The first day of official school.
In one of the second-year classes at Fujimi Academy's high school division, a petite girl with swaying pink twin-tails walked in.
Though small in stature, she possessed an unexpectedly impressive bust.
She gave off an air of superiority, like a noble young lady from a wealthy family, scanning the classroom with what seemed like condescending eyes.
Those she looked at, whether male or female students, couldn't maintain full eye contact and appeared somewhat intimidated by her.
This was because she truly was a wealthy young lady. Her family could be said to hold the highest status in this city, and in ancient terms, her father would be the city's lord.
Of course, as a wealthy young lady, she didn't bully others. However, due to her high status and being a genius-type girl with a somewhat aggressive personality, most people wouldn't seek trouble with her.
The girl's name was Saya Takagi.
Just as she reached her seat, there was a slight commotion. Saya Takagi looked toward the door where a senior student had appeared - the school's famous beauty, Saeko Busujima.
She was practically the number one target of male students' affections, their dream girl. Beautiful with a gentle personality and excellent grades, she was considered the perfect wife candidate.
So upon seeing her, Saya Takagi couldn't help but frown slightly, feeling somewhat annoyed by the way male students around her reacted to this senior.
"Takagi-san, I have something I'd like to trouble you with. Could you come with me for a moment?"
The fact that she specifically asked for her help left Saya Takagi feeling somewhat surprised.
"Alright."
Since the other party was being so polite and well-mannered, she couldn't be rude either, so she followed this senior.
The senior said nothing, and Saya Takagi followed silently as well.
However, looking at this direction, were they heading to the computer room?
Sure enough, they arrived at the computer room. After opening the door and walking in, a figure approached, but before Saya Takagi could see clearly, something cold was pressed against her forehead.
This... this was a gun?
It felt somewhat rough, like it was handmade, making her worry it might misfire.
"If you don't want to lose your tongue, answer in Japanese."
These words made Saya Takagi, who was about to open her mouth, instantly feel her entire body invaded by coldness.
Although the other party's tone seemed leisurely, she was frightened when she saw his appearance clearly at this moment.
His exposed face showed traces of severe burns, appearing somewhat menacing, and the hand holding the gun also looked like it had been skinned.
But none of this was the main point - he emanated an aura that made her instinctively feel trembling terror, like a rabbit encountering the king of beasts, frightened motionless by his murderous presence.
Calm down, don't be scared into trembling.
So who was this person?
Probably her father's enemy, planning to capture her as a hostage for leverage.
And Senior Saeko Busujima was actually an accomplice.
No, although Saya Takagi didn't have deep contact with the senior, she didn't think she was that type of person, and there shouldn't be any grudge with the Takagi family.
So she could only be under threat as well.
Therefore, she glanced at the senior beside her with her peripheral vision. Uh, her expression didn't look like she was being threatened, and she even smiled slightly when their eyes met.
What did this mean?
"Take this."
The gunman shoved something toward her - it looked like a hard drive, but felt heavier than a normal hard drive.
"Open the data disk, I want to see the materials inside."
"Ah?"
Saya Takagi was stunned again. This seemed purely like asking her to help decrypt this hard drive?
Wait, this thing might have been stolen from her father's side, containing information unfavorable to her father.
So Saya Takagi said nothing more and walked to the computer to turn it on.
At the same time, she examined the hard drive in the other party's hand carefully.
Should she smash it?
Well, smashing it might not completely destroy it. Better to try opening it to see.
Hmm?
Saya Takagi discovered this thing had no visible interface - how was she supposed to connect a data cable?
"The data interface should be here."
The other party took it back, rubbing a side surface of the hard drive with his finger. A section that looked like an internal switch appeared. When pressed down, it opened a square opening the size of a pinky finger, but nothing could be seen inside - it was completely black.
When he released his finger, the opening closed again, and he handed it back to her.
So she tried pressing it too, but it seemed stuck? No matter how hard she pressed, it wouldn't go in.
In fact, it was indeed severely stuck, requiring tremendous force. Even when Saya Takagi pressed until her finger nearly broke, she couldn't open it. Only he could press it open.
The so-called data connection cable was also inserted with his help, though it was unclear if it properly connected to the interface inside.
Afterward, the opening closed, nearly severing the data cable.
If not for two metal clips that had been inserted to hold it in place, it really would have been cut.
Was this thing really a hard drive?
When connected to the computer, well, the computer broke down - the screen went blue with a bunch of garbled text.
The next second, a situation that startled Saya Takagi occurred. All the computers in the entire computer room suddenly turned on, all displaying garbled text, but then everything became very smooth.
Suddenly, all the computers returned to normal, though the displayed images were somewhat strange.
Stepping back and back again, Saya Takagi observed all the lit screens. Being a genius, she discovered that all the screens could be combined together.
It was as if all the computer screens were individual puzzle pieces of a single image.
Suddenly, the computer monitor closest to her displayed what seemed like an interesting question - actually, it appeared to be a mathematics problem asking for her answer.
Why was it such a coincidence that the one near her would display this problem, since this wasn't the computer connected to the [hard drive]?
It was as if the program inside knew she was nearby.
Her pupils dilated as Saya Takagi noticed the camera beside the computer had been activated.
It seemed the hard drive was indeed extraordinary. Some automatic program inside was surveying the surroundings, and it had locked onto her specifically, not the man or Saeko Busujima.
Had it determined she was the opener?
Well then, she'd provide answers.
In a flash—
"Paper."
As she spoke, Senior Saeko immediately handed her fresh paper. Saya Takagi immediately began calculating on it, writing formulas clearly beyond what high school students would encounter.
On another table nearby, a pile of papers had already accumulated.
Now she wasn't just answering one question, but seemed to be solving mathematical puzzles.
No, she felt like she was being taught - taught by the computer program.
This program was simply an incredibly outrageous teacher. In just one short hour, she felt like she had learned knowledge that would normally take a month, no, a year to acquire.
She could sense the crucial moment approaching - the computer was about to give her the final test.
To see if she could graduate. If she could graduate, it would open more advanced content to her.
Picking up a bottle of milk beside her, she gulped it down in large swallows while quickly eating several bites of bread.
Right beside her were piles of various food and drinks that Senior Saeko had brought from the school cafeteria half an hour ago.
Because her physical strength and mental energy were being consumed rapidly.
Suddenly, screaming could be heard.
"So noisy!"
This was the crucial moment - couldn't they be quiet? This made Saya Takagi extremely angry.
"So it has come after all?"
As Saya Takagi was about to reinvest herself in thinking, she noticed Senior Saeko suddenly saying this with a grave expression.
And the man holding the dangerous weapon, standing by the window, also nodded.
What had come?
Was it related to what sounded like agonized screaming just now? A terrorist attack?
Was some force trying to seize this hard drive directly attacking the school?
...
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