Chapter 18: The Dead Ones
Kazuma, having exited the Virtual Space, stepped down from the VR machine. Though he found the term “dead people” questionable, he headed to the room where those who had “died” in the Virtual Space were.
There, the male student who had attacked Kazuma and the female student who had fought valiantly against Kaori and Megumi were sitting on a sofa, watching the monitors that covered one entire wall.
However, when Kazuma arrived, the two turned their faces from the monitors to Kazuma. Kazuma, now the focus of their gazes, offered a vague smile and gave a light nod.
Then, as Kazuma also sat on the sofa and was about to watch the monitors, the male student approached him.
“Yo.”
“Eh…! Ah!”
“Um, sorry about earlier. For saying stuff that would scare you.”
The male student who approached Kazuma gave a casual wave in greeting, then immediately apologized. During the training earlier, when the male student had attacked Kazuma, he had made some rather menacing remarks. He seemed to be bothered by it, scratching the back of his head as he apologized to Kazuma.
Kazuma froze, dumbfounded at this. He hadn’t expected an apology at all. Having just had a terrible experience with Combat Course students moments ago, he had slightly misunderstood. He thought Combat Course students weren’t normal.
However, that wasn’t the case. This boy properly understood that his words and actions could frighten a Support Course student. That’s why he apologized to Kazuma.
Realizing this, Kazuma decided to forgive the male student, who was now awkwardly averting his gaze.
“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
“Can’t say that. I’m aiming for the National Defense Force. I ended up scaring the very people I’ll eventually have to protect. I should receive an appropriate punishment.”
“You’re so serious. I really don’t mind. In fact, I thought you were very convincing as a Terrorist. It was a compelling performance.”
“I’m not happy being praised for that. Anyway, it’s a bit late to ask, but I haven’t seen your face around. What’s your name?”
“Unlucky-kun. That’s what everyone calls me.”
“Huh?! You’re that Unlucky-kun who got into an accident on the first day of the entrance ceremony! I see. So that’s why I didn’t recognize your face…”
“Haha, so I am famous after all.”
“Well, there’s probably no one in the first year who doesn’t know. So, tell me your real name.”
“Ah, sure. It’s Kazuma, Satsuki Kazuma. Um, and you are?”
“Ah, my bad. I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Shunsuke, Hayami Shunsuke. Nice to meet you, Kazuma.”
“I didn’t expect to be called by my first name right away.”
“Hm? Was that not okay? I thought about calling you Satsuki, but it sounds a bit girly.”
“Ah, I see. So that’s why. Well, you can call me whatever’s easiest for you. Nice to meet you, Hayami-kun.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you!”
The two exchanged names and shook hands. Kazuma thought it was good to have met Shunsuke, who was surprisingly considerate. And he was happy to have made a friend in the Combat Course.
“Right. I just remembered, what’s your Gift, Kazuma? When I attacked you at the end, a car door appeared in front of you, right? What kind of Gift did you use for that?”
Shunsuke, after shaking hands with Kazuma, asked him a question as if he had just recalled something.
“That’s the Transposition Gift. While Natsume-san and you, Hayami-kun, were fighting, I picked up a nearby pebble just in case and prepared to swap it with the car door.”
“Whoa, seriously?! That’s amazing! But, how were you able to move at that moment? It might sound like I’m bragging, but I think it was pretty scary, you know?”
“Ah… haha, well, it certainly had impact, but thanks to Natsume-san, I had a fair bit of leeway.”
“I see. True, having Natsume on your side is reassuring. Still, you’re amazing too. A normal Support Course student would have been too scared to move.”
“Heh, I’ve nearly died once before, you know!”
“Hahahahahahaha! Now that’s convincing!!!”
Shunsuke slapped Kazuma’s back repeatedly, roaring with laughter. Kazuma’s self-deprecating joke seemed to have hit Shunsuke’s funny bone.
“Man, you’re interesting, Kazuma. If we end up teaming up next time, I’m counting on you.”
“Leave it to me! Just, no trucks, please.”
“Dahahahahahahaha! You really are the best!”
Shunsuke seemed to be completely taken with Kazuma’s self-deprecating humor. He had been laughing non-stop since a moment ago, and tears were welling up in the corners of his eyes.
“You’re really funny, Kazuma!”
Still clutching his stomach and laughing, Shunsuke wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and slapped Kazuma’s back again.
“Alright, then, let’s go watch the matches.”
Saying that, Shunsuke was leading Kazuma towards the monitors when the female student, who had been silent until now, stood up. Kazuma turned his gaze to the suddenly standing female student, and their eyes met.
