The clock hasn't even striked 6 AM when Rei was forcibly woken up. The waking up call rang in every room of the student dormitory.
"Good Morning students. Breakfast is available in the cafeteria. Your day starts at 7 AM, kindly gather in your appointed classroom by then."
Even though Rei went to bed early yesterday, he didn't have a deep sleep at all, as he kept waking up for no apparent reason. He sat up and looked around. For a few seconds he couldn't recognize the room, but soon his memories returned to him. That's right, he had just started his second day at Kaizen Academy.
"God I slept awful. I don't know i I'll be able to survive another night in the same room as you." Tenji stood up, not wasting any time in annoying Rei as fast as possible.
"Oh, so now I'm even responsible for your bad sleep?"
"Yes, because your dumb ass started talking to yourself in the middle of the night. I even tried waking you up, but you just wouldn't. Not to mention that your phone screen was completely bright for some reason, it was like the sun was in our room!"
Rei had never been aware of this. Luckily the person that had to witness this side of him was someone whose opinion Rei couldn't care any less about. He also decided to ignore the comment about his phone.
After filling their stomachs with breakfast, the students of class C gathered in the classroom.
"Good Moooorning!" Akari stormed into the room, instantly lighting up the mood. As she walked towards her desk, she greeted all her classmates. Someone like Rei couldn't understand how someone could become this friendly so fast, it was almost scary.
"Good Morning, Rei," she talked to him with a bright smile.
"....Good Morning."
For a moment, Akari just stared at Rei, as if she was surprised by something, before sitting down. Soon Miss Nagako entered the room and started the lesson. She quickly turned on the display, which showed a slide with the title "Program".
"Good Morning class. From today on, you will have dynamic programs every day. These will include theory and studying sessions, workouts and regulated training in the simulation. Today, you will be spending the morning learning more about the content of the simulation, while the afternoon will be dedicated to strengthening your bodies," she explained in a monotone way. While Rei was extremely curious about experiencing the simulation again, a part of him was relieved that it wasn't part of today's program. And considering that they couldn't actually get fitter through the simulation, it made sense that they would spend a significant amount of time just training their bodies. Rei was almost looking forward to the afternoon, which surprised even himself. He expected to be more bothered after yesterday's discussion with the director, but if he was being honest, he was even more motivated to prove himself.
In the class, each student was handed out a phone by Miss Nagako. After following the necessary steps to set it up, they now had access to various helpful apps. Furthermore, the phone numbers of their classmates were already in the contact list. Seemed like Akari's hard work at getting everyone's phone number had been in vain.
"Today in the morning, we will once again talk about the Kaizen Simulation. You should find a preinstalled app on your devices with detailed information about it. You'll have enough time to go through all the information today, so please make sure you use the time efficiently," Miss Nagako spoke.
Rei stared down at his phone and opened up the app. It was nothing more but a virtual catalog, the front page reading 'Kaizen Simulation: A military training program developed by Enomoto Yasao'
'Enomoto Yasao', huh? The name rang a bell in Rei's head, though he had no idea why. The existence of the Simulation wasn't public knowledge, so it must've been because of something else.
The catalog contained basic information about the Simulation at the beginning, while the biggest part of it was dedicated to listing all the possible tools that could be generated inside it. From basic necessities such as clothing, to various weapons, vehicles, buildings and even entire locations and maps. Each simulated item was also assigned a certain value. For example, the electromagnetic handgun that they had used before had an assigned value of 1'500 points. A walkie-talkie set was only 300 points, while the armored, weaponized vehicle that Rei found came at a staggering 70'000.
He also found some rather interesting items. Items that he had never seen outside of fiction - a sword that could light on fire, a high velocity jetpack and even a weird "dynamic air movement tool", whatever that means, which had the text "COMING SOON" written over it. This felt more like internet shopping than anything else.
Surfing the catalog, Rei only noticed how fast the time passed once the school bell rang, announcing the lunch break.
"Make sure to eat properly so that you're ready for the afternoon," Miss Nagako announced, ending the class. As the class marched towards the cafeteria, Rei picked up various conversations around him concerning the weirdly hollow feeling of the catalog. Considering that it's describing revolutionary technology, everyone agrees that it feels way too unserious.
After eating their lunch, the students were asked to put on their sport uniform and gather on the outside sport field.
Several staff members, including Miss Nagako, the Director and the Student Council, were present. But unlike the rest, the Director wasn't standing in front of them. Instead, he was sitting on a bench by side, seemingly just here to watch.
"This afternoon, we are going to measure your athletic abilities. You have about 2 hours time to prepare yourself before we will put you through various athletic tasks. The results should accurately reflect your skills and will be documented. Every 6 months you will go through a similar program, that way both you and the school will be able to track your progress. Any questions?" Miss Nagako gave a brief explanation. A little too brief it seems, as a lot of hands were raised in the air.
