Thirty minutes had gone by at Cafe Shamburi before Makoto found the capitol of Fukushima Prefecture. The digital watch Makoto had put on the table blipped softly in sync with the light waltz playing in the background.
Makoto shook the clouded image of the blank map out of his head. It was more important to advance according to schedule, rather than find the correct answer to the drill-book question. He got his things together within a minute, grabbed the bill (he'd already put the 500 yen coin on top of it), and rushed to the register.
It was a quick eight-minute walk to the station. He took the 5:03 p.m. train, which got him to the sixth station in fifteen minutes, then he transferred and ran, sliding into the peach-colored train already waiting on the other side of the platform. Before it reached the fifth station, Makoto had made his way to the third car of the train. It was a thirteen-minute ride. From there, he walked fifteen minutes to juku. Following the movement of his digital watch made him feel on top of things.
That day, getting off at the fifth station, Makoto's steps were way ahead of schedule as he walked toward Asunaro Juku , which was in a building full of other offices. He wanted to tell his friends what he'd heard about Life King Version V as soon as possible.
Makoto rushed into the room, bursting with excitement, only to find that the "Asunaro Juku Special Prep Class 4" was strangely animated - not at all its usual hospital-waiting-room quiet. A new rumor had made the room feverish.
Nobody went crazy, but the whispers raised the fever pitch even more.
"No-Life King?"
"They say it's software made by the devil."
"No, it isn't. It's the orginal Version V."
"That's right. That's the one where if you make a single mistake, the game's up."
"I'll get burned out if I play that game."
"Some kid solved Version V--completely up to the Dark Mystery."
"Wow!!"
"But he had a heart attack just before going back to The Room.
"He threw up blood."
"They said 'No-Life King' is cursed by that kid's spirit."
"S-C-A-R-Y!" So everyone already knew about Version V. Makoto was incredibly disappointed that this information was common knowledge.
"They say every kid who's ever played Disu-kon is gonna be cursed."
"Oh, no!"
"And if you can't solve the game, you'll be the first to get killed."
"Your family, too."
"Well, if that's the case, I wanna eat as many pork buns as possible before I get knocked off."
"You fool!"
"Anyone who tells this to an adult is supposed to be the very first ones to go."
"I heard that, too."
"To kill or be killed. That's it, isn't it?"
"It's a duel!"
"The last day of mankind."
"S-T-U-P-I-D."
"I'm ace at killing the first FATS, so I'm not gonna get killed so soon."
"Where in the world do they sell that software?"
"Even if they sell it, I don't want to buy it!"
"But, we'll get killed unless we play it."
"The curse might already have gotten to Life King."
"Rewrite the code!"
"Oomph!"
"Stop it! You're scaring me." This small cosmos the kids' frantic whispering had created felt one Big Bang one after another. Their bodies had already practically melted down by the time the young juku instructor entered the classroom. They all stopped talking when they saw the square face of the instructor, whom they secretly called "Pentagon," and turned to the computer screens at their desks.
"I'll take roll." The kids turned on the computers as if nothing had happened. Pi...pi...pi. All thirty computers turned on simultaneously at the sound, reflecting their green light on the kids' faces.
Asunaro Juku was one of a chain of juku, which had used teaching computers as its main selling point. The twelve Asunaro branches all over Japan were controlled by the host computer at the Tokyo headquarters. This allowed them to make a "simultaneous comparison of the students' answers" in an instant.
"You have enemies all over the country," was Asunaro Juku's motto.
On screen were the attendance records of the "Top men" in the thirteen branches. The "Top men" were those with the highest standing in their classes." All the other kids were encouraged to challenge them.
Makoto hit the keyboard to enter his attendance and turned his eyes to Sapporo branch column. Yohta Koyama was there. Yohta was the "top man" of Sapporo. He was #"S-8," which could be connected to "T-8," Makoto's terminal, for a chat. Each computer terminal could display information about "top men" all over the country. They could all chat directly with each other at an optional terminal.
