"Scary~"
Shiranami Chihiro looked frightened. She wrapped both arms around Aragaki Shun's right arm and kept pressing herself against his chest, leaving Ando Sayo, Amikura Mako, and the others watching from behind speechless.
"Maybe they just want to keep tabs on Class A, or provoke a violent incident by harassing our classmates."
The Behavioral Standards Exam at the beginning of the school year was over, but that didn't mean every first-year student could disregard the rules and do whatever they pleased from then on.
In fact, Kodo Ikusei still monitored students' conduct in their daily lives. Actions that violated the rules, like being late, leaving early, or using a phone in class, would still cost them points if caught on camera. At most, deductions wouldn't be as strict as they had been during the first month of school.
And if a violent incident like a fight broke out among the students, the consequences would be even more serious.
As long as the victim filed a complaint, the Student Council would have to investigate and deal with the students involved.
Students found at fault would not only lose a large number of Class Evaluation Points and Private Points, but might also receive a warning or a formal reprimand. In especially serious cases, they could even risk expulsion.
So he had no doubt that Ryuen Kakeru would order Class C students to provoke people from other classes, goading them into retaliating with violence once they could no longer stand it. Then they'd turn around and blame the victims, extorting Private Points from their classes.
"Ichinose, pass my instructions along in the Class A group chat: from now on, whenever anyone in our class goes out, they need to be with at least two other people. If you interact with students from another class, get your phone ready to record audio and video. If a conflict breaks out, make sure to save the evidence right away. You should also ask the Student Council about this school's rules on self-defense."
After he finished, Aragaki Shun watched Ichinose write everything down, then simply left the group and headed straight for the Class C students without trying to hide it.
"Gulp~ Manabe, what do we do? He's coming!"
"What are you scared of? We're just browsing the stores like everyone else. What's that got to do with him?"
"But that's Aragaki Shun from Class A. I heard he beat up every member of the Judo Club all by himself last night."
"This is a public place. He wouldn't dare just hit us, would he?"
The three Class C girls, Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, and Yamashita Saki, stood at a street corner, nervously watching Aragaki Shun approach.
Remembering his reputation and the way he'd ruthlessly taken points from everyone in Class C last month, their hearts began to race, and cold sweat dampened their palms.
Following Ryuen Kakeru's orders, they'd only needed to trail Shiranami Chihiro, Amikura Mako, and the other girls from a distance, then cause them a little trouble and stir things up if the opportunity arose.
But who could have guessed that Aragaki Shun would spend the whole day with them?
Didn't he usually go off on his own after school?
But Ryuen, who controlled his class through violence, wouldn't care why they'd failed. He didn't care whether the people who disobeyed his orders were boys or girls, either.
They didn't want to find out how hard Ryuen's fists were, so they could only grit their teeth and trail the group from a distance. They'd figured they could film Aragaki Shun and the Class A girls entering and leaving a clothing store from a street corner, then use that to report back to Ryuen.
But even after being so careful, they'd still been spotted by the Class A students.
Now Aragaki Shun was walking straight toward them. He must have noticed they were following him and come to settle the score. What were they supposed to do?
"Manabe, should we just run?"
"It's too late. Yamashita, toughen up. If he lays a hand on us, we'll yell that he's assaulting us and get the school to expel him!"
Perhaps because they were so nervous, Aragaki Shun's footsteps sounded exceptionally clear even amid the bustle of the street. Each step seemed to land right on their hearts.
The Leader of Class A came into sharper view. His face, usually gentle, now held a hint of coldness, and his eyes radiated an unquestionable pressure.
The three girls swallowed. Maybe it was just their imagination, but for a moment they genuinely felt something they could only describe as an imposing presence. Like quails watched by a hungry wolf, they shivered instinctively.
But it was too late to run now. Aragaki Shun had already fixed his gaze on them.
The boy looked at the three flashy girls, who had completely lost their nerve, and gave them an order. His voice was calm, but it carried an irresistible force. "You three. Come with me."
Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, and Yamashita Saki watched Aragaki Shun stride ahead and exchanged panicked glances.
They knew they probably wouldn't be able to get out of this one.
The boy's presence left them too afraid to think of resisting. They could only follow obediently, silently praying that things wouldn't get too serious.
Aragaki Shun quietly searched for an unmonitored blind spot on school grounds. He didn't care what the three flashy girls thought. Instead, he focused on his invisible Personal Panel—
[Achievement completed: Drove off the deranged fan who had been harassing Sakura Airi and sent him to prison. Source Power +2.] [Source Power: 10→12 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
He'd gained this Source Power from the electronics store incident.
