He Really Is Special / The Craziest Gambler

"Ugh--I can't see like this."

After Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami chuckled and made this comment before handing over the water bottle.

"Liang, you've worked hard just now. Here's some water."

"Yeah, Honami, you've worked hard too. The girls were running the 3000 meters, right?"

While speaking to Ichinose Honami, Kitagawa Ryo took the water bottle she offered, ran his fingers over the two Romanized names on it, and then took small sips to drink. After finishing his drink, he let out a long sigh of relief.

"I'm going to the restroom to wipe myself down and change into clean clothes. This one is soaked with sweat and I feel uncomfortable. I have other appointments later."

After regaining some strength, Kitagawa Ryo reached out and tugged at the hem of his clothes, fanning himself with it, and shook his head somewhat helplessly.

To this, Ichinose Honami simply replied matter-of-factly:

"Okay, let's go then."

Chapter 312: He really is special

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo still standing there, somewhat dazed, Ichinose Honami leaned closer and waved her hand in front of his eyes.

"Hey--didn't we agree beforehand? At a crucial moment like this, Liang definitely can't be left alone. Didn't the 5000-meter race just now already have a lot of accidents?"

"That's true, but for something like this, I feel it would be more appropriate for me to have Sudo or Yamada accompany me?"

"At a time like this, being with Sudo and the others is the most likely way to get wiped out, right? Ryo, don't even bother talking about how many you guys can take on if you stick together. The Sports Festival isn't over yet. If they really want to mess with you, it'll be a real problem."

At this point, Ichinose Honami tilted her head slightly and smiled at Kitagawa Ryo:

"Actually, in this situation, the role I play for Ryo is more significant than ten Yamada combined."

As someone who stands alongside Kushida Kikyo at the pinnacle of their grade's social network, Ichinose Honami did, she is able to say this because she has just as much confidence as Kushida Kikyo.

It's no exaggeration to say that even in Class 1-C, which is full of delinquents, Ichinose Honami's reputation and public image are among the best.

From this perspective alone, Ichinose Honami's presence might actually provide better protection than ten muscular men, since few students could withstand the consequences of attacking Ichinose Honami in front of him or Ichinose Honami him.

However, Kitagawa Ryo quickly refuted Ichinose Honami's argument, offering his own perspective in a tactful manner:

"If this had happened two hours ago, it would have been perfectly fine for Honami to say that, but now... well, it might even have the opposite effect."

Reminded by Kitagawa Ryo, Ichinose Honami quickly realized what was going on, and unusually, she showed a subtle expression that hinted at a spoiled and sulky mood, muttering a couple of things under her breath:

"Who told me to draw a slip of paper with 'the person I like' on it? It must have been a divine decree. Even if I could do it a hundred times over, I would still say those things in front of everyone."

Perhaps this is another difference in personality Ichinose Honami and Kushida Kikyo. She really doesn't have any intention of deliberately creating a persona to further expand her social network, such as being single or unloved.

Kushida Kikyo is undoubtedly a master of this art. Since enrolling in school, she has never been involved in any scandals with any students. It is precisely because of this attitude of treating everyone equally that she has gained immense popularity among the boys. After all, this means that everyone still has a chance, leading to the common misconception that "what Kushida Kikyo actually likes me?"

Another student who can more directly prove this point is Sakura Airi from Class B. She is a genuine former professional idol, the kind of student who naturally has popularity and fans. However, because she joined the Drama Club from the beginning of her enrollment, her one-sided love interest was too obvious, which made many students lose interest. This is how a certain Tian who focuses on healing and care got this big surprise.

Therefore, there is no doubt that with Ichinose Honami's public Confessions during the borrowing race a little over an hour ago, this incident itself may continue to be passed down as an interesting story to the younger generation at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School. However, Ichinose Honami's popularity will definitely decline somewhat, and it is not impossible that some people will have unrealistic expectations and break their guard. This is the potential negative effect that Kitagawa Ryo mentioned.

Especially now that this big guy has already lost his mind and gone crazy because of the betting, the mockery effect of Ichinose Honami, Kitagawa Ryo has no doubt about the hormone-fueled high school student.

Ichinose Honami probably already considered the possible scenarios that might arise from her past relationship, so she ultimately stomped her foot lightly, a little annoyed, and regretfully abandoned the idea.

"Never mind... Ryo should go with Sudo and the others. I'll have the girls in our class keep watch for you outside."

