The Situation Suddenly Turns Bizarre

What made Kitagawa Ryo a little uneasy was that, compared to the students from his own class who passed by, Chabashira Sae was quite enthusiastic towards him, a student from another class. She would often smile and take the initiative to chat with him about everyday things, acting as if they were very familiar with each other.

Although Kitagawa Ryo's attitude towards this was always "sister, we're not interested," he couldn't stand the continuous harassment. After all, she was his homeroom teacher at school, and her behavior wasn't out of line. He couldn't just ignore her or give her the cold shoulder; it was really quite troublesome.

"That's how our Hoshinomiya, is."

When asked about Hoshinomiya Chie, Karuizawa Kei, the Leader of Class A, also sighed helplessly:

"Regarding this Sports Festival, she practically told us outright not to cooperate with Class D, and even said that since Classes B and C don't have much cooperation anyway, we should just let the second and third-year Red Team carry us to victory."

"Perhaps this is the long-standing feud between women."

Even though Kitagawa Ryo witnessed firsthand the Special Exam ten years ago that changed the course of their lives in Sakayanagi Arisu's simulation, he still found it hard to understand this self-destructive behavior of wasting their youth on each other. All he could say was that Mashima's decision to stay away from the two of them was absolutely the right one.

It almost feels like a curse that makes anyone who gets caught up in it unfortunate.

"Of course, Ryo knows the personalities of our students. Although Hoshinomiya has already hinted at it, everyone's attitude towards Class D is still mainly friendly and cooperative. However, Katsuragi seems to be quite overwhelmed, so he doesn't have much time to deal with us."

"Let him find it. Anyway, I didn't plan to use spies this time. I won't be too involved in any matters related to this year's Sports Festival."

After explaining his position to Karuizawa Kei, Kitagawa Ryo gently massaged her head while adding his own thoughts on the upcoming Sports Festival:

"Friendship first, competition second."

"It would be better for Liang to say this to Class C than to our class."

As someone who personally experienced that chaotic, grade-wide brawl at the Sports Festival, Karuizawa Kei clearly remembers just how dirty Class C's methods could be.

"Don't worry, Hiyori should be the one leading Class C's Sports Festival this year."

"What about Ryuen?"

"Ryuen... his approach is similar to mine, isn't it?"

Chapter 275: A Sudden and Unpredictable Situation (5k5)

Several days ago, Kitagawa Ryo had already privately discussed the plans for this Sports Festival with Ryuen Kakeru. As he had predicted, Ryuen's decision-making was still quite brutal and dictatorial, as if the Uninhabited Island Special Exam had never happened. He even suggested using a self-inflicted injury or similar tactics to exchange points with the opponent's top athletes, thereby coercing them to hand over a large amount of Private Points. This left Kitagawa Ryo speechless.

"I'll say it again, your plan of 780 million (currently there are 39 people in Class C) is completely unfeasible. Nagumo, a second-year student, is the best example of that."

"He's basically in control of the entire second year now. In other words, every Special Exam the school holds has become a tool for him to maximize his Private Points. But even so, he can only offer a single-digit number of Class A direct promotion lottery tickets as rewards to students in the three classes at the back."

If it weren't for the fact that he and Ryuen Kakeru had a fairly good relationship during the simulation, Kitagawa Ryo wouldn't even bother with all this talk.

"Besides, your current control over Class C is simply insufficient to support you in carrying out this seemingly wonderful grand plan. The rewards and punishments for this Sports Festival aren't that significant, so there's really no need to create unnecessary complications."

But to everyone's surprise, Ryuen Kakeru only gave a dismissive reply:

"If you were a student in Class C now, Kitagawa, I would definitely take your advice without hesitation, and I wouldn't even mind handing over the position of class Leader to you."

Ryuen Kakeru's implication was simple: theoretically, as the Leader of the other class, he had no right to make such an absolute statement.

Fortunately, Ryuen Kakeru didn't completely lose his mind. In the end, he chose to back down and decided to hand over the command of the class to Shiina Hiyori only this time, while he himself decided to act alone as in the Uninhabited Island Special Exam.

