Boarding the Luxury Cruise Ship

Zhuge Linghao felt a bit nervous; standing on the 5-meter platform, his legs were trembling, and he felt like he might actually be afraid of heights!

He looked down at the crowd below, which was growing like a rising tide, the momentum so grand it felt as if the whole world were watching this spot.

A sudden surge of heroic spirit welled up in his heart, making him want to sing loudly and recite poetry to express the surging emotions within.

However, at that very moment, he suddenly realized that he was, after all, just an ordinary person.

In the end, all his thoughts and sentiments condensed into a simple, direct sentence: "Damn it! I'm still so scared!"

Ayanokoji, down below, gave a hand signal indicating that everyone had arrived and it was time to start the speech!

Zhuge Linghao steeled himself, picked up the megaphone, and said, "My Lady Horikita says that our Class D of the first year is gathered with a large number of students known as defective products; almost everyone is a problem child, and it's very easy for them to fall into the traps of other classes!"

"It's Class C over there; you previously schemed to frame our class's Sudo, but my Lady Horikita wants to thank you!"

"Because you made her understand one thing: she finally knows just how difficult it is for a class full of problem children to climb to the top."

"But the ranking from Class A to Class D isn't simply determined by surface-level grades and athletic ability, so even the bottom-tier Class D can promote to Class A!"

Zhuge Linghao paused, preparing to mess with Ayanokoji!

[Who told him to order me to do such an embarrassing act!]

"Hmph, I have another master at home, and he says he's going to crush the entire grade. You'd all better wash your necks and wait for it!"

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

He had no choice, as the other options were too perverted.

If he had chosen those, others would only deepen their impression of him as a pervert.

Only the Ge You slouch was relatively more humorous, which reminded him of the hilarious footage he had seen in his past life of a Filipino diver entering the water in a lying-down position with a twisted expression.

With a "splash," a large spray of water erupted; this was a magnificent new chapter.

Time reached 16:03, and the pool was nearing closing time.

By the poolside, Zhuge Linghao was smiling broadly as he looked at the hundreds of emotion points he had just collected on his panel.

At this moment, Horikita Suzune walked over to Zhuge Linghao and Ayanokoji with a model-like stride.

Horikita Suzune said coldly, "I'm truly defeated; they really did install cameras."

Zhuge Linghao said with a grin, "As expected, asking Horikita for help is truly reliable, right, Brother Ayanokoji?"

Zhuge Linghao deliberately steered the topic toward Ayanokoji: "Also, it was Brother Ayanokoji who asked me to seek your help! Our Brother Ayanokoji really has foresight!"

Sure enough, Horikita Suzune shifted her gaze toward Ayanokoji.

She recalled the words of Chabashira-sensei, who had told her to take this opportunity to learn more about Ayanokoji as a person.

Ayanokoji had no choice but to step forward and explain: "If I had forcibly stopped them, they might have gone behind my back and carried out the plan secretly."

"So, it was better for me to let them act freely and then let them fail!"

Zhuge Linghao put on a shameless face and asked Horikita embarrassedly: "Um... can I buy that memory card with the stolen footage for 500,000 points? Of course, if that's not enough, I can add more!"

Horikita Suzune sneered, a gesture that clearly indicated her attitude!

She kicked Zhuge Linghao in the butt, and he was about to enter the water in an ungraceful posture once again.

[What a Horikita! Take this!]

Zhuge Linghao activated his newly learned skill—Super Fast Escape. The moment he lost his balance, his feet slipped, shifting him a distance to the right of Horikita Suzune, and then he grabbed her right hand!

[Hand it over, you!]

As a result, both of them fell into the water with a splash, sending ripples spreading out~

Kushida heard the noise and came over, "Count me in too!"

Saying that, she splashed water at Zhuge Linghao and Horikita Suzune!

The Three Idiots also jumped in, "Let's play happily together!"

Under the sunset, Zhuge Linghao smiled as he watched this beautiful scene, thinking: Brother Ayanokoji, how is it? Much more interesting than the White Room, right?

