Normally, when someone says that you will be monitored, you might expect a person to watch you.
When Alex entered the room in which his exam would be held, Prof. Hibiki was there alright, along with a dozen of high-quality digital cameras.
All of them surrounding the desk.
There was one to the right, one to the left, behind, front, up, down, all diagonals covered. There even was a camera on the seat.
’Where am I supposed to sit?
‘Sorry, there you go.’
’Why are there so many cameras here?
‘It is just a little a little insurance to make sure you don’t cheat, it’s only fair to do this, so don’t let them bother you.’
--A little! How can I NOT let them bother me? A single-camera is one thing but 12!
Alex sat down, already paranoid by the cameras.
It’s true having 12 cameras watch your every move is enough to put so much pressure that a suspect will even confess and admit a crime he didn’t commit.
‘As per the principal’s request, you only need to give the exam of five subjects, four compulsory and one of your choosing, in a total of 3 hours. You don’t need to score 90% on each test, but the average of all four should be 90% or above.’
Prof. Hibiki held out his stopwatch and handed Alex all five papers at once so he can answer them in any sequence he likes.
He pressed the start button on the watch.
‘You may begin, do your best.’
--You say that, but it’s hard as hell recalling something in this situation. Some people might even forget what their name is.
Alex looked at all the five papers, examining the questions.
‘What’s the matter, Alex, can’t figure which one to do first, or maybe you cannot do any of them at all.’
Only a minute had passed, and Prof. Hibiki was all over Alex, determined to make it as hard as possible for him to give the test.
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--Just you wait, I’ll show you’.
As if something possessed Alex, his hands start moving like a printer, and after only 10 minutes, he was done, including rechecking.
‘I’m done.’
Prof. Hibiki was stumped.
‘Im-impossible, there is no way you could have done it this fast, or maybe you just gave up and left even more than half of it empty after randomly circling options’
‘See for yourself, I’m leaving now.’
And like that, Alex stood up and left the room.
The result of the exam was to be announced after an hour. Alex was roaming around to kill time.
He went to the cafeteria.
Alex was already famous in his grade, but after getting a perfect score, then taking the promotion for the next class with only getting a week’s time to prepare, his popularity had skyrocketed.
In the cafeteria, he saw a boy who looked like he was a 1st year, down in the dumps like he was an alcoholic. Ignoring that the student was skipping class, Alex went and sat near him.
‘Hey, you okay?’
‘I just got myself in the worst situation possible.’
Alex took a deep breath.
--Oh boy, here we go.
‘Tell me what happened.’
‘Well, there’s this girl I really like, and she’s really pretty and nice…’
--There is always a girl involved, isn’t there?
‘Go on.’
‘And she’s really into motorcycle racing. One day I confessed to her, and she rejected me, but I kept on trying, and one day she said if I could beat her at a motorcycle race, she will be my girlfriend.’
‘So, what’s the problem?’
He looked at Alex with hopeless eyes.
’I DON’T have a motorcycle.’
‘What’s your name?’
‘Takumi Nakamura’
‘Tell me one more thing, what will happen if you lose?’
‘I will have to pay her 100,000 yen’
‘And you did the stupidest thing of agreeing to it.’
He just looked embarrassed and hid his face with his hands.
--It’s hard to believe, it’s a coincidence that he got himself into a motorcycle race without having one. They do say, “love is blind.” The girl probably just wanted him to leave her alone. She wouldn’t even love him even if he won, but that’s what makes it interesting.
‘As your senior, I guess it’s my duty to look out for my juniors’
‘Senior? Alex, aren’t you in the same grade as me?’
‘At the moment, but don’t worry, anyway, how much do you love her?’
‘A lot!!’
‘Of course, you do. When is the race?’
‘Today at 5 pm, you are really going to help me?’
‘I don’t have anything better to do, so why not?’
‘Thank you so much.’
Takumi grabbed both of Alex’s hands with both of his hands to express his gratitude.
‘Meet me after an hour here.’
‘Sure, I will be staying here all day, so come whenever you like.’
‘Alexander Dean, please come into the principal’s office. Alexander Dean, please come into the principal’s office.’
The voice of the speakers echoed in the entire school. Prof. Hibiki made sure everyone in the school could hear this.
‘Guess it’s time.’
‘Good luck, Alex’
‘Thanks’
Alex made his way towards the office.
He knocked and then entered. The principal and the teachers, including Prof. Hibiki, was there.
’Alex, each of your papers was checked and then rechecked individually by different teachers who teach them to ensure nothing went wrong.
Prof. Hibiki said it with a calm smile, and that triggered Alex instincts that something was ironically wrong. The principal was also worried about Prof. Hibiki’s behavior.
‘Now, each of the teachers will reveal the scores, and the average will be calculated.’
The marks were revealed.