Ryuen asked Shirogane and Shiina what their intentions were.
Shirogane had no bad intentions—he was just testing Ryuen's abilities.
And now, the conclusion was clear: Ryuen was definitely interesting.
Even though he believed in using violence and wasn't afraid to act on it, it was also obvious that if Shirogane and Shiina hadn't recorded him, he would've made sure his victims kept quiet instead of reporting him.
Plus, his fighting style was pretty impressive.
He avoided hitting people in the face—meaning no visible injuries, but plenty of pain.
He was clearly experienced in both fighting and avoiding consequences.
And his psychological skills and intelligence were well-developed too.
Just as the narrator system had said.
Ryuen was proud and arrogant, using violence to keep Class C under his control. Many students were unhappy about it but didn't dare to speak out.
By using force to suppress the class and underhanded tactics to compete against other classes, he had led Class C to achievements never seen before.
But.
Shirogane hadn't come here to praise Ryuen. It was true that he relied on violence, but if he got caught and punished in the school's first-month conduct evaluation, it would be a serious problem and could drag the class down.
"Normally, if I had a video of you beating someone up, I should send it straight to the teacher."
"But right now, I've decided not to do that," Shirogane said.
"We just heard about how this school actually works. We all know that only by reaching Class A can we enjoy the benefits the school promises."
"For the first month, all four classes start with 1,000 points," Shirogane continued. "After the conduct evaluation, the point gaps between the classes will probably start to widen."
"Since we know this, our class can try to minimize our losses."
In other words, they had learned the school's rules and were already thinking about how to use them.
It was like leveling up alone in this kind of environment.
"Your idea sounds nice, but reality is harsh," Ryuen said. "You probably haven't been paying much attention to our classmates—they're basically a bunch of losers."
"If I don't keep them in line, there's no way they'll behave. If you expect them to follow the school's conduct rules on their own, that's just not going to happen."
"Then go ahead and keep them in line," Shirogane said.
"Huh?"
Ryuen narrowed his eyes. At this moment, he was sure—this guy named Shirogane Miyuki was not normal.
At first, he seemed like someone full of righteousness.
But then, Ryuen realized he was willing to compromise depending on the situation—like choosing not to send the video of him using violence to the teacher.
And now.
He was even allowing him to continue using force to control the class.
Could it be...
"You want to move up. You want to graduate as part of Class A!" Ryuen said.
"That's right," Shirogane nodded. "I want to graduate in Class A."
His family was extremely poor, but if he could make it into Class A, he could go to the university of his choice, with even his tuition covered by the school.
Just that alone was enough to make Shirogane determined to aim for Class A.
He had already suspected that the school wouldn't offer such benefits to everyone. So, he had to find the way to earn them. That way turned out to be a competition between classes, where only those who reached Class A would succeed.
Now that he had found the path, he was going to take it.
"Pretty ambitious!" Ryuen smirked. "But you're probably going to be disappointed. Didn't you hear those two upperclassmen? Classes C and D are considered trash."
"And I have no doubt about that. Most of Class C is garbage, and Class D is probably the same."
"In terms of overall ability, we're definitely weaker than Classes A and B," Ryuen said.
"Then we just have to turn the weakest into the strongest," Shirogane said. "If the school accepted us, it means we still have a chance."
"And even if the chances are slim, there have been cases where the underdog won, right?"
"Six or seven years ago, in the year of Chabashira-sensei—our Class D homeroom teacher—and maybe even Sakagami-sensei, the D Class at that time actually rose to Class B."
"Back then, Chabashira-sensei's D Class probably had worse conditions than we do now, and they definitely didn't figure out how the school worked this early on."
"So, with these conditions, are you going to give up, Ryuen?"
Are you going to admit defeat?
Are you going to admit defeat?
Ryuen's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Lose? That's impossible for me. Trying to provoke me won't work. I've studied psychology on my own, so I understand how to control people's thoughts."
"You just want to use my strength, don't you?" Ryuen said.
"You're right. I do want to borrow your strength. But aren't you also part of Class C? Didn't you find this school interesting? That's why you started gathering information on the very first day, wasn't it? So after learning the reality of this school and realizing our class ranks so low, Ryuen, you must have thought about climbing higher too." Shirogane said.
"So it's not just us using your strength—you also need ours." Shirogane continued.
Heh.
Heh.
Ryuen let out a laugh.
But still.
Damn it.
His plan had been to act alone, to seize the advantage by gathering intelligence first, then use force to bring people under control and shock the school with outstanding results in the first month.
Not to end up being treated like some hired thug.
Yet, he couldn't completely deny what Shirogane was saying.
Because, as the other guy pointed out, his original plan was to lead the class with his own power. But if he did that, everything would revolve around him alone. Some students might obey out of fear, while others might refuse to follow him.
