A New Student's Night, Atop the Dormitory

On the other side.

Class 1-C.

Dragon Garden opened his eyes. Outside the window, the sky had already darkened.

"Ptooey..."

Dragon Garden spat out a mouthful of saliva, trying to moisten his dry throat.

He quickly assessed the situation.

His memories still ended with Prince Ganlongdao humiliating him. He must have been knocked unconscious, then left here until he woke up.

There was no doubt about it.

He'd definitely missed the entrance ceremony.

There hadn't been any need to sit through a ceremony where the principal droned on anyway, so it didn't matter that he'd missed it. He didn't care about the consequences, either.

"Phew..."

After getting his thoughts in order, Dragon Garden let out a sigh of relief. He walked to the back of the classroom, took a disposable paper cup from the water dispenser, filled it, and downed the water in one go.

When he was done,

Dragon Garden's gaze turned cold.

He crushed the paper cup in his hand and casually tossed it to the floor.

He'd only lost once.

It was no big deal.

As long as he was the one who won in the end, that was enough.

As for getting beaten up by Prince Ganlongdao and Albert, Dragon Garden hadn't taken it to heart at all.

Since this was a struggle,

any means were fair game. Dragon Garden was broad-minded enough to accept that.

He knew it very well.

This school definitely wasn't as simple as it looked.

He wasn't some lunatic.

Who would go around beating people up on the very first day for no reason?

But

Dragon Garden knew there was a reason to do it.

Taking control of the class would give him an advantage. The most important thing now was to bring the class together so he'd be better prepared to face the challenges ahead.

Besides,

even Class C had people like Albert and Prince Ganlongdao.

At the thought,

Dragon Garden's lips curled slightly as he licked them. This school was even more interesting than he'd expected!

He left the classroom.

Night was drawing near.

Dragon Garden still made a tour of the entire school to get a sense of the layout. He'd have to find out the rest of the details later.

After buying a boxed meal and some basic necessities at Keyaki Mall,

Dragon Garden went straight back to his dorm.

As soon as he entered, he spotted a note in the entryway.

He picked it up.

It read:

[On a new student's night, atop the dormitory.]

Dragon Garden scoffed.

He didn't even have to guess who had written it.

The only people he'd offended today were Ishizaki, Albert, Kaneda, and Prince Ganlongdao.

First, Ishizaki and Kaneda were out.

Dragon Garden didn't believe either of them had the guts to do this.

Next, Albert was out.

Albert was just an innocent kid with a strong punch and no backbone. He wouldn't come looking for a fight.

That left only one possibility—

Prince Ganlongdao!

Since he'd passed out,

Dragon Garden hadn't seen how the fight between Prince Ganlongdao and Albert had ended.

But in his eyes,

Prince Ganlongdao was much stronger than Albert.

Albert was gentle, indecisive, and lacked resolve. Given a little time, Dragon Garden was confident he could beat him sooner or later.

But Prince Ganlongdao was ruthless!

That was what made him powerful.

Raw strength alone would never make Dragon Garden submit.

Looking at the challenge in his hand, Dragon Garden knew very well that he was no match for the other man. This was a battle of wills.

The other man wanted to beat him up again.

Bring it on!

At the thought,

Dragon Garden smirked and hurriedly dug into his boxed meal.

It wasn't like the guy could kill him.

If this were some other university, Dragon Garden might have had a few reservations. He'd worry that Ganlongdao might really throw him into the sea as fish food.

But

this was Advanced Nurturing, a school backed by the government.

Even Yamaguchi's people would have to behave themselves here, let alone some nobody like Ganlongdao.

Clearly,

Dragon Garden knew very little about the yakuza.

Night fell.

On the dormitory rooftop,

Prince Ganlongdao leaned against the railing, gazing into the distance.

He wasn't worried that Dragon Garden wouldn't come or might be late. If that really happened, then that was all there was to Dragon Garden.

Prince Ganlongdao wouldn't consider him a rival anymore.

He'd just beat him up a few times.

Creak.

Someone pushed open the rooftop's metal door from inside.

In the moonlight, Dragon Garden emerged. His snake-like, cold eyes swept over the area before settling on the surveillance camera by the water tank.

