Classroom of the Elite: I Can Issue Master's Tasks

"Here, I've taken the photos. Want to check them?"

Photos? What photos?

Kikyo Kushida's mind was still frozen, but she took the camera Nangong Cheng handed her on instinct.

There was more than one photo, but they all showed much the same thing: her face twisted beyond recognition as Nangong Cheng held her in his arms, with her hand deliberately posed in a peace sign.

Ugh! He might as well kill her.

"What a thrilling night... Kushida, I don't think I'll ever forget you."

Nangong Cheng looked thoroughly satisfied.

Staying up to hunt after dark had paid off. He'd come away with both the girl and the goods.

"After all, we now share the closest bond in the world—"

"We're accomplices, my dear. Here's to working together~"

[Task complete]

[Task reward: Host receives 4,000 Points]

Well, It's Come to This. Time to Dig!

Kikyo Kushida was at a loss for words.

She should have been delighted by that enormous haul of Points, yet she felt inexplicably irritable.

For one thing, there was her body.

She hated to admit it, but what Nangong Cheng had made her feel was leagues beyond anything she'd gotten from striking the railing.

What did that mean?

So this sort of thing could feel like that?

Those bitches in middle school who liked stealing other girls' boyfriends hadn't been bragging or lying?

Well, she'd learned something new.

Then there was the psychological side.

It was bad enough that Nangong Cheng had seen her at her most embarrassing. He'd also taken photos and videos, creating a brand-new chapter in her personal hall of shame.

It wasn't as though she could never hold her head high around him again. That particular shame went both ways, so in a sense, Nangong Cheng really had handed her the perfect leverage against him.

That left her with complicated feelings.

"Heh... Accomplices? A close bond?"

That was certainly an unusual way to put it.

Kikyo Kushida sat slumped against the wall, her hands hanging at her sides and resting on the floor. She raised her head to look at Nangong Cheng.

"You're feeling pretty pleased with yourself, aren't you, Nangong Cheng?"

"Whenever I tried to talk to you before, you barely gave me the time of day. Your replies were half-hearted, and whenever we met, you'd make up some excuse and leave after a few minutes..."

"What, am I some kind of monster?"

"You're willing to chat away with Horikita Suzune even though she always wears that icy, miserable expression. You hover around Sakura Airi, that invisible little stutterer who can barely get a word out. And I don't know what you gave that lovestruck bitch Karuizawa Kei to make her defend you so fiercely..."

Kikyo Kushida listed them off with a sneer.

But from Nangong Cheng's perspective, the more he listened, the more she sounded like a wife telling her husband about all the ways he'd wronged her.

Whatever he thought, Kikyo Kushida kept going, as though venting was the only way to release the last of her frustration and stress.

"And Ichinose Honami, too. Heh... Who knows whether that gentle act of hers is just as fake as mine? Maybe she's hiding some filthy thoughts or a shameful past she doesn't want anyone to see."

Kikyo Kushida was lying.

Her life was already full of lies, but this was the one she had to admit was a lie.

An imitation needed a real thing to model itself on. As an imitation, she knew better than anyone what the real thing looked like.

Ichinose Honami's kindness was undoubtedly genuine. It was an angelic gentleness that someone like Kushida could never imitate perfectly, no matter how hard she tried or how carefully she plotted.

She was everything Kushida had imagined herself to be.

"Yes, now that you've taken photos like those, neither of us can do much to the other. But don't think that means you can control me."

"I'm not like those idiots you can lead around by the nose. I knew from the start you wanted to use Private Points to get yourself into Class A."

Kikyo Kushida's smile faded, and her expression gradually settled into calm.

Nangong Cheng folded his arms and quietly watched Kushida's one-woman performance.

"So if you don't want your plan ruined, stay out of my way."

"..."

Nangong Cheng rubbed his chin.

Kushida's reaction was a little unexpected, but it was still manageable overall.

He just had to coax a sulking kid, didn't he?

That was well within his abilities.

"Are you done? Then it's my turn."

Nangong Cheng walked over and crouched in front of Kikyo Kushida, bringing their eyes level.

"Kushida, have you considered one possibility... that I treated you that way because I liked you too much?"

"???"

What was that supposed to mean?

