I have a life simulator.

With a smile on his face, Yuecheng seemed to want to deliberately minimize his presence, and he showed no intention of continuing the conversation.

Kitagawa Ryo casually closed the door to the reception room, then sat down unceremoniously at the other end of the sofa and poured himself a cup of tea.

"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, it's been a long time."

Have we met before?

"Didn't you follow me around the whole time during the last cultural festival?"

"You really found it."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji nodded. From the moment the other person entered the room, all his muscles and nerves were instantly tense. The keen intuition he had developed in the white room told him that Kitagawa Ryo's physical fitness had improved considerably since then.

If the trainees in the white room are rated 5, 10, or even 20 points, then Kiyotaka Ayanokouji has always been rated 100 points. He hasn't felt this sense of danger from his peers for a long time.

"Alright, alright, there's a lot to do today, so there's no time for you two to argue."

Chairman Sakayanagi clapped his hands. As the chairman, he knew very well that this would be the most special class since the founding of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School. He didn't know how many eyes were watching this place through the surveillance cameras in the room.

Some hoped that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji could win as a bargaining chip for a comeback, while others needed his defeat to completely kick him while he was down.

Perhaps it was because of the excessive interference from the outside world that the final stage was decided to be the completely closed Tokyo Advanced Educational High School.

"Ayanokouji-kun just mentioned the issue of class assignments. Kitagawa-kun, what are your thoughts on that?"

"Before I share my thoughts, I'm curious about the school's arrangements."

Kitagawa Ryo didn't really care which class he was assigned to. After all, class assignment only affected the beginning. In the next three years, anything could happen. In Karuizawa Megumi's second mock exam, he only spent a little over a semester to bring Class C to Class B. Moreover, he even had the opportunity to be promoted directly to Class A in the preferential treatment exam.

If the content of the special exams in the first semester remains unchanged, Kitagawa Ryo will have an advantage in information compared to his simulated self.

That's why he asked about the school's arrangements first.

Where is Ayanokouji-kun?

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji turned his gaze to Tsukishiro, who nodded at him.

"Tell me your arrangements first."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji was unaware of the extent of Kitagawa Ryo's knowledge of the school. Although Chairman Sakayanagi was on the same side as Kitagawa Ryo, he believed that the latter would not recklessly leak all the rules of the school.

A valid game must be acknowledged by both sides.

Since I was dispatched here to fight the other side, it means that we are at the same level in terms of intelligence about this place.

If Kitagawa Ryo really obtained any information that would undermine fairness, at least the owner of the white room behind him wouldn't agree to it. Tsukishiro's arrival here was probably also partly for the purpose of supervision.

After receiving joint replies from Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Chairman Sakayanagi nodded and said:

"The Tokyo Advanced Educational High School has a tradition of conducting a nationwide survey of junior high school students in advance, based on certain standards, and only allowing students deemed 'worthy of affiliation' to the school to be admitted. Interviews or entrance exams are merely formalities."

Once a student is accepted, they will be admitted regardless of how badly they behave during the interview or how many points they score on the exam. While applications are accepted from students across the country, this is merely a formality to weed out everyone.

"Then, the school will arrange the students into four classes, A, B, C, and D, according to their overall strength. This involves the school's own considerations, so I won't go into details."

"So theoretically speaking, there are differences between the four classes A, B, C, and D on paper."

"Actually, the fairest approach would be to put Kitagawa-kun and Ayanokouji-kun in the same class and then evaluate their performance and contributions to the class. However, this approach is not intuitive and is difficult to quantify."

"So the school's idea is still to put the two of you in different classes. Whoever gets class A after three years will win. This is in line with the consistent philosophy of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School."

Chairman Sakayanagi took a sip of tea and observed the reactions of the two men.

Kitagawa Ryo maintained his calm and composed demeanor, while Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained expressionless.

"I agree to be in a different class from Ayanokouji-san."

"I have no objection either."

