:Morning light filtered through Touzen Academy's soaring atrium, where tension crackled like static. Today began Phase Three of the Sympathy Spiral—the Loyalty Labyrinth. Students tapped their tablets anxiously as a single instruction appeared:
"Form a Loyalty Chain: Select exactly two classmates you trust. Chains will be evaluated for stability. Instability carries penalties."
No definitions. No hints. Only sixty minutes.
Whispers spread faster than wildfire. In the corner, Riku and Yumi huddled over their tablets.
Riku (low): "We need loyal bonds we can count on. If someone breaks mine, I lose everything."
Yumi (nervous): "I'll pick you and Takao. At least one of you I know I can trust…"
Across the room, Takao eyed the growing clusters of names on the board.
Takao (muttering): "Everyone's playing safe. No one's picking me."
He tapped Rei's name first and then hesitated—ultimately adding Kuroyami Rei as his second pick. Rei's face remained unreadable.
Rei's Inner Thought : "A desperate chain is the easiest to shatter."
Meanwhile, Arata strode into the center of the classroom like a general on parade. He had perfected his pitch:
Arata (loud): "Look, I protect you. Add me, and I won't let the system target you."
He tapped two dozen names into his chain—far more than the allowed two. The screen flashed a warning, but he ignored it, grinning.
Chairman Toma's Voice (over intercom): "Be careful: excess links will be ignored."
The students tensed as Arata's hub ambitions went exposed.
Rei, on the other hand, let others come to him. He quietly asked Yumi for her second pick:
Rei (soft): "Who else beside Riku?"
Yumi (shrugs): "I don't know… Rei, I guess."
She tapped Rei's name—then second-guessed and chose Sena, recalling old grudges.
Rei nodded, as if pleased.
Rei's Inner Thought: "Trust built quietly endures. Loud loyalty cracks under pressure."
Time ran out. Students submitted. Rei was in five chains—within the rules, because only his two picks counted, and others chose him. Arata's hub status collapsed: only his first two picks registered, and he lost mentions in many chains.
Screens flickered:
"Penalty applied to student with highest instability: Arata Nakamura."
Students gasped.
Arata (shocked): "What instability? I was everyone's backbone!"
Chairman Toma's voice again:
"This trial measures sincerity of loyalty, not popularity. Mr. Nakamura, your excess and one-way bonds mark you as an unstable hub. You are expelled from the trial."
Sena and Riku exchanged triumphant glances; Yumi covered her mouth. Rei simply looked away.
In the days that followed, alliances frayed further. Arata's downfall lingered as a warning. Students spoke in hushed tones:
Yumi: "He thought visibility meant safety. He never realized trust must be mutual."
Riku: "A network thrives on reciprocity. Remove the hub, and the web dissolves."
Rei—still at the edges—smiled faintly:
Rei's Monologue : "They learn slowly. Each trial reveals another vulnerability. All I do is guide the spiral tighter."