Real teaching, hypocritical gray life

"Has Luo Jun been threatened by others recently?"

"............Why would Ichinose ask this question?"

"Haha, it's just a joke. Maybe you think Luo Jun's answer just now is weird."

Ichinose scratched his neck awkwardly.

Even if it's a joke, it's better to respond to this question yourself.

However, just when I was about to speak, Mr. Hoshinomiya walked into the classroom with the ringing of the bell symbolizing the morning meeting, suppressing all my words.

"Good morning, everyone! Before the morning meeting begins, I have a notice to make to everyone. The school just sent a message to me."

"The passing score for the special exam for Paper Shuffle has been determined. The passing score for a two-person team must be higher than 712 points."

After hearing the news, I glanced at Ichinose and realized that he had not taken his eyes off me. I was more concerned about his current condition than the exam.

“…………What’s wrong?”

"No, nothing. I just suddenly...felt like laughing."

Then, Ichinose smiled adorably in front of me.

Chapter 214: Half-naked statue

(From the perspective of Kiyotaka Ayanokouji)

November 11, Sunday. Apart from the agreed transaction, this day was no different from any other.

It was a normal rest day, peaceful and without any unexpected incidents. I think most of the students were relaxing their tired bodies and minds. I was a little interested in what the students did during this period and how they spent their days. Although I could find out by just spending some time with Chi and the others, the individual information I could collect was too little and would become meaningless in the end.

I left the dormitory after 8pm. The numbers on the elevator floor display kept dropping.

I was planning to meet that man today, which was incredible. I even took the initiative to invite him. It was obviously for my own purpose, but when I came to my senses, I found it really strange.

The night in late November was cold. When I walked out of the dormitory, I was hit by the cold wind. Under the bright street lights, the surroundings were all dyed with red leaves in late autumn. The change of seasons was hard to perceive.

“Nature is so amazing…”

Turning the corner, I saw men and women scattered across the campus, hugging each other.

I tried to rub my hands together to warm them, but I was not surprised by the heat that quickly dissipated in the [ice and snow]. Or maybe my hands were already used to enduring the cold.

Even at this special time, couples are still enjoying their youth. I can't help but envy such a life. Maybe I should wear gloves or a scarf.

The appointment time between boyfriends and girlfriends is usually set at night, and in a dark place. This does not mean that it is easier to engage in some love behaviors that need to be concealed, of course there are some such factors, but there are also other psychological reasons.

The atmosphere of a date is more romantic and it is easier to increase the distance between each other............

——Dark effect.

I wonder if anyone here has ever heard this saying?

To put it simply, in a darker place, the two parties cannot see each other's expressions, which can easily reduce their vigilance and create a sense of security. In this case, the possibility of getting close to each other is much higher than in a brighter place.

On the contrary, under the strong stimulation of the sun, the expressions of the two parties on the date are clear to each other, and they can even see through each other's psychology through their eyes, as if they have become transparent people, and their inner desires are completely exposed. The feeling of being peeled off will make men and women who are not too close to each other feel extremely uncomfortable, which is what we try our best to avoid.

The darker the time, the stronger the instinct in the body, and the easier it is to fall in love............No, the appearance of darkness has no effect on that man at all. His senses will not fail, and even if he is alone and in a safe situation, he will not take off his disguise, and his expression will be deliberately arranged instead of naturally revealing himself.

People tend to cling to their companions’ sense of security in the dark. This attachment is very strong, especially after losing their own senses. People will become fragile and sensitive. However——

"We can't look at each other so simply............"

If everything is as I guessed, then for him, day and night are meaningless. At best, they are just a criterion for judgment............

"It's so cold."

In the center of the spotlight, I slowly exhaled a breath of white air. Although my casual clothes were warmer than the school uniform and blocked the cold wind, I didn't feel any warmth at all. The white air from my mouth mixed with the air and immediately disappeared without a trace.

However, this time was also the result of my deliberate choice. As for the meeting place, the area near the Keyaki shopping center is definitely not a good place. It should be fine before 7 o'clock in the morning on weekends when most students are still asleep. But now, it is estimated that there are a lot of scattered men and women who love each other unscrupulously, and it would be quite embarrassing to run into them.

In addition, if other students saw me meeting Luo alone at this time, even if it was not groundless... I still wanted to avoid unnecessary rumors. The explanation of coincidence was not feasible, and the other party probably thought so too.

Finally, I walked to the [Walking Park]. The reason for this name is that this park has no ornamental value at all, and its only purpose is to provide people with a suitable place for walking.

I walked on the grass covered with fallen leaves, and the sound of dead branches and leaves kept coming out under my feet. This sound was particularly clear in the silent night. Looking around, the red leaves of the Iroha maple tree were about to fall, leaving only the dark brown trunks. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the moon was blocked so that no trace of dim light could be seen. The heavy clouds seemed to be about to press down a step in the next moment.

