Liar, Liar - Volume 1 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Liars Meet and Clash

“Yawwwn…”

It was Wednesday, April 6. I stifled several yawns as I walked along a mostly barren street in the pleasant, quintessentially springlike weather. It was a little after eight, and although it’d typically be a bit eerie for a town to be this quiet in the morning, I reasoned that it was understandable enough here, given the unique nature of this place.

An atlas would tell you I was on Shiki Island, but it was more often called simply “the Academy.” It was an aquafloat, an artificial island, one built a few hundred miles south-southeast of Tokyo Bay. Apparently, this small island had been funded by some massive conglomerate way back when with the goal of “educating true elites” or whatever. However, the system they’d devised had produced results beyond what anyone had expected, creating a seemingly never-ending flow of top-level graduates. This had led to huge crowds of people joining the project. Now the island was home to a pretty large city divided into twenty districts, or wards. By the way, the total population was presently at around a million, half of whom were students. As a newcomer, I found it tough to wrap my head around.

“Okay, the official opening is tomorrow. It’s just this ‘welcome to the island’ ceremony this afternoon… Still feels pretty much like spring break to me. No wonder I’m the only one out this early.”

I thought back to what I’d read in the school guidebook and sighed. Normally, I’d be trying to grab a few more minutes of sleep as well. I’d finished submitting all the paperwork and stuff for my school admission the day before, and I had planned to take it easy today… But thanks to the constant rain for the past two days, the ferries to the Academy had been delayed. I hadn’t made it here until ten the previous night, and by the time customs finally released me, it was past midnight. Obviously, I was in no mood to hit the school at that point, so now my whole schedule was delayed by a day.

Being a newcomer and all, I wanted to attend the welcome event that afternoon. To do so, I had to finish a bunch of little errands before noon rolled around. And that’s why I was presently headed for Eimei School, a private institute located in the Fourth Ward of the Academy. I’d actually spent the previous night at a cheap hotel in the Fourth Ward since I hadn’t completed the move-in procedure. It was in the same district, so I had figured I’d locate the school after a little wandering, but…

“…Man, I think I’m lost.”

Finding the school was going to take a while. This whole island wasn’t even on Google Maps. Maybe there was something on the device they had given me at island customs (they’d mentioned it was “a must” here, I think). But I’d been so exhausted and seasick the night before that I couldn’t tell you how to turn the thing on yet.

Despite my age, I was like a toddler lost in the neighborhood. It was enough to make you cry, don’t you think?

“…Hmm?”

Then, just as I was hanging my head helplessly, I spied someone. A girl was walking on the other side of the road. Judging by her uniform, we didn’t go to the same school. I typically would’ve been pretty timid in this sort of scenario, but I wasn’t getting anywhere alone. Plus, the prospect of my first encounter with a local resident (or should I call them “islanders”?) created this odd sort of excitement that pushed me on. I all but sprinted across the street as I called to her.

“H-hey, um…!”

“…? Oh. Um, me?”

The girl turned around and raised an eyebrow at the slightly out-of-breath kid before her. That didn’t make it any easier for me to breathe. I was almost gasping for air now. That’s how much of a true beauty she was, like something out of a fantasy novel. She was a bit taller than average for a girl her age. Her hair—a luxuriant shade of red—ran straight down to her waist. There was an atmosphere around her that all but screamed of her upper-class roots, and her eyes, now fixed upon me, were the purest shade of ruby. Those eyes seemed to express both nobility and strength simultaneously. Just looking into them made me feel as though I might be sucked in. I’d describe her face as more gorgeous than cute, I think. Ten out of ten people, regardless of gender, would immediately fall in love with her. Her slender figure reminded me of a fashion model, and her dazzling, amply exposed thighs seemed dizzily provocative to me, even though she wasn’t sporting a miniskirt.

Plus…

Hmm. Have I seen her somewhere before? Maybe she was on the Academy’s website?

For a brief moment, I felt something like nostalgia. My brow furrowed. The website explanation seemed most likely to me. Anyone this captivating could be an ambassador for a tourism department. Even if her photo was stuffed into the forty-seventh page of the travel guide, she’d still be one of the most memorable things in it.

“Uh… Did you need something? Because I need to get going…”

“Oh, my bad… Um. Sorry, I mean. I do, yes. Need something, that is.”

This elicited little more than a look of concern from her. Hurriedly, I banished all my less-than-proper thoughts.

“Um… So actually, I only just got to this island last night, and I’m a little lost. Do you know how to get to Eimei School in the Fourth Ward?”

“Oh, that’s all? Ha-ha. You don’t have to be so nervous about something like that. You’re a second-year, right? That makes you the same age as me.”

“Ah…I am? Wait, how did you know?”

“Because there’s a feature on our devices that tells us. You can find out the name and school of any student on the Academy, as long as they’re the same year as you or lower. You really didn’t know? They’re supposed to teach you how to use your device before anything else.”

“Uhhh… I remember someone went over stuff, but I was pretty sick at the time. My main focus was breathing… And, y’know, I’m the kind of guy who skips tutorials anyway…”

“Hee-hee! Sure, sure. So you’re asking random people for help instead? All right. Can I see your device really quick?”

She gave me an elegant chuckle as I pulled my Academy device out of my pocket. I didn’t know how to turn the thing on, so it was little more than this oblong object with a time display on the outside. The girl took my hand and guided my index finger toward a small depression at the top of the screen. It felt cold, interrupting my thoughts for a moment. An instant later, the device started up with a soft sound; I guess it had accepted my authentication or whatever.

“…You see? That’s how you activate it. Beyond that, it’s mostly like any other smartphone.”

“…”

I kept it hidden, but I was feeling pretty defeated. The girl kept talking in her gentle way.

“There’s a blue icon on the bottom, right? That’s your map. Some of the details are different, but you can basically treat it as an island-specific Google Maps.”

“Oh…okay. If I knew this, I wouldn’t have gotten lost in the first place.”

“Well, that’s your fault for not listening to the rundown, isn’t it? That’s called just deserts.”

“You’re right. I can’t even defend myself.”

I half grinned. The girl joined me, smiling herself. She was just…such a nice girl. I don’t want to get caught up in clichés like and that’s how I fell in love at first sight or whatever, but she did a lot to stoke my feelings. I was glad to have met her.

“Okay, I gotta get going. I was on my way to do some shopping. Take care, all right?”

“S-sure.”

She waved at me, smiling warmly, as I basked in happiness. That little gesture was so charming that I thought to say something more than “Thanks,” but I stopped myself and kept it to that.

That should’ve been the end of my exchange with the girl whose name I hadn’t learned. But…

“…Huh?”

