Suzune's Breakdown

Meanwhile.

On the other side.

Inside a private room at a café.

The air conditioning vent emitted a low hum, maintaining the room temperature at around twenty-three degrees, feeling much cooler than the warmth outside.

However.

None of the people sitting here felt comfortable; a silent tension permeated the air.

At this moment.

The air felt almost stagnant.

Three printed contracts were laid out on the circular conference table, the A4 sheets placed neatly at their respective spots, with signature pens thoughtfully provided beside them.

But.

No one moved.

Horikita Suzune sat upright in her seat, her spine straight, her reddish-purple fox-like eyes narrowed slightly as she scanned everyone present without a trace of emotion.

"..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood behind her, observing with an equally expressionless face, his presence barely noticeable.

Something was wrong!

Very wrong!

The girl's brows furrowed slightly; although she remained aloof on the surface, alarm bells were ringing in her mind.

According to their previous agreement.

Today was supposed to be the day to sign the contracts.

The representatives of Class A, Class B, and Class C had all verbally agreed to the terms of the deal during their prior interactions—each class would pay one million Private Points in exchange for information regarding school rules.

These were the people before her.

Katsuragi Kohei, Ichinose Honami, and Ryuen Kakeru.

Three million.

It was enough to pay off the debt owed to Xu Nuo and even make a small profit to help pave the way for her transfer to another class.

At the same time, while dealing with the three classes.

Horikita Suzune had deeply felt the gap between Class D and the other classes; it was a difference as vast as heaven and earth.

This only strengthened the girl's resolve to transfer.

However.

The scene before her.

Was completely different from what Horikita had anticipated.

Why were they.

So calm.

Hadn't everyone agreed beforehand...

"Heh..."

At this moment, a soft chuckle broke the silence first.

Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound.

They saw Ryuen Kakeru sitting opposite them with his legs crossed, his body relaxed, his dark red hair draped casually, his eyes filled with mockery.

He didn't even spare the contract a glance.

"Ryuen-kun."

Horikita Suzune took a deep breath, her voice as cold as ice as she spoke, "May I ask what is so funny?"

"Nothing."

Ryuen Kakeru shrugged, the curve of his mouth widening, and then he sat up slightly.

"I just think—"

He paused, his gaze slowly sweeping across everyone present before finally settling on Horikita Suzune's face, "You people in Class D are so naive."

"?"

Horikita Suzune's brows furrowed even tighter.

What did he mean?

"Um."

At this moment.

Ichinose Honami, sitting on the other side, spoke up with some difficulty. She looked at this High-Mountain Flower, a hint of apology appearing on her sweet face.

"Ryuen-kun, I think we should..."

"Ichinose."

Before she could finish, she was interrupted by the boy standing behind her.

The purple-haired youth's expression was calm, a flicker of complex emotion passing through his black eyes as he gave a slight shake of his head, signaling her not to act rashly for the time being.

"..."

Ichinose Honami bit her lip and ultimately fell silent; she had to consider the interests of her class.

An eerie silence once again enveloped the private room.

Horikita Suzune could feel it.

Something seemed to be changing quietly, and the situation was gradually slipping out of her control...

She frowned.

Then, her gaze slowly shifted toward the direction of Class A.

Katsuragi Kohei.

The bald youth sat with his hands folded on the table, staring at the contract before him with an expressionless face, his steady gaze revealing no emotion whatsoever.

Silence.

A silence that had lasted from the very beginning.

He hadn't spoken a single word until now.

And standing behind him, Totsuka Yahiko looked as if he were facing a formidable enemy, his eyes scanning the gathering of class leaders with vigilance.

"Katsuragi-kun."

Soon, Horikita Suzune decided to use him as a breakthrough point. She looked him straight in the eye and said with a firm tone:

"I recall..."

"You already agreed to this deal previously."

"We can sign the contract now."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Katsuragi Kohei raised his head. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke slowly, his voice low and steady:

"Horikita-san."

"I would like to ask you a question."

"Please, go ahead."

"Your intelligence," Katsuragi Kohei's gaze turned sharp. "Where did you obtain it?"

"It is..."

In an instant, Horikita Suzune's pupils contracted slightly. She instinctively wanted to answer, but the words died in her throat as she realized...

No matter how she answered, it would inevitably put her in a passive position.

Say it was her own investigation?

That was too unbelievable.

It had only been a week since enrollment; how could she have uncovered so many core secrets? They wouldn't believe it.

If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, Horikita Suzune felt she wouldn't have believed it either.

Then, say someone else told her?

That would be equivalent to admitting she was merely a "middleman," and the credibility of the information would be greatly diminished.

After all, a person hiding behind the scenes would only make others uneasy.

