“Oh.” Ichinose didn’t ask any further, but a question still lingered in her mind.
She couldn’t help but ask, “Tsugikuni-kun, since you know the truth about the school, why don’t you tell the students in Class D?
They are your classmates, right?”
“First of all, let me correct you on something, Ichinose.” Shiki looked at her.
“Being classmates doesn’t mean we have a close relationship.
It’s simply the result of a sorting process, like tossing items into different boxes.
Secondly…”
He paused, his expression looking as disgusted as if he had just swallowed a live fly.
“That bunch of weirdos aren’t worth a single drop of my energy.
Just looking at them every day feels like I’m taking permanent, unhealable mental damage.
It’s literally like living in a recycling bin.
Well, I guess I’m a piece of trash in there too, but…”
“Eh—you shouldn’t talk about yourself like that, Tsugikuni-kun!
You’re clearly amazing.
You easily saw through the school’s hidden exam, so how could you put yourself down?” Ichinose shook her head vigorously.
Shiki felt like she was overacting just a bit.
At that moment, Hoshinomiya looked at him with a sweet smile.
“Then, does Shiki-kun want to join Class B?
You can transfer classes for 20 million points, you know.
I think a highly capable kid like you would be very popular over here.”
Shiki shook his head and firmly refused.
“Pass.
With that many points, I could do basically anything.
Besides, I have the academic ability to get into a good university on my own.
I’m just earning points for living expenses and college tuition.”
Hoshinomiya’s smile didn’t waver.
“You misunderstood me.
I meant that Class B will cover your transfer fee.
With your abilities, I’m sure the kids in Class B would be more than happy to welcome such a strong addition.
Right, Honami-chan?”
“Ah, right!
Absolutely,” Ichinose nodded hurriedly.
“No need.
If you ever need to make a deal, just contact me.
As long as the points are paid, I’ll provide assistance.” Shiki rejected them without a second of hesitation.
Going to Class B would be like a sheep walking straight into a tiger’s den.
Ichinose is literally right there.
Plus, he didn’t want to owe anyone a massive favor.
If he joined them, he would definitely be forced to exhaust himself coming up with strategies for the class.
It was much better to just be on his own.
“Is that so?
What a shame.” Hoshinomiya looked genuinely disappointed.
If this kid joined them, it would definitely stop that bitch Sae from moving up to Class A.
But it seems he doesn’t want to get involved in Class D’s struggles anyway, which is a good thing.
“Since our business here is done, I’ll be leaving.” Before the two women could even react, Shiki vanished down the hallway in a flash.
“Wait—” The word got stuck in Ichinose’s throat, leaving her looking visibly depressed.
“Am I really that much of a bother?
I feel like Tsugikuni-kun really doesn’t like me…”
“How could that be?
Honami-chan is so cute and pretty, every kid in class is completely charmed by you.
It must just be a misunderstanding,” Hoshinomiya quickly reassured her.
She still fully intended for Ichinose to charm the guy into joining Class B in the future.
“You think so…” Ichinose reluctantly accepted the answer.
She truly couldn’t think of a single bad thing she had ever done to him.
Having finally secured the two million points, Shiki had a full wallet and zero panic.
Even his usually lazy, half asleep expression carried a clear hint of joy and excitement.
If he spent it carefully, he wouldn’t have to worry about food or clothes for the next three years.
Now, it was time to start earning his college tuition.
_____________
That evening, in Ayanokoji’s dorm room, the brown haired boy stared intently at the chess board on the floor.
After a long silence, he let out a deep sigh.
“I lost.”
After experiencing three draws, he had finally fallen one move short, losing to Shiki for the very first time.
Those two words felt heavier than he imagined they would, yet he didn’t feel a single ounce of frustration.
Instead, he felt a burning excitement.
Even his usually perfectly calm, stagnant mind was suddenly raging with turbulent waves.
In just seven short days, he had watched Shiki go from a complete beginner who only knew the basic rules to soaking up experience like a sponge, and finally defeating him.
Ayanokoji found it completely unbelievable.
Because his own chess skills had also been steadily improving during their matches—yet he still lost.
This meant that Shiki’s learning speed had actually surpassed his own.
He was the ultimate “Masterpiece” who had survived the White Room, a secret facility overflowing with absolute monsters.
Compared to naturalborn geniuses, his greatest weapon was his completely incomprehensible learning ability.
It was what allowed him to surpass countless opponents who had started way ahead of him.
He never expected to be completely outclassed in evolution speed by some guy in a normal high school.
Is he really just an ordinary high schooler?
Is he truly not someone secretly trained by the White Room?
Ayanokoji had countless thoughts running through his head.
He looked up at an equally exhausted Shiki and asked:
“Tsugikuni, who exactly are you?”
“Just a high schooler who’s good at imitating.”
Shiki let out a long yawn.
