The First Resistance

Not to mention other disciplinary committees.

Among those who had long bullied them were members of the disciplinary committee.

In this situation where they were completely isolated by everyone, the two girls who huddled together seemed to have nothing more to do than remain silent and hypnotize themselves to ignore everything.

"Then let's make a big fuss about it," Jiang Hang said, looking at Masaka Yui with a surprised expression.

"Do you think ignoring this will make these people stop bullying you? That's not true. In fact, it's precisely this indifferent attitude of yours that has led those who weren't involved before to join in the bullying after seeing your attitude."

In Japan, there is a strong sense of collectivism, and group bullying is a common occurrence.

Many of these people didn't initially intend to participate in bullying; they only joined in because they saw everyone else doing it, trying to align their actions with the crowd.

If, during this process, those who are bullied show strong resistance, it can make people realize that they are engaging in "bullying," which may lead the perpetrators to take more extreme measures against the bullied, but it can also deter other people who have come to their senses from participating.

Moreover, if the bullied people resist fiercely enough, it will also deter the bullies. These bullies are not desperate criminals. When they see the desperate mentality of those they bully, they will be more hesitant to act, and thus change their bullying methods. At most, they will resort to some form of passive-aggressive behavior to isolate them.

Neither Ogihara Sayu nor Masaka Yui care about being isolated.

"Those people will only see you as a punching bag and an emotional dumping ground. How can people stop throwing trash into a dumping ground just because it doesn't resist?"

"Either erupt in silence or perish in silence. If you do not have the courage to erupt, then the only path to your future is destruction."

"After being bullied by those guys for so long, can you really keep going? You're probably nearing your limit. Are you really planning to jump off here and end it all with your death when you can't take it anymore?"

Jiang Hang's words caused a hint of struggle to appear on Masaka Yui's face.

How could she not have had such thoughts?

In recent months, she has even dreamed occasionally that she would choose to leave this world to end it all. The sense of ease she felt in the dream made her feel that death was not a problem.

"But what will happen to your good friend Ogihara Sayu if you die? Do you think she can bear the pain of your passing, or do you hope that she will leave this world with you?"

When her secrets were exposed, and Jiang Hang laid bare things she didn't want to think about, Masaka Yui's face turned even paler.

Death can't end everything, even if she really can't withstand the pressure and hands everything over to Sayu, what will Sayu do then?

But how can they make these things escalate?

Moreover, her mother didn't care about these things, and Shayou's mother also told Shayou not to get involved. If things got out of hand, putting aside the situation at school, the two of them would first have to face criticism from their families.

"So, what's wrong with that?"

Jiang Hang sat on the ground and asked Masaka Yui a question.

"Two mothers who don't love their daughters, can't you live without them?"

"I know a lot of great lawyers who can help you get enough child support to leave your family of origin before you come of age. If you want, I can even help you get back the child support you owed for the past ten years from your father who abandoned you and never paid any child support."

"And those who participated in the bullying and the school that did nothing, if we were to sue them one by one, the compensation would probably be four or five million each. If you include the child support and work part-time, it would be enough for you to graduate high school and finish college."

Upon hearing these words, Masaka Yui froze completely.

Why did Jiang Hang describe those problems that were insurmountable for their age as simply child support and compensation?

"That's how the adult world is. Haven't you ever thought about breaking away from your mother, fighting back against those bullies, and starting a life that's completely your own?"

Clearly, Masaka Yui was smitten; a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes as she looked at Jiang Hang.

It turns out that not only the Hanabusa and the Ptantom he founded could brainwash people, but Jiang Hang could as well, though he usually wouldn't use such methods.

After all, why resort to verbal abuse when you can solve things with your fists?

However, people like Masaka Yui and Ogihara Sayu, who already had psychological problems, especially Masaka Yui, were probably only one step away from a complete mental breakdown.

If one day these people touch a raw nerve in the other person's heart with their words or actions, they could completely make the girl give up hope of living.

To get them back on their feet, we definitely need to take some drastic measures.

In short, let's give her a beautiful dream that can sustain her to keep living.

Muttering to himself, Jiang Hang stood up and took out a hand warmer from his pocket, handing it to Masaka Yui.

"On a snowy December day, don't you feel cold sitting on a rooftop where it's freezing? You'd better stand up quickly."

This time, Masaka Yui followed Jiang Hang's instructions and obediently stood up.

As she touched the warm hand warmer, she exhaled a puff of steam, her body trembling slightly as she placed it against her chest. "It's so warm..."

Then, Masaka Yui looked at Jiang Hang, her eyes filled with gratitude but also a hint of doubt. "But, Mr. Jiang Hang, why are you helping me like this?"

"Because you are the victim. As a detective, how can I just stand by and do nothing when something like this happens?"

"It's just school bullying..." Masaka Yui down.

