Let the Games Begin
“Dear Kizen students!”
Endolas, finally granted a genuine free-speech opportunity this time, launched into a grand oration.
“It grieves me that my game has been scaled down. But if weary students can, after grueling classes, forget their exhaustion—if only for a moment—within the world I have created! Then I cannot deny that this resonates with the ultimate value of why I make games at all! That is precisely why I accepted the After-School BMAT!”
Every time Endolas spoke, the enormous hat perched on his head wobbled wildly from side to side.
“Collaboration with the faculty is complete! We've even added a few games tied to your coursework! I sincerely hope you all enjoy your new adventures. Now—please feel free to unfold the rulebooks resting on your laps!”
The students, who had clearly been waiting for exactly this, brought out Endolas's Game Rulebook and spread it open across their round tables.
“Choosing which games to play matters, of course, but an exam is still an exam! Let us begin by confirming the most important rules!”
At that, the rules materialized on the central screen as well.
◈ A total of 4 exams, scheduled 1–2 times per week.
◈ Each exam lasts 4 hours. Games still in progress when time expires continue as-is.
◈ A maximum of two cards may be acquired per day.
◈ Exams begin only after donning the protective vests provided by Kizen.
◈ Combat between students is permitted.
◈ If your Barrier Gauge reaches 0—whether from a monster's attack or another student's strike—your exam ends for the day, completely.
Simon's eyes gleamed with intensity.
So the number of cards I can get per day is capped at two.
With four exams in total, the maximum he could obtain was eight cards. And any student who failed to gather at least five would be expelled.
“Even skipping a single day would put us in danger, wouldn't it?”
Camibarez murmured, her voice taut with nerves.
“Excellent, Kizen students! And now—”
Endolas glanced down at his wristwatch.
“In precisely one hour, the first game shall begin!”
“What?!”
One hour?!
The students erupted into chaos.
“We're doomed!”
“You said we'd have plenty of time to strategize!”
To the protest of a student seated near the front, Aaron replied with a perfectly blank expression.
“An hour's plenty, isn't it?”
You con artist!
The students, backs against the wall, immediately threw themselves into rapid-fire strategy discussions.
“What are you all going to do?”
Everyone had a different plan in mind. Dick decided to go for a siege game, while Camibarez resolved to collect seven blue cards—where Blood Flow-related games were most likely to appear—and aim for the +3 point bonus. Meilin chose to stay flexible, adapting her strategy based on whichever cards she managed to collect.
Simon, naturally, intended to gather seven cards that were all different from one another.
“There's a player limit on the games too, apparently,” Meilin said.
“So let's run this one as individuals. We split up, each grab the cards we want, and pool whatever intel we pick up along the way.”
“Okay!”
Everyone nodded. Meilin flicked a finger toward the guidebook.
“Then from now on, memorize the detailed rules. Anyone who freezes up on day one because of some technicality—I'm telling you now, they will burn.”
While the students busily drafted strategies and drilled the rules, the henchmen scurried about, distributing protective vests. Everyone donned theirs over their uniforms.
“Then—good luck to you all!”
Endolas flung his arms wide. The stack of cards in his hands scattered skyward like a burst of confetti and came soaring down into the students' palms.
“Ah.”
One card arrived for Simon as well.
It bore the name Simon Polentia, and beneath it, the words Summoning Major.
So that's why they made us fill out all that paperwork.
“This is an official rule. Please affix your card to the right side of your vest's chest.”
When Simon pressed the card against his chest, it clung on like a sticker.
It looked just like a name tag. With this, he could tell every other student's major at a glance.
“And now, a little news I believe you'll all enjoy!”
Endolas announced.
“We've prepared lavish prizes for these games—items useful for your exams, expensive artifacts, special weapons, and more! Do give it your very best!”
At the word prizes, the students' eyes shone even brighter.
“Now, ten minutes remain! You're free to disperse. Good luck!”
WHOOOOOOSH!
The instant the words left his mouth, the students of the Great Auditorium kicked off the Jet-Black and launched into the air. The main doors would be a crush of bodies, so some simply smashed through the windows and leapt out—it was utter pandemonium.
What explosive energy.
Simon curled the corners of his mouth upward, kicked off the wall, and sailed out through a window someone else had already shattered.
His plan was to get outside first. The exam covered all of Roc Island. The campus would obviously be crawling with students—he wanted to push farther out, somewhere more distant.
VMMMMMMMM!
Just then, something like a vast blue curtain unfolded with the Kizen campus at its center, enveloping the buildings. It was barrier-type dark magic, installed to keep the students' battles from damaging the structures and ornamental grounds.
At the same moment, a voice rang out from the card fastened to Simon's chest.
The exam is now beginning!
Combat between students has been enabled.
From this moment, you may challenge games to collect cards.
BOOOOOM!
KRAKA-BOOM!
The second the exam began, explosions rang out one after another from the direction of the campus.
Eager to fight already, huh.
Even with combat permitted, the only real gain was stopping a competitor's exam dead in its tracks. Simon kept running—when a mana screen unfolded from the card on his chest.
Win your next duel against the student below to earn +1 point.
Jin Hayden
Oh.
This was a new rule.
