The Old Man on the Mountain Who Has No Self-Awareness

The morning classes ended.

You En discovered something very important: his condition was absurdly good.

If his usual learning ability was 100, then this morning his ability had reached a new peak, returning to the level of his past life during the college entrance exams and graduate school entrance exams—at least 300.

He could basically remember anything after reading it once, understand it after a brief thought, and solve problems after a little practice.

Moreover, even though first-period math class in the morning was usually enough to put him to sleep, he wasn't drowsy at all; his whole body was full of energy.

After thinking it over, he could only attribute it to Hoshinomiya-sensei.

Her personal therapy was this effective? If, as Chabashira had said, this state could last a month, then thirty thousand points really wasn't expensive at all.

And she had even waived his consultation fee. He could only say it was great—he really shouldn't have badmouthed her this morning.

You En sighed. But sometimes, people just had to make comparisons.

Look at Hoshinomiya-sensei, then look at his own homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei. The gap wasn't even on the same order of magnitude.

"You En-kun, are you free after school today?"

You En wished this sentence had come from some beautiful girl, but the one asking him this question was Hirata.

Hirata spoke, his voice very pleasant to listen to. "It's been almost a week since school started. I was thinking of organizing a group dinner for everyone to get to know each other better. Can you come?"

You En didn't actually dislike gatherings, but everyone went through a phase where they more or less hated parties with strangers or people they didn't know well.

He had been through that before, roughly during his college years. But after grad school and job hunting, there were many times when he had no choice but to attend gatherings.

But when he actually went, he found it was just that—interesting or boring depended on the people, not the gathering itself.

With interesting people, anything was fun. Finding truly interesting people or things—that was You En's pleasure.

In the current class, there weren't many people You En found interesting. Horikita was one, Ayanokoji was one, Kushida was one, and Hirata counted as half. His feelings toward Hirata were more admiration...

Anyway, You En couldn't be as good a person as Hirata was.

"You En-kun?"

You En snapped back to reality. "Oh, I'd like to go, but I don't have any points left."

Hirata looked a bit awkward, feeling like he had forced someone to say something they didn't want to.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

You En had lived two lives, experienced both wealth and poverty twice over. He no longer cared about such things, nor about the face-saving issues that came with them.

"I don't mind either. Used up is used up."

Hirata said, "You don't seem like the type to waste points."

"What can you tell from appearances?" You En said. "Who can really say what a person's true heart is like? Maybe my heart is crazier than anyone else's."

"Haha," Hirata laughed, thinking of himself. "In that case, I won't bother you anymore. I'll invite you next time."

He didn't force You En to attend the gathering, nor did he offer to lend him points. Because You En hadn't asked. If he really needed them, he would borrow from Hirata, and Hirata would be willing to lend.

In short, Hirata was also smart. He could see that You En wasn't very interested in the gathering right now, so there was no need to force it.

"By the way, ask Horikita-san if she's going. She doesn't seem very willing to talk to us."

You En answered casually, "She's not going. No need to ask."

Hirata gave a wry smile. "I figured as much. Well then, I'll have to trouble you to look after her."

"Wait a moment."

Kushida Kikyo jogged over, catching her breath slightly before speaking.

"You En-kun, do you have no points? I'll lend you some. It's a rare chance for a gathering; it would be a shame to miss it."

You En didn't speak. He didn't look at the class. He knew what would happen next, so he didn't need to respond at all. He only had to wait quietly.

The male students were all a bit envious.

Some of the female students were thinking, why hadn't they offered first? Although You En's personality was a bit strange, his face was right there—it wouldn't be a loss.

"Kushida is really an angel."

Ike Kanji sighed.

"How nice. Such a cute girl, and she even takes the initiative to lend points to a guy."

Yamauchi Haruki nodded, having already taken the lie about Airi confessing to him as his own setting.

"If I'm looking for someone, it has to be someone like Kushida. Someone as plain as Airi is out of the question."

Yamauchi had an idea. "Hey, what if I go borrow points from Kushida? Maybe I could even add her as a private friend."

Sudo Ken stayed silent on the side. He still remembered You En helping him out last time. He originally wanted to stop Yamauchi from interfering with You En and Kushida, but what came out was, "Don't go over there and embarrass yourself."

"Hmph? Am I worse than him?"

Yamauchi Haruki felt Sudo wasn't being a good friend, then confidently walked over to You En and spoke to Kushida Kikyo.

"Kushida, I don't have any points left either. Can you lend me some?"

Kushida froze. Turning her head to see Yamauchi, she almost lost her composure, forcing a strained smile onto her face.

