What Happened?

"Ryuji, you must have gotten quite a few questions right just now. I even saw your name on the leaderboard."

"If I were a few years older, I would definitely be able to get more right."

Kanzaki Ryuji was also speechless. Asking a First Year school student to do middle and high school level questions was impossible, no matter how good his grades were. In the end, he couldn't even understand the questions.

"That just shows how amazing Ryuji- kun is."

Sakayanagi Narimori laughed heartily, adjusted his glasses, and casually remarked:

"Actually, I saw Arisu go in just now, but I don't know how far she can go."

"Miss Arisu is certainly not Ryuji can compare to."

"But he's just a seven-year-old child, it can't be that exaggerated."

Although he said that, Sakayanagi Narimori still glanced at the rankings intentionally or unintentionally, looking quite concerned.

However, Kanzaki, standing to the side, didn't seem to be making fun of it. After all, as parents, their greatest hope is always for the growth of the next generation.

As she worked on her homework, Sakayanagi Arisu began to reflect on her feelings over the past few days.

Actually, from the very beginning, I had feelings for the boy that I found and who was brought home by my father, almost like raising a small animal.

Her father once said that if he could recover his health, he would be formally adopted by the Sakayanagi Family. Although Sakayanagi Arisu not understand the feelings behind her father's decision, she always expressed her support for her beloved father's choice.

Just like when she first heard about the White Room and immediately declared her intention to destroy the facility upon realizing her father's resistance to the plan, Sakayanagi Arisu felt no discomfort at the sudden appearance of this boy in her life.

Her father poured three times the love into her, but she could only reciprocate with a meager amount. If in the past she could only filter and suppress her excess emotions due to her physical condition, now Sakayanagi Arisu is capable enough to love.

Having lost both parents and growing up in White Room, Kitagawa Ryo was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

When she held his cold hand in the car, Sakayanagi Arisu's heart was already filled with excessive love.

However, that should be an emotion like pity or compassion.

Having heard too much about her mother from her father, Sakayanagi Arisu naturally put herself in Kitagawa Ryo when facing the latter, who was 'weaker' than herself.

She was a genius born from the genes of the best parents, so she was unwilling to accept a fake genius, but she could understand ordinary people.

Recalling Kitagawa Ryo's behavior today and what he had just said to her, Sakayanagi Arisu smiled gently.

She needs a lifelong rival, because Sakayanagi Arisu is a genius.

She also needed a lifelong love, because her father had told her that skin is warm and that being loved and touching others is a beautiful thing.

Sakayanagi Arisu initially set the former's goal as the White Room and hoped to mold Kitagawa Ryo into the latter's image.

But now it seems that Kitagawa Ryo wants to be the former.

Perhaps Sakayanagi Arisu never knew Kitagawa Ryo, but it's not too late now.

She released the mouse; the following questions were beyond her knowledge, so she submitted the exam.

Although he had been modestly talking about his daughter, when Sakayanagi Arisu's name appeared on the list, Sakayanagi Narimori couldn't stop smiling and casually mentioned that Arisu had just celebrated her seventh birthday.

Kanzaki Ryuji shook his head helplessly. Anyway, Sakayanagi Arisu always been the "other people's child" in their circle, and he was used to it.

However, when he looked up and actually saw that name ranked third on the leaderboard, he was still somewhat taken aback.

Unlike Kanzaki Ryuji, who just participated, nearly a hundred guests have now participated in the test. Currently, the top ten on the leaderboard are all junior high school graduates, and they are all high-achieving students.

The fact that Sakayanagi Arisu could reach third place at such a young age shows that her knowledge already surpasses that of a typical junior high school student. At seven years old, she truly deserves the title of genius.

Izumiya naturally wouldn't let such a good opportunity slip by. The moment Sakayanagi Arisu stood up, the interview team seamlessly took over. Sakayanagi Arisu glanced at the rankings but still couldn't find Kitagawa Ryo's name.

"Sakayanagi, congratulations on achieving third place!"

The girl in charge of the interview was a little nervous. With the surname Sakayanagi and the Chairman the board already around, it was safe to say that the child's identity was obvious.

Whether due to the students' remarkable academic achievements or their family background, most parents turned their attention to this area with great interest.

"Thank you. Actually, if I did it again, my score would probably be even higher."

