I have a life simulator.

With many people intentionally or unintentionally fueling the flames, the discussion on the forum continued to escalate and quickly shifted to Kitagawa Ryo and the drama club.

It can only be said that students on the internet are indeed prone to slipping, especially when their emotions are stirred up. Instead of reasoning, they only think about refuting the other party and saying, "Jin Chanzi, I won again."

What was once a seemingly unassailable argument was now being refuted one by one, with comments like, "If clubs with good grades can do whatever they want, why doesn't the school just shut down all the clubs that don't have good grades like the drama department?" or "Think about it another way: even pigs can fly if they're in the right place at the right time. If our club had such strong connections in the student council, we could also achieve good results. The reason we're not achieving results now is because we have to outwit and outmaneuver the student council in addition to training." Such comments were rampant for a time.

Then, some busybodies, or rather, 'well-meaning people,' immediately compiled a list of the privileges of the drama department.

As the saying goes, you won't know until you see it listed, and once you see it, you'll be shocked.

Although many students, like the student from the Light Music Club who posted the initial post, vaguely felt that the Drama Club was frequently participating in competitions outside of school, many only belatedly realized, after the actual data was presented, that this club was participating in far too many competitions outside of school.

As we all know, things are valued for their scarcity. Due to the fully enclosed management model of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, most students have always been very enthusiastic about leaving the school. However, ordinary students can only leave the school twice a year through special exams, such as on uninhabited islands.

There aren't many opportunities for clubs to compete outside of school. Even for a large sports club like the basketball club, where Takeru Sudo is, the only time they can reliably apply for a competition outside of school is the summer tournament in the summer. As for smaller clubs like the light music club, it goes without saying that they often apply for a long time but ultimately fail to get approved.

However, the drama club manages to consistently leave the school every two months, and sometimes they even stay overnight outside. From any perspective, this frequency is simply too exaggerated.

However, as the situation escalated to this point, it took a strange turn, almost as if the boss had given the online trolls two different plans at the same time. The topics on the forum were no longer being pushed forward in an orderly manner as before, but instead began to diversify.

What Kitagawa Ryo was targeting was a post like this:

"They've gone out so many times, and each time for so long, I don't believe these people spend so much time off-campus just to participate in the competition!"

He doesn't have many weaknesses, but there are two that could be quite damaging to him as the acting student council president. After all, some things are only a small amount when you don't weigh them, but once you do, they can be incredibly damaging.

This is one of them.

Chapter 456: A Storm is Brewing, the Mountain Fills the Tower

Generally speaking, as long as no serious principled mistakes are made, the school rules of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School are quite lenient for ordinary students. Ryuen Sho is quite qualified to speak on this point, after all, he has actually done things that actively tested the bottom line of the school rules, such as deliberately covering up the surveillance cameras on campus. In the end, he always denied it and just paid a fine in personal or class points.

However, the student council, especially the student council president, is obviously not subject to this set of default rules. After all, power and responsibility are always two sides of the same coin. As the student council president of Dongyu University, even if you can't play a leading role, you should at least not break the law. After all, the student council also has some supervisory power shared with the school.

Nan Yunya actually fell victim to this unspoken rule. After all, in truth, the wild boar incident she encountered was not nearly as serious as Long Yuanxiang's deliberate sabotage of the surveillance camera, and he was even a victim himself. However, since he was the current student council president, he could only be severely punished as a warning.

And the same is true for Kitagawa Ryo now.

Moreover, unlike Nan Yunya, the two pieces of evidence he currently carries are much more troublesome, the kind that could lead to a major demerit or even expulsion from school.

First, there's the kitten that's still being kept in the dorm. After all, the rule that students aren't allowed to keep pets on campus is clearly written in black and white in the school rules and dorm regulations. However, there are ways to deal with this. Besides forcibly spending 20 million personal points to buy Hotaru a student status, as in the previous simulation, Asahina Nazuna also suggested that after something happens, the pet could be registered under the name of a teacher with whom they have a good relationship. After all, the school rules don't stipulate that faculty and staff can't keep pets.

As for why he went to the campus?