One point wasn't bad—each card was worth one point, after all, even if this didn't hand him an actual card.
But it was a mission best attempted only after securing his two cards for the day.
Card collecting first!
Simon sped out of the Kizen campus and raced across an empty plain.
Plenty of other students were around, too. They only glared at one another with wary eyes—thankfully, no one struck first.
Ah!
Then, by pure luck, he spotted a card stuck flat against a tree.
Simon approached it with a beaming grin.
A navy card!
But there was writing on it.
Difficulty:Low
Players:1
Entry Requirement:Toxicology Major
Aw, it's a room I can't enter.
Simon abandoned it without regret and turned to leave.
Behind him stood a girl who had apparently been watching for who knew how long; she flinched and snapped into a combat stance.
Simon smiled and spoke.
“It doesn't interest me, so go check it.”
“……Huh? Oh. Thank you.”
He moved on at once. Behind him, he saw her creep forward cautiously, check the card, and touch it immediately. Apparently a Toxicology major, she was whisked inside the card in a flash.
I want to find one too, and fast.
“Hey! Over there! Hold up!”
Two boys were waving at him. They stood guard in front of a card at the base of a boulder, as if protecting it.
“Are you a Spirit Magic major by any chance?”
“The second a Spirit Magic major shows up, we launch!”
Simon stopped and looked at the card attached to the rock.
Difficulty:Medium
Players:3
Entry Requirement:One Jet-Black Mechanics major, one Curse major, one Spirit Magic major
Interesting. So there are joint missions, too.
Simon waved a hand.
“Sorry—I'm a Summoning major.”
Just then, one of the students who had been staring at him went rigid.
Th-that's Simon Polentia!
He'd been too far away to be sure at first, but there was no mistaking it—that famously Special Admission No. 1.
If it came to a fight, it would be over in an instant, but fortunately Simon drifted off elsewhere, looking entirely uninterested. Everyone else seemed absorbed in hunting for cards.
And so Simon kept sweeping the area as he ran, gradually growing antsy.
So finding a card isn't the end of it. The requirements keep blocking me.
He left the plain behind and made his way into a nearby valley where water trickled along gently. There were few people here.
Ah!
Something was off about the flow of the water. And there, bobbing in the middle of the swirling current, floated a single card.
Simon moved a little closer and studied it. A navy card.
Difficulty:Medium
Players:1
Requirements:None
“This is it!”
Simon immediately stomped the Jet-Black and leapt toward the valley. Then, midair, he pulled his legs together and aimed himself straight at the card.
The moment both feet touched it, his body was sucked in with a whoosh.
Entering a new game.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
SWOOOOOOSH!
Simon opened his eyes to a baptism of water splashing across his face.
The roar of rushing water filled his ears. His stomach churned, and his vision swayed.
“……Wh-where am I?”
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was wood grain. Simon lifted his head, breathing in the sharp scent of tree sap, and his eyes went wide.
A raft?
SWOOOOOOSH!
Simon quickly scanned his surroundings.
This had unmistakably been a gentle, trickling stream near the Kizen fortress walls—yet now he found himself adrift on a raft, caught in a monstrous, raging torrent.
Worse, the surroundings were a dense jungle that looked nothing like Roc Island's natural vegetation. Simon was cutting straight through the middle of a river that ran through it.
What on earth is all this?
As Simon looked around in bewilderment, a low groan sounded beside him.
He whipped around to find a girl in a Kizen uniform sprawled unconscious on the raft.
Someone Simon knew very, very well.
“Class President!”
It was Jamie Victoria, the honorary Class President of Class A.
“Wake up! Class President!”
Simon shook her urgently awake. She, who had lain quietly face-down, finally rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up onto her arms.
“Who is…… Ah!”
The moment she looked up and saw who was in front of her, she let out a short scream and pointed at Simon.
“S-Simon? What are you doing here?!”
“No idea.”
Simon shrugged. Jamie looked around with a somewhat dazed expression.
“I'm positive I entered the card alone.”
“So did I.”
Apparently there were cards that randomly linked students together like this.
Just then, a mana screen rose up before the two of them.
Objective: Survive until you reach the destination.
“A survival mission. Lucky us.”
Jamie, finally gathering her wits, pulled herself upright. Then she flashed a refreshing smile and stuck out her hand.
“First time syncing up with you, Simon? Let's make it a good one!”
He realized it all over again—Jamie really did have a gift for getting along with people. In practice, she was on friendly terms with every single person in Class A.
“Yeah. Let's do this.”
The two exchanged a quick handshake and immediately started moving.
A single lonely raft, teetering on a raging current. On either side, the jungle's thick vegetation closed in like a wall.
Simon's expression turned grave as he sank into thought.
Survive to the destination. If we want to get there fast, staying on this raft seems like the only option.
“Look at this, Simon.”
Jamie pulled out a pair of oars.
“Maybe we steer with these?”
“Good point.”
Simon nodded and carefully scanned their surroundings. The objective was survival—he'd have been a fool to think the game would just let them drift along unopposed.
—!
Sure enough, the moment the thought crossed his mind, the eyes of beasts began glinting from deep within the jungle.
“Watch out, Jamie! Here they come!”