Ryuen

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Ryuen (龙园)
Alias(es)	Ryuen Kakeru 19 37
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Advanced Nurturing High School, First-Year Class C 19 37
Occupation/Role	Student; class enforcer, intelligence gatherer, and negotiator
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 2: “Special Rules” 2

Appearance

Ryuen is a long red-haired student whose delinquent-like presence initially keeps his classmates from approaching him. He is physically fit, with defined musculature, and often carries himself with deliberately intimidating body language. 1 11

• Long red hair. 1
• Initially sits with his legs on his desk and his eyes closed. 1
• Has a ruffian-like, street-thug appearance. 1
• Is visibly bruised and scraped after repeatedly challenging Albert Yamada. 6
• Sometimes bears paper strips across his face after losing card-game rounds to Sawahara. 33

Personality

Ryuen is confrontational, prideful, and drawn to situations he considers interesting. He openly states that he dislikes routines, rigidity, and studying, and he routinely provokes others to test their reactions or force them into action. 37 His preferred method of establishing authority is intimidation, backed by a willingness to fight, cheat, exploit loopholes, or shift blame without remorse. 6 106 138

Despite this aggression, Ryuen is not simply reckless. He recognizes strong opponents, quickly understands strategic implications, and can cooperate when doing so serves his interests. His determination is particularly apparent in his repeated challenges to Yamada, whom he eventually forces into submission after earlier defeats. 6 He also shows an unexpected investment in his classmates' morale, confronting Sawahara when he realizes Sawahara intends to deliberately lose the Sports Festival. 57

Ryuen's long-term ambition is to establish a legitimate logistics company. He begins studying management and psychology in preparation, though his entrance-exam scores were poor in every subject. 43 50 86

Abilities & Skills

Combat and Intimidation

Ryuen is an experienced and underhanded fighter who relies on pressure, sneak attacks, and psychological endurance to dominate opponents.

• Declares himself Class C's “King” and demands half of every student's points. 6
• Defeats Ishizaki through a low blow after evading his punch. 6
• Continues challenging the physically stronger Albert Yamada despite losing multiple times, ultimately gaining Yamada's submission. 6
• Uses the threat of violence to consolidate followers, including Ishizaki and Yamada. 6 7
• Is unable to overpower Sawahara, whose intervention repeatedly stops or catches Ryuen's attacks. 6 57

Intelligence Gathering

After his initial attempt to rule Class C, Ryuen becomes a useful source of field intelligence for Sawahara.

• Investigates Class A's split between the Sakayanagi and Katsuragi factions. 8
• Identifies Ichinose as Class B's likely leader and assesses Kanzaki as her capable deputy. 8
• Reports Class D's reckless spending, fragmented cliques, and lack of strategic awareness. 8
• Recognizes that the VIP-selection exam can be solved through patterns in participants' names. 35
• Helps verify the Japanese-syllabary pattern used to identify every VIP. 36

Negotiation and Exploitation

Ryuen treats private points, information, and other students' desperation as resources to be traded.

• Acts as Sawahara's representative in selling Class D the revised Version B midterm papers. 19 20
• Uses a contract that makes him personally liable for expulsion if the papers are fake. 20
• Secures a monthly 650,000-point agreement from Katsuragi during the Zodiac Exam negotiations. 37
• Receives 50,000 Private Points per month through Class A's contract with Sawahara. 41
• Accepts 500,000 points from Matoba in exchange for not further disrupting Class A's Forest School group. 109
• Exploits a New Year's-event loophole by having substitutes participate using borrowed student IDs. 138

Strategic Insight

Ryuen can identify the weaknesses in plans even when he is not their architect.

