1 Volume 1 - Ch. 1 Classroom of Talent Supremacy
"Talent"
The word "Talent" meaning innate possession, and the word "Ability" meaning the ability to do something, when these words combine, the ability to demonstrate power in a certain matter that one possesses from birth.
In other words, talent can be defined as the innate ability one possesses.
However, there are differing opinions on this definition.
Some argue that talent is not innate but acquired through effort, in other words, through hard work.
The discussion about talent is always marked by the clash of these two claims. This disagreement is not only among contemporary intellectuals but also among past great philosophers.
The conflict between Locke and Descartes is a very clear example.
To briefly explain, they were individuals who developed influential philosophies known as empiricism and rationalism around the 17th century. Locke advocated empiricism, while Descartes advocated rationalism.
Explaining the differences between these two philosophies would take time, so I won't go into further detail, but it's important to remember that empiricism and rationalism are opposing ways of thinking.
The reason they clashed can be summed up in one word: innate ideas. It is the agreement or disagreement regarding the belief that humans possess the ability to judge good and evil from birth. Descartes claimed that rational thinking, or "good sense," is given equally to everyone from birth.
In contrast, Locke argued that humans are born as a "blank slate," in other words, a completely blank state, and all knowledge comes from experience.
The fundamental difference between the ideas of innate and acquired may lie here. And this way of thinking leads to the discussion of talent, and further, it may even leap to the discussion of "equality."
Now, let's consider what equality means.
I would like those of you who have listened to my talk thus far to answer a question.
Question: Are humans equal or not?
What does equality mean in modern society? The word "equality" is used frequently as a slogan in modernized societies.
If we trace back through history, we can find countless examples of discrimination, so numerous that we can't even count them with both hands. And even now, there are still a significant number of discriminations that persist.
People discriminate against those who are born with any kind of abnormality, labeling them as "disabled" and subjecting them to discrimination. If we further narrow it down within the scope of society, we come across the term "buraku discrimination."
It would be a waste of time to delve deeper into these examples, so let's state the conclusion first.
Humans are not equal at all.
In the society we currently live in, discrimination is more evident than equality.
And this is particularly pronounced in the context of labor.
There are "users" and "the used," and it's well said that the latter has become an important cog in society. They are replaceable entities, and once a cog malfunctions, it is immediately discarded without any repairs.
The former only utilizes the latter and can obtain immense wealth and enjoy life. The concept of equality barely comes to mind.
It is a society that is both wonderful and despairing. Karl Marx's concerns have indeed come true.
And it seems that no one has learned anything from history and instead acts out of self-interest, which has resulted in the current state of society.
As this society continues, "the used" will eventually lose sight of their own sense of purpose and wander aimlessly. Ultimately, they seek "hope" to project their fears onto something or someone.
That something or someone could be others, objects, or perhaps...
Now, how can we achieve "equality"? I know the unexciting answer, but it's better if everyone thinks about it for themselves.
Let me share just one opinion. However, most likely, many of you will become extremely enraged by it. But that kind of rage is uninteresting to me.
-- Those who lack talent are like dust mites.
The word "equality" is a term sought by those who pursue ideals, and it would be better to give up and think about something else rather than pondering such matters. After all, inequality begins from the moment of birth.
Because "talent" and "equality" are inseparable words.
***
What could happen at school in April? For students who are already attending, it would be a time of change as they move up a grade, which can bring both positive and negative experiences.
For example, friends who were close may be separated due to class changes, but on the other hand, new friendships can be formed through class reshuffling.
However, when it comes to school events in April, the entrance ceremony stands out. In front of the school gate, you can see newly enrolled students wearing pristine, untarnished uniforms. It is a wonderful period when their youth begins. The spring breeze gently sways as if supporting their youth.
"...To think that I, who was once called the Ultimate Hope, would be entering school again... Truly unexpected."
Upon passing through the school gate, there is a bulletin board displaying the new students' class assignments. A new student, who seems to have confirmed their class, mutters to themselves.
The boy has a distinctive appearance. His hair, meticulously maintained despite its length reaching his waist, is completely black, leaving no room for any other color. And his red eyes, visible through the black hair, seem to see through everything, possessing a strong and cold gaze.
The rest of his facial features are well-proportioned, and one could say that his overall appearance is highly rated.
Just as the black-haired boy is about to walk towards his designated class, an interesting coincidence occurs.
A slightly shorter girl with light blue short hair drops her handkerchief in front of him.