After the two confirmed their first idea, Chairman Sakayanagi continued:

"But at this point, we will encounter the problem I mentioned earlier: there is a gap in strength between classes A, B, C, and D, which means that the two players will not have an unbalanced start."

"For example, if Kitagawa-kun were placed in Class A and Ayanokouji-kun in Class D, even if Ayanokouji-kun wouldn't be dissatisfied, your father wouldn't approve of such a matchup."

"Our solution to this situation is to let the child have the advantage."

Chairman Sakayanagi took out the black king and the white king from the chessboard on the table and placed them in front of Kitagawa Ryo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka respectively.

"The strength difference between pieces in chess is not significant; losing a pawn can tip the scales of victory to two to one."

"However, in Chinese chess and Go, if there is indeed a difference in strength between the two sides, the stronger side will choose to give up some of its pieces to try to ensure that the game does not continue in a one-sided manner."

"Single horse, two horses, single chariot, single cannon."

"The pieces here are some of the outstanding talents among this year's freshmen who have been rated as excellent in a certain aspect. In fact, judging from the data alone, half of them are qualified to directly enter Class A."

Chairman Sakayanagi took out one black and one white piece of each of the five chess pieces (pawn, rook, knight, bishop, and queen) and placed them between the two players.

He flipped one of the pieces over, revealing the inscription "Katsuragi Yasuhira" on its base.

"【Pawn】, the diligent and steady soldier who moves forward step by step, represents academic ability through hard work and effort. Katsuragi Kohei was a freshman whose academic ability was rated as A when he entered the university."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed quite interested in this form of comparing people to chess pieces, and he played with the [King] piece in his hand and asked:

What are the specific rules for yielding pieces?

"Both sides start with five pieces. Every two classes, the player in the higher position gives up one piece to the player in the lower position."

"For example, if Ayanokouji chooses Class B and Kitagawa chooses Class D, with two classes between them, then Kitagawa can choose seven pieces out of these ten pieces first, while Ayanokouji can choose three."

"Of course, if both students give up a piece, he will still be admitted to his original class according to the normal standards."

Suddenly, Yuecheng smiled and advised from the side:

"Let me add a couple of points. Ultimately, the quality of a class is not determined by these pawns on the surface. If you blindly pursue high-achieving students and go to a lower-level class, you may need to be prepared that the other students are all flawed."

"Moreover, these chess pieces are all freshmen who excel in only one aspect. After they are actually enrolled, their performance may exceed your expectations or disappoint you greatly. Therefore, it is even more necessary for the two of you to make choices and judgments."

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka understood that this was a reminder from the other person, and recalling the advice he had heard from that person that morning, he spoke first:

"I choose Class A."

Compared to individuals with unique personalities, he still values ​​the overall quality of the class more.

The existence of a single defective product can ruin the efforts of an entire class. Even if a class is full of talented individuals, it may not be effective because they might not even bother to follow orders.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji judged that Ryo Kitagawa might choose Class B, but the other party's answer surprised him.

"I choose Class D."

Kitagawa Ryo stroked the King piece in his hand, completely ignoring the surprised looks from the other three.

The proposal to give up the child was provided to Chairman Sakayanagi from beginning to end by him, because Kitagawa Ryo was very familiar with Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's personality and style of doing things.

Regardless of which class Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is assigned to, he will only regard the students in that class as tools to achieve final victory. With this mindset, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka will definitely choose the most useful students from Class A as tools.

But to Tsukishiro and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, those ten chess pieces seemed like a blind box, with no idea what they would get...

Kitagawa Ryo really knows them inside and out.

-------------------------------------

"【Pawn】, as mentioned before, represents academic ability. In the entrance evaluation, the two freshmen who received an A in academic ability are Katsuragi Kohei and Yukimura Teruhiko."

"All of them."

Kitagawa Ryo spoke, reaching out to pick up both the black and white pawns, but quickly tossed them both into the pile of pieces to the side.

"Then I decided to abandon these two people."

"This should also be within the scope of the rules."

"After all, it doesn't say you can't choose and then give up."

"What's the reason?"

