Ayanokoji? No, Ayanokoji-sis!

Wu Qiao sat in the last row of Class D, his fingers tapping the desk unconsciously. His gaze seemed unfocused as it rested on the azure sky outside the window, but in reality, he was scrutinizing the gaudy system panel within his mind.

Transmigration was the sort of thing that might have kept him awake with excitement for three days a decade ago, but now, aside from a sense of indigestion caused by the bizarre style of the "Path Madman System," his heart remained completely calm.

The system interface hovered over his retina, eighteen tarot-like cards flickering with an eerie light. These were the Paths governed by the Aeons, and they were the source of his future power.

"Path of Destruction... since the universe is destined for heat death, I might as well burn through the world early." Wu Qiao recited the footnote of that Path in his heart, his mouth twitching. Translated, that meant sociopathic mass murder; pass.

"The Hunt? That's chasing down enemies to hack them to pieces. Nihility? That's hacking yourself. Elation?"

His gaze lingered on the "Elation" Path for a moment. Aha was indeed a prankster, but Wu Qiao didn't feel he had the appetite to turn his life into a circus that could crash at any moment.

By comparison, he preferred stability.

"Path of Erudition, Nous be praised, knowledge is power—that makes sense. Or Remembrance? A cold, detached bystander like Fuli wouldn't be bad. At worst, Sister Yaoshi of Abundance could at least ensure safety."

Wu Qiao sighed and refocused his vision on the classroom.

This was Class D of Advanced Nurturing High School, a place where "defective goods" were gathered.

On the podium, their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, had just left, leaving behind a room full of troublemakers who were still clueless. In the back, Ike Kanji and Sudo Ken were arguing, Matsuda was in the corner wearing headphones and trying to look cool, and there was that insufferable Koenji Rokusuke.

"It's hopeless." Wu Qiao passed a death sentence on Class D in his heart. "This starting point is hell-level difficulty; I'd better just honestly find someone to cling to."

His gaze drifted toward that seat in the corner of the classroom.

According to the original plot, there should be a boy with brown hair and eyes like an abyss sitting there—Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

The Ayanokoji who had carved the philosophy of avoiding trouble into his very DNA.

But now, sitting there was a girl with long brown hair and skin so fair it was almost translucent, quietly reading a paperback novel.

Ayanokoji Kiyoha.

That's right, the brother had become a sister!

When Wu Qiao first saw her, the shock in his heart was beyond words. Although her gender had changed, that sense of transparency as if she were isolated from the world, and the unfathomable depth of the scheming hidden beneath her calm surface, were exactly the same.

"Can't beat her, can't outplay her, can't afford to provoke her."

Wu Qiao listed his "three-no status" in his heart. Currently, his physical fitness was just that of an ordinary high school student, and while his intelligence had improved slightly from two days of grinding the Path of Erudition, it was still suicide to compare himself to such a monster.

"I can only wait for the later stages when Sister Ayanokoji leads Class D to Class A, and then I'll find a way to coast to graduation." Wu Qiao made up his mind. His current strategy was: stay low, don't stir up trouble! Well, unless the system turns out to be powerful, that is.

The noon bell rang, and the noise in the classroom erupted instantly.

Wu Qiao closed his textbook and glanced at Ayanokoji Kiyoha, who was preparing to pack her bag in silence.

Since he had decided to cling to her, he had to have some resolve. At this stage, Ayanokoji Kiyoha was still in an observation period, learning about "ordinary youth life." Approaching her now to build favor was the most cost-effective move.

"Ayanokoji-san, are you going to the cafeteria?" Wu Qiao walked over, trying his best to make his tone sound like an ordinary classmate.

Ayanokoji Kiyoha looked up, her deep brown eyes calmly observing Wu Qiao for two seconds before she nodded slightly, closed her book, and stood up. "Sure."

Her voice was cold and lacked any inflection.

The two walked out of the classroom one after the other, merging into the flow of people in the hallway.

As he walked, Wu Qiao calculated how to lead the conversation. Should he talk about the school system directly? Or about the so-called S System?

No, that would be too deliberate. It was safer to start with a daily topic like eating.

