Chapter 354 Hikigaya: It Is I Who Have Isolated All of Them
A secluded laboratory on the outskirts of Tokyo.
The room consisted of four white walls, filled with various precision instruments and equipment.
"No. 1, No. 7.
First of all, congratulations to you both. You have completed all the courses of the White Room's fifth generation.
The final stage of the experiment is for you to learn the basic common sense of living in the outside world..."
Listening to the instructor's briefing, the boy designated as No. 1 appeared extremely resistant.
"No! I don't want to leave the White Room!
I want to apply to join Curriculum B!!"
Curriculum B was the teaching experiment adopted by the White Room's fourth generation cultivation plan. Because the curriculum was excessively harsh, almost all members of the fourth generation were eliminated, and there were even several cases of disability.
Ultimately, only one person successfully completed all the courses and was dubbed the "Masterpiece" by the White Room instructors!
"Curriculum B has been completely banned.
Enough! This is the order of that person, and it is not to be questioned!!"
The instructor forcefully interrupted No. 1's protest and continued: "You are about to be sent to the Advanced Nurturing High School to experience the life of an ordinary student."
"Life outside..."
The girl designated as No. 7 murmured softly, a hint of confusion and longing flashing in the depths of her eyes.
She was the illegitimate daughter of a certain wealthy family. Since birth, she had been regarded by the family as a "disgraceful stain," and thus was sent into this isolated White Room from a young age.
Since she could remember, she had never stepped foot outside the laboratory; she could only piece together an image of the outside world through books and video materials. Perhaps, this was her only chance to escape the cage and find freedom.
"Of course, you both have a mission.
The Acting Chairman will tell you the specifics once you arrive at the school."
The instructor's voice paused, adding meaningfully: "By the way, that 'Masterpiece' of the fourth generation is also at that school. I hope you can get along well!"
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In a remote cemetery in Tokyo, a girl with long golden hair stood silently.
A misty drizzle fell, making the black-and-white photo on the tombstone particularly piercing to the eyes. The person in the photo was the childhood friend who had been by her side day and night.
With a grieving expression, she gently placed the flowers in her hand before the tombstone. Her fingertips trembled slightly, and tears fell silently.
Suddenly, a phone ringtone broke the silence of the cemetery. The blonde girl originally wanted to hang up immediately, but when she saw the name on the caller ID, she hesitated for a moment before pressing the answer key.
"Have you finished considering?"
A cold, middle-aged man's voice came from the phone. The blonde girl remained silent.
"The cause of the incident was Eiichiro's father, who privately released that person.
That is what led to the tragedy of the Matsuo family.
And now, that person is enjoying a peaceful high school life at Advanced Nurturing High School."
The blonde girl's fingers suddenly clenched. She took a deep breath, a hint of determination flashing across her brow: "I will go. To Advanced Nurturing High School!"
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Spring break was only a short two weeks.
Most high school students complained that the holiday was too short and not enough. But for Hikigaya, there was no difference between a holiday and the start of school.
This was because, during the spring break, members of the Student Council still had to continue working. Especially during the holidays, students moved about freely, which naturally led to various conflicts and contradictions, requiring the Chairman of the Discipline Committee to maintain order and mediate disputes.
Hikigaya, exhausted from running around alone, had accumulated a massive amount of resentment. From the beginning, where he used verbal persuasion as his primary tool, he gradually transitioned to using his fists!
The vast majority of students did not dare to resist Hikigaya. Firstly, Hikigaya was very good at fighting. Secondly, because of Hikigaya's status in the Student Council, making a big scene would only be disadvantageous for them.
In this way, under Hikigaya's forceful governance, the infamy of the "Great Demon King" expanded further!
"Bang!"
Hikigaya kicked open the door to the Student Council office.
"Yo~ The Great Demon King has arrived?"
Nagumo Miyabi was sitting in the President's seat, leisurely drinking black tea. The dim lounge light cast a dark silhouette across the intruder's face.
"Shut it, blondie. Keep acting cool and see if I don't throw you out of the Student Council."
Hikigaya cursed at him without hesitation.
"Hikigaya, do you really think I'm afraid of you?"
Nagumo's face darkened; he seemingly didn't expect Hikigaya to threaten him so bluntly.
"As a side note, I have also received martial arts instruction from Horikita-senpai.
