His tone was even, yet his words were like a blunt knife, slowly cutting through truths that had been deliberately ignored.
"But if that's the case, the first person to buckle under the pressure and run out of strength will be you.
The Student Council is far more complicated than it looks, and the relationships between its members are even more delicate.
If you really join, you might find yourself dealing with more than just helping people every day. You might even end up with no choice in the matter.
When that happens, you won't just be unable to help others—you might slowly lose sight of who you were to begin with, until you've forgotten completely."
Ichinose Honami jerked her head up, shock flitting through her eyes like a startled bird.
She stared blankly at Lin Mu, as if no one had ever before pierced through her deepest fears and pretenses so directly, so mercilessly.
The worries she hadn't dared to think through, the ones she'd ignored as she charged ahead on sheer determination, had been laid bare in the sunlight with such casual ease.
She bit her lower lip. Embarrassment at having her feelings seen through, along with a trace of hurt, welled up inside her. Her voice was soft, with a faint tremor she couldn't quite hide.
"But... I just want to help everyone. My classmates in Class B are all so nice and friendly. I want our class to become better. I want everyone to graduate smoothly and have a bright future.
"The Student Council... doesn't it have access to far more resources and information in advance than ordinary students do?
"With those things, I'd be able to help everyone better..."
Her defense carried a childlike stubbornness, yet it also revealed her genuine anxiety to seize some kind of "power."
"Joining the Student Council isn't the only way to get access to resources and information."
Lin Mu raised an eyebrow. His tone remained calm, but every word struck like a spike, right to the heart of the matter. "At its core, this academy runs on 'strength' and 'points.'
"Instead of pouring all your energy and hopes into securing a place on the Student Council, racking your brains to get resources from the inside,
"why not settle down and focus on improving yourself? Then bring your Class B classmates along and do well in every class assessment and subject exam. Earn every point you can.
"When your class's overall evaluation improves, you'll naturally receive more individual points each month, and you'll have access to more resources.
"That's far more practical than tiptoeing around the Student Council, watching everyone's mood, and maybe even having to act against your principles just to get 'inside information.'"
He watched the light in Ichinose Honami's eyes waver, and knew his words had gotten through to her. Then he added, casually, "Besides, what you think of as 'help' may not be what other people actually need or want.
"Stop putting yourself on a pedestal as the saint who 'has to help everyone.'
"You're not a savior, Ichinose Honami.
"You don't need to, and you can't, take responsibility for everyone's life.
"First figure out how to live your own life, and how to make it easier. Only then might the light you give off truly reach the people you want it to."
Ichinose Honami froze, as if struck by lightning.
Lin Mu's words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head, instantly cooling the fever of her obsession.
After the bone-chilling shock came a vast, unfamiliar emptiness.
She had always believed she had to do everything she could and meet everyone's expectations to avoid being abandoned.
She had to prove she was worthy of being loved and needed, and make sure the people around her were all right.
She had never stopped to consider whether blindly running ahead and taking everything upon herself without hesitation was worth it,
whether it was really helping, or whether one day she might lose herself in the process.
Lin Mu's words cruelly shattered the protective shell she had built out of kindness and hard work, revealing the real Ichinose Honami beneath it: frightened, afraid of losing her worth, and secretly longing to be taken care of too.
The block of ice at the heart of her obsession seemed to crack open. The chill spread, but somehow it also eased the nerves she had kept taut for so long.
But in its wake came an immense emptiness and bewilderment, as if the signpost that had guided her for so long had suddenly disappeared.
"But... I still... can't accept it."
She sniffed and blinked hard, forcing back the moisture in her eyes. Her voice was thick with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
"I prepared for so long. I looked forward to it for so long. It's like a race: I could see the finish line, and then someone told me I couldn't keep running...
"If I just give up like this, it feels... it feels like admitting defeat."
"Giving up on a path that won't work, or setting aside a goal that might not suit you, isn't admitting defeat."
Lin Mu leaned back in his chair again. The sunset dyed the tips of his white hair a warm gold, and he seemed to blend into the cozy evening light.
His tone was still relaxed, yet there was a peculiar persuasiveness to it, as if he were speaking from a much broader perspective.
"You're just making a choice. You're choosing another path, one that might suit you better and let you go farther with less struggle.
"If you really can't let it go, of course you can wait for the next selection. But don't cling to the idea that you 'have to get in, or else you've failed.'
"Sometimes, taking a step back and letting things unfold naturally can reveal scenery that your obsession had been obscuring—and lead to an unexpected turn of events."
He recalled a scene from one of his glimpses of the future, then added vaguely, "Besides, the 'benefactor' mentioned in that fortune might reach out to you in some way in the near future. You may not need to look for them at all."
A spark suddenly lit in Ichinose Honami's eyes. "You mean...?"
Lin Mu shrugged without giving her a clear answer. He sucked on his lollipop, his voice slightly muffled.
"I told you: time will give you the answer. Racking your brains over it now will only make you more anxious. It won't help.
"Better to bring your attention back to what you can do right now. For example, prepare well for the next class assessment."
He lifted his hand and glanced at the time displayed on his virtual terminal. His tone suggested that the conversation was coming to an end.
"I really should pack up now. You should go back and think it over, too. If you can't figure it out, then stop thinking about it for a while and let things unfold naturally. Don't keep fighting with yourself. That's the most exhausting thing of all."
With that, he said no more and simply willed it.
Psychokinesis spread silently like an invisible tide. The tent poles unlocked and folded themselves away.
The folding table closed smoothly. The Tarot Cards and crystal ball floated into the bag, and even the small blackboard lifted itself and dropped inside.
The whole process was seamless...
Watching everything happen in the blink of an eye, Ichinose Honami was once again stunned by his "skill," which defied common sense.
Thinking of Lin Mu's unnervingly accurate fortune-telling, and the words he had just spoken—so precisely aimed at the heart, as if he could see through everything—
a daring, almost absurd thought began to take shape in her mind, circling uncontrollably.
She watched Lin Mu pack all the equipment into two lightweight bags and pick them up, ready to leave. At last, she couldn't hold back and blurted out:
"Lin Mu, are you... are you really just a... fortune teller?"
Before you continue