Invitation

"Those new students are such idiots, spending their Private Points like there's no tomorrow."

"You're one to talk. Didn't you do the same thing?"

The voices in the recording were a jumble, but it wasn't entirely fruitless. The phrases he heard most often were things like "Class D rejects" and "a bunch of useless trash."

"Things really aren't that simple. I'll stop thinking about it for now and get some sleep." Lezheng lay down on his bed.

Ding!

The elevator doors opened. Since the morning rush for school hadn't started yet, there was only one girl inside.

The girl stood quietly in a corner of the elevator, holding a book, looking particularly out of place in that setting.

She had long silver hair and purple eyes beneath slender eyebrows. Her figure was very slight, and she wore a school uniform. Despite her outstanding looks, the first impression she gave was "keep away."

Only when the elevator reached the first floor did the girl put her book into her schoolbag and slowly head toward the school building.

Rather than heading to the classroom like the girl, Lezheng made his way to the cafeteria.

"Would you mind if I sat here?" A light, clear voice came from his left.

"There are plenty of empty seats around. Why would you want to sit here?" Lezheng turned to glance at the newcomer before lowering his head and continuing his breakfast.

"Because I want to learn more about you." Sakayanagi disregarded Lezheng's words entirely and set her tray down across from him.

"Can an ordinary person like me, with nothing outstanding about him, really be your friend?"

"You're far too modest, Lezheng. I know very well how formidable you are."

"That's just your imagination. I'm an ordinary student."

"Thank you for the food." Rather than responding, Sakayanagi pressed her palms together in a customary gesture, then changed the subject. "Lezheng, would you walk to the classroom with me after breakfast?"

"Give me a moment." Lezheng took out his phone, tapped on it briefly, and set it down. "Classmate Sakayanagi, I don't want to get involved in your 'war' with Katsuragi."

"Then have you decided what you intend to do going forward, Lezheng?"

"As everyone knows, triangles are stable."

"But a triangle's angles can differ in size."

"Perhaps. But there's also a special case, isn't there?" Lezheng picked up his tray and left.

At the same time, a disgruntled Kamuro sat down two seats away from Sakayanagi.

"Wh-what a coincidence, Lezheng." A voice stopped Lezheng just as he left the cafeteria.

"Good morning, Yamamura." Lezheng greeted Yamamura as she approached him.

"Good morning. Did you just finish breakfast too? Want to walk to the classroom together?" Yamamura tightly gripped the bottom of her uniform with her fingers.

"Let's go."

The first lesson that morning was math, taught by Mr. Mashima. Lezheng had thought it would be an ordinary math lesson, but Mr. Mashima put a problem on the board for them to solve in class. It didn't look simple, either, since he said there were multiple ways to solve it.

"Tch! What the hell is this problem?" Kamuro scratched her head in frustration.

"If you put your talent for... well, that sort of thing into this instead, you could qualify as a genius." Lezheng glanced at the struggling Kamuro and made a jibe.

"You bastard. As if you know how to solve it."

"Guess whether I do."

"What are you, an elementary school kid?!" Kamuro looked at Lezheng with disgust.

"I'll take that as a compliment about how young I am. Want me to teach you, auntie?" Lezheng turned around with a grin.

"Tch! No thanks."

"Has anyone solved it?" Mashima surveyed the students with a smile.

"Sir, let me go first." Katsuragi raised his hand.

"Then come up and write out your solution, Katsuragi." Mashima gave him the floor.

"Anyone else?" After Katsuragi finished writing his solution, Mashima asked again.

"Since Katsuragi has finished, let me give it a try as well." Sakayanagi walked unhurriedly up to the front.

Sakayanagi seemed to have deliberately waited for Katsuragi to finish before going up, because she wrote out two solutions in one go.

"Katsuragi, it looks like I've won this time!" Sakayanagi smiled slightly.

"It's just one problem. Maybe you simply got lucky." Totsuka jumped in at that point.

"Would anyone else like to come up?" Mashima interrupted their argument.

"I will." Lezheng raised his hand.

Lezheng wrote one solution on the board, then stepped down from the front. When he returned to his seat, he pointed two fingers at his own eyes for Kamuro to see.

"Wait, you actually know how to do it?!" Kamuro was a little surprised.

Mr. Mashima waited a few more minutes, confirmed that no one else was coming up, and began explaining the problem. Fortunately, all three of them had answered correctly, or it would have been mortifying.

"Very good. Three people in our class managed to solve it. I hear only two people in the previous year solved it. Classmate Sakayanagi, in particular..."

The corners of her mouth are practically reaching the sky, Mr. Mashima. Lezheng leaned against the wall and chuckled.

The end of the morning lessons also marked the arrival of lunch break, but Class A received a visitor.

"Excuse me, which of you is Lezheng Youyan?" The girl who had hosted club recruitment in the Gymnasium stood at the front door, looking around Class A's classroom.

"Me." Seeing that she had come for him, Lezheng raised his hand in puzzlement.

"Could you come outside with me, Lezheng?" Tachibana beckoned.

"Hello, upperclassman. What did you need me for?" Lezheng walked out through the back door and over to Tachibana.

"The president wants to see you. Come with me." With that, Tachibana walked ahead to lead the way.

Lezheng frowned slightly and followed. He thought back over what he had done in the past few days but couldn't find anything bad he had done. Why would the Student Council President want to see him?

Tachibana opened the door to the Student Council Activity Room. Looking inside, Lezheng saw a stern-faced man wearing glasses seated behind a desk. He reckoned this was the Student Council President who wanted to see him.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Horikita Manabu from Class 3-A, currently serving as Student Council President." Horikita Manabu stood up and gave a brief introduction.

"I'm Lezheng Youyan from Class 1-A. May I ask why you wanted to see me, President?" Lezheng asked tentatively.

"Would you be interested in joining the Student Council?"

Lezheng had thought he was going to be interrogated, but it turned out to be something like this.

"What duties do Student Council members have?"

"The Student Council is responsible for managing club funds, maintaining fairness on campus, and providing assistance... Those are roughly the three duties." Horikita paused briefly during the explanation, light glinting off the lenses of her glasses.

"All right, I'll join the Student Council. Let me make this clear first: I won't take part in factional disputes." Seeing that he hadn't managed to draw out the information he wanted, Lezheng abandoned any further thoughts of doing so.

"Fill out this application form and hand it to me before the afternoon break."

Taking the application form Horikita Manabu handed over, Lezheng said his goodbyes.

"President, is there something special about this Lezheng Youyan?" Tachibana voiced her question.

"Look at his file." Horikita took a document out of the drawer and placed it on the desk. It plainly displayed the scores the teachers had given Lezheng upon his enrollment.

Lezheng Youyan

Academic ability: A+

Intelligence: A+

Judgment: A+

Physical ability: A+

Teamwork: A

Comments: Far surpasses his peers in every area. His intelligence, judgment, and physical fitness are provisionally rated A+. One of the few to complete Ozaki's Eight Items. His only shortcoming is a slight case of adolescent delusions of grandeur (perhaps it would be more accurate to say he has psychological issues). He has therefore been assigned to Class A for observation.