First Day of the Second Month
The classroom was abuzz with students in a heated discussion. Their devices flashed in their hands as they refreshed their point balances, yet confusion filled the air—no new points had been allotted this month. Panic, despair, and denial filled their faces as they wondered if there was some mistake.
Meanwhile, our protagonist, ever the master of survival, remained hidden at the back of the class, cautiously avoiding Kushida's gaze like a fugitive on the run. He lazily pulled out his own device, expecting the worst.
100,000 yen.
His eyes twitched. Then, a smug smile spread across his face.
"Truly a genius," he muttered under his breath, marveling at his own brilliance. He hadn't spent a single yen in the entire month. Not out of financial discipline—no, he had simply lived off the 'kindness' of shopkeepers. Every time he mentioned needing a plastic bag, they somehow ended up feeding him instead.
In a distant corner of the school mall, the shopkeeper—now gaunt and hollow-eyed—clutched his stomach, cursing the protagonist's existence. His body, once full and robust, had withered into something akin to paper, all thanks to a month-long diet of sorrow and regret.
Back in Class
The protagonist contemplated his next move. "If I can't loot the mall anymore, something else must be stolen." His gaze drifted to his classmates' devices, each displaying their remaining balance. A devilish chuckle slipped out before he suppressed it, his paranoia kicking in. The school's surveillance system was no joke—he wasn't about to test the limits of their network security.
Before he could strategize further, the classroom door swung open, and the teacher entered. Immediately, the desperate students swarmed her like a mob of debt collectors.
"Sensei! Where are our points?!"
The teacher, unbothered, simply adjusted her glasses and stated, "The points have already been allotted."
The protagonist hummed. Ah, classic old hag behavior.
One by one, students displayed their devices, only to realize the awful truth—their balances hadn't changed.
Like sheep willingly walking into the lion's den, the protagonist thought, shaking his head.
Then, the teacher spoke again, her voice calm yet brutal:
"A combined total of 98 tardies and absences. 391 documented cases of phone usage and talking during instruction. These are the impressive figures for the first month. This school does not reward laziness."
Silence.
Then, like a slow-burning flame, the weight of her words ignited a collective despair among the students.
The protagonist barely suppressed the urge to applaud. Damn, that was a solid roast.
As the class spiraled into depression, the protagonist, moved by the sheer poetry of the moment, couldn't help but scream, "Your whole family is moronic!"
The sudden outburst sent shockwaves through the room. The teacher's expression remained unreadable—except for the faintest twitch at the corner of her lips.
A second later, the protagonist noticed something else—her chest.
For a brief moment, he admired it. Then their eyes met.
Panic surged through his body. Instant apology mode activated.
"Sensei, I apologize! I am the biggest moron!" he declared with newfound sincerity.
Somewhere nearby, Horikita let out a quiet "hmph," while Ayanokoji merely glanced at him, his expression unreadable.
With the class now silent, the teacher introduced the S-System. The screen displayed the cold, merciless reality—Class D had zero points.
The despair deepened. Someone asked what they could do to fix this.
The teacher's response? "Surpass Class C and take their place."
The protagonist muttered, Break their spirits, then hand them a sliver of hope. What a typical asshole teacher.
Then came the final blow.
"Anyone who fails the midterms will be expelled."
A spark flashed in the protagonist's eyes. Expulsion? Tempting... But then he remembered the black-eyed girl.
"I can't leave this school," he whispered to himself, clenching his fist. "Not until I dislocate that girl's middle finger."
As the school day ended and the last bell rang, the protagonist leaned back in his chair, staring at his device. The familiar school interface blinked at him, but something was off. A flicker. A ripple of distortion. Then, suddenly—lines of strange code began scrolling across the screen.
Not in any known programming language. Not in any known system.
Among the shifting symbols, only one thing remained static:
CONNECTING... DARTER
A cold breath escaped his lips. The moment had arrived.
School Network Hub,ANHS
At that very moment, in front of the school's main network building, thin tendrils of smoke began to rise.
A spark. A flicker. Then, a surge of electricity danced across the infrastructure.
Alarms blared, echoing through the campus. Security personnel rushed out of the building, scrambling to assess the situation.
But no one remained inside.
And then—a garbage can ignited.
A chemical reaction. Flames invisible to the naked eye crept outward, devouring everything in their path.
Within an hour, the entire building trembled. Communications systems failed. Devices malfunctioned.
A-7 Floor-2,Campus,ANHS
Protagonist's screen flickered. His fingers moved across the keyboard at an inhuman pace.
GitHub repository accessed.
Root access granted.
Emulation initiated.
Malware injection in process...
Malware injection successful.
One by one, file names materialized on his screen.
First Act Ends
Beyond the chaos, just outside the burning network hub, a single butterfly emerged from the smoke.
Its wings, once pristine, now carried streaks of soot.
It fluttered weakly, caught between the heat waves rising from the melting circuits. Each wingbeat was slow, uncertain—as if the very weight of existence had become too much to bear.
The protagonist watched from his room, the glow of his screen reflecting in his eyes. Lines of code continued to scroll, rewriting reality itself. He exhaled, feeling the weight of inevitability.
The butterfly ascended, struggling against the hot air currents. Higher, higher—toward freedom.
But fate had already written its last note.
A final ember, carried by the wind, landed on its fragile wings.
For a moment, it burned like gold.
A fleeting star against the darkness.
Then—
Ash.
Scattered in the wind.
Lost to the silence.
Somewhere in the depths of the school, unseen and unknown, black eyes watched it fall.