There's nothing we can do about it; cats are just like that—they'll run away if we don't keep an eye on them.

In addition, the second piece of leverage is the drama club-related matters that some people on the forum are trying to expose.

In his first semester after entering university, in order to earn personal points and build connections with upperclassmen, Kitagawa Ryo took on the job of delivering things off-campus for students, along with the drama club. Later, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka even managed to sabotage the operation by using a third-year informant. Although Kitagawa Ryo noticed the scheme and avoided the trap, the business had to be shut down. Later, when he helped Katsuragi Kohei deliver gifts to his sister during summer vacation, it was purely on Kitagawa Ryo's whim, a result of his sister-complex and mutual appreciation.

In fact, the blue ocean in this area is indeed quite vast. After all, the fully enclosed management system of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School means that the students there will have such needs, and needs will create a corresponding market. Even if these are prohibited items written in the school rules, in a sense, the most profitable things are often these prohibited items written in the rules.

Theoretically speaking, the best time for Kitagawa Ryo to get rid of this mess was at the end of last year, when he was exempted from expulsion. He could have exposed the incident himself, taken all the blame, and then used the reward from that special exam to successfully keep himself in school.

But there was nothing he could do. He could only say that the thought of leaving school and the team to celebrate his sister's birthday overwhelmed everything else. However, Kitagawa Ryo would never claim to be an overly rational person. After all, he had his moments of emotion all these years. Even if this boomerang had come back to haunt him, if he were given another chance to choose, he would definitely still choose to use this precious opportunity to avoid expulsion to celebrate Hotaru's birthday, no matter how many times he had to do it again.

As for how to deal with this media attack, which is most likely launched by Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, Ryo Kitagawa is not entirely unprepared or clueless.

As the saying goes, to catch a thief, catch him in the act; to catch an adulterer, catch them in bed. After all, more than half a year has passed since this incident, and many related clues have long since disappeared. Moreover, if this matter were to be exposed, those senior students who made the deal with him and the drama department would also be accomplices, so they should be more inclined to keep the secret.

But if we think about it the other way around, could it be that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji started stirring up such an old-fashioned trend at this time because he found a witness willing to expose this matter?

With less than two months left until graduation for the current third-year students, unless there is a dramatic reversal in the final graduation exam, the rankings of the four classes (A, B, C, and D) should already be completely settled. Under these circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising if two students were willing to take a gamble for Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's prize, with classes C and D being particularly likely to be involved.

Moreover, knowing about this matter, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji could even go to students who were not involved at all to directly testify, just like he encouraged Yahiko Totsuka to expose Sae Chabashira last year. As long as the matter is true, the identity of the whistleblower does not really matter.

Conversely, if the whistleblower is of high enough stature, then whether the accusations are true or false becomes less important.

At least on the drama department's side, all related materials and loose ends have been thoroughly cleaned up in advance, so if anyone wants to cause trouble, they can only start with the person who made the deal.

Alternatively, it could be a record of personal points transactions.

Thinking of this, Kitagawa Ryo opened Notepad on his computer and typed out the list of students who had made deals with their drama club back then, based on his memory. He first divided them into groups according to their grades and classes, and then sent the names of the second-year students to Asahina Nazuna, asking her to keep an eye on their movements.

On the third-year side, Kitagawa Ryo first erased several names from Class A. After all, he really didn't believe that any Class A student would participate in such a thing at this crucial moment before graduation, when their class had such a huge advantage and it was almost a certainty that Class A would graduate. Moreover, Horikita Manabu's management ability of the class was trustworthy, so it was indeed unlikely that there would be a mole.

The remaining names, in theory, should all be the focus of attention.

However, according to Kitagawa Ryo's thinking, he was more inclined to believe that these people had not betrayed him, because they were almost all in the same situation as Katsuragi Kohei. Among the students of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, it was unlikely that such a student would be willing to spend such a considerable amount of personal points just to send a greeting of peace and blessings to their family members outside the school. In Kitagawa Ryo's view, the possibility of such a student being bought off by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's flattery was very low. He was more inclined to believe that Ayanokouji had just randomly picked another student who was willing to do this to identify him.