Seemingly unaware that she dropped it, the girl continues walking. Did the black-haired boy notice? He starts running towards her, intending to return the handkerchief.
Is this what they call the beginning of youth? If he were an ordinary high school boy, he might think of becoming friends with the girl and deepening their relationship. Truly, youth is a wonderful thing.
Unfortunately, he was not an ordinary high school boy.
It's such a bother. I express my thoughts exactly as they are in words. I wish she had noticed that the handkerchief would fall from that angle. Such trivial complaints arise.
However, there's nothing I can do. We're headed in the same direction.
Losing something on the first day is "unfortunate."
"You dropped this."
When the female student receives the handkerchief, her expression shows surprise.
Moreover, she receives it with forceful momentum, almost snatching it away.
"...Thank you."
Nevertheless, she expresses gratitude. It seems she knows about courtesy.
She is about 160cm tall. As the average height of Japanese high school girls varies each year, it cannot be determined which year's average she belongs to, but she is likely taller than average.
Crossing her arms, she looks at me with her light blue hair fluttering in the wind.
"...Hey, are you in Class C?"
"Yes."
"I thought so."
The girl with short hair confirms her suspicions and continues to look at me, just as she did before.
I didn't do anything in particular, but did I do something wrong? I ponder.
Perhaps she didn't want me to touch the handkerchief. Such thoughts briefly cross my mind, but that's not it.
Because she is undoubtedly looking at my face. There must be something about my appearance that caught her attention.
"Is there something on my face?"
She appears slightly surprised by my words but quickly regains her composure. Then, with a hint of apology, she speaks.
"...You're a guy, right? I was just a little surprised because your hair is unusually long."
The female student asks while gesturing with her hand.
My prediction was correct. She looked around my face, and the only thing different from others is my hair, so anyone could have made that assumption.
"I ended up like this because I neglected my hair."
"You're strange. Isn't that hair of yours annoying?"
"It's not a problem once you get used to it."
They say hair is a woman's life.
The Japanese, who have a strong image of Yamato Nadeshiko, value long hair.
The girl in front of me has a short haircut, and it seems she doesn't have such preferences either.
Her hair is neatly arranged, indicating that she takes good care of it.
"What's your name?"
"Name?"
I was asked my name.
It's been a while since I've felt this sensation. And it might be the first time I've been asked without any malicious or hateful feelings.
"We'll be together for a year, so it's better to introduce ourselves first, right? I'm Ibuki Mio. What's your name?"
"I think self-introductions are meaningless... Well, fine. I am Kamukura Izuru. I have no intention of getting along with you."
"...You don't have many friends, do you?"
"Not many? That's not the correct way to put it. I don't have any friends."
"You really insist on that?"
Leaving the perplexed Ibuki behind, I walk toward the classroom.
***
Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Development High School is a unique advanced school located in the heart of a metropolis, with a campus area exceeding 600,000 square meters. It is a prestigious school that is led by the government and has an extremely high rate of academic advancement and job placement, almost close to 100%. This school has two distinct features that set it apart from other high schools.
First, during their enrollment, all students are required to live in the dormitory located within the school premises and are strictly prohibited from any external contact or communication, except under special circumstances.
At first glance, this might sound questionable, but as I mentioned earlier, the school campus is vast. It includes various entertainment facilities such as karaoke, movie theaters, cafes, as well as department stores, convenience stores, and restaurants. In other words, it can be said that a small town has been formed within the school. Therefore, there is hardly any inconvenience in daily life.
The second unique feature will be explained later, so there is no need to worry for now.
When I arrived at the designated classroom, seats were assigned. My seat was the second one from the back by the window. After sitting down and placing my bag and belongings, I immediately headed to the entrance ceremony.
To be honest, it was quite boring. It was my first entrance ceremony in life, but it was definitely dull. We were lined up in an orderly manner, our uniforms were checked, we listened to grateful speeches from teachers and current students, and we heard the homeroom assignments... Well, it was just plain boring.
After the entrance ceremony ended, we returned to our respective classrooms and were instructed to wait until the assigned homeroom teacher arrived.
"Hey, Kamukura, why did you choose this school?"
I was approached by Ibuki-san. We hadn't spoken a single word since introducing ourselves, so I didn't think she would initiate unnecessary conversations. But I guess everyone was bored during this dull waiting time until the homeroom teacher arrived.
Honestly, it's hard to imagine her being idle enough to start a conversation with her neighbor.
Her seat was one in front of mine. In other words, she deliberately turned her face towards me to strike up a conversation.