"Yeah, it's just changing my shirt and wiping away the sweat, it'll be quick, Honami, don't worry."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo glanced at his phone again. There wasn't much time left before the next event, throwing, began. So he hurriedly said this to Ichinose Honami and then called over the boys from Class B. Apart from a few who went to the medical tent to visit Minami Setsuya, who had just been injured in the 5,000-meter race, the remaining eight or nine boys quickly formed a large circle around Kitagawa Ryo, escorting him to a public restroom outside the playground.

After turning on the tap outside the public restroom, Kitagawa Ryo simply washed his face and wiped the sweat off his body with some water, and changed into a clean set of sportswear, he felt refreshed and let out a comfortable sigh. He then greeted the other boys who were also washing their faces or taking showers, and stepped into the restroom behind him.

Ryuen Kakeru was already waiting there.

"Why did you call me over?"

As Kitagawa Ryo spoke, he tossed a clean set of sportswear and a dry towel to Ryuen Kakeru Sho, who had run half the 5000 meters with him and whose shirt was soaked with yellow sweat stains on the back:

"Let's get a new one. Consider it returning the one you lent me on the Uninhabited Island. The size should be fine."

Ryuen Kakeru caught the clothes Kitagawa Ryo threw to him, unhesitatingly took off his own shirt, hastily wiped his sweat with a dry towel, and then roughly pulled on the clothes Kitagawa Ryo had given him. He rubbed his chin and chuckled strangely.

"It's very simple, because in the current situation, the only person we can trust is each other."

"Although you probably already guessed it, I'll still show it to you."

As he spoke, Ryuen Kakeru took out his phone from his pocket, tapped the screen a couple of times, and then stretched out his hand to show Kitagawa Ryo what was displayed on it. What appeared in front of him was the message, "You have successfully bet five million Private Points on Kitagawa Ryo of Class 1-B in the 'Who will become the top scorer in the entire grade' category."

"As you can see, I've been betting everything on you, Kitagawa, from the very beginning. Consider Nagumo's four million as my greeting gift to you."

Ryuen Kakeru licked his lips and put his phone away again.

"Actually, after I saw that you, Kitagawa, had signed up for all the events, I was certain that you would go all out at this Sports Festival. Perhaps it was just a gut feeling?"

"In short, right now I probably want you to keep winning even more than you do. It's practically a natural alliance of trust, isn't it?"

"Yes, I don't deny that."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded. There are always two sides to everything. Just like there are a lot of students in this Sports Festival who don't want him to keep winning, there are also a lot of students in the whole grade who bet on him and are eagerly hoping that he will win in the end. Ryuen Kakeru is the most determined one among them. After all, based on the information we know so far, no one has placed more points on him than Ryuen.

In a sense, could this also be considered a kind of "top influencer"?

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo nod in acknowledgment that the two were now on the same side, Ryuen Kakeru felt a little relieved and asked in a slightly raised tone:

"Kitagawa, you've been working so hard, you must have bet on yourself to win, right? After all, why not make some easy points? Although that's exactly what Nagumo was thinking, which is why I tricked him into this trap."

"I did bet a little, but not as much as you, Ryuen. After all, I don't have that many Private Points. I only bet 1,089,313 points."

"... Why are there odd amounts? A little over a million, right? Let me see. The total prize pool for this project is a little over Twenty Million Personal Points. Kitagawa, you have a total of over eight million points. If you have a million... does that mean the other students bet around two million in total? That's about right."

After receiving information directly from Kitagawa Ryo, Ryuen Kakeru reviewed the project once again, a project that stirred the desires and expectations of countless people.

Similar to other projects, the all-grade top scorers also showed an astonishing concentration of top performers, with the top three— Miyabi Nagumo, Kitagawa Ryo, and Horikita Manabu— taking up the total prize pool of 19 million yen, leaving only a few scattered students hoping to gamble on an underdog.

Compared to Miyabi Nagumo and Kitagawa Ryo, who both have over eight million Private Points, Horikita Manabu's two million points in third place seem rather paltry. However, this is also related to the fact that most students have invested their points in the 'Third-Year Scoring King' program, which Horikita Manabu has a greater advantage in and seems to be a safer bet.

After confirming the betting details and potential profits once again, Ryuen Kakeru's expression turned serious again:

"The situation in Class C is more complicated than I imagined. This is my mistake; I failed to completely resolve this potential problem before the Sports Festival. I apologize."

"However, after the 5,000-meter race, I took the opportunity to interrogate a few boys in the class and managed to extract some useful information through intimidation. Their targeting of you was indeed premeditated and well-planned. The 5,000-meter race was just the beginning. Kitagawa should be extremely careful in every event afterward."

At this point, Ryuen Kakeru paused for a moment:

"Especially the next event: shot put."

