I have a life simulator.

"Well... to put it simply, I promised Arisu during the cultural festival that I would help her teach Nagumo a lesson. However, I also heard that Nagumo used her debt contract with Class C to semi-forcefully obtain those thirty-odd criticism votes from their class during this special exam. So I'm a little worried that if I act rashly, it might ruin Ryo's plans for this special exam. That's why I came to ask you about it."

As she spoke, Tianze Yixia sighed with a hint of distress:

"This semester is almost over. I was planning to enjoy this winter break and then play a trick on Nagumo when the next semester starts, but Arisu insisted on using this favor."

"I don't mind, but Ichika, have you thought of any specific plans yet?"

"As for the plan, I have a few rough ideas, but I haven't thought of the details yet. The simplest and most direct method is of course to find a blind spot in the surveillance and call him out to beat him up. Don't think that this method is bad. In fact, straightforward physical violence can easily leave a long-term psychological shadow on a person."

As an outstanding graduate of the White Gym, Amaze Ichika never denied that there were some rather dangerous violent factors lurking in her deep psyche, especially when it came to issues related to Kitagawa Ryo. Otherwise, she wouldn't have unleashed such a fierce attack on Kushida Kikyo on the deserted island, an attack that the other party still can't forget.

Kitagawa Ryo didn't answer immediately, but seemed to be thinking about something, which made Amasawa Ichika across from him feel inexplicably uneasy. His right hand unconsciously played with a few strands of hair that fell beside his face, twirling them around his slender fingers as he began to worry about whether his previous remarks had revealed his true nature and whether he should continue to act cute and innocent.

"Ichika should know about Nagumo's sudden change in attitude towards Arisu recently, right?"

"Yes, that's why I offered to teach Arisu a lesson back then."

"Actually, I've had some guesses about this for a while now. Do you remember the last cultural festival, who did President Tensawa come with to visit us?"

"It's Nan Yun. The two of them first went to the dormitory area against the rules, and then they followed them to the gymnasium."

"That's right. I actually did a detailed timeline of the changes in Nagumo's work style and even his personality. It was roughly the period after the start of the second semester of this school year, before the start of the sports festival."

"Theoretically speaking, Nagumo had already secured the position of the next student council president at that time, and was just waiting for the formal handover and succession ceremony after the sports festival. He should have been at the peak of his life, full of vigor and eager to realize his ambitions. Therefore, for a period of time, I subconsciously felt that his abnormalities were actually due to the influence of becoming the student council president, since the timing was just right."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo also casually quoted some keywords that he had heard from Asahina-senpai's countless complaints:

"Whether it's stubbornness or willfulness, there are plenty of people in reality who suddenly gain power and develop this kind of personality. But this doesn't explain his attitude towards Arisu or his actions at the cultural festival. To put it simply, in the eyes of many students in Class 2-A, Nagumo's current image is somewhat of a sycophant and bully."

"Fawning on superiors and bullying inferiors?"

Tianze Yixia seemed unable to grasp the specific meaning of the word Kitagawa Ryo used for a moment. After all, although she had little contact with Nan Yunya, she had at least heard some of the deeds of this second-year absolute ruler. When she thought of the other party's confident attitude of being second to none, she always felt that it was a little difficult to associate him with this word.

"Well, for example, at the last cultural festival, although Class 2-A got fourth place in the whole grade and class, which seems pretty good, compared with the investment the class made in the preparation stage, Class 2-A and even the entire second year lost money, both in terms of individual points and class points. After all, apart from Class 2-A taking the lead in spending extra points to buy venues and equipment, the other three classes were also forced to contribute some."

In Kitagawa Ryo's view, compared to the many personal points he lost at the sports festival, this cultural festival had a greater impact on Nagumo Masaru, because one of the invisible but very important basic conditions for his dominance over the second year was that he could indeed make the entire second year's pie bigger.

The greatest advantage of the whole grade working together is that they can ideally extract the most benefits from each special exam by the school. Therefore, unlike the first and third grades, the total number of class points for each class in the second grade is actually quite frightening. In fact, if you only look at the class points, the last second grade D class would be a C class if they came to the first grade.

