In fact, I can add unlimited points

In any case, at this stage, Aragaki Shun's suppression of highly developed students means that no matter how much Class 1-B struggles, it won't make much difference. So what's the point of Ayanokouji being strong or not?

And that is indeed the case in reality.

Even though Koenji, Ayanokouji, and Ryuen Sho joined Class 1-B last August and September, two semesters have passed since then, but it still hasn't changed the fact that their class is getting worse and worse.

It's obvious that with just these three outsiders, Class B in the first year has no chance of reversing its decline and being promoted to Class A, let alone maintaining its current position.

Because of this understanding, others naturally paid less and less attention to information about Ayanokoji.

However, it seems that the opponent may not have been able to shake Aragaki-kun's strength, but he does have extraordinary expertise in the field of [rapid mental arithmetic].

If the difficulty is further increased, Ichinose Honami herself does not have a sure chance of winning.

"No, I was just enrolled in a mental arithmetic class by my parents before, which is why I could barely keep up with Ichinose-san."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji still had that expressionless face. Even though he was already standing on the stage and making a big splash, he still didn't show any sharpness. It was as if he was just an ordinary student who specialized in a certain field.

After all, many of the students who were initially assigned to Class D could be considered to be those who excelled in one subject but were weak in another... right?

Of course, Archangel Ichinose wasn't really too concerned about this kind of thing. Everyone has their own thoughts, and she wasn't the type to like prying into other people's secrets.

Therefore, even though she noticed that Kiyotaka Ayanokouji seemed to be deliberately keeping a low profile, she didn't intend to say anything more.

"Actually... oh no, it's nothing," the pink-haired girl suddenly spoke up, as if she was about to offer some advice, but the words immediately changed to something else, "Everyone is working hard for the class, let's cheer each other on."

Actually, the archangel wanted to ask Kiyotaka Ayanokouji if he was interested in joining Class A, since he seemed to be quite capable.

But before she could fully express her invitation, the girl remembered the other person's somewhat ambiguous reputation—

For the sake of the class atmosphere, let Aragaki-kun decide this.

In any case, if Aragaki-kun had any ideas, he would have already taken action. Since he hasn't, there's no need for me to do anything unnecessary.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka: "..."

The masterpiece was somewhat bothered by Ichinose's sudden change in tone, but since that incident, this kind of casual dismissal by girls had happened more than once or twice.

It's probably nothing important.

With this thought in mind, Ayanokouji began to consider whether he could gain the upper hand against Ichinose Honami and directly secure victory in the match.

He hadn't forgotten that the real opponent in this match was actually Shun Aragaki, who could intervene at any time as the commander-in-chief.

However, according to the rules of the selection test, the Commander Tower can only make suggestions in the [Rapid Mental Arithmetic] test, and whether to adopt them depends on the contestant's own opinion.

Under normal circumstances, Honami Ichinose would not ignore the correct answer given by Shun Aragaki, but what if the other party suddenly had a change of heart and gave up the match?

A strange light flashed in his eyes, and the masterpiece of the white room said seemingly naturally:

"Yes, I must win this project no matter what. Katsuragi is a key pillar of our class. If he is expelled, many people will be saddened by it."

“Katsura-kun…” Ichinose’s face showed regret as he sighed with deep sorrow, “He was a responsible and upright person who could bear the trust of his companions. If he hadn’t refused Aragaki-kun’s invitation that day, everyone in Class A could have become friends with him.”

"But it is precisely because of Katsuragi's integrity that he cannot abandon his friends in class and choose to be happy alone."

Ayanokouji tried to make a complicated expression on his stoic face, clenched his fist, and seemed to have made up his mind to protect his classmates. "After coming to Class B, Katsuragi took good care of me. Even for someone like me, he was still willing to treat me as a member of the class."

“I heard that he was ridiculed for having alopecia when he was very young because he had hairlessness. Later, his parents and grandparents passed away, leaving him and his twin sister to depend on each other for survival. They grew up with the help of relatives.”

"If that man is forced to drop out of advanced intensive training, he will lose far more than just hope for the future; perhaps even what he already has will once again be on the verge of collapse..."

It is obvious that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji is using moral blackmail.

This move is unlikely to have much effect on most other highly trained characters, but it is very likely to be surprisingly effective when facing Ichinose Honami.

Because she is a rare and wonderful person, a universally acknowledged archangel on campus!

Good people are the ones who are most likely to be held at gunpoint.

So let me see what choice you, Ichinose, will make, and whether you can comfortably push your familiar classmates to the brink of despair.

"...From a poor family, and he and his younger sister depend on each other for survival," just as Ayanokouji had predicted, the archangel's expression changed noticeably. "I never imagined that Katsuragi-kun had such a background."

At that moment, the pink-haired girl thought of her younger sister and completely understood her feelings.

But she should be luckier than Kohei Katsuragi. After all, she not only has her mother, but after coming to Advanced Nurturing, she is also able to work hard with her classmates in Class A and forge a bond that can last a lifetime.

Thinking of this, the archangel couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry, Ayanokouji-san, although I understand what you mean, I will absolutely not hold back in this special exam."

