Amidst the pouring rain, Muro lowered his gaze, his dimly glowing eyes fixed on the lifeless body of the last kidnapper lying motionless on the ground. But before he could fully process the scene, a sudden voice barked from behind.

  “Hands up! Don’t move!”

  Before Muro could react, a sharp blow struck the back of his head—the butt of a police officer’s gun. His vision blurred, the world around him faded, and he collapsed unconscious.

  The officers wasted no time. They cuffed his hands behind his back, lifted him up, and dragged him toward the police car.

  “Unit 03 here, suspect is in custody. Requesting backup for corpse retrieval.”

  Meanwhile, inside the classroom, the students were still in a state of absolute shock. None of them could fully grasp what had just transpired.

  Kazuya sat on his chair, his hands gripping his head as he muttered in a shaky, disbelieving voice:

  “No… No, that wasn’t Muro… This didn’t happen… This didn’t happen…”

  He was desperately trying to convince himself that what he had just witnessed was nothing but an illusion—some kind of nightmare. But the bloodstains on the floor told a different story.

  Moments later, three additional police cars arrived, followed by a sleek black vehicle with flashing emergency lights. A tall man stepped out—his presence alone carried the weight of authority.

  With short brown hair and sharp, calculating eyes, Detective Tatsuya Rindo was a man seasoned by years of experience.

  Beside him stood his younger assistant, who couldn’t hide his unease. He leaned in and whispered hesitantly:

  “Sir, this case… it’s…”

  Rindo raised a hand, silencing him. “I know. No need to spell it out… This is a mess.”

  With purposeful strides, he advanced toward the crime scene while officers escorted the students outside, herding them toward the courtyard.

  “No one stays here. Get them all out, now.” Rindo ordered firmly.

  At the same time, the police medical team observed the bodies from a distance. Rindo crouched beside one of the kidnappers—the man whose throat had been torn out.

  His expression darkened. “This…”

  He turned toward his assistant, pointing at the man’s wrist. “Look at this.”

  His assistant paled as he examined the injury. “A clean break… It’s as if his wrist was crushed by a hydraulic press…”

  Rindo didn’t reply. Instead, he turned to the shattered window, stepping closer to assess the damage. His eyes followed the trajectory leading to the courtyard below, where another corpse lay sprawled.

  “A twenty-meter jump…” he muttered, shaking his head. “Impossible…”

  Before he could dwell on it further, the sharp screech of tires interrupted his thoughts.

  “What now?”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Looking outside, he saw three black luxury cars pulling up to the school entrance, flanked by a sleek limousine. Within seconds, the limousine’s door burst open, and a man in a tailored suit rushed out, his face contorted with panic.

  “Miyoko! Where is my daughter?!”

  It was Fujiwara Kenjiro, a powerful businessman—Miyoko’s father.

  Ignoring the police officers and barriers, he stormed into the school, racing up the stairs to the first floor. His desperate eyes scanned the hallway until they landed on his daughter. Without hesitation, he ran to her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

  “Miyoko! Are you okay?! Did they hurt you?!”

  Miyoko, still dazed, hesitated before whispering, “I… I’m fine, Father…”

  His grip on her tightened as he exhaled shakily, relief flooding his body.

  Just then, Rindo approached from the classroom, stopping a few steps away.

  “Mr. Fujiwara, I presume?” he greeted in a calm, professional tone.

  Fujiwara turned, and upon realizing he was speaking to the lead detective, he rushed toward him—and to Rindo’s surprise, pulled him into a brief hug. His eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “Thank you… Thank you for saving my daughter!”

  But Rindo remained composed, gently pushing away. “I’m sorry, but we didn’t arrive in time… In fact, things have taken a rather unusual turn.”

  Fujiwara blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  Rindo motioned toward the classroom, then spoke in a measured voice:

  “Simply put, we didn’t save anyone… By the time we got here, the criminals had already become the victims.”

  Fujiwara’s eyes widened in shock. Slowly, he turned to the corpses lying on the floor. And in that moment, he realized that this wasn’t just a botched kidnapping.

