Prologue

Every chapter after this one will be published at around 10:30 pm JST (Japan Standard Time) every day.

...

It’s the 29th of March in the year 2021. After leaving home from Shibuya on my way to the train station, I came across what looked like soon-to-be high school students who would participate in the entrance examinations.

While on my way, I also heard from the TV News on one of the displayed TVs inside a television store about the news regarding the test itself.

“The first of the 2-day entrance examinations for the Institute of Specialized Education campuses will be starting at around 9 am on the main campus of Tokyo, and the satellite campuses of Kyoto, Sendai, Fukuoka, and Sapporo.

We wish nothing but the very best luck for all of the participants as the Education Secretary warns that the entrance examination this year will be the hardest it’s been in the past 17 years since its founding due to the growing acceptance rates in the past.”

I heard that everything on the said tests would be its hardest, but I have the confidence I need to pass around 90% of the actual test itself if I think so.

When I arrived at the train station and bought myself a ticket from the ticket booth, I immediately hopped on the train that would depart from Shibuya towards the train station adjacent to the Tokyo – Institute of Specialized Education.

The very same school that the news was saying. After all, I’m also one of those soon-to-be high school students who would participate in the entrance examinations today.

…

When I got out of the train station after several minutes of travel time, I’ve been met with a lot of people swarming the shuttle services that were there to transport them to the General Administration Building.

[Wow… That’s a lot of people…]

[Ah… That’s right. How in the world could we pass through that?]

People behind me scratched their heads as to how to get to the General Administration Building which is around a couple of kilometers away from us, considering the biking distance… Oh yeah, that’s right!

I immediately went to various bike rental shops within the campus to look for a bike. When I did find one, I immediately paid the rent rate for the bike which would be around 1,200 yen per hour. It’s still on the expensive side, but nonetheless helpful in this case.

...

[Phew… I just arrived on time…]

I muttered to myself as I locked the bike on the bike racks while also putting a tag on the backseat to make sure that it was actually the bike that I rented.

When I’m done with that, I went my way towards the General Administration Building to fill up a form where someone greeted me.

[Good morning. Are you participating in the entrance exams?]

[Yes, I am.]

[Here’s the form. Please fill up the checked parts in this form. After you’ve filled it all up, go to the counter beside me to pass it to her alongside your report card and birth certificate, and she will give you a stub with both your name and your examinee number. Good luck on the exams.]

[Thank you.]

I said as I left the first counter towards one of the areas of the high table for writing stuff where there were multiple pens available, and I filled up the information that they needed into my form.

While that in mind, I also noticed others who were writing the same thing around me.

I reoriented my glasses a little bit before going to the next counter after I had completely finished mine and giving my written form, report card, and my birth certificate to the lady on the other side of the glass window.

When she checked everything on my report card, birth certificate, and my written form in such a short amount of time, she wrote my name on one of the stubs with the examinee number and replied to me.

[Congratulations, you’ve passed the first phase of the examinations. Please proceed to the Math building for the testing area.]

I’ve passed the first phase of the examinations. What does that mean? Is that the first part of the actual examinations?

…

The lady who was on the counter at that time immediately put the written form, the report card, and that participant’s birth certificate inside a brown envelope before swapping the personnel in order to deliver the envelope to a faculty member supervising the first phase of the examinations.

[Really? Let me see…]

[…]

[Oho… So that’s why you thought it was fake… But I can assure you that this report card is indeed real as well as all of the credentials that this person has.]

[Very well, Ma’am… He’s already on his way to the examination area.]

[That’s good. I’m perplexed to see someone of his caliber being interested. Nakamura Kurayami-kun, huh…? 99 in all science and math-related subjects while above 95 on all other subjects…]

The supervising faculty member said as she was excited about what the examinations would culminate not knowing that the person named Nakamura Kurayami would be able to pass the entrance examination that was deemed to be the hardest exam in Great East Asia, with an outstanding 100% score. A perfect, but frightening score to achieve.