Deep Blue Points, The Source of a Man's Confidence!

Two weeks after enrollment, the freshmen had transitioned from the initial nervousness and apprehension of stepping through the school gates to navigating the corridors of the teaching building with ease.

Perhaps sensing this newfound relaxation, the school became bolder with its curriculum arrangements.

Just today, Class B welcomed the long-awaited swimming pool lesson.

After changing into their swimsuits, the boys were filled with a mix of anticipation and shyness.

Even the boys who were usually talkative were now stuttering and afraid to speak.

When the locker room door opened again and the girls walked out wearing identical navy blue swimsuits, the air by the poolside instantly froze.

Makoto Nishikado took a couple of extra looks before turning his head, only to find that all the boys around him had lowered their heads.

"You guys are really quite honest." Makoto Nishikado couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to pat the shoulder of Hayato Shibata beside him.

This kid was usually full of life in physical education class, but at this moment, he looked like a child who had done something wrong, his face flushed bright red.

They had looked forward to this lesson for so long, yet it ended up like this?

"Ximen, it's your guts that are too big!"

Hayato Shibata walked beside Makoto Nishikado, his tone filled with awe.

He truly couldn't understand why Makoto Nishikado had the courage to look up at a time like this.

"Everyone is wearing school swimsuits, not bikinis or thongs, so what are you afraid of?"

"School swimsuits are still swimsuits!"

"You're wearing yellow-tinted glasses, so that's all you see. Use an appreciative eye—come on, follow me and look up!"

If it were that kind of daring swimsuit, Makoto Nishikado wouldn't dare look either; he would avert his gaze.

His gaze landed calmly on the girls; the school's swimsuit design was conservative, covering everything that needed to be covered.

Compared to their daily school uniforms, it merely outlined the girls' slender waists and upright postures more clearly.

If they didn't even dare to look up in this situation, they were destined to be cowards for life.

"No, no, I can't do it! Is this the kind of person you are, Ximen? I really misjudged you!"

As Hayato Shibata said this, he suddenly became righteous.

The reactions of the surrounding boys perhaps gave him the confidence to believe that not daring to look up was the normal behavior at this moment.

Facing such slander, Makoto Nishikado merely shook his head with indifference and said with feigned profundity, "Lechery? I am surely not that. If a flower is in full bloom and I do not appreciate it, it would only show that I lack romantic sensibility."

[Triggered Hayato Shibata's emotions, obtained 3670 emotion points.]

[Triggered Norihito Watanabe's emotions, obtained 1772 emotion points.]

[Triggered Ryota Beppu's emotions, obtained 2514 emotion points.]

Unable to refute him, the boys of Class B provided Makoto Nishikado with a sum of emotion points.

Some felt that Makoto Nishikado made sense, so they hesitated and looked up, stealing a quick glance at the girls.

Afterward, as if they had completed some arduous task, they immediately buried their heads again.

They understood the logic, but having the guts to act on it was a different matter entirely.

"I, Makoto Nishikado, have never led such cowardly soldiers."

Makoto Nishikado was speechless.

It was just a look; it wasn't as if they would get someone pregnant just by glancing, so was there any need to be this timid?

Makoto Nishikado really wished he could tell them the anecdote about the famous scholar who wanted to look at the female students' legs.

If they couldn't even handle this small scene, they would definitely be repressed in the future.

Just then, Hayato Shibata beside him suddenly nudged him with his elbow, his voice as thin as a mosquito's: "Ximen, th-that, is Ichinose's swimsuit pretty?"

Makoto Nishikado turned his head to look at him and found his eyes fixed firmly on the ground.

"Whether it's pretty or not, why don't you look up and see for yourself?"

"But I don't dare."

"..."

Makoto Nishikado opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, then opened it again.

Finally, he patted Hayato Shibata's shoulder sympathetically.

"Shibata, I remember your birthday is November 11th. If you keep this mindset, be careful about not finding a girlfriend in the future."

"What does finding a girlfriend have to do with my birthday?"

Hayato Shibata didn't want to believe Makoto Nishikado's words, but he was a little scared.