"Katsura-kun is certainly admirable, but since he chose to be the commander, he must also have the resolve to fight for the class's victory even if it means being expelled, right?"

As Aragaki-kun said, Class A should naturally adopt the same attitude towards such an opponent and seriously inflict defeat upon him!

Not to mention, Katsuragi isn't the only one in charge; her lover, Shun Aragaki, also bears the risk of being expelled alone, all for the sake of Class A's ultimate victory... You can't say that because Aragaki-kun has enough personal points to offset the punishment of expulsion, the danger isn't a danger, right?

Those personal points didn't just fall from the sky. Aragaki-kun was able to accumulate so many because of his own superb skills, but that's absolutely no reason for her to pity Katsuragi or betray the class.

Before her inner turmoil is resolved, she might waver in her determination to atone for her sins, but for now... let her and Aragaki-kun take on the role of the villain together!

"To be honest, I'm not as kind as outsiders imagine. In this special exam, please treat me as a vicious enemy. Compared to Katsuragi-kun's future, I'm definitely more concerned about Aragaki-kun's feelings. I'm sorry."

Just like that day in her third year of junior high school, when she faced her sick mother and crying sister, she abandoned her usual kindness for the first time and unknowingly stole the hair clip from the shop.

If it were for the sake of closer family or lovers, Honami Ichinose knew she could harden her heart and do things that an archangel shouldn't do... She was ultimately not a truly morally perfect person.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji could sense the determination in the pink-haired girl's tone. Though he didn't show it on his face, he was somewhat surprised inside.

Based on his past intelligence, the girl's personality model is significantly different from her current behavior.

"Is this the magic of love? I never thought it could completely change a person..."

But this is an area that the greatest masterpiece is not good at, knowledge that was never taught in the White Room, so he also finds it difficult to understand it thoroughly.

If given the chance, he would like to find someone to try it out for him personally, so that he might gain the resources for further growth.

Unfortunately, Ayanokouji was aware of how bad her reputation was in Advanced Education, and none of the girls in the three grades would want to date a suspected voyeur.

Therefore, not only acquiring knowledge about love, but also observing the weaknesses of Class A in the first year and attempting strategies to sow discord among them... all require careful planning.

Meanwhile, just as the two contestants in the examination room were lost in their own thoughts, the school's bell suddenly rang, announcing the end of the halftime break and the resumption of the match that had been interrupted due to a tie.

"According to the rules, this round of the 'Rapid Mental Arithmetic' competition will now enter an extended period. The school will release more challenging questions one after another, and the two students will need to answer them within the allotted time until one of them gets it wrong."

As Mr. Sakagami made his declaration, the questions began to appear on the screen in the audiovisual room again, this time with the difficulty increased to [four digits, fifteen digits, one and a half seconds].

There are a total of fifteen numbers, each of which will only pause for 1.5 seconds. The two contestants need to memorize them as they flash by and disappear, and finally calculate the sum of these numbers.

At this point, Honami Ichinose was already starting to feel the strain, after all, she wasn't a professional player who had specifically trained in [rapid mental arithmetic].

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that she had been nurtured by star power dozens of times after uniting with Aragaki Shun, which improved her physical fitness, memory, and thinking speed, she really couldn't say whether she could have answered the eleventh question based on her personal talent alone.

Normally, it shouldn't be possible, right?

She can do it now, but that's about her limit. She's not confident about the twelfth and thirteenth questions.

It seems the only option is to leave it entirely to Aragaki-kun...

.........

The command room where the command tower is located.

Through the screen, Shun Aragaki saw Honami Ichinose spread her hands to both sides, indicating that she was powerless to help. So he decisively used his command tower authority to intervene in this "rapid mental arithmetic".

Upon witnessing this scene, both Katsuragi Kohei, his rival, and the proctors Sakagami Kazuma and Chabashira Sae understood that the scene had turned into a battle between Aragaki Shun and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Uh... well then, please give instructions on the next questions. The later the questions are, the higher the score will be."

As Kazuma Sakagami announced, numbers began flashing on the computer screen of Class A's command center. It was the twelfth question, and the difficulty had increased to [four digits, sixteen digits, one and a half seconds].

However, both Aragaki Shun and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka calmly and collectedly calculated the answer in the end.

The next question, number thirteen, was [four digits, eighteen digits, 1.5 seconds]; number fourteen was [four digits, twenty digits, 1.5 seconds]; and number fifteen was even [four digits, twenty-two digits, 1.2 seconds].

With his extraordinary mental attributes, Shun Aragaki answered these questions with ease, making it seem effortless for everyone.

As for Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, he's catching up, but his speed in writing answers is noticeably slowing down.

"Wait, these two monsters are actually classmates with us? If they have such abilities, why don't they just develop their specialties instead of competing with us in advanced education?"

In the exam preparation area, some students who witnessed this scene couldn't help but express their feelings.

They simply couldn't understand why, since everyone was human, the difference between them could be so vast.