  Something far more terrifying had taken place.

  The Birth of Something New

  Muro slowly opened his eyes, his vision adjusting to the dim, cold lighting above. A ceiling—gray with a faint bluish tint—greeted him. He exhaled and ran a hand over his face, feeling the dull ache lingering from the earlier strike.

  As he pushed himself up and took in his surroundings, reality settled in. He was inside a detention cell at the police station.

  He stepped toward the metal bars, his sharp amber eyes catching the reflection of his own face in a polished metal plate fixed behind the bars. His hand instinctively reached up, touching his cheek.

  A puzzled expression spread across his face as he muttered to himself, “Who… am I?”

  A moment of silence passed before he chuckled bitterly and continued, “Wait… am I Albert Einstein? No, no… I’m Muro.”

  He stepped back and sat on the bench behind him, his hands gripping his knees.

  “What the hell is happening to me?” he murmured under his breath.

  He let out a deep sigh, his mind racing with fragmented memories and fleeting thoughts.

  Then, it hit him.

  “I swear, at this moment… I am Albert Einstein.”

  The realization sent shivers down his spine. Those odd moments—those brief but vivid flashes of knowledge and sensations that had felt foreign yet familiar—suddenly made sense. It was as if two consciousnesses resided within him, coexisting in an unexplainable harmony.

  But even as the thought settled, Muro shook his head. “No… that’s impossible.”

  He began analyzing the situation logically, running through hypothesis after hypothesis.

  “Am I still Muro, but I somehow gained Einstein’s memories?”

  “Or… have I been recreated entirely, retaining my memories but becoming something new?”

  Yet, no matter how many theories he constructed, he found no evidence to confirm any of them. Each idea led to a contradiction.

  “Tch. This is pointless.”

  Letting out another sigh, he stood up. If there were no answers, then there was no point in dwelling on it—for now.

  His focus shifted. He glanced down at his own body, his lips curling into a confident smirk. His muscles were defined, perfectly sculpted from years of training, and now… now he had something even greater.

  A mind that could comprehend everything.

  He flexed his hand into a fist and grinned. “With this body… and this mind… there’s nothing I can’t achieve.”

  This was no longer just Muro. Nor was he Albert Einstein.

  He was something new.

  And yet, he would still call himself Muro.

  Meanwhile, at the School

  Back at the crime scene, tension filled the air as Fujiwara Kenjiro, Miyoko’s father, stood face-to-face with Detective Tatsuya Rindo in a heated argument.

  “That boy saved my daughter!” Fujiwara shouted, his voice thick with emotion. “He should be treated as a hero, not a criminal!”

  Rindo remained unfazed, his arms crossed as he calmly replied, “He also killed three men. That will not go unpunished.”

  Fujiwara scoffed. “They were criminals. Thugs with criminal records, I’m sure. They tried to kidnap my daughter! Do you have any idea how much worse this could have been if that boy hadn’t stepped in?!”

  The detective narrowed his eyes. “That’s not for me—or you—to decide. Only the judge can determine that.”

  Fujiwara clenched his fists, grinding his teeth, but he knew arguing any further was useless. His power and influence wouldn’t change the legal process.

  Letting out a frustrated sigh, he turned toward his daughter.

  “Come, Miyoko. We’re leaving.”

  He signaled to his men, who escorted her to the waiting limousine outside.

  Rindo watched as the business tycoon led his daughter away. His gaze followed them through the shattered window, observing as the sleek black cars pulled out of the school parking lot.

  Turning back to his men, he asked, “Are we finished here?”

  One of the officers nodded. “Yes, sir. We’ve collected all necessary evidence.”

  Rindo exhaled. “Good. Move the bodies and wrap things up. We have an interrogation to conduct.”

  His assistant hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “Sir… the case is already solved, isn’t it? Why bother questioning the boy?”

  Rindo shot him a sharp look. “Tell me, do you think what happened here was normal?”

  The assistant hesitated, then shook his head. “No… it wasn’t.”

  Rindo smirked. “Exactly. That’s why we need to dig deeper.”

  End of Chapter 3.