The Ultimate Overthinker

"Ryuen, stop hiding, come down."

The one who spoke was none other than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, whom he had been searching for for half a day.

"Ayanokoji? Is something the matter?"

Ryuen Kakeru tried his best to maintain a straight expression as he climbed down from the tree:

"I've already delivered today's supplies to Katsuragi and the others. You seem to be a bit short of the top three, right? Try a little harder for our deal."

Attempting to seize control of the conversation first, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka completely ignored Ryuen Kakeru's question, instead raising his eyes to look Ryuen Kakeru up and down before suddenly asking:

"You're a [Resurrection] card, right?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be able to cooperate with you, since my current score is definitely last place."

Ryuen Kakeru put his hands behind his head and answered casually.

"Then you should know the hidden settings of special cards, right?"

"When you receive an upgrade opportunity from a regular card, you can transfer that opportunity to anyone in person, including students in their class."

"... It seems like there is such a setting."

Ryuen Kakeru nodded, responding quickly and answering first:

"I had an upgrade opportunity before, but I happened to run into Ishizaki at the time, so I gave it to him."

Ryuen Kakeru's words preemptively blocked any further questions from the other party and also concealed his deal with Kitagawa Ryo.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression didn't change much; he simply nodded.

"Then we can add this clause to our cooperation agreement."

"If you get an upgrade opportunity later, transfer it to me."

Then, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka added:

"Of course, this is also to get me into the top three, which would benefit everyone."

"Whether or not you make it into the top three is something you should be worried about, Ayanokoji. If you want me to give you a chance to upgrade, you'll have to offer other conditions in exchange."

Appropriately displaying his ever-present greed, Ryuen Kakeru looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka smile.

"For one upgrade opportunity, I can pay you 100,000 Private Points."

"You're really generous."

Somewhat shocked by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's generous offer, Ryuen Kakeru clicked his tongue.

"If I get a chance to upgrade, I'll come find you."

Just as he finished speaking and turned to leave, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka called him back once again:

"Your Class C should have another holder of a special card, right?"

In an instant, Ryuen Kakeru felt a cold sweat break out on his back, but he managed to maintain his composure and said without turning his head:

"I..."

"It's Shiina Hiyori."

Before Ryuen Kakeru could even utter a word, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka preemptively ended all his lies and escape routes, aggressively stepping behind him.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka pressed down on Ryuen Kakeru's shoulder.

"[Double-Edged Blade] or [Chosen One]? I don't care and I'm too lazy to care which special card she got, but I hope that she can be like you and consider me first if she gets an upgrade opportunity."

"Shiina is unaware of our collaboration."

"This has nothing to do with whether you know it or not."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka tightened his grip and spoke coldly in Ryuen Kakeru's ear:

"If you define this collaboration as between you and me..."

"So that means Class A and Class C are still essentially competitors, enemies that need to be eliminated?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's words subtly conveyed a sense of threat, and Ryuen Kakeru, gritting his teeth, shook his head and said:

"Shiina is not someone I can control, and besides, the person she likes is Kitagawa from Class D. The chance of her being promoted is very likely, no, it will definitely be only for him."

"... Yeah?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly saw Totsuka Yahiko walking towards them in a huff, as if he had overheard their conversation.

I'll contact you again later.

Not wanting to get entangled with someone like Totsuka Yahiko, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka released Ryuen Kakeru and disappeared into the forest in a few quick steps.

Ryuen Kakeru stood still and sneered at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's retreating figure, then took a step in another direction.

At the same time, he made a direct call to someone.

But he hung up the call in just one second.

This was simply a signal that had been agreed upon with Shiina Hiyori.

It means --

Plans are in place.

Chapter 173: The Ultimate Imagination King

After getting rid of Totsuka Yahiko, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka went to the place he had arranged to meet someone beforehand. There, the blond, frivolous boy seemed to have been waiting for a while, idly playing with a fairly neat leaf that had fallen from a nearby tree.

Hashimoto Masayoshi is the second useful piece that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka carefully selected after Kamuro Masumi.

One person's strength is always limited, and besides, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't think he had much talent in interpersonal communication and information gathering. From the moment he entered school, he had been looking for useful people to work with. However, his initial choice of Kamuro Masumi was thwarted by Kitagawa Ryo, and the plan fell through.

After setting his sights on Hashimoto Masayoshi as his second target, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spent about a month figuring out the man's personality.