A loud noise filled my ears. My attention quickly turned to the street. The Academy’s population was notably almost 60 percent students. There were far fewer cars on the road than in mainland Japan. That didn’t mean zero traffic, however. The guidebook had mentioned that I was likely to see heavy vehicles all around, busily handling construction.

And here came one of them now.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large truck coming from the direction the red-haired girl was going. She and I were both on the sidewalk, but let me remind you that the island had suffered a two-day rainstorm, one hard enough that my ferry was delayed for twelve hours. That meant a lot of standing water on the street. And when a truck like this, perfect for transporting would-be heroes to other worlds, passed through that water, it was easy to predict what would happen.

Oh crap!

I dashed forward, catching up to the girl and taking her hand. Forcefully, but not enough so to hurt her, I pulled her away from the danger.

“Hey!”

As for the results… Well, it was very much a “Did I ask for your help?” kind of thing. After all, the moment I took her hand, she was already veering right to avoid the splash of water from the truck. It was at that moment, when she was off-balance, that I pulled her away.

The result…

“Ahhhh?!”

“Whoa!”

Two muffled shouts and a splash could be heard. Then all that remained was the sound of the engine as the truck fled the scene without a trace of guilt.

I opened my eyes cautiously, only to find the scene more stimulating than expected.

“…”

The red-haired girl, her wrist still in my hand, had been yanked down to the asphalt road. Her whole body was soaking wet, which meant the water had gotten her head first. Her long hair clung to her cheeks and neck, and her skirt was stuck to her thighs. The white blouse peeking through her blazer was drenched and just a little bit transparent. It was, to sum up, a sorry scene.

“Ah… Err…”

The girl was right before my eyes. That wasn’t a figure of speech; it was the best way to describe that sort of proximity. Her mouth hung open, and her cheeks gradually reddened. I guess her brain was having trouble processing what had happened, because the embarrassment was only just crashing down on her.

As for me…

Wha…what am I gonna do?! I gotta explain this somehow, and fast!

On the surface, I was staring at her straight-faced, but inside, I was about to explode from sheer panic. I thought to get on my hands and knees and apologize as hard as I could. However, I’d heard somewhere that an apology was a tacit admission of guilt, especially with easily misunderstood body contact like this. Being too free with my apologies could be counterproductive. Perhaps I ought to play the gentleman and lend her some of my clothes? That was off the table, too. It opened up the question of what we’d do with her wet uniform. If I offered to wash it and give it back later, I’d surely be a dead man.

So what’s my next move, then?

“Oww… How long are you just gonna stare at me like…like that?!”

“Wha—?!”

While I mulled over my options, the bright-red girl shoved me away with all her might. Upon reflection, I could’ve stepped away from her a little bit before anything else. I was way too oblivious.

“Huff…huff…”

While I wallowed in a light bath of shame, the girl breathed heavily, clutching herself. Then, after a few seconds, her eyes of pure ruby bored into me with a sharpness that made her earlier calm, friendly demeanor seem like a total front.

“Look…was that really a coincidence? Or did you plan that from the start?”

“Huh? I didn’t plan… What’s that even mean? Of course it was a coincidence.”

“Oh yeah? I don’t know. You don’t look the least bit disturbed about any of this. This whole interaction’s been weird. You’re totally clueless about a device everybody here has, you’re a Fourth Ward student but you’re in the Third Ward for some reason…and that truck wasn’t from the Fourth Ward, either. It’d make a lot of sense if the driver was in on this whole thing with you.”

“…What?!”

The girl was mumbling all this with her wet right hand over her mouth. Honestly, I didn’t know whom that truck belonged to, and I couldn’t have cared less. But…in her eyes, I guess this was an open-and-shut conspiracy!

“N-no, you’ve got it all—”

“Uh-uh. I don’t want to hear your excuses. Besides, I’m sure you were going to hu…humiliate me, have your way with me, sexually assault me, you name it. But I’m not gonna let that happen. Okay? Because if you want to have a Game, I’ll take you on right now. You’re an Academy student, so if you want a piece of me, you’ll have to take it fair and square!”

This drenched, furious girl was now all but daring me to agree. She was caught up in a fit of rage, and the more adult-oriented implications in her tirade unnerved me a bit. Despite feeling a little overpowered, I tried to trace my memories back a little.

The Game system was one of the unique aspects of life on the Academy, part of what made it a site for elite education. I need to cover something else first before I can explain it, though.

Here on the Academy, there were things called stars—grades assigned to students, almighty numbers. These created a statistics-based caste system for students. Different people viewed it differently, but basically, it was an assortment of ranks. Stars were given to the high school–age students on the island, all 150,000 or so. The scale went from one to seven stars, and your star count—in essence, your social standing—determined the sorts of benefits you received.

That was the long and short of it: It was an Academy-sanctioned way to discriminate among groups of students. For example, shops on the street restricted entry based on rank. Students with more stars had preferential access to public transport, and your star count even determined the stipend transferred to your account each month, which was paid in the island’s exclusive e-currency. A single star was more precious than gold, because it alone had a major impact on the lifestyle you enjoyed. That’s basically how people saw things (according to the Shiki Island guidebook).

Unsurprisingly, this meant that Academy students spent a lot of time obsessing over stars. That easily quantifiable number—not your looks, brains, or talent—measured your worth. Earning an extra star allowed you to rub shoulders with a higher class of student, but losing one spelled banishment to the very clique you’d looked down on previously.

To be frank, it was a pretty drastic approach to instilling values like competitiveness, class consciousness, and aspiration in students. The system generated a lot of heated debate among the general public, but there was little doubt that it was an integral part of the program that produced so many outstanding graduates.

Generally, there were three ways to obtain stars. First, your school could award them when you enrolled or went up a grade, based on academic performance, and so forth. Second, you could receive one for an excellent performance at one of the large-scale events held on the island. Third, and this was by far the most accessible and common approach, you could hold a Game with someone. Winning meant stealing a star from your opponent. Given the value of stars in Academy life, people placed high importance on Gaming.

If she’s challenging me to a Game right now, she must be pretty confident she can beat me…or her chances of losing are so low that she doesn’t even need to worry.

The thought made me take a surreptitious and deep inhalation. If she was that capable, there was no way a brand-new transfer like me stood a chance. I grasped only the broadest outline of the system. I didn’t even know how you challenged someone yet. This was totally hopeless, but…

“Um… Look, once this Game is over, do you promise to at least listen to what I have to say?”

“Huh? What you have to say? …Oh, did you finally think up your excuse? Fine. Sure, I’ll hear you out, but I might not believe you.”

“Okay. I’m cool with this, then.”

With that, I casually accepted the challenge on the spot. As long as she kept that promise, I didn’t really care how this turned out. She could beat me up all she liked.