"I heard the daily special in the cafeteria is the Special Hamburg Steak. If we go too late, they might run out," Wu Qiao said casually.

"Mm," Ayanokoji Kiyoha replied faintly.

Just as the two turned the corner of the staircase, preparing to head down, a pink figure suddenly cut in from the side, precisely blocking their path.

Wu Qiao stopped in his tracks, nearly colliding with her.

It was a girl with long pink hair and a smile so bright it seemed to dispel the gloom.

Ichinose Honami, the core of Class B and the school's recognized "good person."

"Oh my, isn't this Wu Qiao-kun from Class D?"

Ichinose Honami had her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly. Her bright, lively eyes examined Wu Qiao with great interest, as if she were looking at some rare treasure.

What Wu Qiao found most eerie was that she completely ignored Ayanokoji Kiyoha standing right next to him.

By all logic, someone with Ichinose's personality should have politely greeted both of them.

"This classmate... do we know each other?" Wu Qiao felt a bit creeped out by the stare and instinctively took half a step back.

Ichinose Honami tilted her head, still wearing that harmless smile, but her words made Wu Qiao's heart skip a beat: "Excuse me, do you need to buy some information? The price is absolutely reasonable. I have information regarding whether you'll be able to receive your 100,000 personal points next month."

Wu Qiao's pupils constricted slightly.

Was this part of the original story?

He quickly searched the plot in his mind. Ichinose was indeed an information broker, but at this point in time, the core rule that "class points determine personal points" should have been a secret known to only a very few.

Ichinose was smart, but not to the point of proactively seeking out someone from Class D on the second day of school to peddle such information—especially not in a way that felt so unlike her.

More importantly, why was she only staring at him?

Ayanokoji Kiyoha, standing beside him, seemed to have sensed that the atmosphere was wrong. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze shifting between Ichinose and Wu Qiao. Although she didn't speak, Wu Qiao could feel that she was assessing the situation.

Cannot show weakness.

Wu Qiao took a deep breath, his brain racing. Since the other party had thrown out a topic, he would catch it.

"The first month is a test of behavioral norms," Wu Qiao said calmly. His voice was not loud, yet it reached Ichinose's ears clearly. "Each class starts with one thousand class points. Violating school rules, such as using a phone in class or being late, will result in deductions. The personal points we receive are one hundred times the class point total. Therefore, whether we can get one hundred thousand points next month depends entirely on our performance this month."

This was the bait Ichinose had cast, as well as a probe.

Wu Qiao chose to lay his cards on the table.

Upon hearing these words, the smile on Ichinose Honami's face stiffened.

She widened her eyes, her face displaying a look of incredibly realistic shock, as if she had heard something inconceivable.

"I see..." Ichinose murmured to herself, then, as if convincing herself, her gaze became somewhat complex. "Wu-kun already knows? Since you know, why haven't you told the people in your class?"

"I can't."

Wu Qiao shrugged and pointed toward the Class D classroom behind him, looking helpless. "Ichinose, you've seen it yourself; Class D has too many problem children. Sudo loses his temper at the drop of a hat, Ike and the others only think about girls, Karuizawa and her group are completely immersed in the joy of having massive points, and Koenji is a freak who does whatever he wants. It's impossible to manage them, and talking to them is just a waste of breath."

This statement was half-truth, half-lie; it fit both the current state of Class D and the persona of someone who "just wants to lay low" that Wu Qiao was projecting.

Ichinose Honami stared at Wu Qiao for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled. "Doesn't Wu-kun know my name, too? I don't believe I ever introduced myself."

Wu Qiao's heart skipped a beat.

Damn it, I let it slip. In his haste, he had called her by her name.

"Ah, well..." Wu Qiao prepared to fabricate an excuse.

"Can we exchange contact information?" Ichinose Honami pulled out her Student Terminal directly, the screen displaying the friend request interface.

Although she seemed to be asking for his opinion and her tone was gentle, looking into Ichinose Honami's eyes—which seemed capable of peering into one's soul—Wu Qiao knew he couldn't escape.

This woman was definitely trouble!

"...Sure."

Wu Qiao took out his terminal and scanned it.

"It's a deal, then. Let's keep in touch, Wu-kun."

