Sever every possible bond and isolate everyone in one fell swoop!
That way, whenever he encountered any crisis in the future—being expelled, receiving demerits, or the like—these classmates would surely be motivated to focus their fire on him and kick him while he was down, greatly increasing his chances of successfully dropping out.
Besides, there was a reason Bai Lan had chosen Salted Fish Eyes as his "crime target."
His instincts told him that this seemingly ordinary Salted Fish Eyes was hiding something dangerous.
He felt that Salted Fish Eyes resembled the giant pit viper he had once encountered in the Amazon jungle, though this one seemed even more dangerous.
This guy perhaps shouldn't be in a place like this.
Therefore, Bai Lan intended to test him.
If the other party really was dangerous, Bai Lan could go down with him without the slightest psychological burden.
3. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: I'm a reserved flirt, the ordinary kind
Bai Lan looked up and asked, "Are you sure this is your seat?"
Salted Fish Eyes: "It's mine."
Bai Lan: "Your seat is pretty good, but it's mine now."
Hearing this, Salted Fish Eyes didn't get agitated. He merely asked, "I want to know—what would an ordinary person do when someone tried to steal their seat?"
Bai Lan: "What would I do? If it were me, I definitely couldn't stand it."
Come on!
Reveal your true nature!
Lose your temper!
Better yet, get into a fight!
Make a big scene.
Then we can both get expelled!
Incidentally, among the advance rewards from "Choose One of Two," Bai Lan had chosen Overlord Body.
Although luck was important, compared with intangible luck, Bai Lan felt that tangible strength gave him a greater sense of security.
Besides, he had devised many battle plans for dropping out, and many of these "battle plans" required a powerful body as the foundation to carry them out.
With a powerful body, dropping out would become much easier.
Not to mention that his dozens of dropout plans inevitably involved provoking people. If he did that too often, someone might stuff him into a sack and beat him up.
Although he had trained himself fairly well during all those years he'd spent running wild outside,
he had heard that this school had recruited all kinds of geniuses. There might very well be a genius at fighting among them.
He was just afraid that after offending someone, he wouldn't be able to beat them.
If he ended up being beaten into the hospital and missed the academic exams, then got expelled because he failed the exams, his Invincible Luck would be gone!
Bai Lan, sixteen years old, was afraid of school violence.
With Overlord Body, things were different.
Under the enhancement of Overlord Body, he felt like a little superman. Even if he couldn't win, at least he wouldn't be beaten into the hospital and wouldn't miss his exams.
Mm, then it would be fine...
Sixteen years old, afraid that school violence wasn't violent enough.
Let's fight, let's fight!
As a result, Bai Lan's expectations fell flat.
Salted Fish Eyes remained perfectly calm. "Since that's the case, I can't stand it either. But what next?"
Bai Lan: "What do you mean, 'what next'?"
Salted Fish Eyes: "After I can't stand it anymore, what should I do?"
Bai Lan: ???
Looking at the other boy's expression, as though he had come into this world only today and knew nothing at all,
Bai Lan felt as if he had punched cotton.
Bai Lan sighed. "What's your name? What kind of monster are you? Don't tell me you just took human form today and came down to walk among mankind?"
Salted Fish Eyes: "My name is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. I'm an ordinary high school student. I just haven't had many friends in the past, so I'm not very good at dealing with people."
Bai Lan: "Ordinary, my foot... Forget it. Kiyotaka, I'm actually doing this for your own good."
Ayanokoji tilted his head. "Kiyotaka? How is this for my own good?"
"This seat doesn't suit you."
"Huh? What kind of explanation is that?" Ayanokoji looked utterly baffled.
Bai Lan: "I saw through you long ago. You're actually a reserved flirt."
Ayanokoji: "You even discovered that? But what's a reserved flirt?"
Bai Lan: "It's like buying a very expensive pair of underwear and putting it on. It's clearly something that shouldn't be seen, but you can't suppress the urge to show it off. Every so often, you deliberately reveal a corner of it, worrying that people might see it while also worrying that no one will..."
Ayanokoji still looked completely bewildered.
