A Masterstroke by Sakayanagi Arisu

That is why they say there are so many geniuses here; you could pluck any one of them at random and they would likely be a social elite in the outside world.

He didn't want to keep going in circles with this young lady. "I know you're waiting here because you have something to ask. If it's about Sakayanagi Arisu, I can't explain the reasons behind it. If that's all, I'm heading back to the classroom."

Morishita Ai blinked twice, feeling deeply embarrassed. She hadn't expected her flawless acting to be seen through and even pointed out.

"What's your take on the struggle for class leadership? You definitely support Sakayanagi, right? Looking at the situation, Sakayanagi clearly has the advantage; she's bound to win." Morishita Ai posed another question, this one much more serious.

"You're wrong. She won't win—or rather, she doesn't want to win."

"Doesn't want to win?" Morishita Ai raised an eyebrow.

"She wants to cultivate the faction led by Katsuragi," Yagami Shizuka continued. "She will intentionally lose this wager."

"But why?"

"Her primary goal is to have us understand this school as quickly as possible, but she doesn't want to do the dirty work herself, so she proposed the wager to let Katsuragi handle those tasks.

Even if she does nothing and lets Katsuragi win, the class will only think Sakayanagi didn't want to win, and because of her earlier warnings, they will feel grateful toward her.

Katsuragi is different. If he doesn't act, he'll be ostracized by the class, so he must act, and he must do it well."

"Huh? What kind of logic is that?" Morishita Ai was astonished after hearing Yagami Shizuka's words.

Upon closer reflection, it really was exactly like that.

The move Sakayanagi made was truly brilliant; she had been in an invincible position from the start. No matter what Katsuragi did, he would always be one step behind her.

"Then what about her cultivating Katsuragi's faction? Wouldn't the class just split into two camps? Is that even good for the class?"

"Of course it's good," Yagami Shizuka analyzed. "One dove faction, one hawk faction—it can quickly integrate the class and unearth students with potential talent.

As the radical faction, Sakayanagi Arisu holds the initiative from the start. She can propose radical ideas, and Katsuragi, as the executor, can choose to listen or not."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "If he listens and wins, it's thanks to Sakayanagi Arisu's idea; if he loses, it's the executor Katsuragi's responsibility.

If he doesn't listen and loses, it's Katsuragi's responsibility for acting on his own; if he wins, it's just the expected duty of the executor Katsuragi.

Hard to imagine, right? Sakayanagi Arisu had a 3/4 win rate from the very beginning with zero risk, while Katsuragi only has the path of winning continuously.

If you compare it to Gomoku, Sakayanagi Arisu is the first player, and she's already placed three stones while Katsuragi has only placed one.

Do you think that's the end of it?

Sakayanagi Arisu can also sabotage Katsuragi to ensure he loses, which means Katsuragi's win rate is effectively zero."

Listening to Yagami Shizuka's analysis, Morishita Ai felt increasingly incredulous.

So, from the very beginning, Katsuragi had fallen into Sakayanagi's trap. Even if he beat Sakayanagi and became the class leader, there was an even deeper trap waiting for him.

He was forced to accept it, unless he surrendered and gave up on being Sakayanagi's enemy entirely.

Otherwise, in less than a year, the Class A that Katsuragi had worked so hard to organize would become Sakayanagi's wedding dress, and he would still have to say thank you and regret not seeing his own situation clearly from the start.

This was terrifying.

Such a strategy was actually devised by a frail-looking girl who seemed like she would collapse at the slightest breeze.

"No, this is too strange. Is it really necessary to go this far?" Morishita Ai was deeply confused.

It wasn't that she hadn't considered that the school might have schemes and plots, but this level of complexity was rare even in military strategy.

Had the battles within the class really escalated to this level?

Yagami Shizuka didn't want to say more and remarked casually, "Just as Sakayanagi Arisu said, this school is not as simple as you think. You'll find out in the future."

"Wait, wait! How do you know so much? And you confessed to Sakayanagi Arisu the moment you arrived—there must be a reason for that, right? So, did you do that to jump off the chessboard Sakayanagi Arisu set up?"

Many thoughts flooded Morishita Ai's mind, but she couldn't immediately synthesize the information.

The biggest point of suspicion was that Yagami Shizuka had exited this game before Sakayanagi Arisu had even made her move.

This suggested that compared to Sakayanagi Arisu, the boy before her was even more terrifying.

"You're very smart," Yagami Shizuka said calmly. "There are some things I cannot tell you the truth about. You'll understand later."

Having said that, Yagami Shizuka stood up and walked away.

"Wait! You've run off yourself, can't you at least point me in the right direction?"

"No need, because I haven't run away. I've just entered the game in a different way. With me here, you can just sit back and watch the show."

The clear, resonant voice lingered in Morishita Ai's ears. It took a long time for her to come back to her senses, but the boy she couldn't fathom had already left.

"What kind of people are in this school!"

Recalling Yagami Shizuka's words, her heart remained unsettled for a long time.

"But then again, isn't this more interesting?" Once she realized this, a faint smile appeared on her lips again.

When she returned to the classroom, many people in the class were already discussing something.

One of the topics was that Katsuragi Kohei had been rejected when he tried to join the Student Council.

Katsuragi Kohei comforted everyone, saying, "Don't worry, everyone. Although it wasn't successful yet, the Student Council President said that club registration and Student Council registration are tomorrow. I'll try applying again tomorrow."

Katsuragi Kohei still wouldn't give up.

It was only natural; for someone who had been the Student Council President for many years, suddenly being unable to even enter the Student Council—no matter who it was, they wouldn't be satisfied.

It should have been so simple: join the student council and many of his problems would be solved, yet they told him he wasn't qualified.

Was his academic performance lacking? Was his attitude poor? Was his character flawed? Or did he simply lack experience?

Or perhaps joining the student council required one to be a master of all trades, excelling in both literature and martial arts?

He had pondered this for a long time without finding an answer, and Horikita Manabu's words, "You aren't good enough," had hit him particularly hard.

Could it be that having a shaved head ruined his image, making him unfit for the student council?

It was completely unreasonable; his bald head was natural.

He finally began to realize that this school was far from ordinary.

The words of Sakayanagi Arisu had come true.

Just when he expected Sakayanagi to mock him, she did nothing at all, not even sparing him a glance.

"This place is so strange. When I asked a senior in the cafeteria, she just sneered without saying a word, and finally told me to wait a month, saying I'd understand after that."

"Yeah, I asked a few seniors too. One told me it's best not to spend all my points, because if I run out, it's over."

"A senior in my dorm told me I'd better memorize the student code of conduct. She said I have to be a good girl not just in the classroom, but in the dorms and outside as well, otherwise I'll be stuck eating free meals next month."

"A senior told me that we aren't truly Class A yet, and there's a possibility we could be demoted to Class D right from the start."

"Is that true? Can classes actually be demoted? That's terrifying!"

"Do any of you have any leads?"

Most of those who had gathered information were girls; the boys were relatively lazy and not particularly good at asking the seniors for help.