For the past few days, he had gone straight to the library after school to read chess books, then went to Ayanokoji’s room for guidance, and finally went back to his own room to analyze his failures and study his opponent until midnight.
Tonight, he had finally won a game. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Right now, he just felt incredibly tired.
He wanted to go back and catch up on all the sleep he had sacrificed over the past week.
Speaking of which, with this skill level, I should be able to go crush the club now, right?
Shiki stared blankly at the white ceiling, his eyes totally unfocused.
A high schooler who’s good at imitating?
Ayanokoji thought that answer was very fitting for Shiki.
“I have nothing left to teach you.”
“Oh.
Then let’s start Shogi tomorrow.”
“…Alright.”
Ayanokoji wanted to see just how far this guy could go.
Could he completely surpass him in everything?
Just thinking about it made his heart burn with fierce anticipation.
Seeing that Ayanokoji didn’t refuse, Shiki once again marveled at whatever factory had produced this humanoid learning machine.
They really are geniuses.
This guy is way too useful!
No tuition fees, answers every request, and even does his own maintenance.
This is absolutely amazing!
If he came in the form of a beautiful girl, I’d definitely have to seriously reward that factory.
(TL:kewk)
The next day, as soon as the dismissal bell rang, Shiki headed straight toward the club activity building.
Honestly, even though this school was a bit insane in some areas, the treatment they gave capable students was incredibly high.
Even the clubs were all massively well funded.
But at the same time, the clubs maintained very high standards.
They generally didn’t welcome complete beginners—or rather, beginners couldn’t keep up with their intense pace.
So anyone who actually managed to join usually had prior experience.
Walking down the hallway, Shiki passed by several club rooms before finally stopping in front of a door marked [Chess Club].
He knocked politely, waited a few seconds, and pushed the door open.
An upperclassman looked at the stranger in surprise.
“Excuse me, are you looking for someone?”
“No.
I’m here to challenge the entire club,” Shiki said with absolute, perfect manners.
The upperclassman’s face scrunched up in deep confusion.
Challenge the club?
Bro, how are you saying such aggressive, fighting words in such a polite, gentle tone?
No matter the time or place, normal people wouldn’t be polite to someone showing up just to pick a fight.
Seeing some arrogant kid walking in to kick down their door, the other club members all stood up, glaring coldly at Shiki.
“You’re a freshman, right?
If you apologize right now, we’ll let this slide.
But if you keep acting stubborn, don’t blame us for not holding back.”
A guy who was clearly the club president stepped forward, his tone terrifyingly serious.
Shiki casually scanned the people glaring at him.
“Thanks for the warning, but I specifically came here today to challenge you all.
50,000 points a game.
Winner takes all.
Do you have the guts to accept?”
The members finally understood.
This guy was trying to treat them like NPCs to farm points.
Everyone laughed in pure anger.
“Fine.” The president led Shiki to a chess table and sat down.
“Let’s get one thing straight.
When you lose everything, don’t go crying to the teachers.”
Shiki felt the guy in front of him was actually pretty nice.
It was just a shame that he himself wasn’t a good person.
“Thanks for the reminder.
As long as you upperclassmen have enough points to pay up, it’s fine.” He kept up his arrogant, punchable attitude.
“Heh—”
The senior laughed angrily, completely determined to teach this arrogant junior a harsh lesson.
And then…
Staring at the completely hopeless position on the board, the president was sweating profusely.
After thinking for a long time, he could only bitterly surrender.
“I lost…”
Shiki collected his points with total satisfaction.
“I’ll go next!” Another walking ATM stepped up to hand over his cash.
Shiki’s eyes lit up brightly.
“Welcome, welcome…”
And just like that, Shiki swept through the room like a hurricane, effortlessly crushing every single member of the Chess Club one by one.
Honestly, a lot of them quickly realized they were absolutely no match for the challenger.
But they had their pride to uphold.
Plus, with everyone around them fearlessly stepping up like they were fighting a raid boss, sitting back and doing nothing just felt wrong.
Whether they could win was an issue of skill, but whether they stepped up was an issue of attitude!
Because of this, many of them had no choice but to bite the bullet and essentially hand their money straight to Shiki.
Shiki looked at the point balance on his phone with pure joy.
2,739,087 points.
Two million came from the Class B deal, and the remaining 650,000 were a friendly, generous donation from the Chess Club.
(TL:Rich~)
The club president looked at Shiki, who was drowning in happiness, and smiled bitterly.
“With your skill level, you just pretended to be an arrogant challenger specifically to bait us into betting points, didn’t you?”
In his later matches, Shiki had actually been playing instructionally, pointing out their flaws and teaching them as they played.
He acted nothing like the arrogant jerk he had pretended to be at the start.
“Sorry.
If I had just challenged you normally, you all would have stopped playing after losing one or two games.
