The hall that Rei just entered consisted of four rows of chairs, all in front of a small stage. For an opening ceremony, Rei expected it to be way bigger. Instead, it only seemed to hold enough sitting opportunities for about thirty people. Was this hall maybe only for a single class?
Many of the chairs were already taken, so Rei didn’t have many choices. He decided to sit in the middle of the third row. As he walked to an empty spot, the twin tailed girl next to it glanced at him. She seemed kind of flustered as he sat down next to him. Multiple times she took a quick look at him, sometimes even opened her mouth, but never actually spoke to him. Maybe she wanted to tell him something? Even so, Rei decided to ignore the weird behavior to avoid any trouble.
Rei watched the stage closely. He was a little bit nervous about what would happen today. But now that he was here, there was no turning back.
“That’s my spot,” a voice suddenly said, ripping Rei out of his thoughts. Next to him stood a guy, looking down on him with an intense glare. His blonde, messy hair that was partly dyed black gave him the look of a delinquent.
“Your spot? Can’t everyone just sit where they want to?” Normally Rei wouldn’t bother with something like this, not after he promised to himself to keep out of trouble, but something about the condescending glare of this guy ticked him off.
“No, but that’s my sister, so could you please just get up?” The guy pointed at the also blonde, twin tailed girl next to him. So she wanted to tell him that this chair was reserved for her brother, huh? Instead of actually doing that, she was just looking down, making sure to not make any eye contact with Rei.
“You should’ve said something,” Rei told the girl while getting up.
“I’m… sorry,” she said in a soft tone.
“Don’t apologize, this guy should’ve asked if the spot was free or not,” the brother butted in.
“Don’t talk about me as ‘this guy’ while I’m still here…”
“Not my fault that you haven’t pissed off yet,” he rebutted while sitting down on Rei’s old spot.
“At least have some respect,” Rei replied, walking away to the nearest empty seat.
“Ironic coming from someone like you.” He could hear these words being thrown after him. His middle school self would’ve probably made a big deal about this. He was never a fan of selfish idiots like this guy. But with his new dedication to not cause any commotion he was able to just ignore the comment and sit down at a new place. The school hadn't even started and he had already met annoying people. If it were to continue like this, it could become a hindrance to his dreams.
Rei felt the stare of the blonde idiot on him. Quickly glancing back, their stares that pretty much shouted ‘I don’t like you’ met each other. But they also seemed to have realized something at the same time. They had realized that they have something in common: The letter on their chest.
“Shit.” Without being able to hold it in anymore, Rei murmured that single word to himself. Would he really need to spend the next 3 years as a classmate of someone like that? But he also decided to not get involved with any of his classmates anyway, so if he just kept his distance, it would all go well without any incidents…. right?
Letting out a big sigh, Rei tried to focus again on his surroundings. More and more chairs were getting taken. Soon, the ceremony would start.
“Exciting, isn’t it?” Rei already had enough random voices appearing out of nowhere, but it just had to happen again. Slightly shocked, he turned to the source of it: Akari was sitting next to him.
“What, don’t tell me you didn’t even notice me? Did I scare you by any chance?”
“No, you just surprised me, that’s all.”
“So, are you excited?”
Rei really wasn’t in the mood for chitchat, so ignoring her would probably do the trick.
“This academy sure is amazing, isn’t it? It uses advanced technology to prepare people like us for our future. We would just have to spend these three years here, and then we’d already be considered elite soldiers! We would get the chance to become actual heroes! Isn’t that cool?”
“....”
“And it even said that they pay us! Not only is the entry free, but they pay us! Sure, the training might be hard, but that still sounds incredible, doesn’t it?”
“.......”
“And we got accepted into this program! That must mean that everyone here must have great potential or not? After all, I don’t think they would just pick anyone for such an important job. We are the first generation after all. ‘The first generation of heroes’, like, doesn’t that sound super cool?”
How the hell did she have so much energy and persistence? At this point Rei was just praying that the ceremony would start soon, so that he wouldn’t have to drag this useless, one-sided conversation out any longer. And like the gods had heard his wish, someone finally entered the stage. Rei expected the director or a teacher to appear, but instead, four people who only looked a few years older than him did. Unlike the students, they all wore their uniform in white instead of dark grey. Simultaneously, the doors were closed and the hall lights, except the ones above the stage, were dimmed.
One guy on the stage had straight, black hair and a stern look. He moved forward to the microphone, while the three other people stayed behind. The guy's gaze wandered through the audience, before he inhaled deeply and started talking.
