Recaps

Takahashi Ren discovered the Causality Principle System on his first day at Advanced Nurturing High School and learned about the school’s points and expulsion rules. After meeting his Class A classmates, he chose to introduce himself plainly and let relationships form naturally.

• Takahashi Ren saw the Causality Principle System, which offered limited-use causal deductions and an Eye of Insight.
• Mashima Tomoya explained the school’s dormitory rules, S Points, monthly deposits of one hundred thousand points, and expulsion for failing an exam subject.
• Takahashi Ren learned that every class had received the same number of points and wondered whether the class assignments were random.
• Class A students began introducing themselves, and Takahashi Ren noticed Sakayanagi Arisu, Katsuragi Kohei, and Hayato Kito.
• Takahashi Ren introduced himself as someone who liked reading and spacing out, saying he hoped to spend three peaceful years with the class.

After settling into the dorm, Takahashi Ren befriended Asuka Shiraishi and exchanged sharp banter with Ai Morishita at the convenience store. Back in his room, he used the system to learn that next month’s points would depend on the results of a school assessment.

• Takahashi Ren wandered around campus after the entrance ceremony, then agreed to be friends with Asuka Shiraishi when she approached him at the dormitory.
• Takahashi Ren collected his key card and handbook, settled into his room, ate lunch, and went to the convenience store for daily necessities.
• Ai Morishita initially ignored Takahashi Ren, then teased him as they shopped and offered to wake him for two hundred points per use.
• Takahashi Ren used the system to investigate the school’s free areas and learned that next month’s points would vary according to the school’s assessment results.
• Takahashi Ren decided to wait until the next day to investigate the assessment and relaxed in his room.

Takahashi Ren tried to buy the contents of the monthly assessment from Mashima, then went with Ishida Yusuke and Toba Shigeshige to lunch and the club information session. The chapter left Ren applying to the Light Music Club and Ishida choosing tea ceremony.

• Takahashi Ren asked Mashima to sell him the assessment contents, but Mashima named a price of two million points and questioned Ren about his entrance exam scores.
• Takahashi Ren encountered Sakayanagi outside the faculty office.
• Ishida Yusuke and Toba Shigeshige invited Takahashi Ren to lunch, and the three created a group chat called “Passersby A, B, and C.”
• Takahashi Ren encouraged Ishida Yusuke to explore the clubs, and they attended the information session at the First Gymnasium.
• Takahashi Ren applied to the Light Music Club, while Ishida Yusuke chose tea ceremony.

Takahashi Ren attended his first Light Music Club meeting, where he tested his keyboard skills and learned about the club’s paid performances. On the way back, he encouraged Kobayashi Wakaba to face her fear of performing, then thought of his big brother and hoped to experience playing music with friends himself.

• Takahashi Ren joined the Light Music Club’s introductions and stumbled through a keyboard test as the members welcomed him and Kobayashi Wakaba.
• Kato Rin explained that the club played paid sets at partner establishments, with its next performance scheduled for the following Saturday.
• Kobayashi Wakaba asked Takahashi Ren how to overcome stage fright, and he encouraged her to trust the decision that led her to join the club.
• Kobayashi resolved to do her best, and Takahashi Ren walked with her beneath the setting sun.
• Takahashi Ren remembered his big brother and wished to experience playing music with friends for himself.

Takahashi Ren struggled through track and field before Sakayanagi warned Class A that the school might change its monthly points and told them to keep the information secret. After school, Morishita invited herself to judge the light music club’s performance and granted Takahashi permission to call her by her full name.

• Takahashi Ren and his classmates completed a 1,200-meter run and fifty-meter races, where Takahashi finished fourth in his group.
• Sakayanagi told Class A that their points and the campus’s free areas might be part of an assessment, and she instructed them to keep the information from the other classes.
• Takahashi Ren invited Toba Shigeru to the light music club’s Saturday performance and told him he had about 81,000 points left.
• Morishita stopped Takahashi Ren on the way to the dorms, complained that he had not invited her to the performance, and said she would judge it strictly.

The Light Music Club performed at Dreamsound Box, where Takahashi Ren and the others played to a full audience. After the successful show, the club celebrated together and left for the night.

