seemed, was the real him.
"Aren't you going to call me out? The class took a crushing defeat in the shipboard exam.
As Class C's homeroom teacher, you must have some feelings about me running around doing whatever I wanted."
"…You're bringing it up yourself, huh. …Yes, of course I have feelings about it. It doesn't feel great when my class's evaluation drops, as their homeroom teacher.
But I'm a teacher and you're a student. The exams exist for the students, so the results belong to you all. There's no need for me to butt in."
"I thought you'd give a more frank opinion, but you're surprisingly able to let it go.
It's a different viewpoint from Chabashira-sensei or Hoshinomiya-sensei."
"…Those two are a little special. I'm not as passionate about education as Mashima-sensei, so please consider this the norm."
He looked slightly embarrassed, then spoke with a faint air of rivalry toward Mashima-sensei.
As teachers at the same school, it wouldn't be strange for this earnest man to see him as a competitor.
"You seem to know what happened between those two."
"What happened? Why are you asking about their relationship in that way?
I often hear students say the two of them seem to get along well, but they didn't appear that way to you?"
"It looked superficial. They're probably somewhat close, that much is true, but it didn't feel like they were speaking from the heart."
"…I see. Well, I can't comment on anything involving their privacy. But if that's how it seemed to you, then perhaps it is."
He lowered his eyes for a moment and nodded vaguely.
"Won't you tell me like it's just gossip? Or would you share it if I paid points?"
"I wouldn't say it's absolutely impossible, but it's basically difficult. After all, it involves handling personal information."
Private points aren't all-powerful.
Anything that might touch on legal issues is understandably off-limits.
As we continued this light conversation that could hardly be called a proper one-on-one, the conference room door was knocked on three times.
"Excuse me."
The person who entered was Katsuragi Kōhei from Class A.
He approached us, walking just behind his homeroom teacher, Mashima-sensei.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's begin right away."
When Mashima-sensei said that, Sakagami-sensei nodded and pulled something from his bag.
A square box made of thick paper, about fifteen centimeters on each side. This was clearly the lottery box.
"There are two slips of paper inside. One is marked 'Winner,' and the other is blank.
Naturally, the person who draws 'Winner' gets to face Class D."
Sakagami-sensei explained.
To restate the reason for the lottery: it was to decide which class—A or C—would face Class D.
That was why one representative from each class had been chosen and gathered here today.
"It's a matter of luck. No hard feelings, alright?"
Katsuragi offered some light banter.
"Don't hold it against me later."
"You're already assuming victory?"
"I do possess at least a talent for luck."
"Hmph. A talent for luck. You're saying you're fortunate, but that's quite the exaggerated phrasing. Since it's probability, the odds are fifty-fifty. We won't know until it's over."
Unfortunately, my luck doesn't turn against me so easily.
I felt a little bad for Katsuragi, but I'd let him experience this dull talent firsthand.
"Then please draw."
At Sakagami-sensei's prompt, Katsuragi drew first.
I followed, and Sakagami-sensei showed Mashima-sensei that the box was now empty, confirming there was no tampering.
"Alright, both of you—open them."
Following Mashima-sensei's instruction, we unfolded our slips, and as expected, mine read "Winner."
Mashima-sensei confirmed it and jotted it down.
Katsuragi's face flashed brief regret, but since it was pure chance, he appeared to accept the outcome.
"That concludes things for today. Sorry for taking up your time, both of you. You're free to go."
At Mashima-sensei's dismissal, we left the room.
We weren't particularly close, so there was no desire to walk together. Still, our destination was the same—the shoe lockers.
Thus, Katsuragi ended up walking beside me.
"Ah, Katsuragi-san!!"
We didn't speak, though.
When we reached the shoe lockers, several students were waiting to greet Katsuragi.
He joined them. Like an ordinary student, he began preparing to head home with his friends.
I slipped away briskly and exited through the entrance.
"…You finally showed up."
The moment I stepped out, Ibuki was there, leaning against the wall.
It was late October now, the season turning chilly, yet she left her legs bare below the skirt.
Waiting for me outside school grounds without any clear reason was baffling behavior.
"What do you need?"
"I want to stock up. Help me carry stuff."
Ibuki pocketed her phone and pushed off the wall.
Her sullen expression was her default. To an outsider she might look upset, but it was no different from usual.
"I don't mind, but couldn't you have contacted me beforehand?"
"I was about to when Sakagami-sensei dragged you off. I overheard it would be quick, so I waited here."
Students generally began heading home from the entrance.
