After walking swiftly down the hallway for quite a distance, Shiki finally glanced back.
Seeing no sign of that pink haired figure, his wildly beating heart finally started to calm down, and he let out a long breath.
Because of his past experiences, he had developed a habit.
Whenever he entered a new environment or met a new person, his mind would subconsciously analyze their personality and inner thoughts.
Seeing through a person’s true nature had become pure instinct for him.
It gave him a genuine sense of security.
Even with people like Togawa Sakiko and her group, he had managed to figure out most of their true nature the very first time they met.
The only problem was that he had severely underestimated the severity of their “illnesses.” He thought they just had a few personality flaws, completely unaware of how unhinged they actually were.
However, surviving them had drastically leveled up his profiling skills.
But today, in the faculty office, when he looked at that girl named Ichinose Honami, his usually flawless observation skills completely failed.
No, to be more precise, they glitched out.
He simply refused to believe the result he saw.
Every single person he had met so far had some level of difference between their outward appearance and their true nature.
This was especially true for the “bright and cheerful” types, they always had some darkness hiding deep inside.
For example, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka acted like a total pacifist who wanted nothing to do with trouble, but deep down, he was unwilling to just be a normal, average guy.
Kushida Kikyou acted like an absolute angel, but inside, she was restless and harbored a deep, dark side.
Of course, there were plenty of people whose inside and outside matched perfectly, but they were almost always negative examples—the types whose trashy nature was impossible to hide.
Like the few monkeys in his class who were constantly acting like they were in heat.
But when Shiki looked at Ichinose Honami, he couldn’t find a single trace of acting or forced politeness in her smile.
It was a genuine, warm smile straight from the heart, even when facing someone she had just met for the very first time.
This completely unsettled him.
His eyes, which could easily pierce through anyone’s mental defenses, saw absolutely nothing in Ichinose but pure honesty, vibrant energy, and overwhelming positivity.
(TL:Man…look how Ayanokoji broke her recently bro..)
Shiki couldn’t understand why.
He simply did not believe that someone could show 100% pure goodwill to a complete stranger on their very first meeting.
A normal person’s first reaction to a stranger is usually guarded observation and a polite, surface level smile.
But she was different.
The only logical explanation Shiki could come up with was that Ichinose Honami was incredibly dangerous.
Her acting skills must have reached a divine, god like level—so perfect that even he couldn’t see through it.
Compared to her, Kushida Kikyou’s acting was absolute garbage.
Realizing he couldn’t see through Ichinose, a deep sense of insecurity washed over him.
Standing in front of her, his skin crawled.
He felt exactly like a mouse staring down a cat.
He didn’t want to stay near her for a single second longer.
Shiki knew he had just met his natural predator.
She was the only existence in this entire school that actually terrified him.
The Demon King of Class B, Ichinose Honami…
what a terrifying woman!
Still shaken, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Then, Shiki pulled out his school phone and looked at the voice recorder app on the screen.
He turned the volume down, held it to his ear, and listened to a short segment.
The audio was crystal clear.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Even though he had run into a terrifying opponent, he had at least managed to secure something incredibly important.
At the very least, he wouldn’t have to worry about points for the next few months.
_____________
At 5:00 PM, Shiki, Ayanokoji, and Horikita arrived at the gymnasium.
Students were slowly trickling into the gym.
Even though it was still early, several clubs had already set up their recruitment booths.
Life sized cardboard cutouts covered in illustrations and text were placed in their respective areas.
Senior club members were busy handing out informational pamphlets, and the whole place was buzzing with energy.
“It’s really lively!”
Ayanokoji looked at the bustling crowd, then turned to the cold-faced Horikita.
“I didn’t expect you to come to the club recruitment fair.
I thought you wouldn’t be interested.”
“I’m not interested.
I just came for a different reason.”
Seeing the words ‘Leave me alone’ practically written across her face, Ayanokoji silently swallowed his follow-up questions and decided to change his target.
“Tsugikuni, are there any clubs you want to join?”
Shiki scanned the crowded area.
“I guess so.
I think the Cooking Club sounds pretty good.”
The Cooking Club?
Ayanokoji thought carefully, trying to figure out what was so special about the Cooking Club.
Horikita, however, seemed to see right through Shiki’s thoughts.
“The Cooking Club?
With how incredibly lazy you act, you don’t seem like the type to study the culinary arts.
You just want to join so you can steal food, don’t you?” she stated confidently.
“What do you mean, ‘steal food’?
I would specifically be joining to evaluate their cooking, ensuring their culinary masterpieces are properly appreciated and don’t go to waste.”
Shiki’s defense was incredibly weak, and Horikita let out a cold, mocking sneer.
“Well…” Ayanokoji slowly chimed in, acting as if he had just realized something.
“Tsugikuni, in order to maintain high standards, this school evaluates club members very strictly.
There is no such thing as slacking off.