• Takahashi Ren arrived at Dreamsound Box and helped the club prepare as students filled the audience.
• Kato Rin introduced the performance, and the Light Music Club played three songs, with Kobayashi Wakaba handling her guitar solo without mistakes.
• The audience applauded enthusiastically, and students surrounded Kato Rin with gifts and requests for photos and autographs.
• Toba Shigeru and Ishida praised Takahashi Ren, while Ai Morishita called the performance inferior to her own music.
• Takahashi Ren, Yamada, and Ishikawa returned the instruments while Kobayashi Wakaba waited for Kato Rin to finish with the crowd.
• Kato Rin toasted the club at their dinner, and the members chatted before saying goodbye in the night.

Takahashi Ren spent his Sunday reading and talking with Shiina Hiyori before unexpectedly meeting Miki Yamamura at Keyaki Mall. He offered Yamamura his friendship, and she accepted before hurrying away.

• Takahashi Ren met Shiina Hiyori in the library, and they talked about books before reading together.
• Shiina invited Takahashi Ren to lunch and offered to lend him mystery novels, but he declined because they did not interest him.
• Takahashi Ren later spotted Miki Yamamura at Keyaki Mall and approached her to say hello.
• Takahashi Ren told Yamamura she was lying about preferring to be alone and asked whether she would accept another friend.
• Yamamura agreed to be friends with Takahashi Ren, then bowed and hurried away.

Takahashi Ren took a quiz, joked with Toba Shigeru and Ishida, and foiled Ai Morishita’s cockroach-gum prank. Shiraishi tried to get closer to him, but his Eye of Insight revealed that she viewed him as a lab rat, and the chapter ended with him paying for his friends’ café drinks.

• Takahashi Ren solved all three of the quiz’s difficult questions, surprising Ishida and Toba Shigeru.
• Ai Morishita tried to scare Takahashi Ren with cockroach gum and recorded his reaction, but he turned the teasing back on her.
• Shiraishi summoned Takahashi Ren, took his hand, and said she wanted to be closer to him; he pulled away and left.
• Takahashi Ren’s Eye of Insight revealed that Shiraishi regarded him as an interesting lab rat to study and toy with.
• Takahashi Ren, Ishida, and Toba Shigeru talked about their first month at school and worried about whether their points would change.
• Takahashi Ren paid for the three friends’ café drinks, while Toba Shigeru promised to pay next time.

Mashima announced the classes’ reduced scores and explained how class points and transfers worked, prompting Class A to debate whether Sakayanagi or Katsuragi should lead it. Takahashi Ren stayed neutral and later decided to keep an eye on Miki Yamamura, who remained unnoticed by most of the class.

• Mashima posted the latest class scores, praised Class A’s 940 points, and explained that points determined class rankings and that transferring classes cost twenty million points.
• Hashimoto urged Class A to choose a leader, and most students supported Sakayanagi until Totsuka objected and backed Katsuragi.
• Sakayanagi proposed crushing Class B, while Katsuragi argued for targeting Class D first; their disagreement remained unresolved when the bell rang.
• Ai Morishita told Takahashi Ren that she also did not mind who became leader, while Ishida supported Katsuragi and Toba Shigeru said he had not decided.
• Takahashi asked Ishida and Toba whether they knew Miki Yamamura, then resolved to pay more attention to her himself.

Takahashi Ren refused to join either faction in Class A, telling Sakayanagi he would stay out of her contest with Katsuragi. Afterward, he encouraged Yamamura to continue spying for Sakayanagi while choosing carefully what information to report, then took her to a café.

• Takahashi Ren met with Sakayanagi, who asked whether he thought she or Katsuragi should lead the class.
• Takahashi Ren said he would not get involved and warned Sakayanagi that expelling him could hurt her faction; he then left.
• Sakayanagi decided to have Kamuro watch Takahashi Ren while she dealt with Katsuragi.
• Yamamura told Takahashi Ren that Sakayanagi had asked her to spy on their classmates, and he advised her to do the job while using discretion in her reports.
• Takahashi Ren took Yamamura to a café, where she admitted she had failed to make new friends because classmates soon forgot her.

Ai Morishita’s attempt to defeat Takahashi Ren with eraser crumbs ended in another loss, while their classmates teased Ren about his rapport with her. Later, Ren spotted Kikyo Kushida behaving unlike the “little angel” she seemed to be and followed her upstairs to learn more.

