(Kei perspective)
Chapter 26: Survivors
Five hours later.
Game 4 had finally come to an end.
Those who endured the White Room were escorted to a lounge inside the facility to recover. The nominated students were separated from us and placed onto another bus. Whatever awaited them in Game 5 was no longer our concern—for now.
The rest of us boarded a bus back to the NIFL.
I took a seat by the window.
The scenery drifted past in silence.
Kengo happened to sit beside me again.
Akari and Shuto occupied the seats directly behind us.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Shuto finally broke the silence.
"What do you guys think is going to happen to the nominated students?"
Akari answered without hesitation.
"Who cares?"
"As long as it isn't me, why should I worry about people I barely know?"
"It isn't my concern."
That response suited him.
Akari rarely involved himself in matters that produced no benefit.
Kengo stared out the opposite window.
"Hmm..."
"By the way..."
"Has anyone seen Jun?"
Nobody answered.
I hadn't.
The last confirmed information I had about him was that he had been moving through the ventilation system warning different rooms.
What happened afterward...
I didn't know.
I took out my phone.
The administration had updated the class standings.
Class A — 2890
Class B — 1898
Class C — 511
Class D — -1
...
Kengo leaned over.
"What the hell?"
Akari immediately grabbed my phone.
His eyes widened.
"How is that even possible?"
"Negative class points?"
"Since when can that happen?"
Even Shuto leaned forward.
"...That must mean someone from Class D was expelled."
"And they received another penalty afterward."
A reasonable conclusion.
I took my phone back.
"I suppose that means Class D is no longer a threat."
Kengo let out a dry laugh.
"A threat?"
"We aren't even a threat ourselves."
"We're over a thousand points behind the higher classes."
There was no frustration in his voice anymore.
Only resignation.
Akari folded his arms.
"And Haruto still hasn't stepped back into his role as leader."
"He doesn't lead us."
"We're screwed."
I looked out the window again.
"Then find another leader."
The answer was simple.
If one pillar collapses...
You replace it.
Shuto immediately disagreed.
"Haruto has the best grades in our class."
"He's reserved sometimes..."
"But he's still our leader."
"We can't just abandon him."
Kengo and Akari spoke almost simultaneously.
"Our leader?"
Akari continued.
"Haruto hasn't done anything since this exam started."
"He's gone quiet."
"He acts like morality alone can solve everything."
"And our class is paying the price."
"He'd honestly be better off expelled."
Shuto frowned.
"Akari."
"You contribute plenty to the class."
"But you don't have Haruto's ability."
Kengo quietly clasped his hands together.
"...Have you ever felt..."
"...that something about a person isn't genuine?"
I looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"I'm saying..."
"Doesn't Haruto feel different lately?"
"This past month..."
"He's been revealing less and less about himself."
Interesting.
It wasn't proof of anything.
But Kengo had always been unusually sensitive to inconsistencies in people.
Long before Mei betrayed the class...
He had already grown suspicious of her.
Perhaps he had noticed something everyone else overlooked again.
Akari shrugged.
"Doesn't matter."
"For now..."
"We just hope everything works out."
Hope.
It was an inefficient strategy.
Eventually...
The bus stopped.
One by one, we stepped outside.
The National Institute for Future Leaders stood before us.
Just as imposing as ever.
Most of the students looked at it as a prestigious school.
A place where the elite competed against one another.
They still didn't know what truly existed beneath it.
The conspiracy.
PARP.
The people pulling the strings.
The adults who viewed children as pieces on a board.
When I first entered this school...
My goal was simple.
Survive.
Stay unnoticed.
Graduate.
Now...
That objective had changed.
I no longer intended to merely survive what lay beneath the surface.
This time...
I intended to confront it.
END OF CHAPTER