His plan to gain control over Class B was a long-term one. Now that he had some free time, Shun Aragaki decided to earn some achievements on this new map, so naturally, he turned his attention to the many clubs at the school.
He was very familiar with this. In both elementary and middle school, whenever he thought a skill might be useful, he never minded signing up for the corresponding club and showing up.
Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Sou didn't know what he was thinking, but seeing how determined he was, they assumed he planned to explore the school's intelligence through its clubs. So they followed along behind him.
"I heard the clubs at Advanced Nurturing High School are all pretty strong, and some even have excellent members who've achieved great results in national high school competitions. Are you really planning to challenge them as soon as you've enrolled?"
Kanzaki had gathered some information about the school clubs on the School Forum. He asked Shun with some concern.
"Isn't that even better? If the clubs really are that good, it proves the school knows how to develop talent. Even if I lose this time, it won't be a bad thing."
Shun's goal was to obtain Source Power, so he didn't really care about winning or losing. It wasn't as though he'd never lost as a child.
Besides, his Combat and Writing skills had both reached lv.4, just one step away from lv.5, the peak of mortal skill. He was confident he could rank among the best even among professionals. As for the other skills, which weren't listed individually but were grouped under [Miscellaneous], he'd never thought he was unbeatable at those.
Even so, with his four powerful base attributes, he didn't think he'd easily run into anyone capable of beating him at those miscellaneous skills among the 480 or so students his age at Advanced Nurturing.
Seeing that Shun kept heading toward the club building without slowing down, seemingly unconcerned about whether his challenges succeeded, Kanzaki could only sigh and pull Shibata along after him. If things really came to blows, the three of them could stand together and at least avoid being taken advantage of.
"You still haven't said which club you're going to challenge."
"Since I'm challenging them, naturally I should pick an athletic club where the winner's obvious. But I'll put off the time-consuming activities for now. I'll challenge the rest as I come across them."
"Huh? Shouldn't you challenge the clubs for the activities you're best at?"
Shun smiled without answering and strolled leisurely down the club building's hallway. Less than two minutes later, he spotted a club that interested him.
Billiards—though he knew it better by its other name, table tennis.
Since there was a club for it, he obviously had to go in and give it a try!
He promptly walked into the Billiards Club's activity room, and the members inside soon noticed him.
"Hey, do you need something? If you're looking to join the club, please wait until after tomorrow's club orientation." One of the Billiards Club students came over to greet him.
"Let's put joining the Billiards Club aside for now. Could you seniors let me see how good everyone here is first? Oh, right, I'm a first-year student who just enrolled. I heard the clubs at Advanced Nurturing are full of hidden talents, but I'm pretty skeptical."
"Freshman, what do you mean by that?"
Hearing the hostile remark, the Billiards Club member glared at Shun, feeling insulted by a junior.
"Can't you understand?" Shun remained as calm as ever, a composure that only made people angrier. "Let me put it plainly, then. I'm here to challenge the club!"
Shun pulled out his phone and showed them the 100,000 points he'd gathered, including some he'd borrowed from Kanzaki. "The school really is generous. They gave us this many points as soon as we enrolled. If I lose this match, you can take the 100,000 points as my apology to the Billiards Club. But if you seniors lose, you'll have to give me 100,000 points too."
"Kid, you're pretty cocky. You know those 100,000 points are your living expenses for the month, right? If you lose them, you'll have to wait until the first of next month for more."
Hearing the commotion, the other Billiards Club members came over. The club president, looking displeased, warned him.
"That's fine. See these two friends beside me? If I really lose, I'll borrow some points from them to get by. Anyway, the school will give us another 100,000 next month."
Hearing Shun say that, Kanzaki and Shibata found themselves under the gaze of the entire Billiards Club. Though they were a little numb with embarrassment, they could only step forward to show their support.
"...Fine. Let's see what makes you so confident you can act this arrogantly!"
When they heard Shun casually say that the school would give him another 100,000 points next month, several Billiards Club members exchanged strange looks.
They'd been at the school for a year or two, so they naturally knew how the monthly points distribution worked. Seeing how naïve the freshman was, they instinctively thought even less of him than they already had.
As second- and third-year seniors, they had to teach a freshman who'd just enrolled a lesson for coming in and challenging them so rudely. Otherwise, if word got around that the Billiards Club wouldn't even accept a freshman's challenge, how could they recruit new members?
The funding the school approved for clubs depended on the number of members. The previous graduating class had just left, and if the club couldn't recruit enough new students, its funding for activities would take a big hit.
