Which Is More Important, Defense or Attack?

Although everyone had made some valid points, Suzuki Tsubame had not achieved the effect he wanted.

"Do you still insist on your opinion?"

Suzuki Tsubame's gaze returned to Horikita.

"Of course."

Her tone made it sound only natural.

Horikita had always thought highly of herself, and everyone's arguments had clearly favored her even more.

She became increasingly convinced that there was nothing wrong with her thinking.

Looking at the immensely proud Horikita, Suzuki Tsubame felt rather helpless.

No wonder her task was called [Solitary Maiden] rather than Lonely Maiden.

It turned out that what needed changing was not only her view of friendship, but also her arrogant, conceited temperament.

...The road ahead was long.

In other worlds without supernatural powers, Horikita's steady, methodical approach might not have been a problem.

But Advanced Nurturing was different. There was Sakayanagi, who excelled at manipulating rumors; Dragon Boy, who liked drugging his opponents; Nagumo, who controlled the entire grade; and one White Room Monster after another.

Every one of them was especially skilled at the "shortcuts" Horikita had mentioned.

Take this midterm exam, for example.

If Suzuki Tsubame had guessed correctly, Class B had used a strategy of letting the strong yield to the weak.

Take Ichinose, for instance. She had ranked second in the entire grade during the first month's exam.

Yet in this midterm, she had fallen straight out of the top ten.

Class C was even more ruthless.

Ryuen knew perfectly well that if they were allowed to perform freely, a whole bunch of them would definitely be expelled.

Even he himself might not have been able to protect himself.

Thus... the Zero-Point Strategy was born. What it tested was no longer the students' academic ability, but Class C's unity as a whole.

Or rather—Ryuen Kakeru's ability to command them.

Under Ryuen's threats and inducements, along with the fact that he had destroyed all their stationery beforehand, the strategy had perfectly exploited a loophole in the school's rules.

"Suzune, I have a somewhat different view."

His tone was unhurried, and that calm, breezy demeanor successfully irritated Horikita.

The girl frowned slightly. If he could not give a convincing explanation, she would punish him by denying him a late-night snack!

"If we were Class A—no, even if we were merely Class B."

"With a steady, step-by-step strategy, we might have a fifty percent chance of eventually rising to Class A."

Suzuki Tsubame's words drew the attention of the several clever people present.

That was right... Classes A and B were naturally far superior to Classes C and D.

If they proceeded steadily and made no major mistakes, then the eventual victor would surely come from one of those two classes.

"But... we are different from them. Our talents are innately a notch below theirs."

That was a lie.

In terms of talent alone, Classes A and B might not necessarily be superior to Class D.

They merely had the advantage in discipline, or rather, academic ability.

Take the Professor, for example. His computer skills had won a whole pile of awards.

It was just a pity that his mind was not on the right track, and he used all that excellent skill for petty theft and sneaking around.

"If our class also chooses to proceed steadily, then even if we give it everything we have, we may only make it as far as Class C."

Horikita's expression turned grave as she murmured:

"How could that be?"

Could it be that she simply could not lead the class to Class A through her own strength?

But... she had a reason why she absolutely had to reach Class A.

Even if it was only to prove to her brother how much she had grown in the three years since he left.

She would absolutely rise to Class A!

[Ding! Long-Term Task: Solitary Maiden. Completion: 60%. Rewards: Beginner's Creation Notes, Notebook Said Let There Be Light, And Then There Was Fire. (Note: Wait! Didn't I write "let there be light"? Why was fire created instead? Well... it seems this notebook is not omnipotent. It can only create simple items.)]

Wow!

A golden legend!

Horikita's drop rate was really high!

And didn't this notebook seem incredibly useful?

Although if he directly wrote down braised pork rice, it probably would not appear.

But it seemed to have no cooldown. Suzuki Tsubame could write pork knuckle, rice, oil, salt, and so on inside it.

He could create the ingredients and cook for himself; at the very least, he would not have to worry about starving to death in the future.

And the notebook had the prefix "Beginner's," so there would most likely be Intermediate and Advanced versions as well.

By then, directly materializing things like planes and tanks would probably no longer be a dream!

Just as Suzuki Tsubame was letting his imagination run wild, Hasebe beside him asked curiously:

"Still... since being steady and methodical is useless for our class, what exactly should we do?"

Horikita also came back to her senses, frowning as she waited for Suzuki Tsubame to continue.

Since she could not figure it out herself, she might as well stop thinking about it and borrow Suzuki Tsubame's perspective.

Study, work, steal?

"No! Being steady and methodical is still very useful. The study sessions must continue."

Suzuki Tsubame shook his head and explained with a serious expression:

"Individual qualities are like defense in a game, while taking shortcuts is an offensive method. If you do not invest in defense at all and always think about relying on lucky breaks to clear the stage."

"Then you are like a cannon made entirely of glass. Before the enemy can even attack, the moment you light the fuse, it blows up."

He had already explained it simply enough. These two ways of thinking had never conflicted with each other.

It was like how, before the college entrance exam, your teacher would tell you that if you still did not study properly now, you would be finished when the exam came.

Yet the day before the exam, he would also say: if you do not know an answer, you can secretly glance at the person beside you. As long as you are not caught, everything you see is yours.

That was called vigorously developing defense... while also possessing offense.