But if Shirogane and Shiina were willing to help, things would be different.
With them, the class would be even stronger.
It was true.
He had captured an upperclassman and learned the secrets of the school, but those two must have their own doubts about this place as well.
After all, if they were just passing by, they wouldn't have interfered with how he was trying to control the class. That meant they understood that without force, it would be nearly impossible to unite everyone.
And a disorganized class was nothing but a mess. Forget climbing higher—they could even drop further.
After all, this was only Class C. It could still fall to Class D.
[Do you think he'll accept your offer?]
Just then, the voice in Shirogane's head spoke up again.
"Where did you go just now?" Shirogane muttered under his breath.
Ever since meeting Horikita and Kushida, the narration system had gone completely silent. It was as if it had stopped working for a while.
[I got called away by Mom… No, wait, talking to me out loud like this is going to seem weird.]
Is that so?
Talking to thin air would definitely look strange, but right now, Ryuen seemed deep in thought and hadn't noticed anything.
Still, Shirogane was pretty sure Ryuen would agree.
From the information the narrator had revealed, it was clear that Ryuen was rebellious yet determined to lead his class to the top.
And someone with that kind of ambition wouldn't be short-sighted.
Making temporary compromises was just part of the game.
After all, there were no permanent enemies—only permanent interests.
As expected.
"This time, it's just a partnership," Ryuen said. "I won't be your tool. That's something you'd better remember."
— ¶ —————————————————————
"If I'm going to lead, I'll be a tyrant!"
A tyrant, huh…
That actually made a lot of sense.
If Shirogane and Shiina hadn't thought about how unusual this school was, and if Ryuen had been left to grow on his own, he might really have become the tyrant of Class C.
"Then you can delete the recording now, right?" Ryuen said.
In other words, Ryuen was only backing down because he wanted to get rid of the video of him hitting someone.
He had just learned from an upperclassman that new students would be tested on their behavior during their first month, and any rule-breaking would result in a deduction of points.
And since he had already punched an upperclassman on the first day, he might get double the usual penalty.
On top of that, he could also face direct punishment.
That video was now a stain on his record.
"We can't give you the recording," Shirogane said. "We don't fully trust you yet. But since we're working together, you don't have to worry about us betraying you."
"If it makes you feel better, we can store the video on a USB drive and leave it with our homeroom teacher, Sakagami-sensei, for safekeeping."
So they were planning to keep a weapon against him?
"Hah… You expect the horse to keep running but won't even let it eat, huh?" Ryuen scoffed. "Don't you think you're going a little overboard?"
"But Ryuen, you don't have a choice," Shirogane replied. "Or are you saying you'd rather give up your chance to climb to the top?"
"Right now, all four classes start with the same 1,000 points. If we fall behind here, it'll be really hard to catch up later."
"And for people like us, our only real shot at getting into a top university is if our entire class moves up to Class A."
"So, Ryuen, don't you want to go from being a so-called failure to getting into the best school?" Shirogane said.
Shirogane Yuxing was clearly trying to manipulate him.
And Ryuen saw through it immediately.
But the idea of rising from the bottom to become the strongest…
That actually fired him up.
However.
If he just went along with this, he'd be completely under their control.
First of all, he wanted to be a tyrant, not some general taking orders.
Second…
This was a total trap.
If he used violence to bring the class under his control, he'd definitely make enemies. Someone would report him, and he'd get punished.
And if his fight with the upperclassman got out at the same time, it would only make things worse. He could even get expelled.
But if he didn't take control of the class, with the kind of students they had, there was no way they'd listen to him. Even if they knew an exam was coming, they wouldn't score well.
So he had to take charge.
And to take charge, he needed to use force.
Which meant…
The moment he made a move, he'd be using violence, and Shirogane's group would have the evidence to get him expelled. They'd have him completely in their hands.
But if he did nothing, he'd just sit back and miss out on this school's interesting exams?
Damn it.
Ryuen cursed.
He had always believed that violence was the strongest tool—that violence could solve everything. But now…
This guy, Shirogane Miyuki, had completely shattered his worldview.
He didn't even see him throw a punch, yet the effect was stronger than violence.
And so—
Five minutes later, Ryuen Kakeru, the man who could have become a tyrant in Class 1-C, added Shirogane Miyuki as a friend, then walked away with a dark expression.
ps: It feels like in the original story, Ryuen's class knew the school's true nature in advance. The student quality in Classes C and D is about the same, but while Class D's points dropped from 1000 to 0 in the first month, Ryuen's class still had over 500. Something seems off.
ps: Also, thanks for the support, guys! But since I didn't have perfect attendance this month, no need to send me any knife emojis. *sob sob*