Aboard the Luxurious Cruise Ship

Zhuge Linghao was a little nervous. Standing on the five-meter-high platform, his legs felt weak, and he thought he might be developing a fear of heights!

He looked down and saw the crowd gathering below in ever-growing waves. The scene was grand, as if the whole world were watching.

A sudden surge of ambition welled up inside him. He wanted to sing at the top of his lungs, compose poetry, and pour out his surging emotions.

But at that moment, he realized that, in the end, he was just an ordinary person.

In the end, all his thoughts and feelings boiled down to one simple, direct sentence: "Damn! I'm still really scared!"

Ayanokoji, down below, gave him a hand signal to show that everyone had arrived and he could start speaking!

Zhuge Linghao steeled himself and took the megaphone. "My Horikita-sama says Class 1-D is full of students who've been labeled defective goods. Almost everyone is a problem child, and we're all easily caught in other classes' traps!"

"Just like those people over in Class C. You framed Sudo from our class before, but my Horikita-sama wants to thank you!"

"Because you helped her realize something: just how hard it is for a class full of problem children to climb to the top."

"But the rankings from Class A to Class D aren't decided simply by grades and athletic ability. That means even the bottom-ranked Class D can rise to Class A!"

Zhuge Linghao paused, ready to tease Ayanokoji!

He's the one who told me to do something this embarrassing!

"Hmph! I have another master, and he says he's going to crush the whole year. You'd better all get ready!"

After saying that, he chose to enter the water in a Ge You-slouch pose!

He had no choice. The other options were too weird.

If he chose one of them, people would only be even more convinced that he was a pervert.

The Ge You-slouch was at least a little funny. It reminded him of a hilarious clip he'd seen in his previous life of a Filipino diver plunging into the water in a lying-down pose, his face twisted in agony.

With a splash, a great sheet of water sprayed everywhere. And so began another glorious chapter.

It was 4:03 p.m., and the pool was nearing closing time.

By the pool, Zhuge Linghao beamed at the several hundred points he'd just collected on his panel.

Just then, Horikita Suzune strode over to Zhuge Linghao and Ayanokoji like a runway model.

Horikita Suzune said coolly, "I can't believe it. They really did install a camera."

Zhuge Linghao grinned. "See? Asking Horikita for help really is reliable, right, Ayanokoji?"

Zhuge Linghao deliberately steered the conversation toward Ayanokoji. "Oh, and Ayanokoji was the one who asked me to get you to help! Our Ayanokoji really knows how to plan ahead!"

Just as expected, Horikita Suzune turned her gaze on Ayanokoji.

She remembered what Chabashira-sensei had told her: she should take this opportunity to learn more about Ayanokoji.

Ayanokoji had no choice but to step forward and explain. "If I'd tried to stop them, they might've gone ahead with their plan behind my back."

"So I figured I might as well let them do what they wanted, then let them fail!"

Zhuge Linghao put on an ingratiating smile and asked Horikita, "Um... could I buy that memory card with the spy footage for 500,000 points? I can pay more if that's not enough!"

Horikita Suzune gave a cold laugh. That made her position clear!

She kicked Zhuge Linghao in the butt, sending him flying toward the water in another undignified pose.

Oh, you're good, Horikita! Take this!

Zhuge Linghao used his newly learned skill—Super Fast Escape. Just as he lost his balance, his feet slipped, and he shifted a little to Horikita Suzune's right. Then he grabbed her right hand!

Gotcha!

The two of them plunged into the water together with a splash, sending ripples spreading out in every direction~

Kushida came running over at the sound. "Count me in!"

As she spoke, she splashed water at Zhuge Linghao and Horikita Suzune!

The Three Idiots jumped in, too. "Let's all have some fun together!"

Under the evening sun, Zhuge Linghao smiled as he watched the beautiful scene and thought, What do you think, Ayanokoji? Way more fun than the White Room, right?

At a moment like this, there was no need for scheming or power plays.

