Is Ayanokoji an Impostor?

She trusted her father, and she trusted herself even more.

As long as she was there, her father wouldn't lose to anyone.

Just then, her phone buzzed.

It was the notification tone for a special contact.

Sakayanagi Arisu swiped open the screen and found a report from Ichinose Honami in the Black Sphere Mutual Aid Society chat, reviewing the Combat Suit.

The data was thorough, and the analysis was fair.

But what really caught her attention was the special reminder at the end of the report.

"Tests have confirmed that the Combat Suit is bound to a single user. It only works when worn by the purchaser and cannot be lent to anyone else."

Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't surprised.

A restriction like that was only natural.

What interested her more was what the message implied.

Sakayanagi Arisu tapped the screen lightly:

"Classmate Ichinose, how did you find that out? Did you experiment with it?"

The reply came almost instantly.

Ichinose: "Don't worry about the details! You only need to know the result!! (>_<)"

Sakayanagi Arisu's lips curled into a faint smile.

Looks like our classmate Su Wei is quite the charmer~

She put away her phone and gazed silently at the clock on the wall, beginning to look forward to the end of class.

To be honest, Sakayanagi Arisu was genuinely curious about Su Wei now.

After all, the selection rules for the Black Sphere had begun to take shape over the first two trials.

The leader—or, more accurately, the best student—in each class was on the initial fixed list.

She was from Class A, Ichinose from Class B, and Ryuen from Class C.

That all made sense.

But what about Class D?

At first glance, Su Wei had nothing going for him except his looks. Even his entrance exam scores had hovered around the pass mark...

In what respect had he outclassed the White Room's greatest masterpiece from the very beginning?

Chapter 19: Is Ayanokoji an Impostor?

After saying goodbye to Ichinose and Kushida, Su Wei was in a fairly good mood.

Things had differed a little from what he'd expected, but the outcome was more or less the same.

With Ichinose's endorsement lending him credibility, the cabbages were already fired up. He, the Main God, wouldn't need to worry about what came next.

"Where should I go now?"

Su Wei had a thought and checked the items that had refreshed for the day.

[Invisibility Spray (Doraemon Edition)]

Looking at the familiar spray-can icon in front of him, Su Wei felt a little underwhelmed.

It was a good item.

Spray it on yourself, and you'd turn invisible for four hours. Only special lenses could see through it.

But...

"Isn't this a bit redundant?"

After all, Gantz's equipment inventory already had a controller with a built-in invisibility function.

Another "Invisibility Spray" would be a little redundant, especially since the controller didn't take up one of his item slots. It was basically free.

Wouldn't it be great if he got a Dog Talisman and completed the horse-and-dog all-resistance combo?

"Forget it. I'll count it as a free bonus."

"It's free anyway. Why complain?"

Su Wei casually closed the interface, then his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He took it out and checked.

Sender: Horikita Suzune.

Message: "Come to the library."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Whoa, you, of all people, are skipping class now?"

"That's a little out of character!"

As he thought, he looked toward the athletic field.

Thanks to the X-ray vision he'd trained with the Superpower Training Box earlier, his gaze instantly pierced the screen of trees.

The main groups from Class B and Class D had already dispersed, and students were milling about in small groups.

Horikita Suzune, meanwhile, was clutching a notebook and hurrying through the covered walkway toward the library.

"So you're not skipping class. Never mind."

Su Wei's interest waned.

He casually replied with a ".", figuring that was enough.

In Japan, leaving someone on Line without a reply could really stress them out and make them overthink things.

To be honest, he wasn't interested in tutoring.

But then he thought about it.

He had nothing better to do, so he might as well play through the story.

Wasn't that how Galaganmuli worked?

Trigger a random event, play through a bit of story, gain some affection, maybe give a gift or two, then get special interactions on special holidays... and unlock more story.

He was the kind of player who skipped the story to look at the CGs, though.

A few minutes later, at the library.

Since it was during class, there weren't many people around.

It was so quiet that all he could hear was the air conditioner's cool breeze and the soft rustle of turning pages.

As soon as he entered the reading area, he spotted Horikita Suzune sitting alone by a window in the corner, bent over her work.

Su Wei didn't bother with formalities. He pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.

"What's the meaning of this?"

He propped his chin on one hand.

Horikita Suzune's pen paused.

She looked him up and down, then turned her notebook around and pushed it toward him.

"These are the key points from each subject we've covered so far."

"Take a look and see if you can understand them."

Su Wei glanced at it.

The handwriting was neat and elegant, the important points clearly marked. Even topics that were easy to confuse had been distinguished with different colored pens.

It was a very carefully prepared set of notes.

"If you can understand them..."

"Then I'll use these notes to make a detailed tutoring plan for you... and for the other students near the bottom of the class rankings."

Horikita Suzune folded her arms and looked straight into his eyes.

Her reddish-purple eyes were still and calm, like ink that hadn't been stirred. They seemed all the clearer for it.

The only problem was...

Su Wei didn't need any of this!

One slice of Memory Bread and a couple of NZT48 pills, and there wasn't a question he couldn't answer.

His entrance exam results had been mediocre only because he'd taken the place of some random extra who wasn't very good at school.

He hadn't even taken the exam himself, so how could they blame him for it?

You're hurting me!

"What is it? Can't understand it?"

Seeing Su Wei fall silent, Horikita Suzune raised an eyebrow. Her tone was a little helpless.

"That's all right. You can ask me about anything you don't understand. I promised to help you, and I won't go back on my word."

"Hold on, hold on."

Su Wei fought back the urge to complain and raised a hand to cut her off.

"It's well written, and the logic is clear."

"But Horikita, have you ever considered something?"

"Sometimes people don't like studying not because they can't learn or don't understand their notes."

"They simply... don't want to study."

"You could serve a pig a feast fit for an emperor, and it still wouldn't thank you. It'd just think the food tasted worse than slop."

"Instead of wasting time on this, you should give them a reason they can't avoid studying—or... an easier shortcut."

Horikita Suzune furrowed her brow, apparently thinking through Su Wei's logic.

"A shortcut? There's no shortcut to learning."

"Of course there is."

Su Wei smiled meaningfully.

"I remember this school's motto is 'Ability Above All,' right?"

"So ability isn't just about how well you can study. It's also about how well you can 'obtain information,' isn't it?"

"Since the goal is to prepare for midterms..."

He lowered his voice, coaxing her along.

"Why not try finding an upperclassman and buying a copy of last year's midterm exam?"

"Buy the exam?"

Horikita Suzune froze for a moment.

It might have been an underhanded approach, even something you could call "cheating," but using every resource available within the rules...

That really did fit the survival principles of this school.

She fell silent for a moment, then picked up her notebook and quickly wrote down the idea in a blank space.

"I'll give it a try."

After discussing the main point, Horikita Suzune didn't seem inclined to let Su Wei leave just yet.