After all, it is quite rare to be able to keep thoughts of the outside world in an environment like Dongyu.

The competitive system, financial system, and academic life here are completely different from those in the outside world. It is easy for the students here to be subtly immersed in this deliberately constructed atmosphere. This is true for Nangumo Masaru, as well as for Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie, who came earlier. These gains and losses within the school have occupied their entire vision, and they have completely forgotten that the three years here are only a part of their life experience. As a result, the latter has not been able to get over it even ten years after graduation.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was resting his chin on his hand in thought, there was a sudden, urgent knock on the door of the student council president's office. Before he could even say "Come in," the student outside had already pushed the door open and rushed in.

It was a red-haired twin-tailed girl who was only remembered by Sakayanagi Arisu today. She had successfully succeeded Kitagawa Ryo as the strongest fighter in Class A after Kitagawa Ryo transferred away, and when she got serious, even Sudo couldn't beat her.

"Ichika actually came to the student council?"

"Is it possible that Liang has been staying in the student council all this time?"

Normally, Amazusa Ichika would probably have teased Kitagawa Ryo about this topic again, but she wasn't in the mood for it now. As a fellow member of the drama club, she also immediately realized the true direction of this trend.

"Does Ryo think that Arisu is the mastermind behind this?"

"While the first half might be true, the most critical part for us was definitely not her intention. It was more likely Ayanokouji, since he was also aware of these things."

After receiving Kitagawa Ryo's reply, Amasawa Ichika seemed a little regretful. She casually tidied her hair, which was a bit messy from running over, before walking to her desk and speaking in a low voice:

"If that's the case, wouldn't it be much simpler? At worst, we can just take down Katsuragi from their class as well."

Because Amasawa Ichika was present when Katsuragi Kohei and Kitagawa Ryo reached a consensus on sister complex on the cruise ship last summer, she was well aware that the two had also reached a similar private deal.

The meaning of "Tianze Yixia" is very clear.

If the drama club's affairs weren't exposed, this matter would at most be a private affair between Katsuragi Kohei and Kitagawa Ryo, and would be forgotten. However, if Ayanokouji Kiyotaka were to expose everything, this matter could become a card they could use to blackmail the other party, making them hesitant to act. After all, if the point transaction records were checked, Katsuragi Kohei would be completely unable to explain why he, as the class leader, transferred more than 100,000 personal points to Kitagawa Ryo at that time.

Tianze Yixia spoke very quickly, after all, the white room wasn't really a gym for pure muscle building, although the fitness effect was indeed top-notch.

"If this was indeed Ayanokouji's doing, then there are two possibilities. One is that he was completely unaware of the deal between Katsuragi and Ryo. This possibility is not low, because Katsuragi might not have told Ayanokouji about such a thing. The other possibility is that Ayanokouji knew about it, and he might have exposed it this time to take advantage of Katsuragi's prestige. After all, he is now the leader of Class C, while Katsuragi is the former leader. It is very normal for the current leader to settle scores with the former leader."

"...I would lean more towards one."

Compared to Amasawa Ichika, Kitagawa Ryo clearly understood Katsuragi Kohei and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's personalities better. The situation described by Amasawa Ichika was almost impossible between them. After leading Class A to Class D, Katsuragi Kohei had already considered retiring, but he stayed because there was no suitable successor in the class. Now that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was willing to take the initiative to assume the position, their power transition should have been incredibly smooth. It was almost impossible for the situation described by Amasawa Ichika to occur.

Therefore, Kitagawa Ryo is more inclined to believe that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was completely unaware of the existence of this transaction. After all, the drama club's business at that time was all aimed at the upperclassmen. In the end, the first-year students in the first semester were in a state of enjoying campus life and had no intention of thinking about their family and friends outside of school, let alone giving anything away. This is the classic misconception.

Moreover, although Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has been through nearly a year of school life, especially after last year's special class election exam, he has started to work hard to expand his interpersonal relationships. However, half a year ago, Ayanokouji still retained the mark of the White Room that made him stand out from others. He was only thinking about how to defeat him, and he didn't seem to be very interested in Katsuragi Kohei's family relationships and personal experiences. It is estimated that Totsuka Yahiko, who has already dropped out of school, knows more about this than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

"So, what Ryo means is that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's AOE attack accidentally hit friendly forces?"