Upon closer inspection, she was unexpectedly attractive. She might not compare to a super high school-level idol, but she would definitely be considered beautiful.
...Don't worry. Despite my appearance, I have talents like an idol. I just don't use them because they are usually unnecessary. Let's admit that it's hard to imagine.
Now, I should answer her question, but to be honest, I don't know for sure myself.
...Let me clarify that I'm not joking.
I remember the events of that world.
I witnessed Hinata Hajime using the New World Program to bring out all of my talents and defeat Enoshima Junko's alter ego.
After that, I was supposed to either disappear or return to Hinata Hajime, but for some reason, I woke up in an unfamiliar bed.
Again, I'm not joking.
To confirm the current situation, I immediately got out of bed and looked around, but there were no unanswered questions.
However, on the nearby desk, there were documents with my name, including the school uniform, an acceptance letter, and a pamphlet for this school.
I quickly pondered why I was here, but before that, I was more concerned about what had happened to my "talents," so I checked all of my "talents" first.
Please understand that I was able to do this because all of my talents were functioning properly.
And the conclusion of why I am here is probably because I accidentally infiltrated the reserve New World Program, which is a backup program to rehabilitate the Super High School-Level Despairs, due to some kind of bug.
"Hey, Kamukura, are you listening?"
This is starting to feel like one of those old light novels about being reincarnated into another world.
But if it's the New World Program as I speculated, it should be easier than being reincarnated into another world where everything is unknown.
...So what should I do? In other words, what I need to do is "graduate."
The setting of this program is a school. To escape from here, I need to attend classes for three years without dropping out or being suspended and literally "graduate."
If I do that, the despairing students can be rehabilitated through this process. So I should follow the same path.
However, the problem is that I, who has nothing to learn in school, will find these three years nothing but boring.
In that case, it might be a good opportunity to learn about "emotions" and "friends" that Hinata Hajime and Nanami Chiaki mentioned within this vast amount of time.
In that case...
"Kamukura!"
"Sorry... I was lost in thought for a moment. I was trying to remember why exactly I chose this school."
"Oh, you were actually listening to me."
If I couldn't handle multiple things at once, there's no way I could be called the Super High School Level Hope.
But even so, why is it that I'm struggling to come up with an answer that she would find satisfying...?
With that thought in mind, I pause my thinking.
...To truly understand "emotions," a "model answer" like that would be meaningless. My brain quickly determines that.
However, let's seek understanding this time. It would be troublesome to talk about something related to this world's circumstances.
"I don't have a particular reason myself. If I were to say something, it would be that I was fascinated by the 100% college enrollment and job placement rates."
"Oh... I guess I have the same reason as you. And also because I wanted to experience living on my own."
Living alone. I've heard that the total number of men and women living alone in Japan has been gradually decreasing due to delayed marriage and a decline in marriage rates.
It became a minor social issue, leading to problems such as dying alone and lifestyle-related diseases.
Well, this doesn't matter here since it's a program world...
But if we consider that the students who enrolled here are one step ahead in terms of independence compared to high school students of the same age, I agree with the school's educational policy on that aspect.
Because...
"Oh? It seems the teacher has arrived. It's better to face forward."
"Looks like it."
As I looked ahead, a slender man in his thirties entered the room. He wore black-framed glasses and appeared to be the type who would teach subjects related to science. He seemed a bit weak.
"Good morning, everyone. I am Sakagami Kazuma, your homeroom teacher for Class C. I teach mathematics. Since there are no class changes in this school for three years, we will be together for a long time.
So, I would appreciate it if you could remember my name as early as possible. Now, I would like to explain the special system of this school.
I believe you already have some understanding of it from the brochure before enrollment, but please listen carefully. I will now distribute handouts, so please pass them back. If there aren't enough, I'll bring more."
He seemed quite friendly despite his appearance. He spoke without any lies or pretense, all from the heart.
The students seemed to have a favorable impression of him.
"Seems like no one here is without the handout? Next, I will distribute student ID cards. These cards will become the most important thing in your future life.
I assume you all know about the S System, so I won't go into detail about it here. If there's anything you don't understand, please refer to the materials I just handed out."
The S System. It is one of the unique features of this school. Simply put, it is a system where everything within the school is paid for with points.
The card I received is a student ID card integrated with a point card, which serves as the equivalent of cash within the school. It eliminates the need for paper money, preventing monetary troubles. It's a fairly reasonable system.
