I came back but the world is still a fantasy!? Prologue – The Repercussions of His Return – 05-00: The “Everyday” That was Broken

READ FIRST SO YOU DON’T END UP CONFUSED: This is still the same web novel previously translated. The only difference is that this translation is following the AUTHOR’S order, while the previous translators followed the CHRONOLOGICAL order. The numbers just represent the actual chronology. So if you wanted to read according to chronology, you would read all the 00-XX first, then the 01-XX, then the 02-XX… etc.

What the previous translators did was to translate 00-XX first, then 01-XX, and then 02-XX. But that’s not how the author wrote it. If you’re still confused, this is the same thing as Haruhi where the episodes were broadcasted out of order.

Also Novel Updates is mistaken, I haven’t posted 02-01 yet.

I came back but the world is still a fantasy!? Prologue – The Repercussions of His Return – 05-00: The “Everyday” That was Broken

In a particular special academy is a certain unique class and rule.
The students who go here walk with their heads up high, carrying with them the pride of the burden they bear as innovators of the new era.
They train their minds and their bodies, dreaming of the day they step out into the world as pioneers.
The teachers as well, they carry with them the same pride as they pridefully swing about their canes, a part of this historic event.

Which is precisely why a certain boy’s actions destroyed their “everyday”.
Let us name a few of these cases.

Case 1: Nodding off in class
(In order to protect their privacy, the names of the people involved have been withdrawn.)

On the last day of May. At the academy.
On an otherwise normal, monotonous day, was in one classroom, a teacher seething with irritation.

“…Hey, N! Wake up!”

The teacher yelled at the student who was brazenly lying asleep, prostrated over his desk with his own arms for his pillows.
Normally, a sleeping student would immediately jump up, awake, and his classmates would just laugh.
But in this case, there were already those among his classmates who were showing their disgust as they muttered to themselves, “Just leave him be already.”

“Are you not going to wake up!?”

The teacher raised his voice as he shook the student, but there was still no reaction.
He was not snoring, but he did not show any signs of waking either.
The teacher was not new to this industry, he had a long history as a teacher even before teaching here.
In the past, he also had students who would doze off in class.
But this ‘N’ was completely different. His personality was just horrible.
He really truly would not wake up. No matter what the teacher did, he just remained fast asleep.

“Hey!”

“Sensei, please just leave him alone if he doesn’t want to study.
It’d be troublesome for the rest of us if the class were to be delayed just because of him.”

“Exactly. No matter what you do, that guy won’t wake up.”

“Please don’t waste your efforts, and just continue the class.”

He shook him vigorously as he yelled at him, but there was still no reaction.
In fact, the other students started telling him to just continue the class.
This was not the first time this student slept in his class.
This boy has been like this almost ever since he started studying here.
The students and the teachers warned him at the start, but since he refused to listen no matter how many times they called out to him, they decided to just leave him be.
But this particular teacher just wouldn’t, and he still continued to warn him, saying, “Wake up and listen to the lesson!”
But each and every time he did, this student would just reply, “Can’t”, before dozing off.

“Would you quit it already!”

Although he has also had his fair share of uninterested students,
this was his first time seeing a student so “serious” at not studying despite being present at class.
With his piling irritation and the students’ cold attitude toward their classmate, he finally snapped.
He raised up the stick he had in his hands, and he swung it at the sleeping student.
But before he could understand why the students suddenly screamed, his consciousness had already left him.

“GUGYaAAAaa!!??”

“Sigh… the class is going to be delayed again.”

As a flash of lightning appeared within the classroom and throes of pain voiced out from the teacher’s lips, someone somewhere was sighing.
After that, the chime rang, and the male student finally woke up.
As for the fainted teacher, no one bothered. They didn’t want to.

“Fuwaaa… It sure is a pain having no other time for sleep except for class hours, huh.”
“Kyu-”

Only the student in question himself was untroubled.

Case 2: Starting a quarrel

Because of certain events, the student in question was not well liked by his fellow students.
There are many reasons. For one, there are some who dislike him because of the delays in the lessons.
Some see his refusal to acclimate to the school as an act of mockery.
Some envy him for being the object of a certain girl’s affection.
Some wish to remove the source of the school’s troubles.
And for some, it’s because they hated seeing a person like that attend the school they struggled so much to get in.
Which is why to some extent, this sort of occurrence was normal.

“Hey, “trash”! Today, I’m definitely… Don’t ignore me!”

His classmate enthusiastically called out to him from in front, but without even the slightest glance, he passed by him.
He treated his classmate as if he was no more than a passerby in this hallway, but this too was his normal behavior.
His classmate turned around to reach for his shoulder, but just a few centimeters before his hand reached him, the air tore.

