The bell rang three times at exactly eight o'clock.
It wasn't a normal school bell. At Buleria National Public School, even the bell sounded controlled—short, sharp, and precise.
Students moved quickly through the hallways.
Conversations quieted as people entered classrooms.
Inside Class 2-B, thirty students settled into their seats while the digital board at the front of the room flickered to life.
Izuya sat near the window.
Same seat he always used.
Same posture—leaning slightly back, half interested in the outside world rather than the inside one.
Spring sunlight spilled across his desk, warming the surface of the wood.
He didn't move it.
Across the room, Ophelia Harley turned around in her chair and looked at him.
"You didn't even look at the board this morning," she said.
Izuya blinked slowly.
"What board?"
She pointed toward the hallway.
"The ranking board."
"Oh."
That was his entire reaction.
Ophelia stared at him for a moment before sighing dramatically.
"You're ranked eighth in the entire school."
"Yes."
"You don't care?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"You're impossible."
Behind her, Sakura Loslett quietly placed her bag on the desk and sat down.
She glanced toward Izuya for a brief second.
"You should care a little," she said softly.
Izuya tilted his head.
"Why?"
Ophelia answered before Sakura could.
"Because people work really hard to get there!"
Izuya considered that for about two seconds.
"Sounds tiring."
Ophelia dropped her head on the desk.
"Unbelievable."
The classroom door opened.
A tall man in his early forties entered, holding a tablet.
Mr. Kuroda.
Strategy and Cognitive Systems teacher.
His classes were the ones students feared the most.
He placed the tablet on the desk and looked around the room.
"Good morning."
The class answered in unison.
"Good morning, sir."
Kuroda tapped the screen.
The digital board behind him displayed a large chart.
MONTHLY RANKING EVALUATION SYSTEM
Below it appeared three percentages.
Written Intelligence Exams — 50%
Strategic Problem Solving — 40%
Psychological Analysis — 10%
Most students already knew this.
But every new month, the school reminded them anyway.
"This week," Kuroda continued, "you will participate in the Strategic Evaluation Test."
Murmurs spread across the room.
Strategic tests were different from normal exams.
Instead of answering questions, students were given complex scenarios.
Business negotiations.
Crisis management.
Political simulations.
Military logistics.
The purpose wasn't knowledge.
It was thinking.
Kuroda scanned the room slowly.
"The top ten students will take the advanced version."
More whispers.
Even the quieter students looked interested now.
Top ten evaluations were famous within the school.
Winning them could dramatically increase someone's ranking.
Losing them could destroy it.
Izuya rested his chin on his hand.
Advanced test.
Annoying.
Across the room, someone raised a hand.
"Sir… will Rank 1 participate?"
Kuroda didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the window side of the room.
A seat near the front.
Empty.
"Arthur Beaumont is currently assisting the faculty with an external academic project," he said calmly.
Students exchanged looks.
Of course he was.
Arthur Beaumont rarely attended normal classes anymore.
Yet his rank never dropped.
"However," Kuroda continued, "he will be present for the evaluation."
The classroom immediately became more focused.
Even Ophelia straightened up.
Top students competing was always interesting.
Especially when Arthur was involved.
Izuya sighed quietly.
He wasn't interested in competing with anyone.
But participation was mandatory.
Kuroda tapped the board again.
The screen changed.
A city map appeared.
"Today's warm-up scenario," he said.
"You are advisors to the mayor of Zytepia."
Students leaned forward slightly.
"The city budget has been cut by thirty percent," Kuroda continued.
"Crime rates are increasing, transportation systems are failing, and citizens are protesting."
He crossed his arms.
"You have twenty minutes."
The board displayed a timer.
20:00
"Your task," Kuroda said, "is to design a strategy that stabilizes the city within six months."
Pens started moving.
Students opened tablets.
Whispers filled the classroom as ideas formed.
Except for one desk near the window.
Izuya stared at the board for about ten seconds.
Then he closed his eyes.
---
The Void appeared instantly.
The silent version of Zytepia surrounded him once again.
Except this time the city wasn't empty.
His mind filled it with data.
Police reports.
Budget numbers.
Population statistics.
Traffic flows.
All the pieces he remembered from news articles and school lectures assembled into a living model.
Ten hours inside the Void.
Twenty minutes outside.
Plenty of time.
Izuya walked down the street slowly.
He imagined the city reacting to different policies.
More police funding.
Public transportation upgrades.
Tax adjustments.
Each decision created ripple effects.
Crime moved.
Economics shifted.
Public opinion changed.
The simulation kept running.
After several hours inside the Void, the Azure Bird appeared again.
Perched on a traffic light.
Watching him.
Izuya glanced at it.
"Too many variables," he murmured.
The bird flapped its wings once.
Izuya stopped walking.
Then he smiled faintly.
"…Unless the variables change."
---
Back in reality, Izuya opened his eyes.
The timer on the board read:
04:12
Students were still writing intensely.
Izuya picked up a pen.
He wrote exactly three sentences.
Then he stopped.
Across the classroom, Sakura glanced toward him.
She noticed his paper was almost empty.
Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Ophelia leaned sideways in her chair.
"Already done?" she whispered.
Izuya nodded.
"That was fast."
"Yes."
"Are you sure it's correct?"
Izuya looked out the window again.
"I think so."
Outside, in the courtyard, students were walking between buildings.
Among them stood a tall figure near the digital ranking board.
Blond hair.
Perfect posture.
Arthur Beaumont.
Even from this distance, he seemed strangely still compared to everyone else.
Arthur's eyes were directed toward the classroom building.
Toward the window.
Toward Izuya.
For a brief moment, their gazes aligned again.
Arthur's expression didn't change.
But something about his eyes suggested curiosity.
Then he turned and walked away.
Inside the classroom, the timer reached zero.
Kuroda collected the papers.
He glanced briefly at Izuya's sheet before moving on.
For a moment, the teacher's eyebrows lifted slightly.
Just slightly.
Then his face returned to normal.
The class didn't notice.
But somewhere in the school building…
Arthur Beaumont was already thinking about Rank 8.