"Sorry, I don't have much left either. Lending it to You En should use up the rest."

"Then why not lend it to me? What's the point of lending it to him? Aren't I way more impressive?"

The moment Yamauchi finished that sentence, the entire class froze, as if someone had hit the pause button.

Kushida Kikyo wanted to scream at him: Who the hell do you think you are? Take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror. You want me to lend points to you instead of You En? Do you even deserve it?!

But to maintain her persona, she had to swallow her anger and figure out how to handle this problem. Yet with the atmosphere already like this, she really didn't know what to say.

Was she really supposed to lend points to this brain-dead idiot?

Kushida Kikyo would rather buy something and feed it to a dog.

...But there was no choice. To keep up her image, she had to lend points to this disgustingly vile person—points she'd never see again.

"Well... okay."

You En saw Kushida about to agree and sighed inwardly.

Kindness without boundaries was likely to become a breeding ground for stupidity and malice. Since Kushida chose to greet everyone with a fake smile, she was bound to suffer this kind of torment and trial.

You En turned his head and said one word to Yamauchi Haruki, without any courtesy.

"Scram."

Yamauchi Haruki didn't register it at first. Once he processed what You En had just said, he got angry.

"What?! What's your problem? How come you can borrow from her but I can't? Are you that great?!"

"Slap—"

A palm struck him directly, sending him stumbling, nearly knocked to the ground.

You En withdrew his hand and shook it, as if afraid of getting something dirty on it.

"You hit me?!"

Yamauchi lost his reason, grabbing whatever he could and thrusting it toward You En.

You En stood up, dodged, and grabbed Yamauchi's arm, throwing him off balance.

He hadn't learned systematic fighting, but he wouldn't be taken down by someone like this. In his past life, he'd already learned back in middle school: aim for the groin, and don't bother with anything else—just one word: ruthless.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Three vicious knee strikes. You En let go, and Yamauchi collapsed to his knees, curling up in pain.

Only then did the class react to what had happened.

Hirata wanted to break it up, but the fight was already over in that instant.

"You En-kun, this..."

You En waved a hand. "It's fine. I held back."

Kushida Kikyo's expression was complicated. She didn't want to admit it, but she guessed You En had probably done this for her sake.

If he really hated her, he could have just said nothing, and Yamauchi alone would have been enough to make her sick.

You En glanced at Kushida and guessed what she was thinking. But he hadn't done it just for her. He simply didn't want to see a good person exploited by someone both stupid and malicious—especially when it involved him too.

As for whether Kushida was a good person, that was still up for debate. At least for now, her actions leaned toward the good side.

And Yamauchi, who had used Airi to spread rumors yesterday and was now using Kushida while belittling You En, would only get worse. Stupid to the point of delusion—probably beyond saving.

"I'm saying this to you: you insulted me first. I slapped you because you couldn't understand human speech. You fought back because you tried to attack me. That's all."

You En's voice was calm. "If you want to get back at me, go ahead. But remember this.

For someone like you, I only give one chance. That's the mercy I grant you as a classmate. Reflect on it well."

Yamauchi Haruki was cursing furiously at first, spouting all kinds of nasty words, but gradually he stopped. Not because he was scared, nor because he was reflecting—he was just burying his hatred deep in his heart, waiting for a chance to bite back.

Hopeless.

You En sighed. He shouldn't have bothered reasoning with him. That speech was a waste of breath.

Hirata Yosuke stood there, then finally walked over to Yamauchi, asking about his injuries.

You En's mood wasn't affected. This kind of fool wasn't worth staying in his memory for more than three seconds.

He turned around and found Horikita Suzune already standing.

She swept a glance at the trash lying on the floor, then brought her gaze back to You En.

"That was a decent response just now. From a regular student's perspective."

"You were planning to help me?"

"...If I let that garbage touch you, I'd be a pretty lousy friend."

Horikita Suzune flicked her long hair. The moment You En had said "scram," she was already ready to step in and protect him.

But You En's performance had been decent enough. It was a bit of a shame she didn't get to play the hero and save the beauty.

"Thanks."

You En suggested, "Want to take a walk outside?"

"Let's go."

Horikita Suzune nodded, thinking some fresh air and a change of scenery might do her good.

Kushida Kikyo watched the two of them, a part of her wanting to follow along, her feelings a tangled mess inside.

But in the end, she stayed behind, pinching her nose to comfort Yamauchi.

Watching Yamauchi show not a shred of remorse, even reaching out with his hand to try and cop a feel, Kushida Kikyo's mouth twitched in barely contained anger.

It was really hard to hold it together.