Nangong Cheng's words left Kikyo Kushida's mind reeling.

He treated her badly because he liked her too much?

Did he think she was an idiot?

"Nangong Cheng, do you think I'm three years old?"

Nangong Cheng shook his head.

Someone had once studied the matter and concluded that the most sophisticated lies consisted entirely of truths—which became a lie when strung together.

He couldn't quite pull that off yet, but his advanced acting skills let him come close.

"Kushida, I don't think you realize how charming you are."

"Before you say anything, hear me out. You're undeniably beautiful, and the way you behave in class is beyond reproach. Most of the students like and admire you."

Kikyo Kushida frowned.

What was the point of saying all that when he already knew what she was really like?

Was he trying to humiliate her again?

"Of course, you're probably thinking that's all an act. That underneath it, you're a sharp-tongued, calculating bad girl who curses people she hates behind their backs and even sticks pins in dolls of them."

Nangong Cheng saw Kikyo Kushida's expression darken, but he didn't mind.

This was all part of his plan.

"But what if—and I'm only saying what if—there's another possibility..."

Nangong Cheng met Kikyo Kushida's eyes, which were brimming with tangled emotions, and spoke with startling sincerity.

"What if someone in this world likes the real you, with no pretense, exactly as you are?"

"..."

Kikyo Kushida said nothing. She simply held Nangong Cheng's gaze, her expression hard to read.

Then a cold smile tugged at her lips.

"Keep making things up. I'm listening."

"Let's see how many more stories you've prepared to fool me, Nangong Cheng."

"You might fool Horikita Suzune, Karuizawa Kei, Sakura Airi, Ichinose Honami, or anyone else. But you'll never fool me."

Nangong Cheng shook his head helplessly, looking as though he were thinking, Why does no one believe me when I tell the truth?

"You don't want to hear the truth. You'd rather I lied. Why do you always have to make things so difficult?"

"Fine. If you won't believe me, I won't waste any more time. I'll leave you with one piece of advice."

Nangong Cheng stood and stretched, then headed toward the rooftop door, waving to Kikyo Kushida without turning around.

"I don't know what happened to you in the past or what made you this way, but..."

"If you're so afraid of being hurt when you trust someone that you refuse to open your heart to anyone again..."

"That must be lonely, right?"

Nangong Cheng stopped at the doorway, just one step from the stairs.

He didn't turn back. He spoke almost to himself, letting the wind carry his voice to Kikyo Kushida.

"You've woven lie after lie to build a social circle centered on you."

"They praise you, flatter you, put you on a pedestal... Being adored like that has only made you more certain it's the life you deserve."

"But when the crowds are gone and the night falls quiet, is there anyone left you can tell the things you've kept buried inside?"

With that, Nangong Cheng started walking again.

His voice grew faint.

"Kushida, children are allowed to dream. It's their privilege."

"But adults aren't."

"Adults can't run away from reality. Eventually, they have to make the so-called 'right' choice."

"Will you keep sinking into a dream you're bound to wake from, or turn that dream into something real enough to touch?"

"..."

His voice no longer reached her.

But Kikyo Kushida had already fallen silent.

Nangong Cheng's words filled her mind.

"A choice... Heh..."

"Do I really still have one?"

Irritation churned inside her.

She had to find a way to let it out quickly, or she wouldn't get a good night's sleep.

Then she remembered the video Nangong Cheng had sent her when he appeared, and the task she'd triggered today.

"Hah..."

Kikyo Kushida took a deep breath, then set her jaw.

Well, it had come to this. Time to dig!

Nangong's Accidental Chain of Schemes: Two Girls Leap into Social Ruin

Let's turn back the clock to after school.

Karuizawa Kei was still distracted as she ate and chatted with her little group in the cafeteria.

Yesterday's task hadn't been particularly difficult for her. It was only a photo, and even without the task, she posted photos to keep up appearances.

But it was still the first time she'd sent a selfie that looked so obviously flirtatious to a boy her own age.

It was just so...

Karuizawa Kei's heart had raced then, both from embarrassment and nerves.

After all, she wasn't really a flashy girl. That persona was something she'd created to protect herself. Deep down, she had always been a reserved, innocent girl.