According to the red-haired girl, you had to have a lower rank than your opponent to challenge them to a Game. I’d only just learned how to start up my device, but I immediately figured out how to kick a Game off. The icon was right in the center of the home screen, as conspicuous as it could possibly be. I tapped it, then hit the Request Game button. It responded with a Searching for nearby devices… window. Not even a few seconds later, it detected a device—grade unknown, owner unknown. Everything was unknown because I didn’t have access to info about people ranked higher than I, but based on the position of the pin, it had to be this girl.

I moved from screen to screen, following the instructions to complete the challenge.

“Okay, request sent.”

“…Yeah. I just accepted it. As for what we’ll do… Oh.”

She was silent for a bit, staring at her device. When she looked up, she appeared unsure. Something bothered her to the point where she wasn’t speaking. Eventually, she managed to get her pink lips open.

“I’m sure you don’t need to be told this…but it’s usually up to the Raider—the challenger—to decide what the Game will be. It wouldn’t be fair at all if the Keeper, the higher-ranked player, got to choose. The Raider’s got an advantage in that way. But—heh-heh—you’ve seriously underestimated me.”

“Huh?”

“Still playing dumb? You left the Game details box blank when you sent your challenge. That’s all but saying, ‘I’m so capable of beating you at anything that I don’t even care, so we can play whatever you want.’ And…I’ll have you know, nobody’s ticked me off like this in a really long time.”

“?!”

No, no, I was just tapping at stuff and the screen changed! That’s all!!

Externally, I was frozen, but inside, I piled on the excuses. Still, this girl firmly believed that I’d neglected to specify a Game type to taunt her. She glared at me like I’d killed her dog. If I told her, “Actually, that was a mistake,” it would only make things worse.

Well…whatever. Let’s roll with it.

“If that’s how you want to interpret it, go right ahead. What’re we gonna play?”

“Y-you love making fun of me, don’t you? All right. Give me a minute. I’ll get everything set up.” She all but spit the words at me, looking away, obviously provoked.

A Game on the Academy could apparently be whatever you wanted. Our devices were equipped with constant monitoring systems that rejected anything judged to be unfair or overly hazardous, but virtually anything else could work. The result? Most Games were original inventions, designed so the Raider would go in with a notable advantage—and the Game the girl presented me with three minutes later was a classic example.

“‘Enhanced Turn-Based Stone-Faced Contest’?”

“That’s right. It’s a powered-up version of a kids’ game. The way you normally play it, whoever laughs first loses, but here, you lose if your expression changes at all. Smile, cry, laugh, scream, do anything else—if any kind of emotion appears on your face, you’re out. Our devices have face sensors on them, so if the on-screen meter goes past the trigger point, you’re done.”

“Oh… Okay. What does ‘turn-based’ mean?”

“Exactly what it says. You and I will take turns. On your turn, you can’t lose, no matter what face you make. You’re free to do whatever you want with your expression to get me to break. In other words, you’re on offense during your turn. We’ll switch every sixty seconds.”

“…Neat.”

Considering how angry the girl was, this was kind of cute. Or maybe interesting was the better word.

During the Enhanced Turn-Based Stone-Faced Contest, you could make any face you liked on your turn. The goal was to make your opponent change expression as soon as possible.

“All right. Let’s get this Game started, then.”

“Ah… Are you sure? I don’t think you set up Abilities yet.”

“…Abilities?”

Another piece of mystery jargon. I probably should’ve asked…but other people were starting to pass by. My primary goal was to get this over with quickly. If I had to apologize on my hands and knees, I wanted the smallest audience possible.

So I decided to shake my head. “Oh… Nah, that’s okay. I figure I can make it through this as I am.”

“…?! You what?!”

I barely got the words out before the red-haired girl reacted in the most exaggerated way. Both of her hands were shaking, and her ruby eyes drilled into me.

“Hmm. So you think you can beat me without using any Game apps to weaken me? Wow…”

…I just made a terrible mistake, didn’t I?

“Heh… Heh-heh-heh… All right. Fine, then. Perfect. In that case, let’s get this started, just like you want. You’re going to regret making a fool out of me!”

With that declaration, the girl raised her right hand. Then, with a soft beep, my device’s display switched to a window that read The Game has begun. A projection emerged from the screen, expanding next to us. It showed icons of our faces, the remaining time for the current turn, a meter indicating the defender’s facial expression, and so on.

“Whoa… I heard about this, but seeing it in person’s pretty impressive.”

Seeing this play out like something from a video game astonished me. The Academy’s tech really was way ahead of the mainland’s. I wanted to explore this in greater depth, but this wasn’t the time for it.

According to the faces displayed on the scoreboard, I was the first attacker.

“…Okay, the Game begins with your turn. It’ll switch over to mine without any warning after a minute, so you better watch the clock.”

The girl had the most natural, quiet look on her face as she explained. She had chosen the Game, so she was likely confident about controlling her emotions. I suppose the same could be said of me, too, but if we just sat here stoic, the Game would never end. While I considered my first move, the girl, now standing a couple of feet from me, suddenly spoke up again.

“I’m the only one who will get a full minute for my turn. Activate Variable Control, level seven! Limit my opponent’s turn to one-tenth of normal!”

“Wha…?”

Her red hair bounced as she made the declaration, and the projected display quickly reacted. There were time bars above our face icons, and mine was reduced to six seconds.

Wait. Six?!

“Hey! Isn’t that way too mean?!”

“Hmm? What’re you talking about? It’s not mean at all. In fact, it’s one of the most basic Abilities you can use. I guess you didn’t bother installing any, but…”

“…!”

It was more couldn’t than didn’t, but I remained silent.

A few seconds later, a click announced that it was now the girl’s turn. She, of course, had a full minute, not six seconds. It was beyond unfair…but as I said earlier, controlling my emotions wasn’t too much of an issue for me. I wasn’t sure what would happen if this dragged on, but I felt sure I’d be able to weather a few turns.

“Hee-hee! That’s not all, you know! Activate Creation: EX!”

…Or maybe not.

An unimaginable sight appeared before me. The device in the girl’s hand gently vibrated, then grew and transformed. A few seconds later, there was no device left at all. Instead, there was a long, thin sword.

“Whoa… What’s that? What’s going on?”

“I told you, it’s an Ability. You can transform your device to whatever patterns you program in. This one’s a pretty rare type, so I can’t blame you for not knowing it. Heh-heh… You sure you don’t want to run?”

“…Run?”

“Mm-hmm. I mean, with a weapon…I can do things like this!”