I had no choice but to use this method,” Shiki said gently.
These guys are my sugar daddies!
The students at Advanced Nurturing High School are truly so friendly and loving!
“You really backed us into a corner…” The president shook his head helplessly.
In the heated atmosphere from earlier, even if they knew they couldn’t win, they had to step up.
It was a brilliant, open trap.
But fortunately, they didn’t walk away with nothing.
The guy had been giving them free high-level lessons in the later games anyway, so they just treated the lost points as tuition fees.
“Do you want to join the club?
With your skills, you would definitely shine,” the president offered.
“No thanks.
I was just here to act as a tuition thief.
I don’t actually have much interest in chess.”
Shiki left with a massive haul, leaving behind a completely defeated room of players.
Talented people really make you jealous…The president shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.
Five minutes later, the club room door opened once again.
A delicate, soft voice echoed through the room, accompanied by swaying silver hair.
(TL:cute…)
“Excuse me.
I’m here to challenge the club.”
Every single member of the Chess Club turned green in the face.
Another one?!
Shiki suddenly realized that even though this school was a bit insane, it was actually a pretty great place for someone like him.
Not only did they provide free housing, but if you kept a clear head, you could even make a massive fortune.
If things kept going like this, he might not have to worry about money for years after graduation.
Of course, if his classmates could be swapped out for a batch of normal people, it would be even better.
_____________
The moment the bell rang, before the teacher even formally ended the class, Ike’s voice eagerly rang out.
“Hey, Ayanokoji!
Wanna go hang out at the sports field?”
The math teacher just gave him a cold look, silently packed up his things, and left the room.
Before Ayanokoji could even refuse, Ike threw an arm around his shoulder and dragged him away.
Lately, through his connection with Sudou, Ayanokoji had somehow managed to infiltrate the Idiot Trio’s little circle, becoming the invisible fourth member.
“The Idiot Trio” was a derogatory nickname some students used for Sudou Ken, Ike Kanji, and Yamauchi Haruki.
Sudou was hot tempered, Ike was narcissistic and couldn’t read the room, and Yamauchi loved to brag.
A lot of people in the class secretly looked down on them.
Horikita packed up her textbooks and cast a pitying glance at Shiki.
“How pathetic.
It seems your little buddy has abandoned you.”
“Leaving aside whether he actually is my buddy or not, even if he was, that’s still better than being a complete loner like you.
At least I had someone once.
Unlike a certain someone…
Sigh…”
Completely ignoring her icy glare, Shiki shoved his books into his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and slowly walked away.
Before leaving, he noticed Kushida approaching Horikita.
For the past few days, Kushida had constantly been trying to strike up conversations with her.
Even though she was coldly rejected every single time, she relentlessly kept trying.
Shiki honestly had no idea what she was trying to achieve.
“Horikita-san, do you want to go to the cafe together?
We can all hang out and have a fun time!”
“I don’t need to.”
A completely blunt, ruthless rejection.
Even without seeing Kushida’s face, Shiki could perfectly imagine her awkward, strained expression.
Horikita, you really are a menace to society!
For some reason, Shiki felt incredibly delighted, his footsteps feeling much lighter as he walked out into the hall.
Right then, a sweet, girlish voice called out from behind him.
“Tsugikuni-kun, wait a moment!”
Crap, stay away from me!
Shiki sped up his walk, but then felt someone grab the edge of his shirt.
He was forced to stop.
Sighing internally, he turned to look at the brown-haired girl.
“What do you want?”
Kushida acted as if she didn’t notice his cold attitude at all.
Smiling sweetly, she said, “Well, it’s already been over a week since school started, and I still haven’t properly introduced myself to Tsugikuni-kun, so…”
Shiki nodded in understanding.
“Hello.
Goodbye.”
After saying that, he turned to leave.
Kushida hurriedly blocked his path, deliberately leaning in close so that her massive treasure chests almost collided right into him.
Shiki’s trauma spiked instantly.
He almost threw a front kick to launch a full-on samurai duel.
Women who liked using their bodies to play mind games didn’t care about concepts like ‘innocence.’ Given the chance, they would falsely accuse someone without a second thought.
Shiki had always stayed as far away from them as possible.
Although Shiki was fully on high alert, Kushida didn’t seem to notice.
She had no idea she was just milliseconds away from being Sparta-kicked into the stratosphere.
“That’s not it,” Kushida realized her voice was a bit loud, so she lowered it to a soft whisper.
“I just noticed that Tsugikuni-kun doesn’t have many friends, and you rarely talk to anyone in class.
I wanted to see if you were struggling with anything.”
“I’m not struggling.
I just have other things to do.
If you have something to say, just say it quickly.
I’m busy.” Shiki felt this woman was incredibly annoying.
She always talked in circles.
Hollow conversations, hollow value, hollow politeness…
(TL:All my homies hate Kushida)