Facing the high school students who were two heads taller than her and the parents watching, Sakayanagi Arisu showed no nervousness whatsoever, and her every move was quite proper.

"Sakayanagi has such good upbringing; is it because of her father?"

Holding the questions that Izumiya had just written down, the girl conducting the interview felt a little awkward.

"Yes, my father has had a great influence on me, or rather, he has helped me a lot. I am very grateful to my father; he is one of the most important members of my family."

Sakayanagi Arisu spoke highly of her father, which made Sakayanagi Narimori beside her, very gratified.

"Sakayanagi has such excellent grades, do you have any secrets or study methods you could share with everyone here?"

Seeing that the question had returned to normal, the girl breathed a sigh of relief; the intention to flatter her in that previous question was rather obvious.

"Hmm... I don't think my learning methods are applicable."

Sakayanagi Arisu replied quite straightforwardly:

"A person's potential is determined at the moment of birth, at the instant they are given life, which is why there is the concept of genius, or innate talent."

Although it sounded a bit excessive, the girl couldn't seem to find a rebuttal at the moment, so she could only awkwardly brush off the topic.

"Well, it seems Sakayanagi is very confident... Um, next question."

Will Sakayanagi choose to study at ANHS in the future?

This question, which would be quite routine for others, seemed a bit strange when asked to Sakayanagi Arisu. After all, her father was the Chairman of the board, so whether she enrolled or not would be a simple matter, and no one would doubt that her future depended on this school.

With her illustrious family background and personal talent, Sakayanagi Arisu was perhaps on a smooth road to success from the very beginning.

The girl being interviewed felt like she was about to break down from all the questions, and her once proud and enviable status as a student in Class A suddenly seemed less appealing.

"If possible, I would come to ANHS."

Seemingly sensing the other person's embarrassment, Sakayanagi Arisu also softened her tone and responded with a faint smile.

"Okay, okay, I hope Sakayanagi can realize her wish, and I hope today's event will leave you with the most wonderful memories."

Although the first place winner was supposed to receive a mystery prize, for various reasons, Class 3-A brought a small teddy bear and gave it to Sakayanagi Arisu as the prize.

They also thoughtfully provided each of the other students on the list with a free deluxe edition of the complete set of past exam questions.

Everyone was clearly moved; their fingers were gripping the workbooks tightly.

Just as Izumiya finished his rounds and was about to take a break, he suddenly heard a huge commotion erupt from the crowd outside.

"What's wrong?"

Quickly grabbing a student who had just entered the classroom, Izumiya hurriedly asked:

"Are other classes causing trouble?"

"No—there are class advisors and the Chairman the board outside, how could anyone come to cause trouble?"

The boy who was being pulled rolled his eyes and said:

"The first place has been overtaken."

"That shouldn't have caused such a big commotion."

Izumiya was somewhat puzzled.

"The problem is, the current number one is a child the same age as that Sakayanagi Arisu from before."

The boy gave a wry smile, feeling that he had learned nothing from dogs over the past ten years.

"Holy crap!"

"The interview is in progress! Get ready for the interview immediately!"

Izumiya shouted loudly and rushed out of the venue to take a look.

The interview is over.

A boy's shout came from behind, and Izumiya saw the person in question surrounded by everyone's gaze.

That was indeed a child, and if I remember correctly, it was the same child who came with Sakayanagi Arisu back then.

Izumiya swallowed hard. He looked up, and sure enough, the list had changed. The number one name now only had one simple character:

[Cold]

"Little friend, could you please introduce yourself?"

The interviews over there have already begun.

Izumiya heard his reply:

"Hello everyone, I'm Ryo, Fourth Generation of the White Room."

Chapter 98: What happened?

White Room? Fourth Generation?

The unfamiliar words, which were completely new to Izumiya, left not only the girl conducting the interview speechless, but also the girl herself.

Like the students in Class 3-A, most of the guests also looked puzzled and whispered among themselves. The words "White Room" might be a little confusing, but considering the suffix "Fourth Generation," it seemed to be some kind of training institution.

Sakayanagi Narimori's expression hardened. Although he hadn't had much contact with Kitagawa Ryo, he knew that the other party was definitely not an impulsive child. What made him even stranger was that Kitagawa Ryo spoke these words with a completely calm and smiling tone. If Kitagawa Ryo wanted to take this opportunity to expose his experience, his attitude didn't seem like it.

