Yes

However, if he were more true to his desires, he certainly wouldn't be satisfied with just watching.

At the very least, you should touch it.

Touch my leg.

But that falls outside the scope of a transaction.

He sighed softly, and just when Horikita Suzune thought Asakusa Toru had refused, he suddenly spoke.

"Let's make turtle soup," he said.

Asakusa Toru said this, turning his back to the girl again.

"This is a very simple turtle soup, so you can't directly ask who the Pseudo-human is, but you can use any clues you can think of to make connections."

"I will only answer yes or no, with a time limit of 10 attempts."

"The Advanced Nurturing welcomed a Pseudo-human this year. Because it's a defective product, the Pseudo-human was assigned to Class D by the school. Your goal is to find out the true identity of this Pseudo-human."

"Now, the game begins."

The so-called turtle soup usually consists of two parts: the 'soup noodles' and the 'soup base'.

The former is the information provided as a point of suspense, while the latter is the answer after the mystery is revealed.

This is a game between a participant and a host. Facing a host who knows the soup base well, the participant can deduce the answer based on the given clues and then confirm with the host whether their guess is correct.

The host will continuously narrow down the possible outcomes by using "yes" or "no".

At least that's something Horikita Suzune knew.

There's no need for Asakusa Toru to explain further.

Therefore, the moment the words were spoken, the girl began to think.

Instead of giving a direct and straightforward answer, he chose to describe the purpose of the game.

And, what questions should you start with to get the answers you want?

Is the "Pseudo-human" a woman?

"No."

Number of questions remaining: 9

Chapter 294 is

The most important aspect of logical reasoning is to narrow down the possibilities as much as possible.

The scope of confirming the existence of Pseudo-human was already very small to begin with.

Because from the very beginning, Asakusa Toru had told her that the Pseudo-human was in Class D.

She had ruled out Yamauchi Haruki's answer long ago.

He can rule himself out, Kushida Kikyo can be ruled out even more, and Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi, as his women, can also be ruled out.

After excluding them like this, there are only 35 people left, not even counting the few who dropped out.

However, directly dividing people into male and female is clearly more effective at identifying targets.

In the blink of an eye, half the people were eliminated.

Horikita Suzune had also wondered if she might have made a mistake from the start, and that the Pseudo-human was actually a girl.

But now it seems that the Pseudo-human was actually male.

After a moment's hesitation, she asked again, "Has the Pseudo-human... dropped out of school yet?"

This is a narrowing of the target scope, but it's a question that must be asked.

Aside from Yamauchi Haruki, her most suspected candidate was, as expected, Kanji Ike, who had been expelled from school recently.

Asakusa Toru hasn't mentioned the Pseudo-human in a long time; perhaps he's actually been expelled.

"No."

The soft words negated the conjecture, instantly eliminating the three individuals once again.

There are 16 other possible candidates.

To be honest, Horikita Suzune Koenji Rokusuke was actually Pseudo-human.

After all, although he is said to be the heir to a conglomerate, no one in this completely enclosed school can verify the authenticity of this identity. In addition, there is Koenji's extremely unrestrained and casual behavior on weekdays, as well as his self-praise attitude that really seems like Pseudo-human.

It's understandable that people would have doubts.

Furthermore, Asakusa Toru also mentioned in his diary that the Pseudo-human's physical abilities were very strong, even stronger Koenji Rokusuke's...

Oh, it seems he's already categorized the Pseudo-human and Koenji into two different groups.

However, despite being the heir to a conglomerate, aside from his physical abilities, Koenji Rokusuke displayed absolutely no traits befitting a conglomerate heir, and was relegated to Class D as a prime example of this flawed individual, even...

He was swept out of school and expelled by Asakusa Toru him like a stray dog.

She still felt that Koenji might be Pseudo-human.

However, it now seems that he was indeed not Pseudo-human.

In that case... even heirs to wealthy families aren't necessarily very capable... right?

"..."

Shook her head, Horikita Suzune continued to ponder.

