Library Encounter

The sunset was like brocade, with golden clouds drifting by.

Since enrollment, this was the first time Zhuge Linghao had come to the library.

Ichinose Honami had already been waiting for a long time at an empty seat on the second floor.

"Sorry about that, asking you to help me with math problems so suddenly."

"It's no problem at all, I'm quite free anyway!"

Zhuge Linghao could barely move his eyes away from the magnificent beauty, and he felt the air growing somewhat stifling!

During the 30 minutes of close contact with Ichinose Honami, Zhuge Linghao felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation and joy.

Because there was absolutely no scheming, no perverted options to trigger, and no need to worry about survival!

After Ichinose Honami left, feeling satisfied, Zhuge Linghao prepared to read some books in the library to kill time.

He was terrified and only dared to head toward crowded areas, fearing that he might run into a silver-haired, purple-eyed first-year Class C student named Shiina Hiyori in some narrow, semi-enclosed space.

Right now, Zhuge Linghao didn't want to have much contact with Class C at all, because without any powerful skills to rely on, he really lacked the qualifications and strength to face Ryuen and his bunch of thugs!

It was truly a case of "speak of the devil," and things felt very wrong; he had clearly avoided the secluded bookshelves!

Ahead was a group of delinquent boys forming a circle, and a silver-haired girl was right in the middle of them!

Looking closer, he indeed saw Ryuen with his red-purple parted hair, who was currently revealing a cruel smile—that damn attention-seeker...

Feeling a bit timid, Zhuge Linghao didn't dare to step forward and decided to observe for a while.

[System, open personal panel.]

[Ding... Opening personal panel for host.]

School: Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School

Class: Class D, First Year

Name: Zhuge Linghao

Alignment: Neutral

Emotion Points: 127

Academic Ability: C

Intelligence: C

Cooperation: C

Emotional Intelligence: C

Physical Ability: C

Judgment: C

Identity or Skills: Experimenter, Triple Slide-Kneel Kowtow, 50% increased probability of others agreeing to your requests when begging (System-granted, random ability.)

Personality: Weak but loves to talk back, dense as a brick, rich inner monologue.

[After all this time, the only thing you added after the upgrade was Cooperation?]

[Ding, yes. Cooperation, as in team collaboration ability.]

[Also, what kind of identity is Experimenter? It doesn't add any skills at all?]

[Ding, host, just like a lottery, the Experimenter identity is equivalent to "Thank you for playing!"]

[Fine, System, open the shop! Let me see what changes there are after the upgrade.]

[Ding, opening shop for host.]

[The one-day trial card section, hmm? A discount feature has been added?]

[Some trial cards have discount percentages marked in the top right corner, and some even have limited-time discount labels.]

[Straight-A Student trial card, original price 100 points, 10% off, now only 90 points! I've been eyeing this for a long time; it's quite good for handling major exams!]

[Cross-dresser trial card, uh... how should I put this... not suitable for minors, skip, skip...]

[Sharp-tongued trial card, original price 200 points, limited-time 60% off, only 80 points! That's interesting!]

[The Sharp-tongued trial card is that expensive originally?]

[System, I've noticed that identity cards with combat or offensive capabilities are much more expensive than regular cards?]

[Ding, that is only natural! In this school, combat power is more important than academic ability.]

[Ding, for example, the Straight-A Student card only costs 1000 emotion points; it lacks offensive capabilities and doesn't add many skills.]

[Ding, but the Politician card of the same tier requires 3000 points, simply because it can take the initiative, such as actively setting traps or conspiracies!]

Focusing back on the scene unfolding in the library.

"Shiina Hiyori, are you sure you won't become my subordinate?"

Ryuen asked with a gloomy expression, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"I am sure. I do not like your dirty, despicable, and base methods!"

The silver-haired beauty Shiina Hiyori looked delicate and weak, yet she was not afraid of Ryuen's threats.

Ryuen shot a glance at the blue-haired girl, Ibuki Mio.

Ibuki Mio understood the signal and prepared to use force to drag Shiina Hiyori out of the library to deal with her in a secluded spot.

Sigh, trouble always comes uninvited!

System, help me redeem a Sharp-Tongued Experience Card!

Ding, 80 points of emotion value consumed. Sharp-Tongued Experience Card equipped!

At this moment, Zhuge Linghao, now possessed by the sharp tongue, stepped forward and mocked Ryuen and his group: "Oh my, who did I think it was? Isn't this the infamous tyrant Ryuen?"

Zhuge Linghao took three deep breaths, and his indiscriminate verbal assault mode was activated!

"I heard rumors that Ryuen was a real man, but this is it? You really bring honor to the boys, don't you?"

"So impressive, bullying a girl just because you have more people? Aren't you afraid people will laugh their heads off when they hear about this?"

"And you, you ugly big-headed baby, who gave you the courage to go out? Aren't you afraid of being detained by the police for scaring people?"

"What are you baring your teeth for? Go take a leak and look at yourself in the mirror; you've got vegetable leaves stuck in your teeth! Hahahahahaha!"

"And you, the one over there, do you think you're a gangster just because you're wearing sunglasses? Also, what's with the white shirt? Are you trying to highlight how dark you are?"

"The blue-haired one next to him, I'm talking to you, don't hide, you little shrimp! From now on, you sit at the kids' table during meals!"

Ryuen and his lackeys were left speechless by the barrage of insults.

Ryuen sneered and signaled his subordinates, who stepped forward to surround Zhuge Linghao.

Trembling in his boots, Zhuge Linghao raised his hands without hesitation: "Uh... I advise you not to do anything rash, there are cameras here!"

"Violence! No way!"

Ryuen stopped his men from taking further action, merely looking at Zhuge Linghao with interest, as if observing an amusing piece of prey.

"Zhuge Linghao, is it? We didn't get enough of a fight at the start of the term; dare to have a one-on-one outside?"

Zhuge Linghao glanced at his panel; his emotion value was down to 47 points. I remember the cheapest experience card costs 50 points, right?

Terrified on the inside, he pretended to laugh boldly: "What's there to be afraid of? However, I recently took on a subordinate; you'll have to beat him before you can come looking for me!"

"A subordinate? What's his name?"

"Class D, first year, Koenji Rokusuke!"

Zhuge Linghao didn't even blink as he lied.

Beautiful Brother, I'm using you as a shield, please don't hold a grudge against me! After all, you still owe me 10,000 points.

Just then, the librarian arrived upon hearing the noise: "Please keep quiet! This is a library; if you have something to settle, go outside!"

"Tell your subordinate to wait; I'll teach him how to behave soon enough!"

The cold air radiating from Ryuen's eyes made one's hair stand on end; Zhuge Linghao felt as if he were being stared down by a rattlesnake.

After delivering his harsh words, Ryuen led his lackeys down the stairs.

"Huff, huff, huff..." Exhausted, Zhuge Linghao leaned against a chair and looked at Shiina Hiyori.

Shiina Hiyori quickly bowed to thank him and introduced herself politely: "Hello, my name is Shiina Hiyori, Class C, first year. Nice to meet you! And you?"

"Zhuge Linghao, Class D, first year!"

"Um, thank you so much for helping me out just now."

"Oh? It's nothing, helping others is my personal code of conduct!"

"If you don't mind, would you like to sit down and read a book together?"

"Sure, that's exactly what I was thinking."

"Zhuge-kun, what kind of books do you usually like to read?"

"Uh? Me? I like reading fan fiction the most."

"Fan fiction?"

"Yeah, let me tell you, there's this one novel that's really good!"

"Is that so? Could you recommend it? What's the title?"

"Classroom of the Elite: I Can Only Counterattack Passively!"