(Kengo perspective)Chapter 31: A False Victory
The moment I stepped back into the classroom, I barely had time to close the door before everyone surrounded me.
Voices overlapped.
"We did it!"
"We're finally Class B!"
"I knew you could pull it off!"
Akari was the first to throw an arm over my shoulder.
"We knew you could do this, man. I'm proud of you."
For the first time in a long while...
I smiled.
It wasn't a big smile. Just enough for me to remember what optimism felt like.
Then I noticed something.
Not everyone had joined the celebration.
Haruto remained crouched in the corner of the room, staring at the floor as though he were trying to solve a problem no one else could see.
Kei sat beside the window, looking outside with the same unreadable expression he always wore.
Neither of them congratulated me.
Jun broke the silence.
"So? What happened? Mr. Unagi only told us we got promoted."
Everyone quieted down.
I took a breath.
"In a way..."
"I outsmarted Naoki."
For a split second, Kei glanced toward me.
There was something cold in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not disappointment.
Something else.
Then he simply stood up and walked out of the classroom without saying a word.
I watched him leave before turning back toward everyone else.
Jun leaned forward.
"Tell us everything."
I explained the Scale Breaker game from beginning to end.
How Naoki exposed the cheating.
How he claimed he possessed the 1,500 class-point Scale Breaker.
How I gambled everything.
How I stole it.
When I finished, the room erupted again.
"We're Class B!"
Akari laughed.
"I still can't believe it!"
Then Shuto spoke.
Quietly.
"...Doesn't something feel wrong?"
The room fell silent.
He looked directly at me.
"You expect me to believe you outsmarted Naoki?"
His voice wasn't insulting.
It was analytical.
"He's the leader of Class A."
"You're talented, Kengo... but you're not on that level."
Akari frowned.
"Can you just be happy for him? We finally made it to Class B."
Shuto ignored him.
"Did we win because of Kengo..."
"...or because Naoki wanted us to?"
The room became quiet again.
Akari crossed his arms.
"What is it with everyone treating Naoki like he's some untouchable genius?"
I answered before anyone else could.
"He is."
Everyone looked at me.
"Out of all sixteen representatives..."
"Only Naoki and I weren't cheating."
I remembered the room.
The rulers.
The mirrors.
The Skittles.
The vent.
He dismantled every hidden strategy within minutes.
I continued.
"He tried convincing me he had the 1,500-point Scale Breaker."
"I gambled."
"I won."
"No."
The voice came from the corner.
Haruto slowly stood.
His eyes were calm.
Too calm.
"He wanted you to steal it."
The room froze.
"He wanted us to become Class B."
Akari immediately shook his head.
"That doesn't make any sense."
"Why would Class A willingly strengthen us?"
Haruto answered without hesitation.
"Because we're easier to manipulate than Kaito's class."
Shuto nodded.
"I think he's bored."
"He finished playing with Class B."
"Now he's moving on to us."
Rika frowned.
"That's unbelievably arrogant."
Haruto looked at her.
"Arrogance..."
"...only becomes arrogance if it can't be backed up."
No one replied.
Natsumi finally spoke, barely above a whisper.
"If that's true..."
"...how are we supposed to beat someone like that?"
No one had an answer.
Jun looked down.
"I don't know."
Neither did I.
Haruto closed his eyes.
Then he spoke the words none of us wanted to hear.
"I think it's time we admit something."
"We don't deserve to be Class B."
Silence.
Not a single person argued.
Before anyone could respond, the classroom speakers crackled to life.
The mechanical announcement echoed throughout the room.
"Game Seven..."
"The Dictator and the Knight."
As the rules continued, I listened carefully.
A member of the Student Government would become the Dictator.
Another student would voluntarily challenge them as the Knight.
A random student would act as the Jester.
The chess pieces would represent students with the lowest GPAs.
Every captured piece meant another expulsion.
If the Knight lost by checkmate...
They would lose every scholarship and internship opportunity offered by the NIFL.
They would no longer remain a ranked student.
Their class would lose three hundred class points.
If they somehow won...
Every class sharing their rank across all four grades would receive five hundred class points.
The announcement ended.
Nobody moved.
Shuto immediately opened the NIFL handbook resting inside his desk.
He flipped through several pages before stopping.
His eyes narrowed as he read aloud.
"'Non-ranked students...'
The majority of students in the NIFL are non-ranked. They do not participate in special exams and cannot obtain school-sponsored scholarships or internships. They are not assigned to traditional classrooms and instead pursue independent studies or apprenticeships."
The room became even quieter.
A notification suddenly vibrated across every phone.
Everyone instinctively reached into their pockets.
I unlocked mine.
One name appeared on the screen.
Knight: Kei
Dictator: Naoki Shirayuki
Nobody spoke for several seconds.
I stared at the screen.
Then I let out a slow breath.
"I guess..."
"Our final bet..."
"...is on Kei."