Chapter 31

So she was terrified that this kind of behavior would make Nangong Cheng misunderstand her as a frivolous girl.

That would be very bad.

After all, compared to Yosuke Hirata, Karuizawa Kei was already convinced that Nangong Cheng would be the better choice for her.

Although the former certainly belonged among the ranks of outstanding boys compared to his peers, his personality leaned too much toward being a perpetual good guy, making it hard to say he could protect her comprehensively.

Nangong Cheng was different, however.

Whether in terms of personality or capability, Nangong Cheng could not only figure out the school's truth within a single day and leverage it to secure six million Private Points from Classes A, B, and C, but he could even make someone like Horikita Suzune—who looked difficult to get along with at first glance—step out and speak up for him.

From this, his [strength] was evident.

It might not be a dimensionality-reduction strike, but it could definitely protect her better than Yosuke Hirata—even if she no longer needed to rely on anyone else's protection now that she possessed the system.

With her thoughts wandering, she thought once again of how Nangong Cheng had said in the morning that he would send her a message to tell her about a stress-relief method.

Why hadn't the message come yet, though?

Right at that moment, Sato Maya actively called her name once again.

"Kei, have you heard?"

"Huh? What?"

Her wandering soul was pulled back.

Yet Karuizawa Kei still responded to Sato Maya's topic somewhat absent-mindedly, wondering if she should proactively find some excuse to have a few more interactions with Nangong Cheng.

After all, even if she could rely on the system, the fundamental source of Points came from Nangong Cheng.

Perhaps today's task would be an opportunity...

"It's about Class C, it seems a ruthless guy dragged the whole class into a brawl and forcefully beat those who disobeyed him into submission."

What is the meaning of this?

Don't tell me such a scary thing!

Hearing words like this, Karuizawa Kei instinctively gave a start, her gaze clearing up a lot.

"Really?"

"Just go take a look at the forum and you'll know. A lot of people in Class C are complaining bitterly on it, hoping the school will step in and manage things."

Very quickly, Karuizawa Kei logged onto the forum.

The name of the Class C tyrant came into her view.

The man's gloomy and fierce expression seemed to awaken her PTSD, even making her feel a phantom pain coming from her lower abdomen.

"Didn't the school respond?"

"Even if they encourage competition between classes, they shouldn't allow students to use violent methods like this, right?"

Karuizawa Kei picked up the topic while flipping through the comments in the comment section.

Yet her heart felt rather cold.

Because she could sense that the school was not entirely opposed to violent methods, so as long as this Ryuuen kept the violence within a degree that wasn't excessive, and no one obtained substantial evidence of the assault...

Then the school would most likely turn a blind eye.

"No. After all, these things on the forum are the students' unilateral statements. Without substantial evidence, it's not convenient for the school to step in and handle it."

Matsushita Chiaki's words made Karuizawa Kei's expression gradually turn resolute.

Since that was the case, she had to max out the Points for today's task.

She had spent all her free time over the past few days studying the system, and naturally found many useful things for herself in the System Shop.

Things like [Gene-Enhancement Potion] and [Advanced Combat Mastery] were obviously practical at a single glance.

In short, as long as she had enough Points to exchange for the things she needed, she wouldn't have to live in such fear and trembling anymore.

"Karuizawa-san..."

Suddenly, a somewhat unfamiliar voice inserted itself into their conversation.

Karuizawa Kei shifted her gaze over, and was surprised to find that it was Horikita Suzune calling her.

"I have something I'd like to discuss with you privately. If you still have time after finishing your meal, I'll wait for you at the café."

"...Okay, I understand."

Karuizawa Kei did not refuse.

Because everyone now generally acknowledged that Horikita Suzune was one of the people closest to Nangong Cheng, she might be able to use this to make a connection and join their most authoritative small group within Class D.

Although Sakura Airi was also one of them, she was far too timid, and communicating with her was an absolute chore.

Therefore, this opportunity could not be missed.

"Mm, remember to accept my friend request. See you in a bit."

Horikita Suzune nodded, left behind those sentences, and briskly departed with her meal tray.

"Hey, hey, hey, is that Horikita Suzune?"

Sato Maya spoke up rather exaggeratedly, the expression on her face full of astonishment and disbelief.

Matsushita Chiaki merely smiled without speaking.

"Isn't change a good thing? Could it be that you, Maya, wanted to keep facing the unapproachable Horikita-san?"

"That's true... it's just unfamiliar."

Karuizawa Kei smiled and shook her head, calmly brushing the topic aside.

After finishing their meal, the three of them disbanded on the spot.

She first took out her phone to accept the friend request, and Horikita Suzune also directly sent a location to indicate that she was still there.

