The white light was blinding.
I remembered the sharp screech of tires, the honk of a horn, and then nothing. My last moments on Earth were not glorious. Just another nameless casualty of an accident. But when I opened my eyes again, the scent of polished wood and faint disinfectant filled my nose. My body didn't ache. My chest rose and fell with an unfamiliar ease.
"Where… am I?" I muttered, my voice sounding smoother and younger than I remembered.
A mirror stood nearby, and when I staggered to look, I almost didn't recognize the reflection staring back at me. A boy of sixteen, with neatly cut black hair, sharp brown eyes, and a frame that leaned on the leaner, athletic side. His uniform hung freshly pressed on a hanger nearby. My heart raced as the memories not my own trickled in—Miyamoto Soshi, son of two mid-tier salary workers, raised in relative obscurity. A quiet kid, unremarkable grades, nothing extraordinary about him.
Except now I was him.
And more importantly, I realized the setting around me. The sterile walls. The official crest stamped onto the pamphlet resting on the desk. "Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School."
Classroom of the Elite.
I sucked in a breath. So this was my new life—thrown into the world where merit, manipulation, and power determined everything. A school where freedom was given, but every freedom was a trap, every choice a calculation. One misstep could turn you into an outcast, while one clever move could secure dominance.
I had watched it all play out before—from the shadows of my old life, as an anime on a cracked screen, late at night when I wanted escape. But now, I was in it. Not a spectator, but a piece on the board.
Orientation day arrived in a blur.
I found myself ushered into a gleaming classroom marked "Class 1-D." The walls were bright, the windows spacious, and yet there was a certain coldness to it—like a cage with invisible bars. Students chattered among themselves, introductions forming in clusters.
My seat was toward the back, near the window. A blessing, in a way. From here, I could watch, analyze, and stay out of the spotlight.
Across the room, I noticed a few familiar figures. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, sitting lazily in his seat, as unreadable as always. Suzune Horikita, already radiating an aura of arrogance and distance. Kikyo Kushida, smiling warmly as she introduced herself to nearly everyone in sight.
It was surreal. Characters I had once only seen through a screen now breathed the same air as me. I was no longer an outsider. I was a participant.
A tap on my shoulder snapped me from my thoughts.
"Hey," a cheerful boy with slightly messy brown hair grinned. "Mind if I sit here for a bit? Name's Yamauchi."
I blinked, forcing a polite smile. "Miyamoto Soshi. Nice to meet you."
Yamauchi's chatter spilled out in waves, half bragging, half awkward attempts at humor. I nodded along, my thoughts elsewhere. In this environment, alliances mattered. Friendships could be tools, but they could also be traps.
When the teacher, Chabashira-sensei, finally entered, silence fell over the room. Her sharp eyes scanned us like a hawk assessing prey.
"Welcome to the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School," she said, her voice cutting through the air. "Here, you are given complete freedom. Your success or failure will depend entirely on your own ability."
Her words were calm, but I knew the subtext. Freedom was a lure. Behind it were rules, hidden mechanisms that would punish the careless.
As she explained the monthly point system—100,000 points given to each student at the start, usable as money for anything—I felt a shiver of both excitement and dread. Around me, students cheered, already fantasizing about luxuries. They didn't understand. Within a month, they'd learn the truth.
I kept my expression neutral, scribbling notes to maintain appearances. Inwardly, my mind spun with possibilities. Unlike them, I already knew what awaited us. I had foreknowledge. That was my advantage.
But foreknowledge alone wasn't enough. Ayanokoji was here—the ultimate mastermind. Horikita, ambitious and stubborn. Rokusen-class manipulators like Ryuen and Ichika would soon make their moves. If I wanted to survive—no, thrive—I couldn't simply rely on what I knew. I had to play my own game.
When classes ended, I wandered the campus. The scale of the school was overwhelming. Convenience stores, cafes, arcades—everything a teenager could dream of. Students were laughing, celebrating their newfound wealth. Bags of snacks, brand-name shoes, even electronics flew off shelves.
I kept my spending modest, buying only the essentials: notebooks, pens, a modest lunch. My 100,000 points were not infinite. They were bait. I would not fall for it.
As I sat at the cafeteria, my thoughts drifted.
What's my role in this world?
I wasn't a genius like Ayanokoji. I wasn't naturally charismatic like Kushida. I wasn't ruthless like Ryuen. I was just Miyamoto Soshi, an ordinary student with the mind of someone who had seen this play out before.
But maybe that was enough.
Maybe being overlooked was my greatest weapon.
"Mind if I sit here?" a voice asked.
I looked up. It was Ayanokoji. His face was calm, unreadable.
"Sure," I replied, hiding my surprise.
He sat across from me, unwrapping a simple sandwich. For a while, silence reigned, comfortable but heavy. Then, he spoke.
"You're… careful," he said simply. "You didn't spend much today."
I raised an eyebrow. "You were watching?"
"Everyone was too busy throwing points away. You weren't." His gaze was sharp, probing. "That makes you different."
I forced a small laugh. "Or maybe I'm just cheap."
He didn't respond, only gave a faint, knowing smile.
It was then I realized—he was testing me. From the very start, he was always watching, always calculating. I couldn't afford to be careless.
"Guess we'll see," I said, meeting his gaze.
For the first time since waking up in this new life, my pulse quickened—not out of fear, but out of exhilaration.
This was no longer a story I was watching from afar. This was my story now.
And Soshi Miyamoto was no pawn.
He would carve his own place among the elite.