If it really comes to a fight, I'm not afraid of—Hm?!"
Before Nagumo could finish his sentence, he saw a shoe flying toward his face!
It must be said that Nagumo wasn't bragging; his physical reactions were quite fast. He immediately rolled off the chair, avoiding the indignity of being hit in the face by a shoe. However, the transition from leisurely drinking tea in his seat to rolling on the floor was already the height of patheticness!
"Hey! Hikigaya, are you crazy?"
Kiriyama Ikuto looked shocked and then scolded sharply: "To dare to attack the President of the Student Council—do you want to be expelled from the school?"
"Expelled?
Don't make me laugh, Kiriyama-senpai—the 'Dog by the Road'!
The points I have are enough to beat you up twice and still avoid expulsion."
Hikigaya issued a reckless threat. Although he wouldn't actually use a huge amount of points to waive an expulsion, it didn't stop him from using it as a weapon to threaten the other party.
"You... you're truly unreasonable!"
Kiriyama instinctively took a few steps back, a look of deep fear flashing in his eyes. Having been scouted by Horikita Manabu, he had also received martial arts instruction from the former President. In a real fight, he might not necessarily be afraid of Hikigaya.
But the problem was that in the second year under Nagumo's rule, most points were confiscated by Nagumo. Even after saving for two years, Kiriyama only had a few million at most—nowhere near enough to buy an expulsion waiver.
This meant that if he got into a brawl with Hikigaya and the school intervened, the likely judgment would be to punish both parties equally. For Kiriyama, who was about to enter his third year, even a suspension or disciplinary action—let alone expulsion—was unacceptable!
"Hikigaya, are you sure you want to compare points with me?"
Nagumo glared at him viciously. Having ruled an entire grade, he collected a massive amount of personal points from the four classes every month. Furthermore, he had to use those points to bribe the elite students of the classes. This was the foundation of Nagumo's rule over the grade.
"So what?"
Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes narrowed as he sneered: "Just the fact that Student Council members are brawling would mean you can forget about being President!"
According to the S-System design, the Student Council is seen as the pinnacle of student meritocracy. If the President fights with a member, it would seriously shake the Student Council's "prestige." To put it simply, the man with nothing to lose isn't afraid of the man with shoes. Hikigaya dared to pull Nagumo into a "mutually assured destruction" scenario without any qualms.
"Hikigaya... what on earth do you want?"
Nagumo suppressed his rage but was forced to show concession. Hikigaya wasn't polite and stated his intention directly: "I want to increase the manpower of the Discipline Committee!"
"Your suggestion is obviously impractical..."
Nagumo moved his hands in alternating circular motions, spewing a series of serious-sounding nonsense: "Let's open a few more meetings, discuss more, and find a 'solution' together!"
He had previously rejected Hikigaya's applications multiple times. He had also deliberately assigned Hikigaya a massive amount of tedious work, clearly intending to wear him down. The ultimate goal was to force Hikigaya to resign voluntarily and kick him out of the Student Council!
Unexpectedly, Hikigaya had lost his patience and flipped the table!
"Are you trying to charge a Rasengan?"
Hikigaya saw through the other's routine at a glance: "A mouth full of loanwords, vague and empty—essentially the same routine used to fool corporate drones."
Seeing that he couldn't stall any longer, Nagumo had to make another concession.
"In that case, go and recruit the manpower yourself.
However, they cannot be considered official members of the Student Council."
This was Nagumo's bottom line. He could absolutely not accept Hikigaya recruiting his own faction, thereby threatening his position as President.
"Don't worry, I have zero interest in your crappy President's position!"
'This was a lie.'
Hikigaya had promised Horikita Manabu's request; sooner or later, he would take Nagumo down. It was just that the timing wasn't ripe yet, so it was best not to alert the enemy for now.
Hikigaya pulled out three pre-prepared application forms from his pocket.
"Year 1 Class A, Kamuro Masumi.
Year 1 Class C, Ibuki Mio.
Year 1 Class D, Horikita Suzune."
Nagumo's eyes flickered, and the alertness in his brow lowered slightly. This was because the three people on the list weren't exactly high-prestige students among the first-years.
"I thought you would recruit Sakayanagi Arisu or Ichinose Honami."
If it were those two, Nagumo would have to guard against whether they would build a network within the Student Council to run for the next President.
