The academy at night was very quiet.
After all, the academy was situated on an independent artificial island. The island itself wasn't small, but aside from the staff and teachers, the total number of students wouldn't exceed four hundred and eighty.
And the number would only be smaller than four hundred and eighty, never more.
Natsuki Subaru didn't encounter a single soul on his way to the seashore. He sat alone on a bench facing the sea. The damp, cool sea breeze slightly alleviated his feeling of suffocation.
Closing his eyes, Natsuki Subaru stopped himself from thinking, letting himself become immersed in the sound of the waves.
An unknown amount of time passed before Natsuki Subaru opened his eyes again. The complex, irritated look in them had returned to a calm, bottomless, and weary state.
'I'm still quite resilient.'
Natsuki Subaru looked at his own hands and sneered inwardly.
Standing up, Natsuki Subaru stretched his slightly stiff body. He took one last look at the somewhat blurry horizon in the darkness, then turned and walked back to his dorm room along the path he came from.
This time, the room no longer seemed so narrow. After a simple wash-up, Natsuki Subaru went straight to sleep.
...
About a week passed just like that.
The lax atmosphere in the class did not improve with the passage of time; instead, it grew progressively worse.
If at the beginning everyone was still a bit reserved, somewhat wary of the surveillance cameras in the classroom and the teachers, as time went on, some gradually discovered that no one cared what they did.
Even if they read manga, chatted, looked at their phones, or slept, no one would bother them.
So, a week later, Year 1, Class D had reached a level of almost complete recklessness.
'Although I don't know what the four words 'meritocracy' truly mean in this academy.'
'But without a doubt, they have really never once thought about the problems with this school.'
Year 1, Class D had lost completely from the very beginning.
This was the conclusion Natsuki Subaru reached after observing the state of Year 1, Class D's classes out of boredom, even though he had no idea what the specific competition or contest of strength between the four classes in each grade was.
At the very least, academic ability itself, for a school, was part of it.
Academic ability was definitely a part of 'merit,' an indispensable one at that. At most, it was just that this school, which emphasized meritocracy, considered things in a more diversified way.
But, in the end, they were still students. The attitude of Year 1, Class D toward studying was extremely poor, and their academic performance was self-evident. If not seventy or eighty percent, then at least over half of the students would fail.
There was no need to even consider the other competitive aspects; they had already been utterly defeated in the initial academic stage.
"Instead of worrying about them, you should worry about yourself."
Suzune Horikita's cold voice cut in, interrupting Natsuki Subaru's thoughts.
The result of cooperating with Kikyo Kushida's setup last time was that Kikyo Kushida's relationship with Suzune Horikita made no progress, but it did break the ice between Natsuki Subaru and Suzune Horikita.
They would exchange a few words from time to time.
Although most of the time, the words were rather sarcastic like this.
But, it was clear that being able to talk from time to time was a form of progress in itself.
"Eh?"
"Me?"
Natsuki Subaru, unfazed, said with a smile, "My academic ability is actually alright."
Over the past week, Natsuki Subaru had also come to understand a little about Suzune Horikita's abilities.
It had to be said, Suzune Horikita's intuition was quite good; sometimes she could guess what was on Natsuki Subaru's mind.
No wonder Kikyo Kushida had made no progress. Horikita probably sensed from the start that Kikyo Kushida's initial motives were not pure, so she rejected her attempts to get close and curry favor.
"You've barely looked at a textbook this entire week."
"Most of the time, you're either idly staring out the window or observing people and things that have nothing to do with you."
Hearing Natsuki Subaru's reply, Suzune Horikita's tone didn't change at all. She didn't even glance in his direction, coolly saying to herself, "Even so, you dare to shamelessly claim your academic ability is alright?"
Suzune Horikita's words were as sharp and direct as ever.
"It should be alright, I think."
"If it's just high school knowledge..."
To this, Natsuki Subaru just smiled and didn't continue the conversation.
Suzune Horikita was right; Natsuki Subaru's attitude toward learning was indeed not great.
Over the past week, Natsuki Subaru had been doing what most of the students in Year 1, Class D were doing.
That is, not paying serious attention in class.
However, this didn't mean that Natsuki Subaru's academic ability was low.
Before Natsuki Subaru was transported to another world, during his childhood and elementary school years, he had always been a child with superb athletic ability and equally superb academic grades—he was always 'the child from next door'.
Back then, Natsuki Subaru was the focus of the school, the one and only. Everyone around him would naturally acknowledge him.
However, in middle school, this situation began to change.
Although Natsuki Subaru's athletic and academic abilities were still excellent, even top-tier in the school, others who were just as outstanding as him, or even more so, began to appear around him.
Natsuki Subaru was no longer the sole focus of the school.
To maintain his 'special' image, Natsuki Subaru began to deliberately play the part of a 'lofty' 'genius' after middle school, intentionally keeping a distance from others, believing that actively making friends was something 'mortals' did.
He wanted to wait for others to discover his 'specialness'.
Unfortunately, Natsuki Subaru's actions didn't make him a sought-after lofty genius, but only served to further isolate him.
Finally, Natsuki Subaru entered high school and a new environment, thinking he could have a fresh start. But regrettably, Natsuki Subaru discovered to his despair that his once-proud athletic and academic abilities were no longer prominent on the larger stage of high school.
Perhaps still excellent, but no longer 'special'.
He tried to integrate into the new class using the same 'lofty' approach as before, but it backfired. No one could understand Natsuki Subaru, the scenario he had hoped for never happened, and he was once again isolated and ignored.
Ultimately, he became a shut-in otaku, and then was transported to another world.
___
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