There aren't many people left, but eliminating them one by one will still result in some omissions. It would be great if there were a more distinctive characteristic that could help eliminate even more people.

"Are his grades very good?" she asked.

In Class D, there are a minority of boys with good grades and a majority of boys with poor grades. Judging from their grades alone, we can rule out many of them as suspects.

"Yes and no."

Horikita Suzune: "?"

But Asakusa Toru's answer left Horikita Suzune with a question mark in her head.

What does "yes and no" mean?

Is it good or bad?

Is it that someone actually has good grades but pretends to have bad grades, or someone actually has bad grades but cheats to appear to have good grades?

Should we waste a question attempt to confirm?

"Is it... that he actually has good grades but pretends not to?"

"Yes."

As soon as the words were spoken, high-achieving students like Yukimura Teruhiko were immediately categorized as suspects.

... Is it difficult to pretend?

Why do this?

Even though the scope was narrowed down, Horikita Suzune really couldn't understand it.

The moment she asked the question, and the moment it was answered, she remembered that Asakusa Toru had once written in his diary that the other person was still playing the role of a perfect pig.

What exactly constitutes "playing dumb"?

It's about having the ability but pretending not to.

The incompetent man so desperately longed for this ability, yet he kept it well hidden, pretending to be something he was not, and mingled with the incompetent man's side.

Was he trying to secretly mock the worthless people around him?

Is this for amusement?

With such a vile mind, shouldn't one call him Pseudo-human?

Although she had narrowed down the possibilities considerably, Horikita Suzune still couldn't figure out who this Pseudo-human really was.

Could it be... Sudo?

Sudo Tengjian, who was on her suspicion list before, has changed his personality a lot in the past year, but such a huge change in personality is still quite in line with the characteristics of Pseudo-human.

Most importantly.

He is physically very strong.

Although she had never compared herself to Koenji, Horikita Suzune judged that the two were at the same level.

But how should one ask? The rules restrict directly asking who is Pseudo-human.

So.

Is he in the Basketball Club?

After a moment's hesitation, Horikita Suzune asked the question cautiously.

"No."

Then, their hopes were dashed in an instant.

How could it not be? Why wouldn't it be? Besides Sudo, who else fits the description of Pseudo-human?

Horikita Suzune genuinely felt that the group of people who hung out with Yamauchi were all Pseudo-human.

There are five more questions.

Horikita Suzune initially thought that identifying the Pseudo-human among forty people using only ten questions would be a breeze, but now she was sweating profusely.

Because she had lost all sense of direction.

The target of suspicion, the object of suspicion, and the characteristics that can be used for screening.

My mind is blank.

Should we trace the network of relationships within the Yamauchi?

But there are only five questions left. What if we still don't get the answers after checking them all?

What are some more possible screening options based on the initial approach?

But besides being expelled and having poor grades, what other characteristics can rule out a student from being expelled?

... Oh, right, physical fitness.

The phrase "excellent physical fitness" was written by Asakusa Toru himself.

But...

"Did he... also hide his physical abilities?"

"..." Faced with this question, Asakusa Toru paused noticeably for a moment, thinking, before giving his answer, "Yes and no."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did try to hide it, but he didn't really. At least theoretically, he didn't conceal his physique during swimming lessons, and the standard for various tests was based on what others called the median.

Therefore, it is and it isn't.

Horikita Suzune: "...?"

Another yes and no.

Horikita Suzune was completely bewildered.

Why is it so hard to find this Pseudo-human?

Is it possible to say "yes" or "no" whether to hide it or not?

Taking a deep breath, Horikita Suzune asked again.

"Has he... joined a club?"

"No."

I am not a member of any club or organization, and I do not participate in any club or organization activities.

There are three more questions.

A tense atmosphere began to spread across the rooftop.

You shouldn't have asked about basketball directly; whether or not someone is in a club would have ruled out Sudo Tengjian.

Ultimately, the majority of students in Class D are unaffiliated and haven't joined any clubs.