On the surface, Hashimoto Masayoshi has always actively supported Katsuragi Kohei's authority in Class A and has never hesitated to contribute to various class affairs. Even though he often shows a frivolous side, his outstanding abilities and appearance have earned him a positive reputation in the class.

However, after truly investigating Hashimoto Masayoshi, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka saw through his disguise. For Hashimoto Masayoshi, belonging to someone else's command was of no importance.

No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she didn't care at all; in this respect, her attitude was completely opposite to that of Totsuka Yahiko in her class.

Regardless of whether Katsuragi or someone else was the Leader in the class, he simply always chose the side that offered him the most profit.

Moreover, unlike most of the students in Class A, Hashimoto Masayoshi even considered the possibility of other classes. He didn't seem to think that the current Class A would definitely be the final Class A, and that there was a possibility that they would drop to Class B or Class C midway through.

Under this cautious approach, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka discovered that Hashimoto Masayoshi had even chosen to contact students from other classes. Like a cunning rabbit with multiple burrows, he had already crossed paths with the up-and-coming Ryuen Kakeru at a very early stage.

At first, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka even considered that the spy Kitagawa Ryo had planted in Class A might be Hashimoto Masayoshi, because every move the other party made seemed to declare: if necessary, he could leak information about Class A without hesitation, and as long as he laid out enough connections in advance, no matter who turned the tide in the end, Hashimoto Masayoshi could win.

However, after observing the other party for another month, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not find any connection between the other party and Kitagawa Ryo. Or rather, Hashimoto Masayoshi's current plans are only limited to Class B and Class C. In his eyes, Class D, with zero Class Points, is not even worth investing in.

After ascertaining this, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka finally took the initiative to contact Hashimoto Masayoshi.

Since Hashimoto Masayoshi are all driven by self-interest, all that's needed is to show what he can give him. In Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's eyes, Hashimoto Masayoshi Kamuro Masumi, who stole things in pursuit of thrills. All that's needed is to grasp what the other party wants, and he can easily control him.

"How about it?"

Upon seeing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka arrive, Hashimoto Masayoshi casually tossed aside the leaf he was holding, which had been stripped down to its veins, and raised an eyebrow at him, asking a question.

"Judging from Ryuen's reaction, Shiina should indeed be in possession of a special card."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded in reply.

"After all, I saw it with my own eyes, I just couldn't see which one it was."

Hashimoto Masayoshi was somewhat disappointed. This morning, while participating in a project, he ran into Shiina Hiyori Group from Class 1-C. He noticed some words about special cards and hidden mechanisms in their conversation, so he paid extra attention and peeked at the corner of Shiina Hiyori's watch that she had inadvertently revealed from afar.

"That hidden mechanism was mentioned by Kitagawa in their group's discussion earlier, and Ryuen didn't deny it either, so it seems to exist."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka glanced down at his watch; the [Discount] card level displayed on it was still stuck at level five.

"Once a special card holder obtains an upgrade opportunity from a regular card, they can transfer it to any student in person, without restriction to their own class."

Hashimoto Masayoshi shook his head and repeated it, then shrugged somewhat helplessly:

"It's a pity that none of our Class A students have a special card; it seems the school really does use randomness."

As he spoke, he pursed his lips again:

"Although I always felt that they deliberately left out Class A."

"However, the holders of the special cards are now basically clear."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka ignored Hashimoto Masayoshi's complaints and calmly analyzed all the information he had gathered:

"If Ryuen Kakeru is [Resurrection], then Karuizawa Kei should have [Reinforcement], Shiina Hiyori has either [Chosen One] or [Double-Edged Blade]. This is relatively easy to determine; we just need to track one of her projects and determine the score increase as soon as the project is completed."

Seeing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's Hashimoto Masayoshi expression, Hashimoto Masayoshi also put aside his frivolous side, stroking his chin as he expressed his opinion:

"If there's an underlying logic to the school's distribution of special cards, the current distribution of the three special cards—one in Class B, two in Class C...—is most likely in Class D."

"Recently, Kitagawa Ryo's group has seen a rapid rise in scores and rankings. Could it be that someone in their group obtained the [Chosen One] card, which increases scores?"

"While I can't be certain, based on the internal conversation I overheard from Kitagawa Group, all four of them have regular cards, and Kitagawa himself has the same [Discount] card as me."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did not completely believe everything he heard, but still told it as part of the intelligence.