Aside from the ordinary students who could only complain, a few, such as Rokusuke Koenji, Arisu Sakayanagi, and Hiyori Shiina, tried to calculate in their minds and roughly estimate their own strength level in the process.

Unbeknownst to them, even many of the faculty and staff present held their breath, anticipating the ultimate limit the two could reach.

So the sixteenth question was revealed, and its difficulty increased even further—

[Five digits, twenty-two digits, 1.2 seconds].

351. The defeat of the greatest masterpiece; Tsukishiro seeks another way out.

[Five digits, twenty-two digits, 1.2 seconds].

When the difficulty of "rapid mental arithmetic" soared to this point, everyone in the preparation area, whether faculty or students in Class A or Class B, had given up on doing the calculations together.

Sakayanagi Arisu tried to do it, but almost fainted in her seat due to overworking her brain and exhaustion, startling Kamuro Masumi and Morishita Ai who were around her.

"Is this the gap between me and them...?"

The silver-haired girl wearing a beret was very unwilling to accept this, but the physical limitations were there, and reality had already told her that this was the limit she could reach.

Given this congenital defect, what can be done?

"If you keep pushing yourself and actually faint, don't expect me to help you back."

Kamuro Masumi, standing next to Sakayanagi, gave him a look of disgust, but the students in Class A all knew that she was actually the type who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. It was just that the girl was really not good at directly expressing her concern for her companions.

Sakayanagi Arisu was well aware of her tsundere nature, and normally she would have teased her about it, but at this moment the girl simply watched the duel on the big screen in silence, feeling both disappointed and powerless.

Almost immediately after the sixteenth question was posed, at Shun Aragaki's suggestion, Honami Ichinose quickly wrote down the corresponding answer, which was verified as correct by the instrument.

As for Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, he spent about half a minute recalling and pondering in his mind before submitting the same correct answer.

Without a doubt, the gap between herself and these two was too great. With her broken body, she didn't even have a chance to catch up... As she grew older, her rivals would only grow faster and faster. In the future, perhaps even those who were behind her now would easily overtake her one day.

How ironic!

Now that things have come to this, the title of genius has become a myth, and the only label she can be proud of is that of "the daughter of the Sakayanagi family."

"I never imagined that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who seemed so gloomy, would have such abilities?"

Kamuro Masumi naturally couldn't understand Sakayanagi's melancholy. Like most of the students in Class A, she was simply astonished by the sudden burst of Shiroya's masterpiece, which had managed to withstand the pressure from the Class A leader until now.

As for Shun Aragaki... that guy is a monster, and he has never seen the limit. Even if his current performance is a bit exaggerated, isn't that normal?

Of course, this was just the opinion of the Class A members. To them, their class monitor, who had always led them forward, was invincible and it was only natural for him to do whatever he did. As for a nobody who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it was already quite impressive that he hadn't been kicked to death.

However, to Tsukishiro Tsunehira and the others who knew about the white room and were familiar with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's background, the scene before them was quite terrifying—

They spent over a decade, invested countless resources, and discarded countless experimental subjects to cultivate their masterpiece... and yet it was so easily defeated in a duel with an ordinary student?!

Oh, I misspoke. The person opposite me isn't an ordinary student, but rather the adopted son-in-law of the Aragaki family, who is hailed as a true genius.

But that makes things even worse!

After all, the emergence of such a genius completely undermines the White Room's philosophy and mocks their long-standing research direction.

Because Shun Aragaki never underwent rigorous training or experienced hardships that would transform a person, he simply grew and developed naturally, yet he possessed the talent to surpass Shiroya's greatest masterpiece.

If Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, the only finished product, is easily defeated by him, then the research on the White Room and the so-called artificial genius will become a complete joke.

"Hiss~ This is a huge problem. Hopefully, Mr. Ayanokouji's son can weather this storm..."

If it can't hold up, the exhibition value of the White House's greatest masterpiece might be cut in half.

The major powers in Sakurajima have a tradition of marrying off their daughters to accept talented elites and having their sons-in-law or adopted sons inherit the family business. Now, with this wave of development, those investors who were optimistic about the White Room may waver or even withdraw their investment.

The losses suffered by Ayanokoji's faction are truly unimaginable!

But as the saying goes, the things you least want to happen are often the ones that are most likely to happen.

Just as Tsukishiro Tsunehira uttered a prayer in his heart, this lopsided duel came to an end...

.........

After the sixteenth question was completed, the seventeenth question was quickly refreshed, and the difficulty had now increased to [five digits, twenty-five digits, one second].

Shun Aragaki maintained his rhythm, and after all the numbers flashed and disappeared in an instant, he quickly sent the answer to Ichinose via computer, thus naturally obtaining the corresponding points.

The proctors and students from Class A and Class B who witnessed this scene were already numb, so everyone instinctively ignored what was happening here and subconsciously focused on Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's actions.

According to the rules of the "Rapid Mental Arithmetic" project, participants must submit their answers within one minute after the questions are fully refreshed; otherwise, they will be considered to have forfeited the question.

Now, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seems to be in a predicament, keeping his eyes closed and calculating in his mind, without answering for a long time.