“W-Wait! At least hear me out!”

His classmate yelled in a voice loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear, but he simply continued to walk, unconcerned as ever.
That was enough to push his classmate to the edge. And he took the terminal in his hands, and—-

“You should stop. Any further and this’ll become a matter for the public morals committee.”

—-Just when he was about to touch the terminal, a cold voice reached him from behind. Immediately, he stopped.
With his bursting emotions left with nowhere to go, he lightly clicked his tongue and kicked against the ground.
The girl who was standing behind him was an upperclassman and a member of the public morals committee. It wouldn’t do him well to go against her.

“N S, stop.”

“…Is something the matter?”

When his name was called out, he stopped walking and he turned around. On his face was an expression that looked genuinely confused.
That attitude of his annoyed her, but as a member of the public morals committee, she could only stare daggers at him as she kept her calm.

“You’re probably not going to listen, but don’t you think you should at least hear people out?”

“…Hah?”

“Haa…”

This was not her first time meeting him.
He was after all, the male student who was blacklisted immediately “one month” after enrolling.
The main reason why so many incidences occur around him is precisely because of this inclination of his to “ignore”.
And if one were to truly believe his words, then he really doesn’t notice others. What a horrible personality.
To say no less of which, he doesn’t even notice that he’s making a troubled face now.

“Wasn’t that guy telling you to stop just now? …Why can’t you realize it? …Haa.”

“…Really?”

“S-Shut up! Ah, I give up! I give up!”

As her gaze turned toward the classmate, the student-in-question finally noticed him for the first time, and he asked to confirm.
Seeing his actions, it was clear as day that he truly did not notice him.
Feeling his pride hurt in public, he left to run away. This too was a common pattern.
A small mercy from this case is that another one of the students here will challenge the student-in-question again.
But they would never act as a group as their pride would cause them to feel shame and disgust.
But with that, the same thing will happen again, and nothing will be resolved. A vicious cycle so to speak.

“N S, why don’t you notice the people talking to you!?”

“W-Who knows…”

“Are you that uninterested in other students?
Is school really that boring? You don’t like it?
Then why don’t you just leave? I’ll even help you out!”

The student-in-question stepped back at the girl’s overbearing stance as a vague expression appeared over his face, angering the girl even more.
He acted the timid with that troubled expression of his, but that only serve to add fuel to the girl’s anger.

“…Umm… Isn’t it fine to just do what you want?”
“——!!”

In other words, “whatever”. With that, the girl finally went past her boiling point.
Although it wasn’t good to yell, telling someone off wasn’t something one could do with a whisper.
With that troubled face and voice of his, the atmosphere had unnecessarily turned into one that looked like he was suggesting something to her.
But it was almost time, and if the chime wasn’t rang at the right time, she’d be in trouble as a member of the public morals committee.

“Ah, the next class is… Anyway!?
If you’re still saying that you’re going to continue that attitude of yours, I’m definitely going to have you expelled!”

Leaving behind those words, she briskly walked and left.

“Haa… Why is everyone always angry at me… I didn’t even do anything.”

No one answered the student’s question.

Case 3: Ignoring the rules of the school cafeteria.

Most of the students of this school live in the dormitory.
When eating they of course either eat at the cafeteria or buy outside.
There are also exceptions who would bring their own bentou or eat outside,
but the only students who would bother doing that are those with spare time and money.

Because of this the spacious cafeteria was always packed during lunch.
Unfortunately, this cafeteria was never meant to sit all the students.
So the students would always have to quickly run here at the end of their class.
Yet in this cafeteria overflowing with people was one odd table that – save for the lone person eating on it – was otherwise empty.
He quietly ate the set meal placed over the tray that had been calculated for the best calorie and nutrient balance.
This student was none other than the student in question, N S. And beside him was a small animal that looked like a fox, eating.

“Is it good?”

“Kyu!”

The small animal happily cried out in response, and the student continued to eat as he watched over it.
If anyone saw this scene, they would surely exclaim in shock, saying, “H-He’s laughing!?”
But for better or for worse, not a single person was looking toward his direction. They didn’t want to get involved.
That’s why the students who had no choice but to sit near him had to hurriedly eat their food to leave even a moment sooner.
The boy was acting normal, yet no one was happy. As for why, that’s because…

“Oi, you bastard! You’re doing this again!?”

“You really want to piss us off that much?”

“Hurry up and remember already that that seat’s ours!”