“I welcome you all to Kaizen Academy. My name is Imato Fukudachi and I fulfill the role of the student council president at this school. These are the other members of the student council.”
Imato turned around and directed the attention to the other members, who politely bowed down.
“We all went through the same process that you will, so our job is to guide you as best as possible through the next years. So if you have any questions, you can visit the student council room at any given time.”
The student council president paused for a second and looked across the hall.
“This might be considered an academy, but please be aware that the special program of this facility is by far more challenging than that of any other school. When I say this, I mean this as well meant advice. People who slack off or don’t take it seriously, won’t only fail at graduating from this academy, but also bring themselves and others in danger. That’s all from me.”
President Imato bowed his head slightly before leaving the stage. During the applause, whispering could be heard from all directions. People seemed obviously concerned about the advice, which felt more like a warning. Now, a man with white and black hair entered the spotlight. He wore a long ponytail and a stylish suit. For some reason, he also had a black glove on; only on his right hand though.
“I, as well, welcome all of you to my academy. I am Director Mazato, the director and founder of this school. You all were chosen to spend the next three years of your life here. You all were chosen to become the future of this country. You all were chosen to be given the chance to become the elite soldiers that will fight for justice. Soldiers that will lead whole armies into battle. Soldiers, who will bring peace into this era.”
The director smiled. The spotlight that shined onto that stage reflected in his blue eyes. A gaze of passion.
“Peace? Haven’t we already achieved that?” Rei heard some whispering behind him.
Peace, huh? Just because there is currently no war, could one really define the state of this country as something as dreamy as peace? Maybe in this side of
“I am sure that each of you has individual dreams and reasons that led them into this hall,” the director continued.
“And while I would like to believe that those dreams will motivate you into giving your very best at all times, the previous test has shown that many people don’t necessarily feel the need to do so. It became quite obvious that many were just there for the money.”
President Imato, who was leaning against the wall, near the entrance to the hall, had a complex look on him. While he was on the stage, his eyes showed pure determination, but now he just seemed to stare into the nothingness.
“So, I made a rather spontaneous decision.”
Now, even President Imato’s attention was focused back on the director, as if he said something unexpected.
“In order to motivate all of you, I have created a new rule in the program,” Director Mazato continued. Slowly, a grin of excitement appeared on his face, as he stretched his right arm into the arm and lifted one finger.
“Only one. Only one class shall graduate as elite soldiers. The rest will take only their experiences home.”
...What?
Talking broke out through the hall. People weren’t even trying to whisper or stay quiet. No, their shock was way too big to consider such things. Even Rei was overfilled by uncertainty. How would the winning class even be determined? What if he didn’t reach his goal because of his classmates? Would he really have to give up? What if he ended up wasting these three years of his life?
An ear piercing sound echoed through the hall. The director must have tapped the microphone. Everyone went quiet.
“I personally will choose the class that has the honor to fight for this country at the end of those three years. If you think that you won’t be able to reach your goal, then you can gladly leave now.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Rei looked through the hall. Nobody moved.
“Very well. You are currently inexperienced, normal students, but at the end of those three years you will have developed into strong, promising soldiers. So please, do your best to achieve both your and my dreams.”
Director Mazato bowed his head, still smiling with an unwavering passion in his eyes. But nobody clapped. Not a single sound could be heard, until four adults walked up the stage and spread apart. They were all holding black flags, each of them had a letter printed on them. A, B, C and D.
“Please meet up with your appointed classroom teacher,” the director spoke once again.
Most students got up and walked up to the stage. Some people seemed like they still hadn't figured out the letter on their chest, but after observing what the other people did, they also soon followed up. Rei walked up to his classroom teacher, a woman with long, wavy black hair and noticeable eye bags.
Soon, all the students had reached their class teachers. It seemed like each class consisted of only 8 people, which was a surprisingly low amount. For example, Rei’s old class had a whole of 32 students, but considering how stressful it was to handle all of them, a class of 8 might hold a lot of advantages.
“Seems like everyone is here. Now, I am the homeroom teacher of Class C, your class. Please follow me to your classroom,” the teacher said without even mentioning his name. He started sauntering out of the hall and entered a hallway, with all the Class C students following him like ducklings. They went up the stairs and then walked through the hallway in the air that Rei saw from the outside before. The morning sun blasted through the big windows. In the corner of his eye he could see the delinquent brother and his sister walking close next to each other.
“This is going to be tough,” he thought to himself.
