Chapter 223

The methods and means are simple: stifle children's personal feelings, suppress their emotions to an extreme, and then endlessly instill teaching courses.

That's really stupid.

The greatest masterpiece that I've been talking about all along comes from this facility and institution.

Oh, of course, the gym graduate didn't graduate from here; he graduated from the same, but not quite the same, 'White Room'.

You don't need to understand the concept; just know that he is not related to the greatest masterpieces.

I pick up my pen, then put it down.

"..."

Asakusa Toru silent for a moment.

His mood suddenly soured.

His mental state suddenly became somewhat unstable.

Why?

... because Sakayanagi Arisu did not show up.

Kamuro Masumi is here.

She arrived in a panic, flustered and at a loss.

It didn't seem like they brought instructions; there was clearly no response.

I went a little too far.

The facts that should have been clear long ago are becoming increasingly obvious now.

Should we go see Alice? Should we meet her directly and have a frank talk?

Should we go... and check on her condition?

Would she accept this level of misery?

The Little Princess, her pride bursting, blushed and clenched her fists.

"I will not apologize."

All those countless thoughts ultimately coalesced into these words.

Stubbornness or obstinacy, it may be.

Asakusa Toru casually pulled out his Personal Terminal and sent a message to Sakura Airi.

Then.

[The exam for the Ox Group has ended. Students in the Ox Group do not need to take any further exams. Please be careful and do not disturb other students.]

Sakura Airi has regained her freedom before the group discussion has even begun.

The next step is to deal with Koenji.

... However, upon closer reflection, it's not necessarily the case that we need to resolve the Koenji.

All you need to do is deal with his teammates in the same group.

His groupmate is...

Wang Meiyu.

"Could you arrange a meeting with Wang Meiyu for me?" Without turning around, Asakusa Toru Kushida Kikyo had actually been behind him since the beginning, "We won't talk for too long. We can talk while we eat. You can stay with me if you want."

"..."

His words went unanswered for a long time, and just as Asakusa Toru was thinking that the Mini-map was displaying incorrectly and that his perception was playing tricks on him.

Suddenly, the girl behind him gently wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Mmm." Her head rested against his back, making a muffled sound.

"... What's wrong?"

Asakusa Toru somewhat surprised.

"If you get tired, you can hug me like this," Kushida Kikyo whispered from behind.

"..." Asakusa Toru paused, then said, "I will."

"If you're tired."

Is that so?

Was I too obvious?

The hug ended quickly.

As agreed, Asakusa Toru met Wang Meiyu in the rooftop café.

"Hello, thank you, xiaolongbao, goodbye."

Wang Meiyu: "?"

"Um... Asakusa... classmate?"

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Meiyu chose to ignore the words Asakusa Toru had just said, which sounded like Chinese but whose meaning was incomprehensible when put together.

"You came to see me because you wanted to...?"

"I'm here to turn you against me."

Asakusa Toru stated his purpose quite frankly.

Before Wang Meiyu could even process what was happening, Asakusa Toru continued, "What do you think of the environment in Class D?"

"It's terrible, isn't it? I don't think you've ever experienced an environment like this even back in China."

"Unless you transferred from a vocational school to study abroad," he said.

"Class D is a flawed product, flawed in every way, perfectly balanced."

"I've been wondering if a flawed Class D could be of any use." He paused for a moment, then said, "This exam has provided the answer."

"... No, I don't need to give you so many reasons."

Asakusa Toru rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"In short, classes A, B, and C cooperated this time," he said. "Our goal was singular: to completely plunder Class D."

"Class D should not have the right to resist, but just in case, this interview is being held."

Did you bring your Personal Terminal?

Asakusa Toru suddenly asked this question.

This time, he didn't answer the question as if he were talking to himself.

Slightly flustered, Wang Meiyu's thoughts were interrupted.

"I did bring it..."

Hey, what's going on?