That’s because this table was originally prepared for them.
This table was not only built better than the other tables, but it was also bigger and more spacious.
Compared to the seats by the long tables in the cafeteria, it was clear as day that this seat was special.
Yet despite that clear difference, he shamelessly chose to eat there with his pet.s

“…Ahh, so good…”

This group of men and women have been given the special right to use that table.
But although their standing was enough to instill fear in the hearts of teachers,
this problem student, N, was as usual, ignoring them.

“You!”

At first, they just warned him since he’d just entered the school.
But no matter how many times they warned him, he refused to stop. To begin with, it was a mystery whether he was even listening.
Because of that they started to employ brute force.
They headed here today again for that purpose, but…

“Kyu!”

“Ah, shit!”

The mysterious small animal that was eating with him made a short cry before breathing out fire.
Then as if it was sleepy after having eaten its fill, it climbed up the male student’s head, stretched itself out, and then yawned.
This time, if they were to try and approach again, this sleeping animal that’s curled itself into a ball would definitely electrocute them.
It might look small, but this animal is strong. It’s not worth fighting over some seat in the cafeteria.
And it’s exactly because of its protection, that they’re unable to force him off the seat.

“Always getting in the way even though you’re just a pet!”

“That’s a rare animal. If we hurt it, we’ll be the ones in trouble.”

“Aren’t you a man!? Isn’t it mortifying being protected by such a cute pet!?”

They smacked their lips as they called the student names, but like the passing wind, the student in question only continued to eat.
Seeing him carefully chew and taste his food annoyed them even more.

“Again, you’re…”

As another figure appeared and sighed, the wave of students in the cafeteria parted, opening a path for her.
Just from her appearance alone, it was clear that she was from a good family. Her presence could easily pressure anyone, and even the group from before went quiet before her.
In fact, they looked at her with reverence and respect as they quietly muttered her name.

“I don’t know how many times I need to say it, but I’ll keep saying it until you understand.
That seat over there is a special privilege given only to those who’ve won it.
So exactly what do you think you’re doing just wordlessly using it as you please!?”

With a snap, she pointed her fingers at him and reprimanded him.
This is a school that follows the merit system, a student that does as he pleases without respecting that won’t be forgiven.
As for the clear differences in treatment between students, that was intentionally done precisely for the sake of igniting a sense of competition between the students.
But this problem student was directly “ignoring” that rule.

“I know it’s a bit late to say this, but while you might not care for the rules here,
you should still follow the proverb, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.
Your country should also have something similar, right?
Even if you didn’t go here by your own will, protecting this rule is something that a person should…”

Suddenly, while she was in the middle of her speech, the boy stood up. She went stiff.
She thought he would also just listen quietly like before; she didn’t expect that he would actually react.

“W-What is it…”
“Thanks for the meal!”[simple_tooltip content=’Gochisou-sama. Like saying grace. ‘](?)[/simple_tooltip]
“Kyu!”

As he said that with his two hands folded, he took his tray and left to put it back.

“Oba-chan[/simple_tooltip]  Today’s was delicious too!”
“Kyu! Kyu!”
“T-Thanks.”

Seeing how the situation at the back was, the women working at the cafeteria smiled with a slight cramp on their faces.
He was the only one who would straightforwardly praise their cooking, but he was also a source of trouble.
Especially now that the “girl” whose body was now shaking behind him had been completely ignored.

“S-Senpai, please calm down! I understand you to the point of hurting, but please calm down!”

“R-Right… Don’t worry, I’m fine.
I’m calm. I’m very calm!”

Before anything happened, a girl of the public morals committee stood up and soothed her. And she once again, smiled.
It was a rather stiff smile though, and her expression could be seen trembling if only slightly.
As for the surrounding students, they all kept quiet out of fear when they sensed that she’s finally reached her limits.

“It sure is great being able to eat good food every day, huh.”
“Kyui! Kyui!”

Only the boy who was the source of the incident himself left the cafeteria, full and satisfied,
completely oblivious to the eerie silence behind him.

Case 4: The rift between the teachers

Despite causing several commotions and incidents, the boy still continued to attend the school.
Almost two months later, and his influence was finally enough to reach places where he wasn’t present.
At the gathering of the teachers, during staff meeting, that word finally “appeared”.

“Principal, N S of 1-D should be expelled!”

The teacher was enraged.
There’s some fault with that description, but with said teacher normally being gentle,
his strong words gave a stronger impact, and it gave him the image of going mad in anger.

“Right! That student’s just making a fool of the school, dozing off all the time!
He’s even had quarrels with the other students! And he’s not reflecting on his actions at all!”

“He’s doing whatever he wants just because of that guardian beast of his. To begin with, why does he have a guardian beast for a pet!?”

