Chapter 2

Just like that, one by one, more students kept coming in. The last one is the girl with blond hair and the boy with a hat.

Like the rest of us, they looked bewildered by the situation. It seemed they didn't know more than what we already did.

I stood there with my back on the wall, while Rantaro was talking with the two newcomers, probing their situation as he kindly explained the situation at hand to them. I felt like it was better to keep quiet for now, so I kept a low profile while observing everyone. Most of them looked nervous or confused, with few exceptions of course.

This whole situation was so bizarre, I can't let down my guard. From where I stood, I can hear everyone's conversation clearly.

"I guess I will tell you my name first. I am Rantaro Amami. But let's leave it at that for now."

The girl with blond hair looked at Rantaro confusedly, "Huh? Um, okay."

A guy with spiky hair and beard approached with a confused expression, "With this, we have 17 people here. How many students are there? Geez, what the hell is going on?"

Rantaro folded his hands while saying, "No, I think this is all of us. If this is what I think it is, anyway."

What did Rantaro just say? What did he mean by that? Seemed like I was not the only one who wondered about his statement, since the girl with pigtails said, "...If this is what you think it is?"

A girl with long strawberry blond hair snorted, "Stop acting like a fuckin' know-it-all. If you know something, then spit it out already!"

I was also curious, so I braced myself for his answer. Like I thought, Rantaro knew something more about this. Just when Rantaro was about to answer, an unknown voice echoed throughout the gym.

"Okaaaayyy, be quiet everyone!"

"Huh? Who's that? Where did the voice come from?" said the girl with glasses.

Suddenly, five big robots came descending upon us. The green robot we encountered earlier was also one of them. Those robots looked menacing while holding dangerous weapons. "Kyahahahaa! Thanks for bear-ing with us!"

"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!" Screams of panic and horror came from all over the gym. Without knowing what to do and what will happen, the students can only gaped in disbelief and trepidation.

"Where the hell do these monsters come from! We're surrounded!" said the guy with spiky hair.

The robot with a red metal plate answered, "These aren't monsters. They are Exisals!"

"They are highly mobile, bipedal weapons platforms!" said the robot with yellow plates.

"How about we test this by killing these guys?! We can make toothpaste out of them using these babies!" The robot with blue plates exclaimed excitedly.

This is bad! I tried to make myself as calm as possible. But it was rather hard to do so when various big, dangerous weapons were pointed at you. And not just me, everyone is in panic.

"How gory! Just imagining it feels horrible! I can't stand gory," said the pink plates robot with a feminine voice.

"Wait! We can't kill them with the Exisals! According to the schedule, the Exisals aren't supposed to show up until later!" said the red one.

"But..we are in Exisals now," the yellow one sounds confused.

"Oh, you are right! We've screwed up!"

"I told ya we shoulda read the script!"

"No, you didn't say that."

The robots kept bantering with each other, I almost can't keep up. But it sounded like they made a mistake somewhere. Is this related to the "preparation" that the green one mentioned earlier? Speaking of which, the green robot hadn't say anything yet since earlier.

"Oh well, why don't we just get out for now? It's not too late for that!" said the pink one.

"Y-yeah! Let's do that! Readyyy!"

Loud sounds were coming out from the Exisals, the cockpit was opened, and suddenly 5 stuffed animals came out flying. They each have the same colors with their respective Exisals, with white color on half of their body.

We could only look in a dumbfounded manner at the bizarre view in front of us. There are stuffed bears moving and posing around.

"Rise and shine ursine! We are the Monokubs!"

It took a moment before we regained our senses.

"H-hey... What's with these stuffed animals? How are they moving?" said the guy with spiky hairs.

I bet everyone was also thinking the same question. It was a question to which nobody knows the answer. Apparently, these stuffed animals are called 'Monokubs'. I observed closely while the Monokubs are busy bantering with each other again. Each of them has different personalities and names.

"Looks like I was right." In the middle of this confusion, Rantaro still looked weirdly calm. "This is exactly what I thought it was."

What does he mean by that? Rantaro, what is it that you know?

"But who is behind all this? Why put such ridiculous--"

"Shut up! Your reaction is too normal! Too boring!" The blue bear which I assumed was called Monokid shouted at Rantaro, cutting his sentence.

"Now that you mention it, don't you think they dressed boringly as well?" said Monotaro, the red bear.

"Wait a minute. Don't tell me they haven't been given their first memory yet?" said the yellow one, named Monosuke.

"That's weird. They should have had it before they wake up."

The girl wearing a headband with short hair said, "What do you mean by 'first memory'?"

As if to brush the question away, Monosuke corrected his glasses position and asked, "Do you remember having any Ultimate talents or anything like that?"

Ultimate talents? Do I have one? No, I don't think so. But what does it have to do with any of this?

The girl with blond hair said with hesitation. "N-no I don't. I do have a skill I devoted myself to.. but I wouldn't call it Ultimate talent."

"M-me neither," said the boy with a hat.

"Same here."

"Yeah, me too."

Slowly, one by one admitted that they don't have something which can be called the Ultimate talent.

"I knew it! They don't have their first memory yet!" said Monokid.

"Monophanie, aren't you in charge of that?" said Monosuke while looking at the pink bear.

"...Zzzzz…"

"You're obviously just faking it!" said Monosuke annoyedly, but he soon let out a tired sigh. "Well, now we have a huge problem. You guys have forgotten your talent and become a generic high school student."

"What? Forgotten?" Despite myself, I can't help but let out a question. How can I forgot my talent when I have nothing like that in the first place? I didn't recall I have anything I was particularly excellent at. My academic grade was pretty good, and my friends often relied on me a lot, but that's the extent of it.

"You see, according to the script, there is this thing called Ultimate Hunt going on. You've all lost your memories and become a different person because of that Ultimate Hunt," said Monotaro.

"Umm, what are you talking about?" asked the girl in glasses.

"It's pointless to explain anything to the current you guys. This story can't go on without you guys remembering your true selves."

"Yeah! You need to reclaim your talents by regaining your memories!" said the spirited Monophanie.

"What the-- Now you are awake?!"

I don't get it. The more they talk, the more I don't understand what is going on.

"Quit the chit-chat! Let's just get this done quickly! I am itching to kill somebody!" said Monokid.

After that, I didn't know how it happened, but when I came to my senses, my outfit had changed, from my school uniform to a dark blue shirt and black skirt as long as my calves. I also wear a white lab coat outside my shirt. Since what does this-?

"Great! Now you look ready for your first memory!"

"Hell yeah! Brace yourself! After this, the killing game will start!"

"What? Hold on!" However, my voice fell to deaf ears, due to blinding light that suddenly shined upon us. I instinctively thought this was bad, and took a few steps to the side.

Fortunately, I stood near the gym stage. I have to take cover behind the stage for now!

I successfully hide behind the stage. However, my head was throbbing so much as a scene flashed through my mind like a film. What is this? Are these.. my memories?

That can't be. How can I.. forget this?

Soon after that, I blacked out.