"I don't know either of them. Academic ability is the least reliable of the five criteria. Maybe they're just bookworms who only know how to study, or maybe they have excellent grades but bad character?"

Kitagawa Ryo waved his hand casually:

"Let them fend for themselves."

Taking a sip of tea, Kitagawa Ryo quietly observed Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Tsukishiro's expressions. His performance just now was nothing more than labeling himself as someone who didn't understand these new students.

Seeing that Kiyotaka Ayanokouji and Tsukishiro had no objections, Chairman Sakayanagi nodded:

"Ok."

"The next item is [Bishop], the bishop who guards the king and queen, representing the excellent judgment of a close advisor. The two new students who are rated A are Horikita Suzune and Ryuen Sho."

"Horikita Suzune."

Kitagawa Ryo, who had the right to choose first, spoke up first.

He was waiting to see if Kiyotaka Ayanokoji would use his only two chances on Sho Ryuen.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji shook his head, indicating that he was not interested in the piece.

Excellent judgment means that the other party may disagree with him on the direction of the class, or even escalate into a power struggle. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who is more confident in his own decisions, does not need such a person.

The piece representing Ryu Won-sang was also placed into the piece pile.

"Next is the [Horse (Knight)]. The free-spirited and unrestrained horse represents interpersonal skills in interacting with others. The two freshmen who were rated A in this category are Ichinose Honami and Kushida Kikyo."

"Ichinose Honoki."

Kitagawa Ryo made his choice without hesitation.

"Kushida Kikyo."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji also made his own choice. On the one hand, he considered that his interpersonal skills were not strong and that the class needed a glue-like figure to lead it. On the other hand, the selection of the pawns had entered the third round, and Ryo Kitagawa had only used his selection power four times. If he did not make a move, the last four people might be swept by the opponent in one fell swoop.

Kitagawa Ryo calmly accepted his chess piece.

"The second to last item is [Rook]. Rushing headlong without fear represents physical fitness and athletic ability. The freshmen who were rated A are Takeru Sudo and Albert Yamada."

"All of them."

Kitagawa Ryo already knew how to use Sudo Ken, and Yamada Albert was originally a student in Class C, so he also knew the other's personality well and chose to take him all down.

"The last item is the Queen. Besides the King, the most important piece represents one's intelligence level. The two new students who were rated A in intelligence are Rokusuke Koenji and Arisu Sakayanagi."

"Ayanokouji-san, shall we make a deal?"

Kitagawa Ryo suddenly asked.

"What deal?"

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji turned his head away. He had given up on this selection because Ryo Kitagawa still held the right to choose two pieces. There was no reason for the other party not to choose both of them at the same time, since they were rare talents with high intelligence.

"I'm giving you this round of choices, and you get to choose first."

"cost."

Kitagawa Ryo leaned back against the soft sofa cushions and said casually:

"Classes A and D will have their homeroom teachers swapped."

"Class teacher?"

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji was taken aback; he hadn't expected the other party to make such a perplexing request.

His impression of the class teacher was limited to the descriptions in the books.

"Since there is a difference in ability between Class A and Class D, there must also be a difference in their class teachers, right?"

Kitagawa explained from his stall:

"Furthermore, the class teacher, as part of the class, should also be included in this part, and should be transferable or even exchangeable."

"I have no opinion."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji thought for a while. He shared the same idea as his father: when students are either exceptionally talented or exceptionally mediocre, the role of the homeroom teacher is minimized. Using this as a price to acquire an intellectually gifted student for the class is an acceptable condition.

"Then please, Ayanokouji-san."

Kitagawa Ryo smiled and handed over the two chess pieces.

[Sakayanagi Arisu], or [Koenji Rokusuke].

Sakayanagi...aren't they the same surname?

While it's possible they just share the same surname, the chances are extremely slim.

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji glanced at the still smiling Chairman Sakayanagi, and after a few deliberations, picked up [Rokusuke Koenji].

He couldn't simply let the enemy's pieces into his own camp.