“At this rate, he’ll be a bad influence to other students!”

“Fortunately, he has a low rank. We can use this opportunity to enforce the school’s merit system!”

Following that, more and more teachers unhappy with the student in question spoke up in agreement.
But contrast the overbearing pressure of the teachers, the principal was drenched in cold sweat as he avoided committing.

“It’s only been two months though, so I don’t think…”

“If it hasn’t been one month yet, I’d understand. But it’s already been two months, you know!?”

“Too much time has already passed to still be arguing that he’s just adjusting!”

But all that did was add oil to the already burning fire of the expulsion camp. The principal drew even more cold sweat.

“Ah, no, that’s… If you’re going to talk about that, let’s at least do that when the homeroom teacher or his assistant is around…”

“That’s no reason to delay this!”

Though he still tried to dodge the issue, he was firmly cut down by the complaining teachers.
The principal’s words literally set the teachers on fire as they spoke back in a loud voice.

“To begin with! It doesn’t even seem like he even wants to adapt to the school!
If he really doesn’t want to be here, then we should just kick him out!”

“…Is that something that should be done as an educator?”

But as the crowd was getting hotter, a calm voice resounded. And it was as if cold water was poured on them.
The man who said those words was sitting by the round table almost completely opposite them. He was a teacher from a different camp.

“That’s my opinion after taking his feelings into consideration.
Besides, even if you are right, I can’t believe you would actually suggest to “chase” him out. What kind of school do you think this is?
Could it be that you and your associates do not understand this simple fact? Surely not.”

“But that’s!”

Their weak point hit, the expulsion camp went quiet.
This school was special. They could not simply just chase out a student.
There’re knowledge and abilities that could only be learned here. And sending a student back to society after a half-baked run in this academy would be problematic.
After all, if such students were to cause problems, it would be a scandal for the academy.

“Moreover, since you know that he’s still immature, then isn’t that all the more reason for us teachers to guide him?”

“In the first place, he only dozes off in you and your associate’s classes.
In our regular classes, he is a serious and diligent student.
Enough that his classmates should even learn from him.”

With a sound argument and a meaningful gaze added, the faces of the expulsion camp went sour.
Just at they said, the student in question only had a problem with his attitude toward learning. As for the rest, he’s actually fine.
So to the opposing camp, the so-called problem student was a good student who shouldn’t be expelled.

“And besides, if you were to actually investigate all those commotions he caused, you’d find out that other students were picking a fight with him.
You can’t say he’s wrong just because he didn’t fight back.”

“If you’re still going to insist that he’s the only one at fault, I don’t think that would be very becoming of you as teachers.”

Chuckling, the opposing camp argued with a sense of superiority.
Their emotions aside, their logic was certainly correct, and the expulsion camp was left unable to answer.
Actually, this difference in their way of thinking is an old problem amongst these teachers.
Amongst these teachers is more or less what you would call a ditch. They were coworkers, but there was a distinct disparity between them.

On one side you have the teachers who taught the special lessons.

And then on the other, you have the teachers who taught the same lessons as other high schools.

Until now, nothing major has occurred between them, but the former does have a strong tendency to look down on the latter.
This has also influenced the students, as a part of them – and not a meagre number either – have grown to have a perfunctory attitude toward these normal classes.
As a result, they would attend these classes, but in truth, they were actually boycotting them.
As for students who would seriously attend these normal classes, the latter type of teachers found them greatly gratifying, and they would feel a sense of superiority in them.

“We also thought the same at first, but he never felt like doing anything…”

“Exactly! We tried hard too, but he just won’t listen…”

It’s not like the expulsion camp thought to expel him right from the start.
But no matter how many times they talked to him, he just wouldn’t move. And with him not saying the reason, they were stuck at a deadlock.

“Isn’t it a teacher’s job to do something about that!”

“Isn’t he just looking down on you? Something like, ‘there’s no reason to listen to what these guys are saying’!”

When the expulsion camp showed weakness, the opposing camp went at them at full power as if this was a fortunate thing.
But of course, the expulsion camp wouldn’t sit by and take that quietly either.

“If you’re going to say that much, then you should be able to do something about him then, right!?”

“The problem is with your class! Don’t even try pushing the problem onto others!”

With that exchange as the impetus, the argument grew fiercer, and the so-called “argument” turned into abuse.
The principal who was at his wit’s end no longer knew what to do, so he just unconcernedly drank his tea.
Actually, because of some circumstances, he knew that he absolutely could not expel the student in question. So as much as possible, he did not want to be involved.
He just ended up praying, “Couldn’t something just put an end to this please?” But of course, a way to settle the issue at hand wouldn’t come from just that.
For someone like him who never wanted any problems to happen and was just sitting on the fence, fixing this current situation was impossible.