Karuizawa Kei swiftly headed toward the destination.

"Horikita-san, sorry for the wait."

Horikita Suzune, who was sitting at her seat holding a small spoon and stirring her coffee, nodded and indicated the empty seat across from her with her gaze.

"Please sit."

Karuizawa Kei sat down while holding her skirt.

Reaching out to touch the coffee cup in front of her, she found it was surprisingly still warm.

"Is there something Horikita-san wanted with me?"

"Mm, I want to know what that stress-relief method Nangong Cheng told you and Kushida this morning was."

Horikita Suzune's style was always straightforward, and seeing Karuizawa Kei ask directly, she stated it directly as well.

"So it was about this..."

Karuizawa Kei wore a pensive expression, but immediately smiled with a hint of helplessness.

"I would love to tell you, Horikita-san, but Nangong-kun hasn't yet—"

"Buzz, buzz!"

The vibration coming from her phone interrupted her.

Throwing an apologetic look, Karuizawa Kei took out her phone and glanced at it, her eyes instantly lighting up.

"It's a message from Nangong-kun."

"He said it's hard to explain clearly with text, so he specifically found a video so we can get an intuitive feel for it."

"Let's watch it together."

Volume 1: Chapter 39, A High-Quality Stress-Relief Method of Combating Cortisol Through Dopamine

At this moment.

Neither Karuizawa Kei nor Horikita Suzune realized the gravity of the situation.

Especially Karuizawa Kei.

Having been issued a related task by Nangong Cheng, she ought to have guessed that there was something wrong with this stress-relief method, and at the very least, it wouldn't be the decent kind of stress-relief method she had imagined.

However, because Ryuuen Kakeru's violent methods had brought her immense pressure regarding Points, it caused her to be a bit eager for quick success at the moment.

She actually ended up overlooking this problem that she should have been able to notice.

Thus, a tragedy ensued.

The moment the video was played, those strange-sounding moans rang out from the phone, attracting not too many, but certainly a fair number of gazes in the café.

"!!!"

Karuizawa Kei's face instantly flushed crimson.

Her fingers frantically pressed down on the volume button as if trying to weld themselves to it, bashing it until it reached mute.

"...I finally understand why he said this stress-relief method wasn't suitable for me."

Thanks to her past experiences, Horikita Suzune's psychological resilience was slightly better than Karuizawa Kei's.

Even so, her face turned red as well.

There was no help for it; having caused such a social-death-level commotion in a public place, even she had no way to remain indifferent.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Compared to her still relatively calm reaction, however, Karuizawa Kei stood up in a somewhat stress-induced state, channeling the utmost Japanese bowing spirit as she continuously apologized to the students, staff, and even customers in the café.

Things had reached this point, so she had to stand up and make a statement.

"This matter was a tacky prank pulled by a boy in our class, but we are truly sorry for disturbing everyone."

"His name is Nangong Cheng. I suppose everyone knows him. If you have any complaints, I hope you can go directly to him to settle accounts, and not drag the two of us victims into this."

With that, Horikita Suzune pulled Karuizawa Kei out of the café.

Naturally, the coffee had already been paid for in advance.

A gentle breeze blew past.

Karuizawa Kei's brain calmed down a little.

"Sorry, it's all my fault..."

"Don't blame yourself, because that guy Nangong Cheng is just that kind of person. If anything, I should have warned you instead."

Horikita Suzune merely shook her head.

Ever since Nangong Cheng uttered the words "at least it's not suitable for you right now," she should have realized that this guy was cooking up some crooked idea.

When all was said and done, Karuizawa Kei was also a victim; she wasn't petty enough to vent her anger on the other party.

"Next time I'll choose an absolutely private environment. That should avoid this kind of thing from happening."

"As for this stress-relief method..."

Horikita Suzune couldn't help but pause.

To be honest, she really hadn't expected Nangong Cheng to send such a video to a girl.

To say nothing of ruining his favorability and image, what on earth was going through his brain to make him decide to do something like this?

"I know what I'm doing!"

Karuizawa Kei hurriedly took over the topic.

Because Horikita Suzune didn't know her situation, and she had no way to speak of the system, she could only gloss over it vaguely like this.

"As for you, Horikita-san, I just hope this matter won't affect your mood or your relationship with Nangong-kun..."

Horikita Suzune shook her head.

As for her mood, it was fine; at most she was just a bit speechless, since her psychological resilience wasn't that poor.

Her impression of Nangong Cheng, however...

Was hard to describe in a few words.

Still, having frequently read classics and other books, she understood that a person's character and their capability were two completely unrelated things.