When I opened my eyes, morning had already arrived, and I was standing at the podium.
It was a scene I had witnessed many times before, actions I had repeated over and over again.
But at this moment, I felt for the first time that my true life at the academy was beginning.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Allen Zest. Starting today, I’ll be joining Everlight Academy as a new teacher. I may still be a greenhorn when it comes to teaching, but I hope to experience and learn many things together with all of you during our time at the academy.”
These weren’t just words crafted to build a respectable image as a teacher — they came from the heart.
Standing at the podium, I slowly looked over the seated students.
Perhaps overwhelmed by my overly solemn mood, the students didn’t throw out any of their usual jokes.
An overly solemn mood, huh?
Even to myself, I looked so intensely hyped that it was almost laughable.
After Lydia wrapped up the morning assembly, the two of us headed to the staffroom.
Making some casual small talk with Lydia to set the mood, I smoothly changed the topic as if I had just remembered something.
“Oh, come to think of it, I heard Everlight Academy encourages club activities quite actively.”
“Allen-sensei, are you interested in club activities?”
“Of course! There’s nothing more youthful than a group of passionate young people coming together over a shared interest, building friendships, and pouring their energy into something bright and wholesome. Club activities are the very flower of academy life. No—one could even say the academy exists for club activities!”
“I-Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration…?”
Lydia was flustered by my sudden and intense burst of enthusiasm.
One good thing about this loop happening on the first day of the academy is that, since it’s technically my first day officially reporting as a teacher, no one has a solid sense of who I am yet.
In other words, I can get away with doing things that the usual me would never do.
As long as I push forward with confidence, most people will just assume, “Ah, I guess that’s just how he is.”
“So personally, if it’s allowed, I’d love to spend my youth with the students through club activities. Or rather—I will! Students are the future, the seeds of the continent of Hyphnia! And for those seeds to grow beautifully and vigorously, they absolutely need the nourishment of friendship and memories! Though I may be a newbie just assigned today, as a teacher, it is my mission—no, my duty! My fate!—to make sure the students’ youth blooms brightly and passionately through club activities!”
“…Allen sensei, you’re quite a passionate person, contrary to appearances.”
At my spirited speech, Lydia murmured quietly, “Come to think of it, his self-introduction during morning assembly was pretty intense too…” as if starting to understand.
“Of course! Which brings me to the point—I’d like to take a look around the unused clubrooms in Building 1, if I may. Could I perhaps borrow the keys?”
“Fufufu! We’ve got quite the passionate teacher on our hands from day one. Looks like the staffroom is going to be heating up around here.”
There it is.
The moment I brought up club activities, the grade chair — Mr. Freshian —who had been secretly watching me, fully stepped in and joined the conversation once I asked for the keys.
“But don’t you think you’re being a bit too enthusiastic for your very first day? You don’t even seem used to the academy yet. Aren’t you trying to take on too much at once?”
“It’s fine. Taking charge of club activities was something I dreamed of even before coming to Everlight Academy! I can do it!”
Of course, I’d never had such a dream.
In fact, I hadn’t even had a sense of mission as a teacher to begin with.
But really, who cares?
The important thing is to fool the bizarre creature posing as Mr. Freshian.
“Haha. Still, today is only the first day at the academy—wouldn’t it be better to take it easy and get used to the atmosphere here first? It must be quite overwhelming to start your new post today, don’t you think?”
However, Mr. Freshian didn’t seem willing to hand over the key so easily.
“No, in fact, I think I won’t be able to sleep peacefully back at my quarters unless I check out the club room today! Or is there perhaps a rule that newly appointed teachers at the academy aren’t allowed to participate in club activities? If not, is there some special reason why I, in particular, shouldn’t be involved in club activities?”
“Th-That’s…”
Of course, no such rule existed.
Unable to refute my words, Mr. Freshian hesitated, and Lydia— unaware of the strange tension between us— handed over the master key for the fourth and fifth floors without suspicion.