In their eyes, she, the mastermind, would likely become nothing more than a bait left out in the open.

Therefore, The situation reached a stalemate.

"What, is it inconvenient to say?"

At this moment.

Ryuen Kakeru spoke again, his tone mocking.

"Or perhaps."

He leaned forward, adopting an oppressive posture, a playful smirk dancing on his slightly wicked face.

"You don't even know if this information is true yourself?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Horikita Suzune retorted coldly, though she was not flustered; after all, she had already observed things quietly.

Regarding the school rules.

They were absolutely true!

Not to mention, All this information had been sold to her by Xu Nuo.

The girl believed.

He would not deceive her!

It was normal for them to be skeptical since they lacked the information.

"It doesn't mean anything."

Ryuen Kakeru spread his palms, feigning innocence. "I just find it strange..."

"A student who just enrolled has actually mastered so many core rules about the school. Isn't that a bit too magical, a bit too absurd?"

"To be honest,"

"I really want to see what kind of sacred entity is behind you."

As he spoke.

Ryuen Kakeru narrowed his eyes, looking at the mysterious, expressionless man standing behind Horikita Suzune acting as a lackey.

"Don't you think so..."

"Mr. Passerby?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained expressionless, his emotions showing no fluctuation as he replied indifferently.

"I'm not quite sure."

"Ha!"

Ryuen Kakeru let out a scoff, casting a meaningful glance at Ayanokoji. This guy was not simple.

Interesting...

Subsequently.

He leaned back into the sofa, arms crossed over his chest, adopting an incredibly relaxed posture, and said to Horikita Suzune with a condescending tone:

"Horikita."

"I'll be blunt."

"We have known about your so-called information for a long time; we only came here now to fish for answers."

These words.

Exploded like a bomb inside the private room.

In an instant.

Horikita Suzune's expression changed.

The composure she had been forcing herself to maintain completely crumbled, and she could not help but reveal a look of utter shock and horror.

What?

They had known all along?

How could that be...

The girl's brain raced, attempting to find a flaw in his words, but her reason told her.

He was not lying.

Because.

If he were bluffing.

Katsuragi and Ichinose would not be so calm.

In fact.

From the very beginning, the attitudes of these two had been strange; they had no intention of signing a contract at all.

One remained silent.

The other seemed to have something to say but held back.

Thinking about it now.

It was clear that... they had known the content of the information all along, which was why they had lost interest in this deal.

Upon realizing this.

The girl felt suffocated, subconsciously refusing to believe it.

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Her meticulously crafted plan, the deal she thought was a sure thing, had actually collapsed completely at this final moment?

Don't do this to me!

I'm still carrying two million in debt...

Horikita Suzune's brain spun with dizziness.

No.

I haven't lost yet.

Soon.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.

"Then you,"

"Where did you find out?"

Horikita Suzune's tone was calm, but if one listened closely, they could detect the hidden tremor within it.

Clearly.

The pressure in her heart had reached its limit.

The girl stared fixedly at Ryuen Kakeru, her reddish-purple fox-like eyes flashing with unwillingness as she questioned him:

"Furthermore."

"How can you be certain."

"That the information you obtained is definitely true?"

"It's possible that someone knew about this and deliberately spread false news to mislead you."

This was her final struggle.

She was attempting to regain the initiative through skepticism.

However.

Ryuen Kakeru sneered.

"False?"

"Heh."

"Horikita-san, do you still not understand?"

"This information,"

"Is exactly what was leaked from your Class D."

"?!"

In an instant.

Horikita Suzune froze.

Her body went rigid, her mind went blank, a buzzing sound filled her ears, and even her breathing stalled for a few seconds.

What?

From Class D?

Leaked?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

"What are you talking—"

The girl subconsciously wanted to retort, but before she could finish her sentence, she was rudely interrupted by Ryuen Kakeru.

"Tsk, still pretending?"

Ryuen Kakeru let out a scoff and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't tell me you've forgotten. A few days ago, when you were in Class D, you spilled all that information, didn't you?"

"All that talk about class points, the promotion system..."

"Word for word."

He enunciated the words slowly, each one striking Horikita Suzune's heart like a heavy hammer.

"And,"

"It wasn't just me."

Ryuen Kakeru turned his head to look at Katsuragi Kohei and Ichinose Honami, a malicious curve forming on his lips.

"You two found out the same way, didn't you?"

"Right?"

"..."

Katsuragi Kohei remained silent for a moment before finally nodding, his gaze calm and his tone low.

"That's correct."

Boom!

In that instant.

Horikita Suzune felt the world spin.

Her world seemed to collapse in that very moment.

Class D?

That's right...

The girl finally remembered.