The female student, their eyes having met, approached Shunsuke and Kazuma. Then, she swiftly moved closer to Kazuma, bringing her face near his. Kazuma instinctively recoiled, trying to move away from the female student, but was pulled closer by an unseen force.
“Uwah!”
“Yahoo! This is the first time we’re talking, right? I’m Makimura Kaede. Nice to meet you~”
“Hey, Makimura. Don’t just use your Telekinesis like that. You’re startling Kazuma.”
“Ehh, but he was trying to run away.”
“That’s because you suddenly got in his face! Normally, anyone would be surprised and try to get away!”
Shunsuke lectured Kaede, as if he had read Kazuma’s mind. Listening to this, Kazuma nodded vigorously, as if to say, “Exactly!”
“Is that so? Sorry about that. I just got really curious, you see. I mean, a Support Course student jumping out to help two people when I was fighting? That’s too rare, it makes you want to talk to them, right?”
“Eh? Seriously? Kazuma, you even did something like that?!”
“Yep, yep. I was so surprised. And that’s why I lost, you know.”
“So that was the reason! I was watching on the monitor the whole time, but I couldn’t figure out why you lost, Makimura. But hearing that, it makes sense. Yeah, if that happened, even Makimura would lose.”
“You could hear the audio, couldn’t you? You didn’t understand?”
“All I heard was screaming, so I didn’t know who it was. But, well, if it was Kazuma, then it makes sense. Still, you’re really not like a Support Course student, Kazuma.”
“Mhm, mhm. I also never imagined a Support Course student would jump in to help someone from the Combat Course.”
“Um, sorry to interrupt while you two are getting excited, but Makimura-san, are you perhaps famous?”
“Ah, right. Kazuma wouldn’t know. As you can see, this girl is strong enough to be in the top three of the first-year Combat Course.”
“Ehem. I am none other than the strongest Telekinesis user among the first years!”
Kazuma was dumbfounded by Kaede, who puffed out her chest with a smug look. He never imagined that the person Kaori and Megumi couldn’t defeat even when fighting together was one of the top three in their year. However, having seen that battle, Kazuma quickly understood. The person before him was, without a doubt, a formidable opponent.
“But, that was unfortunate, Satsuki-kun.”
Suddenly being told it was unfortunate, Kazuma tilted his head. He wondered what exactly was unfortunate and asked Kaede.
“Um, what was?”
Seeing Kazuma’s puzzled expression, Kaede now tilted her head.
“Eh, huh? You know, Satsuki-kun, you got done in by Inoue and Tamura, right? And it was pretty gruesome.”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Huh? Am I the strange one?”
Kaede, finding Kazuma’s reaction unlike that of a Support Course student, looked at Shunsuke, wondering if she was the one who was odd. However, Shunsuke also seemed troubled by Kazuma’s reaction and merely shook his head when their eyes met.
“Um, normally, if something like that happened to you, wouldn’t you be scared?”
“Ah! So that’s what this is about…”
Kazuma realized why the two were perplexed. They had probably seen on the monitor how badly Inoue and Tamura had treated him. That’s why they were worried that Kazuma might have developed some trauma.
Understanding this, Kazuma decided to explain to clear up the misunderstanding.
“No, there were certainly scary parts, but since you don’t die in Virtual Space and don’t feel pain, it wasn’t that scary.”
“But, I think there are times when you feel pain just by suggestion, though…”
“If it were something really extreme, I probably would, but what those two did wasn’t quite at that level, I guess.”
Hearing Kazuma’s words, Kaede and Shunsuke exchanged glances. The scene they had witnessed earlier was, by any measure, horrific. Both legs mangled, one arm turned to charcoal, and finally, his whole body engulfed in flames. How many people could endure that? Probably, not just Support Course students, but even Combat Course students would be traumatized.
The two looked at Kazuma’s face once more to check if he was forcing himself. However, Kazuma merely tilted his head, looking genuinely puzzled, and showed no signs of fear. Seeing Kazuma like this, the two momentarily moved away from him.
Then, they began to talk in low voices so Kazuma wouldn’t hear.
“Hey, what do you think?”
“I don’t think he’s acting. Maybe it’s an aftereffect of the accident or something.”
“Ah, that’s it. If it weren’t for something like that, there’s no way a normal person wouldn’t be terrified after being subjected to something like torture.”
“Yeah. Probably, even for a student from the Combat Course, if they experienced something like that, it would normally be traumatic.”
“Uh-huh. No doubt about it.”
The two of them, having convinced themselves that Kazuma had some kind of problem with his brain due to the aftereffects of an accident, returned to Kazuma. For some reason, Kazuma was bewildered by the strangely warm gaze they were directing towards him.