Chapter 12

Sakura Airi nodded in a daze, then hurriedly asked another question—

"Um, is Nangong Cheng connected to you? Why did he come over and talk to me as soon as this task appeared?"

[Nangong Cheng is the host's Fated Partner in this life—someone destined to remain entangled with her throughout it. That is why this system issues the host tasks centered on him.]

[But Nangong Cheng has no connection to this system. Everything he does is of his own free will.]

"Fated Partner... That sounds so romantic."

Sakura Airi had already developed strong feelings for Nangong Cheng because of the way he treated her. Taking that together with the situation and the system's explanation, she believed it without much doubt.

For a moment, she even found herself thinking of names for their future children.

Nangong Cheng took it all in.

Just as criminals tended to return to the scene of the crime, he, the mastermind behind it all, liked hiding in plain sight to watch how these beautiful girls behaved after receiving their systems.

It's time to launch the Idol Songstress Project.

Step one: show her other self.

[Task issued: Before midnight tonight, send Nangong Cheng a selfie as Shizuku and ask, "Which version of me do you like better, Nangong?"]

[Task reward: 100–500 Points, depending on Nangong Cheng's opinion of the selfie.]

Confirm. Issue.

Nangong Cheng glanced at Sakura Airi's face, flushed as though she had a fever, then settled in to wait for class.

Lunch break.

Nangong Cheng arrived at the cafeteria on time.

As expected, Ichinose Honami had brought several Class B students with her, and her face wore a flawless, sweet smile.

She really is an angel.

I kind of want to call her Mom...

"Nangong, I get the feeling you're thinking something strange."

"You're right. I was thinking you're so cute, Ichinose, that you make me want to tease you."

"Huh?!"

How was an innocent girl born and raised in Tokyo supposed to handle a cheesy pickup line like that? It left her completely flustered.

Fortunately, her friends stepped in.

"Ahem! Nangong, you can't tease our little Honami on purpose, okay?"

Amikura Mako linked arms with Ichinose Honami and gave her a gentle shake, speaking up for her friend.

Nangong Cheng gave her an awkward but polite smile.

Girls' friendships really are something else. They've known each other for only a day, and they're already this close.

"Sorry, sorry~ I couldn't help myself~"

"So, what did you want to ask? I thought that document explained things pretty clearly."

It certainly had.

Unbelievably clearly, in fact.

They had all enrolled on the same day and should have been looking forward to high school life. Instead, they had learned that the school was effectively setting them against one another until only the strongest survived.

"Thanks to you, Nangong, Hoshinomiya-sensei has told us a lot about the school."

A trace of worry lay beneath Ichinose Honami's smile. She was already troubled by the thought of three years of scheming against other students.

It was neither something she was good at nor something she liked.

"If we have no choice but to play this competition game, I don't want us to become enemies, Nangong."

"So before coming here, we talked it over—"

Ichinose Honami paused deliberately, her eyes fixed on Nangong Cheng's face.

"We'd like Class B and Class D to work together... More precisely, we'd like to work with you and that girl."

Nangong Cheng clasped his hands in front of him and lowered his head, looking thoughtful.

He was curious.

What sort of face would Chie Hoshinomiya make if she learned that her most promising student had made such an "outrageous" decision?

"I understand what you mean, Ichinose. I'll pass it along to Horikita, but—"

The partnership itself hardly mattered to him. Compared with a fragile alliance that could be swayed by self-interest, Nangong Cheng put more faith in the system's influence.

So he chose to issue a task.

"You understand that cooperation requires either equal strength or something both sides want..."

"I can provide information and even step in to help you personally. But what can you offer us in return?"

[Task issued: Ask Nangong Cheng whether he has a girlfriend.]

[Task reward: 100 Points.]

[Penalty for failure: Kiss Nangong Cheng in public. Say it is a gesture of sincerity for the partnership and that there is more to come.]

"Private Points. If we've guessed right, you and Horikita intend to use Private Points to advance to Class A, don't you?"

Before Ichinose Honami could answer, Amikura Mako spoke up instead.

Ryuji Kanzaki nodded beside her.

"That's right. We do."

Nangong Cheng admitted it readily.

At that point, he could have agreed to cooperate, but he did not want his answer to come too cheaply.

"But if it's Private Points I want, I'm sure Class A would be happy to work with me against Class B. Why shouldn't I take offers from both sides?"

"..."

The two Class B students fell silent.

In the end, all Ryuji Kanzaki could come up with was, "The students in Class A might not be as friendly as we are."