He still wanted to find a girlfriend and have a beautiful romance.

"A normal birthday wouldn't matter, but this birthday of yours is a big deal. Back in my hometown, those born on this day are destined to become Great Mages by the time they turn thirty."

Makoto Nishikado said with absolute certainty.

After all, this date was Singles' Day.

I have no idea which unscrupulous capitalist started the marketing campaign that turned a perfectly good Singles' Day into a shopping festival.

"Really? But Ximen, your birthday is only one day apart from mine."

Hayato Shibata remembered that Makoto Nishikado's birthday was November 12th, though he was a year older.

It was precisely because their birthdays were so close that they remembered each other's dates.

"My fate is called 'the darkest hour before the dawn,' while yours is called 'dying alone.' If I'm not mistaken, you like Honami Ichinose, don't you?"

Makoto Nishikado continued to spout nonsense while taking a glance at the system notification.

Seeing this number, Makoto Nishikado suspected the system was mocking Hayato Shibata.

"How did you kn—I don't, I didn't, don't talk nonsense. I've only known Honami Ichinose for a week; I don't like her. You calculated wrong, Ximen."

Hayato Shibata explained in a panic.

Seeing him like this, Makoto Nishikado was speechless.

Is there a possibility that he didn't calculate it through fortune-telling, but rather that Hayato Shibata was being too obvious?

Seeing him so agitated, Makoto Nishikado became interested.

"Does the length of time you've known her matter? This is what you call love at first sight."

"Our Hayato has very high standards."

Makoto Nishikado was now certain that the system was mocking Hayato Shibata, and he had concrete evidence.

"L-love at... first..."

Hayato Shibata didn't continue to refute; he couldn't even finish his sentence, his face flushing bright red.

"You won't be able to conquer someone on Honami Ichinose's level. Find someone else to like."

Makoto Nishikado actually felt sympathy for Hayato Shibata.

Honami Ichinose was the central figure of Class B—smart, cheerful, and capable; she never lacked suitors.

With Hayato Shibata's cowardly demeanor, he probably didn't even have the courage to confess.

Even without Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in the picture, he wouldn't have the slightest chance of winning.

To be fair, Chihiro Shiranami probably had better odds than him.

"Are you two done talking? The teacher is calling us for the swimming test."

Ryuji Kanzaki came over to fetch them.

Advanced Nurturing having students take swimming lessons wasn't just to give the male students a chance to feast their eyes.

After walking up to Makoto Nishikado, Ryuji Kanzaki took a few extra looks at him.

"Do you exercise often to get muscles like that?"

"I suppose so."

Makoto Nishikado responded vaguely.

The real reason was that he had cheated.

Deep Blue stat points—the source of a man's confidence!

"Teacher, I don't know how to swim. Can I skip it?"

"Me too, I'm a bit afraid of the water."

Some boys raised their hands, feeling embarrassed.

Even in Sarujima, not every school had a swimming pool, and not every student knew how to swim.

"If you let me teach you, I guarantee you'll learn before the summer."

"Trust me, if you learn to swim, it will definitely come in handy later. Absolutely."

The teacher in charge of swimming instruction gave this assertion.

Hearing this, the boys who were originally feeling shy became serious.

Under Makoto Nishikado's leadership, they had already learned quite a bit of intelligence regarding this school.

If the teacher said something like that, it was definitely something to take seriously.

In the fifty-meter pool, water splashed everywhere.

The boys gave it their all, swimming forward with everything they had.

Makoto Nishikado moved like a nimble fish, weaving through the water with ease and leaving everyone behind.

When he touched the pool wall, the timer displayed 24.5 seconds.

Following closely behind was Hayato Shibata; although he was cowardly when facing girls, he was quite talented in sports, ultimately taking second place in the boys' group with a time of 25.2 seconds.

Makoto Nishikado, having taken first place, also received 5,000 personal points as a reward from the teacher.

After the swimming test ended, Makoto Nishikado sought out Honami Ichinose privately.

"Honami Ichinose, after classes end today, please gather everyone. I have some things to say."