With more class points, the individual points allocated each month are naturally more. Even if a certain percentage needs to be handed over to Nan Yunya, the individual points she ultimately receives will still be more. In addition, there is the benefit of being able to enter Class A for graduation through a lottery. All of these factors together constitute the legitimacy of Nan Yunya's rule within the second year.

However, Nan Yunya, the person in charge of the cultural festival, completely abandoned his previous policies. In addition to the fact that the benefits for each class were far less than any of the previous special exams, his completely indifferent attitude, to the point that he did not even show up on the day of the cultural festival to make arrangements, made the students of Class 2-A feel somewhat disheartened.

"So, it's more likely that Nagumo was stimulated during that period. And during the period after the start of the second semester, besides the fact that he was about to take over as student council president, another major event actually occurred in the entire Tokyo Advanced Educational High School."

Tianze Yixia's mind was naturally quite sharp; as soon as Kitagawa Ryo revealed the specific time, she had already guessed the correct answer:

"Is Liang referring to the acting chairman of Yuecheng?"

"Yes, it's him. He officially took office as acting chairman after the start of the second semester. I suspect that Nangumo's changes during this period are related to him."

Because he had spent a long time in contact with Tsukishiro Tsunehira during Sakayanagi Arisu's final simulation, Kitagawa Ryo believed that he understood some of the other party's personality and style of doing things. Unlike his often kind and smiling face at that time, this black glove in the political world was never a soft-hearted person. His politeness to him and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was only because of their status.

As for the reason why the other party approached Nan Yunma, it is not hard to guess. The system of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School has always been that the special examinations are jointly managed by the school and the student council. As the acting chairman, Tsukishiro Tsuneshige actually needs the support of the student council. In this way, in some situations where he cannot show up, the student council can act on his behalf, and it is also the most suitable person to be the one to shift the blame.

In fact, Yuecheng Changcheng has always been well aware that he is only a temporary acting chairman. It is precisely because of this that he has been able to carry out such sweeping reforms to the entire Dongyu despite the opposition from most of the teachers. For example, the class voting exam that was originally supposed to be held at the end of the first academic year. Since he wouldn't be in office for long anyway, he might as well add more variables and highlights to this gamble.

"Yukishiro does seem like the kind of person who would do something like this. Ryo's explanation makes sense."

As someone who was also a participant in the final simulation, Amaze Ichika was quite familiar with Tsukishiro Tsuneshiro, so she nodded in approval.

"Although we don't know exactly what Yuecheng did to Nanyun, it's undeniable that Nanyun is now starting to prepare for her future after graduation. Well, that's a high-EQ way of putting it."

After briefly recalling the few glances he had made at Nagumo Masashi and President Amasawa during the cultural festival, and connecting that with Asahina Nagisa's statement that the Nagumo cultural festival was about abandoning the whole class to get close to those supposedly important guests, Kitagawa Ryo could easily deduce the other party's thought process from the cause and effect.

If we follow this line of thinking, then the reason why Nagumo Masaru's attitude towards Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly improved becomes obvious, because Arisu's biological father is the former chairman who was recently suspended from his post.

Of course, practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and if we want to verify these conjectures, Tianze Yixia is a good candidate.

"I want Yixia to test Nanyun's reaction a little, or rather, scare him, because if I'm not mistaken, you can now use the Tianze family's name to intimidate others."

As he spoke, Kitagawa Ryo tapped the table lightly with his fingers, expressing his thoughts to Amasawa Ichika:

"Ichika's performance at the cultural festival should have indeed had an effect, reaching your biological father's side. At that time, Nagumo happened to be with President Amasawa, so he would most likely know about the relationship between the two of you. Of course, it's the fake one. After all, Nagumo wouldn't know that you two father and daughter have never actually met and have no feelings for each other. But with the surname here and Arisu's example in front of him, he will be fooled."

"Hmm, what next?"

"Then, before you prank and teach the other person a lesson according to your own idea, you can try to hint that there is a student in your class that you particularly dislike. Nan Yun himself has the criticism votes for Class C. Given his current behavior, he will most likely want to use this bargaining chip to please you, or rather, to please President Tian Ze, the 'big shot' in his eyes."

"As for that person's name..."

"I know, Ryo wants me to fill in the front garden."

Tianze Yixia readily gave Maezono's name, and then added without hesitation:

“Recently, quite a few people in the class have heard that she seems to be doing something naughty.”