Joining just to be lazy is basically impossible, so…”
Shiki waved his hand dismissively.
I’ll just be an honorary member.
My only job will be taste testing.”
His actual cooking skills were completely average—edible, but nothing amazing.
Although he loved good food, he wasn’t a picky eater.
He was happy when he ate something delicious, but perfectly fine with eating something average.
Horikita crossed her arms and shook her head.
“I just hope they don’t chase you out with a kitchen knife…”
As the three of them chatted casually, a line of club representatives walked up onto the gym’s main stage.
They were a highly diverse group.
Some wore martial arts uniforms, their faces stern and serious; others wore traditional kimonos, looking elegant and refined.
The person acting as the host was a short upperclassman with her hair tied in twin buns.
She was Tachibana Akane, the Student Council Secretary.
As she spoke endlessly on stage, the audience below whispered among themselves, creating a low hum of noise that hovered over the crowd.
“Alright, that covers all the important rules for today’s event.
Next, we will have the Student Council President say a few words.”
Tachibana left the microphone on the stand and walked off the stage.
This time, a young man with short black hair stepped up.
His expression was completely ice cold, and his aura was intimidating.
Behind his glasses were a pair of calm, razor sharp eyes.
He stood at the microphone without saying a word.
A few idiots in the crowd who couldn’t read the room cracked some unfunny jokes, but very quickly, under the crushing pressure of his gaze, the whispering and laughter died down.
The entire gymnasium went dead silent.
Seeing a familiar face, Shiki subtly glanced at Horikita, who looked extremely conflicted.
I knew it, he thought.
The very first time he saw Horikita Suzune, he thought she looked incredibly similar to Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President from his middle school days.
He had guessed they were probably siblings, and Suzune’s reaction right now perfectly confirmed it.
He and Horikita Manabu were technically acquaintances.
They had crossed paths during the school sports festival and interacted a bit regarding scholarship applications, but they were definitely not friends.
Horikita Manabu scanned the crowd.
Many of the students who had just been laughing loudly didn’t even dare to breathe, completely shrinking back.
When his eyes swept past his sister, he paused for a fraction of a second before moving on.
Shiki clearly saw Suzune’s body tremble violently, instantly understanding what was going on in her head.
Horikita Manabu continued scanning the room until his eyes landed on someone, stopping for a long moment.
Noticing the gaze, Shiki took the initiative and gave a small nod as a greeting.
After about thirty seconds of absolute silence, Horikita Manabu finally stopped looking around and slowly began to speak.
“I am the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu…”
His speech was very short.
The main point was that anyone wanting to join the Student Council needed to have strong capabilities and a sense of self.
He finished with some standard, formal closing remarks.
After delivering his speech in one breath, he immediately walked right out of the gymnasium.
His swift, no-nonsense attitude made it seem like he was just showing up to check a box.
Seeing Suzune’s terrible expression, Shiki couldn’t help but feel amused.
So she’s a little sister with a massive brocon complex!
The three of them went their separate ways.
Having seen the person she wanted to see, Horikita Suzune immediately left and headed back to the dorms.
Annoyed by Ayanokoji trying to follow him, Shiki shook him off and went alone to find the Cooking Club.
He planned to gather some information.
If they were nice people, he would slowly wear them down until they let him join as a taste tester.
That evening, in a rare turn of events, Shiki actually sought out Ayanokoji.
A hint of surprise actually appeared on Ayanokoji’s blank face.
“Do you need something?”
Shiki got straight to the point.
“Ayanokoji, do you know how to play chess?”
“…I know a little,” Ayanokoji replied, half lying and half telling the truth.
He knew that lying to Shiki was pointless.
Since Shiki had already seen through his true nature, there was no need to hide.
He also felt safe showing a bit of his true abilities, knowing Shiki wasn’t the type to go around gossiping.
“What about Shogi?”
“I know a little.”
“Go?”
“I know a little.”
Then I have nothing to worry about…
Shiki nodded in satisfaction.
A translation formula for Ayanokoji’s words appeared in his head: ‘I know a little’ meant ‘I am a grandmaster.’ ‘No’ meant ‘I can learn it instantly.’ ‘I’m very good at it’ meant ‘I have no idea what that is.’
“Alright then.
You’re going to teach me how to play board games.
Let’s start with chess,” Shiki said, directly stating his demands without wasting any time.
“Alright.” Ayanokoji didn’t even ask why.
Shiki pulled out the chess set he had bought.
After attending the club recruitment fair, he instantly came up with an idea to earn some extra points.
However, the exact results would depend on how much he could learn.
Either way, the cost of the board was low.
The reason he asked Ayanokoji was simply because having a teacher would make learning much faster.
Besides, the robot was just sitting around doing nothing anyway, he might as well put him to use.
______________ New chapters come out on g.com first.
A week had passed since the entrance ceremony.