"I only suggest that Kitagawa show up when he's on the field, because some people are really going crazy. They want to cripple your leg with the shot put."

Seemingly worried that Kitagawa Ryo wasn't taking this rather mysterious matter seriously, Ryuen Kakeru quickly added:

"Especially during practice sessions before the official start of the match, the assassin will most likely pretend to use a spin push technique, and then deliberately miss the ball after aiming in a circle. Even if you are standing behind him, it won't help; it's best to just dodge him."

Although he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, Kitagawa Ryo still couldn't help but rub his slightly throbbing temples after hearing Ryuen Kakeru say such a shocking thing.

"That's a seven-kilogram shot put. Would any student really be willing to risk intentional homicide, or even death, to do something like that?"

"I think Ryuen, you should calm down first. After all, the information you got from those students in Class C is very likely exaggerated or even distorted."

In response to Kitagawa Ryo's reaction, Ryuen Kakeru, who was equally inclined to assume the Malice of others, firmly replied:

"Placing all your hopes on someone else's weakness is the most unreliable idea; violence is sometimes the simplest, most brutal, but most effective method."

"... I still think that Ryuen, you shouldn't blindly impose your own set of values on this place. Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is, after all, a school, and every student has their own considerations and ideas."

Kitagawa Ryo, in a similarly firm tone, countered Ryuen Kakeru's statement:

"In fact, it's because you can't see this point that Class C has become what it is today."

He wanted to say a few more words, but the loudspeaker outside the restroom had already started broadcasting the announcement for the First Year boys' pitching team to assemble at the designated area. Kitagawa Ryo could only shake his head, turn around, and leave with his back to Ryuen Kakeru.

"Thank you for reminding me anyway, I'll be careful."

"... I hope that next time we work together, we won't have to use five million Private Points as an excuse or a basis for trust."

A while after Kitagawa Ryo left, Ryuen Kakeru, who was still standing there, clicked his tongue with a complicated expression, spat irritably into the urinal, then put his hands in his pockets, pretended that nothing had happened, and swaggered out of the bathroom, grinning inexplicably at the mirror above the faucet.

Perhaps he did misunderstand how to communicate with Kitagawa Ryo.

Or perhaps he still holds the same way of thinking he has had since childhood, believing that the connections between people are maintained only through violence and self-interest.

He was now somewhat regretting showing Kitagawa Ryo the screenshot of the five million Private Points bet at the first opportunity. The other party wasn't Miyabi Nagumo, who was there to discuss business and transactions with him, requiring verification of points and focusing on interests.

From that moment on, it was as if he was saying that everything he had done for Kitagawa Ryo in this Sports Festival, starting with the Bo-taoshi, was simply for the sake of Private Points.

"... Oh shit."

That's not entirely true.

Chapter 313: The Craziest Gambler

"16.31 meters!"

"The Class 1-B student, Kitagawa Ryo, has completed his three throws! His scores are 16.12 meters, 16.51 meters, and 16.31 meters!"

As Kitagawa Ryo skillfully used his back-sliding throw technique to forcefully project the shot put forward, the school staff immediately jogged to the shot put's landing point and quickly announced the final measurement results with excited expressions:

"The average score across the three attempts was 16.31 meters! This breaks the record for the shot put event at our Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School Sports Festival since its founding!"

As soon as he said this, the other audience members around him also enthusiastically applauded and cheered for Kitagawa Ryo's amazing performance.

"Call--"

However, Kitagawa Ryo wasn't too surprised, since his throw had already exceeded the national first-class athlete standard of 16.05 meters for shot put, so breaking his school's record was naturally commonplace.

Compared to the vast majority of ordinary high school students who can't even roll double digits, his performance was indeed a kind of "dimensional reduction attack," to the point that the other contestants in his group seemed rather uninterested and unmotivated. Even the duel between Kito Hayato from Class 1-D and Yamada Albert from Class 1-B, which was considered a highlight before the competition, became dull and uninteresting because of his outstanding performance, and didn't cause any particularly big reaction.

Thus, the First Year group's pitching event ended relatively peacefully, and the terrorist attack that Ryuen Kakeru had anticipated did not occur.

Perhaps this experience will teach Ryuen to trust others a little more?

With this thought in mind, Kitagawa Ryo casually took the water bottle handed to him by Ichinose Honami, his Adam's apple bobbing as he took two large gulps.

Unlike his simulation in Class C, Kitagawa Ryo had drawn an initial talent called "Kindred Spirits (blue)," which gave him an innate friendship with Ryuen Kakeru. It could even be said that he influenced Ryuen Kakeru's values from the very beginning, during his junior high school years before entering school. However, the reality was not so simple; his relationship with Ryuen Kakeru was only established after entering school.