Speaking of which, when I mention fallen trees and red leaves, I will unconsciously think of a poem collected in the Manyoshu. Is it one of the eleven banquet poems compiled by Tachibana Ason Naramaro?

The fallen leaves are wet with autumn rain, and the red leaves are scattered on the branches.

............Is that probably the case? I have also forgotten a little.

Although it hasn't rained yet, the weather forecast shows that there will be light rain around half past nine. It has only been thirteen minutes since I left home, so I shouldn't encounter any rain.

There are usually no students in the [Walking Park] at 8 o'clock in the evening, and even if there are, they are employees of this school facility. In such a dark corner, although it is difficult to easily see people coming from the distance, the red leaves on the ground can also provide signs of people. In addition, with this guy here, I don't have to worry about this.

I roughly cleaned the red leaves on the bench and sat down next to Luo. He arrived at the agreed location early and sat on the bench without even caring about the red leaves on it. From this position, the view was quite limited, so his sight was probably on the small artificial fountain not far away. Because it was almost midnight, the artificial fountain stopped working and there was no wonderful performance of water column. The red leaves on the surface of the pool looked like they had not been taken care of for a long time.

"You're here really early. If I remember correctly, the time we agreed to meet was at nine o'clock in the evening... Almost an hour early?"

"Same here...If you do nothing, you'll end up like this."

"Your excuse for refusing was that your entire day was filled with study tasks, right?"

"Well, that was originally the plan, but we pushed it all off."

"Really? It seems I still have a lot of respect with you."

As a result, we have not looked at each other since the beginning of the conversation. Is it because we haven't reached the time we agreed to meet yet............? Of course, the [towering] bushes behind us and the dim surroundings did not allow us to do this. The two of us simply looked at the unknown surroundings and treated the passage of time equally.

Perhaps it would be safer to wait until nine o'clock to show up at the meeting place, but I don't know why I always feel that the conversation between the two of us will be different from what I imagined, and the time spent cannot be replaced by a few breaths. At the same time, I also unexpectedly followed my inner [intuition].

I try not to choose a method with a low chance of winning, but once the opponent's so-called winning method is involved, something unexpected will happen. The best way to deal with him is to win by surprise. With a little guidance, a non-existent plan will be designed. Then, whether it is me or Luo, we will take one step at a time in [at a loss], which is the most ideal state............

Maybe I just want to have a duel with the other party based on [intuitive judgment].

With such boring thoughts, you will gradually become boring in the eyes of others.

However, just in case, I did not carry an umbrella or a raincoat with me.

"............It might rain soon. Did you bring an umbrella with you?"

"Let's prepare for now............"

Luo took out the umbrella he had been hiding in his arms, and seemed to show off. Soon he returned to his previous indifferent attitude, not caring about anything.

I guess the other party has no intention of taking action.

"Well, can the relationship between the two of us be described as childhood friends?"

"Friends made in childhood... can they be called friends?"

"Although such topics are irrelevant, we should at least respect the topic of questioning."

"As you said, our current conversation is irrelevant, and there is no need to answer it. In other words, does this matter really mean anything to you?"

Just for this moment, I will speak from the bottom of my heart.

Everyone is just a prop for me to win, so I never consider myself a so-called partner, nor have I ever cared about anyone as a partner.

It doesn't matter how many sacrifices I have to make, as long as I [win] in the end, that's enough.

Because of this, I was able to accept what happened at that time calmly.

"Luo...If I remember correctly, this was your name at the time."

"............I didn't expect you to know something about this kind of thing."

The other party didn't care if I knew his last name. No, or that was true for both of us. Last names have no meaning in the [White Room]. Names are just a mark. Arrangement.

It is an important element to distinguish between human beings. However, when we were young, we were not told our surnames. The instructors called everyone by their first names. I didn't know the reason at that time, but now I think it seems that they were afraid that we would be associated with specific objects through formality in the future, so they made this rule.

"Four years old, three years old, two years old... No, it was only three months. We met each other. Your name and appearance are very different from what you were then and in the past."

"............Although I am surprised that you can remember what you saw and heard when you were three months old, but compared to this, can you please turn off the recording device on you first?"

"I do not see the use of recording what we have said."

"But you chose to do that in order to test me."

"I didn't do anything like that."

"............Yeah."

Although it was a question, I couldn't hear any confusion in the tone of voice, which meant that the other party was very likely to say this with absolute confidence. Considering that continuing to probe like this might [anger] the other party, I stopped the dangerous act of recording myself.

"How did you know that? I shouldn't have let it out in my words or behavior."

The recording was a choice I made before I arrived, and I didn't even touch my phone on the way there, but he still noticed it.

"I will have such and such feelings about meaningless things... If I explain it this way, can you understand?"

"You seem to be certain that I have no other behavior besides this... I see, we are both artificial masterpieces born in the [White Room], but although our actions appear similar, there seems to be an absolute difference in our fundamental way of thinking."