"Before you ask, we will not be revealing what the tasks will be." Instantly, about half of the hands went down, while new ones shot up.
Miss Nagako sighed.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked in an almost annoyed tone, probably because she actually has to do her job, as she looks at Class B's Akata. He smiles awkwardly, probably feeling weird about getting the teacher annoyed by wanting to ask a question.
"Well, I just wanted to ask if the tasks will be exactly the same every 6 months or if-"
"Maybe. Next," the teacher quickly shut Akata down, barely answering his question. One after another the hands in the air disappeared without any of their questions receiving a definitive answer.
"Are you finally done asking dumb questions? Good, the 2 hour preparation starts now." she says, before walking towards the bench, sitting down next to Director Mazato and seemingly trying to take a nap.
How the hell did she even get this job?
Most students didn't waste any time and immediately started stretching and warming up.
Rei thought. 2 hours of preparation time. He should definitely make sure to not overwork himself, as nobody knows just how difficult they will be or how many of them there are. But even though they weren't given too much information, one could still guess what kind of tasks there will be, or rather what skills there will be tested. After all, the school still wants valuable data, meaning that the tasks will all test things that have something to do with being a soldier, but does that even narrow it down?
Furthermore, what should they even do in these 2 hours? It's not like they could increase their strength, agility or endurance in such a short amount of time. So should one guess what exact tasks will come on and try to train for them? Things like shooting, hand to hand combat or moving around with heavy equipment would make sense, but it would be hard to prepare for them without the necessary equipment or instructions.
During the task in the Kaizen Simulation, Rei made the mistake of acting to rash, which almost put him at a huge detriment. He won't do the same mistake again.
He looked around. A few students were still stretching, others have started exercising, while some of them were just standing and sitting around, either looking confused or leisurely talking to another. Noticeably, the entire Class B seems to have sat down in a circle, spending their time laughing and joking around.
Now... what is the right approach?
"What are you just standing around for?" Akari spoke loudly behind him, jumping up and squatting down repeatedly with an energetic grin.
"Did you even think about this?" Rei asked.
"Think about what?"
This dumbass.
"What are you even going to train for?"
Akari stopped to look at him. Silence ensued as Rei could almost see the cogs in her head turning. She really didn't think about it at all, huh.
"Well, since we're supposed to be fighters, we should practice fighting!" she answered enthusiastically.
"What, like hand to hand combat?"
"Yeah! Come on, fight me!"
"Are you stupid? I'm not gonna potentially harm my classmate right before a physical test, I don't need you to drag me down any more."
"'Any more'!? Also, who says that you can win against me?"
"I do." Rei answered with confidence as Akari stood there, punching the air. He should probably just leave her alone.
"Stop complaining and at least do something, don't waste your 2 hours." Tenji says as he joins the conversation. "Or else you'll drag us down again."
"Oh shut up, I'm just being logical about this. We shouldn't waste our energy."
"What, you can't even warm up without losing that much energy? You must be extremely unathletic then."
"What? I doubt that you're better than me."
Both boys had a similar statue and similar height. That makes it even more important to clear up who's better.
"Oh yeah? I bet I'll get the better results at the test."
"I know I was the one who started this conversation, but I don't think we should compete against each-" Akari tried to get in between them, but Rei stepped closer with a glare.
"You'll have no chance."
"If you're so confident, let's make a bet out of it. Whoever gets the worse results will have to kneel down in front of the winner and admit defeat. In front of the entire class." Tenji said with a slight grin, before holding out his hand. After hesitating for a bit, Rei reached out and grabbed his hand.
"This is bad..." Akari mumbled to herself.
"You think so?" Raku, who was watching from afar, stood next to her. "I think they're getting along better and better. Plus it's entertaining."
"Well, it definitely is entertaining..." she replied, as they watched Rei and Tenji shout insults at each other before getting scolded by Miss Nagako, who was seemingly woken up by their screaming.
Most Class B students decided to spend their time sitting around and chatting, many of them only using the last few minutes to stretch, before Miss Nagako was woken up by the alarm she has set on her phone.
"Okay, the preparation time is up. Everyone, queue up in 4 lines here," she says, stepping on a white line on the sport field. Quickly the students lined up, with most of them already aware of what would come next.
"The first test is a simple 100 meter sprint. See where the four staff men are waiting? Just run over there, as fast as possible. Everyone only gets one try."
While most students saw this coming considering they were lining up at a line, it was still surprising to see such a simple task. Seems like the fear of specific tasks in relation to being a soldier was unneeded.
Miss Nagoko shouted the words "Ready, set, go!" and line after line the students sprinted away. The majority seemed rather fast, which is to be expected, as the academy probably wouldn't accept physically incompetent people. That said, Rei thought it was worth to have a look at his opponents-
"Now we can have a fair fight," Tenji, who was standing right next to Rei, said with a grin. That bastard must've purposefully stepped into the same row as him. Well, it's probably for the better, considering that there is a chance that they wouldn't be able to immediately compare their results.