"Pentagon" glanced at the computer screen on his desk, made a printout and started the lesson immediately. All the branches started the first lesson at exactly the same time. It was a "random trial exam." Without confirming the lesson plan for the children, "Pentagon" read their I.D. numbers very fast so as not to waste time. The kids' screens had already turned to the "random trial exam." They hit the keys after each instruction given in Pentagon's nervous, sometimes falsetto voice.
403...lowercase "a"
"Which city has the second largest population in Japan?" The kids had to answer the question as if it was a conditioned reflex. "O-S-A-K-A" Makoto's small fingers danced clumsily on the keyboard.
Once, on the way home from a class observation session for parents, Mamiko sat a cafe, digging a cherry out of the chololate parfait. It's more like a typing class than a juku, she had said. Yes, the kid's fingers really hit those keys fast.
On finishing the twentieth question, Pentagon said in a shrill voice, "You have enemies all over Japan." Twenty answers to twenty questions...and in each blank space under each question, there was the answer of the kid to whose terminal it was connected.
"The correct answers will now appear." Pentagon said in a loud voice, again not lifting his eyes from the screen. The correct answers appeared in a scattered manner on the screen's blank space. Makoto had gotten seven out of twenty questions wrong; his correct answers matched neatly with the other correct ones.
Yohta Koyama must have studied hard, preparing and reviewing over and over again, in order to have such a neat line-up of correct answers on the screen.
Makoto imagined Yohta to be that kind of kid, and that was why he respected him. Makoto waited patiently. He really wanted to chat with Yohta in the "re-examination" space at the bottom of the screen. He could enter up to thirty characters there.
A couple of seconds later, Pentagon's loud voice choed "re-examination," in the classroom, Makoto was breathless, and felt more so than usual that day.
He had to tell Yohta about No-Life King as soon as possible.... Makoto, however, didn't begin the conversation. As usual, he waited for Yohta to enter and then he answered Yohta's question and typed in what he wanted to tell him. He was always somehow nervous that he'd displease Yohta.
"M-A-K-O..." Yohta emerged from the dark screen. The only thing that moved freely in the screen were Yohta's letters.
"...T-O...." The soundless words called to Makoto from the other side.
Makoto read letter for letter, changing letters into words spoken in familiar voice. It almost made him cry. Yohta's voice filled his head, gradually penetrating into his brain without resistance. It was calling Makoto.
Makoto's small fingers moved freely. ...YES...His fingers paid their utmost attention to how many letters he was using up. Yohta always "talked" fluently, as if he knew all the answers from the beginning.
"WHAT ARE THEY SAYING ABOUT NO-LIFE KING?" So Yohta, too, already knew about the rumor of No-Life King. Makoto sighed at his second disappointment of the day, but there was not much time left. He had to answer Yohta's question quickly, or otherwise, the second lesson would start and Yohta's voice would disappear to the darkness. Makoto tried to buck up, but how could he possibly inform Yohta of the situation in his Juku with only twenty-seven characters?
Well, first of all...a theme! Makoto remembered what he learned at a special composition class. I'll create a really cool message in only twenty-seven characters to blow Yohta away.
WE'LL BE KILLED IF NOT SOLVED. Makoto stopped to think. Fourteen characters were left. He had to give a real example, but the second lesson was about to begin. He grabbed a pen and started writing a draft on the slippery desk.
"THE FAMILY OF THE KID PLAYING DISU-KON WILL ALSO BE KILLED."
"NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO SOLVE IT."
All the sentences went over fourteen characters. Besides, they all missed the main point. Makoto looked at Pentagon, who opened the teaching manual and then glanced nervously at the clock over the blackboard. He couldn't be late for the next lesson, held simultaneously at all the Asunaro Juku s all over Japan. Only thirteen seconds were left.
Makoto decided just to put in something. However incomplete his sentences were; he didn't want to lose Yohta. He pushed up the sleeves of his red sweatshirt, placed his fingers on the keyboard and entered:
SCARY BUT IF NOT....
"Get ready next for the geometry questions," Pentagon said. Makoto could only leave the rest to his reflexes.
"Begin the first question now!"
...SOLVE WILL BE KILLED. As soon as Makoto hit the twenty-third character, Yohta's words disappeared. The remaining characters were still at the tips of Makoto's fingers.
...TRY...
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