Chapter 1

"What should I do...?"

Journal was at a loss.

His predicament was exceedingly simple, and could be divided into three categories. The first was that he was currently trapped inside the Sakura School, a school attended by students. Journal came to the school for the first time that day to attend the entrance ceremony. There he suddenly lost consciousness, and when he woke up, he found that the doors and windows had all been sealed.

The second was the existence of a mysterious robot calling himself Gold Ingot (and the mastermind behind it). "If you wanna leave this school, you have to kill someone", he had declared. The strange remote-controlled robot was telling Journal and his fellow students that they were to earn their freedom through murder. Multiple Gold Ingot robots were in existence, and each one of them contained a bomb to prevent them from being attacked. Not only that, Gold Ingot had promised a punishment for anyone who harmed him.

Finally, the third was the fact that Journal  was currently holding a button. A red button, and the words "Escape Switch" scrawled upon it with a marker. Although the his first two predicaments were excellent causes for panic, this third problem only left Journal troubled.

He had noticed during free time that the school store was open, and found himself compelled by curiosity.When he entered, the chaotic interior very nearly made him dizzy, but then he caught sight of something that resembled a capsule toy machine he often saw at supermarkets. The words "Free Time Machine" were written on it, and it seemed to take only the coins they found scattered in the school sometimes.

It looked rather tacky, but it might help them escape the school, he thought, and inserted the one coin he had collected. The result was this mysterious "Escape Switch".

There should have been a limit to teasing people. Journal was almost discouraged by the switch, assuming it to be a cruel joke on the mastermind's part.

However,

"But...what if...?"

That an entirely plain, ordinary boy like him was granted entry to this school was thanks to the fact that he was chosen in a draw as a bearer of Harmony School Level Detective. And maybe that being a Detective was real.

If this switch is real, then... Treasure Chest...

Journal took a deep breath and pressed the switch.

His body was instantly struck by an intense burst of pain.

"Whoa?!"

His hands and feel went limp as he fell on the spot, unable to hold his body still. With ragged breaths he tried to figure out what had just happened to him.

Was I... electrocuted?

There was a small needle sticking out of the switch. Journal realized that an electric current must have been flowing through it. As he lay on the floor, waiting to recover enough to stand again, he fell into thought again.

The next day, the Infirmary.

"Oh, you're awake! G'morning! You okay? How many fingers am I holding up?"

Journal's vision returned to the sight of fingers adorned with long sleeves waving before his  eyes.

"Huh... huh? Wha...? C... Caramel Cube...?"

"Hey, why do you sound like you're not sure about my name? I'm just a tiny bit hurt."

Despite what she had said, the girl called Caramel Cube, the Harmony School Level Sticker Artist—was laughing.

Journal looked around and found himself in an unfamiliar space. It looks somewhat like a hospital, with three beds (including his own) lined up in the room.

All kinds of medical instruments were laid out around them. The pitch-black ceiling felt rather oppressive, but Journal's mind immediately hit upon one possibility as he sat up.

"Where are we...? Did we get rescued?!"

"Well, if only." She replied, looking away. She explained that they were in the school infirmary on the first floor.

"That stupid TV thing said, 'I can't bear to see my dear students getting sick' or something, and opened up this place this morning. But isn't it totally suspicious? What if all the medicine here is actually poison?"

"To be honest, I think that's a real possibility..."

Journal remembered his misadventure with the self-proclaimed Escape Switch and sighed.

"...Come to think of it, what are you doing here, Caramel Cube?"

"If you want to thank someone, go to Treasure Chest. He was looking after you all night."

"T-Treasure Chest?!" Journal exclaimed.

"Yup! But then Plasma went and started getting all fired up about taking turns looking after you. And it just turns out I happened to be on duty! Basket Ball just ditched, though." 

"I see... Thank you."

"I told you, you should save the thanks for Treasure Chest. Anyway, how're you feeling? Is everything all right?"

"Huh?...Well..."

Journal thought for a moment, and recalled something that had been bothering him earlier-before he had lost consciousness.

"...This might sound... a little weird, or... well, it is a really weird question, but..."

"What is it?" 

"Caramel Cube. We've never met before... have we?"

Her eyes turned to dinner plates as she gaped for a few moments. But the girl soon started laughing. "What? What're you talking about? Are you trying to hit on me?" 

A rather serious look crept into her grin. 

"Just warning you, don't expect too much. I might look I like this, but I totally care about my personality!" 

"Well...no, I mean...expectations aside, I never..."

"Well, that's as expected. Or rather, it's clearly a herbivorous boy..."

Instead, I chose to talk to a boy like him, Journal didn't ask why. He just wanted to talk to someone, anyone.

It was here that he felt that by spending time and interacting with other students, he could find out the truth behind the things that were stirring in his head.

10 minutes later.Journal and the girl were talking about "herbivore boys and carnivorous girls" etc.

About her days on the streets, her past and her dreams for the future. Her final topic was much heavier than the ones before it, but she thought:

She was comforted by the coolness of Journal. She whispered with a smile from her heart.

"Thank you, Journal."

Perhaps instead of having her listened to, she expressed a rather frightening emotion with the same smile.

"If I try to kill someone, I'll make sure it's not you!"

Don't say such scary things, Journal thought, but the words that came out of her mouth expressed a different thought.

"I see... Thank you. But I still don't want you to kill people..."

For some reason, Journal felt that her fearful words were justified.Her sapling reaction seemed to surprise her the most, and she soon stumbled out.

"You-you thought I was being serious? I was just joking, Journal! It's just a joke!"

"Huh?! Oh, yeah, right! Sorry! That was weird of me."

"Don't worry about it. Let's just say you were totally having a fever dream!"

The girl's tone become light again as she stretched on the spot and turned to Journal.

"I'm going to go back now, so try to stay alive until the next person gets here, okay?" 

Journal sent her off, and thought to himself as he lay in the bed.

What... is this feeling...?

The dull headaches continued, and his thoughts became foggy.

I was just talking to Caramel Cube, but it's as though... I was talking to someone else...

Who? Who? ...Who is she?

The more he thought, the more it felt as though his memories were sinking into a

bog. But it also felt like the pulsing pains were creating waves on the surface of that same bog.

What... am I feeling...?

It was an unpleasant sensation, 

as though someone was calling to him inside his head. Journal tried to go over everything that had happened to him so far, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bell.

The infirmary did not have doorbells like the dormitory rooms. The sound was a chime that was echoing throughout the entire school building.

"Ah, ah. Testing, one-two. This is a school announcement."