• Understands that Sawahara's proposed mass-answering strategy requires a unified class and would not work with Class D's disorganization. 19
• Recognizes Sawahara's plan to use Class D's contract and a Class B alliance to pressure Class A in a future special exam. 21
• Correctly infers that Katsuragi's defensive approach in the Zodiac Exam leaves Class A without leverage once Class C gains information first. 39
• Sees through Sawahara's attempt to sabotage Class B's Sports Festival performance and demands that he compete seriously. 57

Relationships

• Sawahara — Initially a rival for control of Class C, then an uneasy ally and frequent target of Ryuen's insults. Ryuen gathers intelligence and negotiates on Sawahara's behalf, but still challenges him whenever he believes Sawahara is undermining the class. He later transfers his Class A contract rights to Sawahara as a birthday gift. 6 8 57 60
• Ibuki Mio — A mutually antagonistic classmate. Ryuen dismisses her intelligence, while Ibuki openly resists his authority; they are later paired for the three-legged race despite their poor chemistry. 6 36 55
• Ishizaki — Ryuen's subordinate, who continues following him out of street-based loyalty after submitting to him. 6 8
• Albert Yamada — The strongest obstacle to Ryuen's early rule of Class C. Ryuen repeatedly challenges him until Albert submits and stands at Ryuen's side. 6 7
• Kaneda — A strategic associate who joins Ryuen and Sawahara in planning for special exams and relaying information. 35 37
• Katsuragi Kohei — A Class A rival whom Ryuen repeatedly provokes, then negotiates with during the Zodiac Exam. 26 37 39
• Class D — Ryuen exploits the class's fear of expulsion by selling it revised midterm papers in exchange for its Class Points. 19 20

Story Role / Major Arcs

Class C’s “King”

Ryuen interrupts Class C's early attempts at normal class cohesion, ridiculing classmates who assume their monthly points are guaranteed and provoking Ishizaki into a confrontation. He then proclaims himself “King,” demands half of the class's points, and uses violence to force obedience. 3 6

His authority is challenged by Albert Yamada, who defeats him repeatedly. Ryuen's refusal to stay down eventually scares Yamada into submission, giving Ryuen a core group of followers. He then agrees to settle his conflict with Sawahara after school, though the result of their confrontation is not shown. 6 7

Sawahara’s Operative

Following the consolidation struggle, Ryuen accepts Sawahara's order to observe the other classes rather than start conflicts. His intelligence gives Class C early knowledge of the other classes' leadership structures, internal divisions, and weaknesses. 8

Ryuen later becomes Sawahara's public representative in the midterm-paper scheme against Class D. He taunts Class D, reveals that the papers are the revised Version B, and pressures the class into a contract that transfers its Class Point income. 19 20

Cruise-Ship Special Exams

During the Uninhabited Island Exam, Ryuen forms an alliance with Sawahara and remains on the island as Class C's apparent leader, supporting Sawahara's leader-switch strategy. 29 30

In the Zodiac Exam, Ryuen helps identify the VIP-selection pattern, negotiates with Katsuragi, and recognizes that Class C's information advantage has made Class A's defensive position untenable. 35 36 37 39

Sports Festival

Ryuen trains with his class and is paired with Ibuki in the three-legged race. Although he suspects Sawahara has arranged the events to produce a loss, he directly confronts Sawahara and insists that they win alongside their classmates. His intervention causes Sawahara to abandon his plan to lose deliberately. 55 57

Forest School and Later Activities

At Forest School, Ryuen joins Class A's group to disrupt it, performs tasks poorly enough that others complete them for him, and eventually takes Matoba's 500,000-point bribe to limit his interference. Once he learns his group cannot finish last, he skips the final tests entirely. 100 106 109 113

Later, Ryuen begins studying management and psychology, receives two Valentine's chocolates—including one secretly planted by Sawahara—and exploits a substitute-participation loophole during the New Year's event. 86 119 138

Notable Quotes

“Listen up, you lot. From now on, you will do as I say. Hand over half of your points, and I will give you guys a chance to rise to Class A.” 6

“It doesn't matter how many times you beat me, I'll just keep getting back up, and the one who wins in the end will definitely be me.” 6

“Class C, first year, Ryuen Kakeru. I like interesting things and hate routines, rigidity, and studying.” 37

“I'm going to run a legitimate business. I plan on doing logistics.” 43

Trivia

• Ryuen's entrance-exam scores were below 40 in every subject. 50
• He sleeps naked when the room is too hot, after Sawahara turns off the air conditioning. 98
• He received an obligation chocolate from Ibuki and an anonymous chocolate on Valentine's Day; the anonymous gift was secretly placed by Sawahara. 119
• His mockery of Sawahara's dislike of sweets backfires when he learns he received chocolate from another male student. 119