I have a feeling that Asakusa seems to be quite familiar with China?

No, that's not important. What's important is that classes A, B, and C have already cooperated in this exam.

And they also want to loot Class D completely??

So fast?!

The exams only started today, right? And they haven't even had their first discussion yet?!

"Send a text message, and the content should be... um, Hashimoto Masayoshi is VIP." Asakusa Toru said with a light snap of his fingers.

"Don't worry, it's not a threat, and I don't intend to force you to send it," Asakusa Toru added. "I'm generally quite lenient towards beautiful girls."

Asakusa Toru held up two fingers.

"Two options. One, I'll give you the money directly, consider it a bribe. It'll be 250,000. No need to think, no need to take the exam, you can get the money cleanly and efficiently. Just send the text message and the exam will be over."

"Another thing is the transfer list. Although we keep criticizing Class D as a flawed product or garbage, we have to admit that there are still some talented people in Class D."

Talented (X), Beautiful Girl (√)

"So, I have considered arranging for some people to transfer to Class A before graduation," he said.

"Of course, this may sound like a completely unequal situation." After a pause, Asakusa Toru continued, "So I can't guarantee that I'll be able to transfer classes; it's just that those on the list will be given more priority."

Choose.

He shrugged.

But what followed was a long silence from Wang Meiyu.

"... Asakusa." After a long silence, Wang Meiyu spoke softly, "Do you think I would betray the class for my own benefit?"

The conditions offered by Asakusa Toru very tempting, and his words were also quite stressful.

Class D is weak; if they were to face the combined might of three classes, they would be utterly powerless to retaliate.

She should have fought for her own interests as much as possible under these circumstances.

But...

"I'm sorry, the offer you made is very good, but I can't get over that hurdle in my heart." Standing up, without even drinking her coffee, Wang Meiyu bowed to Asakusa Toru: "So I'm sorry, I will proceed with the exam as scheduled. You can talk to someone else about this."

She's gone.

Asakusa Toru: "..."

... It seems I might have chosen the wrong person.

Or perhaps, the Rhetoric was incorrect.

Regardless of the reason, the negotiations have failed.

It's almost time.

I have to go to the Rabbit Group's meeting place for a boring meeting.

"Then let's begin the first round of group discussions."

The announcement came on, a brief one followed by no further explanation.

The room, which resembled a conference room, was quite large; even with a group of fourteen people each occupying four spaces, there was still ample room to spare.

Logically speaking, Ichinose Honami should have been the first to speak up, setting the tone and encouraging everyone to take the exam and actively prepare for it.

However, it's clear that Class A, including her, didn't have any obvious intention to communicate.

However, unlike others, Class B seemed somewhat hesitant and uncertain.

The trio of random people from Class B, led by Machida, acted somewhat chaotically as soon as they entered the meeting room.

The reason is simple.

There was a minor issue in Class B.

Their leader, the one they believed was absolutely capable of leading them to victory.

It seems that Sakayanagi Arisu has encountered a minor problem.

Whether it was due to health reasons or something else, ever since the day the exam results came out, and after the review and punishment of Kito Hayato, they haven't seen Sakayanagi Arisu much.

Well, it's a break time after all, so if he didn't show up, he didn't. The important thing is that everyone has fun on the cruise ship.

But to everyone's surprise, when the rules for this Special Exam were announced, she didn't send any messages or give any instructions to her classmates.

I thought I wouldn't need to use my brain and could just let Sakayanagi think, but she didn't even read the list of those VIP.

It wasn't that some classmates visited her room with worried hearts; Morishita and Hashimoto Shiraishi both went.

But all I got in return was a perfunctory response. "I'm fine, but I'm not in the mood for that."

Kito's confinement ended early due to the start of Special Exam.

Seeing that the leader seemed to be in some kind of trouble, everyone was somewhat at a loss.

However, once the rules for the Special Exam were announced, naturally, with discussion and debate, the class was divided into two factions.