Using it is quite simple; youjust need to authenticate it with the machines. You can present it or touch it to the devices for verification.
If you lose it, it will be quite troublesome, so make sure to remember that.
"Now, here comes the important part. The points will be automatically credited to your account on the 1st of every month.
Each one of you should have already received an initial allocation of 100,000 points. And these points have a value of 1 point = 1 yen."
The classroom suddenly became lively. It was understandable. After all, receiving 100,000 points, equivalent to 100,000 yen as pocket money, is something that would astonish any ordinary high school student.
By now, they must be daydreaming about how to spend that 100,000 yen. Oh well, it's boring. After all, the teacher didn't mention anything about receiving 100,000 points every month...
At this stage, there is still too little information to make a judgment, but there is undoubtedly something fishy about it.
I sensed that, and I waited for the next words from Mr. Sakagami.
"Oh, it seems there's a question. Yes, you can ask."
"I have a question. Is it true that we receive 100,000 points every month?"
"...That's a good question. But Ryuen-kun, the teachers cannot give you a clear answer regarding that. I apologize. I hope you're satisfied with that."
Mr. Sakagami apologized, yet his voice had a hint of excitement. I felt suspicious because of the joy that seemed to have been sparked by raised expectations.
So they cannot give a clear answer regarding receiving 100,000 points every month... I see, that makes it even more suspicious.
Moreover, the student called Ryuen, he seems to be better off than the other unremarkable students. He stands out because others are too low.
"I see, I'm satisfied, Mr. Sakagami. By the way, are you really able to remember the names and faces of all the students?"
"Naturally, I remember. As I mentioned earlier, we'll be together as a class for three years. I also want to get closer to you as soon as possible."
This teacher seems genuinely caring for the students.
He doesn't seem to be forcing it, so it must be his true nature. It's fortunate to have encountered such a dedicated teacher.
Given the unremarkable talent I possess, which is natural for me, it's not surprising...
But it's a shame that a good teacher like him is unmarried because I noticed there is no ring on his left ring finger.
However, it would be rude to dwell on that, so I stopped my train of thought.
"Are there any more questions? If not, I will conclude the explanation. Let's work hard together for the next three years. It's a good time now, so that's all for today.
Starting tomorrow, regular classes will begin, so please make sure to prepare everything you need for each subject. That's all, feel free to disperse."
At Mr. Sakagami's instruction, the students began to move.
Some groups were discussing going to karaoke, seeming to have already become friends, while others were making plans to meet at cafes. However, it appeared that more than 70% of the people were returning to the dormitory.
To be frank, it would be foolish to listen to the full of holes explanation earlier and then go out to play.
But I couldn't care less about fools. What's more important is to understand this school first.
Everything about this school seems suspicious. The excessive amount of 100,000 points given to high school students on the first day.
Insufficient explanation regarding the points. And above all, the abnormal amount of surveillance cameras in this school...
Before coming here, I saw dozens of them, with one on each corner of the classrooms. If I were to search the entire school, there would probably be a hundred of them. Clearly, there is an excessive amount of surveillance.
But perhaps this means I won't be bored.
There is no change in my expression. Even when I witnessed various people's despair along with the despair of being a Super High School-Level Despair, there was no change.
That's only natural. Kamukura Izuru is a being that has eliminated all unnecessary things.
Still, for some reason, I felt a slight sense of anticipation.
Even for someone like me, who can predict all futures, there might be a tiny bit of expectation for the unknown. Just like back then...
"Hey, Kamukura. Are you not going home?"
Ibuki-san, who was sitting in front of me, called out to me. Looking around, there were hardly any students remaining.
I thought she would leave immediately, but it seems she wanted to discuss the explanation we just heard. I assume she wants to think together with someone because it's easier to understand the current situation that way. That's why she waited for me, I suppose.
After all, she seems to have no friends like me.
...Why is she glaring at me? Could it be that she heard me...
Anyway, it seems like I unintentionally caused her a bit of trouble.
"Sorry. Shall we talk a bit about the explanation earlier? It might help ease your anxiety a little."
"...I haven't said anything yet."
"It showed on your face."
I said what I needed to say and left the classroom.
"Hey, wait a minute!"
Ibuki-san quickly followed after me.
Let's have just a little bit of "expectation." Let's wait for the "unknown" in this school that I couldn't predict.
The protagonist of this story is not a false genius. It is the story of a genuine genius born with all sorts of talents through the medium of Hinata Hajime.
Welcome to the classroom of talent supremacy.