• Ai Morishita fired eraser-crumb shells at Takahashi Ren, but he knocked her out with a tossed eraser and she added another mark to her notebook.
• Ishida and Toba Shigeru teased Takahashi Ren about having a special connection with Morishita, then discussed school rankings on their way to lunch.
• Toba Shigeru pointed out Kikyo Kushida, whom he said had asked him to be friends, and Ishida scolded him for keeping it secret.
• After club activities, Takahashi Ren saw Kikyo Kushida go upstairs with a boy and heard her curse Horikita and kick a door.
• Takahashi Ren followed Kushida and the boy up the stairs, curious about her outburst and their relationship.

Takahashi Ren and Ayanokoji caught Kushida threatening to frame Ayanokoji, but Ren intervened and persuaded her to keep the incident private. A week later, Ren met a secretive guest in his dorm room.

• Takahashi Ren and Ayanokoji discovered Kushida acting aggressively on the stairs, and Kushida demanded they keep what they heard secret.
• Kushida tried to force Ayanokoji's hand onto her chest so she could accuse him, but Takahashi Ren stopped her.
• Takahashi Ren told Kushida he respected her choices and appreciated her real self, and she agreed to trust them to stay quiet.
• Kushida put on her usual smile and left, and Ayanokoji thanked Takahashi Ren for intervening.
• A week later, Takahashi Ren prepared black tea in his dorm and welcomed a guest who said no one had seen her.

Kushida visited Takahashi Ren to discuss compensation and whether she could trust him to keep her secret. Their talk ended with a tentative possibility of friendship, though Takahashi Ren sensed their troubles were not over.

• Kushida questioned Takahashi Ren about why he had interfered between her and Ayanokoji, and he promised not to reveal her secret.
• Kushida asked Takahashi Ren to give her leverage over him, but he refused and insisted that he kept his promises.
• Kushida accepted his assurance for now, postponed deciding on compensation, and claimed she wanted to settle things peacefully with Ayanokoji.
• Before leaving, Kushida asked whether they could still be friends, and Takahashi Ren said he would not refuse if she wanted to be.
• After Kushida left, Takahashi Ren reflected that their matter had only temporarily settled and that his peaceful routine might already have changed.

Takahashi Ren used a bluff to learn whether Kamuro Masumi had witnessed the incident involving Kushida, and the Eye of Insight confirmed her account. After Kamuro reported that Ren had caught her, Sakayanagi reassigned her to watch Katsuragi and planned to find another watcher for Ren.

• Takahashi Ren received his midterm results, scoring eighty-one in English, the same as Ai Morishita, while Toba Shigeru teased him for scoring higher in English.
• Takahashi Ren noticed Kamuro Masumi following him at the mall and stopped her to question her about where she had been after school two weeks earlier.
• Takahashi Ren bluffed that he was a covert asset for Sakayanagi, and Kamuro revealed that she had followed him to the clubroom before leaving partway through.
• The Eye of Insight confirmed Kamuro Masumi was telling the truth, and Takahashi Ren told her to say only that he had caught her.
• Kamuro Masumi reported the encounter to Sakayanagi, who ended her assignment to watch Takahashi Ren and ordered her to watch Katsuragi instead.

Class A received its delayed points after the school investigated a fight between Class C and Class D, while Ryuen warned that Class A would be his next target. After school, Sugio Dai asked Takahashi Ren for help dealing with Ai Morishita, and Takahashi agreed to speak with her.

• Mashima announced the new class-point totals and said the first-years' personal-point distribution was delayed because of a dispute.
• Ryuen Kakeru entered Class A with Ishizaki, Ibuki, and Albert, mocked the class for lacking an agreed leader, and vowed to defeat it after Classes D and B.
• Takahashi Ren ate lunch with Toba Shigeru and Ishida, noticed Ai Morishita dining alone, and heard his friends argue about Kushida.
• Mashima explained that the school was investigating a fight between Class C and Class D, but no students volunteered as witnesses.
• Sugio Dai asked Takahashi Ren to teach him how to fight back against Ai Morishita, and Takahashi said he would talk to her.

Takahashi Ren helped Ai Morishita agree to befriend Miki Yamamura, then spent the afternoon reading and talking with Shiina Hiyori. The chapter ended with Ren and Shiina sharing dinner and walking back across campus together.