"But to keep you from reneging after you lose, I'll call a teacher over. Then we can sign a contract guaranteed by the school. Sound good?"
"Oh, how does that contract work? I was planning to have the School Forum judge your abilities if you seniors refused to pay up."
"Don't worry. Contracts guaranteed by the school are enforceable. You should be worrying about how many points you'll have to borrow to get through the month after you lose."
The Billiards Club members sneered. They quickly called over a nearby instructor, and Shun signed the match contract with them.
Shun handed the contract to Kanzaki and casually walked over to one side of the table-tennis table. With interest, he watched the members on the other side jostling to teach him a lesson. "So, have you decided? Which one of you is playing me?"
Perhaps because there were fewer than 500 students in the whole school, the membership requirement for clubs at Advanced Nurturing was surprisingly low. A club needed only three members to be established. The Billiards Club still had five members after the previous graduating class left, which wasn't bad.
"I'll do it!"
The Billiards Club member who had first greeted them stepped forward. He picked up a paddle and stood opposite Shun, a confident, almost cruel smile on his face.
He didn't think he could possibly lose!
Advanced Nurturing Senior High School selected students from all over Sakurajima. Anyone who got into the school because of a special talent was bound to be among the best of their age in that area.
What's more, after a year of training, he could clearly feel how much he'd improved since enrolling.
How could he possibly lose to a freshman who'd just arrived?
"Kid, don't think that because you did well in middle school, you can do anything in the world!"
"Get a good taste of how cruel this world is!"
6. Not skilled enough? Use Source Power to add points!
"The match is over!"
"What? I lost?"
The Billiards Club member's eyes widened. He'd thought his opponent's technique was decent, but still a little worse than his own. So why had he suddenly lost?
"Looks like that's the limit of your abilities, senior. Please transfer the 100,000 points to me."
Shun happily took out his phone and waved it.
"The school enforces the contract, of course I won't renege. But I want another match with you, still for 100,000 points!"
The Billiards Club member reluctantly transferred the points, then picked up his paddle again and gestured to continue.
"Oh, do you still have a lot of points left, senior? I'd hate for you to run out of money for food."
"Don't worry. I can still afford 200,000 points!"
After all, he was a third-year student. Once most students realized the school's true nature, they were forced to learn how to save points in their daily lives.
And clubs at the school could apply to the Student Council for activity funding. If they achieved good results, they could also receive rewards from the school. As an A-Class student with a special skill, he'd never lacked points for daily expenses.
"Then fine." Shun loosened up his limbs, realizing these seniors seemed to have more than pocket change. "Let's sign another contract."
Another contract for 100,000 points was signed under the teacher's watch.
The Billiards Club member radiated an intimidating presence. His sharp eyes tracked every change on the table, determined to win back the points and face he'd lost.
But it didn't take long.
Another defeat cast a shadow over the entire Billiards Club.
"Impossible! I was about to win. Why did I suddenly lose?"
The Billiards Club member was baffled. He'd given it his all and hadn't looked down on his opponent at all. He'd even held the advantage early on. But then his opponent's attacks suddenly grew fierce, and in no time at all, he'd been decisively beaten.
"Were you doing it on purpose?"
"Don't accuse me, senior. I just hadn't played in a while, so I needed some time to get my feel for the ball back."
Shun twirled the paddle in his hand and rolled his neck. After two matches, he could feel his body had quickly adjusted to table tennis.
He wasn't lying. He hadn't been holding back his full strength, but mainly in terms of power and agility. As for his table-tennis technique, he wasn't a specialist, so he really wasn't much better than the senior across from him. He was also a little rusty from not having practiced in a long time.
But he had a lv.4 Combat skill, which included all kinds of self-defense techniques, such as wrestling, taekwondo, Xingyi boxing, and armed combat. His control over his body was far beyond that of an ordinary person. On top of that, his physical abilities were superior to those of most adult men, so picking up a sport wasn't particularly difficult for him.
On the other hand, now that his mental attribute had reached 9, his calculation and memory abilities were exceptional.
Though those attributes couldn't be fully converted into learning ability, even their indirect boost made it easy for him to get a grasp of most skills that could be learned through practice.
There was far too much knowledge in the world, and he didn't have the time to spend on skills he rarely needed in daily life. But he could spend a couple of days memorizing the relevant rules and basics, then rely on his physical abilities and apply what he knew from Combat. That was more than enough.
"Matsubara, step back!"
Just as the defeated Billiards Club member was about to say something in frustration, a stern voice stopped him.