True, waiting here meant she wouldn't miss her target. Still, it was an inefficient approach.
"How long were you waiting?"
"About ten minutes. …Just so you know, I was studying for tomorrow's quiz, so I didn't waste the time."
"I see."
Perhaps sensing my thoughts, she added that as a preemptive jab.
She'd used the time well. Praising her would only make her smug, so I brushed it off.
"Hey, cook dinner tonight. I'll cover the ingredient points."
"Fine, but since I'm carrying them anyway, I'll cook in your room."
"That's okay. Whenever I mooch dinner it's always been in your room. You're not the type to get nervous entering the opposite sex's room anyway."
No nerves at all.
Group gatherings were usually in my room, and otherwise we defaulted to karaoke, so it only felt mildly novel.
"Well, I don't feel anything special about it."
"…Knowing you there's no malice, but the way you say that—"
"It's deliberately phrased that way."
Her blank expression shifted rapidly; in an instant her eyes narrowed and an aggressive aura formed.
She swiftly raised her right leg high, aiming for my left upper arm.
The kick lacked real force, so I took it without blocking.
"You should stop kicking in a skirt."
The skirt fluttered. A few more centimeters higher, with more momentum, and it would have been dangerous.
"If you see my underwear, I'll kill you."
After that utterly unreasonable declaration, she lowered her leg and started toward home.
She walked with clear displeasure, yet never doubted I'd follow. The many times we'd walked together—the memory of it—made her certain.
This repetition of empty moments was, I suppose, what people called everyday life.
——This everyday life would continue.
With a girl who kept close despite my monstrous nature, a boy who adored violence above all, a girl lost in books, and a boy who maintained a picture-perfect distance.
This was degradation. Truly, a pitifully pathetic change.
"…Hurry up already."
Unable to guess why I'd stopped, Ibuki glared at me discontentedly.
"What do you want to eat?"
I asked that and quickened my pace to catch up.
That day, we passed the time in what could be called an ordinary daily life, trading pointless small talk.
...
And then the next day arrived. The day of the quiz came in the blink of an eye.
Sakagami-sensei had a large manila envelope tucked under his arm. It undoubtedly contained the quiz questions and answer sheets.
"Everyone, please take your seats. As I informed you, today's homeroom will consist of taking the quiz.
But before that, there's something I need to tell you all."
He paused there, then announced the results of the lottery and the matchup opponents for the Paper Shuffle.
To summarize the pairings:
Class A → Class B
Class B → Class A
Class C → Class D
Class D → Class C
The arrows indicated the class each would be targeting.
The Paper Shuffle would proceed according to this bracket.
"You're all remarkably calm even though the test is about to start."
Sakagami-sensei remarked after scanning the room.
"Ishizaki-kun, you usually look gloomy before tests, but today you seem in good spirits. Do you have some secret strategy?"
"Heh heh. Well, just watch, Sensei."
Ishizaki declared with full confidence.
The students with similar grades to him were all visibly excited without exception.
After all, for this quiz, the lower-ranked students only needed to write their names. It would be stranger if they felt any anxiety.
"Make sure you answer without regrets. This quiz won't affect your academic records, but it could have a significant impact on other things."
He narrowed his eyes slightly and issued the warning like a threat.
The students flinched at their teacher's words, but their usual mindset quickly returned.
They couldn't defy the tyrant's orders. Even if those threatening words were true, they had something far more important they needed to accomplish.
Thus, they remained unfazed.
"It seems anything more would just be pointless talk."
Sakagami-sensei began distributing the question and answer sheets to the front row, and the students passed them back so everyone received one.
"Please, whatever you do, do not cheat."
He delivered that final warning.
Unnecessary wariness began to rise among the students.
If they solved the problems without any strategy, they would likely end up near the average score. Factoring in caution could lead to overly safe answers, potentially altering their scores from their usual performance.
That would disrupt the pairings.
But the students of Class C weren't fooled by his words. They had been trained not to be. No disastrous outcome awaited them.
"Then, please begin the quiz."
With that signal, the quiz officially started.
Looking over the problems, they were lined up in stunning simplicity.
A review of middle school material—or even easier than that. I nearly let a sound escape.
It was fair to say anyone could score up to 60 points.
But I wouldn't fall into that sweet trap.
As planned, the students of Class C navigated the quiz successfully.
...
A pitch-black space devoid of anything.
Countless alphanumeric characters floated as if forming this world, but nothing else existed.
This was the Neo World Program. A space permitted only to those possessing administrator privileges.