The girl smiled and charged at me. I wondered why, but ignored the question. Any change in expression would make me lose. All she had to do was make me feel something—fear, surprise, whatever. That sword couldn’t actually hurt me (that’s what I chose to believe, anyway), but its sharp, imposing presence alone threatened to throw me off. My mind raced as I barely evaded her blade. I didn’t know how sensitive my device’s face detection system was, but there was a chance a mere quickened breath would knock me out of the competition. If so, I’d have only six seconds, my turn, to catch my breath.

Damn. What kind of Game is this?! Is she some kind of super genius?!

Only now had I reached that conclusion, but I couldn’t act on it much. The red-haired girl I’d inadvertently picked a fight with was incredibly sharp and much more accustomed to these Games than I was. If I had to guess, she was probably a celebrity on this island. I could tell because the passersby all stopped to watch, some of them looking awed and offering verbal encouragement. I was completely set up to be the villain, and that made this incredibly hard to deal with.

Yeah… Maybe I oughtta just lose this quickly. I wanted to hold out for longer, since I reasoned the girl would get angrier upon realizing I wasn’t taking this seriously, but if our audience grew any larger, it’d just be a huge embarrassment for—

Oh… Hang on.

A change stopped my train of thought. Out of nowhere, the girl’s attack stopped. She had nearly twenty seconds left in her turn, but for some reason, she kept her distance from me, eyes cast downward. She scanned the area around her…almost fearfully. The seconds ticked away until it was my go again.

If that had been all, I might have chalked it up to her taking a moment to catch her breath. However, the anomaly didn’t end there.

“Mmm… Nn. Nngh…”

She kept her face unaffected, but with all the groaning and squirming, there was clearly something amiss. She was trying her hardest to hide it, but her ears poking from her damp hair were bright red.

“Hahhh… Okay! My turn!”

The effects of Variable Control meant that my turn ended in the blink of an eye, but unlike before, I didn’t feel too panicked about it. The girl was obviously feeling off. She still had that sword out, but she wasn’t trying to swing it around—in fact, her right hand was over her chest, as if to guard it.

Oh… Could it be?

It finally dawned on me. I turned my face upward. The girl was preoccupied with that. She was worried her wet clothes might reveal her skin. Rage had driven her to start a Game with no one around, but now a small crowd had gathered, and the shame was setting in. The truck had passed a little while before, so I wasn’t sure anything was visible to the onlookers. But, and this was key, her clothes weren’t dry. At the very least, they definitely felt sopping wet to her. I couldn’t blame her for getting self-conscious.

“Nh…!”

The crowd grew with each new turn, and her embarrassment compounded every second. Before long, she was hardly doing anything on her turns. Her sword was still raised, yet she used it to conceal her upper body more than anything else. Occasionally, she rubbed her thighs together in a display of what I took to be bashfulness. People started to whisper, voicing concerns. However, they never could have guessed what was wrong unless they had seen the truck douse her.

By the end of the girl’s fourth turn, she just stood there, head down and shoulders visibly shaking. Unable to hold it back, she stabbed her sword into the ground, then crouched behind it as though to use it for cover. Her face burned red.

“Ngh!! I can’t take this anymooooooore!!”

Her scream, powered by all the strength she could muster, echoed across the street. Clearly, there was nothing normal about her behavior…and it was more than enough to set off the face detection meter.

“…Beep! Change in facial expression detected from Sarasa Saionji. Game end conditions met. Possession of Sarasa Saionji’s star will now be transferred to Hiroto Shinohara.”

The robotic voice droned from both our devices, announcing the end of a Game that had been short but had seemed to last forever.

Sarasa Saionji? The family name sounded kind of familiar, but I had bigger issues to deal with.

I won… Now she’s going to hate me even more. Why the hell did I have to win? I’m so stupid. She mostly defeated herself, but this can’t be good for me…

My mind was racing too fast to string a coherent thought together. Honestly, I’d never even considered the possibility that I’d actually win. My initial plan had been to let her beat me, get on her good side a little, and then apologize, but it was way too late for that. I felt more concerned than I had before.

While I was busy worrying, the audience, which had kept eerily silent, suddenly erupted in a burst of activity.

“…What?”

“Wait… Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

“Y-you’re kidding! Saionji lost?!”

“This—th-this is unthinkable! I can’t believe Miss Sarasa lost to someone like him! Never!”

“Deny it all you want, but she did. I can’t believe it, either, but…”

“Oh, wowwwwwww! The Empress has lost so early in the school year… Who could’ve predicted this?! Who is he, even? Some hidden freak of nature from the Fourth Ward?!”

“…What?”

The audience shot from zero to a thousand instantly. I couldn’t keep up with them, and my head listlessly tilted to one side. By stringing together the snippets of information I heard, I worked out that the ruby-eyed girl was famous and high ranking. Was that enough to get people so worked up?

It’s clearly a big deal to everyone. I might never be able to make this right. This all began as a series of misunderstandings and coincidences. If we can talk this out, maybe I can negate the match…

I nodded a little, then walked up to the girl, who was still crouching down.

“…!”

She lifted her face, and I thought she might glare again, but then I realized she was white as a sheet. All the shame from before was gone. Her eyes bored into mine again. Her expression showed a mix of regret, anger, and self-hatred, and her lips quivered as a single tear went down her face. It was beyond me to discern the exact meaning behind all this. I’d only just met this girl, after all. This absolutely wasn’t the reaction of someone who had only lost one star…but I had no way of knowing what was going on in the background.

“…Move.”

After staring at me for a few moments while trying to say something, the girl finally uttered a single word as she stood. Then she walked off, staggering one way, then the other like a zombie.

Wh-what should I do? What should I do, what should I do? Seriously, what am I supposed to do?!

Judging by the situation, I was clearly at fault, but beyond that, I was utterly in the dark. What was the problem, and why was she crying? My confusion and panic climbed so high I couldn’t think anymore. Someone had to explain things to me!

As if in answer to my thoughts (although I knew that was impossible), a black car drove over and stopped in front of me. An old man in a tuxedo hopped out, a gentle smile on his face. He brought his right hand to his chest, bowed deeply to me, and spoke in a kindly, elderly voice.

“…Are you Mr. Hiroto Shinohara? Please come with me. The provost is waiting for you.”

I rode in the butler-like old man’s car for ten or so minutes. According to him, I was being taken to school.

The Fourth Ward’s Eimei School had an enormous campus that housed nearly twenty thousand students, from elementary to university age. It retained a top spot in the rankings that measured schools on the island against one another in assorted ways. My guidebook described it as an “elite organization that combines a relatively loose school environment with a unique devotion to Gaming.”

And now here I was in the provost’s office, the very core of this institute. After being led here, I was directed to have a seat on an almost scarily plush sofa.

The young woman seated across from me began our meeting with a deep sigh.