"Hmph! You think everyone is like you, guarding the President's seat like it's a treasure?"
Hikigaya mocked him deliberately, then said with a mix of truth and lies: "The people I recruit are mainly based on whether they can fight, so they can do my work for me!"
"If it's for work, shouldn't you recruit boys?" Kiriyama Ikuto raised a question from the side.
"Kiriyama, those words are a bit too heart-breaking."
Nagumo devalued him with a sarcastic tone: "Do you think Hikigaya has any male friends he can actually talk to?"
"..."
Hikigaya insisted stubbornly: "It's not that they isolated me; it's I who isolated all of them alone!"
"Hahaha!
Hikigaya's way of thinking is truly unique."
Nagumo, thinking he had won the verbal spar against Hikigaya, took the offered "exit ramp" and smoothly signed the Student Council appointment consent forms.
"Thank you for your cooperation, President Nagumo."
Having obtained the desired result, Hikigaya's attitude became polite.
"Don't mention it. As colleagues in the Student Council, we should naturally value harmony."
Nagumo wore a kind smile. In his heart, however, he couldn't wait to kill Hikigaya!
'Just you wait... the Chairman said that when the next semester starts, a group of powerful new students will join! We can play slowly then!'
Hikigaya ignored the other's hypocritical rhetoric and turned to look at Kiriyama Ikuto.
"Kiriyama-senpai, please go and pick up my shoe."
Hearing this, Kiriyama couldn't help but be furious: "What did you say?! You want me to carry your shoes?"
"President Nagumo said: value harmony.
Or does Kiriyama-senpai wish to defy our respected President?"
Hikigaya just wanted to disgust the other man.
"Kiriyama, go.
For the sake of our Student Council's harmony and love."
Nagumo had suffered at Hikigaya's hands and was currently holding in a stomach full of frustration. He might as well kick his "Dog by the Road"! At the same time, he was warning Kiriyama Ikuto not to harbor any thoughts of resistance!
"..."
Kiriyama Ikuto clenched both fists. He was about to enter his third year; as a member of Class B, how could he not have some thoughts of usurping his superior? Although Nagumo had promised to help him transfer to Class A with points before graduation, Kiriyama also knew he couldn't place all his hope on someone else. If he could defeat the other through a legitimate class competition, wouldn't that be even more glorious?
Hikigaya was also testing him; he wanted to confirm if Kiriyama Ikuto still had the courage to resist Nagumo. If he did, Hikigaya wouldn't mind giving him a push from behind to bring Nagumo down!
However, the facts proved that a "Dog by the Road" could never become a wolf.
"Since the President has said so, everything is for the Student Council..."
After weighing the pros and cons, Kiriyama Ikuto ultimately chose to submit to Nagumo. He bent down and picked up Hikigaya's shoe. Upon meeting the latter's dead-fish eyes filled with contempt, his face couldn't help but stiffen.
'This coward!'
Hikigaya immediately dismissed the idea of secretly supporting Kiriyama.
"I misjudged you, Kiriyama-senpai.
In terms of 'capacity,' I would call you the strongest!"
Faced with Hikigaya's backhanded compliment, Kiriyama was so angry he broke down on the spot: "Hikigaya! I am still the Vice President of the Student Council, how can you slight me so?!"
"I hope you won't regret it."
"Bang!"
Hikigaya slammed the door and left. He opened his phone contacts and invited Kamuro Masumi, Ibuki Mio, and Horikita Suzune out together.
"Hachiman?" "Hachiman!" "..."
The three girls looked at each other, then locked their sharp gazes onto Hikigaya.
Mio Ibuki spoke first, her tone carrying a hint of indignation: "Is this what you meant by wanting to see me every day during the holiday?"
"I heard a similar version."
Masumi Kamuro and Suzune Horikita stared at him with unfriendly eyes.
"Ahem~
What I said was the truth."
Hikigaya gave a sheepish smile, forcing a calm explanation: "I have to work every day during the holiday. If you asked to meet me, I wouldn't have time."
"Regarding the matter of joining the Student Council, I did indeed promise you." Suzune Horikita frowned: "But what is the deal with these two?"
"Hey! What do you mean by that?"
Masumi Kamuro raised an eyebrow and retorted unceremoniously: "As a member of Class A, being invited to join the Student Council is perfectly reasonable, right?"
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