Suddenly, a small splash of water shot toward his face.

He turned his head. Good grief, you could tell by looking at her chest first. That size could only belong to Sakura!

Zhuge Linghao remembered there was another girl in class whose chest was so huge it was almost alarming, but he couldn't remember her name!

Never mind that. With blood already running from his nose, Zhuge Linghao was definitely going to splash her back!

So Zhuge Linghao gleefully splashed Sakura Airi and played around with her!

Just before the pool closed, at Zhuge Linghao's suggestion, Zhuge Linghao, Ayanokoji, Sakura, Horikita, Kushida, Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi took a precious group photo!

Happy times always passed too quickly, and summer vacation was almost over.

The school suddenly organized a large-scale trip for the first-year students.

Zhuge Linghao and Ayanokoji had just boarded the luxurious cruise ship. Before they could even look around at its facilities, Chabashira Sae led them to the open-air theater.

The theater seemed to be putting on a show.

It looked like a conversation between a father and son.

"Is it this land and sea that stand in the way of our escape?"

"But the sky is free!"

"..."

"With wings, we can soar freely through the sky!"

"But Icarus, freedom can sometimes drive people mad. Arrogance only brings death."

"Even birds in the sky must be careful when they fly."

"If we fly too low over the sea, the waves will wet our wings and make them heavy."

"But we can't fly too high, either. Otherwise, the sun will burn these false wings to ashes."

"It's all right, Father. I can do it! Look, I'm flying! The island of Crete looks so tiny! Even the sun seems close enough to touch."

"The sun is so beautiful!"

"Icarus, don't get too close to the sun! Come back!"

The final scene showed the father holding his son, whose wings were broken and whose body was covered in blood. The tragedy ended there.

After the audience dispersed, Chabashira-sensei asked, "Zhuge Linghao, what did you learn from watching that performance?"

Zhuge Linghao, who had watched the whole thing attentively, answered, "Well, I learned that some people risk everything in pursuit of freedom and their dreams, but in the end, they might fail because they're too confident or reckless."

Chabashira-sensei raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect your intelligence to improve so much. Did you take extra lessons over summer vacation? I remember you failed several subjects on the surprise test at the start of the school year!"

Extra lessons, my ass!

He just vaguely remembered some of the anime's plot from his previous life!

Embarrassed, Zhuge Linghao rubbed his nose. "Sensei, you can leave my embarrassing past out of it! Anyway, what did you want with us?"

Chabashira-sensei said, "Ayanokoji, go wait over there for a moment. I want to talk with Zhuge first."

Ayanokoji replied expressionlessly, "All right, Chabashira-sensei."

Chabashira-sensei gave him a searching look. "You two eat together all the time. You get along well, don't you?"

Zhuge Linghao patted his chest and declared, "Of course! We're real brothers. We've climbed mountains of blades and crossed seas of fire together. We could even wear the same pair of underwear!"

Chabashira-sensei cautioned him, "If you imagine everyone in this world as pieces on a game board, then no one is your brother. There are only sacrificed pieces, unsacrificed pieces, and the player."

Zhuge Linghao pretended not to understand her and changed the subject. "So, what did you want with me, sensei?"

Chabashira-sensei stated her goal. "Help Class D rise to Class A. Name your price!"

Zhuge Linghao was so excited he was ready to become a traitor to his teacher. He shamelessly asked, "Could I have a swimsuit photo of you, sensei?"

"Denied."

Zhuge Linghao's expression instantly turned cold. "One million points! That's my price for helping once."

Chabashira-sensei exhaled a puff of smoke and stared coldly at Zhuge Linghao, who'd made such an outrageous demand. "You've got quite an appetite, kid. Aren't you afraid you'll burst?"

Without a student ID card, Zhuge Linghao couldn't withstand that much pressure, so he reluctantly changed his offer. "One hundred thousand per favor. I can't go any lower!"

Chabashira-sensei smiled knowingly. "It's a deal!"