However, compared to the first few days, the number of monkeys in Class D had multiplied rapidly today.
Inside the classroom, the boys’s eyes were glued to the girls as they huddled together, whispering excitedly.
Their faces were animated, and they couldn’t stop talking.
The sheer, unhinged excitement on their faces made many of the girls frown and look at them as if they were looking at disgusting bugs.
Shiki knew exactly why.
Today, they had a swimming class—boys and girls together.
Being at the peak of puberty, it was completely normal for teenage boys to want to see girls in swimsuits.
However, the things they were discussing had already crossed way past the line of what Shiki considered acceptable.
“Hey, hey, who do you guys think has the biggest chest and the best body in the class?”
“I definitely think it’s Hasebe.
Her body is literally bursting out.
I really want to bury my face in them.”
“I think it’s Sakura.
She might be super shy and quiet, and she has zero presence, but her body is absolutely insane.”
Their loud, shameless discussions—especially from the two monkeys jumping around the most, Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki—successfully drew intense glares of disgust from the girls.
“So gross.
What the hell are those guys talking about out in the open like that?!”
“Exactly.
Men are all trash!”
“Don’t say that.
At least Hirata-kun is great.”
“Yeah, so true.”
Shiki sat quietly, listening to the class chatter, silently updating his mental character relationship chart.
But as he added more data, he increasingly felt like his mind was being polluted.
Just remembering these people felt like a form of psychological torture.
Ayanokoji noticed his twitching cheek.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Shiki glanced at Ayanokoji.
“You look completely unfazed by all this.”
“Aren’t you the same?” Ayanokoji said.
“I don’t care because of my unique past experiences.
But you seem to really dislike swimming class?”
“No, I just hate doing it with other people.
It’s just as disgusting as putting on brand new underwear on New Year’s Day and being forced to show them off to everyone.”
Shiki threw out an incredibly bizarre metaphor.
Ayanokoji fell deep into thought, racking his brain to analyze and understand the weird comparison, but came up completely empty.
Ayanokoji couldn’t help but sigh.
As expected, I still have a very long way to go before I can understand normal people.
When swimming class finally started, the boys let out wild cheers and sprinted toward the pool locker rooms, eagerly anticipating the beautiful sights awaiting them.
They changed into their swim trunks in record time, rushed out of the locker rooms, and stared hungrily toward the girls’ side.
A chubby guy nicknamed ‘The Professor’ even started taking bets on which girl was the biggest, and several guys eagerly joined the chaotic gambling ring.
However, the results deeply disappointed them.
The top seeded favorite, Hasebe Haruka, was sitting in the observation area.
She wasn’t even wearing a swimsuit.
Quite a few other girls, disgusted by the boys’s perverted stares, had also chosen to sit out and watch.
Seeing their highly anticipated dreams instantly crushed, the boys howled in despair, drawing even more disgusted looks from the girls.
Fortunately, Class D’s angel, Kushida Kikyou, stepped out wearing the standard school swimsuit, proudly showing off her amazing figure.
This single sight successfully healed the boys’s broken hearts and revived their spirits.
The gym teacher, a heavily muscled man, looked at the dozen or so girls sitting out and scratched his head in annoyance.
“That’s a lot of observers today.
But you all will have to get in the water eventually.
I’ll let it slide for today, but you have to participate properly from now on.
The minimum requirement is that you all must learn how to swim…”
So there’s definitely going to be an exam involving water in the future…
Shiki was already pretty much used to the school’s Riddler style communication.
They loved hiding crucial information inside casual, everyday dialogue, terrified that someone might actually figure it out.
After leading the students through some basic stretches, the gym teacher told everyone they were free to do whatever they wanted, perfectly matching the school’s “free and open” vibe.
The girls splashed happily in the crystal clear water, their pale arms cutting through the surface.
They laughed as they splashed water at each other, causing the targets to shriek in surprise.
Shiki and Ayanokoji sat on the edge of the pool, silently watching.
They didn’t get in the water, and they didn’t play around.
They just sat there like two weathered rocks.
“Are you two roleplaying as stones?” Horikita Suzune walked over, her arms crossed.
Although she didn’t have Kushida’s massive treasure chests, Horikita’s body proportions were basically perfect, with a slender waist and long, beautiful legs.
“Stones don’t wear swimsuits, Horikita,” Shiki replied.
“I’m just sitting here keeping Ayanokoji company while he watches the girls play.
Nothing more.”
Suddenly hit by Horikita’s deeply contemptuous glare, Ayanokoji’s eyes went blank for a second.
Ayanokoji sat on the floor, turning to look at Shiki, whose swimwear was completely different from the other boys.
“Tsugikuni, do you really hate showing skin that much?”
Hearing this, Horikita frowned deeply.
She felt that Ayanokoji was truly a bizarre person.
Ignoring all the beautiful, vibrant girls in swimsuits, he chose to intensely study a man’s swimsuit instead…