“Ugh… I swear, do you have any idea what you’ve done on your first day here?”

“Um…”

I cautiously lifted my head at those exasperated words. The woman didn’t look pleased, and I wasn’t going to get out of this by ignoring her.

This was Natsume Ichinose, current provost of Eimei School and superintendent of the Fourth Ward of the Academy. She sat there in front of me, leafing through some papers. The only real words to describe her were adult woman. A dark-haired beauty who looked great in office attire. She had her legs crossed, despite her risqué tight skirt, and the image she exuded was a mixture of coolness and sweet temptation. However, one’s first impression of her was unlikely to be of either quality. How should I put this? She was ferocious, in a way that suggested a sadistic streak. If you classified people as hunters or hunted, she’d undoubtedly be in the first group.

This actually wasn’t the first time I’d met Provost Ichinose. In fact, back when I was still attending school on the mainland—a month ago—she was the one who’d invited me to the Academy. We’d met a few times since then so she could help organize my admissions exam and island visa. I’d been due to visit her first thing at school today before I got delayed, and considering I knew no one on the island yet, this woman before me was about the only person I could rely on for now.

“…Er. Are you referring to the Game I was in?”

“Exactly. So how about I get your side of the story first? Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything. It just kind of happened… Um, but what’s the big problem, exactly? I thought Games took place all the time across the Academy.”

“Yes, of course. Normal Games do. But this one wasn’t normal.” The provost gave a half smirk. “Listen to me. I want you to understand that you’ve committed a serious taboo. And I’m talking about something beyond a little social faux pas. This was shocking enough to rock the entire island.”

“Huh? I don’t see how it—”

“It can. Read this.”

Provost Ichinose slid a single sheet across the glass table at me. I looked at it, not sure what this was about, then read. Yeah… It was enough to make me sweat from every pore.

“Um… Provost, is this true?”

“It sure is. You were so charmed by her sweetness that you sexually harassed her and made it look like an accident. Then you coerced her into a Game you somehow managed to win… That’s what you said, right?”

“I think you’re maliciously bending some of the details, but that was the result, yes.”

“If that’s how it ended, the exact process doesn’t matter. Typically, your victory wouldn’t be a problem. In fact, taking stars from students in other wards is more than welcome, in my opinion. But the opponent you picked… She’s unique.”

I reexamined the paper while the provost spoke. There was a photo of the girl I’d held a Game with printed on the sheet. And the text profile beneath it almost made my eyes pop out.

“She’s a second-year at Ohga School in the Third Ward, high school section. In her admissions exam, she scored the highest in school history, and during her first year, she rose to the topmost rank of Seven Star. She was the only student on the island to achieve this. A lot of people call her Empress, out of both fear and respect. She’s had a perfect record until now, never losing a single Game since her enrollment. That’s Sarasa Saionji, the absolute monarch of this island.”

“…”

“That’s not even all of it. Didn’t it dawn on you when you heard her last name? The Saionji family counts the founder of the Academy among its ancestors. Her grandfather is Masamune Saionji, the current grand headmaster of the Academy and the director of the world-renowned Saionji Group. That makes the young lady you defeated a VIP among VIPs here on the Academy.”

“That’s who she is? And I beat her?”

“Yes. That’s exactly what you did. And here’s where the biggest problem lies… You see, Grand Headmaster Saionji is notorious for being a very rigid man. He’s got a proud streak a mile long, for all the good and bad that brings. And he’s willing to do anything to save face.”

“…?”

“You still don’t get it? Listen, I’m sure this isn’t breaking news to you, but you’re nothing by comparison—a blade of grass on the lawn. You wouldn’t have passed our admissions exam without me grading you on a big curve. A U-turn, really. You’re such a natural-born One Star, it almost makes me wanna cry. And now a blade of grass—a total nobody—has beaten the Saionji family heiress! Ripped a star from her hands! Made her run off in tears! In front of a huge crowd! Ha-ha… If I report this honestly to him, it’ll be a huge disaster. He’ll be pissed.”

“Um… Wha…?”

The provost calmly shifted her legs, laughing heartily for some reason. Meanwhile, I was frozen, barely able to reply. Was this truly that serious?

“So…am I gonna get expelled after one day?”

“Expelled? No, no. Not at all.”

“Oh… Right. Yeah, I guess not. That’s a relief, at least—”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s too soon to relax. What I mean is, mere expulsion isn’t nearly enough to make up for this. Are you some kind of glutton for punishment?”

I couldn’t have imagined a more frightening response. I remained frozen, unable to so much as speak while Provost Ichinose continued, sighing here and there as she went.

“For one, you wouldn’t believe how many dark rumors there are about the grand headmaster. I’ve lived on this island a long time, and I’ve had more than a few rivals lose their positions after getting on his bad side. So unless we do something, your life is over. Do you follow me?”

“H-huh?! Wait a minute! What do you mean?!”

“I mean you’ll face dire consequences. Do you think anyone is going to accept you once they find out the Saionji family drove you off the island? There’ll be no place in modern society for you. You’ll be completely exiled. Game over. Understand?”

“You’ve got to be kidding… And why are you acting like this is funny?!”

“I can’t deny that I find it a little amusing.”

“You don’t have to admit it!”

“Heh-heh… Hold on. There’s no need to panic. To tell the truth, I’m calling a board meeting right now to debate what to do with you… Oh, that’s a conference for the leaders of all the wards, by the way. You know, the Board of Regents in Ward Zero. Masamune Saionji’s the grand headmaster on paper, but as long as he doesn’t personally intervene, the board’s the highest and only decision-making body on the island. To put it another way, if we keep them quiet, we can propagate any story we want, no matter how irrational. Just give me some time to handle this.”

Provost Ichinose stood, still smirking, then took a few elegant steps toward a desk against the wall. There was a desktop PC on it, and I saw a bunch of video chat windows on the screen. It was probably a web conference. She put a finger to her lips, telling me to be quiet, as I watched from beside her. Then she turned on her mic.

“…Sorry to keep you waiting. This is the provost from the Fourth Ward.”

“You’re late. Far too late. What’s the deal?”

“I knew you’d be involved when I heard we were facing disaster this early in the school year, and I was right.”

“We need information. All we have are these vague reports about someone defeating the Empress.”

“Yes, I’m sure you’re all eager to hear more. The student in question is a new transfer, after all. He hasn’t finished his official paperwork yet, so no matter how deep you drill into the island database, you won’t find anything on him.”

“A new transfer? Right, you recruited a student from the mainland.”

“Who is he? Stop wasting our time and give us details.”

“I think you know more than anyone how unwise it is to annoy the grand headmaster…”

“I know, I know. I’ll explain everything; there’s no need to rush me. The student at the center of all this is named Hiroto Shinohara. I’ll omit the exact course of events for now, but he’s definitely the one who defeated Sarasa Saionji in a Game.”

