The timer continued counting down.
42:17
Inside the Strategy Hall, tension thickened.
Most students were still trapped inside the obvious layer of the problem—
- Stop the hijackers
- Save the cargo
- Calm the citizens
Every solution led to compromise.
Every compromise led to loss.
---
Izuya didn't look at the ships anymore.
His eyes remained fixed on the timeline displayed on his tablet.
Attack: 06:10
Public awareness: 06:18
City-wide panic: 06:25
Too fast.
Far too fast.
He tapped the screen once.
Zoomed into the data logs.
Information spread patterns.
Media spikes.
Emergency calls.
"…Eight minutes," he murmured.
Across the room, Arthur's fingers rested still on his desk.
But his eyes shifted slightly.
Listening.
---
Inside the Void—
The city replayed again.
This time, Izuya erased the ships completely.
The harbor emptied.
The attack disappeared.
And yet—
The panic still spread.
The protests still formed.
The police still mobilized.
Izuya stopped walking.
"…So that's it."
The Azure Bird landed on a streetlight beside him.
Watching.
---
Back in reality, Izuya picked up his pen.
He didn't rush.
Didn't hesitate.
He wrote.
---
Across from him, Arthur finally moved.
Not to write.
But to observe.
His gaze drifted across the room briefly—
then returned to Izuya.
A quiet confirmation.
---
31:02
Kuroda watched carefully.
Some students were nearing solutions.
Others were still adjusting strategies.
But two desks remained different.
Too calm.
Too still.
---
Izuya placed his pen down.
Done.
---
Kuroda stepped forward.
"Time remaining is irrelevant if you have completed your solution," he said.
"Submit when ready."
A few students hesitated.
Submitting early meant confidence.
Or arrogance.
Izuya tapped his screen.
Submitted.
A soft notification echoed through the room.
Heads turned.
Whispers almost began—
but stopped when another sound followed immediately.
Submitted.
Arthur.
---
Kuroda's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Interesting."
---
The timer hit zero.
00:00
"All submissions are now locked," Kuroda announced.
The holographic model froze mid-motion.
Ships locked in place.
Crowds suspended.
Time paused.
---
"Let us begin with Rank 8."
The board shifted.
Izuya's solution appeared.
---
"The hijacking is a decoy event."
A pause spread across the room.
Students frowned.
---
"Primary objective is to trigger mass panic and destabilize internal order."
---
Murmurs started.
"That's… not what the question said."
---
"Ignore the cargo. Do not engage hijackers immediately."
Now the reactions were stronger.
"What?"
"That makes no sense—"
---
Kuroda raised his hand.
Silence returned.
"Continue," he said.
---
"Shut down all public information channels for 30 minutes."
---
Now the room was completely still.
---
"Deploy controlled misinformation: declare situation contained before panic peaks."
---
Izuya leaned back slightly.
Expression unchanged.
---
"Redirect police to internal stabilization, not external confrontation."
---
The final line appeared.
---
"Once internal panic is neutralized, the hijackers lose leverage. Then eliminate them with minimal resistance."
---
Silence.
Real silence.
Not confusion.
Not whispers.
Just… processing.
---
Kuroda looked around the room.
"Explain," he said.
Izuya didn't sit up.
"The attack spreads too fast," he said calmly.
"Which means the real target isn't the cargo."
He glanced briefly at the model.
"It's the city's reaction."
Kuroda nodded slightly.
"Continue."
"If panic spreads," Izuya said, "the hijackers gain control without fighting."
"People pressure the government."
"Decisions become unstable."
"Loss increases."
He paused.
"So I remove the panic."
A student in the back spoke without raising his hand.
"By lying to the public?"
Izuya looked at him.
"Yes."
"That's risky—"
"Less risky than letting chaos grow."
The student went quiet.
---
Kuroda turned toward the other side of the room.
"Rank 1."
The board shifted again.
Arthur's solution appeared.
---
At first glance—
it looked similar.
Students leaned forward.
Reading carefully.
---
Then the difference became clear.
---
"Do not suppress information."
---
A pause.
---
"Accelerate information flow instead."
---
Confusion spread instantly.
---
Arthur spoke calmly.
"Panic is not the problem."
All eyes turned toward him.
"It is a symptom."
He stood up slowly.
Walking toward the center of the room.
"If you suppress information," he continued, "you create distrust."
"Distrust creates delayed chaos."
His eyes moved briefly toward Izuya.
"Worse chaos."
---
He looked back at the model.
"The attack is designed to test response speed."
"Not emotional reaction."
---
Arthur gestured toward the city projection.
"Flood the system with verified data."
"Overwhelm misinformation."
"Control narrative through transparency."
---
He paused.
Then added:
"Then strike the hijackers publicly."
---
Silence again.
But different this time.
Heavier.
---
Two solutions.
Same problem.
Completely different philosophies.
---
Kuroda looked between them.
"Both solutions identify the same core issue," he said.
"The manipulation of public reaction."
He folded his arms.
"But the methods…"
His gaze sharpened.
"…are opposites."
---
Izuya looked at Arthur.
Arthur looked back.
---
Izuya spoke first.
"Your method takes longer."
Arthur replied instantly.
"Your method creates future instability."
---
"Short-term stability is enough," Izuya said.
"Long-term consequences are inevitable."
---
Arthur shook his head slightly.
"Only if you allow them."
---
A pause.
---
Then Izuya said quietly:
"You're trying to control everything."
Arthur answered just as calmly:
"And you're trying to avoid everything."
---
The room felt smaller.
Heavier.
Like something invisible had settled between them.
---
From the center, Kuroda smiled faintly.
Not at their answers.
But at what he was witnessing.
---
Not a competition.
Not yet.
---
But something far more important.
---
Two minds.
Two philosophies.
Two ways to fix the world.
---
And for the first time—
they had directly collided.