Extinguish the Fire

"Is that so?" Ayanokoji pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped on a recording.

Kikyo Kushida's own voice emanated from the speaker:

"Shiho Manabe, are you certain these photos are enough to get Airi Sakura expelled?... Good, then I want a copy. In exchange, I can provide the files on Kei Karuizawa from her middle school days; she was much more ruthless back then than she is now..."

The recording was short, only thirty seconds long.

But it was enough.

For the first time, the expression on Kushida's face changed completely.

"How did you—"

"How did I get this?" Ayanokoji turned off the recording. "When you were making that call in the dormitory hallway last night, there was a 'little mouse' crawling in the third-floor ventilation duct. You should know Mio Ibuki's reconnaissance capabilities well enough."

Mio Ibuki. That girl who had defected from Class C.

"You think you've controlled everyone, but in reality, you can't even see through the people right beside you," Ayanokoji said. "Ibuki never trusted you from the start. She told me about your connection with Manabe long ago."

Kushida's fingers tightened, her nails digging into her palms.

"So, here is the situation," Ayanokoji continued. "You have dirt on us, and I have evidence of you colluding with Class C to orchestrate a conspiracy. If this goes public, you will be labeled as someone who 'deliberately sabotaged class unity and engaged in illicit transactions.' The lightest penalty would be the forfeiture of all your private points; the heaviest could be expulsion."

He paused. "As for the things you have—Kei Karuizawa's past? She has already made peace with it. Airi Sakura's photos? You can try releasing them and see who gets punished more severely, the victim or the perpetrator. As for me..."

He looked straight into Kushida's eyes. "You can go and report me. But you need to think carefully—will the school believe a student with a 'questionable identity,' or will they believe a student who has 'repeatedly orchestrated conspiracies and threatened classmates'?"

Psychological warfare.

Pure psychological warfare.

The smile on Kikyo Kushida's face vanished entirely. She stared at Ayanokoji, her eyes swirling with resentment, fury, and a sliver of... fear.

She realized she had miscalculated.

She had miscalculated the variable that was Mio Ibuki, miscalculated the speed of Ayanokoji's counterattack, and miscalculated that this person simply did not care about "conventional methods."

"What do you want?" Kushida's voice was dry.

"Leave the USB drive, and open your suitcase for inspection," Ayanokoji said. "I need to confirm you aren't taking anything that doesn't belong to you. After that, you can crawl off to Class C."

"And if I don't?"

"Then I guarantee that before you can release that dirt, this recording will be sent to the mailboxes of the Student Council, the school administration, and every class leader." Ayanokoji glanced at his phone. "By the way, I've already set it to send automatically. If it isn't canceled within an hour, it will go out on its own."

He was bluffing. There was no scheduled send.

But Kushida didn't know that.

She bit her lower lip so hard it nearly bled. A few seconds later, she slammed the USB drive onto the floor and crushed it under her heel!

Plastic shards scattered.

"Satisfied?" she glared at Ayanokoji.

"The suitcase." Ayanokoji remained unmoved.

Kushida violently unzipped her suitcase and dumped everything inside onto the floor. Clothes, books, and cosmetics spilled everywhere. Kei Karuizawa and Airi Sakura knelt to inspect them, confirming there were no class documents or hidden cameras.

"Is this enough?" Kushida's voice was trembling with rage.

"One more thing," Ayanokoji said. "From this day forward, you and Class D will have no further dealings. If you retaliate in any form, leak information, or assist Class C in attacking Class D, this recording will be released immediately. I promise you, you will be expelled before we are."

Kushida stared at him, her chest heaving violently.

Then, she laughed.

It was an expression completely different from any smile she had shown before—twisted, manic, and laced with hysterical malice.

"Fine, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji. You won this round." She picked up her empty suitcase, turned toward the stairwell, and stopped after a few steps to look back at him. "But the game isn't over. Ryuen is looking forward to playing with you, and so am I."

"By the way, here's a piece of good news—" she tilted her head, as if sharing something amusing. "Shiho Manabe has one more 'surprise' in her possession. I was going to bring it to Class C, but now... consider it a parting gift for you. I hope you like it."

She hummed a tune as she walked downstairs.