Then, as if remembering something Ayanokoji Kiyotaka suddenly asked:

What is the relationship between Shiina from Class C and Kitagawa from Class D?

"Shiina? Kitagawa?... If we're being honest, could it be considered an ambiguous relationship?"

Hashimoto Masayoshi looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's face and said with a smile:

"Ayanokoji, it's normal that I haven't heard anything about you always acting alone. But these past few days... or even earlier, there have been rumors about the two of them back in school."

When it comes to this kind of topic, Hashimoto Masayoshi immediately becomes adept at it. He has received confessions from girls in Class A before, so he is definitely experienced in this area.

"Actually, you can understand it if you think about it. There are very few cross-class romances in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, and the Leader of Class C is that Ryuen, so the obstacles to them being together must be quite great."

With a beaming smile Hashimoto Masayoshi continued:

"Besides, you can tell from the group assignments for this Uninhabited Island Exam. Kitagawa's group is all girls except for him. Tsk tsk, is this the treatment of being chosen as the number one by the girls?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had also heard his classmate Kushida Kikyo mention the ranking list, so he was able to keep up with Hashimoto Masayoshi's pace.

What's the story behind that rumor you mentioned?

"It's probably just rumors about Kitagawa and Shiina. According to the students in Class C, the two seem to be having an ambiguous relationship. In fact, during the exam on the Uninhabited Island, Kitagawa even tried to directly help Shiina, who was clearly a competitor for a class position."

Hashimoto Masayoshi chuckled as he answered Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's question.

He now discovers that this seemingly perfect mastermind behind Class A is not without flaws after all.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was unaware that Hashimoto Masayoshi had already labeled him as an emotional idiot. He recalled what Ryuen Kakeru had said to him back then, and after considering all the evidence, it seemed that he wasn't lying.

The identities of three of the four special card holders have been confirmed. If, as Hashimoto Masayoshi deduced, the last special card was assigned to Class D, then Kitagawa Ryo also possesses the [Discount] card, should do the same thing as him, asking the cardholder to transfer the opportunity to him so he can quickly upgrade his [Discount] card and gain an advantage.

Even with the hidden setting that the transfer must be made in person, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was unable to pinpoint the last special card holder through his investigation of Kitagawa Ryo's group.

In the past few days, Kitagawa Ryo had met so many students from Class D in person. Whether it was Ken Sudō's group, Matsushita Chiaki's group, Sakura Airi's group, or other groups, in just five days, Kitagawa Ryo's group had spent a long time in close proximity with almost half of the students in Class D.

While it's theoretically possible to investigate all these groups and find out if they received any upgrade opportunities for regular cards in the past few days, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had absolutely no concrete track record of their movements.

However Ayanokoji Kiyotaka desperately needed the crucial information of this last cardholder.

Without this hidden feature, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka believed that his leveling efficiency would not lag behind Kitagawa Ryo's, but this feature added an element of uncertainty to their race.

Karuizawa Kei of Class B, who holds the [Reinforcement] card, has a close relationship with Kitagawa Ryo. The interaction between Kanzaki Ryuji's group and Kitagawa Ryo's group in today's [Two-Person Cavalry Battle] challenge also shows that Class B and Class D have probably reached a cooperation agreement.

If, as Shiina Hiyori and Hashimoto Masayoshi said, she and Kitagawa Ryo are also in a flirtatious relationship, then her chances of advancement will definitely fall directly to Kitagawa Ryo alone.

Even if we include the scheming Ryuen Kakeru on our side, the ratio is only one to two, and that's without considering that the last person with an unknown identity might also help Kitagawa Ryo.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka closed his eyes and pondered for a while. Karuizawa Kei was now being held back by the people from Class A, and it would be difficult for her to get the reward of a promotion opportunity in the short term. This brought the battle ratio back to one to one.

The most urgent tasks now are to restrict Shiina Hiyori's movements on one hand, and to find the hidden fourth person as soon as possible on the other.

At this moment, I recall Kitagawa Ryo on the island, where he lavishly invited his classmates to a joint dinner and camping trip, completely disregarding their grades.

It's likely that by then, Kitagawa Ryo had already learned about the hidden setting and devised a strategy to conceal the most important person within the flow of people.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised his eyes and looked up at the vast, boundless blue sky.

As expected, this was the opponent that made that person go to the trouble of releasing him and sending him to this school, so that he would face an opponent he had never seen before in the White Room.

"You mean, Hiyori's intelligence has been exposed?"