The Kicking-the-Gymnasium Club

Standing before the spotless, transparent notice board in the dormitory building, Bai Mu patiently read through an entire page packed with dormitory management regulations. The more he read, the more absurd they seemed, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

The school rules looked neat and strict at first glance, crammed with regulations and filled with serious rhetoric about "elite self-discipline" and "proper conduct." But a closer look revealed that they were all superficial rules that barely mattered.

No loud noises late at night, no malicious fighting, no damage to public facilities, no illegally storing dangerous items... These were all standard rules for any ordinary high school, nothing novel at all. Only the most crucial regulations regarding relationships between boys and girls were perfunctory to an extreme, so vague that no one could make sense of them.

There was only one lightly worded line: Improper romantic relationships inconsistent with a student's status are prohibited.

Bai Mu's eyes filled with helpless amusement as he instantly grasped the school's unspoken rules.

In plain terms, as long as no one died, no large-scale disputes broke out, and no major public scandal was caused, no one cared about campus romances, private flirting, or interactions across classes.

Setting those absurd school rules aside, the dormitory itself was beyond criticism. It was genuinely luxurious, with no expense spared.

After swiping his card and entering, Bai Mu found Room 402 clean and bright, with a simple yet upscale layout. The private bathroom had separate wet and dry areas, the air conditioner could maintain adjustable heating and cooling, and there was a custom desk, wardrobe, and soft bed. It was fully equipped like a private apartment, easily surpassing the vast majority of university dorms in China.

An old-fashioned desktop computer sat in one corner of the room. Its bulky case and outdated hardware made it look like it had been around for years.

Bai Mu casually booted it up to try it out. Pages loaded at a snail's pace, and everything ran incredibly sluggishly.

It was barely enough for looking up campus information or browsing basic websites, but if he wanted to play any demanding games or run software, it would immediately lag and crash. It was enough to completely wear down anyone's patience.

"Just enough to use, nothing extra."

Bai Mu casually mocked it, immediately seeing through the school's little scheme.

The school could give students top-tier accommodations, free meals, huge amounts of points, and let them spend freely and live however they pleased, but it would never provide excess entertainment. It seemed to tolerate everything, but it had a precise grip on the bottom line, preventing students from completely slacking off and wasting their lives. Everyone was forced either to quietly compete or be passively eliminated.

After putting away his simple luggage and tidying up his bedding and clothes, Bai Mu lay down directly on the soft mattress, his entire body relaxing. From rushing to school early in the morning to repeatedly reviewing the campus rules and investigating every detail, his nerves had been tense all morning. At last, he could unwind.

He casually took out his phone. The moment the screen lit up, the class group chat was flooded with 99+ messages, dense red notification dots popping up rapidly.

The bombshell from the opening ceremony—that large numbers of upperclassmen had been expelled—had completely detonated among all the new students of Class B. The entire class group chat had fallen into chaos, messages scrolling nonstop as everyone plunged into anxiety and heated discussion.

Bai Mu tapped the screen and scrolled upward through the chat history. The collapse in the freshmen's mentality was visible to the naked eye.

Some had initially been reveling in the joy of receiving one hundred thousand points, imagining three carefree years of campus life, only for their mindset to explode the moment they learned of the expulsion system. Others had been full of anticipation for the benefits of attending a prestigious school, but were now completely panicked, trembling before the unknown rules.

And the most reliable and proactive person in the group was still Ichinose Honami.

Rather than joining the panic and complaints, she quietly went around gathering information, contacting several upperclasswomen and sharing the latest news in the group. Her tone was gentle yet steady. "I got in touch with several second- and third-year seniors and asked carefully about the point system. But their answers were all remarkably consistent. They only said that the enrollment benefits were excellent. When it came to point fluctuations and the expulsion mechanism, they all refused to say a word, as if they had been deliberately forbidden from revealing anything."

The moment that message appeared, more than half the group fell silent.

Those who had still been clinging to hope of figuring out the rules through inquiries lost their confidence entirely. Even upperclassmen did not dare say a single extra word, which was enough to show just how strict and secretive this school's control over its rules was.

Shortly afterward, Kanzaki Ryuji also spoke up in the group, his tone somewhat grave. "I personally tried the wild vegetable set meal at the cafeteria's free counter. It tasted terrible—bland and flavorless, barely enough to fill your stomach. Students who can only afford that meal have most likely already had their points secretly deducted within half a day of enrollment, leaving them with almost nothing. The school's deduction system is far more hidden than we imagined."

Just those few sentences completely confirmed everyone's unease.

They had been enrolled for less than half a day. There had been no obvious violations and no public examinations, yet they had already discovered that some upperclassmen had been quietly deducted points and fallen to the lowest level of relief assistance. That invisible pressure was even more suffocating than open exams and eliminations.

Panic spread through the group once again. Countless people began worrying about the future, afraid that they might unknowingly violate some rule, lose all their points, and be forced to leave school.

But Ichinose still stepped forward to reassure everyone, her powerful personal charisma showing itself once more.