Soon, the teacher stopped in front of a metal door, while pulling out a bunch of keys out of her pocket. She leisurely opened the door and let the students inside. As expected, the room only had two rows of four tables each, with a desk for the teacher at the front.
“Please take a seat,” the teacher commanded them. Analyzing the room, Rei decided to sit down in the very right corner of the room. That way, he will hopefully be out of the center of attention of both the teacher and his fellow classmates.
“We’re together again, how lucky!” a voice from his left interrupted his thoughts. Akari was putting her bag on the table next to him.
“Lucky? Didn’t you decide to sit next to me? There is no luck in that,” Rei answered, which might have been a mistake from his side.
“What a foolish conclusion! Thou are still in luck that the great Akari has blessed thou with her presence!” she said in an over dramatic tone, while posing with a big grin. Well, she might have a point. Maybe it was for the better to have someone next to him that he has already exchanged a few words with.
“Please sit down,” the teacher intervened in Akaris theater act, clearly not having the energy to deal with her antics.
Some chuckles sounded through the room as Akari hesitantly sat down.
“Welcome, Class C,” the teacher started to talk while the text ‘Miss Nagako’ appeared on the big screen behind her. “I will be teaching you for the next 3 years. Here at Kaizen Academy, each class is assigned only one teacher, who will be responsible for that class through all the different subjects.”
Having only one teacher was a big risk for Rei. If he liked the person, it could make the school life a lot more pleasant. But considering his experiences with the previous teacher personnel, it could also well be that this teacher could destroy his dream.
“The first year you will mainly spend in this school facility, where you’ll learn the theory of battle and acquire all needed knowledge that a soldier of your caliber should possess. The last two years you’ll spend on actual missions, helping out the people of this country. You might even get bigger jobs in the last year if you prove to be worthy. Any questions?”
Miss Nagako finished her monotone explanation and stared into the class, where a few hands rose into the air.
“Yes, you, with the weirdly dyed hair.”
“Uhm, the name’s Tenji Akitarou,” replied the delinquent brother.
…
The teacher didn’t reply back, but rather waited for Tenji to ask his question.
“Well, Director Mazato said that only one class will be able to graduate from this academy and that he will make that choice. Is there something like an evaluation system to make that choice? To be honest, I don’t really know what exact criteria he will judge us on.”
While Rei didn’t have the best impression of Tenji, that was also a question he really wanted to know the answer to. If many of the criteria to graduate are based upon the whole class, then the system would be unfair. After all, one would need to be lucky in order to get the right classmates.
“Director Mazato will judge you based on the potential to become a great soldier. Figuring out what’s important for that is your own job.”
“So you’re telling me that we’ll have to impress the director without knowing how?”
“If you can’t even manage to figure that out on your own then you will stand no chance on the battlefield, so yes.”
Tenji was obviously not satisfied with that answer, but he was also aware that staying persistent will lead to nothing. He just had to accept it.
The other hands that were stretched into the air just seconds ago slowly went down, either because they had the same question or realized that they wouldn’t get the answer they wanted anyway.
“Today, you will mainly get a brief introduction to the school, such as the layout, the rules and the system. You will also enter the Kaizen Simulation for the first time.”
“Kaizen Simulation?” a girl with silver hair spoke up.
“If you have something to say, raise your hand.”
“Oops, sorry…”
The teacher sighed and continued.
“Before I will tell you the details, I want to remind everyone of the Non-Disclosure Agreement that you all signed before applying for this academy. If you leak any information that is given in this academy to outsiders, you will not only be permanently suspended from the school but you will also have to face some serious legal consequences. So if anyone is planning to act like a whistleblower, then you better give up now.”
Miss Nagako waited a moment, as if she was expecting someone to actually come forward.
“The Kaizen Simulation is the newest technological advancement of this facility and the foundation of your training. It allows us to transfer a person's consciousness into a virtual environment. When you enter it, you won’t notice a difference from real life.”
“Wait what!?” shouted the silver haired girl in shock.
“If you have something to say, raise your hand…”
“S-Sorry…”
A real life simulation? Does something like that even exist? The more information about this school was given to Rei, the bigger his suspicion grew.
It seems that everyone in the room was unsure on how to react to this barely believable statement, as people were looking at each other, trying to read the general consensus, until Tenji raised his hand once again.
“Yes?”
“If such technology really exists, how did we never hear about it? An invention like this could surely change the lives of many people.”
He had a point. The potential use cases of such a system seem almost infinite and considering that this country is in desperate need for changes, something like this would no doubt be a huge deal.
“Even if you ask me that, I cannot answer.”