Tianze Yixia blinked, and while asking the question, she reached out and took the teacup from his desk, taking two gulps.

"It's just that this possibility is greater. After all, it's also possible that the witness prepared by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is Katsuragi, and he wants to have him come out and testify against us."

Would Katsuragi agree to such a thing?

"We should always consider it as a possible scenario, no matter how low the probability is."

Kitagawa Ryo had barely exchanged a few words with Amasawa Ichika when the office door was hurriedly pushed open again, without even bothering to knock.

This time, it was Mizokawa, a second-year student, who came in.

Having likely become accustomed to seeing the student council president alone with a girl in this room, Mizowaki completely ignored Amasawa Ichika without even asking a question and went straight to Kitagawa Ryo to report:

"President, there's a commotion in the club! Vice President Horikita and Vice President Sakayanagi are handling it, but I still think it would be better if you went too."

Well, a storm is brewing, and the mountains are full of people.

Chapter 457: The Spy

There are many clubs in Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, but the two most popular and largest are the basketball and soccer clubs. So when Kitagawa Ryo arrived at the scene with Mizowaki, the first thing he saw were the students from these two clubs. A large group of tall, strong boys stood there, looking like they were about to accuse someone.

With a casual glance, Kitagawa Ryo noticed that the leaders of both clubs were mostly third-year students, while first-year students like Sudo Ken and Hirata Yosuke could only stand at the back and try to mediate the fights.

There's no way around it; that's just how seniority works here. Unless you're exceptionally talented like Takeru Sudo, a normal first-year student won't even get a chance to join the club. Becoming a full member won't happen until your second year.

But you know what, many of them were familiar faces; they were the students who had gotten a beating from him in the woods not long ago during the special mixed training camp exam.

"Chairman Kitagawa is here—"

Before Kitagawa Ryo could even take a second look, Mizowaki had already dutifully shouted on his behalf, practically adding the suffix "There will be a clear sky, and the East will be at peace."

However, Mizowaki's shout was indeed very effective, quickly attracting the attention of everyone on the field. The student council members, including Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu, seemed to have found their backbone and quickly moved towards him, thus forming a situation of confrontation between the two sides.

"Everyone, please calm down. If you have any questions or opinions, you can drop your letters into the suggestion box at the entrance of our student union. Of course, if you're worried about being caught on camera, you can also send an email to our student union's official email address. That's the convenience of the internet; everything is anonymous online."

After making a small joke to ease the tension, Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward:

"We can also have the club's advisor report the problem to us. After all, that's what the advisor does. The seniors are about to graduate, so it's best for them to focus on preparing for their exams. To do this kind of thing personally shows a bit too much affection for the club."

Seemingly oblivious to the veiled barbs in Kitagawa Ryo's words, a third-grade boy quickly stepped forward, looking indignant.

"Even though we're graduating in just over a month, does that mean the unfair treatment we've suffered doesn't exist? You drama department and student council must give us an explanation today, or I won't be able to swallow this anger even after graduation!"

"So, senior, what kind of explanation do you want?"

Kitagawa Ryo, while giving the other party a perfunctory and official response, continued to observe the students who had come to cause trouble.

He could actually predict that the basketball and soccer clubs would be the most popular, since these two clubs already had a large number of members, and before the drama club emerged, they were the 'privileged' clubs that most frequently went out of school to participate in competitions. As for other reasons, it was due to the personal influence of Kiyotaka Ayanokouji and Masaru Nagumo.

Especially the latter. When Nan Yunya first entered the university, she was a member of the soccer club and had even led the soccer club to win a major award. After joining the student council, she would still go to the soccer club to play soccer under the guise of giving guidance, even after becoming the vice president and then the president. With such a relationship, the soccer club had an easy time for the past two years, and it was normal for them to be subtly influenced by Nan Yunya.

"We just want to know the truth, to find out whether the student council and the drama department colluded to do something that violated school rules under the guise of going out to participate in competitions!"

"Yes, we just want to know the truth!"

