It was inevitable that he'd run into Shiina Hiyori at the library.
The queen of Class C. She rarely made a move, but when she did, even Ayanokoji feared her and could only restrict her by selling his looks. A top-tier character.
< src="https://e1.kuangxiangit./uplos/chaptersnew/910/216974/260408/1775625543-100478924-114659036.jpg" alt='Shiina Hiyori'>
She was looking for books, too.
It was hard to imagine that so few people came to read in such a vast treasure trove of books.
Shiina Hiyori looked a little surprised when she saw Yagami Shizuka.
Yagami Shizuka had no intention of greeting her.
Just because Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't around didn't mean he could go cheating on her.
He wasn't all that interested in Shiina Hiyori, either. There were countless girls at this school prettier than her.
Still, she was the only person who shared Yagami Shizuka's interests.
Yagami Shizuka scanned the rows of books and quickly picked out a few that caught his interest, but just then, the system displayed a prompt.
[While you're losing yourself in the sea of books, you may not know that Sakayanagi Arisu is already looking for a way to deal with you. You have received the following prompt.]
[1. Keep reading. Sakayanagi Arisu will recruit Kamuro Masumi in the near future and have her track you. One wrong move, and you'll be doomed.
Fortunately, you have a prompt. You can rely on it to evade the surveillance without ever leaving a flaw, but you'll remain under Sakayanagi Arisu's watch.]
[2. Use a library computer immediately. Follow the prompt to obtain what Sakayanagi Arisu least wants anyone to see. Use it to keep her in check, preventing her from acting rashly or continuing to watch you.]
Yagami Shizuka rested his chin on his hand, wondering what Sakayanagi Arisu least wanted anyone to see.
Still puzzled, he went to the computer area.
There were more than a dozen computers here, but they could only access the school intranet, not the outside internet. They could still be used to look up information.
There were plenty of promotional videos about the school, all of them looking rather impressive.
[Search for the opening ceremony.]
Following the prompt, Yagami Shizuka found a collection of pictures and videos from the opening ceremony.
[Extract Sakayanagi Arisu's photo.]
Yagami Shizuka did as instructed again.
Her photo was quickly picked out from the crowd. Since she was short, she stood near the front, making her unusually easy to see.
[Pay attention to the following steps. You have only 36 minutes to complete them. You can enter the administrator password 934213** to make this computer connect to the outside internet.]
[No one will notice anything unusual during these 36 minutes.]
Yagami Shizuka followed the instructions, and a 36-minute countdown appeared before him.
Connecting to the outside internet made things much easier. It was just that the prompt was asking Yagami Shizuka to do something rather unbelievable.
[Search for the website htt,xxoott//...]
[Search for Lianxiang... Download videos... Download pictures...]
[Download video-editing software... Download photo-editing software...]
[Open the software's code-editing program and upgrade the software.]
[Upgrade the software. Enter the code 1b2...]
[Name the new software, then transfer it to your phone.]
[Please note: this is AI software that will not appear in the world for another ten years. If it gets out, it will drastically alter the course of history.]
This website was pretty interesting.
Thirty-six minutes later, Yagami Shizuka got what he wanted and nervously restored the computer to its original state.
He heard unnerving footsteps outside the door, then saw Shiina Hiyori push it open.
Thankfully, it was only Hiyori. He'd thought he'd been exposed.
He'd logged in with the administrator password, not hacked the firewall, and there weren't any cameras here. In theory, no one would discover what he'd done.
If someone were going to find out, a prompt would have appeared already.
To avoid arousing suspicion, he looked through plenty of school records, too.
After that, he went outside to read.
The club activity area.
Sakayanagi Arisu's voice rang out from a clubroom, a little mature and brimming with feminine charm.
"Thank you very much. I'll use 50,000 of my personal points as collateral and return it next week."
"This is a small matter. Just return it on time on Monday." The boy with glasses generously handed over what Sakayanagi Arisu wanted.
"I definitely will! Thanks again!"
Sakayanagi Arisu came out of the clubroom at a slow pace, leaning on her cane.
A purple-haired girl with an older-sisterly air followed behind her. The girl wore a stern expression that kept people at a distance, and she held a fairly large telescope.
< src="https://e1.kuangxiangit./uplos/chaptersnew/910/216974/260408/1775626278-100478924-114659036.jpg" alt='Kamuro Masumi'>
The sign on the clubroom door read Astronomy Club.
"What are we borrowing this telescope for?" the girl holding it asked, confused.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought Sakayanagi Arisu had made her first friend and was taking her camping.
"Don't ask questions you shouldn't. Just do as I say." Sakayanagi Arisu, leaning on her cane, could only manage one slow step at a time. The purple-haired beauty behind her, by contrast, walked with ease.
Kamuro Masumi glanced to the side, her eyes flickering. "You want me to keep an eye on Yagami Shizuka. Do we need a telescope for that? One with over a hundred times magnification, no less. Isn't that overkill?"
"If all I wanted was to watch him, then we wouldn't need a telescope. But I want you to find his weakness, so this is necessary. I'd like to get it done within the next two days, so I'll have to trouble you from here on."
"I don't think Shizuka is someone with a stain on her record like me. And he doesn't seem to have done anything wrong to you. Doesn't he always look out for you?" Kamuro Masumi was a little reluctant to follow Sakayanagi Arisu's orders.
Doing a task would be one thing, but digging up a classmate's secrets and using them to threaten her went beyond what her conscience could bear.
Sakayanagi Arisu tried to take longer, quicker steps, but even that left her exhausted. She had no choice but to stop and catch her breath.
Thank goodness she hadn't collapsed by the roadside after only a few steps.
Kamuro Masumi turned a blind eye to how difficult it was for her to walk.
"I won't allow anyone to get beyond my control."
Sakayanagi Arisu's lips curved into a thin smile. "Someone like him has to work for me, and I need something to keep him under control."
After saying her piece, Sakayanagi Arisu continued on, speaking as she walked. "Everyone has a weakness. Even he said he couldn't be perfect in every way, so I don't believe he has no flaws."
To outsiders, it seemed as if Yagami Shizuka listened to Sakayanagi Arisu. But Sakayanagi Arisu knew better than anyone that she was the one being used as a pawn.
How could she accept that? She had to do something quickly. Getting her hands on something she could use against him would be best.
"What if we never find his weakness?"
Kamuro Masumi still tried to dissuade Sakayanagi Arisu. She couldn't understand how a girl who looked so frail could have such a dark heart.
It was completely at odds with her age and appearance.
She already considered stealing a serious crime. She'd never imagined doing something like this.
"Then we'll keep watching him. Or, if necessary, if he has no flaws, we'll make one." Sakayanagi Arisu's voice was icy.
"Why can't you just trust him?"
"Ahaha! Kamuro, that's a very funny thing to say." Sakayanagi Arisu laughed.
"When you trust someone, they become a weakness of yours. The more capable they are, the bigger that weakness becomes. Would you leave such a huge weakness for yourself?"
Kamuro Masumi didn't answer. Even so, she still felt that this wasn't right.
"Where are we going next?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked up and saw a sign on a room ahead. It read Film Research Club.
"We'll borrow something else. A telescope alone isn't enough to find his weakness. We'll also need to leave some evidence behind."
At five forty in the afternoon, Yagami Shizuka appeared on a bench beneath the dormitory building.
He was here because he'd received a prompt.
[Please wait here for three minutes]
Before you continue