Tokyo: After years of stagnation, the heiress of the yakuza arrives.

What does it mean to say that wood cannot be given to a remote corner?

Shido Kuroba's eyes widened, and he suddenly jumped out of bed, staring incredulously at the "New Club Regulations" displayed on his phone screen!

I love it!

There are only two people in the club, and he's the only one who plays in the back alleys. Now they've come up with some kind of club rule. It's hard not to think that this is targeting him, right?

Okay... I was just kidding, I came here specifically for him!

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Awesome!

They're not even going to act anymore.

When a normal association introduces regulations, it will usually hold a meeting, go through a process, and solicit opinions from its members.

Even if the opinions are not adopted in the end, we should at least give the members a false sense of democracy that they have participated in. Just pretend, right?

Look at some of those labor unions. They take money but do nothing, and they don't seek any benefits, but at least they still ask you to pretend to be a representative when they hold meetings.

At least it gave you a sense of participation, letting you know how you were exploited, okay?

But the minister obviously didn't need to go through all that trouble. There were only two living people in the club. Once she agreed, the approval rate had already reached fifty percent. Then, she defined the dissenting opinions of the members as invalid votes and stipulated that it would be passed unanimously on the spot.

This is hardly club management.

This is clearly a temporary increase in punishment by the warden in a double cell!

Protest! Protest!

Kuroba Shido glanced down at the tablet. The game was still on the paid patch screen. The cold-faced young lady stood by the bed, expressionlessly confiscating the protagonist's shoes. On the other hand, on the phone, another cold-faced young lady was several kilometers away, expressionlessly confiscating his corner of the wood.

One is about freedom, the other is about games. Developers, come out and explain: are there really no copyright infringement issues related to the characters they represent?

Or is this the underlying code, the universal logic of the world?

It's like this: all underworld heiresses are necessarily handsome young men, necessarily cunning, and the young ladies are necessarily aloof and arrogant...

I love it! Please get me the things!

Kuroba Shido's finger hovered above the chat box. His first reaction was to argue his case, his second was to quit the club overnight, and his third was to suppress the first two reactions deep in his mind...

The first possibility is that the number of rules will increase to ten, and the second possibility is that tomorrow's club activity will turn into a psychological assessment questionnaire for leaving the club. Either way, it doesn't seem like a viable option.

We can't be forceful; we need to be strategic. Since the minister can issue regulations, we can use friendly communication to make the minister realize that the regulations have increased unnecessary management costs, and then withdraw them on their own initiative. This is not called admitting defeat; it is called using civilized means to protect the legitimate entertainment rights of the club members.

Kuroba Shido put the tablet aside, casually ended his chat with Miyazaki Ritsuko, and then pulled down his wrinkled pajamas. Even though it was through the phone, a gentle, polite, and kind expression instinctively appeared on his face, like a sunny young man who gets up at 5:30 in the morning in Tokyo to help an old lady find discounted eggs.

[Minister, are you still up so late?]

Message sent.

Kuroba Shido waited quietly, but Miyazaki Kiyoshi did not reply immediately.

A minute passed, and the chat box remained silent. Kuroba Shido gradually relaxed, thinking that perhaps the club president had just casually posted a rule before going to sleep.

The lights are off and we're going to sleep now. As long as we don't continue chatting tonight, there's still a lot of room for maneuver by tomorrow morning regarding whether the regulations have been officially filed, whether the scope of application is complete, and whether the organization has the power to restrict members' private time.

buzz-

My phone vibrated.

【No.】

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Wow, that was a quick reply... Well, looks like it's hopeless. I guess I'll just have to go it alone for now.

It seems the minister is not only still awake, but also waiting for his opinion on the new regulations. This is a little dangerous, but it's alright...

Kuroba Shido had prepared in advance. A true master never reveals his purpose right away. He starts by talking about life, then about health, and finally casually mentions the completely unimportant club rule. This is called being roundabout, laying the groundwork, and the art of adult communication.

[Minister, staying up late for extended periods can negatively impact your health, leading to decreased concentration, memory decline, and worsened skin condition. For the long-term stability and development of the club, I suggest you get some rest.]

After sending the message, Shido Kuroba nodded in satisfaction.

The argument was reasonable and well-founded, and the sentiment was sincere. There was not a trace of ulterior motive in demanding the withdrawal of the regulations. Even if Miyazaki Kiyoshi were to analyze it word by word with a magnifying glass, he could only come to one conclusion—the members were genuinely concerned about the minister's health.

You weren't asleep either.

Kuroba Shido paused, his fingers pausing.

It's okay, it's a minor issue.

[I'm different. I'm relaxing before bed. Poor teenagers face a lot of pressure in their lives. If they don't get proper entertainment, they're likely to dream about convenience stores removing their discount sections.]

[Giving wood to those in remote corners is not appropriate entertainment.]

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Wait, buddy, why did we jump straight to here?

He paved such a long way, even caring about the minister's skin condition. Shouldn't the normal procedure be to talk about sleep first, then health, then club development, and finally have him "casually" mention the rules? Why did Miyazaki Kiyoshi skip all the intermediate steps and wait for him directly at the finish line?

