"Eeeeek!"
"Whoa, what the hell is that thing!?"
"Wait, a rat? Gross!"
About thirty feet ahead, a cluster of players had suddenly erupted into chaos.
I moved closer and saw a monster pop into existence.
Its name displayed as "Condemned Rat." A literal translation would be something like a rat sentenced to execution.
I had no idea what the "condemned" part meant exactly, but the thing was clearly bigger than a normal rat, with an ugly, raw-looking wound across its throat.
Screams rose from every direction.
This Rat wasn't alone—there were more.
"Everyone stay calm! First, grab your weapons!"
Hagiwara took charge, barking out clear, sensible orders.
"Once you're ready, surround the mon—"
Before he could finish, I slipped past the other students and charged straight at the monster.
I gripped my Fast Blade in my right hand and circled around behind the Rat, striking from its blind spot.
The hit landed clean. The Rat let out a short shriek. In that instant, its HP bar dropped by nearly thirty percent.
*Guess even starting gear works fine on a tutorial mob.*
I moved in for a follow-up strike, but the Rat leapt back, putting distance between us.
Then it crouched low, body coiling.
Its forepaws scraped against the asphalt.
The next moment—
"Screeeeee!"
—it launched itself at me like it had been fired from a slingshot.
*Yeah, figured you'd do that.*
I raised my blade without hurrying.
At the same time, I triggered my skill.
The blade flared pale blue, and my body began moving on its own.
But just activating it wasn't enough.
Auto-motion only swings the sword. Whether it actually connects is up to me.
I read the arc of the Rat's leap.
Shifted my stance half a step to the side.
Lined up the path of the incoming Slash with where the Rat would be, not where it was.
"Hraaah!"
"Screeee!"
The two sounds collided.
A flash of light.
And in the next instant, the Rat's body split cleanly in two.
Its HP bar dropped straight to zero.
With a quiet pop, the Rat dissolved into scattering motes of light.
"...huh?"
"Did you see that?"
"He took it down... alone?"
A brief silence.
Then—
"WHOOOOOOO!!"
"YEEEAAAAH!!"
"That was insane!"
Cheers rose up around me.
*Well, no surprise there. It's a starter monster—of course it went down easy. Guess all that sneaking off to train paid off.* (Ha.)
I let out a breath, then checked the reward pop-up. Let's see what I got.
----------------------------------------
REWARD
・Patchwork Hide
・Rat Claw ×2
・Rat Tail
・Coin ×100
・Title: "First Challenger"
"Rat's Avenger"
----------------------------------------
*A title? What's this supposed to be? And "Rat's Avenger"—what does that even mean? Is a rat gonna come back for revenge on me or something?*
While I was mulling that over, Hagiwara called out to me.
"Ichijou, right? That was an amazing fight. Have you played games like this before?"
I didn't remember ever talking to him back at school, but apparently he knew my last name anyway.
Not that being recognized by the class's most popular guy meant anything to me. N-not that I cared, or anything!
"Nah, I just got lucky, that's all! I used to play games a little, way back when."
I played the part of the modest, humble Japanese schoolboy to perfection.
Yes—Rei Ichijou: humble, virtuous, a model citizen. (Self-proclaimed.)
"But seriously, that was amazing!"
"How'd you even manage to just charge in like that?"
"If it were me, I'd have totally hung back and watched first."
"Kinda feels like a different person than at school. Maybe it's 'cause you're not wearing glasses?"
"I mean, c'mon, it's just the tutorial! I coulda done that too, probably."
There was some noise mixed in with all that praise. I made a mental note to delete Okada later.
As I carved Okabe's name into the unforgiving ledger in my head, I turned the fight over in my mind again.
*This monster really was too weak. One skill attack, one normal attack—and my skill roughly equals two normal hits, so even without the skill, three regular hits would've killed it. Guess that's just how tutorials work.*
With Hagiwara talking to me, his entourage and a bunch of other classmates started gathering around too.
While I fielded their questions with vague, noncommittal answers, cheers rose from a group of students from another school, maybe a hundred meters off.
Looked like more Rats were getting cleared over there too.
*Right, that school over there took down a Rat before I did.*
Curious who'd done it, I looked over and saw a girl surrounded by a crowd of students.
*Probably her. Guess I wasn't the only one who managed to kill the first enemy. There are roughly two hundred thousand high schoolers gathered from across the country. Plenty of players out there way more capable than me.*
As I watched, she noticed me looking and our eyes met.
I squinted for a better look—and she was stunningly beautiful.
I hate to admit it, but I was genuinely caught staring...
While I was distracted, someone else called out to me from behind.
"Ichijou... that was really something...
I always thought you were amazing, but I didn't know you could do everything..."
The one speaking was a timid-looking boy.
His name was Rikiya Nakajima—despite what his name suggested, he wasn't exactly the strong type.
Back in school, there had been times he'd helped me, and times I'd helped him.
