What brought this to me?

At night, Yuefeng was reading a novel called Classroom of the Elite, and he fell asleep without even realizing it.

When Ayanokoji Yuefeng opened his eyes again, what he felt was not his warm quilt.

He blinked in confusion, trying to focus his vision.

Before him was not the ceiling of his familiar bedroom, cluttered with miscellaneous items and manga, but a stark white ceiling that was absurdly unfamiliar.

This sent a jolt through him, instantly banishing his sleepiness.

Immediately following that, a mature, handsome male face—one that practically screamed "I am wealthy and I call the shots"—filled his field of vision.

"Ayanokoji Yuefeng," the man began, his voice low and carrying an unquestionable aura of authority, "your younger brother, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, has already left to attend Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

I want you to go there as well. Your mission, preferably, is to bring him back to my side."

Yuefeng's brain was flooded with ten thousand question marks.

Who? Ayanokoji who? What-taka? Tokyo Metropolitan where? Mission?

Wait, this name... this school... this phrasing... why is it so damn familiar?

Holy crap?! Isn't this the exact plot point I was reading last night, the one where I was complaining to myself, "This protagonist's dad is way too ridiculous"?

No, wait, more importantly—what did he call me? "Ayanokoji Yuefeng"?

Is there such a person in the book?

Yuefeng sat up abruptly, his movement so sudden that he nearly collided head-first with this "father-figure" stranger in front of him.

He looked around. The office was minimalist, cold, and rigid, full of design but devoid of any human warmth.

Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows was a view of Tokyo Bay that could have been pulled straight from a real estate advertisement.

And draped over him was a thin, pure wool blanket with a texture so silky it felt unreal.

"Listen, mister," Yuefeng cleared his throat, trying hard to make his voice sound less like a teenager who had just woken up, "are you mistaken about something?

My name is Yuefeng, sure, but my dad is Old Wang who sells steamed buns downstairs, and we live in unit 502, building three of the Happiness Residential Complex.

My biggest dream is to get into a decent college and find a nine-to-five job.

Absolutely, positively, I have nothing to do with any 'elite program at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School' or 'bringing home a long-lost twin brother'—plots that sound like a massive headache!"

The man, who was the current head of the Ayanokoji Family, Ayanokoji Father—a title Yuefeng really didn't want to acknowledge in his heart—merely raised an eyebrow, his expression suggesting, "That's a novel line, but completely meaningless."

"Yuefeng, I know you have grievances against the family and against me.

But blood is an unchangeable fact.

Kiyotaka and you are both my important children. He has entered a... rather unsuitable school.

I need you to understand him, protect him, and more importantly, guide him back to where he belongs," he said in a tone that suggested, "stop acting like a child."

Yuefeng's mind was already racing: Important children?

In the original work, you treated Kiyotaka like a tool!

Guide him back? I think you just want to use family ties and pressure to drag him back as Heir 2.0!

And protect him? Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about your eldest son's "hidden depths," "calculating nature," and "lack of emotion"?

It's a miracle if he doesn't calculate others into a trap; does he really need me to protect him? What could I possibly use to protect him?

The knowledge I just learned in high school geography class?

"Listen, sir, this is really a misunderstanding. I was reading a novel called Classroom of the Elite just last night.

It has a protagonist named Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and his... uh, rather unique father.

I must have been obsessed with the book and had a weird dream. Look, why don't you pinch me?

Or maybe I should go wash my face?" Yuefeng tried to make a final stand, even resorting to honorifics.

The expression on Ayanokoji Father's face finally shifted from "formulaic majesty" to "a trace of imperceptible confusion, which then transformed into an even deeper, unquestionable resolve."

He raised his hand and pressed a button on his desk.

The wall on one side of the office slid open silently, revealing a massive screen.

The screen quickly pulled up a detailed personal file, with an ID photo in the top right corner.

It was unmistakably Yuefeng himself—except the "he" in the photo was wearing a crisp private school uniform, his eyes cold and his face expressionless, a perfect "mini version of teenage Kiyotaka."

Name: Ayanokoji Yuefeng.

Below it was a long list of entries that Yuefeng couldn't even begin to understand, involving family trusts, educational funds, and real estate rights.

"Your dream has quite a lot of detail.

But the reality is, you, Ayanokoji Yuefeng, as the eldest son of the Ayanokoji Family, must report to Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School next Monday.

Your enrollment and dormitory have already been arranged.

You and Kiyotaka will be in different classes; that is the school's system, and it will also be convenient for you to observe him from... a slightly different perspective," Ayanokoji Father said calmly.

He stood up and walked to the massive floor-to-ceiling window, turning his back to Yuefeng, his posture as if he were surveying his domain.

"That school practices 'meritocracy.' For Kiyotaka, it might be a form of training.

For you," he tilted his head slightly, the light and shadow carving majestic lines across his well-defined features, "it is also an opportunity to prove yourself.

To prove that you are not, as some have said, merely an insignificant 'shadow'."

Yuefeng opened his mouth, feeling ten thousand retorts stuck in his throat, but in the end, he only managed to choke out: "...Then what if I fail my exams and get expelled?"

Ayanokoji Father seemed to be choked by this question. He was silent for two seconds, then replied with a tone that suggested, "Does that even need asking?": "You won't. The bloodline of the Ayanokoji Family does not permit such incompetence.

Furthermore," he turned back around, his gaze landing on Yuefeng's face once more, this time carrying a hint of complex emotion that Yuefeng could not decipher, "you need to go. Kiyotaka has been... alone for too long."

Having said that, he pressed another button, and the office door slid open silently.

A lady dressed in strict attire, looking as if she had stepped straight out of a legal drama, smiled and gestured for Yuefeng to proceed.

"Young Master Yuefeng, your enrollment documents and daily necessities have already been prepared.

The car is waiting for you downstairs to take you back to the residence first. On Monday morning, the driver will take you to the school."

Yuefeng stood up blankly, feeling his footsteps a bit unsteady.

He looked down at himself—at some point, those pajamas printed with cartoon patterns had been replaced by a set of soft, well-tailored loungewear.

Walking to the door, he couldn't help but look back one last time.

That "father" of his had already sat back in his large office chair, throwing himself back into the documents before him.

It was as if that conversation, which would have overturned the worldview of an ordinary person, was just another mundane item on his schedule.

Yuefeng was "escorted" out of the office by the secretary, walking down a long corridor carpeted with thick material, so quiet he could hear his own heartbeat.

He pinched his thigh hard.

"Sss—!"

It hurt, it really hurt.

It wasn't a dream.

Yuefeng stopped in his tracks, looking at the luxurious elevator doors at the end of the corridor that were slowly opening, requiring him to look up at them, and felt that his future was bleak.

"Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School... Kiyotaka Ayanokoji..."

He muttered to himself, his mind instantly flashing through those intellectual battles from the original story that could be described as "gods fighting."

That suffocating school.

Those "monster" classmates with terrifyingly distinct personalities, and his own "emotionless" twin brother...

"You want me to go to that hellhole? And bring back my 'human-shaped CPU' brother?"

Yuefeng covered his face.

"Dad, I want to go home... I want to eat the steamed buns you make..."

The elevator doors closed silently in front of him, and it began to descend.