That's why the Ryuen Kakeru he knows now is even more stubborn, autocratic, ruthless, and self-righteous. If he hadn't tried his best to dissuade the other party from using those underhanded tactics before the Sports Festival, the student in Class 1-C might be lying in the infirmary now, trading one-for-one with someone else. Kitagawa Ryo has no doubt that Ryuen Kakeru is capable of doing such a thing.

"What's wrong? Liang doesn't seem very happy, even though he was in first place."

Seemingly noticing Kitagawa Ryo's absent-minded expression, Ichinose Honami tilted her head slightly, her hair falling to the right with the movement, and asked with some concern.

"Nothing, just thinking about some things related to Class C."

"Class C, they really did a terrible job at this Sports Festival."

Upon hearing Kitagawa Ryo mention Class C, Ichinose Honami echoed the same sentiment with a helpless tone.

Although everyone bought betting tickets, Class 1-C was definitely the best that didn't even bother to put on an act. Many students in Class C would just sit around and slack off in competitions, and they were terrible in team events. Even though everyone doesn't care much about the red and white group rivalry anymore, Class B, which is in the White Team with Class C, still gets annoyed by their ally's poor performance sometimes.

However, from this perspective, Class C's poor performance actually provided a favorable boost to Ichinose Honami's performance. Just like that classic girls' Cavalry Battle, the current trend has shifted to the point where, if the girls in Class C hadn't collectively given up, and with Amasawa Ichika giving it her all, the White Team would never have lost.

"And it's not just our class; it seems like Class A and Class D also dislike Class C. After all, Ryuen previously revealed that students from Class C were involved in the accident involving Shibata Hirata... Actually, I think these kinds of things should be resolved internally. Or rather, it's because of this that Class C has split into this mess."

"Yeah, I just don't know if they can turn things around after the Sports Festival. Anyway, Class C's reputation was already like that, maybe it'll be better for them to go to Class D to sober up."

After casually chatting with Ichinose Honami about Class C, Kitagawa Ryo glanced at the girls' group, where a shot put competition was underway, although the shot puts were smaller and heavier than those in the boys' group.

However, both sides were progressing at the same pace. The girls in the First Year group had all finished their competitions and left the field. In the end, the first place in the group was Amasawa Ichika from Class B. As an outstanding graduate of the White Room, this child's strength level was indeed a kind of "dimensional reduction attack" in the girls' group.

"Oh, it's Kiryuin- senpai's turn."

Soon, Kitagawa Ryo's wandering gaze caught sight of a familiar, tall figure with white hair, and he pointed at it from afar for Ichinose Honami:

"Look, that's it."

"Wow, that's amazing! No wonder you're neck and neck with Nagumo on the scoring leaderboard, always chasing each other."

Following Kitagawa Ryo's pointing finger, Ichinose Honami also witnessed the remarkably smooth and beautiful Matoba of Kiryuin Fuka throwing the shot put using a spinning throw technique, and couldn't help but remark:

"With this result, it seems like I'll be taking first place again, just like Ryo. I remember Nagumo skipped the 5000-meter race last time, so it looks like he'll be temporarily overtaken on the leaderboard after this race."

"Well, after all, Kiryuin has never truly shown her strength before, so it's natural for Nagumo to lower his guard. Besides, his only real opponent has always been Horikita Manabu."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo also opened his phone and glanced at the prediction page.

According to his current intelligence, Miyabi Nagumo has placed heavy bets on three events: the second-year top scorer, the mixed 1600-meter relay race for the entire grade, and the overall top scorer for the entire grade. The former is the least, with two million Private Points, while the middle and latter two are both four million Private Points (four million of which are in the name of Ryuen Kakeru).

These three items alone add up to another ten million Private Points.

In addition to the 10 million loan each to Class 1-C and Class 1-D of the first year, it means that Miyabi Nagumo has already spent 30 million Private Points so far. In a sense, he really deserves some credit for the high popularity and explosive total prize pool of this Sports Festival prediction contest.

However, based on Kitagawa Ryo's guess, after spending these 30 million, Miyabi Nagumo probably wouldn't have many Private Points left to use. After all, no matter how much the other party manipulated the Special Exam to take advantage of the school, he would only have a semester or so to fully master the second year, and accumulating 30 to 40 million Private Points would probably be the limit.

After watching the Ichinose Honami, the boys' competition also came to a close. Kitagawa Ryo waved goodbye to Honami, as he had to prepare for the next event, the 110-meter hurdles.