Kitagawa Ryo simply nodded in agreement.

Fanbo's cooperation arrived as scheduled.

Chapter 373: The Show Begins (4k5)

The atmosphere in Class 1-A has become noticeably subtle in the past few days. Besides the fact that the special exam is approaching and the class has not yet established a specific strategy, the main reason is the sudden surge of rumors.

Over this period of time, Maezono's group has grown to more than a dozen students. After all, people are instinctively inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm, and her excuse of merely protecting herself is hard to fault at first glance. However, the only thing that bothers Maezono is that Sudo Ken, who inexplicably started competing with them, has managed to pull several people away from her group using some kind of rhetoric. Maezono is starting to regret including him in her list of potential recruits. She thought that athletes were easier to fool.

As the number of students increased and the conflict escalated, even well-behaved students like Miyake Akito and Yukimura Teruhiko vaguely sensed a change within the class. However, knowing their own limitations, they preferred that Kitagawa Ryo step forward and, as before, provide a solution so that the class could safely get through this special exam.

In their eyes, these unusual phenomena were nothing more than the students' fear and confusion about this special exam, the voting process taking too long, and Kitagawa Ryo's failure to make corresponding arrangements, which led to the current situation.

In short, as long as Kitagawa Ryo gives specific instructions, everything will be alright.

But until a week before the special exam officially began, Kitagawa Ryo, as well as Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu, who had previously served as commanders in the special exam, fell silent at the same time, as if they had agreed to do so.

Although some impatient students took the initiative to ask Kitagawa Ryo or Ichinose Honami privately, they basically received the answer that they were still communicating with other classes and that there would be a result in a few days.

During this anxious wait, another rumor that originated from Class 1-C once again grabbed the attention of the entire grade and even the whole school. Totsuka Yahiko, a student from Class 1-C, publicly revealed the results of his investigation over the past month in front of the whole class, claiming that their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, was the spy that Class 1-C had been searching for for so long. He even went so far as to imagine that the relationship between the two was not as simple as that of teacher and student.

Just as Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Katsuragi Kohei had predicted, the students in Class 1-C, both boys and girls, were too lazy to believe a single word of Totsuka Yahiko's nonsense. They subconsciously regarded him as a precious person who knew he was going to be voted out of school and therefore shamelessly clung to him and spread rumors everywhere.

However, once this sensational rumor was spread, it was completely out of control. Moreover, it was a topic that was extremely sensitive to the school. Therefore, Chabashira Sae and Kitagawa Ryo, who were involved, were quickly summoned to the Academic Affairs Office for investigation.

At this point, Chabashira Sae's past persona and image came into play. If it were Hoshinomiya Chie, whose private life was so messy that it was an open secret among the faculty and staff, the school would probably have to investigate further with some skepticism. But Chabashira Sae had been an ice queen here for almost five or six years, and she didn't seem like the type to get involved with students.

Of course, as the acting chairman, Tsukishiro Tsuneshige also secretly expressed his attitude of minimizing the matter. Therefore, after a series of swift actions, the school issued a special notice defining the incident as a defamation case, calling on teachers and students not to believe or spread rumors, and giving the rumor-monger Totsuka Yahiko a severe punishment.

Although the process and outcome of this incident were not unexpected by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka himself, and he had not intended to bring down Chabashira Sae with just this one move, he still sensed something was amiss. Chabashira Sae herself had several unusual one-on-one conversations with her students afterward. On the surface, she claimed that she wanted to strengthen communication with her classmates to prevent such unfounded misunderstandings and slander from happening again, but such actions were not like Chabashira Sae's own style. Instead, it seemed more like an instruction from Kitagawa Ryo.

However, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji was unable to investigate exactly what Chabashira Sae had said to each person in these conversations, especially among the girls. He had indeed managed to acquire a valuable pawn through various means over the past few months, but her personality made it difficult to gather such information, so he had to put it aside for the time being.

For students in other classes, it was more like a rotten melon that they were initially excited about but ended up feeling bored and tasteless.

Especially for the students in Class 1-A, they endured several more days of anxiety and unease. Finally, on the day before the voting deadline, Kitagawa Ryo walked onto the podium after school for the first time, facing gazes filled with a mix of emotions and thoughts, and began to make arrangements for this special exam:

"First of all, I want to apologize to everyone here. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I had to make significant changes to various plans and overturn my previous ideas during the preparation for this special exam, which is why it has been delayed until now."

