Chapter 6

Daisuke couldn't believe it. Even though his consciousness travelled through time into a body of another person and his mind is now infused with a super-intelligent quantum computer, that was nothing compared to the shock he felt now.

He was holding the ID of the person responsible for everything. For all their suffering. For the deaths of all people on the base. For the genocide.

For a brief moment, he was overwhelmed by emotions. A few crazy thoughts flew through his mind such as killing the person right here, right now. But it was just a quick spark fuelled by the mix of emotions he felt at the time. He exhaled sharply and collected his thoughts. He knows what the mission is and anything reckless will not benefit the mission. In fact, it might compromise it beyond repair.

His crazy train of thoughts was interrupted by a high pitched scream from the 'monster' before him.

"Kyaa! Where did you get that from! Give it back! Pervert! PERVERT! Do you plan to take it home with you and then jerk o-"

Her rambling was quickly interrupted by Daisuke.

"Listen. You dropped this. You are lucky that I picked it up. So stop with all that yelling and take it"

After that, Kunosuki snatched the ID from his hands so fast that he couldn't even register it and ran off. After a few meters, she turned around.

"I will remember your face, pervert! Don't ever come close to me again or I will get you arrested!"

Then she disappeared behind the doors of the school.

Daisuke was still in quite a shock so he did not realize that he has arrived to the school. But to call it a school was quite an understatement. Shirizawa highschool was a massive complex full of exquisite looking buildings. From what he had understood from the research he and SARA did online, Shirizawa high was a boarding school with all the facilities students could possibly need so there is absolutely no need for them to leave the campus. Aside from accommodation for students, which consisted of a few massive apartment buildings that were divided between male dorms and female dorms, there were also various facilities, including supermarkets, pharmacies, stationary shops, restaurants, sporting equipment, etc.

That, however, is not the only thing that sets Shirizawa high apart from other high schools.

The school offered special curriculum. Because of the fact that there was no previous student record needed and anyone could get in as long as their passed the entrance exam, instead of the usual "all-around" curriculum, students were able to customise their study, much like it was done in the universities. Shirizawa high believed that instead of pushing all the students to study the same thing, they should choose what to study based on their talents and interests to make sure they get the most of their education and become valuable members of society.

Being 15-year-olds, they were not of course expected to know every single step they want to take in their study. Therefore Shirizawa high offered consultations with counsellors who can guide the students towards subjects and classes they will benefit most from based on their talents and interests.

After reading all about this on the school website, Daisuke decided to pick something that he already excels in. He decided to take classes and graduate in math, computer science and engineering. 3 subjects may be next to impossible for regular students, but Daisuke, being already an engineer, this would not be a problem at all. Also, not just any engineer. He was a quantum engineer with almost 100 years of scientific advancement in his head.

He also learned one other thing while doing his research on Shirizawa. Although this might seem like an ideal place for any student, the reality was different. Shirizawa was a battlefield. Only the brightest and most determined would rise to the top and graduate. If you get behind your studies and you do not meet the standards the university expects from all their students, you will be expelled without any mercy.

Shirizawa tries it's best to hide this, but with his skills and power of SARA, Daisuke was able to uncover deleted forum threads and blog posts that were describing the true face of Shirizawa. To Daisuke, who knew nothing but tech and military, this seemed familiar. What the blogs and forums described is that students have ranks. Based on the rank, you get a better access to the facilities and curriculum. Students who fall to the lowest rank have it very difficult with just limited number of facilities available to them and are forced to leave the school. Daisuke speculated that this measure is in place to weed out people unfit for Shirizawa.

Digging further, he also learned that although the school is elite and offers exclusive facilities, there is no student fee. And the facilities work on honor system (as Daisuke found out, if you do well, you live well, if not, you are basically done for).

This is possible due to the endorsement from the richest family in all of Japan. The Ichinoe family. Not much is known about them because they are very private people. Even Daisuke with his skills was only able to find bits and pieces.

Considering all of this, Daisuke then looked up the average graduation rate. Although the amount of people who get accepted each year is about 50, the dropout rate is still around 25%. Instead of classical 3 years, this school offers 4 and 5 year long study plans to get most out of it. Technically, after graduating from Shirizawa, a vast majority of graduates do not even attend university, because they are already elites in the field they were studying at Shirizawa. Therefore many companies are welcoming the graduates with open arms.

With all this intel, Daisuke felt prepared to take the entrance exam. All students were required to send in the general area of study they wanted to pursue. Daisuke, having sent 3 areas of study was supposed to attend 3 exams.

Daisuke entered the building. What was happening inside was surprisingly familiar to him. It looked like inside of the military academy that Daisuke attended. Everyone was nervous, running around and looking for the rooms that they were supposed to have their exams in. And Daisuke was not surprised. The building was massive. The entrance hall was big enough to hold hundreds maybe even couple of thousand people. Daisuke, however was not intimidated by the size of this building.

"SARA, what is the first exam and where is it held?"

"The first exam is Mathematics entrance exam. It is held on 4th floor in the northern wing of the building. Room 4-N-13."

As the voice in his head subsided, a 3D blueprint of the building appeared in front of him with white arrow indicating which way to go.

Daisuke came to really enjoy SARA and the perks that she offers, although it was very unusual at first.

After arriving to the room, he saw that some of the people already gathered. And among them was someone that Daisuke was already familiar with. It was the girl from the bus. A girl with captivating looks and dignified appearance. Daisuke couldn't help but admire her.

"So she is taking math exam too. Truly a remarkable person."

A bell rang and the door to the exam room opened.