To be honest, this was the best outcome Kitagawa Ryo had anticipated. After all, despite how badly Ryuen Kakeru was forced into a corner at the Gymnasium that day, he still had a group of supporters such as Ishizaki Daichi and Kaneda Satoru. The reason why Hiyori seemed to have a large following that Hiyori was mainly because Ryuen Kakeru's violent leadership over the past semester had indeed been unpopular.

In fact, the fact that the students in Class C scattered like birds and beasts as soon as the news of Ryuen Kakeru being investigated in the school tent during the Uninhabited Island Special Exam revealed the nature of this class. Most of them were only good at playing when things were going well.

Although Hiyori herself was a little confused about the reality of inexplicably taking over the class command, after all, in terms of physical fitness, she was just as unfortunate as Sakayanagi Arisu.

Anyway, according to her, Class C is now all about doing whatever you want and having fun. The most crucial thing is that the competition schedule changes every day, and it can be completely changed every two hours. Even she, as the Leader, doesn't know who will be in which event.

While pondering matters concerning Class C, Kitagawa Ryo Karuizawa Kei, who was heading back to her dorm to wash up, and unconsciously walked to the nearby playground. With a quick glance, he took in the entire situation on the field.

Although it had been two hours since school ended, many First Year students could still be seen practicing spontaneously on the playground at this time, and they were clearly divided into circles according to their classes.

Unlike Class C, who seemed carefree and playful throughout, the other three First Year classes were training diligently and earnestly. Among them, the massive Ken Sudō and Yamada Albert were undoubtedly the most dazzling twin stars. You could even see many upperclassmen standing by the track with their arms crossed, pointing at the two and whispering about them.

Thanks to the class brawl on the Uninhabited Island during summer vacation, most students had already gotten a pretty good grasp of the sports stars in each class. Although Sudo Group unfortunately ranked fourth in the final group rankings because of his arrangements, their excellent performance on the Uninhabited Island still made many students secretly take notice.

"Looking at it this way, there are quite a few top athletes in Class B. I haven't seen Kitagawa yet today. I remember that guy once led three girls from his group on Uninhabited Island and won a head-on Four-Way Tug-of-War -of-war against Ken Sudō's group."

Attracted by Ken Sudō, who was clearly not in the same league as the other students and still far ahead of them even during training, the students of Class 1-D training nearby also stopped their hand and leg movements, and one of the boys unconsciously uttered such a sigh.

It's natural that they would pay extra attention to Class B, since Class D's opponents in this Sports Festival are the White Team, which consists of Class B and Class C. But seeing Class C's pathetic attitude and the rumors of infighting, their attention naturally shifted entirely to Class B, who were clearly in a stronger position.

"Huh? Really? I remember Sudo's team also had Yamada and Miyake from the Archery Club, and Kitagawa's team also had Sakayanagi, right? How could one person beat four? Was it a deliberate loss by their classmates?"

Soon, another boy questioned the idea with some skepticism.

"You seem to really enjoy praising Kitagawa from Class B. Could you be the mole who's been having an affair with Class B?"

"Get lost! Don't slander me. You accuse me of having an affair? Why don't you just say I'm Nan Tong, who likes Beichuan?"

Seeing the two boys suddenly start fighting, Hirata Yosuke, who was the head of the training instructors for this Sports Festival and acted like a mother, quickly stepped in to break them up. He finally managed to separate them.

Unfortunately, ever since that privacy breach on the Uninhabited Island, the atmosphere in Class D has become quite delicate. If it weren't for the mole and Totsuka Yahiko, the two Lich Kings who took the blame for everything, the atmosphere between them would probably be even worse.

It wasn't just the boys who were demoralized; the girls in Class D were also sighing and complaining. Although most events were divided into male and female groups, except for a very few mixed-gender events, the girls in Class B were just as good.

It's no exaggeration to say that Amasawa Ichika alone could probably overpower their entire group, not to mention students like Horikita Suzune and Onodera Kayano who would be just as formidable as the boys.

In the past, Tian angelic Kushida Kikyo would have stepped in to comfort everyone and boost morale, just like Hirata Yosuke. However, having made a fool of herself in front of Amasawa Ichika and surrendered without a fight in the name tag ripping game, Kushida Kikyo felt a bit intimidated and could only secretly glare at Morishita Ai in her class.

As a loner who hadn't been able to be included in her social circle even after a whole semester, this person didn't care about her image at all. A few days after the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, most of the class knew about her strange behavior during the name tag ripping exercise. It was only because she was usually well-liked and her actions weren't a strategic failure that she was suspected of being a mole.