And so, I received the master key from Lydia with a smile and a word of thanks.
“…In that case, I’ll accompany Mr. Allen and introduce the various club activities of Everlight Academy.”
“I’ll be counting on you.”
Yet Freshian didn’t give up. Under the pretense of guiding me, he volunteered himself as my watchdog.
Of course he did.
He wasn’t going to make this easy.
. . .
And just like that, I began a strange journey with a bizarre man disguised as Freshian.
“These are the clubs on the fourth floor. Honestly, the clubs on the fourth floor are what I’d call the real ones. Since it’s a lower floor, students prefer it, and naturally, competition for club rooms is fierce. That’s why the more outstanding clubs tend to be concentrated here.”
“I see. But I’m quite curious to see what kind of clubs are on the fifth floor as well.”
“….”
“….”
After thoroughly showing me around the fourth floor, Freshian gave me a subtle signal suggesting that we should call it a day, but I pretended not to notice and smiled as I gestured toward the stairs to the fifth floor.
We exchanged silent smiles, staring at each other for a moment— and in the end, it was the bizarre man, forced to mimic human behavior, who gave in first.
After all, refusing my request without a valid reason wouldn’t be very “human” of him.
Without a word, Freshian led me up to the fifth floor and began introducing the remaining clubs one by one.
“With that, I believe I’ve now introduced you to all the rooms on the fifth floor. As expected, the clubs up here don’t leave as strong an impression as those on the fourth floor, wouldn’t you say? Ah, but please don’t say that in front of the students. They’d be quite upset if they heard I said that. Haha!”
Finally, after introducing all the clubs on the fifth floor, Freshian made a joke with a natural smile on his face.
But I had no intention of being fooled by his innocent demeanor.
“No, there’s still one room left, isn’t there?”
“One room left? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“That last locked room at the end of the hallway. We haven’t checked that one yet, have we?”
“Oh, that room is just a storage space that’s no longer in use. It’s not related to any club, so there’s no need to bother looking around…”
“Then isn’t that all the better? I want to establish a club, so if there’s an unused empty room, wouldn’t that be the perfect situation?”
Mr. Freshian’s smile faltered.
And what was revealed beneath it was a thick, murderous intent.
He glared at me with bloodshot eyes, as if he was about to kill me.
“Very well. If you’re going to insist that much, why don’t you go ahead and open the room to check?”
His attitude was the clearest sign that there was something behind that door—something I had been searching for.
At the same time, it was also an overt premonition: the moment I opened the door and discovered the root of this whole situation, he would tear me to pieces and kill me on the spot.
Faced with Mr. Freshian’s deadly threat…
“…No. I won’t open the door.”
I calmly handed the master key back to Mr. Freshian.
“…What?”
“Well, hasn’t your behavior been odd for a while now? It’s almost as if there’s a hidden secret I’m not supposed to know about at the very end of the 5th floor hallway.”
“A hidden secret? That’s absurd. There couldn’t be anything like that. Ha… hahaha.”
“But it’s suspicious. Are you sure there’s nothing ominous hidden behind this door?”
“Of course. This is an academy for students—there’s no way something dark and secretive could be lurking here, right?”
The unused storage room at the far end of the 5th floor hallway.
The moment I was convinced that room was the answer, I began to think.
Let’s say that room is the answer.
Then how do I get there?
Getting there without being noticed would be impossible.
Even if I so much as looked around the 4th floor, let alone the 5th, I could feel how all those bizarre people started to grow wary of me.
Going there at night, after everyone had gone home?
That would probably be impossible too.
With such tight security, there would surely be a student who ‘just happened’ to stay late studying, or a teacher ‘coincidentally’ working overtime, or a security guard ‘happening’ to patrol only the 5th floor that night.
In the end, it would be impossible to reach that storage room while avoiding those bizarre people.