"This is not just simple school bullying. In serious cases, it could even be considered murder. Haven't you ever thought about why those people have been bullying you more and more severely over the past year, and why they've been able to hit your weaknesses more and more?"

In response to Masaka Yui's question, Jiang Hang explained, "Because someone wants to target you and that Ogihara Sayu, to plunge you into utter despair."

Ptantom's target was probably Ogihara Sayu from the beginning. They may have seen through Ogihara Sayu's inner weaknesses a long time ago and planned to use these weaknesses to achieve their own goals.

After all, Ogihara Sayu is a beautiful girl from a wealthy family. If such a cool and aloof beauty could be driven to despair, those guys would probably just rape her on the spot.

As for Masaka Yui, she might just be a pawn they pushed out to completely corrupt Ogihara Sayu, a pawn that could be discarded at any time.

Of course, Masaka Yui herself probably didn't even know that she had long since become a pawn in someone else's game.

Thinking this, Jiang Hang handed a business card to Masaka Yui.

"If you decide to change the status quo, you can call me anytime, but please prepare the commission fee in advance."

"A commission, a commission?" Masaka Yui paused for a moment, then her expression became somewhat tense.

She doesn't have any pocket money, and even if she wanted to, she probably wouldn't be able to scrape together much.

"Of course there has to be a commission fee. After all, I'm a fairly well-known detective. But for a beautiful girl with potential like you, there's a discount for your first commission."

"But no matter what, Mr. Jin should at least offer a meal as a token of his trust."

Chapter 595: The First Rebellion

At school, many people could understand why aloof beauties like Ogihara Sayu were indifferent to everyone, including rejecting the confession of the school's star center forward who had led the team to the national tournament. In everyone's eyes, it was just a matter of the school beauty maintaining a cold attitude towards everyone equally.

Under such circumstances, even the girls who liked that boy only spread some bad rumors about Ogihara Sayu in secret, but basically none of them had any effect.

After all, most people are indeed visual creatures. When a beautiful young woman is placed in front of them, they will always be more tolerant and trusting of her.

Moreover, Ogihara Sayu is indeed a wealthy heiress, which helps shield her from gossip and prevents rumors from circulating at school that she is secretly being kept by someone.

In a sense, Ogihara Sayu's idea that if she did nothing and ignored the rumors, they would eventually get bored and leave. This idea was indeed very useful to her.

Because that's what she's always done since she was a child.

In doing all this, she completely ignored the advantages that her appearance and family background brought her.

Therefore, when she encountered a similar situation again in high school, she subconsciously chose to deal with these rumors in the same way.

But she forgot that the biggest difference between her now and before is that she now has a friend by her side.

This is also the thing that those people at the school find hardest to understand.

Why is it that a cold and aloof young lady like Ogihara Sayu can treat everyone equally with indifference, yet become close friends with someone as insignificant as Masaka Yui?

What exactly did this aloof "princess" see in this guy?

All they knew was that Ogihara Sayu was a rich heiress, while Masaka Yui.

They were unaware of their similar upbringing and that Masaka Yui Ogihara Sayu was the first person to actively ask Ogihara Sayu to become her friend after seeing her cold exterior.

In short, since these people couldn't understand it, the end result was that those who felt humiliated by Ogihara Sayu spontaneously began to bully Masaka Yui, in all sorts of ways.

The only consolation is that this high school is still the best school in Asahikawa, so it's unlikely that any kind of doujinshi-like developments would occur within the school.

Perhaps it's because Masaka Yui's appearance is really nothing special; she's the kind of ordinary-looking woman that doujinshi storylines wouldn't even involve.

Or perhaps it was Ptantom's control over the bullying from behind that prevented Masaka Yui from being completely destroyed by these people so quickly. Instead, it allowed Masaka Yui to gradually strengthen her bond with Ogihara Sayu through the bullying, and finally, when the time was right, let those bullies completely shatter Masaka Yui's defenses.

After enduring prolonged mental and physical bullying, Masaka Yui began to doubt whether her initial decision to befriend Ogihara Sayu when everyone ostracized her was the right one.

She had never told anyone about these thoughts, but every time she was bullied, these ideas became clearer in her mind, to the point that she almost believed them herself.

It wasn't until Jiang Hang appeared that Masaka Yui, who had been living in dire straits, came to her senses.

"Resist?"

Masaka Yui looked at her hands. Could she really do it?

Although she hadn't figured it out yet, Masaka Yui Jiang Hang kept replaying Jiang Hang's words in her mind. That afternoon, when faced with the bullying she should have been used to by now—when cold snowballs were suddenly stuffed behind her collar and she was mocked as a toad who fantasized about being friends with a "princess"—she took the initiative to fight back against the bullies for the first time.

Although she only took out the snowball and threw it outside the classroom while those people were still bullying her, and said to them, "This joke isn't funny," it was clear that those she refuted showed even more annoyed expressions.