Ichinose Honami put away her terminal with satisfaction, waved at the two of them, and turned to leave with a light step. It wasn't until her figure disappeared at the end of the corridor that the oppressive feeling of being locked onto by an invisible aura finally vanished.

"That person is interesting," Ayanokoji Kiyoha, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke. She turned her head and gave Wu Qiao a deep look. "You know more than I imagined."

"Likewise," Wu Qiao laughed it off. "Didn't Ayanokoji-san also say nothing? Let's go, the hamburger steak is going to run out."

At the other end of the corridor, around the corner from the restroom.

Ichinose Honami leaned against the wall, her once-brilliant smile vanishing without a trace.

She let out a long breath, as if she had just finished a marathon, her entire body feeling somewhat drained.

"Phew... that scared me. I almost botched the act."

Ichinose patted her chest, and after confirming no one was around, she quickly summoned a virtual screen in front of her.

[Life Simulator]

The interface expanded, and lines of text appeared on the screen.

[Simulation Count: 0]
[Talent Points: 5]

Check, Ichinose thought to herself.

She flipped through yesterday's simulation records to confirm if she had remembered incorrectly.

It was the simulation regarding Wu Qiao.

The first half and even the latter half of the simulation were perfectly normal. Wu Qiao acted like a slightly clever, somewhat mysterious Class D student who played a role in the confrontation between Class D and Class B, and the two of them even became good friends.

But the ending... the style changed abruptly.

Ichinose's fingers slid with a slight tremor to the very bottom of the record.

[Second year, Nagumo Miyabi and high-level school officials joined forces to pressure Wu Qiao, attempting to have him expelled.]

[Wu Qiao's expulsion failed.]

[The next day, Wu Qiao's personality underwent an unknown transformation. He was no longer gentle, suddenly displaying a terrifying, god-like level of control.]

[He slaughtered a large number of school officials and, within a week, contacted the Prime Minister, the Commander of the US Naval Forces Japan, and even used certain means to reach the upper echelons of the United Nations.]

[No one knew what happened, but everyone inexplicably signed a peace treaty.]

[One year later, Wu Qiao was elected as the first Planetary President of the Earth Federation, known as the "Tyrant," and then he left Earth.]

[Simulation ended.]

Looking at this text, Ichinose felt a chill run down her spine.

Was the "Tyrant" from the end of the simulation—who stood at the pinnacle of the world, looking down at all living things with cold eyes, and whose mere thought could cause global turmoil—really the same Wu Qiao who now looked somewhat lazy and only wanted to eat a hamburger steak in the cafeteria?

That aloof, inhuman sense of detachment made Ichinose feel suffocated.

"What exactly happened in the middle? Why did he suddenly go Blackened?"

Ichinose closed the interface, leaned against the cold wall, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

There weren't many clues in the simulation, but the fuse that caused Wu Qiao to go Blackened seemed to be the malicious targeting by Nagumo Miyabi and the school administration, which made him feel that this game of house was too disgusting, leading him to flip the table entirely.

"It's a relief... everything hasn't started yet."

Ichinose clenched her fists, a flash of determination in her eyes.

"Since I know the future, I absolutely cannot let that happen."

She recalled the way Wu Qiao had helplessly complained about his Class D classmates when she saw him earlier.

"He probably just wants to live a normal school life, too."

The image of Wu Qiao shrugging to hide his awkwardness surfaced in Ichinose's mind, and the corners of her lips curled into a genuine smile involuntarily.

"Absolutely, I absolutely cannot let him go berserk again. Even if it's just for world peace, I have to coax him first."

She smoothed out her skirt, put on her energetic smile once more, and stepped out of the shadows.

"I'll head to the cafeteria first. I heard the daily special is the Special Hamburg Steak; I wonder if I'll run into Wu-kun."

On the way to the cafeteria, Wu Qiao suddenly sneezed.

"Achoo!"

"What's wrong?" Ayanokoji Kiyoha, sitting opposite him, was sipping her tea in small mouthfuls and asked calmly.

"It's nothing. I feel like I've been targeted by something troublesome. I hope it's just my imagination."

He did not know that from this moment on, his peaceful school life had completely veered off course.