Kei Karuizawa and Airi Sakura slumped to the floor, drenched in cold sweat.

Ayanokoji picked up the remains of the crushed USB drive and examined them. The storage chip was indeed damaged, but...

[System detected recoverable data fragments. Spend 500 points to repair?]

He chose "Yes."

The remaining data on the chip was extracted, revealing only two filenames:

"Sakura_ChangingRoom.encrypted"

"Honami_Secret.encrypted"

The second filename made Ayanokoji frown.

Honami Ichinose? Her secret?

Just as he was about to look closer, his phone vibrated.

Immediately after, a call from Yosuke Hirata came through, his voice urgent:

"Ayanokoji, is the matter with Kushida handled? Something terrible has happened in the class. Someone posted on the forum claiming that 'indecent photos' of Karuizawa and Sakura are circulating, and the whole class is in an uproar!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked toward the stairwell.

The "angel" who had left while humming a tune had, at the very last moment before tearing off her mask, bared her fangs.

And the game, just as she had said—

Was not over yet.

[Side quest "Internal Purge" progress updated!]

[Current progress: 70%]

[Successfully prevented Kushida Kikyo from taking away key incriminating evidence, but failed to completely eliminate the threat. Kushida has defected to Class C and has become a clear enemy.]

[New crisis detected: Forum exposure incident, risk of Ichinose's secret leaking, Shiho Manabe's "surprise."]

[Obtained periodic reward: Class cohesion +15 (due to joint response to the crisis), unlocked ability "Crisis Prediction (Basic)"—can slightly foresee conspiracies targeting the host within the next 24 hours.]

[New quest triggered: Firefighting Operation]

[Quest description: Forum rumors are fermenting. You must identify the whistleblower and eliminate the impact before the situation spirals out of control.]

[Quest reward: Class points +200, significant increase in loyalty of Kei Karuizawa/Airi Sakura]

[Failure penalty: Collapse of trust within Class D, Kei or Airi may drop out due to pressure]

While the system notifications flooded the screen, Ayanokoji had already opened the school forum.

The title of the pinned anonymous post was blindingly offensive:

<Expose! "Private photos" of two girls from Class D are circulating privately! Pictures and truth included!>

The post didn't include the photos directly, but the description was extremely detailed, even mentioning the shape of the birthmark on Airi Sakura's right shoulder.

The thread already had hundreds of replies.

"Is this for real?"

"Source please!"

"Is Class D really that messy?"

"It has to be Karuizawa, she looks like a slut."

Malicious comments poured out like a tide.

Kei Karuizawa stood behind Ayanokoji, looking at the screen, her face as pale as paper.

Her hands were trembling.

Airi Sakura was already crying.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned off his phone and looked at the two girls.

"The photos are with me, they haven't been leaked," he said with certainty. "This is intimidation, not an exposure."

Kei looked up, her eyes red: "But they know the shape of my birthmark..."

"Kushida is your roommate; she might have peeked while you were changing," Ayanokoji said. "The same goes for Airi. That is the only way they could have obtained those 'details'."

He paused: "So don't panic. As long as the photos aren't public, this is just a rumor. And rumors can be fought back against."

"How do we fight back?" Kei's voice trembled.

Ayanokoji did not answer immediately.

He looked out the window, toward the direction of the Class C dormitory area.

Kakeru Ryuen must be welcoming his new "ally" right now.

And what could the "surprise" in Shiho Manabe's hands be?

Ichinose's secret?

Or something else, something even more lethal?

He picked up his phone and sent a message to Mio Ibuki:

"Where is Manabe now?"

The reply came quickly: "With Ryuen in the Class C activity room. Kushida is there too. They are having a meeting."

The content of the meeting went without saying.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka took a deep breath.

Three enemies, three fires.

The forum rumors, the Ichinose crisis, and Manabe's "surprise."

And the cards he had to play...

He glanced at the system panel; the "Crisis Prediction (Basic)" ability had just been activated.

[Prediction result: Within the next 24 hours, the host will encounter a "physical" attack. Location: Back alley of the Third School Building. Time: This evening. Perpetrators: Class C Trio (including Albert). Motive: Retaliation + probing.]

A physical attack.

Very well.

Then let the game enter its next stage.