KyokaSuigetsu
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Chapter 45: Perfect Score Admission"Youkoso, welcome to Arasaka Academy."
🕑 Added 2025-04-21 05:40:01 +0000 UTCThe receptionist opened with a line in Japanese and gave a slight bow.
Leo suspected that if he replied in Japanese, her attitude might become even more respectful—after all, Arasaka was a Japanese corporation.
But he wasn’t into playing little weeb games.
"Hello, I’ve scheduled an entrance exam. Could you help me check it?"
"Of course, please wait a moment..."
Since Shironeko had handled the paperwork, there were no issues. After verifying his personal information, she gave him a reply.
"Your appointment was at 9:00 a.m., but the admissions officer has already finished the previous tasks. You can head in now. The reception room is on the east side of the first floor. If you'd like, I can send you the navigation route."
"Much appreciated."
"Best of luck."
After the polite exchange, Leo followed the navigation with V trailing beside him, eyes wandering curiously.
Before long, they arrived at a quiet corridor, entering the faculty area.
Looking around, Leo noticed that all the offices had panoramic glass walls—meaning no one could slack off unnoticed.
A supervisor could spot exactly what everyone was doing just by walking a loop outside.
"No privacy at all. Might as well be in jail..."
V frowned at the corporate drones in their boxes, for the first time finding herself thinking that maybe being a street merc wasn’t that bad. Poor, sure—but at least she had freedom.
Leo heard her mutter and shot her a text on his neural link:
Leo: What, you’ve done time before?
V: Obviously. What street merc hasn’t been picked up by the cops at least once? I only ever got hit for petty stuff though. Paid the fines, sat in a precinct cell for a few days, never actually went to prison.
They only chatted briefly before arriving at a waiting lounge.
The space was hospital-sized, with benches spaced far apart—but not a single person was around.
Leo had gotten used to this. Cyberpunk cities loved their skyscrapers and sprawling interiors. With so much space to waste, housing prices were dirt cheap.
Following the navigation further, they arrived at the admissions office.
The room was spacious and tastefully decorated. A Japanese man inside greeted them warmly and gestured for them to enter.
As they stepped in, he stood up and began scanning them from head to toe.
V barely caught his interest. His attention focused entirely on Leo, occasionally glancing at the screen—probably checking credentials.
After a while, he nodded.
"Please, take a seat, Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio. Miss Vivienne as well."
There was a brown three-seater sofa in front of his desk—surprisingly comfortable-looking for a corporate space.
Leo sat down without hesitation. V paused for a moment before standing behind him like a proper bodyguard.
The man said nothing about the arrangement—clearly used to it.
Glancing once more at his screen, he introduced himself.
"My name is Yuta Okada, head of admissions here at Arasaka Academy. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Leonardo."
After the formalities, he got straight to business:
"I’m glad you chose Arasaka Academy. Not to boast, but we’ve ranked first among Night City’s educational institutions for four consecutive years."
"Our core curriculum is unrivaled. For international students, we are the top—not one of, but the top—choice."
"Before we proceed, I’ll need to verify your identity. Please activate your implant disclosure function—it’s part of the verification protocol."
Leo nodded and multitasked, listening to both Okada and Shironeko explain the process.
This implant disclosure function was in his personal terminal, defaulted to off. Once activated, others could scan his installed cyberware.
Doctors, of course, had their own gear to bypass this requirement.
Shironeko: Father, it’s safe here. But don’t use this feature out in the wild—you’ll become a target.
Leo: I’m not stupid.
After enabling it, Okada’s eyes lit up as he scanned and logged Leo’s implant data.
"Arasaka-issued NetLink pod—excellent choice. NetMon public neural interface. Crossroads-grade optical eyes. Biotech’s health monitor... and Trauma Team platinum membership. Very good."
After a moment, he summarized:
"All top-brand implants. Impressive. They’ll definitely give you a leg up in your chosen field. Though you may need to add a few more depending on your program."
"Citizen data checks out. Chinese nationality. Hm..."
He smirked as if he wanted to say more—but said nothing.
"Alright. Interview phase complete. Now onto the entrance exam. Don’t worry, it’s a basic written test. Given your elite high school background, it shouldn’t be a problem."
Leo’s smile was a little forced. He tried to buy some time.
"That’s it for the interview? I thought there’d be more questions."
Okada handed him a tablet with a grin.
"You misunderstood. The interview mainly verifies the applicant’s and their family’s financial strength. We need to ensure they can pay Arasaka tuition."
"No doubt about it—your finances are solid. Let’s move to the next step. Please connect the tablet’s cable to your biometric port. It activates a secure anti-cheat protocol. Nothing to worry about."
Well, that said a lot about the school’s philosophy: money talks.
At least it made enrollment easier.
Next came the written exam. Leo tackled the test via tablet while the admissions officer monitored his answers live from his desk.
Upon seeing the first question, Leo relaxed—it was a high school-level math problem.
He thought they’d test some futuristic subjects, but the so-called "basic test" was indeed very basic.
Math, physics, chemistry... He still remembered most of it. Plus, Shironeko helped him bypass the monitoring to cheat with ease.
Only the newer subjects and history tripped him up—but with assistance, he could get a perfect score.
Should he tone it down?
He thought it over. Since the exam didn’t include advanced material, a perfect score would only show strong fundamentals—not suspicious brilliance.
So he went all in.
Sixty questions total. Fifty of them were multiple choice. He breezed through all of them in under thirty minutes, then submitted the test early.
"The scheduled exam time is one hour. Confirm submission?"
"Confirmed."
"Mmm..." Okada nodded while reading the screen. "Confident. Strong across all subjects."
"100 points. Excellent performance!"
