Gifted Academy: The Perfect Student

[THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, DON'T SKIP IT!]

(A summary is at the bottom, just in case (READ IT!). Kurosawa Hayao is the current principal of National High School, in case you don't remember.)

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There was once a young boy named Kurosawa Hayao. He was a very bright child—he knew that all too well. Throughout his childhood, he always stood above his peers in terms of academics, athleticism, music, art, and anything you could think of. One could say that his life was easy, that he could live on cruise control.

However, that was no further from the truth.

All throughout his younger years, he suffered through the torture of always having to dumb everything down. If he was speaking to someone, he'd had to simplify the concepts or talk about pointless nonsense. There was no one on his level, but that also meant that there was no one he could really talk to.

One day, he met another gifted young boy. This boy, however, was nothing like Kurosawa. Living a completely different life, the other boy was motivated, dedicated and, most importantly, passionate.

"I see you're reading books all the time, but isn't it boring? Isn't it painful to never have anyone you can talk to about it?" asked Kurosawa.

"You're talking to me?"

"Yes, I'm talking to you. How do you have the motivation to do this? How can you be bothered to study so much even when no one's capable of recognising you."

"I'm not like you."

"What do you mean you're not like me? I've seen the scores you get. I've seen how gifted you are. You're just like me."

"That's not true. You're an idiot. I'm not."

Kurosawa sighed.

"If that's your way of coping, then fine. But you're pushing away the only person who can understand you."

"Are you saying that you're the only person who can understand me?"

"You don't get how rare these opportunities are. You don't understand how few smart people there are these days."

The other boy suddenly started laughing.

"You really think you're something special, don't you."

"It's not that I think it. I know I'm special."

"Kurosawa, have you heard of the Atkinson-Lewis Project?"

Suddenly, the sun was partially covered by clouds, blocking the light and darkening the entire area in an instant. The other boy put his book down on the table.

"Of course, I've heard of it."

"Don't you think that it was done wrong?"

"No. I think the premise was wrong. Geniuses aren't made. They're born. It's a matter of finding them, not creating them."

The boy laughed.

"That's an interesting take. Because I believe the project was executed wrong. I believe that I can create a genius if I'm given the number of resources that they had."

"You're wrong, but I'll hear you out. What do you think the mistake was?"

"They didn't fully commit to their premise. They still partially held onto the belief that they needed to find someone with a 'gift'. As a result, they spent too many resources testing the subjects to see if they had this 'gift'."

"I see your point. But still, they managed to find a few children with this 'gift', yet they still weren't capable of creating a genius."

"No. They wasted precious resources trying to find the children. Not only that, they treated the children as if they were all valuable subjects."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that they needed to think of the other children as resources as well. The trick is to pick one child as the main subject. Then, you throw all of your resources at them, that includes the other children. The other children are sacrifices, not alternate subjects."

"That sounds grim, but I see what you're saying. Still, you have no evidence that it would work. What if the chosen subject just simply isn't capable of reaching genius level."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. The other Atkinson-Lewis project failed because they were too cautious since they wanted some guaranteed return on their investment."

"Well, I still believe that it's not possible. Unless I see it with my own eyes, it's all just conjecture."

"Ah, I guess I'll just have to show it to you then, Kurosawa~"

The boy that Kurosawa was talking to was to be a very influential figure in the future. He was talking to the to-be founder of the Ideal Human Project—Tachibana Kohei.

***

Very many years later.

"Kurosawa Hayao. What is your plan for the remaining funds that are going to be provided to you by the board?"

"I've told you, it's a very simple three-step plan. National High School is currently in its testing phase. After that will come the Development Phase, where we bring in as many students as possible. Then, we will have the Refining Stage."

Kurosawa Hayao, the principal of National High School, brought up a slideshow.

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National High School Future Plan

1. Trial Phase - During this phase, we will introduce the concept of the point system and special exams. Alterations will be made to perfect these tools. At this stage, we will have six classes for each year level.

2. Development Phase - During this phase, we will rapidly enrol new students. Testing will be increased in order to find the most gifted ones. At this stage, we will have three main classes and six development classes. The two different types of classes will have different special exams, different treatment and different rights.

The three main classes will include the remaining students in the top three classes after the Testing Phase, with exactly 30 in each.

The six development classes will include all new students. They will have to fight to be promoted to one of the main classes before the end of the year. Otherwise, they will all be expelled.

3. Refining Stage - the remaining students, after the development stage, will be put in incredibly harsh conditions in order to bring out all that they have. Those who cannot keep up will be expelled and no new students will be brought in. The remaining students at the end will be enlisted into the Future Association.

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Tachibana Kohei, I'll prove you wrong.

You may think that you can create a genius.

But I'll simply search for one who's smarter.

Mizuhara Ayato and Hasegawa Mio are your greatest successes, right? I'll let them into my school. If they stand at the top at the end, then it's your win.

But I won't let you win.

[Volume 2 END]

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[SUMMARY] - IMPORTANT

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(Just in case you didn't understand everything. This is pretty important, so I'll recap everything that happened.)

Here it is.

- Tachibana Kohei believes in 'Nurture', meaning that he believes that he is capable of manufacturing a genius as long as he is given enough resources.

- Kurosawa Hayao believes in 'Nature', meaning that he thinks that there's no way to manually create a genius. You simply have to find one that was born.

As such, Tachibana Kohei created the Ideal Human Project. Following his ideals, he chose a few subjects and is forcibly trying to make them into geniuses. In the end, he was able to produce two that were classified as 'successes'.

Kurosawa Hayao, on the other hand, believes that geniuses can't simply be made. So he formulated National High School with a plan that focuses on bringing in as many students as possible and testing them in harsh conditions, culling out the weak and leaving the strong.

As such, the implementation of the Tachibana System is like a final test to see whose philosophy is correct.