"Besides the reasons mentioned above, the reason for waiting until now is also due to the need for confidentiality and strictness. According to the agreement I signed with other classes, if there is even the slightest oversight or discrepancy, there will be severe penalties for breach of contract. So I hope everyone can understand."

"Now, the following is the formal statement regarding this special exam for class voting. In fact, I have communicated with other classes in the same grade over the past month, and we have finally reached a consensus, albeit with some difficulty."

Having said that, Kitagawa Ryo scanned the faces of all the students in the class, took a deep breath, and began to give his final instructions:

"Regarding the class voting, I will not interfere in any way. All students are free to use the three votes they have for praising and criticizing their classmates. I have no mandatory requirements for this."

These words immediately sparked a heated discussion in the class. The first to stand up from his seat in an almost abrupt manner was Takeshi Sudo, who was sitting in the back row:

"No way, I heard that Nagumo from the second year collected all the criticism votes from Class C. Given the time you spent with him during the sports festival, it's impossible that he wouldn't use his petty personality against you. Even if it's just for safety reasons, everyone in the class should at least give you a vote of praise."

Before Kitagawa Ryo could even speak, another sentence suddenly appeared out of nowhere:

"How do you know that those critical votes were definitely for Kitagawa? He himself, as the leader, said so, so he must have his own reasons."

Then came another sneer, deliberately lowered in voice:

"Why are you jumping out to pledge your loyalty now? Why didn't you do this earlier?"

If we could turn back time to half a year ago, Sudo Ken would probably have already dragged these sarcastic people out on the spot and given them a good beating from the PE students. But now he has indeed learned to control his emotions. Although he still subconsciously felt angry in the face of this situation, he still suppressed his desire to attack and turned his gaze to Kitagawa Ryo on the podium.

"Yes, that's true. Nagumo's targets may not be just me. You don't need to vote for me because of that."

Kitagawa Ryo remained remarkably calm, which left Sudo Ken somewhat bewildered, prompting him to instinctively continue his defense:

"However, I think if Kitagawa can get the protection points for first place, it will benefit our whole class."

Just like before, as soon as he uttered those words, the small group led by Sono once again uttered a few sarcastic remarks that made Sudo Ken's forehead veins throb and his blood pressure skyrocket:

"Hehe, so being a class leader is just about getting benefits for yourself?"

"Wow, is it okay to say something like that so openly?"

"Sudo just doesn't understand. If he says something like that, how is Kitagawa going to subtly suggest that we vote for him?"

However, Kitagawa Ryo remained oblivious to these ambiguous remarks, gesturing for Sudo Takeru to sit down before skipping over the topic and continuing with the arrangements:

"As for the praise and criticism votes from other classes, I hope everyone will fill in the name of Totsuka Yahiko from Class 1-C for the former and Manabe Shiho from Class 1-D for the latter."

Two more completely unexpected names, but what made Kitagawa Ryo somewhat amused was the reaction of some students in the audience. Maezono, who had just been saying, "He must have his reasons for saying that," suddenly put on a righteous and selfless look, raising her hand to ask, as if determined to get to the bottom of things:

Why should we vote for those two?

"This involves the agreement with other classes, and we will tell everyone when the results of this special exam are released."

Seemingly bothered by Maezono's question, Kitagawa Ryo pursed her lips and added, as if feeling wronged:

"Wasn't it the same when we were on the deserted island? Everyone just needed to follow my instructions."

"Because back then our class was just Class D with zero points, but now we are Class A with a clear lead. If we continue to unconditionally obey your orders, the class will find it difficult to continue to improve. Or do you expect us to unconditionally obey your orders in everything without thinking about anything?"

Maezono's words, seemingly flawless at first glance, demonstrate her mastery of the sophistry of seizing the moral high ground and the fallacy of slippery slopes. However, Kitagawa Ryo responded with a firm stance:

"I said I would explain everything afterward, but now, all students, please follow my instructions to write the names of the two people on the two votes for praise and criticism and cast them. After that, I will take photos to verify with the leaders of other classes."

"It seems that you really are getting close to Ryuen from Class D. You've almost learned about 70% of his skills."