Sakayanagi Narimori initially thought his daughter had said something to Kitagawa Ryo, but when he looked down, he found that Sakayanagi Arisu also frowning, looking completely unaware.

To be honest, although Kitagawa Ryo was brought out by Sakayanagi Narimori, in order not to provoke him, Sakayanagi Narimori and Sakayanagi Arisu have not asked him about his specific experiences in the White Room, including why he was locked in that cramped hospital room and why he was forcibly injected with addictive drugs.

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo's attitude, Sakayanagi Narimori even had a somewhat absurd idea:

Could it be that Kitagawa Ryo has been brainwashed by the White Room and has come to accept its ideology?

Unlike her father, who was overthinking things, Sakayanagi Arisu calmed down after a brief moment of surprise. When she saw the simple character "[Ryou]" that had climbed to the top of the leaderboard, three places ahead of her, she finally understood a part of what the other person was like.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the Fourth Generation hailed as the closest to success since the White Room's inception, had not yet been personally met by her, but now a child from the White Room who had indeed surpassed her in some aspect appeared before her.

Although Kitagawa Ryo had boldly torn off the 'weak' label that she had attached to herself, Sakayanagi Arisu felt no resentment at the moment. On the contrary, she could feel her heart beating even faster.

There's even a subtle pleasure in having two wishes fulfilled at once.

The girl being interviewed finally snapped out of her daze after Izumiya's prompting and quickly followed up on Kitagawa Ryo's topic, asking:

"White Room? Is that the tutoring center that Liang usually attends?"

Tutoring classes are very familiar to students in Class 3-A, or even across the country. Although the middle schools here do have an early dismissal time, it doesn't mean they can be carefree. If they want to get good grades and get into good high schools and universities, extracurricular tutoring is essential.

"The White Room is indeed an educational training institution."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement.

The girl being interviewed was somewhat astonished. Just moments ago, she had heard an even more shocking piece of news through her earpiece: Kitagawa Ryo had achieved a perfect score and come in first place, surpassing the second-place finisher by a full 20 percent.

Even if you let the top students in Class 3-A do these past exam questions, it would be difficult to achieve such a perfect score, let alone a child who looks ten years younger than them.

Moreover, unlike the previous Sakayanagi Arisu, who at least had the name of the Sakayanagi Family, they had never heard of the facility that Ryo mentioned, the "White Room."

Even though the students of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School were confined to the campus, they were still frequently in the news, not to mention the third-year students who were about to graduate. However, no matter how hard everyone searched their memories, they could not find a training institution called "[White Room]".

"The fact that this training institution called 'White Room' can cultivate a genius like Liang shows that its educational level is excellent."

The girl being interviewed displayed a perfectly timed expression of curiosity:

"Ryo, could you tell us more about the White Room? I also have a younger sister who's about your age, and my parents are planning to find a preschool tutoring center for her. Although we don't expect her to be like Ryo, we hope she can learn something."

Upon hearing this question, the onlookers couldn't help but prick up their ears.

Those attracted to the Class 3-A program are naturally parents who care about their children's education. Many of their children are not much older than Kitagawa Ryo. Although they had never heard of the White Room before, the fact that they could cultivate a genius like Kitagawa Ryo, who is even better than Sakayanagi Arisu of the Sakayanagi Family, must have its merits.

"It's normal that you haven't heard of the White Room, since the White Room has never explicitly recruited students and it offers elite education, which is somewhat similar to this place, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School."

Kitagawa Ryo tilted his head back and said with a smile, looking exactly like a child who was quite proud of his cram school.

"Besides, I didn't exaggerate that much. Among my classmates and those in the next cohort, there were many with similar grades to mine."

"For example, there's Xue, who's in the Fourth Generation with me. She has honey-colored hair and purple eyes. Not only is she very cute, but she's also very smart."

"Of course, Ichika, who is a little younger than me in the Fifth Generation, is also very amazing. She is the number one among the thirty-two Fifth Generation. She has red hair and always wears pigtails. I can always recognize her from a distance."

The girl conducting the interview assumed Kitagawa Ryo was introducing his friend, and was somewhat surprised that this child prodigy spoke of his friend in such a playful tone, which made her laugh.

"Your White Room is truly remarkable; it's full of geniuses."

"But it's really not very famous. I've never heard of it before. This is the first time I've heard of it."