After leaving the library, I headed toward my room. I had memorized the route when the robot had taken me, so I could go on my own. I kept walking and exited the academy. Then I left the academy garden as well and started making my way toward my room.
As I continued walking, a notification came to my phone. Because of the notification, I took my phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. I saw that a notification had come regarding earned points. When I tapped on the notification, it showed that I had earned twenty points from the game I played, and because of that, I was placed tenth in the first class. The class ranking information had caught my attention.
So there's a class ranking too. I'm understanding the system even better.
As we earned points, our class ranking rose. If it rose enough, we probably advanced to the next class. After understanding the situation, I closed my phone, put it back in my pocket, and continued walking. After walking for a while, I arrived at the entrance of the building I was staying in. I went inside and headed toward my room. In the corridor, I ran into Gyoma. She had a calm expression on her face. This time, her gentle smile was absent.
"Hey Rei."
"Hey Gyoma. Did something happen?"
"Actually, yes. I need to explain some things to you..."
"What happened?"
"Rei, the truth is, from the very beginning, I was an agent sent by the system to monitor you and report back. But my mission is over now. The system authorities asked me to face you and test you. If I defeat you, I'll be the one they focus on. I'll rise to the top. That's why I wanted you to know. We're not friends anymore. I'm going to defeat you."
"What?"
"Normally, I wouldn't have said this and would have continued acting in secret. But the system itself ordered me to tell you this. Be prepared for possible encounters in the future, because I won't show you any mercy. I don't really care about what happened. I just want to be the focus of the system. Understood?"
I couldn't sense any hesitation in what Gyoma was saying. Her face was calm. She seemed to have no shame about what she was saying. I was a little surprised, but I wasn't very upset, because I had never truly seen Gyoma as a friend. With what she said, it could explain why I had never met her before. She seemed to be warning me about the future at the system's request.
"Interesting. Alright. Understood."
"Good that you understand. I have nothing else to do here. I'll be going now. Don't lose to anyone before you lose to me."
After her last words, she quickly walked away from in front of my door. I wondered if there might be a trap inside, but such things should be prohibited in this area. So after watching her leave, I opened the door and entered my room. When I entered my room, I checked everywhere for a while. After finding nothing, I slowly lay down on my bed. I was a bit tired.
Who am I supposed to trust? Everyone is scheming behind my back. Is Ayame that kind of person too?
After lying in my bed for a while, I was deciding to sleep. Just as I was getting ready to sleep, someone knocked on my door. I got up and asked who it was. Ayame said it was her. Recognizing Ayame's voice, I opened the door. Ayame entered the room. She was looking at me with her white eyes.
"Rei, what happened? You played a game. Are you okay? I saw it on the phone."
After saying this, Ayame turned the screen of the phone in her hand and showed me the news section on the phone. Apparently, played matches were recorded and shown to students in this section. The problematic part was that under every played match, how the game went and how the winner won was written in detail by the system. This would allow other students to gain too much information. I read the text for a short while. They had indeed explained in detail how I had figured out the spell. I understood that I could no longer walk around the academy comfortably. The fact that the system had such a feature had also caught my attention.
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"Things happened, I suppose. There are some students who want to scam new students by taking advantage of their lack of knowledge. I ran into that kind of person. Then things happened. I assume you've read the text."
"Yes, I read it. But I still wanted to come to your room out of curiosity. But isn't this superhuman? How could you possibly guess just by knowing that magic exists? Who knows how many types of spells there are?"
"Back when I was young, we were regularly given special military intelligence drugs. They strengthened our brains. Our minds were clearer. Maybe it's related to that."
"What is that? It's like they want to create a weapon out of a human..."
"I don't know."
"By the way, I also ran into one of those types of students. She offered me an advantageous game, but I didn't join because I thought it could be rigged."
"I wonder if all their spells are the same. I'm not sure, but it's clear they share the same goal."
"And also..."
"What is it?"
"I got a notification like this. Is what's written here true, Rei?"
Ayame opened the message section of her phone and showed the message that had been sent. A detailed text about my past had been sent by the system. The games I had played, what I had done in those games, what I had done in the past, who I was, all of it was written there. I could understand that this was a trust attack on my friend. For the first time, I could sense a curiosity in Ayame's white eyes. After reading it briefly, I wanted to be honest.
"Yes, it's me. Apparently, they aimed to drive a wedge between us."
"Drive a wedge between us? No, Rei. My thoughts about you haven't changed at all. In fact, I'm happy to get to know you even more..."
"Huh?"
"You know, I don't have pupils. That's why I accept that my eyes are strange. In the past, I had to grow up somehow in an orphanage. Everyone there would make fun of my eyes. I would get sad. Whenever I met someone somewhere else, they would give my eyes a strange look, as if they were disgusted. The same thing happened in the dark region. Because of that, I was strong, but I was always alone. But then you appeared, Rei. Even when you saw me, for the first time, I didn't see that strange expression on someone's face when they looked at my eyes. While others mocked me, you didn't judge me. You accepted me as I was. You were the first person to do that for me. Even my father didn't treat me like that. My mother had already died before I was born. So I don't care what kind of past you have. After all, you accepted me. I will accept you too, Rei. After all, you are my friend..."
"Thank you..."
"Anyway, we got too emotional. By the way, just so you know, that girl named Madoka is from the second class. She's ranked twenty-third in her class. You've probably noticed by now that there's a class ranking. You can see it from the news. I just wanted to let you know."
"I see. So she's from the second class. I had earned twenty points. So twenty points is a significant number. After all, she's from the second class."
"Also, it says 'elite' as a title on her profile. Do you know what that means?"
"Huh? Elite?"
"Yes."
"Maybe she's one of the elites from the dungeon I entered."
"Could be. That makes sense. It must be that. After all, if she were an elite of this place, you wouldn't even be able to play a game against her."
"You're right. By the way, why were you taken to an orphanage?"
"I don't remember if I told you, but well, let's just say my father was a bad person, in short..."
"I see. So, are you content being here? I mean, are you going to keep climbing?"
"I don't know. I just want to move forward. But I'm alright for now. How are you?"
"I'm fine too. You know my goal, after all."
"Yes. What happened at the volcano was written. It must have been terrible."
"It was. Anyway, by the way, don't talk to Gyoma anymore. I ran into her. She confessed some things to me. She was assigned to monitor me from the very beginning. I can put it that way, in short."
"Really? Then why is she telling you herself?"
"She stated that the system itself ordered it. It seems like she wants to face me."
"I see. So Gyoma has become our enemy too..."
"Did you see Itsuki, by the way?"
"No, I didn't."
"I see. I'm going to sleep a bit. I'm tired."
"It's still evening, but suit yourself. Be careful not to mess up your sleep schedule. Good night."
"Alright. Good night."
After Ayame left the room, I lay back down on my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a short while and thought about what I had been through. Then what Ayame had said to me came to my mind. I was thinking to myself and questioning what she had said. What she had said had made me feel good. I was questioning whether it was a good thing that I was relaxing like this. If I relaxed, if I wasn't on guard, I could die. I shouldn't feel at ease. I didn't deserve to feel at ease yet. I slowly closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Accepting a person as they are... an interesting thing.