“You mean because you aren’t allowed to or because you don’t know yourself?”
“I cannot answer that either.”
What a vicious circle. To Rei, it just felt like there were suspicious secrets hidden behind even more secrets.
“Well, you don’t need to worry. This afternoon you will be able to see it with your own eyes. But before that, I need to give you an obligatory introduction into this academy’s goals, backstory and system.”
The screen behind Miss Nagako showed various pictures of the school area and multiple, seemingly important people. One of them was the Director himself.
“Director Mazato came up with the idea of this system right after the Third World War had come to an end, having the goal of bringing stability back into the country. Can someone tell me the exact date when the war officially ended?”
The sudden shift from a mysterious tone to an ordinary history lesson took the students off guard, but multiple hands stretched in the air nonetheless.
“Yes, that girl with the weird hair accessory.”
“My name is Ahane Akari!”
“Just answer the question.”
The unprofessional attitude of Miss Nagako mixed with the seriousness of the topic left a slight awkwardness in the room. Rei didn’t know if he should laugh or be upset. After all, this school promises a revolutionary system, but all he got so far were unanswered questions and strange behaviors of the staff. Not to mention the spontaneous decision that the Director made during his speech.
“Umm, the treaty was signed on the 5th of August, 2045,” Akari answered confidently, before sending a smug smirk towards Rei.
“As if knowing this would be impressive,” Rei thought to himself.
“Right, and speaking of the treaty, what were the main consequences of it concerning our country?”
The questions that Miss Nagako asked were anything other than difficult. To be blunt, they were way below the level of knowledge that students in this room should have.
“We were one of the winners and annexed the country of Sakashima, making it part of the Fuji Kingdom. We also demanded other things like the cancellation of the various treaties such as-”
“Exactly, and now Sakashima is known as the Yogore district.”
Miss Nagako wouldn’t even let her finish her answer. Instead, the screen on the wall changed once again. Pictures of old houses and rotten down neighborhoods were shown.
“An unemployment rate of 37.4%. 68.1% of all adults have committed robbery at least once. Many families aren’t even in possession of proper housing. Daily shootings, daily search for food and drinkable water. Technologically speaking, it’s estimated to be 43 years behind the rest of the Kingdom. And worst of all: leaving this district and getting legal shelter outside is near to impossible. These are the circumstances that over 14 million people have to live with.”
A depressing atmosphere laid itself over the class. Rei’s heart was beating fast. He had to give his best in order to hide his distress.
“I ask you, would you call this peace?”
Old memories rushed through Rei’s mind.
“This is just one example of the aftermath of the war. And this is the state 21 years after it ended, I am sure you all can imagine how it was right after the war.”
“But didn’t this all happen because Sakashima attacked our military facilities with their missiles? As far as I know, they didn’t even officially declare war or state any demands.”
“That’s beside the point. The reason I am showing this to you is because I want you to realize what your job will be.”
Miss Nagako pointed at the cruel images behind her.
“To prevent something like this from ever happening again. Not only is our own Kingdom in a pathetic state, but the surrounding countries are all advancing faster than we are. Wars have always been a part of human history and it is very unlikely that that will ever change.”
The room went quiet. Even Akari had a serious look on her face. Yes, everyone realized how important this was. This wasn’t just about their dreams and ambitions, but about the future of the entire country - maybe even the world.
“But shouldn’t we focus on stacking up on our manpower and weaponry instead of spending so much money on a few people?”
It was Tenji who threw that question into the room. Doubting the system that he applied to on the very first day, what was he even thinking?
“Director Mazato has good reasons. For example, after the usage of the hydrogen bomb and the disaster that it brought in the war, weapons of mass destruction got restricted. This also means that the people at the front play a bigger role.”
Rei did hear of that before. Everyone here probably learned about it in middle school: the first dropping of a hydrogen bomb, nicknamed ‘False Sun’. The fact that it had a big impact on the weapon industry wasn’t commonly known though.
“With the recent developments in technology, the role of humans in wars has changed drastically. You won’t just be loading cannons. You won’t just be holding triggers. The skill of a soldier and the weapons he uses go hand in hand - more so than ever before. If you truly master everything you get taught in this academy, then your worth will be that of hundreds of regular soldiers. That said, it goes without saying that this country will hold high expectations towards you, but don’t let that worry you. If you keep up your motivation, I am sure that you will become great soldiers in these 3 years.”
And in the end, that’s all that mattered to Rei. He will graduate from this academy, no matter what. After all, this seems like it’s the best chance to reach his goal - to finally pay back the price of his life.