If the other party's ability is so terrifying, then I can understand why there were such a series of accidents and judgments at that time. The purpose of that plan was not to create an artificial genius at all.

"Compared to my childhood, my appearance now is naturally very different. After all, humans are creatures that grow. As for the name...it's not uncommon to change one's name."

The other party was intentionally or unintentionally leading the topic to lose its focus. In this regard, I really couldn't continue to attack. Although changing the name requires a legitimate reason, it is something that can be easily done at a glance, and the reason will be classified as [confidential].

Accordingly, I can only reveal more facts that I know as bargaining chips.

"You started out as a newborn baby of the fourth term, but were later transferred to the third term and became the head of the group - Oreki Raku. That's the truth, isn't it?"

The other party was probably surprised by the extra information he learned and did not answer immediately, but I don’t care whether he would have any other reaction at this moment.

"At the age of four, I took the additional martial arts course. In the fourth month of the basic judo training, after the actual free-style wrestling, you disappeared. At first, I thought you were eliminated because you had no talent, but later I noticed in my vague recollection that you did not use the uke during the free-style wrestling with the instructor."

(Note: Ukei is a basic technique in judo, which refers to a self-protection method taken to reduce the impact force when being thrown down by an opponent or falling to the ground.)

"That is to say, even though your body was only the size of a four-year-old child, you were able to perfectly dodge the attacks of the instructor who was the size of a normal adult. Now that I think about it, you were probably transferred to the third period at that time... No, to be precise, you had a disagreement with the rest of us during the candy experiment when you were two years old, and I guess the idea had already come up at that time."

The past experiences gradually became clearer, and I think the other party could not forget the differences at that time. It was difficult for me to draw a conclusion about what he was thinking about now, but I didn't need to know. After all, whether he would give an answer or not, I had already reserved a guess in my heart.

"At that time, in the past, what was the reason for you to transfer?"

"............Even if it was you, in the past, would you have been able to understand anything about [society] at the age of four? Hiragana, katakana, letters, numbers, and simple kanji, even the text on the test paper was just that. In the end, it was just the arrangement of adults."

There is probably no answer, and that is without a doubt, and I feel the same way.

Although we had received a full year of training in reading and writing skills at the age of three, we were only able to hold a pen, move our hands, and answer questions that everyone could answer. What did we understand and obey at that time?

Or, the unearthed memory fragments——the rules of the [White Room].

"Yes. I completely agree with your understanding. No matter how advanced the ability of self-awareness is, it is impossible to accurately predict the memory scenes that will occur in the future. At best, all that is left is the instinctive senses and what kind of feelings you will face next."

I don't know what the actual meaning of Luo's real ability value is, and I can't understand the feelings of [miracles] scattered in the evaluation. What I can be sure of is that the instructor who made the evaluation is a lunatic. A character who responded to nonsense with nonsense.

My actions in that room. I always follow the instructions of that man...or more precisely, the instructions of the [White Room]. To me, doing so means the world.

"So - what happened on that day in the last year of the third term? As the leader of the third term, why are you here when you were sentenced to [execution] at that time?"

If that incident hadn't happened, would it have continued? In short, the man's only failure was the one-year gap after the [execution].

It was at that time that I broke free from the other party's control and came to this school.

"You seem to have made a mistake."

Luo's voice was calmer than I expected, as if the experience I just described had nothing to do with him. In fact, from the moment he said his name, I felt a sense of disobedience. His words, actions, and attitude all spoke volumes about that.

“I have never admitted that I was the leader of the third term, and I have never said what my real name is. The person sentenced to [execution] is Oreki Raku, not me now. If you have already understood this, there is actually no need to beat around the bush.”

Oh, this is terrible. Was I too impatient? My calculations and traps were inadvertently discovered by the other party. I was a little disappointed with my performance.

"What I can tell you is............" At this point, Luo paused for a moment, his eyes still fixed on the artificial fountain, "I also escaped during that chaotic time."

Clear, but difficult to understand. There are many doubts so far, but the other party's words also make me a little concerned. He did not directly admit or deny, on the contrary, the explanations given were ambiguous. The similarity is confirmed in [now].

The other party would not give an answer easily, which was clear at the beginning of the conversation. But as Luo said, there was no need to go around in circles and test it.

"............Have you heard of [Dark Alley]?"

"[Dark Alley], Dark Alley... huh? It seems like it's been a while since I heard it from other people. How long has it been?"

The other party talked to himself nonchalantly, and did not hide his identity as a member of the [Dark Alley] project, but of course he had to consider the possibility of being pretentious.

"Are the events of the last year related to the Black Alley Project......?"

"It is precisely because the plan cannot be controlled and cannot be stopped that the supreme masterpiece gets out of control."

"What was the final outcome of the event, and what was the subsequent cessation of the plan?"

"No staff member who participated in the program was spared. If the course had not been restarted, I would have been the only survivor from the first and last batch of students."

"Even the greatest masterpiece cannot survive?"