Opening! The Lazy Strategist

The blazing sun scorched the earth.

The sports field buzzed with voices as colorful flags fluttered in the wind.

Advanced Nurturing High School's Sports Festival had officially begun.

"Whoa! It's finally here! Watch me take down every one of those bastards!"

Sudo Ken excitedly waved his fists, every muscle in his body screaming with the desire to fight.

The other Class D students, especially those with strong athletic ability, were also itching for action, holding back a burst of energy.

They needed a victory too badly.

A satisfying, overwhelming victory to wash away Class D's stigma as "defective products."

Yet Natsume Yu, Class D's strategist behind the scenes, appeared thoroughly uninterested.

Leaning against the railing of the stands, he yawned as the sunlight made him squint.

"Here."

He handed a slip of paper to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka beside him.

Horikita Suzune immediately leaned over, her gaze falling onto the note.

There were only a few lines written on it.

[Conserve your strength]

[Avoid conflict]

[Go all out in key events]

Horikita Suzune's brows immediately twisted into a knot.

"Natsume Yu, what does this mean?"

Anger simmered in her voice.

"This is the Sports Festival! It's a war between classes! You want us to conserve our strength? Avoid conflict? Are we here for a picnic?"

Natsume Yu lazily glanced at her, his tone utterly flat.

"It means exactly what it says."

"Just do it."

After saying that, he ignored Horikita and headed straight for a corner of the stands, where he found a comfortable seat.

"You..."

Horikita Suzune's chest rose and fell with anger, but when she saw Ayanokoji's eternally unchanged poker face, she ultimately swallowed her frustration.

She knew that this man would only listen to Natsume Yu.

The competitions began.

Amid deafening cheers, Class D's performance left everyone dumbfounded.

Three-legged race: they fell.

Borrowing Race: they could not find the required items.

One-hundred-meter sprint: even their main competitors failed to make it through the preliminaries.

They lost terribly.

In fact, they seemed to be losing on purpose.

"Hey, hey, hey! Class D's trash, did you idiots skip breakfast?"

Ryuen Kakeru's arrogant voice rang clearly across the entire field through the broadcast equipment.

He stood in front of Class C's camp with a microphone in hand, an undisguised sneer on his face.

"Or is garbage only fit to crawl on the ground?"

"Hahahaha!"

The Class C students burst into loud laughter.

Class D's students instantly turned extremely pale.

"Damn it!"

Sudo Ken's fists cracked as he clenched them, and his eyes nearly spewed flames.

"That bastard!"

Complaints and doubts began to spread within the class.

"What the hell is this? How are we supposed to compete like this?"

"Exactly. This is so humiliating..."

"Horikita, what is going on? Is this your strategy?"

Horikita Suzune's face was pale, her lips tightly pressed together as she could not answer.

She could only turn a pleading gaze toward Ayanokoji, but he merely continued carrying out Natsume Yu's incomprehensible instructions, deaf to everything around him.

Before long, it was time for the group event—the Tug-of-War.

"Listen up!"

Ryuen Kakeru flashed a cruel smile at Class C's competitors.

"When you hear my command, pull together and cripple Class D's main players. Especially that red-haired monkey—drag him straight into the ground!"

His voice was not loud, but the malice in it sent chills down the spines of those nearby.

The whistle signaling the start of the match sounded.

"Ready—"

"Start!"

Both sides immediately tensed their bodies, and the thick rope snapped taut in an instant.

"Go, Class D! Go!"

"Class C! Class C!"

Cheers rose and fell in waves.

Sudo Ken and several large boys stood at the front, veins bulging as they used every ounce of strength they had.

However, Class C was clearly stronger. The red line in the middle of the rope slowly moved toward Class C.

A savage curve spread across Ryuen Kakeru's lips.

Now!

A vicious glint flashed through his eyes as he prepared to issue that sinister command.

Suddenly.

The Class D team opposite them seemed to have all their strength sucked away.

At the exact same moment, they all let go of the rope.

"Crash—"

With all resistance gone, every Class C student toppled backward without warning. More than a dozen people instantly fell into a tangled heap, limbs flailing everywhere.

The sight was absurdly comical for a moment.

Meanwhile, Sudo Ken and the others from Class D stood firmly in place. Though they had lost the match, they were completely unharmed.

Ryuen Kakeru climbed up from the ground, the smile on his face gone entirely.

He stared fixedly at Class D's unharmed main competitors, his gaze so dark it seemed ready to drip water.

A coincidence?

Impossible!

Such perfectly synchronized "weakening" had to have been directed by someone!

Had his plan... been seen through?

"Ah..."

In the stands, Natsume Yu yawned again and rubbed his eyes.

Turning his head, he spoke softly to Sakura Airi, who held a camera and looked somewhat lost.

"The real show is only beginning."

Sakura Airi did not understand strategy, nor did she understand traps.

Yet seeing Natsume Yu's calm, confident appearance, as though everything was under his control, somehow settled her anxious heart.

Natsume Yu's gaze passed over the chaotic Class C and the dispirited Class D, turning toward the other side.

Class B, led by Ichinose Honami, was steadily accumulating points.

The entire class was united, the atmosphere harmonious, displaying powerful cohesion.

But Natsume Yu's gaze locked onto an inconspicuous student within Class B's ranks.

He was a very ordinary boy, average in athletic ability and completely unremarkable in appearance.

But Natsume Yu knew that even the strongest dam could collapse because of a tiny ant hole.

And this boy was the ant hole he had prepared for Class B.

Kushida Kikyo's intelligence network had long since laid out before him the small cracks within Class B caused by unequal personal point distribution.

"What exactly are you thinking, Ayanokoji?!"

During a break between events, Horikita Suzune finally could not hold back any longer. She dragged Ayanokoji into an empty corner and angrily demanded an answer.

"The whole school is treating us like a joke! Sudo and the others are about to explode with rage! Are you still going to keep following Natsume Yu's passive strategy?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression did not change in the slightest. He simply looked at her with those still, unreadable eyes.

"This is the most reasonable arrangement."

he answered calmly.

"Reasonable? How is any of this reasonable?" Horikita Suzune was nearly driven mad by his attitude.

Ayanokoji offered no further explanation.

Because he knew that the real plan was far crazier than Horikita Suzune could imagine.

The first day of the competition ended.

Class D's score was, without suspense, at the bottom.

The entire class was shrouded in gloom, its morale having fallen to its lowest point.

Late at night.

Natsume Yu sent Ayanokoji a new message.

The message contained only one strange instruction.

"Tomorrow, have Sudo provoke Ishizaki Daichi from Class C."

"Then deliberately lose to him."