They Were All Quite Special

Afternoon classes were few, supposedly because the school held its traditional club recruitment day every year.

The handbook Teacher Chazhu handed out mentioned it too, though it didn't say exactly when it would take place.

After the first afternoon class, the school's broadcast system rang out, just as expected—

"Attention, all first-year students. At 2:30 this afternoon, please report promptly to the school gymnasium. We'll be holding our club recruitment fair there, and anyone interested in joining a club is welcome to sign up."

"Once again, to all of you..."

A pleasant female upperclassman's voice came through the speakers.

Mu Tianchen checked the time on his phone. It was already a little past two, and students around him were starting to leave one after another. He decided to go along with them.

If the broadcast hadn't made attendance mandatory, he wouldn't have bothered going to an event like this. And even if he did go, he wouldn't join a club.

He was perfectly happy keeping to himself, unless they made him club president. Wait...

At most schools, you had to wait for the current president to step down before taking over. Starting a club from scratch wasn't very realistic.

But given how unusual this school was, maybe it was possible after all. Apparently, club recruitment went on for quite a while, so he could look into it later.

With that in mind, he followed the crowd to the school gymnasium.

By then, plenty of first-year students had already gathered inside. Mu Tianchen had planned to look around for Arisu.

But before he had much time, a crowd of upperclassmen arrived too, making the place feel very cramped.

With no other choice, he found an open spot at the back and stood there.

He hadn't spotted Arisu, but he had seen someone interesting.

Namely—the Ryuen he'd tricked.

Ryuen had long red hair, a tall, muscular build, and a wheat-colored face with a distinctly stern look. His dark eyes were deep and unfathomable. He looked like the sort of person you wouldn't want to mess with.

That was pretty much what Mu Tianchen had imagined from their earlier conversation.

Not everyone could be as scrawny as Ayanokouji and still pack so much strength. People like that were rare, aside from Mu Tianchen himself, of course.

As for how he recognized Ryuen, he had the few idiots following him to thank for that.

Ryuen arrived even later than Mu Tianchen. As soon as he entered, several guys who looked like delinquents swarmed around him, calling him "Brother Ryuen" over and over, as if they wanted to make sure everyone nearby could hear.

Still, Ryuen probably didn't care if students from other classes knew who he was.

Before long, a cute upperclasswoman in uniform, with purple hair tied in a bun, stepped onto the stage in the gymnasium.

"First-year students, sorry for the wait. I'm Tachibana Akane from Class 3-A, and I serve as secretary of the Student Council. I'll be hosting today's event. Thank you all."

She bowed to the first-year students below, and a burst of applause immediately filled the gym.

"I now declare this year's club recruitment fair officially open."

With that, she politely stepped off the stage.

Next, groups of students began filing up, choosing spots and setting up tables.

One after another, they came to the front and introduced the advantages of their clubs. Some even openly promised that their club would give a certain number of personal points to each member every month.

That probably didn't sound all that appealing to first-years who had started school with 100,000 points and hadn't yet realized there was anything suspicious about it. Though maybe they'd come around after a while—especially those who really needed points.

There were all kinds of clubs: soccer, basketball, calligraphy, and so on. No need to go through them all.

The one that made Mu Tianchen's jaw drop was the anime club. When their turn came, they cosplayed several fairly well-known anime characters, like Hatsune Miku and Rem. Their performance was going to be a dance.

But why were those gorgeous costumes being worn by a bunch of grown men???

Did their club not have a single pretty girl or what?!

The sight was painfully hard to look at!

Absolutely unbearable!

Mu Tianchen couldn't help wondering whether they'd gone up there on purpose to disgust everyone, or if they were trying to show off their club's "unique style."

Still, a few people in the audience applauded. There were Ike and Yamauchi from Class D, along with a few students from other classes. When the dance reached its best part, they even started yelling like mad.

"..."

Sigh, whatever. They were on Island Nation, after all. Mu Tianchen had no intention of commenting too much on other people's sexual orientations.

If he absolutely had to say something nice, it would be: Uh... quite... quite special... definitely.

The last upperclassman to appear also seemed special, but not in the same way as the others.

He wore a uniform and black-rimmed glasses. Once he stepped onto the stage, he stared down at everyone without changing expression.

He'd been silent for quite a while.

"What's wrong with that guy? He hasn't said a word."

"Maybe he's nervous? Hang in there, senpai!"

"Come on, put on a show for us, you bastard!" Sudo seemed to be getting impatient. He shouted at him.

The upperclassman didn't seem to care at all.

The students below burst into laughter. Most of the first-years seemed to think he was a coward—he'd been insulted and hadn't even talked back.

But Mu Tianchen didn't think it was that simple.

From what he could see, several upperclassmen near him had worn serious expressions ever since the man stepped onto the stage. They seemed afraid of him.

A few people weren't enough to prove anything, so Mu Tianchen squeezed his way forward. He found that the upperclassmen nearby were acting the same way.

There was only one possibility: the man held a high position, and might even have considerable authority.

The first-years kept laughing, but it wasn't long before—

Just as their laughter reached its peak, the whole place suddenly fell silent.

It was as if every sound had vanished. The gymnasium became completely quiet.

Only then did the first-years notice how serious the upperclassmen looked. They finally realized something was wrong, and no one dared speak.

After a little while, the upperclassman onstage finally moved. He surveyed all the students in the gymnasium, then began to speak:

"I'm Horikita Manabu from Class 3-A, and I serve as Student Council President at this school. I'm here today to recruit outstanding students from among the first-years. Of course, you'll be well compensated."

After speaking, he looked over the students again, as if searching for anyone who caught his eye. Then he pushed up his glasses and continued:

"Also, if you want to join the Student Council, please avoid joining any other clubs for the time being. As a rule, we don't allow anyone who has already signed up with or begun working for another club to join the Student Council."