That's incredibly unsportsmanlike!

Kuroba Shido stared at the line of text for a few seconds, then decided to pretend he hadn't seen it for the time being and continue at his own pace. As long as he didn't admit that the conversation had entered the "dead end" stage, then it hadn't entered it yet.

[Minister, it's a bit chilly tonight, please remember to cover yourself well with a blanket.]

The indoor temperature is maintained at a constant 24 degrees Celsius.

Even at 24 degrees Celsius, you can still catch a chill, especially if you read for too long at night. Prolonged inactivity can slow blood circulation.

I'm already lying down.

[Then you should go to bed earlier. Lack of sleep will affect your judgment the next day. As the minister, your every move is related to the future of the entire club.]

The club only has two people.

Kuroba Shido's eyes lit up.

coming!

That's exactly what he was waiting for.

[Yes, the club only has two people, a simple membership structure, and stable internal relationships. Any issues can be addressed through direct communication. There's no need to create too many complicated rules, especially new rules that only apply to specific recreational activities, have high implementation costs, or easily damage the harmonious relationship between the club leader and members. We can observe them for a while before deciding whether they're necessary.]

send.

All in one go.

It didn't directly name any rule, nor did it directly demand its withdrawal. Instead, it objectively analyzed the potential negative impacts of excessively setting club rules from three perspectives: management costs, member relationships, and implementation difficulties. Doesn't the Minister like to talk about logic? This set of logic is worth at least three club meals.

There was a few seconds of silence on Miyazaki Kiyoshi's end.

Kuroba Shido's lips gradually curled upwards.

It works!

The minister must be thinking about this. The fact that he's starting to think about it means the rules aren't unbreakable. If we can add a little bit of genuine feeling from ordinary members, this matter could be resolved peacefully tonight.

Furthermore, I personally believe that the most important thing for a club is inclusivity. Every member should have the freedom to develop legitimate interests and hobbies. Only when the club leader respects the members, and the members respect the leader, can the club continue to thrive in the long run.

[The corner is a malignant tumor.]

The smile on Shido Kuroba's face disappeared.

In just seven words, management costs were gone, member relationships were gone, and freedom of interest was gone too. The minister didn't even provide any analysis of his long-winded speech...

To define corners as malignant tumors from the very source is tantamount to declaring that such things do not belong to normal interests and are not within the scope of free discussion.

Outrageous!

This is prejudice, slander, and an indiscriminate attack on the entire wood industry and countless normal players like him who are kind, simple, and only want to control the male protagonist to jump out of the window every day!

Kuroba Shido sat up straight, originally preparing for a survival negotiation centered on withdrawing the regulations...

At this moment, a small change occurred. As a veteran player who once shouted "Gala is awesome!" with the evil rice ball head, he could accept that the game had problems and that the development team was greedy for money...

I can even accept a free patch selling for 980 yen, but I can't accept someone defining an entire nook and cranny as a cancer.

This is no longer just about him; it's about dignity!

[Your Excellency, your conclusion lacks factual basis. Galage is a comprehensive electronic cultural medium that integrates literature, art, music, performance, and interactive choices. Players observe changes in character relationships through different choices, understanding the consequences of wrong decisions in a low-cost environment. It has a positive effect on logical judgment, crisis management, and interpersonal communication.]

As Kuroba Shido wrote, he felt that it made more and more sense, and his fingers moved faster and faster.

[For example, an ordinary person facing three emotionally unstable female protagonists might only panic, apologize, or wait to die. However, players who have been playing GaGaGeMu for a long time will know that the rooftop railing, drainpipes, air conditioner outdoor units, and the ventilation window of the women's restroom can form a complete evacuation route. This demonstrates improved spatial observation and survival skills.]

【…】

Kiyoshi Miyazaki sent six dots.

Upon seeing this, Shido Kuroba became even more invigorated.

The minister remained silent!

What does this tell us?

Great opportunity!!!

Now's the time!

I slid in...

Ahem, I've gone off-topic, okay...

This actually demonstrates that his arguments have already challenged Miyazaki Kiyoshi's previously firmly held misconceptions; the six points are proof that his logical defenses have begun to crumble...

If we press our advantage and further address the shortcomings in the area regarding the contributions of wood to social sentiment, the arts industry, and economic development, the regulations could be abolished on the spot tonight.

[In addition, the game can also train resource allocation skills. For example, players can only carry six item cards at the same time. Players must consider the coordination between the tears of a poor boy, selective amnesia, discounted bento boxes, good guy cards, and jumping cardboard boxes. If any link is wrong, the protagonist may be killed by a woodcutter. This kind of real-time decision-making training is hard to obtain in reality.]

What game were you playing just now?

Kuroba Shido paused, his fingers pausing.

Oops.

The argument got so caught up in the details that I accidentally included crime scene information.

It's not a big problem. It's normal for games to have similar rules between different places. Unless you see it with your own eyes, you can't prove that he's talking about the same game as before, let alone that he's still playing it now.

[This is merely a representative hypothetical case; Your Excellency, please do not concern yourself with these unimportant details.]