Faced with Maezono's relentless efforts to steer the conversation, Kitagawa Ryo simply displayed an unyielding expression, tapped the blackboard once more, and continued to ask questions with an air of unquestionable authority:

"Have you filled out and submitted everything?"

At this point, even Maehara, who had been opposing him all along, could only sit down again. On one hand, she secretly cursed Kitagawa Ryo, thinking that his reputation in the class would definitely plummet after he revealed his true nature. On the other hand, she honestly carried out his instructions. After all, going any further in rebellion would be going too far. Their slogan was always self-preservation, not killing Kitagawa Ryo.

This was actually the first time he had shown such a willful attitude in class. Just as Kitagawa Ryo had predicted, his past reputation could indeed support him to do something like Ryuen Sho, but he had not done it because he was worried that doing so would consume and destroy the collective atmosphere of the whole class.

After checking each class member's phone and confirming that they had all submitted the voting results to the school as instructed, Kitagawa Ryo hurriedly left the classroom, leaving the remaining time to the students of Class 1-A.

With Kitagawa Ryo gone, Maezono resumed her familiar back-and-forth rhythm. Just as Sudo Ken was about to physically punch her in the face, Ichinose Honami suddenly walked up to the podium, clapped her hands as if she had made a great decision, and attracted the attention of the entire class.

Regarding the matter of transferring classes, no matter what you say, you might be labeled a traitor. The best way to solve this problem is to have the class betray you first, thus making you the victim. And to become the perfect victim...

"...Well, although Ryo has been telling me to keep this arrangement a secret until the special exam is over, now that things have come to this, I really do want to clarify some things, especially for you and Maezono-kun."

At this point, Honami Ichinose, unusually serious, abandoned her usual smile and earnestly explained to herself and the entire class:

“Your thoughts and your demands have never been ignored by Liang. In fact, he made significant changes to his strategy midway through the preparation for this special exam in the hope of finding a better solution for you.”

"He knew you would be worried about being unfairly targeted in this class vote, so in addition to not making any mandatory requirements in the class vote to prevent taking away the praise votes you might have received, he also made a deal with Class B and Class D that was definitely not worth it. All the praise votes from those two classes will be distributed equally among every student in our Class A, so everyone gets a share."

This was Kitagawa Ryo's first wordplay. The contract between Ryuen Sho and Katsuragi Kohei only guaranteed that the former would raise at least thirty praise votes for Totsuka Yahiko, but it never said that these praise votes had to be from the students of Class 1-D. These votes were transferred to Class A, which is the praise vote they just cast.

As Ichinose Honami said at this moment, Kitagawa Ryo demanded that the praise votes for Class 1-D be distributed equally among every student in Class A, and the same was true for the praise votes for Class 1-B.

Of course, Honami Ichinose would not reveal the truth.

"The transaction with Class D is the two tickets you just filled out. As for Class B, Ryo paid for them himself at the price of 100,000 personal points per ticket, which cost a total of 3.9 million personal points."

"Would he really spend so many points out of his own pocket for us?"

Before Maezono could even utter her instinctive retort, Sudo Ken had already rushed up from behind, furious, and grabbed her by the collar:

"What do you know? How do you know that Kitagawa isn't that kind of person? Back in the last semester's midterm exams, he already paid out of his own pocket hundreds of thousands, even millions, of points for several students in our class to buy their way to higher scores. Did you know that? Huh? Did you know that?"

With Ichinose Honami's speech and Sudo Takeru's actions as the trigger, the classroom of Class 1-A immediately fell into unprecedented chaos.

Sakayanagi Arisu sat motionless in her seat, even applauding inwardly with amusement.

The real show has only just begun.

However, she was now eager to see what the class would look like after Class 1-B, thanks to this windfall and the perfect combination of 20 million personal points, transferred Kitagawa Ryo to their class.

Chapter 374: The Recap and Formal Transfer with Ayanokouji

After leaving Class 1-A's classroom, Kitagawa Ryo hadn't taken two steps when Ayanokouji Kiyotaka appeared in front of him, nodding slightly as if he had been waiting for him for a long time.

"Chat?"

"it is good."

After a brief question and answer, Kitagawa Ryo walked over and walked out of the teaching building with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. They sat down on a nearby bench and began their respective debriefings.