After reading through all the chat logs, Bai Mu's expression remained calm, without the slightest ripple.

He could not be bothered to join the anxious discussion in the group, nor did he feel like soothing everyone's nerves. He simply locked his phone and shut off the screen, cutting off all the noise and chaos outside.

Anxiety was useless, and complaints were futile. The panic of not understanding the rules was simply a necessary stage for new students entering the game. He only wanted to take advantage of the quiet afternoon to get a proper nap and restore his energy.

The sea breeze drifted softly outside the window, and the shadows of the trees swayed. The room was quiet and comfortable. Bai Mu closed his eyes for a brief rest and soon sank into a peaceful afternoon nap, completely unaffected by the turmoil outside.

As the afternoon sun slanted westward, the dismissal bell rang on schedule. The languid campus instantly became lively again, with laughter and playful chatter filling the hallways of every building.

Bai Mu woke up and got to his feet, refreshed and relaxed. Since he had decided to spend three peaceful years at this academy that was practically a battlefield, simply burying himself in books would clearly not be enough.

The requirement to excel in both academics and athletics had already surfaced, and the school definitely had hidden physical fitness tests as well. Rather than passively waiting for an assessment to arrive and catch him off guard, it was better to take the initiative and personally gauge the strength of the school's clubs, as well as the true level of his peers.

He ruled out team ball sports first. Group events like basketball and soccer required coordination and teamwork, with victory and defeat tied to one's teammates. There were too many variables, making it impossible to accurately judge individual strength.

What he wanted was the simplest and most direct kind of one-on-one match, where individual ability could be displayed one hundred percent and victory or defeat would be clean-cut. It needed to let him reliably earn points while accurately testing the academy students' true capabilities.

After giving it some thought, Bai Mu settled on a sport highly popular in Japanese schools—table tennis.

After changing into light athletic shoes, Bai Mu slowly wandered over to the club activity building. This place was completely different from high schools in China. Club culture in Japanese high schools was extremely thriving, and after-school club activities were at the heart of student life. Nearly everyone participated and stayed active.

Inside the table tennis club's activity room, several upperclassmen were playing practice matches. The pace was fast, attacks and defenses shifting back and forth, and the atmosphere was lively.

When they saw an unfamiliar first-year student enter through the door, everyone in the activity room instinctively stopped and looked over, their eyes carrying a mixture of curiosity and disdain.

Freshmen had only just arrived at school. Most were reserved, inexperienced, and unskilled. In the eyes of these upperclassmen, who trained year-round and competed in tournaments, they were basically just here to make up the numbers and watch the action.

Bai Mu did not beat around the bush. Straightforward by nature, he opened with something startling. "Seniors, do you have time for a few matches? The stake is one hundred thousand points. If I win, I take them. If I lose, I'll transfer them to you directly."

The entire room fell silent at once.

One hundred thousand points—equivalent to one hundred thousand yen—was absolutely a huge sum for a high school student. A freshman had come straight to their door to challenge them and even put up a bet of one hundred thousand points. It was outrageously arrogant.

A short-haired senior froze for two seconds before he could not help laughing. His eyes were full of mockery and contempt. "You've got quite the mouth on you, junior. You just enrolled and already want to come make an offering to us? Fine, I'll play with you."

In his eyes, this was just a reckless freshman who feared nothing, flaunting the one hundred thousand points from enrollment and delivering himself right to their door as a gift.

Yet after only three games, the mockery on the senior's face had vanished completely, replaced by utter shock and blank disbelief.

Three crushing victories. There had never been any suspense.

Bai Mu was equally adept at offense and defense, with perfect control over the pace. His serves were tricky, his returns precise, and his placement flawless to the inch. He played with effortless ease from start to finish, never even revealing his true level, yet left his opponent completely unable to fight back.

He secured a clean, decisive victory, and one hundred thousand points arrived smoothly in his account.

The president of the table tennis club, who had been watching from the side, could no longer sit still. He stepped forward personally and said solemnly, "You've got some skill, junior. Let me have a match with you—same bet, one hundred thousand."

The president was far stronger than ordinary club members. His offensive and defensive rhythm was faster, and his ability to adapt on the spot was stronger. He was among the top tier of the school's club scene.

Seeing this, Bai Mu's gaze shifted slightly. He deliberately held back and controlled the score, not completely crushing the other side or humiliating him. In the end, he narrowly won three to two, taking the match with dignity.

He displayed enough strength without making his victory too exaggerated, avoiding the risk of exposing his sharp edge too soon and drawing excessive attention.

The president accepted his loss wholeheartedly. Looking at the unfathomable young man before him, his eyes were full of admiration as he immediately invited him, "You're incredibly strong, junior! Are you interested in joining the table tennis club? With you here this year, we'll definitely have a chance to compete for a spot in the national tournament! The club has plenty of funding and decent benefits too. Think it over carefully!"

"I'll take a look around first."

