What is Delos Academic City?

It is an academy that employs a ranking system, where students work hard every day to reach the top.

Well, none of that really matters right now. The Delos Festival—it will surely be a mad banquet. You are free to be a student, a spectator, or even one of those acting with clear intent behind the scenes. Why?

Because that is Delos Academy.

Because that is youth.

And because this is your story.

Monologue The harsh sunlight has weakened, and ice cream has mostly vanished from the shops. The students' job is to focus on their studies. Now that the pool season is over, it's a problem if they don't study. Especially that blue-haired girl... Oh, you don't know her? Okay. ...Wait, you really don't know her?

Well, it doesn't matter for now.

Wait, I hear the sound of construction everywhere...

In the school buildings that were supposed to have regained their silence, the sounds of hammers and the hum of machinery echo everywhere, and massive materials are flying through the air. Students are working diligently, carrying signs that say "Delos Festival." Among them, students wearing blue or red armbands are running around busily, and giant banners are being raised into the clear sky.

Of course. Delos Academy is huge. It's 5,000 times larger than you'd imagine. The track team's...

As if mocking the mundane daily life of studying, the footsteps of a new frenzy were already approaching.

The decorated Snake Hunt floating in the sky.

The enlarged Pandemonium. You step off the train. Though swallowed by the crowds, you will move forward.

Now, enjoy.

Now, laugh.

Now, live your youth.

With a heavy metallic hiss, steam vents out, and the doors of the Academic City Loop Train slide open slowly.

The moment you step onto the platform, you are hit by a tremendous heat and an overwhelming clamor that seems to shake the school buildings. The somewhat lonely cold wind that signals the end of summer cannot be felt here at all.

"Hey, move! These are construction materials for the Purchasing Committee's special 'Ultra-Heavyweight Gold Bar Frankfurters'! If this collapses, you're dead!" "Disciplinary Committee! You there on the Snake Hunt, why are you decorating it with levitation magic circles?! That's a violation of aviation laws and academy agreements! Bring it down immediately!" "Shut up! The poster said 'Everyone is a Protagonist!' don't get in the way of the brilliance of our youth!"

Shouts, laughter, and the mysterious sound of a drill echoing from somewhere. Looking up, the giant snake-shaped airship 'Snake Hunt,' decorated to a gaudy excess, circles gracefully (?) high in the blue sky. Deep in the school grounds, the 'Pandemonium'—perhaps expanded overnight—stands with an overwhelming presence, decorated with eerie sculptures and neon signs.

The days of splashing around in the pool that suddenly appeared in that intense heat feel like a distant memory. What is unfolding before your eyes now isn't academics or anything of the sort; it's just a frenzy where over 20,000 ability users and monsters clash with their utterly wasted passion.

You push through the crowd, taking one step at a time while being jostled. The vibration of the asphalt through your soles, the smell of sweet treats and savory sauce tickling your nose, and the heated cheers of students piercing your ears. It's stupid, it's life-threatening, but it's dazzling beyond belief.

"...Hehe. As I thought, you too are stepping into this vortex."

Now, enjoy. Now, laugh. Now—in this crazy academy, begin your youth, and the youth of Delos.

「おいどけ！ 購買委員会特製の『超重量級・金塊フランクフルト』の設営資材だ！ 崩れたらタダじゃ済まねえぞ！」 「風紀委員会だ！ そこのスネークハント、なぜ空中浮遊の魔法陣で電飾を施している！？ 航空法および学園協定違反につき直ちに降ろしなさい！」 「うるせえ！ 『全員が主役！』ってポスターに書かれてただろうが！ 俺たちの青春の輝きを邪魔すんじゃねえ！」

怒号、笑い声、そしてどこからか響いてくる謎のドリル音。 見上げれば、青空の遥か上空でギラギラと過剰なまでにデコレーションされた巨大蛇型飛行船『スネークハント』が優雅（？）に旋回し、校舎の奥には一晩で増築されたのか、おどろおどろしい彫刻とネオンサインで装飾され巨大化した『万魔殿』が圧倒的な存在感を放ちそびえ立っている。

かつてあの猛暑のなか、突如出現したプールで水しぶきを上げて騒いでいた日々が、まるで遥か昔のことのようだ。 いま目の前で繰り広げられているのは、学問でも何でもない、2万人を超える異能者や怪物たちがその無駄すぎる情熱を全力でぶつけ合う、ただの狂乱。

人波を掻き分け、揉まれながらも一歩一歩前へ進む。 靴底から伝わるアスファルトの振動、鼻をくすぐる甘いお菓子の匂いと香ばしいソースの香り、そして耳を突く生徒たちの熱気あふれる歓声。 バカバカしくて、命がけで、けれどどこまでも眩しい。

「……ふふ。やはり貴方様も、この渦の中へと足を踏み入れられるのですね」

さあ、楽しめ。 さあ、笑え。 さあ——この狂った学園で、貴方の、そしてデロスの青春を始めるのだ。