Bai Lan: "To put it more plainly: you think you're actually very powerful, but also think, 'I'm too strong, so I need to seal my power.' Thus, you pretend to be an ordinary person. But in reality, you can't stand being lonely, and you can't help deliberately revealing clues from time to time that say, 'I'm not ordinary. I'm actually very strong.' You worry that people will discover you're not ordinary, yet you also worry that you'll seem too ordinary and that others won't be able to sense how extraordinary you are, how far above ordinary people you stand..."
Ayanokoji felt that what the other boy was saying seemed correct, but he didn't want to admit that he was "not ordinary." He was just about to reject this interpretation...
Bai Lan: "Don't be shy. Your thoughts are very ordinary!"
Hearing Bai Lan affirm his "ordinariness," Ayanokoji subconsciously nodded. "That's right. You're correct. I'm a reserved flirt, and the ordinary kind at that."
Bai Lan then put on an arrogant, knowing expression and said, "However, being just ordinarily ordinary is ordinary. Being too ordinary is 'not ordinary.'
With your expression and your bearing, you're already ordinary enough.
A seat in the corner would make you even more ordinary, to the point that you'd become no longer ordinary.
It's like getting a very ordinary score on an exam. That's ordinary. But if you get exactly the same score on every exam, then that's no longer ordinary!"
"Huh? That's not ordinary? For example, getting fifty points in every subject—just enough to pass."
"You've got to be kidding! Back then, to keep this strange school from accepting me and fool my family, I deliberately got five scores of forty-four. If you also happen to get the same score five times, anyone with eyes would know you were picking a fight. How is that ordinary?"
"Is that how it works?" Ayanokoji pondered this, then asked, "You seem to be an expert on being 'ordinary.' How should I be a proper ordinary reserved flirt?"
"Then you've come to the right person!" Bai Lan smiled confidently. "I really am an expert on being ordinary!
After all, I'm far too sunny and far too dazzling, so I need the 'ordinary' attribute of this marginal seat to neutralize my radiance.
But as for you, you're already dull and dim, yet you're sitting in a marginal corner like this. You'll become so dim that you turn black, like a black hole, and end up standing out instead.
So I'll exchange seats with you, lowering your level of ordinariness from excessively ordinary to something closer to ordinary-level ordinary. Be grateful for my great kindness!"
Ayanokoji: "Thank you, Ordinary Teacher! Ordinary Teacher, what's your name? I'll find your seat."
"My name is Bai Lan. You can call me by my name. 'Ordinary Teacher' doesn't sound very nice."
"Okay, Ordinary Teacher. Thank you, Ordinary Teacher. Please continue guiding me in the future, until I become as ordinary as you, Ordinary Teacher."
With that, Ayanokoji went to look for Bai Lan's seat.
Bai Lan: "..."
Bai Lan felt that he had been insulted.
Sure enough, this guy was a reserved flirt.
A few minutes later.
"Okay, I found Ordinary Teacher's seat. We've finished switching seats, but I have a question..."
Ayanokoji sat in the seat that had originally belonged to Bai Lan. He turned to look at Bai Lan, who was sitting right behind him in the seat that had originally belonged to Ayanokoji, and said, "Wasn't your original seat already in front of mine? Your seat is pretty far to the edge too?!"
Bai Lan: "Uh... Everything is relative. At least it's a little better than before. It still has some effect, haha~"
As Bai Lan laughed, he suddenly remembered his original purpose.
I was clearly planning to give the entire class a show of force. How did I suddenly end up doing a comedy routine with this reserved flirt?
4. There's Something Wrong with This Guy!
No more chatting!
What if we develop feelings after talking for a while?
He was going to drop out.
Useless feelings would only add sorrow to their parting.
That was the experience Bai Lan had gained over the years.
No, he had to find another opportunity. He absolutely had to deliver this show of force today!
With that thought, Bai Lan's smiling face instantly turned cold.
Ayanokoji: ???
"We were chatting so nicely. What happened now?
The outside world is so complicated.
Even so, I still don't want to go back to the White Room.
The taste of freedom is wonderful~"
Ayanokoji thought to himself.
At that moment, someone interrupted.
"How is sitting at the edge ordinary?"
The comedy duo followed the voice and looked over.
Before you continue