"You two really like being with each other, huh?" Akari's voice appeared behind them, making Rei jolt in surprise.
"Shut it. Once I've beaten him in this test he'll hopefully never try to challenge me again," Tenji replied.
"Oh come on, Akki, don't be like that. We all need to get along and unite as a team!"
"Wait, what did you just call me?"
"Akki."
"What the hell is an Akki?"
"It's your new nickname. Akitarou is too long. Your parents have a terrible naming sense." Akari smiled with pride.
"No, wait, why do you even assume that I'm fine with you calling me by my first name? And why are you bringing my parents into this...?"
"I can't call you 'Tenji', or else you wouldn't be able to tell if I was talking to you or your sister. That's why I'll call you Akki and your sister Yume."
Rei was fascinated. How can someone possess such high social skills and yet have no filter whatsoever?
"I genuinely don't know what to say when I'm talking to you."
"You can start by calling me Akari."
"I will not."
"Now, now, Akki, you should stop being so anti-social," Rei butted in, seeing this as a chance to annoy his rival.
"I can't believe that you're the one calling me anti-social... and please never call me 'Akki' again, I will seriously kill you."
Rei will definitely continue calling him Akki.
The row in front of them had just reached the finish line, so now it was Rei's and Akki's turn to see who is faster. Miss Nagako gave the sign to run, and so the both of them did. They were pretty fast, and yet in the long run, Rei managed to get ahead, finishing slightly faster than his rival.
"You were... very slow... you can't... can't beat me like that. I barely tried..." Rei said, still completely out of breath, which somewhat reduced the meaning of his petty words. Either way, Akki was annoyed. He had always been at the top of his class when it came to athletics. He had been in the soccer club and was always a very active boy, even in his childhood. He can't lose this.
And so they went on. Akki managed to win the shot put and the plank endurance test back to back, now feeling more confident. Sadly for him, his opponent managed to then beat him in both long jumping and balancing on one foot, thus being one point ahead of him. And yet, Tenji managed to last a minute longer and thus catching up to Rei in the endurance run - running in a loop with a heavy backpack in an periodically increasing speed.
As the last students gave in and started to sit down to get some air and rest, Miss Nagoko came up to announce the next activity.
"Okay, that's it. All of your performances have been marked down, you're free to return to your dorms," she simply stated, before walking away. Rei and Tenji looked at each other in dissatisfaction. In the hearts of aspiring rivals, a tie is the same as a loss. Most students started to get up, ready to leave, while Rei was still sitting there, trying to come up with a fair way to determine a winner.
"Could I have your attention for just a minute?" The Directors voice rang through the sports ground before the students could leave.
"I would like to announce an upcoming test. It will require some preparations, so even though it will only start in a month, I'd like to give you all enough time," he went on. "Class battles. Each class will fight against each other inside the Kaizen Simulation. You will be able to equip yourselves with gear of your choice and fight as a team. It will be your first 'real' battle, so until then, the focus of your training will lie on turning you into formidable fighters. Expect to spend a lot of time inside the simulation to train your skills, while spending the rest of it outside to train your body. The exact rules and execution of the test will be explained later. Any questions?" Just like that, the Director finishes his compact explanation At the same time, a mix of anxiety and exhilaration swept over Rei. Battles, the true home of a soldier. Finally he would feel like he was making actual progress, rather than spending his time with these school-like activities. That said, he was also worried. These battles would be held between classes, meaning that there was probably some sort of teamplay expected.
He looked over to Tenji, making eye contact. Ugh, this kind of reminded him of the welcoming ceremony.
"Actually, I was thinking of continuing this sports test inside the simulation for a more... dangerous part. That way, even if you get injured, you won't suffer any physical consequences from it." A rather creepy smile appeared on Director Mazatos face. If it was out of excitement or for a more disturbing reason was unclear to Rei, but it caused intense goosebumps either way.
"As this part wasn't initially planned to be part of today's program, it's completely voluntary. You can view it as a sort of personal assessment of your own strength... though I of course can't promise that it won't affect my opinion of you."
So basically, even though it's voluntary, it's still advised to participate, huh? Another exchange of glances took place between the two rivals, this time it was a look of confirmation rather than disgust. Whatever this 'dangerous' test was, Rei would definitely perform better at it than Tenji.
"All who want to give it a try, kindly follow me."
A lot of students started to hesitantly walk behind the director in his suit. From behind, he looked like a penguin to Rei. After looking around, it seemed like about half of the student body had decided to take the challenge. Considering that this time everyone can be certain that the Kaizen Simulation is in fact just a simulation, it was only a given that everyone would give it their all, possibly even taking bigger risks than they would in real life.
Rei's heart was beating. Another chance to prove himself. He can't waste it.