Student Council President Horikita "Sees Through" Everything

Walking to the cafeteria, sunlight filtered through the corridor windows and spilled onto the floor. Shangguan Che kicked a small pebble, his mind still lingering on his recent interaction with Ichinose.

"As expected of someone with a golden name just like Hirata, her temper is truly excellent." The more he thought about it, the more he felt his earlier idea was brilliant. "If I could borrow 100,000 points from them, I'd be helping them out in a legitimate way while picking up an attribute point on the side. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone?"

But the thought had barely surfaced for three seconds before Shangguan Che snuffed it out himself. "Forget it, doing that would be too cheap. If word got out, people would say I, Shangguan Che, only survive by mooching off others' points. My image would be completely ruined. Absolutely not."

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Shangguan Che and Sakura found a table by the window and sat down.

The greens in the free set meal were wilted. As Shangguan Che shoveled rice into his mouth, he used Clairvoyance to observe the others—Karuizawa Kei was chatting and laughing with a few girls, her fingers twirling a lock of hair as she glanced over toward their table every now and then.

Ichinose was eating quietly, occasionally taking out a notebook to jot things down. Sunlight fell on her pink hair like a dusting of crushed sugar.

"I need to write that application as soon as I finish eating." Shangguan Che inhaled his meal in a few bites. After waiting for Sakura to clear her tray and both of them reaching their respective dorms, he pulled up the photo of Ichinose's application he had saved on his phone and officially began to write.

"Whoa, she was even the Student Council president in middle school? So that thing actually exists in middle school in Japan." Shangguan Che clicked his tongue in wonder at the photo, and an idea quickly formed in his mind.

"Just copy the content and tweak the real-life experiences. How hard can that be?"

For instance, where Ichinose wrote "Joined the student council in middle school," he changed it to "Didn't manage to get into the student council in middle school, so I want to try and make up for it in high school." Where Ichinose wrote "Organized the school cultural festival," he changed it to "Watched the school cultural festival and thought it was quite interesting."

"I'm an expert at copying homework!" Shangguan Che scribbled away, feeling secretly pleased.

"Besides, Ichinose is almost done with her assessment anyway. My application is just a formality; who's actually going to be that pedantic about it?" Before long, an application with a "95% plagiarism rate" was fresh out of the oven.

He immediately sent a message to Ichinose: "Finished the application! But I wanted to ask, who should I hand it in to? Also, thank you so much for the reference today, it was a huge help!"

Within seconds, Ichinose's reply came back: "Shangguan-kun, you finished so quickly? Just hand it to Secretary Tachibana of the Student Council. If you aren't sure where it is, I can tell you the route~"

"It had to be fast; your application was basically the answer key, how could it not be a huge help!" Shangguan Che smiled slightly at his phone and took the opportunity to use Clairvoyance to find Ichinose's dorm address before putting his phone away with satisfaction. "Finally got today's main task done."

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifth day. Shangguan Che pulled a pebble out from every single draw. "We don't have any female students in our class who like bugs, do we? Since that's the case, this stone is useless. I'll just throw it into the system space to gather dust."

He casually shoved the stone back into the system space and arrived at school. He scanned the classroom—the students who usually arrived last were all there early today. The noise of people talking during class was gone, but a new problem had emerged.

"I've finished the math textbook, and the physics and chemistry ones are almost worn out. If I keep this up for two more days, I'll hit rock bottom." Shangguan Che wailed, slumped over his desk. "If I have nothing to do in class, won't I be tempted to engage in some 'special behavior'? It's not like they can actually make me read the textbooks again... Forget it, forget it, it's more comfortable to slack off using Clairvoyance."

At noon, when he went to the cafeteria with Sakura, they had just sat down when Sakura stared at the free set meal on his tray and asked in a low voice, "Shangguan, you're always eating the free set meal. Are you trying to save points?"

"At first, it was because it hurt to spend points, but now I really have to save." Shangguan Che shoveled a mouthful of greens, then suddenly realized something and looked up at Sakura—she was looking down, the tips of her ears red enough to bleed, and her fingers were still gently twisting the hem of her uniform.

"Hey, hey, hey, I just thought you and Hirata knew a lot, so I was asking for your opinion!"

"So that's how it is, hahaha." Shangguan Che quickly tried to smooth things over, though he was muttering to himself, "Good grief, if she hadn't been looking down and blushing, I wouldn't have realized it—this is a girl asking a boy how to manage money! Could she possibly be... no, no, I'm definitely overthinking it. Sakura is just naturally shy."

"Should I be saving points too?" Sakura looked up, her eyes bright like a curious little rabbit.

Shangguan Che cleared his throat and said with a straight face, "It depends on your own needs. I'm only eating the vegetarian set meal every day because I have a 'big dream' that requires a lot of points over a long time. Maybe one day I won't be able to resist the smell of meat and I'll give up this money-saving plan."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Sakura nodded as if she understood, then lowered her head and began to eat in small bites.

The afternoon classes dragged on under the baking sun. Shangguan Che slumped over his desk and let out a yawn, regretting his actions so much his guts turned green: "Why did I have a brain fart and decide to get on good terms with Ichinose? Originally, I would have just handed in the application once and had one interview—two trips and it would be over. Now, I have to see her once, hand in the application once, and have an interview—I've gone and added an extra trip for no reason. What a waste!"

Finally managing to survive until school ended, Shangguan Che ran toward the Student Council office with his application, his mind still on the Soccer Club training. "I didn't ask for leave today, I have to hand in the application and get to training quickly."