Kushida Kikyo glanced at Morishita Ai, while Morishita Ai was looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka on the boys' side. She only looked away after Kamuro Masumi kindly handed her a bottle of mineral water and quietly said thank you.

As someone who always seeks excitement in her ordinary daily life, even to the point of stealing from convenience stores and returning the items, Kamuro Masumi's reaction to the current uproar about a mole within Class D is quite simple:

You're talking about this mole, how come she's not me?

Even though she had already crossed paths with Kitagawa Ryo from Class B at the beginning of the semester, to be honest, if he really came to her asking for some information, Kamuro Masumi would definitely "reluctantly" help him out, considering the fact that he had saved her from Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's threat.

She thought she was about to start a spy game, but it turned out to be a passive-aggressive relationship. The two of them haven't contacted each other at all since, which left Kamuro Masumi with mixed feelings.

It was probably because of this inexplicable feeling that she chose to take the initiative to talk to Morishita Ai. After all, she was a suspected 'mole' who was rumored to have had a long one-on-one conversation with Kitagawa Ryo during their cruise vacation, and no one had heard what they were saying.

"Morishita, who do you think is the mole in the class?"

"Who the mole is is not important."

To Kamuro Masumi's surprise, when faced with her blunt question, Morishita Ai simply retorted stiffly, then gave an answer that Masumi had never considered before:

"Kicking Ayanokoji out of the class is the only way to get Class D back into Class A."

"Ayanokoji? Why?... Wait, this seems to be the first time I've Morishita you refer to him by his surname, Morishita."

Completely bewildered, Kamuro Masumi looked at Morishita Ai with some confusion, but the latter didn't seem inclined to explain further, instead directly asking her:

"What kind of person do you think Ayanokoji is? Or to put it more bluntly, do you dislike him?"

"Um, you're asking me this so suddenly... But to be honest, I guess I'd say I don't have a very good impression of them."

Although Kamuro Masumi and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's last interaction, like Kitagawa Ryo's, was only at the beginning of the semester, that one time was enough to make Kamuro Masumi dislike Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's scheming and threatening behavior. What's more, he had been playing the role of a harmless follower next to Katsuragi Kohei for the entire semester that followed.

Seeing that Kamuro Masumi's expression and tone didn't seem fake, and considering that she didn't seem like the type to lie, Morishita Ai added a few words sparingly:

"The reason why Class A was relegated to Class D is because of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka."

"Um, although I think it's Kitagawa Tai from Class B..."

Before Kamuro Masumi could finish her thought, a detail she had never noticed before suddenly flashed into her mind.

It was only the beginning of the semester, and the students in the same class hadn't even gotten to know each other yet. But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kitagawa Ryo acted as if they had known each other for a long time, and their words were full of sharp wit.

Logical closed loop!

"It feels... like... it really does have something to do with Ayanokoji."

Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, Chairman's Office.

Tsukishiro, who had just taken office Acting Chairman, was also reviewing various documents related to the school at his desk today. After a while, he looked up and said to his assistant standing beside him with some emotion:

"Wow, I didn't expect the second year to be so lively. There are already cases where students are pooling their resources across all four classes in the grade, using Special Exam to manipulate Class Points while simultaneously gaining Private Points for themselves."

"Yes, as far as I know, this should be the first time since the founding of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. This student named Nagumo is indeed very good at exploiting loopholes in the rules."

The assistant stepped forward and answered.

"It seems like a good variable, but getting these kinds of students to completely obey our orders and do their jobs is quite troublesome."

Looking at the photo of Miyabi Nagumo on the document in his hand, along with a series of statements about her private life, Tsukishiro, a well-known political double agent, had seen far too many arrogant young people like her in his life so far.

Their eyes were filled with unquestionable confidence and pride, and a radiance that showed no need for them to restrain themselves. They felt as if they were the chosen ones favored by Fate or the protagonists of the world, that all the rules that bound people did not exist for them, that everything they wanted was within their grasp, and that everything should operate or change according to their will.

"'I'm the king of the second year—' 'Once I become the Student Council President, I'll control the entire school—' Do you think this student named Nagumo might be thinking things like that?"