Bai Mu answered indifferently. He neither agreed outright nor refused directly, maintaining just the right degree of distance.

After leaving the table tennis club, he began sweeping through the various solo competition clubs.

Mind-game clubs such as the Go club and shogi club were even easier for him to handle. Having been polished by every kind of game record from the AI era in his previous life, while studying game theory for years, dealing with a group of high school students was simply a dimensionality-reduction strike.

He could instantly predict every move and every setup his opponents made, effortlessly dismantling every tactic and solving every board position. After several matches, hundreds of thousands of points flowed steadily into his account, leaving him richly rewarded.

He never maliciously crushed or humiliated his opponents. He left them enough dignity in every match, showing restraint in both victory and defeat with impeccable tact. He gained the points without completely offending anyone, maxing out both his emotional intelligence and his ability.

By the time he had challenged his way through the clubs, the presidents and members of every solo sports club had gotten the news—an absolute monster had emerged from Class B among this year's freshmen. Both his mind and physical abilities were outstanding; he was low-key yet overwhelmingly strong, like a fierce dragon crossing the river.

No one knew that Bai Mu's strength, far beyond that of his peers, had never come from talent or luck. It was the inevitable result of years of accumulation.

He had never had a carefree childhood. With the support of his wealthy and privileged family, he received the finest educational resources. His father, born into the elite, had trained him with near-harsh strictness in logical deduction, psychological games, literary and athletic talents, and basic combat, polishing him comprehensively without a single blind spot.

Combined with the mature mind of an adult, his self-discipline, hard work, and years of focused practice, all kinds of his skills had long reached the top amateur level. Against a group of ordinary high school students, he naturally held a dimensional advantage.

Finally, Bai Mu headed straight for the boxing club, the most hardcore club atmosphere and the one that tested raw strength the most.

As the school's most confrontational club with the highest barrier to entry, the boxing club was filled with members in excellent physical condition and formidable presence. It was universally recognized as the gathering place for the school's toughest fighters.

The moment he entered the activity room, a tall, powerfully built figure walked toward him. The man stood upright, his muscles tightly defined, his gaze sharp, and his aura fierce. He was Yamada, the boxing club president.

Yamada had long heard of Bai Mu's exploits in sweeping through the clubs. He looked the seemingly lean but remarkably composed young man up and down, then said with some seriousness, "Junior, were you the one who swept through all those clubs today? You've got both the guts and the strength. Fight me—two hundred thousand points."

"Sure." Bai Mu nodded slightly and accepted calmly.

The two of them silently headed to the locker room to change into protective gear before stepping into the boxing ring.

On the ring, there was no need for unnecessary probing. Yamada had competed in school tournaments year-round and possessed extensive combat experience. His offense and defense were fierce, his punches swift, and his style highly oppressive. He was truly one of the school's top combatants.

They traded blows, offense and defense weaving together as the fight went back and forth with incredible intensity. Fists cut through the air, their footwork remained steady, and every block, dodge, and punch was precise and crisp, making for a thrilling spectacle.

The longer Yamada fought, the more shocked he became. This freshman looked slender, but his core strength was tremendous. His reaction speed, predictive ability, and dodging rhythm were all top-tier, and most of Yamada's attacks were easily neutralized.

In the end, Bai Mu seized a fleeting opening and counterattacked with precision, steadily taking the victory.

His rhythm remained stable throughout, and his posture relaxed. Even in victory, he showed not the slightest hint of arrogance.

Yamada panted heavily and stared at Bai Mu. Deep down, he was absolutely certain: the other party had definitely been holding back. He had not used his true strength at all during the match. If he had fought seriously, Yamada likely would not even have been qualified to last until the end.

After stepping down from the ring and returning to the locker room, Bai Mu remained calm. He naturally opened his private locker, took out a small black USB drive, lightly brushed it with his fingertips, then carefully put it away. His expression never changed, and there was not the slightest sign of anything unusual.

Yamada, beside him, noticed that subtle movement and felt nothing but admiration and a desire to befriend him.

He took out his phone and opened the large group chat for the presidents of the school clubs. It had already been flooded with discussion, everyone marveling at the dark horse who had emerged among this year's freshmen.

"Are this year's freshmen seriously this ridiculous? Class B just produced an all-around monster?"

"Both cultured and capable in combat, calm under pressure, restrained in victory and defeat—and the key is that he's low-key and never showy. That's terrifying."

"Could we be seeing Class B's comeback arc again this year, steadily crushing Class A?"

Yamada looked at the flood of discussion and shook his head with a smile, already having made up his mind.

Whether Bai Mu rose to prominence in the future or competed for class rankings, befriending someone this strong and level-headed could never be a loss. Opposing him would be nothing but asking for trouble.

The locker room lights fell softly over Bai Mu's cool, tranquil profile.

Outsiders only saw the glory of him sweeping through clubs and earning points with ease, assuming he was merely an exceptionally gifted freshman. No one knew that through those seemingly casual challenge matches, he had already secretly figured out the combat capabilities of more than half the students in the school.