【Senior Yamamoto. 】

As Kuroba Shido looked at the name that had suddenly appeared, a question mark slowly appeared above his head.

No.

The discussion is about the positive impact of Ga La Ge Mu on overall abilities, so why suddenly summon the evil rice ball head? This guy isn't even in the chat box, and the minister's remote naming won't purify him.

[Minister, why did you bring up that damn rice ball all of a sudden?]

He spent a lot of time playing with wood in remote corners.

This kind of thing can't be called long-term; it's more like a terminal illness. Furthermore, Yamamoto's case is an extreme example and has no reference value.

He shouted "Gala geimuniu bi!" in the classroom.

It's perfectly normal for young people to occasionally express their love for electronic culture.

You shout it together with him.

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

In the bedroom on the second floor of the Miyazaki house, Miyazaki Kiyoshi sat leaning against the headboard, her long hair naturally cascading down her back. The cold light from her phone screen fell on her face. The girl's expression didn't change much despite Kuroba Shido's continuous sophistry. She simply opened the school forum and entered Yamamoto's name into the search box.

In an instant, all the relevant prompts popped up.

[Evil rice ball head.]

【abnormal.】

【Nausea.】

[Avoid this.]

[It is advisable to stay away.]

Miyazaki Kiyoshi selected the search results, took a screenshot, and sent it.

buzz-

In the upscale apartment, Shido Kuroba looked down at the screenshot and fell silent.

The top of the screen shows Yamamoto's forum homepage, with an avatar that looks like a screenshot of a rice ball. The search suggestions below are all bright red, with over 999 related posts. The title of the first post is: "[That evil rice ball-head was saying something about 'cornering wood' being the ultimate form of human civilization' in the classroom today. Can anyone do something about him?]"

The second one is more direct.

[Avoid Yamamoto-sensei! He suddenly knelt down after seeing Miyazaki-kun in the cafeteria and said something about adults not holding grudges. It was really disgusting.]

The third account comes from an eyewitness in Akihabara.

[That guy with the rice ball hair was glued to his phone, searching for a love confession post that didn't even exist. He spent hours on it, even arguing with the administrator. Someone told him the post had been deleted as spam, and he actually believed it.]

The fourth item contains only one photo.

Yamamoto Shinjin stood at the entrance of the corner store, holding a power bank in one hand and a game box in the other, his eyes fixed on his phone, his mouth twisted into an angle that didn't belong to the normal human facial muscle structure.

The most upvoted comment was only four characters long.

Steamed goose heart (four-layered vegetarian dish).

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

It's hard to evaluate.

If I had to say something, I could only say that the photographer had good equipment. The lewdness, perversion, and lust that the evil rice ball head exudes from the inside out, as well as the feeling of never having seen a girl before, almost materializes through the screen. Any normal person who sees this will have a very reasonable negative opinion of Yamamoto Sento.

But what does this have to do with the corner?

It's clearly the rice ball's own problem!

[Minister, I believe you have confused correlation with causation. Yamamoto Akira playing with wood in the corner, and Yamamoto Akira behaving strangely, does not mean that playing with wood in the corner caused his strange behavior. It's possible he was already strange, which is why he played with wood in the wrong way.]

Shido Kuroba felt he had found the key to breaking the deadlock.

Correct!

Just as a person commits a crime while eating, it doesn't mean that eating is illegal. Yamamoto Shinto just happened to be playing around with oddities. What really led to him being labeled as disgusting, perverted, and evil on the school forum was his brain, which looked like a rice ball and was filled with strange fillings.

Following this logic, Yamamoto Shinjin should be banned, not Gakkaki.

Do you want the club to pass a rule prohibiting Yamamoto Akira?

I have no objection.

Kuroba Shido recovered extremely quickly.

They even seriously considered the specific details of the rules, such as that Yamamoto-sensei must not approach within 50 meters of the club classroom, must not bring rice ball-shaped objects into the club activity area, and must not make statements such as "You're awesome" or "I'm the male protagonist" in front of club members.

perfect.

It protects the community environment, solves the core source of pollution, and also serves as revenge against the evil rice ball for embarrassing him—it's a win-win-win situation.

The only downside is that it makes you want to eat more rice balls...

Well, on the other hand, how can the road to success be smooth sailing?

Sacrifice is inevitable, rest in peace, you dead rice ball!

at the same time.

More than ten kilometers away, Mr. Yamamoto lives.

"Achoo!"

Without warning, Yamamoto Shinto, who was still looking for love letters to write to him, sneezed unexpectedly.

"Could someone else have a crush on me?" Yamamoto Sento wondered, then seemed to realize something and became excited, continuing to search the forum for posts about confessions of love.

There are definitely more. Last time I just did a quick search and there were two. There will definitely be more later!

Immersed in his happiness, the rice ball was completely unaware that his next undeserved misfortune was about to befall him...

Yamamoto remained silent, only continuing to type on his keyboard to search...

"Da da da..."

"Yamamoto... classmate, you're so handsome..."

"0 related search suggestions found!"

"No results found..."

"Related recommendations: dead rice ball, perverted, evil, disgusting... 99 related keywords..."

Mr. Yamamoto: "..."

……