"…This place again."
A white-clad man spoke while gazing straight down, ignoring the laws of physics as he moved forward through the air.
Following the direction of gravity, he fell vertically. He brought his hand toward the area beneath his feet—whether a ground even existed was uncertain.
A hole opened in the space, and this time he fell into it in accordance with physical laws.
The scenery he landed in was filled with color.
Countless towering buildings, patches of lush greenery here and there, perfectly paved roads teeming with pedestrians and cars.
The white-clad man continued his free fall, accelerating until he landed on the road filled with people.
A thunderous boom—like the sound of an explosion—kicked up a cloud of dust that engulfed the surroundings.
A human-sized object had fallen from considerable height.
Naturally, under physical laws, the white-clad man's body should have been torn apart.
"I found you."
Yet the white-clad man spoke as if nothing had happened.
Fully intact, he waved away the dust with his hand, clearing his vision.
In that cleared view stood a flamboyantly dressed girl directing a look of disgust at him.
"…Jeez, you're seriously persistent."
Her voice was displeased, yet somewhere within it lingered a trace of delight.
It wasn't an especially beautiful voice. But it carried a demonic timbre that ensnared the hearts of those who heard it.
"That's my line."
The white-clad man glared back at her directly.
But soon his gaze shifted to his own body.
Because it had begun to flicker like footage disrupted by signal interference.
"Upupupu, you're really pushing yourself."
The girl flashed a distinctive, pitch-black grin at him.
She bared healthy white teeth and spread both arms wide like wings.
"Manually crushing every single one of me is an extremely primitive approach.
Are you sure you really inherited that guy's talent? It's despairingly inefficient!"
She provoked him with vulgar laughter.
Her tone shifted unpredictably; an ordinary person would grow sick of listening to it.
"Well, it can't be helped! After all, right now you're operating after inputting a program to all-delete everything related to Hope's Peak Academy from this world!
Sure, that condition would quickly erase me from this world, but did you forget that your own existence is included in those conditions?"
"Don't bluff. With the all-delete, you—Alter Ego… no, a virus that gained will—have already been eradicated by more than eighty percent.
You plan to multiply infinitely since you're a virus, but I won't allow it."
White hope and black despair. The colors that came easily to mind matched their respective positions.
Both directed intimidating glares at each other, but neither showed any sign of backing down.
"It seems you set up some countermeasure to avoid being erased by the all-delete, but even you're under considerable restrictions.
Do you really think you can fully delete me in such a despairingly precarious situation, Kamukura?"
"I'm not Kamukura right now. ———I'm Hajime Hinata."
At the white-clad man—Hinata's—fierce intensity, the girl furrowed her brow.
She clicked her tongue and hurled further abuse at Hinata with even stronger killing intent.
"…Oh, really. Either way, if we keep playing this game of tag,
it's obvious which will come first—your activity limit or the complete erasure of every me hidden throughout the program."
"Who knows. There might be another option."
Hinata directed a provocative smile at Enoshima.
The flickering was gradually worsening; the atmosphere no longer suggested he could remain here much longer.
"Are you saying you'll create another new future? …Upupupu, then I'll say it as many times as it takes."
The girl crossed her arms, bent her middle and ring fingers, and struck a distinctive pose reminiscent of some celebrity.
She fixed her chaotic, despair-smeared eyes on Hinata.
"Miracles don't happen that often! Your disappearance means even the Hinata Hajime personality you miraculously regained back then will vanish!
This time you'll truly become Kamukura again! Everything was finally going perfectly, yet you're the one who'll disappear!"
She stuck out her tongue, her laughter and smile—enough to twist the listener's face—creaking through the space.
Yet the one facing her was the hope of the world. He denied despair.
"Even if I fail, that future won't come to pass. I left countermeasures for that.
And sorry, but creating miracles is this talent's power. Things won't go your way——Junko Enoshima."
Hinata shaped his hand like a gun and pointed his index finger at Enoshima.
Nothing emerged from the finger aimed as if firing a bullet. Yet several seconds later, Enoshima's body before him began to crumble and disintegrate.
Fragments of Enoshima gradually vanished amid her laughter. Even a single piece was a deadly poison capable of leading people to despair.
"…Now then, I need to erase the next one."
Hinata's persistently flickering body finally disappeared from the area.
But he hadn't been eradicated. He had simply been pulled back into the space accessible only to those with administrator privileges.
Hinata began searching for the next fragment of the virus, once again fulfilling his mission.
***
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