If I had reached this point before the number of strange people increased, maybe things would’ve been easier… but it was too late for that now.
In that case, a frontal assault.
“But now I find myself suddenly terrified that there might be something truly horrifying hidden behind this door. I just can’t bring myself to open it.”
“Hahaha. Well then, it can’t be helped. Let’s return to the teacher’s office. My, Mr. Allen, I didn’t think you were the timid type. But it’s fine—being a little cute like that is what’s expected of someone just starting out in society.”
Mr. Freshian chuckled warmly.
Had he let his guard down?
The behavior of these bizarre people is simple.
If their secret hasn’t been discovered, they blend in among humans and pretend to be normal.
But if someone finds out their secret, they’ll do whatever it takes to kill them.
A simple algorithm that can be summarized in two lines.
Its mechanism, at first glance, appears clean and flawless, with no apparent contradictions.
But is that really the case?
“So please, Mr. Freshian, open this door.”
“…Pardon? Mr. Allen, what did you just say…?”
“I asked you, Mr. Freshian, to open this door yourself to prove there’s nothing terrible or gruesome behind it.”
“Why should I…?”
“Well, because I’m terribly afraid and suspicious that something horrible might be hidden behind this door. But you, Mr. Freshian, believe there’s nothing secret, nothing dreadful behind it, right? So wouldn’t it make sense for you, who knows there’s nothing there, to open the door and put my suspicions to rest?”
“No, I can’t open the door…”
“Why not? Didn’t you just say there’s nothing behind the door? Then why are you saying you can’t open it? Or is it that you do know there’s something vile and frightening behind it, Mr. Freshian!?”
“O-of course not! It’s just an ordinary storage room!”
“If that’s what you truly believe, then please open the door! Prove your innocence!”
To act like a normal human being means, in other words, to hide your true identity.
So what happens when a situation that requires acting normal clashes with a situation that demands revealing one’s secret with their own hands?
That is the contradiction hidden in the behavior of these grotesque beings.
Under my relentless pressure, Mr. Freshian began to sweat profusely, as if caught in a downpour.
“Mr. Allen, I cannot open the door!”
“Why not? Is there really something behind that door? Are you stopping me from seeing the secret because there is something there? Is that what you’re trying to say, Mr. Freshian!?”
“No, that’s not it. I know there’s nothing behind this door. It’s just an ordinary storage room.”
He kept repeating himself like a broken doll.
“Then open the door! With your own hands! Of your own will, show me what lies beyond!!”
“Mr. Allen! Have you… figured something out?!”
“No! I haven’t figured out anything! I don’t understand your intentions at all! All I ask is that you take that key in your hand and use it to show me what’s behind this door!”
By now, Mr. Freshian was soaked as if he’d fallen into a swimming pool.
I grabbed his hand, which was shaking with extreme confusion and fear.
And I forced it toward the keyhole.
“Mr. Allen! I… I…!!”
“Come on!! All you have to do is turn the key. Open the door! With your own hands!! Show me your purity! If you’re truly hiding nothing, then that would be the most natural action, wouldn’t it!?”
I was ready to turn and flee into the underground tunnel at any moment.
It would’ve been ridiculous to make a grand vow that today would be my last stand, only to run away—but hey, better to be ridiculous than dead, right?
“What’s wrong, Mr. Freshian!? Your behavior right now seems highly unnatural!!”
“I… IIIIIIII…!!!”
But I didn’t end up fleeing to the underground tunnel.
Perhaps it was because the principle of hiding one’s secret by pretending to be normal collided with the principle of pretending to be normal by revealing one’s secret with one’s own hands?
Drenched in cold sweat, Mr. Freshian eventually melted down like candle wax, becoming a sticky puddle.
“….”
With that, the final guardian of the storage room was gone.
Before the other grotesque beings noticed something was wrong, I quickly inserted the master key— still stained with the melted flesh— and entered the storage room.