• Takahashi Ren met Shiina Hiyori at Palette and invited her to join him at the library that afternoon.
• Ai Morishita agreed to mess with Sugio Dai less if Ren let her win a round, then told him about her test for finding companions as the heir to Fallen Cherry Blossom Swordsmanship.
• Takahashi Ren revealed that he wanted Ai to befriend Miki Yamamura, and Ai agreed to meet her.
• Takahashi Ren introduced Ai Morishita to Miki Yamamura and left them to talk.
• Takahashi Ren and Shiina Hiyori read and discussed books at the library, then ate dinner together.

Takahashi Ren cooked a Dragon Country meal for Ishida and Toba Shigeru, who praised the food and talked about Ren’s time abroad. Ishida admitted he feared being expelled, but tried to set aside his anxiety and enjoy his time with his friends.

• Toba Shigeru asked Ishida and Takahashi Ren how to get a girlfriend, and Takahashi Ren explained the love compensation effect and its limits.
• Takahashi Ren served tomato and egg soup, napa cabbage stewed with tofu, fish-fragrant shredded pork, and stir-fried pork with chili peppers; Ishida and Toba Shigeru enjoyed the meal.
• Takahashi Ren told Ishida and Toba Shigeru that he had lived in Dragon Country for three years and encouraged them to visit.
• Ishida said he worried that he might be expelled after hearing that a student in Class A had been expelled.
• Takahashi Ren and Toba Shigeru reassured Ishida, who decided to put his worries aside when spending time with his friends.

Takahashi Ren and his classmates arrived at a school-owned uninhabited island expecting a vacation, but Mashima announced a weeklong special exam in which each class had to manage its points and compete for occupation sites. Class A appointed Katsuragi as leader and headed into the forest after postponing a dispute over toilet facilities.

• Ishida, Toba Shigeru, and Takahashi Ren relaxed aboard the cruise ship before an announcement called the students to the deck to view an island.
• Mashima told Class A that the school’s first special exam would take place on the uninhabited island, prompting students to protest the loss of their vacation.
• Mashima explained that each class had three hundred exam points to spend or save, and described penalties, occupation rights, and the final-day leader-guessing challenge.
• With Sakayanagi absent, Class A accepted Katsuragi as its leader despite dissatisfaction from the Sakayanagi Faction.
• Class A argued over whether to buy a temporary flush toilet or use a makeshift one, then began moving into the forest to choose a base and occupation sites.

Class A claimed its sites, and Ryuen approached Katsuragi with an offer to cooperate during the Uninhabited Island test. Katsuragi accepted conditionally, leaving the deal dependent on Ryuen producing Class B and Class D's Leader Key Cards.

• Katsuragi and Totsuka returned after finding all of Class A's sites, and Katsuragi warned that they could not focus only on their own class.
• Ryuen appeared with a large foreigner and asked to speak privately with Katsuragi.
• Ryuen said he had recognized Katsuragi's staged display of conflict with Sakayanagi and offered Class C's supplies and aid in exchange for monthly Personal Points from Class A.
• Ryuen offered to provide the points for correctly guessing Class B and Class D's leaders, and Katsuragi agreed to the deal if Ryuen showed him their Leader Key Cards.

Katsuragi persuaded Class A to cooperate with Ryuuen's Class C during the Uninhabited Island Exam, while Takahashi Ren spent a quiet morning exploring the island with Kamuro. At the exam's conclusion, Class D unexpectedly took first place and Class C came last, leaving Ryuuen stunned and Class A demanding answers from Katsuragi.

• Katsuragi explained Ryuuen's cooperation deal to Class A, and the students agreed to move to a cavern base.
• Takahashi Ren went for an early walk and Kamuro warned him that Sakayanagi had arranged for someone else to watch him.
• Takahashi Ren and Kamuro found a river, where he sat to space out while Kamuro questioned Sakayanagi's plans.
• After a week on the island, Mashima announced Class C in last place with zero points, Class A in third with 120, Class B in second with 140, and Class D in first with 225.
• Class A confronted Katsuragi over the unexpected results, while he wondered where the plan had gone wrong.

Takahashi Ren, Toba Shigeru, and Ishida reconstructed how their class lost 150 points in the leader-guessing round and speculated about the deals and evidence behind the guesses. They could not determine how Class D identified their leader, and the conversation ended with Toba Shigeru and Ishida jokingly wrestling.

