:
"To expose the system, one must first dance within its illusion."
The extension of the deadline had caused more damage than intended. The class was no longer searching for an anomaly. They were now searching for survival. Alliances had become shaky, students double-crossed one another over falsified dossiers, and the quiet tension in the classroom had turned sharp enough to draw blood.
Day 5.
Rei observed.
Still invisible, still harmless. He'd inserted himself into no factions, made no strong arguments, offered no resistance. He was a shadow against the wall, gently swaying with the turbulence of distrust.
In the cafeteria:
Sena: "So now Yumi's suspicious? You were just defending her yesterday, Riku."
Riku: "I was misled. Someone gave me doctored information. I think the real anomaly is the one feeding fakes."
Yumi: "And yet no one's asking how those fakes got in circulation. Convenient, isn't it?"
Rei (smiling slightly): "I think everyone here is too smart. That's the problem."
Laughter. Awkward, but it broke the argument. Rei's comments often seemed like throwaways. The truth was that every word he spoke was timed with precision. He wasn't redirecting blame. He was diffusing momentum. Like a surgeon pausing a heart before it seized.
He visited the library later that evening. Not for books, but for patterns.
Internal monologue: "The system expected outrage. It thrives on spotlight behavior. Aggression, panic, confession. But no one is standing out because I've balanced the scales. They're equalized in suspicion, trapped in reflective chaos."
Rei triggered a domino silently:
He sent a message to one student using a proxy account:
Anonymous Tip: "Check the timestamp of the first system alert. You'll see someone was already logged into the academy network minutes before. Why?"
That student, a calculating type named Kaito, dug deeper and began suspecting the system itself. His paranoia infected others. Suddenly the Anomaly wasn't a person, but the institution.
---
Day 6. Classroom Debate:
Kaito: "Has anyone considered that this is a test of trust, not threat? What if there is no anomaly? What if they're testing how quickly we betray our own?"
Yumi: "That would explain the flawed data. It's too inconsistent."
Sena: "So we're what... rats in a maze?"
Rei: "If so, we're smart rats. No one's hit the trigger yet."
Kaito (watching Rei): "You always say things like that. Like you're watching us from above."
Rei (shrugging): "Maybe I just read too much fiction."
Another laugh. Another shield. Another brush-off.
That night, Rei leaked three conflicting documents through an encrypted network, all pointing to different students. Each document had just enough truth to be convincing and just enough falsity to prevent full belief. The class fractured again.
By Day 7, chaos was order.
---
Final Vote Ceremony - Assembly Hall:
The students submitted their final votes. Everyone chose someone different. There was no majority.
System Message: "No consensus reached. Target unidentified. Defaulting to contingency clause."
A long pause.
"No students will be expelled. Surveillance protocols terminated. Event concluded."
Relief surged through the room like oxygen returning to lungs. Cheers. Tears. Some collapsed into chairs. Rei simply stood still.
Internal Monologue: "And just like that, I slipped through. The anomaly was never expelled... because I rewrote what it meant to be one. The system wanted a sacrifice. I gave it a stalemate."
As he exited the hall, a flicker of data passed over his screen.
System Alert: "Override failed. Subject KR-01... still active. Escalate to Level Omega."
Rei (smiling): "Now you know I exist. Let's see how deep your system goes."