September 30th, 807
8:45 AM
I descend the stairs to head to the Virtual Room on the fourth floor.
I wonder what time Koto and Soichiro leave their room, as I've never bumped into them. Perhaps I'm the only one leaving this late.
After 5 minutes, I arrive, confirming my suspicion that the cadets were already there.
I spot Koto among the group members and slowly approach them.
"Good morning." I greet them calmly as they turn their gazes towards me.
"You could have come tomorrow..." A voice interrupts me.
I look at the speaker.
"Who are you?" I ask perplexed, not recognizing anyone matching his description – tall, robust, with red hair.
He approaches arrogantly.
"I'm Masuhiro Toki. Rank 700. Since I have a higher rank, you must show me respect!" he boldly declares, pointing at himself with his thumb.
I ignore him and look in the direction of the others before asking: "How long have you been here?"
"Eh? Who gives you the right to ignor-" Before he could finish, Koto interrupts him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Not long. We were discussing the strategy to adopt," Koto says, calming the situation.
I look at the other group members. My gaze first falls on Seyun, who timidly returns the look. Then, I glance at the last person: Hyouka Kairi. With long black hair and a calm face, I don't remember her either. So, it seems Toki is the only one with a bit of a personality issue.
"What do you plan to do?" I ask them.
"Probably, this practical test will involve fighting monsters. So, we thought about a formation. Asa Seyun uses a bow, so she'll be in the rear. Hyouka Kairi uses daggers, so she'll stay close to her for protection in close combat. I use a sword, so I'll be in front with Toki supporting me with a lance. From what I remember, you chose a short sword. What do you think about positioning yourself in the center as a bridge?"
I nod. I have no issues, especially since I haven't practiced in the gym this week, so it wouldn't make sense to make demands. In fact, I wouldn't mind staying on the sidelines.
"Alright then. Sorry for the delay, I'm Koto! Nice to meet you!" he says with so much enthusiasm that it startles me.
"Pleasure, I'm Ban!" I reciprocate.
....
9:00 AM
Punctual as a Swiss watch, Mary appears in front of the Virtual Room, as if she had just teleported.
"Good morning, everyone."
Immediately, everyone notices her, and silence falls in the room.
"Enter in order, starting from the first group to the twentieth. As I've mentioned, the test will be self-evaluative. You will be transported to a large wooded area. Your goal is to save some civilians hidden in a specific location. Now, go!"
We head towards the Virtual Room.
As I enter, I glance at Mary, and our eyes meet.
Once inside, for a moment, I'm blinded by a white light just like last time, and then I find myself in the middle of a forest with the other group members.
At that moment, we all hear the instructor's voice.
"You have a time limit of 60 days to rescue those civilians. We have adjusted the time inside the Virtual Room to flow more slowly than outside. For this test, one day inside corresponds to one minute outside. So... good luck." With these words, she disconnects from us.
"60 days? Is she kidding us? Okay, outside it will only pass an hour, but for us, it will be 60 days!" Kairi despairs, looking towards Koto, who is also incredulous.
Seyun is panicking; I think she's about to cry.
I look at Koto, who is still silent. Perhaps he's still processing what the instructor said.
I start signaling him with my eyes to reassure Seyun.
He looks at me puzzled, so I gesture towards Seyun with my head.
"Ah..." he exclaims surprised.
Finally, it seems he understood.
"Better get to work right away, right Ban?" Koto says it with a hint of pride towards me.
Then he raises his voice so that everyone else can hear: "Let's start exploring. The sooner we find those civilians, the sooner we can leave. Although it's not a battle against monsters, we can't rule out their presence, so let's form up."
We start following a weed-covered path.
Behind me, I see Seyun talking to Kairi. They're probably comforting each other, maybe even on the way to becoming friends.
"Stop! There's a zombie!" Koto yells, pointing his sword at a distant zombie.
"Zombies again?" Toki exclaims, not showing particular sympathy towards them.
Seyun already has her arrow aimed at the monster, but she had no chance to kill it. This is because Koto, with extreme skill, approached and decapitated it with a single slash of his long sword.
"Seyun!" I call her, pointing to another zombie about fifty meters further than the previous one.
Immediately, Nayun shoots an arrow, piercing its nape, making it fall lifeless to the ground.
She loosens her grip on her bow and puts it back over her shoulder, then shyly thanks me.
After this brief encounter, we resume walking.
After a couple of hours, we set up camp inside a cave. Along the way, we killed about ten zombies and even a few demon wolves.
Toki went out with Koto to hunt some boars, claiming to have seen some nearby.
I'm leaning against the wall on one side of the cave, while Nayun and Kairi are sitting on the other side, about 4 or 5 meters away from me.
At some point, Kairi becomes more tense and breaks the silence.
"Do you really believe it?" she says with a bit of trembling.
"Are you referring to the fact that demons are controlling us?" I reply, imagining that she's talking about that.
She nods, then continues more directly: "Why did you say it? Demons don't have reason; they attack indiscriminately. It's impossible for them to do what you said."
I look at her with doubt. But at this stage of the story, do they still think demons don't have reason? I don't remember; I might have spoiled everything.
In any case, I resolve the matter in a few words: "It's just my hypothesis. Mary said it too, right? That there's no evidence."
"Mary?" Seyun points out, looking puzzled.
"Ah... I mean Instructor Ross." I quickly correct myself.
"Ahaha." Both burst into laughter; Kairi even starts pounding the ground with her fist, unable to contain herself.
But what's so funny?
Right at this moment, Koto and Toki are returning, carrying a large boar on their shoulders.
"Why are you laughing?" Koto asks, seeing Seyun and Kairi smiling.
They place the poor decapitated boar on the ground and approach us.
"It's just that... Azka Ban calls Instructor Ross 'Mary.' " Kairi reveals, after standing up with Nayun.
Koto's gaze shifts to me, while I'm still seated.
"Pfft... Ahahahah." He, too, suddenly bursts into laughter, tears streaming down his face.
Toki is the only one who remains serious. Perhaps I should reconsider my opinion of him. He approaches, bends down, and inexplicably puts a hand on my shoulder.
"So, it's like that..." He says these words, indicating that he's understood something, but what?
"Like what?" I immediately retort, removing his hand. I don't understand what's happening and start to get annoyed, so I look at the others...
...apparently in vain because they continue laughing. Toki, on the other hand, gives me a nudge on the arm and declares, "You're in love with her, right?"
...
My jaw drops to the floor.
Toki straightens up and puts his hands behind his head, as if stretching, then continues, "Instructor Ross is one of the most fearsome people in the academy. Even the other instructors fear her and speak to her with respect. And you... call her Mary? If you think about it, this is the only plausible explanation."
I don't argue with him and instead start to contemplate it. I call her Mary because I like the name. Additionally, every time I remember that her name is Maria, it infuriates me, reminding me that I could easily use my real name.
"The instructor should be just over 30, so you might have a chance." Seeing me thoughtful, Toki considers it a confession and tries to encourage me with these words.
Realizing that any attempt to deny it would be futile by now, I accept my fate and, speaking with the same threatening tone as Liam Neeson in 'Taken,' I utter these words: "Are you sure... she's not listening to this conversation right now?"
They all stop laughing and darken.
"I-It can't be..." Toki says, looking at me, sweat dripping from his forehead.