But Aragaki Shun hadn't put the two units into the talent [Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune]. After realizing that his body's instincts were becoming somewhat difficult to suppress, he'd tried adding points to his Mental attribute instead.
And so—
[Mental: 10→11] [Source Power: 12→10 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
This was the first time he'd discovered that once a base attribute reached 10, each additional point required two units of Source Power.
But that was to be expected. The amount of Source Power consumed by talents and skills increased as they leveled up, too.
A base attribute of 10 was already the limit a human could reach through normal training. Anything beyond that was a realm ordinary people couldn't enter.
It touched on the very essence of human evolution.
For a point increase miraculous enough to deserve that name, it made sense that it would cost more Source Power.
Of course, the cost of Source Power mattered, but Aragaki Shun cared more about the changes that came after his Mental attribute surpassed its limit.
He'd been looking forward to this for a long time. If he hadn't yet figured out how to sustain a supernatural state in a world without spiritual energy, magic, or any other supernatural energy, he would have prioritized raising all four base attributes to their current limits before thinking about talents and skills.
But when he considered that even if he managed to enter the supernatural realm through attribute points alone, he still wouldn't be able to withstand modern weapons in the early stages, Aragaki Shun sensibly decided to max out his survival abilities first.
Now that all sorts of survival talents had been made permanent, Aragaki Shun finally had spare Source Power to strengthen his base attributes. And out of the four, Mental was the most mysterious. How could he not be excited?
But when he'd finished adding the point to Mental just now, he hadn't noticed any dramatic changes in himself.
Aside from the usual improvements to his memory and ability to calculate and reason, Aragaki Shun couldn't find any other unusual effects from his Mental attribute surpassing its limit.
It was as if this had been an ordinary point increase, with nothing special about it compared to his previous increases to Mental.
But how could that be?
A Mental attribute beyond the limit of 10 might not mean he'd truly entered the supernatural realm, but it still set him apart from ordinary people. Only naturally gifted figures who made their mark in history, like Xiang Yu, could rival him.
Of course, Aragaki Shun hadn't broken the limit in Strength, so he couldn't test his physical changes by lifting a cauldron like the Hegemon-King. But surely breaking the limit of Mental had to produce some other effect?
This question had been bothering him for quite a while. Only now, as he quietly sensed the three Class C girls following meekly behind him, did Aragaki Shun begin to understand.
So it manifests as an aura, a kind of invisible pressure?
If I keep adding points to Mental, will I eventually be able to make people kneel—or even pass out—with just a look?
He imagined a future where he could put thousands upon thousands of people to sleep with a single thought. The effect, similar to the Haki of the Supreme King once he grew stronger, seemed pretty interesting.
But the next moment, a trembling voice trying hard to sound tough rang out, pulling his attention back to reality.
"Hey! Aren't you going to stop? Aragaki Shun, where... where are you taking us?"
After walking along the road and turning several corners, Aragaki Shun had finally led the three Class C girls into a secluded alley with no cameras and no passersby.
Ahead of them was a dead end with walls on three sides. The only exit was dozens of meters behind them, and the alley had been quiet all the way there.
As long as nothing unexpected happened, no one outside would know what went on or what they discussed here.
That was precisely why the three Class C girls had finally realized what was happening. Their three little faces instinctively filled with unease.
Had they lost their minds today? How had they followed Aragaki Shun here without the slightest resistance, all because he'd given them a single order?
Now they had nowhere to run. Were they really going to get beaten up?
Aragaki Shun turned around and looked with interest at their fearful expressions. He wondered whether his reputation at school was just that terrifying, or whether the pressure from his Mental attribute breaking its limit had made these usually domineering Class C girls so afraid.
"All right, there are no school cameras around here, and no one's going to pass by. Whatever we discuss won't get out."
"Ladies from Class C, could you tell me why Ryuen ordered you to follow us from Class A?"
"What are you talking about? You don't own the shopping center. Are we not allowed to come here and have fun?"
Manabe Shiho, with her chestnut hair and brown eyes, instinctively snapped back when Aragaki Shun questioned her.
Being frightened into following him for no reason had already infuriated her now that she'd come to her senses. Now Aragaki Shun was questioning her from on high, and the usually domineering girl finally couldn't hold back.
"Aragaki Shun! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're the Leader of Class A. If you dare use violence, we'll run off yelling that you're assaulting us. If we make a scene, you'll definitely be expelled!"
"How boring. Is that all you can threaten me with?" Aragaki Shun gave her a scornful smile, took a voice recorder from his pocket, and pressed the playback button. He replayed what she'd just said. "With this, do you think the school will believe me, an outstanding student from Class A, or you delinquents from Class C?"
