The sound of the door opening was an indicator of zipping your mouths. If it turns out that the person is a fellow student, then all's fine and good and you can continue talking. But what if it's a teacher? That's a call to zip your mouths permanently. That was an unspoken rule between students. While there are some in normal schools who have no intention to do this, in this prep center, everyone has to be quiet.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the corridor made the whole class go silent.

It stopped for a moment, the door opened and continued again. From behind the door came an old man in glasses. He was in formal attire with a greenish-blue striped tie. He had a bald head with side hair and his buck teeth were way above normal size. His stomach was protruding out like a sore thumb and his short legs were terribly mismatched with his body.

『Hello, students. Welcome to Flogreen Prep Center.』

His voice was so raspy, it was difficult to make out his words. To top it off, he had a high-pitch voice. This old man's voice was very grating to hear.

『My name is Greyfred and I am the principal of this institution. First of all, congratulations to you all for making it here. As you all know, this center is for the people who could not complete their education. So, you all have to exponentially harder than ever before.』

Suddenly, his mouth transformed into a big grin and his face turned dark.

『Now for some of the guidelines, hear me carefully. Classes will be held from 5:00 in the morning to 6:00 in the evening. Your break will be from 12:00 to 12:15 for a duration of 15 minutes. Your dinner time starts strictly at 9:30. Anyone reporting even a minute late will be subjected to harsh punishment. You people should be happy that you are getting another shot at entering the academy. Anyone found complaining will be expelled on the spot. Additionally, no one must go against my orders. Any form of indiscipline could lead to a black mark on your resume forever. Always remember this. I am a king and this prep center is my kingdom. You are slaves who only exist to study. You hate me? You want to leave the center? Go on. Leave. Nobody will stop you. But as long as you are here, you must obey me. Additional rules will be posted on the screen in the hallway. Make sure to read it carefully. For the classes, there will be no homeroom period for you all. Instead, it will be a self-study period. Anyone not found studying will be expelled. Instead, this class will be assigned a mentor for any matters involving the students. The teacher will also act as your homeroom teacher. Your mentor will be coming a minute later after I leave. So, stay silent until then. That will be all.』

With this completely demotivating speech, the principal left the room. And with it, erupted a wave of whispers in the class. Although Akio could not hear them, he could pretty much guess what it was about. Even he hated him because the principal acted in a similar way to his father.

What was even more hilarious to Akio was the character of the principal himself. He thought to himself:

『Huh.....So, such cliched characters do exist in real life.』

Thinking this, he started scanning his neighbors to at least know their faces. But well, after finishing, he found out that all of them looked aggressive and hot-blooded. He tried not to judge a book by it's cover but it was just not possible.

He exhaled once and lay his head on the table and closed his eyes.

『Oof.....It's tiring.』

He did not get to rest for long. Another pair of footsteps echoed through the corridor. Just like when the principal arrived, this time, too, the whole class went silent.

When the door opened, a middle-aged man entered the classroom and sat at the teacher's table.

『I have an announcement from the principal. The mentor in charge of your class won't be able to visit you today. I have been ordered to take up the homeroom as a part of my period. So, let's start. Your books will now be distributed.........』

As the last period ended, there was a continuous series of slapping their books on the table. Everyone was worn out. Except for Akio, that is. His mental fortitude was very high. In fact, it was the highest in the world.

Outside the class, the dorm managers were waiting to take the students to their respective dorms. Akio picked up his books and went outside the class to the dorm manager.

After him, the other students followed lazily. Akio stretched his hands and started following the person, in front of him, make his way to his room, where he had to live for a year.