NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7
Chapter 7. A Day of Turmoil
Monday, the most depressing day.
Why do I even have to go to school? Everyone says it’s for work, but if I asked how many people actually study something useful for their future, how many would say “yes” with 100% confidence?
Thinking about these mysteries of the world, I head to school.
Some walk with friends, laughing, others are with their lovers, but I go alone. Since no one wants to be friends with an outcast with a score of “0,” I can’t blame them. Still, the way people avoid me like the plague and look at me weirdly while I’m on my way to school is pretty annoying.
When I enter the classroom, I feel something strange—the party boy who always rushes to me isn’t here today.
Is he in a good mood? Or did he finally realize his own foolishness? Well, I don’t care either way. If he doesn’t come, today I’ll be free for a change, so I’ll indulge in a bit of laziness.
Just as I thought that, my hope was crushed when the homeroom teacher entered the classroom.
“Today’s a day for ability practice! Don’t forget your training suits!”
Our homeroom teacher, Okamoto Yudai-sensei (age 33, currently single), calls out to the class.
Trampling on my happiness… Should I curse him to go bald?
It’s truly unfortunate, but as 33-year-old virgin-sensei said, today is indeed ability practice day. As you might guess from the name, ability practice is about training one’s unique abilities in a special facility to learn how to defend oneself against monsters in case of an emergency.
This special facility has an incredible feature that can nullify injuries up to a certain point for those inside. It’s something that costs billions just to make one, so mass production isn’t feasible. The principle behind it is a complete mystery, but some genius likely used their power to make it. That person must be raking in the cash by now.
The reason I hate this training is that I’ve told everyone I don’t have any abilities… which leaves me with nothing to do, so I just meditate in the corner every time. In reality, I do have an ability, but mine is a bit special and glitches the stats, eventually reducing them to ‘0’. Not that it matters. I don’t want to get involved in trouble, and as long as I can protect Ao, there’s no reason to reveal my power.
Because of that, the party boy targets me, but once we graduate, that won’t matter.
Leaving the classroom, I head to the boys’ locker room. I take out my training suit from my locker and put it on. Naturally, this suit is special, different from ordinary clothes, and absorbs attacks up to a certain level. However, if I punch it with my power activated, it’ll tear in one hit, so it’s probably not that durable.
Feeling reluctant, I head to the training ground with heavy steps.
When I enter, most of the first-year students are already there, chatting happily. They’ve probably been building up stress from not being able to use their powers freely.
When the supervising teacher arrives, the room falls silent, and everyone starts lining up. They’re eager to start, but the teacher’s overwhelming presence is also a reason for the silence.
The teacher in charge of practice, Kagami Gakuto-sensei, has muscles so prominent that his clothes seem ready to burst. His ability is Physical Enhancement; most attacks are meaningless in front of him, and his blows are powerful enough to destroy buildings. His ability score is a surprising 23,520, enough to defeat a D-rank monster on his own.
“We’ll start ability practice now. This is a very important lesson to protect yourselves if a monster appears. Take it seriously.”
“Yes!”
“Now, spread out, activate your abilities, and I’ll give each of you guidance.”
At his words, everyone activates their abilities. There are those who control fire, those who talk to animals—it’s interesting just to watch. I head to the corner of the training ground and, not wanting to do absolutely nothing, sit down and close my eyes, intending to meditate.
I figure it’s okay to use my power as long as I don’t get caught, so I activate it.
“[Mars].”
In an instant, my senses sharpen, and I can perceive the entire training ground as if I were holding it in my hands.
Among the first years, the girl with Psychokinesis seems to have the strongest power. The party boy isn’t bad, but he’s somewhat lacking. He seems to realize this, as he’s starting to get frustrated. I just hope he doesn’t take it out on me, but that’s probably wishful thinking.
As I continue meditating, Kagami-sensei approaches and says…
“Your ability will awaken soon, too.”
He pats my shoulder and moves on to guide another student. Thank goodness he’s not the kind of teacher who discriminates. Actually, every teacher here is like that; they must have had great mentors themselves.
◇
As soon as practice ends and lunch break begins, as I expected, the party boy walks toward me with a creepy grin.
“Hey, trash! Go buy me a drink!”
Not wanting to resist, I get up and head to the vending machine.
When I return with the drink and hand it over, he doesn’t hit me like usual and lets me go back to my seat.
(That’s odd… is he planning something?)
I wonder but can’t imagine what he’s up to. There’s no point in worrying, so I wait for class to start.
“All right, let’s begin.”
Our teacher, Ms. Futaba Nikaido, known as Medusa, enters the room. Today, her piercing gaze is as intense as ever.
Guess I won’t be able to sleep through this, I think, noticing a female classmate rummaging through her bag.
(Did she forget something? Poor thing…)
Of all times, during Medusa’s class, no less.
Nikaido-sensei quickly notices and asks the girl…
“What’s wrong? Did you forget something?”
“My textbook is missing… I had it earlier, though…”
That’s strange. A textbook doesn’t just disappear unless someone took it…
And then, I remember the party boy’s eerie smile. No way… Just to check, I open my bag and find the missing textbook and an unfamiliar wallet inside.
“Hey! Check if the trash has anything in his bag!”
Suddenly, the party boy yells. There’s no way he could see what’s in my bag from over there! It’s obvious he’s the one who put it in here.
At his shout, everyone turns their gaze toward me.
“I don’t know how, but this was in my bag,” I say, handing the textbook and wallet to the girl. If I panic now, it’ll only make me look more suspicious. I’m shaken inside, but I try to keep a calm face.
“That’s my wallet!” another girl says, raising her voice. She’s someone high up in the class hierarchy. She snatches the wallet from my hand and glares at me with a disgusted look.
“Pathetic!”
Then, she slaps me hard, a loud smack echoing across the room.
“No, that’s not…!”
I start to protest, but I realize that the entire class is looking at me with suspicion, contempt, and disgust. Only Nikaido-sensei gives me a steady gaze of belief. But it doesn’t end there.
The classroom door opens slowly. The vice-principal enters, looking puzzled, as if he doesn’t know what’s going on. To my surprise, two men who appear to be police officers follow him inside.
“Excuse us, we’re here because we received a report of theft.”
Who called them…? And they’re here so fast, right after the stuff was found in my bag. It’s like they’re showing off that it was a setup. That party boy really got sloppy.
Relieved for a moment, I realize I was foolish to relax.
“Now, we’ll be taking you down to the station.”
Without even questioning me, the police move to escort me. Nikaido-sensei, initially stunned, snaps out of it and steps in to stop them.
“Wait! This is outrageous; you’re abusing your authority!”
“Oh no, ma’am, we’re just doing our job.”
“The first thing to do is question him! Why are you treating him as the culprit right away?”
The police, clearly annoyed with Nikaido-sensei’s objections, say, “If he’s innocent, we’ll release him right away,” and they grab me by the neck, shoving me into the police car.
Overwhelmed by this turbulent turn of events, I sit there in a daze.