“…”

Meanwhile, a female teacher was observing everything that was happening as if it was someone else’s problem.
To think that the equilibrium here would actually be broken by just one student.
Is the boy abnormal? Are the teachers simply weak? Well, regardless, either way’s interesting, she thought.

If that woman needed to be put in a faction, then it would be the neutral camp.
Neutral because she’s the type of person who would reason, “It doesn’t matter.”
But the truly neutral faction would find itself confused as it sees understandable points in either side.
They’re in charge of both normal and special classes, so it’s painful for them to take just one side.

“…But this is problematic.”

Although she was still looking at the issue as if it was someone else’s problem, she also had to acknowledge that at this rate, the time would end up in waste.
But what she was really worried about was not the useless argument continuing,
but that the boy might actually be expelled.

“Umm… can I say something?’

Without the slightest concern for the thoughts or opinions of those around her, fully devoted only to her own matters, she raised her hand and spoke.
As all eyes gathered on her, she nonchalantly stood up.
The teachers who have been arguing brazenly showed their disgust on their faces.
This teacher was not well liked.

“What is it?
I hope you’re not going to ask for permission to leave and go back to your research again?”

“Exactly!
This is an issue that could possibly affect the future of the academy.
People who only want to research should stay quiet!”

But she didn’t mind their words.
She only continued as if she didn’t hear anything.

“How about just leaving the student alone?
Not a lot of students are involved with him anyway, so I think we should just leave him be.”

Most of the students are already treating him as if he doesn’t exist.
After all, that’s the best way to keep themselves out of harm’s way.
But that’s because they’re students. Teachers are different. When they know there’s an issue, they can’t just leave it be as that would be negligence on their part.
And as expected, regardless of which camp they were from, the teachers couldn’t immediately agree to her proposal.

“…In other words, you want us to just leave the issue alone?”

“In the first place, that so-called issue is not even causing trouble for anyone.
If he dozes off, then just leave him be. He won’t cause trouble as long as you leave him alone.
It’s because people keep trying to involve themselves with him that they end up having all these negative feelings about him. It’s a vicious cycle.
The people always flaring up at him don’t really change much.
I think it’d be more realistic to lecture those instead of him.”

“You…”

Everyone felt inclined to agree, but the issue wasn’t just that.
There’s also the issue of that pet of his.
If it weren’t for it, he would’ve long been purged.

“But the issue regarding that guardian beast he takes along as a pet is…”

“That’s definitely a guardian beast.
But it is exactly because of that that we must respect its will.
And you should know that even just keeping one is illegal, right?”

That is one of the lines in the newly passed law concerning guardian creatures.
Except for treatment purposes, catching one is illegal.
But forcefully turning away a specimen that decides to follow on its own is also not permitted.
This was passed to ensure that humans won’t be treated as an enemy.
But of course, legitimate self-defense will be forgiven to an extent.

“If you take that point into consideration, it’s no longer just a pet.
You could just look at it as a guardian creature following on its own,
who eventually grew attached and became completely subservient.
Besides, it won’t attack unless given a reason to.
I’ve even seen female students petting it after getting permission.”

“…”

The teachers were speechless. They never thought that this woman would actually come up with such reasonable arguments.
To think she could actually nullify the issue to the point where it wasn’t an issue anymore by just leaving him alone.
As teachers, could they still insist on him being a problem with this option presented?

“I understand what you want to say.
But just leaving him alone isn’t right as educators. We…”

“No, while I did say to leave him alone, I didn’t mean to ignore him.
All I’m saying is that we won’t do anything as long as he doesn’t say anything.
Don’t you think it’s more important to respect a person rather than forcefully teach him something he’s not interested in?”

As if those last words grudgingly broke the last line of their defenses, they grudgingly accepted her proposal.

The rift between the normal-class teachers and the special-class teachers was solved,
but she didn’t know anything about that. She didn’t even have the slightest interest in that.
Her only interest was toward the boy who started this incident.
The secret he alone carries. In order to unveil that, human relations and other trifling matters were irrelevant.

Case ??: ???

How intriguing… that boy.

If it’s him, I’m sure he could become our friend.

In this twisted and broken world.

But we need to wait a bit more for that.

Because very soon… I’m going to make a mess of this world.

––––––––As the boy began a new “everyday”, another person’s “everyday” was falling apart.

Whether that was good or bad,no one yet knew.

But as for what would decide that…

Ironically,

it was not to them nor the world,

that it was entrusted,

but to him and his will.