At this point, Tsukishiro couldn't help but smile.

"Does he feel like he'll never graduate from this school? Doesn't he realize that this game, which is like playing house, can only last for three years at most?"

After muttering these two sentences to himself, Tsukishiro waved to his assistant with great interest:

"Considering he can still provide some flexibility for those two First Year, let's make use of him, but we need to clear his head first."

"Okay, distribute the plan that was already drafted."

Faced with Tsukishiro's order, the assistant was clearly still somewhat hesitant:

"But all the rules for the Sports Festival have already been made public to all students. If we add additional rules now, will it damage the school's credibility...?"

"I didn't tell you to treat it as a follow-up announcement to the Sports Festival. Just treat it as an extra event. Anyway, we've already given hints about it before."

"Okay, I understand."

After his assistant left the office with the relevant documents, Tsukishiro leisurely leaned back in his chair.

As the Acting Chairman who was temporarily appointed, Tsukishiro never intended to actually get involved in the affairs between Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kitagawa Ryo from the beginning, and this authentic Sports Festival is a testament to that.

But that doesn't mean he'll do nothing. After all, this school isn't just for First Year, and the Special Exam aren't limited to competition between classes within the same grade. He has to stay in this position for at least a semester, so he needs to prepare some necessary plans in advance.

Miyabi Nagumo is now able to control the entire second year. Besides his upcoming role as Student Council President, the most crucial reason is that he possesses a vast amount of Private Points, which he uses as bait to lure students from other classes with a direct promotion lottery ticket to Class A. Even Kiriyama, the class Leader of Class 2-B and the vice president of the Student Council, eventually had no choice but to obediently take the bait.

Therefore, as long as you take back, or make it seem like you're going to take back, this staggering amount of Private Points, you can easily exploit the other party's weakness.

Nagumo can exploit loopholes in the school's rules to obtain these Private Points, then the school can naturally reclaim them through rule-based traps.

In fact, the power was always in the hands of the school administration. It was just that the former Chairman Sakayanagi, was unwilling to undermine and suppress the students' initiative, so he tacitly allowed the existence of this abnormal situation in the second year.

But Chang Tsukishiro is different.

In early September, just as classes of all grades were busily preparing for the Sports Festival a month later, a rather shocking piece of news instantly ignited the entire forum of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

The initial announcement was simple, basically informing all students that a new shop was opening on the fifth floor of the Keyaki Mall, using the space of a fortune-telling shop that was open for a limited time during the summer vacation.

Actually, the students didn't take the new facility seriously at first. After all, unlike during summer vacation when everyone had free time, they were all busy preparing for the Sports Festival.

But then, after a few really idle students went to check out the shop, it suddenly took over all the students' chat groups and forums overnight, spreading like wildfire among the grades and classes on campus.

The reason is simple: this shop, which advertises itself as an "Investment and Finance Classroom," is actually a Matoba students can freely place bets on various events, and what they're currently offering is a "Sports Festival Column."

"... faster than I expected."

Upon hearing the news, Kitagawa Ryo naturally rushed to the scene immediately. With his strong physique, he squeezed through the sea of people to the front row. After seeing the scene before him, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

Although the large screen in the room still prominently displays the words "Not Open for the Time to Date," the specific rules for playing the game are now scrolling below it.

[Example: Which class do you think the first-place Student Council of the third heat in the First Year boys' 100-meter dash at this Sports Festival will come from?]

Who do you think will be the Student Council with the highest score among the second-year students at this Sports Festival?

Which team do you think will win the third-year red-and-white match at this year's Sports Festival?

[This prize-winning prediction contest will officially begin one week before the Sports Festival starts.]

[For further details, please refer to the official website announcement.]

In just a short while, Kitagawa Ryo's cell phone rang in his pocket. The caller was Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C.

"Liang, have you seen the new facilities at that school?"

"I saw it, right there."

Kitagawa Ryo stepped out of the crowd and answered Shiina Hiyori in a low voice.

"Is this the one we participated in on the cruise ship during summer vacation, the one about money and consumption habits?"

"Most likely."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but purse his lips:

"I never expected it to get mixed up with the Sports Festival. If that's the case, many things that were already settled will definitely be overturned."

Looking at the students from all three grades crowding together not far away, Kitagawa Ryo rubbed his temples with a slight headache.