He wore the expression of someone who wanted to say something, and after a heavy pause, he finally spoke.
"Um, Ichijou... I have a favor to ask. Would you... be willing to stick with me from now on?"
From his expression, I could more or less guess what he wanted to say, but I wasn't sure how to answer.
While I searched for the right words, Hagiwara and the others nearby joined in on our conversation.
"Oh wait, hold on! Can we come along too? Right, everyone's fine with that, yeah?"
Hagiwara turned to the group, asking for their input.
"Yeah, that'd be way better!"
"Let's do that!"
"For real! Hayato's on point as always~"
The rest of the group chimed in, all agreeing with Hagiwara's suggestion.
"So, what do you think?"
With the group's support behind him, Hagiwara turned to me for my answer.
I took a breath before speaking.
Everyone waited, eyes hopeful, for my reply.
"Sorry, but there are other people I need to team up with. I can't join you guys."
I answered calmly, coldly.
There were people in this exam I had to meet up with before anyone else, no matter what.
—Honestly, everyone else could go hang, for all I cared.—
"Oh... I see. Well, can't be helped then..."
Hagiwara's expression flickered with surprise—my answer clearly wasn't what he'd expected.
But he was, as ever, a master of reading the room. He knew exactly when to step back, and did so smoothly.
"..."
Nakajima said nothing, staring silently at the ground.
"Sorry, that's just how it is..."
With that, I turned and left the plaza where we'd all first arrived.
* * *
A few minutes after leaving the plaza, a sign reading "Map Shop" caught my eye.
Apparently this exam didn't come with a built-in map as standard equipment. (Talk about terrible design!)
"Welcome in!"
An NPC, probably—a young, sleazy-looking clerk stood behind the counter.
I approached and asked if he sold maps.
The NPC answered flatly.
"Map: Pine's ten thousand coins, Map: Bamboo's a thousand, Map: Plum's a hundred."
"What's the difference between Pine, Bamboo, and Plum?"
"Map: Pine's ten thousand coins, Map: Bamboo's a thousand, Map: Plum's a hundred."
*Is that literally the only line he can say!? Even a bargain-bin RPG does better than this!*
Still, I checked my current finances.
I had ten thousand one hundred coins total—ten thousand from the initial program starting bonus, plus a hundred from killing the Rat.
*Pine's out of the question. But since I'm alone right now, maybe a decent, reliable map's the way to go...*
"I'll take Bamboo."
"Comin' right up!"
I bought the map and left the shop.
I opened it to take a look.
----------------------------------------
Floor 1
Area Name: Alice in...
----------------------------------------
The moment the map opened, one line at the top caught my eye.
*Alice? The only thing "Alice" makes me think of is Alice in Wonderland...*
*Wait. Come to think of it, that monster earlier translated to "a rat sentenced to execution"...*
*Ah. I get it now.*
Shaking it off, I kept reading the rest of the map.
Just as I'd guessed from our starting location, this stage seemed to correspond to Tokyo's 23 wards.
Which meant roughly two hundred thousand high school sophomores were currently scattered across those same 23 wards.
*Two hundred thousand players, twelve floors of stage... whatever server they're running this on must be insane.*
I sat down by the roadside and let my mind drift for a while, when a message notification came in.
"There it is."
----------------------------------------
Currently regrouped with the others in Ikebukuro.
Let's meet up in front of Seibu-Shinjuku Station.
from: Yuu Hinata
----------------------------------------
I'd actually sent a message the moment the program started, addressed to my childhood friend and closest confidant, Yuu Hinata.
It was to regroup with them and form a team that I'd turned down Nakajima's invitation.
"Destination's set. Guess it's time to head for Shinjuku!"
As I started walking, I noticed a group of students—probably from another school—chatting and laughing by the roadside.
"That monster earlier was seriously insane, lol."
"It's literally an RPG!"
"This is crazy! I'm so hyped right now!"
None of them looked afraid at all.
If anything, they seemed to be genuinely enjoying this sudden departure from ordinary life.
Similar cheers rose up from other clusters of students nearby. Some snapped photos with friends, some swung their weapons around for fun, others tried out their skills, laughing and hollering.
Everyone here seemed to think of this exam as some grand attraction.
Then again—maybe I was one of them too.
At least, up until that point.
And then, one of the students in that group laughed and said,
"No studying, and we get to play games? This is basically the best thing ever."
"For real!"
"Turning play into an exam—what a genius system!"
"This is literally paradise."
Laughter rippled through the group around them.
—Paradise.
That single word snagged on something deep in my chest, for reasons I couldn't explain.
But at the time, I still had no idea.
That this place wasn't paradise—it was something merely wearing paradise's name.
And that, eventually, this paradise would begin sorting through us.
----------------------------------------
SYSTEM NOTICE
Total Examinees
215,389
Valid Examinees
215,389
Eliminated
0
----------------------------------------