“Ughh… So the rumors are true?”

“If he’s that new to the island, he can’t be high rank. Someone dirtying the Saionji family heiress’s good name is a huge problem.”

“Word’s already spreading about the fall of the Empress… I really think we need to work out how to respond.”

“Actually…I have some good news for all of you.”

After stating that with a breezy smile, the provost suddenly reached out with her right hand to block the camera above her PC screen with a finger. She turned the mic off at the same time, effectively removing herself from the meeting. Then she flashed an aggressive grin at me.

“All right, Shinohara. I’m giving you two options.”

“…Options?”

“Right. Either of them will be good enough to calm these people down, and I can guarantee that both are completely viable. But depending on which you choose, you may find your life significantly impacted. I’m giving you the right, and responsibility, to make up your own mind.”

“…A-all right. Go ahead.”

“Great to hear. Okay. Your first choice is to take all the blame.”

“…Huh? I thought we were talking about ways to avoid that…”

“We are. We’ll just need to work on how you’ll shoulder the responsibility. For example…we could claim you’re connected to certain underground groups in the Eighth Ward. Hiroto Shinohara used some illegal Abilities he picked up from them to beat Sarasa Saionji. That kind of thing. The key point is that you won illegitimately. You’ll be investigated by school authorities, and the Game will be stricken from the record.”

“…”

“…I know that sounds cruel, but in terms of the practical scenarios at our disposal, I think this is the one that’ll leave you the least damaged, okay? You’ll only be punished for a rule infraction. People will take it as a cheat that tricked the Empress into defeat, which won’t harm the Saionji family’s honor. You’ll still wind up exiled from the island, though.”

“Ouch… Okay, what’s the second option?”

“We make you into a Seven Star.”

“…Huh?”

This was beyond unexpected coming from the provost. I know my response made me sound like an idiot, but it was all I could manage.

“You’ll make me…into a Seven Star? I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Figures. You heard the regents. Ultimately, this is a tricky problem because it will cause the Saionji family to lose face. Structurally speaking, it might be a little difficult to comprehend from the outside, but our biggest issue is that you’re too much of a nobody. If she lost to a worthy opponent, then not even the grand headmaster would have a reason to get involved. So we’d use the regents’ argument against them—we’d make you someone on equal footing with the Empress.”

“W-wait a second. I understand the logic, but is that even possible? Seven Star is the best rank on this island, right? There’s only one of them on the island. If we bend the rules to create another one, I think a lot of people will object…”

“No, they won’t. I think you’re missing an important point.” The provost smirked. “The star-hunting system is deeply embedded in the Academy’s core. It’s set up so that no one, not even the grand headmaster, can meddle with it. That prevents crimes, you see. Normally, if you scored a One Star grade on the admissions exam, then you’d be a One Star, no matter how you complained. There’s no ‘bending the rules’ or anything. If you wanted more stars, you’d have to step up and win some Games.”

“So you’re saying that I have no chance at being a Seven Star?”

“Typically, you wouldn’t. But we’re dealing with a pretty unique case here. All right? You just defeated Sarasa Saionji in a Game. That means you took a star from her.”

“Oh, right.”

I supposed that had happened, even if I didn’t do much to win. The person who lost a Game had to relinquish a star to the winner.

Following the provost’s instructions, I looked at my profile page on my device. It listed assorted data about me: my name, age, gender, school, and information on my One Star rank. I’d played a Game before I’d fully completed my school enrollment, so I imagined I was treated as having zero stars when I made the challenge.

“Hey… Is this a bug?”

I showed the screen to the provost, a little confused. The star I’d taken from Sarasa Saionji was red for some reason, with the same kind of ruby sheen as her eyes. It was pretty, but red wasn’t the usual color for a star.

Provost Ichinose shook her head, still smiling confidently while I stood there confused. “No, that’s not a bug. That’s a Unique Star, a special kind of star. Out of all the stars changing hands on this island, only ten or so Unique Stars are known to exist.”

“A Unique Star…?”

“Yeah. It counts as one star just like any other, but having an extra color gives you certain perks. I’ll go into all that later, though. The whole system doesn’t matter as much as the fact that you have a red star. Tell me, when you picture the word red, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

“Red? Um… Ketchup.”

“Thanks for that unexpectedly cute answer, but you’re wrong. Having a red Unique Star gives you the right to tell a single lie. The type that someone might catch you red-handed in otherwise.”

“…A lie?” I parroted.

The provost crossed her legs in her tight skirt again.

“Right. To be precise, you’ve earned the right to have a lie backed up with hard data. Like I said, the Academy’s star-hunting system is an ironclad rule, but if you possess a certain star, you get the right to change one piece of data in our computers. For example…I could rewrite your record so your height’s listed at six foot one. Then it would be true—as far as the data’s concerned, anyway.”

“I’m not sure why you’re assuming I have a hang-up about my height… Are you telling me I can use this star to handle…this problem?”

“Right, you’d lie your way out of it. Your data says you have only one star, but we can rewrite it so you have seven instead. There’s no way to confirm someone’s rank unless you look at their handheld device or the database itself, after all. After we change that single field, you’ll appear like a Seven Star to everyone on the outside.”

“Er, but that’s kind of…”

This situation was growing bigger by the second, and alarm bells blared in my head. I frantically searched for some grounds to turn down this suggestion.

“Isn’t a new Seven Star transfer student going to look suspicious? If I use a red star to lie about it, I feel like people will find out really quick.”

“Not at all. Word will spread fast that you got a red star from Sarasa Saionji, but not all that many people know what a red star can do. They won’t be able to figure out it’s a lie.”

“Wow. Really?”

“Yes. That red star has been hoarded by the Saionji family since long before Sarasa got ahold of it. Plus, given its power, none of its previous owners will be too keen on saying much. If they do, people will know they’ve lied as well.”

“True… Wait, why do you know about it?”

“Because I used to have that red star myself, obviously. That was way back when I was a student, though.”

“…”

Provost Ichinose, whose age I couldn’t begin to guess, smirked at me. I was stunned into silence. This red star… A liar’s star that let you buck the entire Academy system. The provost was suggesting I use it to become a Seven Star, like Saionji had been.

“So I’d be a fake Seven Star?”

“That’s right. The administrators can stare at the data all they want, but all they’ll see is that you’re a Seven Star. They’ll have to keep their mouths shut. And if they let it slide, it’ll become the truth for the whole island. Now, the Saionji family knows what the red star can do, but your lie will help them. As long as you don’t do anything stupid, that family won’t interfere with you. I figure your backstory will be something like, you’re a staggering young genius who got the highest admissions exam score ever. The fastest Seven Star in history. That would definitely put you in the same class as the Empress, don’t you think?”