Not long ago.

On the day of the school system malfunction, she had indeed explained the school rules to her class.

She had thought.

That this would make those idiots realize the crisis.

And thus, unite.

To strive for the class to reach Class A.

And the result?

No one believed her.

Almost everyone treated her like a lunatic or a madwoman, and some even mocked her for fear-mongering.

She had been trembling with rage at the time.

Yet she never expected.

That those who didn't believe her, those who mocked her, were not only dismissive, but had actually turned around and handed that vital information over to the other classes.

"Ha..."

Horikita Suzune let out a dry laugh.

The laughter was filled with deep self-mockery and despair, and her entire body felt as if its strength had been drained away.

So that was it.

I was the most foolish one of all.

I thought I was saving the class, but in the end, I destroyed myself with my own hands. To not even realize such a situation—I am truly pathetic!

"..."

Horikita Suzune lowered her head, tears swirling in her eyes, but she fought desperately to hold them back.

She could not cry in front of these people.

Absolutely not!

"Um..."

At this moment.

Ichinose Honami spoke up, looking somewhat pained. She watched Horikita Suzune's near-collapse, her azure eyes filled with apology.

"Look,"

"Horikita-san, I'm really sorry."

"At the time, I just wanted to verify the authenticity of the information, so I asked a few acquaintances in Class D on Line, and I didn't expect..."

"They told me so easily."

So easily.

Those three words.

It pierced Horikita Suzune's heart like a knife.

I am such a fool.

Truly.

The plan she had painstakingly crafted with World-Shocking Wisdom, the intelligence she had traded two million in debt to acquire.

In the eyes of those freaks in Class D...

It didn't even count as a secret.

They just asked casually, and it was told.

"Same here."

Katsuragi Kohei added in a low voice, "I sent people to approach a few Class D students. They had almost no defenses; some even took the initiative to show off."

"Claiming they had mastered the school's secrets."

In an instant.

Several faces flashed through Horikita Suzune's mind.

Ike Kanji.

Yamauchi Haruki.

And those other classmates who were usually slackers with no sense of crisis—those unevolved idiots.

They must have been so proud of themselves.

Perhaps... they even thought they were impressive?

This, resulted in the consequence.

She had personally buried the class's only chance to turn things around.

And she had buried herself along with it.

"As for me~"

At this moment.

As if wanting to twist the knife, Ryuen Kakeru spoke lazily, his tone dripping with mockery and disdain.

"I didn't do anything."

"I just let Ishizaki and the others chat with them."

"I was actually planning to spend points to buy the info, but those idiots in Class D just spilled everything."

As he spoke, the smile on his lips grew even wider.

"But honestly."

"Horikita-san, I'm quite grateful to you. Otherwise, how could I have grasped the school's rules so quickly?"

"Hahahahahaha!!"

Ryuen Kakeru burst into unbridled, hearty laughter.

"..."

Horikita Suzune's face turned deathly pale. She looked as if she had lost her soul, unable to speak, her heart completely turned to ash.

The young girl finally understood.

Her own stupidity had personally destroyed everything.

They couldn't even manage basic confidentiality.

And she had handed over vital intelligence to the entire class... to those pieces of trash who didn't deserve to possess it.

And then.

She became the biggest joke of all.

Xu Nuo had told her to sell the information right from the start.

Yet.

Because of her own arrogance, stupidity, pride, and sense of superiority, she had personally buried that opportunity.

Perhaps I should just do as my brother said.

Drop out...

The light faded from Horikita Suzune's eyes.

"Tsk."

At this moment.

Seeing his opponent completely crushed.

Ryuen Kakeru felt bored. He narrowed his eyes and finally asked the question that was the purpose of his visit.

"However."

"I am actually quite curious about one thing."

"Classmate Suzune, that guy behind you..."

"Who exactly is he?"

As he spoke.

His gaze drifted inadvertently toward the presence who had remained expressionless and faint of presence from the very beginning.

In an instant.

The air in the private room solidified once more.

Everyone's eyes fell squarely upon Horikita Suzune, their gazes filled with intense scrutiny.

"..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was standing behind the girl.

Expressionless.

Just like a statue.

But no one knew that his brain was operating at high speed, contemplating everything that was currently unfolding.

Horikita was too naive, so naive it was laughable.

This farce.

The ending had been predetermined from the very start.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka watched her slightly trembling shoulders, watching her struggle to hold back tears.

For a moment.

He tried to understand the girl's current emotions.

Despair? Anger? Self-reproach?

Or... all of the above?

He couldn't understand.

Then, should he intervene?

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head, because even he was at a loss for how to handle the current situation.

Xu Nuo.

It seemed he was about to be exposed...