Nangong Cheng merely smiled.

Once the Class A students learned the truth about Advanced Nurturing, some of them might well grow arrogant. The truly clever ones, though, would not think that way.

Sakayanagi Arisu, for instance.

That sickly little devil, portrayed as both brilliant and cunning, had surely seen through the system's true nature already. Perhaps she was still deciding whether to throw herself into the game.

She knew perfectly well what awaited her if she stayed where she was. Taking a step forward might lead to heaven—or hell.

Which would she choose?

Hard to say. Seriously.

"Nangong..."

At last, Ichinose Honami broke her silence.

The blush on her face spoke volumes before she said a word.

With Nangong Cheng wearing that faintly suggestive smile, and her Class B classmates watching her expectantly, she spoke.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Nangong?"

Ichinose Honami Wants to Know ### Ichinose Honami's question startled Amikura Mako and Ryuji Kanzaki.

"Honami? What are you saying?"

Anyone who had followed the conversation could guess what Ichinose Honami meant by that question.

Amikura Mako seemed the more emotional of the two. She looked anxious and confused.

"You don't have to go that far! If it comes down to it, we can manage on our own. There's no reason Class A has to be better than us!"

Ryuji Kanzaki nodded gravely beside her. He seemed opposed to Ichinose Honami's decision too.

"We're all starting from the same point. If we keep the gap in Class Points small during the first month, we can work harder afterward and overtake Class A."

Nangong Cheng said nothing. He only smiled.

He could hardly blame the two Class B students for being so naive. They did not know what the exams would actually involve.

After all, Chie Hoshinomiya and Sae Chabashira had fallen at the final hurdle...

The Expulsion Vote Exam was especially nasty. Even Class B, with someone as naturally charming as Ichinose Honami in this year's intake, suffered badly from it.

In fact, Class B was the only class this year that exam could truly hurt.

The leaders of Classes A, C, and D were all ruthless. None of them would hesitate to cut down one of their own.

One particular man deserved a special mention.

"Mako, Kanzaki..."

Ichinose Honami understood her friends' feelings, of course. But she had reasons of her own.

Besides not wanting to suffer such an excessive penalty, she had another reason to follow the system's instructions: she wanted to confirm something.

[Cash Conversion (Family Edition): Points can be converted into Japanese Yen for blood relatives at a rate of 1:1,000.]

[Note: Cash obtained this way will be gifted through entirely legal means.]

She had chosen this school partly to start over somewhere completely unfamiliar, and partly because having all tuition and other school fees waived would ease her family's financial burden.

Besides, she would eventually choose a man to marry and have children with. Why not follow the course laid out before her now and make a better choice?

From their first meeting, Ichinose Honami had formed a fairly favorable impression of Nangong Cheng.

But she had no idea what he thought of her. Would coming on too strong be a mistake?

With no romantic experience at all, she found herself unusually torn between hope and anxiety.

"That's not what I meant~ I was just curious about your relationship with Horikita, Nangong."

"As for working together, I don't think we need to rush it. Why don't we talk again in a month? What do you think, Nangong?"

That month would give her time to assess the school and Nangong Cheng. It was also the deadline she had set for herself to make a decision.

Nangong Cheng smiled and nodded, going along with Ichinose Honami's change of subject.

"I don't have a girlfriend. Horikita and I are just classmates. We're working together because she happened to be investigating the school's secrets too, so we hit it off and decided to cooperate for now."

"Still, your question did catch me off guard. You seem like the kind of well-behaved girl who grew up with strict parents."

"To be honest, though, I'm curious what you'd look for in a boyfriend."

Ichinose Honami gave him an equally polite, awkward smile. Her answer was just as carefully worded.

"I don't know. If I met someone who felt right, I wouldn't want to do nothing and miss my chance."

"As for what I'd look for... I think I'd have to go by feel. It's hard to be more specific."

They did not spend the whole time talking.

The lunch break was short. After eating and resting briefly, they would have to return to their afternoon classes.

Once they finished eating, Nangong Cheng excused himself politely.

Ichinose Honami smiled when she saw the questioning looks Amikura Mako and Ryuji Kanzaki gave her.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

"Class B is already in an awkward position, caught between Class A and Class C. We can't let Class D become our enemy too."

Watching Nangong Cheng walk away, Ichinose Honami seemed to be trying to convince Mako and Kanzaki as much as herself.

"To prevent that, we have to win Nangong Cheng over."