"Clap, clap..."

Prince Ganlongdao clapped his hands, then turned around and remarked with some admiration,

"You knew you weren't a match for me, but you still had the guts to show up. Not bad."

"You're strong, all right,"

Dragon Garden said coldly. "Going by what you showed this morning, you're stronger than anyone I've ever met. You're skilled, and you've got a strong mind. But didn't I tell you?"

"No matter how many times you win, I'll be the one who wins in the end."

"Yeah."

Prince Ganlongdao leaned against the railing and nodded.

He didn't mind chatting with Dragon Garden first and finding out where all that confidence came from.

"By the way, what makes you so confident?"

"What makes me confident?"

Dragon Garden chuckled.

He didn't mind trying to make the other man submit with words, either.

"If you're curious, then let's talk. Ever since I was a kid, I've known I was different."

"Hm?"

Prince Ganlongdao sized Dragon Garden up and tilted his head.

"Other than your flashy hair, I don't see what makes you different."

"..."

Dragon Garden didn't take offense, though his expression grew even colder.

"When I was a kid, we once went on a field trip. During a break, we came across a huge snake. Everyone else kept their distance. Some were excited, some were scared, and some just didn't care."

"But they all had one thing in common: none of them wanted to drive the snake away. Even the adults lost their cool."

"At the time, I picked up a rock and smashed it against the snake's head. I wasn't afraid at all of getting bitten. People around me started screaming, and the teacher frantically told everyone to get away."

"But none of that mattered. I was just a little puzzled. Why be afraid?"

"Then I learned something: [Fear] and [Pleasure] are two sides of the same coin!"

"When I'd smashed the snake into a pulp and saw my opponent submit, I felt a pleasure beyond words."

"Ever since then, I've never been afraid again. No matter how many times I'm knocked down, all I think about is how to get revenge, until my opponent bows to me."

Dragon Garden's cold, snake-like eyes fixed on Prince Ganlongdao, searching his expression for some kind of reaction.

Hesitation, unease, fear, excitement, pleasure.

Anything would do.

If he could just see something, he'd know how to deal with him.

But

Prince Ganlongdao only rubbed his chin and looked back at him, utterly relaxed. The way he eyed Dragon Garden, as if appraising him, filled Dragon Garden with disgust.

This was going to be tough...

Prince Ganlongdao rubbed his chin.

He hadn't expected Dragon Garden to be like this. He couldn't feel fear?

Should he just beat him half to death?

That didn't seem like it would work.

Then Dragon Garden would only see him as an opponent he had to surpass. Even if Ganlongdao earned his respect, it would only be the respect one opponent had for another.

Getting Dragon Garden to submit would be almost impossible!

If he went too far,

he might break Dragon Garden. If the guy ended up useless, he'd be no good to him.

So

Prince Ganlongdao thought this was a little tricky.

Remembering how Dragon Garden had immediately checked the camera's position when he came up, Prince Ganlongdao decided to put more effort into him and change his approach.

"I understand your situation now."

Prince Ganlongdao rolled his shoulders and smiled. "Shall we get started?"

"..."

At that,

Dragon Garden furrowed his brow.

Normally,

he'd met plenty of hotheads, troublemakers, obnoxious people, and unreasonable people. There was no way he'd let someone get under his skin so easily.

And yet,

for some reason,

every word Prince Ganlongdao said made Dragon Garden feel sick.

Were they just natural enemies?

Clearly not.

It was the bone-deep arrogance of someone who considered himself a higher class.

Prince Ganlongdao seemed more like a teacher giving a lesson. He didn't even treat Dragon Garden like a person.

Today might not be the day.

But he'd have to find a chance to beat him up later.

Dragon Garden glanced coldly at the camera above them.

"You sure you want to do this here?"

"Does it matter?" Prince Ganlongdao shrugged.

"No."

Dragon Garden grinned.

From Sakagami's actions earlier that day, he already knew

that as long as the victim didn't report it, it didn't matter.

If Prince Ganlongdao went crying to a teacher, that would just prove he was useless. Dragon Garden would only need to beat him up a few more times.

At the thought,

Dragon Garden smirked and touched the steel pipe tucked inside his sleeve.