• Takahashi Ren explained that their class began with 270 points and lost 150 because of incorrect and correct leader guesses.
• Takahashi Ren and Toba Shigeru reasoned that Ryuen had likely provided Katsuragi with tangible evidence about other classes' leaders as part of a private deal.
• Ishida realized that Class D could have changed its leader midway through the exam using a valid reason.
• Takahashi Ren confirmed that Class B had not guessed any class's leader, but admitted he did not know how Class D identified his class's leader.
• Toba Shigeru and Ishida bickered and started a playful sumo match while Takahashi Ren sighed at them.

As the students relaxed aboard the cruise ship, Takahashi Ren heard a rumor about Shiraishi and then learned that Toba Shigeru had encountered her at the pool. The school announced a new special exam, separating Takahashi from his friends and leaving them to prepare for their assigned rooms and times.

• Ishida told Takahashi Ren that an unsupported rumor claimed Shiraishi had been involved with about a dozen boys, and Takahashi dismissed it as baseless gossip.
• Toba Shigeru returned from the pool, excited that Shiraishi's hair had brushed his left pinky finger.
• The school announced a special exam and instructed students to assemble in assigned rooms at specific times.
• Takahashi Ren learned he had to report to Room 201 at eight o'clock, while Ishida and Toba Shigeru were assigned to Room 203 at seven forty.
• Takahashi advised Ishida and Toba to think ahead and contact him if they needed help during the exam.

Takahashi Ren learned that the first-year special exam would place students from different classes into zodiac groups and challenge each group to identify a hidden VIP. After the briefing, he left with Satonaka Satoshi calling him to wait.

• Takahashi Ren arrived at room 203 and joined Shijo Taiga and Satonaka Satoshi for Sakagami’s explanation of the exam.
• Sakagami told them they belonged to the fourteen-member Snake Group and instructed them to set aside their class affiliations.
• The students learned that each group had a VIP and that their answers could bring personal rewards, class points, or penalties, with an early correct report ending the exam.
• Sakagami explained the group meetings, answer deadlines, and rules against coercion, phone theft, and sharing or altering school emails.
• Takahashi Ren left the room, remarked that the exam seemed more complicated than the island exam, and stopped when Satonaka Satoshi called after him.

Takahashi Ren refused to tell Satonaka Satoshi what Ai Morishita liked, then considered Katsuragi’s strategy of inaction for the VIP exam. The students learned they had not been selected as VIPs, while Takahashi remained concerned that Katsuragi’s cautious plan could let Class A lose its lead.

• Satonaka Satoshi asked Takahashi Ren what Ai Morishita liked and whether he had feelings for her, but Takahashi refused to help and challenged him about the question.
• Takahashi Ren returned to the dorm and discussed the exam with Toba Shigeru and Ishida, who had little confidence in their group.
• Katsuragi announced that Class A should avoid discussion and speculation so the VIP’s identity would remain hidden and reduce the risk of losing points.
• Takahashi Ren judged that Katsuragi’s defensive plan could allow other classes to gain ground and suspected Katsuragi had lost his drive after the Uninhabited Island defeat.
• At eight, Takahashi Ren, Toba Shigeru, and Ishida received emails confirming none of them had been selected as VIPs, and Takahashi went back to sleep.

Takahashi Ren joined Class A’s silent protest during the first group discussion, then met Ai Morishita, who suspected the school’s VIP selections followed a pattern. Using his system, he found a likely rule and left the café without revealing whether he had noticed Ai’s teasing.

• Takahashi Ren, Shijo, and Satoshi Satonaka withdrew to a corner after Shijo announced that Class A would stay silent during the discussion.
• Takahashi Ren met Ai Morishita in the café, where she proposed that the school had used a pattern to select each group’s VIP.
• Takahashi Ren used his system to infer that the VIP was the member whose name occupied the position matching the group’s zodiac animal in gojūon order.
• Takahashi Ren agreed to keep the pattern from Katsuragi and the Sakayanagi Faction, and Ai Morishita offered him half of her Personal Points reward.
• Ai Morishita told Takahashi Ren to leave while she chatted with Yamamura, then began speaking slyly behind him as he walked away.