"And you're underestimating me. If I really decided to act, do you think I'd give the three of you a chance to run?"
Before Manabe Shiho and the others could understand what he meant, Aragaki Shun took two steps and appeared behind them. He put a hand on Manabe's shoulder, blocking their path to the only exit.
"Do you understand now? Even if I stripped you here, you wouldn't be able to fight back."
Of course, he was only trying to scare them. He would never actually do that.
But Manabe Shiho and the others seemed to think otherwise.
"...I understand."
Manabe Shiho took a deep breath, then gritted her teeth as she looked at her two pale-faced companions. "If you let Nanami and Saki go, and promise not to use violence or hurt me, I can stay and have some fun with you."
"Shiho!"
"No! How can we leave Shiho behind and run?"
Yabu Nanami and Yamashita Saki were so moved that tears welled in their eyes. They rushed over to shove Aragaki Shun aside, spreading their arms to shield Shiho.
"Let Shiho and Saki go. I'll stay instead."
"No way. I should be the one to stay."
Aragaki Shun stared at the arguing girls, a dark look on his face. Weren't they being a little too eager?
"Stop right there!"
His Mental attribute, now beyond the human limit, once again manifested as an oppressive presence. It cowed the three delinquents and finally brought the ridiculous farce to an end.
"You three, don't think you can use this as an excuse to take advantage of me!"
"W-Who wants to take advantage of you?"
Manabe Shiho shouted in embarrassment. "Don't think that just because you're handsome, high-ranking, strong, and rich, everyone wants to get involved with you."
"You were the one who threatened us like that in the first place, you jerk!"
"Weren't you the one who threatened us like that first, you jerk!"
Manabe Shiho shoved Yabu Nanami and Yamashita Saki aside and forced herself to face Aragaki Shun.
What did he mean, they were trying to take advantage of him?
Sure, he was good-looking, but they weren't exactly ugly, either.
Back in middle school, she'd been near the top of the beauty rankings. All she had to do was let people know she was interested, and a crowd of guys would fight for the chance to wait on her hand and foot.
Even after entering Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, she'd fallen a lot in the rankings at this lousy school. But only her ranking had fallen, not her looks.
Now she'd thrown caution to the wind and offered to have some fun with him, and he was turning her down?
"First, you said you'd yell that I was assaulting you, so I just followed your lead and pointed out that it wouldn't work."
Aragaki Shun waved his hand. Manabe Shiho hastily took two steps back. "Second, when it comes to looks, you can't beat me. So don't stand there in front of me, blatantly acting all hot and bothered!"
He'd have to be out of his mind, blinded by lust, to lose control and force himself on these three Class C girls at a time and place like this.
Setting aside whether this place was actually safe, he'd been with Ichinose Honami, Shiranami Chihiro, and the others when he'd discovered the Class C students following them and dragged them away.
If he really got involved with the girls in front of him, and they later held a grudge and used it to threaten him, Aragaki Shun would end up in a terrible mess even if he managed to resolve the fallout.
Unless he was willing to use the emergency Source Power he'd saved up to put the three of them in a hypnotic state or something similar, he wouldn't do anything so foolish as to chase a moment of pleasure while he was still thinking clearly, only to invite endless trouble afterward.
Of course, Aragaki Shun was more inclined to think that Manabe Shiho and the others were the ones coveting his looks. If he actually chose one of the three and slept with her, the worst that would happen afterward was that she'd cling to him and demand that he be her boyfriend and support her financially.
As long as he was willing to go along with her and soothe her feelings, it probably wouldn't lead to anything worse.
After all, for girls like these flashy types, Aragaki Shun was both influential and famous at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School. He was good-looking, excelled at both academics and sports, and could provide plenty of Private Points. He was practically the best boyfriend on campus!
If one of them really managed to date such an amazing boyfriend, she'd become the envy of every girl in school. Just imagining it was enough to make them so excited they'd want to sleep with him right then and there.
Manabe Shiho had no idea about the "slander" in Aragaki Shun's mind, but of course she wouldn't admit to being hot and bothered just because he accused her of it.
A flush of anger spread across the girl's face. She gritted her teeth and tried to look composed, then replied in a disdainful tone, "Who's blatantly acting hot and bothered? Are you some kind of narcissist through and through?"
"With a face like yours, I wouldn't even..."
Manabe Shiho looked at the boy's face, trying to find a flaw she could use to insult him. But once she actually turned her gaze toward him, her voice grew softer and softer without her meaning to.
She felt a sudden heat. The harsh words she'd prepared got stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say them.
Manabe Shiho quickly looked away, trying to hide her embarrassment and unease. "Hmph, I'm not going to act the way you imagine."
Before you continue