When he reached the office, Shangguan Che handed the application to Secretary Tachibana. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly slapped his forehead: "Oh no! Tachibana-senpai, I forgot to write that I joined the Soccer Club. Is that going to be a problem?"

Secretary Tachibana looked up at him and raised an eyebrow: "Don't you know you can't join other clubs if you join the Student Council?"

"Hey, I know that!" Shangguan Che waved his hand, looking calm. "If I actually get into the Student Council, I'll quit the Soccer Club immediately; if I don't get selected, I'll just stay in the Soccer Club. That doesn't get in the way of anything, right?"

"Fine, it's fine." Just as Secretary Tachibana finished speaking, a cold, clear male voice came from the inner room.

"Good afternoon, President!" Secretary Tachibana stood up immediately and greeted him respectfully.

Shangguan Che looked back and saw Horikita Manabu leaning against the door frame, his gaze cold. "Let's do the interview now, so you don't have to make another trip."

"You got it! No problem!" Shangguan Che was overjoyed; a saved trip is a saved trip—he was winning!

In the interview room, Horikita Manabu sat in the main seat and got straight to the point: "Why do you want to join the Student Council?"

Shangguan Che's brain short-circuited, and he blurted out: "Do you want the truth or a lie?"

The words were barely out of his mouth before he wanted to slap himself—he never dared to be this arrogant in front of superiors before! It must be the world's consciousness playing tricks on him! He had to restrain himself next time!

"What is wrong with you, underclassman? Of course, you tell the truth!" Secretary Tachibana slammed her pen down, a hint of irritation in her tone.

Shangguan Che quickly apologized with a smile: "Oh, oh, my mistake, my mistake. A slip of the tongue."

He cleared his throat and said seriously, "The truth is, I think joining the Student Council might be able to get some benefits for our Class D, so I came."

"That's it?" Horikita Manabu raised an eyebrow.

"That's it. I really can't think of anything else." Shangguan Che spread his hands, feeling a bit insecure.

"Then what traits do you have that make you worth selecting for the Student Council?" Horikita Manabu asked again.

"So, what benefits can I bring to the Student Council?" Shangguan Che rubbed his chin and said confidently, "Japanese, English, Russian, French, Chinese—I can chat fluently with locals in all of them. Isn't our Advanced Nurturing High School famous? If people from these countries come to visit, I'd be a pretty impressive translator! If you don't believe me, download a translation app. Pick any language you want, and you'll see I'm not bragging."

"Tachibana." Horikita Manabu didn't look at him, but spoke to Secretary Tachibana.

"Yes, President." Secretary Tachibana immediately took out her phone and opened a translation app.

Just then, Horikita Manabu suddenly changed the subject: "I heard that Class D of the first year discovered something. Do you know the specifics?"

Shangguan Che's heart skipped a beat, but he remained calm on the surface: "I know. I was one of the main participants."

"Do you want to join the Student Council?" Horikita Manabu stared at him, his gaze as if he wanted to see right through him.

Shangguan Che screamed internally—this question was a trap! If he said "yes," what would happen if they actually agreed? Even though what he said earlier was a bit arrogant, refusing now would be disrespectful; if he said "no," it would make everything he said before look like nonsense.

Shangguan Che thought quickly on his feet, putting on an "innocent" expression: "Well, of course... actually, President, I'm a very naive person. Look, I was so naive that I thought everything written in a senior's diary was true, but then I realized, who actually writes a diary if they're a normal person?

And who carries a diary out of their room? I was even naive enough to think that copying someone else's application wouldn't be discovered, but not only did you see through it, you even questioned my sincerity in joining the Student Council.

Looking at it this way, I'm clearly not fit for the Student Council. It's better if I just take my application and slip away!"

After finishing, Shangguan Che deliberately showed a hint of "grievance," though he was secretly rejoicing in his heart: Good thing I reacted fast, otherwise I would've really dug my own grave! This President's questions are way too convoluted!

Horikita Manabu didn't speak, just watching him quietly. The invisible pressure made Shangguan Che's scalp tingle, and he couldn't help but turn to look at Secretary Tachibana, screaming frantically in his mind: Senior Tachibana, save me! Please, save me!

"It's done!" Secretary Tachibana suddenly spoke up, handing her phone to Horikita Manabu.

Shangguan Che almost cried with gratitude: What a truly wonderful person!

"Then I shall begin my performance!" He cleared his throat and recited a passage about "Welcome to Advanced Nurturing High School" in English, Russian, French, and Chinese, his pronunciation standard, fluent, and natural.

The translation software showed the check passed; he wasn't lying.

Horikita Manabu finally spoke: "You may go back first. Wait for notification."

"You got it! Bye, President Horikita, see you, Secretary Tachibana!" Shangguan Che grabbed his application and bolted faster than a rabbit.

Once Shangguan Che had completely disappeared at the end of the hallway, Secretary Tachibana couldn't help but complain: "President, this underclassman doesn't take the Student Council seriously at all, does he? Between copying the application and spouting nonsense."

"He is a bit arrogant, but he has the capital for that arrogance, even if it isn't much." Horikita Manabu leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk. "No need to let him join the Student Council. Let's observe him further."

In his view, Shangguan Che didn't seem like the type of person capable of deducing the school's rules single-handedly; it was far more likely to be the composed Hirata. As for that so-called "senior's diary," it was just something to listen to, not to be taken seriously.

Who actually writes a diary if they're a normal person? Do you?

If Shangguan Che knew his thoughts, he would definitely jump up and retort: "Don't make wild guesses just because you've never seen a cheater! I was the one who deduced those rules; it has absolutely nothing to do with Hirata!"