How much longer are you going to keep this from us?

With a shout from the lead student, many students behind him joined in the commotion, creating an atmosphere that resembled a coup.

"There is nothing shady between the student council and the drama department that you are imagining. All applications for competitions outside the school have followed proper procedures. The relevant documents are currently kept in the student council and are on backup. If you want to see them, I can have someone print them out for you right now."

"You were the head of the drama department before, who would believe you saying that?"

Upon hearing this, Mizowaki quickly stepped forward and patted his chest to assure him:

“I’ve been in the student council for almost two years, but I have nothing to do with the drama department.”

"What's with the arrogance of a traitor?"

"That's right. They used to be Nan Yun's lackey, but now that Nan Yun has fallen, they've found a new master and are wagging their tails here."

Although he really wanted to yell, "Aren't most of the second-year students here traitors who betrayed Nagumo?", Mizowaki realized that the other party was actually trying to provoke him and then create a sense of urgency about the student council. So he held back and continued to explain politely:

"Our student council has never blocked your applications for basketball and soccer clubs. It's just that your results in last summer's competitions weren't very good, and your instructors also said that you need more practice time."

It can only be said that the truth came out quickly. As soon as Mizowaki said this, the basketball club and the soccer club were silent for a long time. After all, their club performance during this period was really not good. Last year, Sudo Ken complained to Kitagawa Ryo that he had only played one quarter after becoming a regular player. If he could play the whole quarter, the basketball team would not have failed to win anything in the summer tournament.

But there was nothing they could do. Just like Sudo Ken's experience in the basketball club, Hirata Yosuke and Shibata Hayate didn't get any good opportunities in the soccer club either. After all, the club had reached the point where everyone, from teachers to students, had to revolve around this student who was no longer a club member. They were practically becoming the other side's playmates. Naturally, they were not used to it in formal matches.

"Can't we use competitions as practice?"

"Exactly, if we could play a couple more games outside of school, our results would definitely be much better than they are now."

"What you're doing is creating a vicious cycle. What can you achieve by training on campus? You have to compete in matches."

"And don't change the subject. We don't care about our club. What we're asking now is what your drama club has been doing all those times you've left school? Our basketball club goes out to play a game and comes back on the same day. We never have the chance to stay out overnight. Also, don't try to fool us with some awards. Beichuan was doing this kind of work before he entered the school. Everyone knows that, right?"

Faced with the students who were starting to argue and cleverly use the tactic of 'ignoring the facts,' Kitagawa Ryo shook his head helplessly.

Just as the students started making noise again, a clear voice came from the side saying, "Teacher, over here," which immediately quieted the scene down.

"Tch... What's so great about calling me 'teacher'?"

"I feel guilty."

Despite saying that, the students on the club's side all took a step back, no longer displaying their previous aggressive attitude.

To their surprise, the teacher who strolled over was not one of the teachers the students were familiar with. The students from all three grades whispered among themselves, asking around, but no one knew the other's name.

"Ah... I'm Sima Kedian. Since I'm going to teach this year's new students, you probably don't recognize me. This is my teacher's certificate."

With a face that bore a striking resemblance to Sakagami Kazuma, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, Sima Kedian simply pulled out his identification from his breast pocket, waved it, and then put it back.

"At the same time, I am also the instructor of the drama department. I accompany and supervise the drama department every time they go out of school, since I have more free time."

After making this weak and listless complaint, Sima Kedian shrugged and slowly continued:

"Then, in my personal impression, the members of the drama club are always very well-behaved after leaving school, except for one time when they seriously violated school rules and were expelled. It wouldn't be surprising if they were expelled."

Before the upperclassmen, whose eyes lit up, could even ask a question, Sima Kedian, panting heavily, added the second half of the sentence:

"As a result, Minister Kitagawa used his own protection points to circumvent it, and that's how it is."

"Teacher, are you really not lying? The drama club isn't just made up of Kitagawa, you really have all of them..."

Before the third-grade student could finish his question, he suddenly sensed a change in the demeanor of the seemingly listless middle-aged teacher opposite him, whose hawk-like gaze fixed intently on him.