"After your first act of resistance, those people will probably choose to treat you in a more intense way to prove that they did nothing wrong, in order to vent their dissatisfaction. What you need to do is to fight back in the same way. If you feel that you can't do it, I can help you do it."

Masaka Jiang Hang's words have stirred up her survival instincts. Jiang Hang is a decent person and wouldn't use overly aggressive brainwashing tactics on a high school girl. Besides, a Masaka Yui isn't enough time for this girl to completely transform.

Even so, Masaka Yui's resistance was enough to enrage those people after a brief period of discomfort.

This invisible man, who had been bullied by them for almost a year without uttering a single protest, actually fought back today?

The bullies then wanted to grab Masaka Yui by the hair and take her to a secluded place to teach her a lesson.

Masaka Yui reiterated her refusal to comply.

Although it hurt a little, she knew that everything these girls were doing was being secretly filmed by that famous detective from Tokyo.

Jiang Hang was very kind. He said she could use the footage she took in the morning and at noon to file complaints against those who had bullied her and the school. He also mentioned that he knew a very capable lawyer who could win any case, so she didn't need to worry.

But Masaka Yui was unwilling to accept Jiang Hang's help in this way.

She was already very grateful that the other person was willing to lend a helping hand to her when she was on the verge of a breakdown and made her realize that her past actions were completely wrong.

But at least for now, she still wants to solve these problems in her own way.

After all, Jiang Hang will leave here sooner or later. If she can only solve the bullying by relying on Jiang Hang's abilities this time, then who can she rely on if the same situation occurs again in the future?

She wanted to have the ability to protect the precious friendship between herself and Sayu.

Moreover, she only wanted these people to stop interfering with her and Shayou's lives; she didn't have much interest in making them pay compensation or dropping out of school.

Watching Masaka Yui's actions in the classroom, Jiang Hang continued to observe everything from a distance outside the school.

Masaka Yui didn't let him get involved directly; instead, she wanted to handle these matters herself.

Adhering to the principle that it is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish, Jiang Hang spent a lesson teaching the other party some simple things and also gave him some self-defense tools.

If the other party can really fight back against this bullying on their own, perhaps we can let them join Asahikawa's detective branch?

Having investigated and learned about Masaka Yui's family situation, Jiang Hang felt some pity for the girl who had died before the story began due to bullying.

The Tokyo office is the headquarters, and there are already two assistants, so Jiang Hang doesn't have the time or inclination to train new ones.

Of course, if those characters he liked in his past life wanted to work for him or find him jobs, he wouldn't turn them away.

Just like recently, under Jiang Hang's instructions, Eito Studios signed Mizuhara Chizuru (Rent-a-Girlfriend) and Nakano Ichika (The Quintessential Quintuplets), who were still trainees, and gave them some acting skills so that they could generate a lot of gold coins and upgrade the studio's level.

Moreover, the branch offices here are managed by NPCs, so they don't need to worry about finding an extra temporary worker; the NPCs will automatically assign tasks to the branch office members.

Anyway, once you join the agency, you'll be his subordinate and can teach him skills. Even a useless person can still play a valuable role here.

So if Masaka Yui wanted a stable part-time job to make a living after the bullying incident ended, he would naturally be able to support such a poor girl.

Of course, the premise is that the other party can really resolve the bullying incident. Only after demonstrating that they have such ability will Jiang Hang give them the opportunity to change their own and even their friend's fate.

If the other party cannot do that, then everything will naturally proceed as Jiang Hang previously stated: he will call someone over, quickly and decisively help the other party obtain a sum of compensation, and then end the matter like any other ordinary case.

Masaka Yui's resistance was indeed effective.

If it were the old her, being pulled by the hair like that, she probably would have already let the other person drag her to another secluded place to be punished.

But because she has now clearly expressed her rebellious attitude and has been struggling, the underage teenagers in the classroom still have some sense of shame and sympathy for the weak.

If Masaka Yui doesn't resist and obediently submits to these people's fate, even if they know in their hearts that Masaka Yui is being bullied, they will take it for granted and may even think that this is the price Masaka Yui is paying to fit into that circle.

But now that Masaka Yui has clearly stated her stance in the classroom, those girls who are still pursuing Masaka Yui naturally become the so-called "villains" in the eyes of the other students.

So after just one minute of pulling and tugging, someone in the class stood up to stop the girls from doing that.

Of course, this advice wasn't entirely out of disapproval, but rather a reminder to the girls not to make such a commotion in the classroom, lest they get caught by the teacher and cause trouble.

The girls also noticed Masaka Yui's change. Seeing that the forced actions had no effect as before, and feeling the strange looks from the other classmates.

Still concerned about saving face, they left with the words, "You wait, we'll teach you a lesson after school," before giving Masaka Yui's hair one last hard tug, snorting, and letting go before leaving.

Touching her hair, Masaka Yui felt a slight pain, but her eyes were filled with more joy.

Resistance, it turns out, really works!