She looked right at me, searching for a response. I met her gaze while considering in silence.

Basically, I had two options. As Provost Ichinose said, this was a critical life decision. The first choice would wrap everything up neatly, and I’d have a peaceful life. But in exchange, I’d never be allowed on the Academy again. I’d have to say good-bye forever. The second option, on the other hand, promised change on an epic level. The Academy was home to over 150,000 high school students alone, and they were all potential star hunters. The danger of having an outright faker at the top was immediately apparent. I’d stand out above everyone, become more envied than any other person, and constantly be at risk of being challenged to Games. I’d have to weather it all and look completely normal doing so. Worse yet, I doubted I’d be permitted to fail a single time. Losing meant forfeiting my red star. Once it got out that I’d faked my rank, I’d be pushed even harder than if I’d done nothing.

However…

“Despite everything that’s happened, you’ve got a goal in life, don’t you? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You can choose however you like…but if you give up here, I’m sure you’ll never see her again.”

“So this was all a trap?”

“A trap? No. I couldn’t have predicted all of this. But I have a reputation as a stubborn woman. Whether it’s a lie, an accident, or a random occurrence, I use everything at my disposal.”

It sounded like a partial joke, but she smiled all the way through it. She couldn’t simply be messing with me. I knew that because everything she said was completely true. I did have a mission. There was a specific reason I’d abandoned my normal high school life to come here. I had to find someone. And the idea of being kicked out before I made any progress… I couldn’t imagine a worse ending.

I really don’t enjoy feeling like I’m wrapped around the provost’s finger, but…

Ultimately, I decided it didn’t matter. Provost Ichinose had her goals, and I had mine. If she wanted to use me, then I’d use her back. Actually, it was more like I was taking advantage of the situation. For now, my remaining on the island was a plus for her, and I needed to take advantage of that.

Fortunately, acting was one of my fortes. To make the most of my time here, I’d have to trick everybody on the island. And that’s what I intended to do.

“Hfff…”

So I took a deep breath and gave my answer to the devilish provost. She looked as though she knew my answer already.

“All right. If you want me to be the best out there, then I will!”

“Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Look at you! That was awesome! So awesome! Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“…”

The packed welcome ceremony at the First Ward event hall was over. I was now firmly the highest-ranked student. After all but fleeing the auditorium, I chatted with Provost Ichinose on my device while I returned to the Fourth Ward. Calling it a chat was generous, though. She was just laughing her head off at me, not bothering to listen to my responses.

“Ha-ha… No, really, that was incredible! I never thought you’d go in with that much of a bang!”

“I’m not sure if you’re praising me or mocking me…”

“Praising for sure! I’m singing your praises from the bottom of my heart! I know I’m the one who proposed making you a Seven Star and that I convinced the Board of Regents to accept it, but you created a whole character for yourself in a few hours! That’s a real coup!”

“Th-thanks… Did I really make that much of an impression? Because I thought it sounded pretty normal—”

“‘If you don’t like that, you can always challenge me, okay? Of course, that assumes you don’t mind getting smashed into a pulp.’ And then that sneer… Hee-hee-hee…”

“You’re definitely mocking me!”

I brought a cupped hand to my device, softly shouting so no one would hear. Unlike the provost, I kept myself utterly calm. I was still in the middle of the First Ward, after all. The ceremony had just ended, so there were plenty of people around. That meant there were eyes on me.

“Hey, look…!”

“Whoa, it’s that guy from before. What was his name? He…Hiro Shinohara?”

“Yeah, right. That’d be the lamest name ever. It’s Hiroto, I think.”

“He beat the Empress—Bloody Saionji—right?”

“Yeah. I heard she screamed, ‘I can’t take this anymore!’”

“Whoa! What’d he do to her?! Creepy!”

Anonymous voices reached my ears. With all this attention on me, I couldn’t risk making a gesture or facial expression and blowing my cover. The strongest student on the Academy always kept it cool. Probably.

“Heh-heh… No, I’m not making fun of you at all. I mean it,” Provost Ichinose assured me. “It’s why I recruited you in the first place. I fell in love with that aspect of you. I’ve got no reason to pick on you at all. In fact, you’re performing exactly as I hoped you would.”

“Well, okay, I guess…”

I reluctantly agreed with her.

The “aspect” she’d mentioned was a unique trait of mine—the only one I had, really. I could completely detach my feelings from my expression. No matter how I panicked internally, I’d look utterly calm on the surface. I could laugh while sad or cry on cue even when I felt fine. The provost had called me a “mental swindler.” Anyway, that was what I could do.

“…I never thought that technique would help me like this, though.”

“Yeah, neither did I! I invited you thinking it’d be neat if you found a use for it, but I never anticipated you’d get everyone going on the first day.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t.”

If she had foreseen all this while recruiting me, she was either a prophet or a supervillain.

“Um… So why did you call me? Some kind of emergency?”

“Mm? Oh, sorry. Right. You got everyone so excited, it completely slipped my mind… It’s just some simple business. After I sent you to the ceremony, I did a little more finagling on my side. I’ve worked out a few more details about your status, and I wanted to share them with you ASAP… Talking while you’re outside might be a little dangerous. Why don’t we get in contact again when you’re in your dorm?”

“All right. Actually, where am I supposed to live? I planned on working that out today.”

“Oh, no need to worry about that. I already have a dorm prepared for you. The coordinates should be on your device, so just load that up on your map.”

Provost Ichinose bade me good-bye and quickly ended the call.

“Phew…”

I let out a small sigh and put a finger on the screen to do as she instructed. Before I could even open the map app, a notification appeared on the top half of the screen. It was a news bulletin from STOC, the island-exclusive social network. Normally, I never paid attention to notices like this, but this time, my eyes were instantly on it.

This is turning into a huge deal, isn’t it?!

Yes. Yes, it was. The news flash on my device was a special feature covering the morning’s Game and the speech I had given afterward. THE INVINCIBLE EMPRESS SLAIN?! read the headline up top, written in an embarrassingly large font. The article went on in the most sensational manner about Sarasa Saionji’s defeat and the birth of a new Seven Star. It included a link to STOC’s “Hot Words” list of the most popular keywords on the site right then. By tapping that, I saw that the trends for the past hour had been Sarasa Saionji, Empress, Seven Star, and the Shinohara kid. The general timeline was full of similar phrases, too…so I decided to turn my device off.

She really is that big a deal, huh? Her family and the rest of it’s all true, I guess.