The club president stepped forward, looking uncertainly at Shun. "You were watching Matsubara's movements while you played, then picked up all his experience along the way. Is that why you made that explosive play at the end?"
"That's right. I should be thanking Matsubara for his guidance."
"What?!"
The Billiards Club member who'd lost to Shun—Matsubara, as the president had called him—stared wide-eyed. Learning during training and matches was normal, but to absorb a whole year of his training so easily? That was... that was...
Was this the difference between him and a true genius?
The Billiards Club president took a long look at Shun as well, then asked him solemnly, "Would you like to join the Billiards Club? I'm in Class A of the Third Year, and I'll be preparing to graduate before long. You could be the club's next president."
"Sorry, but I'm not that interested in table tennis. I only play once in a while."
Shun shook his head. "But how about a match, president? If I lose, I'd be willing to join and train for a while."
"Is this a genius's caprice?" the Billiards Club president sighed, then had the teacher draw up another contract.
Whether it was to win back the club's face or to put a cocky junior in his place and show him that the table tennis he loved wasn't so easy, he had to get in there and play Shun himself.
Unfortunately—
[Name: Shun Aragaki Strength: 7→8 Constitution: 7→8 Agility: 8→9 Spirit: 9→10 Skills: Combat lv.4 (2/5), Writing lv.4 (2/5), Miscellaneous Talents: Danger Sense lv.5 (0/10), Immunity to Poison lv.5 (0/10), Immunity to Disease lv.5 (0/10) Pending Condensation: Erudition lv.0 (0/?), Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.0 (0/?) Source Power: 14→10 (current efficiency: gains 3 units per month)]
The clubs at Advanced Nurturing Senior High School really were full of hidden talents. When he took an interest he only played around with and challenged the paths they'd devoted themselves to, there was still a one or two percent chance that someone might beat him by exploding with potential.
Losing wouldn't matter much, but he might as well do his best to win.
Shun definitely wouldn't want to strengthen his table-tennis skill just for a single match. But when he had enough Source Power, choosing to strengthen his four base attributes was, no matter how you looked at it, building a foundation for the future.
If the four attributes didn't complement each other, and if the strongest and weakest attributes could differ too much without affecting his coordination, Shun would have raised his Spirit attribute above 10 long ago.
Just like last time, when his Constitution was only 6 and he raised his Spirit to 9. It gave him headaches from time to time, and he'd only completely resolved the problem after spending another unit of Source Power on Constitution.
Shun savored the pleasant feeling of his body growing visibly stronger. This was the absolute power he pursued!
As long as his foundation was solid enough, even the weakest part extending from it could overwhelm other people's strongest, and he'd have no weaknesses!
The result was obvious: hard work could never beat someone using cheats.
Shun had earned another 100,000 points. That brought his total to 300,000 points for the trip—about a month's wages for an ordinary worker in Sakurajima.
And that was only from two of the people who'd competed. There were five members of the Billiards Club present.
If he'd kept a low profile from the start, gradually revealed that he was just a little better, and kept giving them hope that they could win the next match, he could definitely have squeezed a lot more out of these fat sheep.
But never mind. He'd be living here for three years, and they'd keep running into each other. There was no need to go too far.
"Are you really not considering joining the Billiards Club?"
The club president pulled out his phone to transfer the points to Shun. But compared with the 100,000 points, he seemed more reluctant to let Shun go.
"Last year, we competed in the National High School Tournament and placed third. With you, we might actually take first place this year. We could give you all the prize money and the individual points reward from the school."
"Oh, it makes sense that the school would give out rewards when a club gets results. But would those rewards help with class competition?"
"Class Points aren't that easy to... No, wait. Freshman, you—"
The Billiards Club president had answered without thinking, then immediately realized that Shun wasn't a second- or third-year student who knew the rules. He was a freshman on his first day, someone who shouldn't have been informed about the points system.
After losing the match, he'd unconsciously placed Shun on an equal footing with himself, or even higher, and overlooked that fact.
So Class Points were the key to class competition.
Shun understood, but said, "What's wrong, senior? Doesn't the school award Class Points for a club's results? Does that mean our Class B can only rise to Class A through exams?"
"...How could someone like you be in Class B? Is the school blind? Another Miyabi Nagumo!"
The Billiards Club president covered his face with one hand, looking pained, but didn't dare tell Shun anything else. He turned and walked far away.
Shun thoughtfully made his way over to Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Sou. First, he gestured for them not to say anything, then took several contracts from the Billiards Club's instructor, tore them up, and transferred the 300,000 points he'd earned to the teacher's account.
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