At this very moment, there was no longer any need for scheming or calculating.

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

He tilted his head to look, and oh boy, looking at the chest first, this size was undoubtedly Sakura!

Zhuge Linghao remembered there was another girl in the class whose breasts were also alarmingly huge, but he couldn't recall her name!

Regardless of that, Zhuge Linghao, with a nosebleed, definitely had to retaliate!

Thus, Zhuge Linghao also happily splashed water and played with Sakura Airi!

Finally, just before closing, at the call of Zhuge Linghao, the eight of them—Zhuge Linghao, Ayanokoji, Sakura, Horikita, Kushida, Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi—took a precious group photo!

Happy times are always so short, and the summer vacation was nearing its end.

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

Zhuge Linghao and Ayanokoji had just stepped onto the luxury cruise ship, and before they could even tour the interior facilities, they were led to the open-air theater by Chabashira Sae.

It seemed like a performance was underway in the theater.

It appeared to be a dialogue between a father and his son.

"It is this land and the sea that block our path of escape!"

"But this sky is free!"

"..."

"As long as one has wings, one can soar freely in the sky!"

"However, Icarus, freedom sometimes drives men to madness, and arrogance only invites death."

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

"If we fly too low over the sea, our wings will be dampened by the waves and become heavy."

"But we cannot fly too high either, or these false wings will be burned away by the sun."

"It's alright, Father, I can do it! Look, I am flying, the island of Crete has become so small! Even the sun feels within reach."

"The sun is truly beautiful!"

"Icarus, you must not get too close to the sun, come back!"

The final scene ended in tragedy, with the father holding his son, whose wings were broken and bloodied.

After the crowd dispersed, Chabashira Sae asked, "Zhuge Linghao, after watching this performance, what have you learned?"

Zhuge Linghao, who had watched the entire performance attentively, replied, "Well, I understand one truth: some people take risks in pursuit of freedom and dreams, but they may ultimately meet with failure due to overconfidence or recklessness."

Chabashira Sae raised an eyebrow: "I didn't expect your intelligence to have improved so much. Did you take remedial classes over summer break? I remember you failed several subjects in the surprise quiz at the start of the term!"

Remedial classes, my foot!

It was just that Zhuge Linghao still vaguely remembered some of the plot from the anime!

Feeling awkward, Zhuge Linghao rubbed his nose and said, "Teacher, please don't bring up my dark history! By the way, what exactly did you want to see us for?"

Chabashira Sae spoke up: "Ayanokoji, go wait to the side for a moment. I want to have a chat with Zhuge first."

Ayanokoji said with a deadpan expression, "Understood, Chabashira-sensei."

Chabashira Sae looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze and said, "I see you two eating together every day; you have a good relationship, don't you?"

Zhuge Linghao patted his chest and affirmed, "That goes without saying. We are true brothers. We've been through thick and thin together; we're close enough to share the same pair of underwear!"

Chabashira Sae warned, "If you imagine everyone in this world as part of a board game, then no one is a brother. There are only pieces that have been sacrificed, pieces that haven't, and the players."

Zhuge Linghao pretended not to fully understand the teacher's words and changed the subject: "So, Teacher, what exactly did you want to see me for?"

Chabashira Sae stated her objective: "Help Class D rise to Class A. Name your terms!"

Zhuge Linghao was incredibly excited, vowing to be a rebellious student who would defy his teacher. He said, quite pathetically, "Then can I have a photo of you in a swimsuit?"

"Denied."

Zhuge Linghao's face instantly went cold: "One million points! That is the price for one favor."

Chabashira Sae exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at the greedy Zhuge Linghao, and said coldly, "You have quite the appetite, kid. Aren't you afraid of bursting your stomach?"

Lacking an ID card, Zhuge Linghao couldn't withstand such immense pressure and had to struggle to change his offer: "One hundred thousand per favor, not a point less!"

Chabashira Sae revealed a knowing smile: "It's a deal!"