A student body wouldn’t care this much about a normal rich girl. Sarasa Saionji was special. That’s why this had ballooned into a monster topic. I realized I hadn’t apologized to her yet. Contacting her would be difficult at the moment, but I resolved to see to that soon.

Upon turning at an intersection and moving out of sight of the crowd, I allowed myself a deep breath, a moment in time for everything to fall into place.

“…Huh?”

And that’s when someone grabbed my arm and promptly yanked me into the nearest alley.

My back slammed against the solid wall with a dull thud. She placed her hands against the wall on either side of me, looming before me and eclipsing my body. Her breath was ragged; a sweet citrus aroma drifted into my nose.

“Heh…heh-heh… That was a fine speech you gave.”

The girl, lips twitching as she spoke, was none other than that red-haired heiress—Sarasa Saionji, ex–Seven Star and former unbeatable Empress. If she’d sought me out for a rematch, I’d understand, but something told me that wasn’t it. Her expression was sharper than the last time I had seen her.

“…”

I instinctively kept quiet. Why was she so upset? Based on what she’d said, I figured my speech was the cause…but the lie was supposed to be convenient for the Saionji family, too. Losing to the new strongest student in school was far less of a blow to her pride than failing against some One Star idiot.

“…Oh. Trying to play innocent, huh?”

Saionji wasn’t in any mood to see the positive side. As I listened to her voice, I realized she was putting on a front. The emotion in her ruby eyes wasn’t anger, but fear.

“Look, what are you even after? You got dirt on me, and you gave that showboating speech…yet you haven’t revealed the secret to anyone. What are you doing? Trying to gather even more attention before you completely crush me? Please drop this! I’m begging you, just stop!”

What secret?

“Yes, I’m pleading merely to save my own hide. But I’ve got my reasons. I need to keep this lie going, all right? So please. Don’t say anything. I’ll do anything you want!”

“Er, what are you talking about?”

“…! You’re still playing dumb?! I’m being completely honest with you, all right? Stop making fun of me!”

Saionji shut her eyes tight, and her words turned wobbly, which only had me more stumped. She brought her hands close to my chest, all but clinging to me.

“You know, don’t you? You know I’m not really Sarasa Saionji!”

“…Huh?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me! I made sure there’s no one else here, so drop the act already! Yeah, I’m not Sarasa, and you know it. My name’s Rina Akabane, and I’ve been subbing in for Sarasa for a year now. I kept winning Games last year to keep the secret from being exposed, and I was going to keep that streak going…but you defeated me this morning.”

“…”

“That’s why I’m begging you, all right? What are you planning to do with that info, huh? If the truth about Sarasa Saionji gets out, it’ll be a huge scandal… I’m sure that info’s worth a lot to you. Everybody thinks I’m a proper girl from the Saionji family, but I’m not anything like that. Heh-heh… Everyone will feel betrayed, won’t they? There’ll be a huge uproar.”

“…An uproar?”

“Yeah. But you still haven’t exposed my lie. So what are you scheming? Are you waiting for the right moment to hurt the Saionji family the most? Or…or are you planning to demand my body in exchange…?”

Saionji—or Akabane, I guess—had tears in the corners of her eyes as she timidly demanded an answer. Her voice sounded completely frantic, but she kept her face stoic, never giving any sign she might run. I guess that was how important this whole thing was to her. Unfortunately, she’d made several incorrect assumptions during this conversation.

“Look, Akabane…why do you think I know about your lie?”

“Huh? Wh-what do you mean? Because you beat me, why else?”

“…Huh?”

“More precisely, because you took my red star. You know what that is, right? A red star lets you tell a lie and get away with it. But if you lose the star, that lie is revealed to whoever took it from you. So you have to know. Why would some transfer student give a keynote speech like that otherwise?”

“…”

Oh…right. Now I get it. That’s how she interpreted things. I finally understood her reaction. I undoubtedly seemed like an eerie, evil menace to her.

“You know, Saionji…I think you’ve got the wrong idea about all of that.”

“…What?”

“I had no idea about this lie until you told me. I don’t know what you imagined, but I honestly only arrived on this island yesterday, and I truly didn’t know how to work my device. This is the first I’ve heard about you using the red star, too.”

“Wha…? Th-that’s not possible! You became a Seven Star after beating me, and that means you had to be a Six Star beforehand. That’s not the kind of rank some new kid could earn in a day or two!”

“Yeah, you’re definitely right. But I’m not really a Seven Star.”

“What?! You’re not? But you said so at the ceremony!”

“That’s my lie. I used the red star. I’m actually just a One Star. In fact, I’m so low on the ladder, the only star I have is the one I took from you. I’ve got some reasons for hiding the truth, just like you.”

“Ah… Uh…”

Saionji looked at me as though I’d spoken to her in a foreign language. She stared at me with her mouth half-open. This couldn’t be easy to accept, but she must have been really sharp, because after a few seconds spent frozen, her lips began to move again.

“W-wait a minute…wait. So, what, you’re not the best on the Academy? You just beat me in a Game by coincidence? You didn’t know my secret?”

“Yep. That’s right.”

“N-no way… So I exposed myself?”

Saionji hung her head, pushing it into my chest while mumbling to herself. She’d revealed her lie to me. Both of us being liars was kind of the cause of this weird, star-crossed encounter. Regardless, she’d totally just blown it.

““…””

We stood pressed against each other in silence for a while. Then, after a minute or so had passed, Saionji finally lifted her face.

“…I’m sorry. I’m gonna go back home and cool down a little. Your name’s Shinohara, right? I have some time tomorrow, so maybe we can talk things over? Sounds like we’re both dealing with complicated stuff, and I think it’s better if we sort it out. Until we do, please don’t lose to anyone…”

With that, Saionji walked off, using the sleeve of her uniform to wipe her tears away. Her long hair trailed after her as she disappeared from the alley. I, meanwhile, remained leaning against the wall, watching her until she was gone. My head was reeling from all the shocking information. Sarasa Saionji and Rina Akabane. A fake rich girl. A complex reason why she had to keep lying.

Hmm? Wait a second.

“She’s not really a rich girl, but someone posing as one…which means she’s not part of the Saionji family. Does that mean beating her wouldn’t have made the grand headmaster angry…? Ah! So I never had to be a Seven Star in the first place?!”

The realization caused me to bring a palm to my forehead. If I only knew about this a few hours ago, I thought. Unfortunately, it was far too late for that. I’d told the entire Academy student body to challenge me as they liked. I had practically dared them. All 150,000 students involved in the star hunt recognized me as the new top player in town. I couldn’t guess what would happen if that lie were revealed. The curtain had already risen, and it was too late to stop the show now.

“Ugh… Man.”

Cursing my shortsighted actions and how fate toyed with me, I resumed my trek to the dorm, my steps heavier than before.