Chapter 184: I, Sakayanagi Arisu, reached this point entirely through hard work and sweat!
"Fufufu... Not bad," Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly chuckled softly.
"Current Class A indeed does not lack leader-types. If anything, we truly are short on combat-oriented talent. I think your idea is feasible."
Katsuragi Kohei felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Thinking carefully, her agreement was within his expectations—after all, the current leadership of Class A was shared between the two of them. If they recruited another leader-level figure from a different class, it would inevitably create the risk of a power struggle. It was better to recruit someone skilled in physical force; they wouldn't have to worry about decentralizing power, and it would tangibly strengthen the class.
"Speaking of which," Sakayanagi said as something suddenly occurred to her, her smile deepening, "If there were a person who had never suffered even a minor illness since birth, had no hereditary medical history, possessed physical fitness significantly higher than average, and insisted on a regular daily workout routine—would you consider such a person suitable?"
"What? Never been sick?" Katsuragi was momentarily stunned, feeling that she was joking. How could anyone in this world never get sick? Even with the strongest constitution, everyone catches something once or twice as a child.
"Sakayanagi-san, that hypothesis is far too unrealistic." Katsuragi frowned.
"A person who has never been sick simply doesn't exist. Where in this world is there a flawless body? Even normally, if someone accidentally eats an expired bento or indulges in too many cold drinks, they're bound to get an upset stomach—that is what a normal human body is like."
Training the body, in fact, relies even more on innate talent than intelligence. Because of his bald head, he was often teased as "One Punch Man" when he was younger, so he actually read the series. In One Punch Man, there is a concept of the "Limiter"—the human body ultimately has its limits. People catch colds when they are chilled, they get sick, and they become weak—that is the state a normal person should be in. This point was also confirmed in the medical books he had read; the knowledge in books doesn't lie.
"...Mmh, you're right." Sakayanagi glanced at him. Seeing the look of complete disbelief on his face, her interest immediately evaporated, and her tone became bored.
'You don't believe what I say?'
After all, this was Katsuragi Kohei. Strictly speaking, he was merely an existence slightly superior to the average person. It was only natural that he would doubt something so beyond common sense.
But Sakayanagi Arisu knew in her heart that she hadn't uttered a single lie. When she obtained the freshman physical examination records from her father in the first month, Shimizu Akira's report clearly stated these facts—she hadn't even mentioned the more exaggerated data.
She had been looking forward to seeing Katsuragi's reaction upon learning such a person existed, but he had reflexively chosen to disbelieve. People often find it hard to believe things outside their own common sense.
'Boring! This man is truly too boring!'
Sakayanagi was once again disappointed in Katsuragi. Though, to be honest, it wasn't the first time. She truly couldn't understand how someone like him was qualified to stand on equal footing with her. If she found the chance, she would certainly give him an "unexpected" lesson.
'Shimizu Akira is much more interesting!
Hehe... he probably can't guess that I saw through his identity long ago!'
She picked up her phone and specifically opened the interface for her alt account, "Miao Miao Cat." A flicker of intrigued amusement finally crossed her lips.
That's right, Sakayanagi Arisu was "Miao Miao Cat"—the mysterious person who had specifically reminded Shimizu Akira to watch out for the "Lady Detective" last month. As for how she guessed that Shimizu was the mysterious person who rented the surveillance cameras, the reason was quite simple.
'That person wouldn't proactively do anything for no reason, and besides, it was only 30,000 points!'
Sakayanagi knew Shimizu too well. When she made a bet with him last month and offered 95,000 points, he remained unmoved.
Why would he ever agree to be Shiina Hiyori's assistant for a mere 30,000 points?
Furthermore, she had later asked Ichinose, and that mysterious person had only inquired about the contact person for Class C, never asking for her contact information—and Shimizu was precisely one of the people who knew her background.
These two points combined were enough to make Shimizu the primary suspect. It wasn't until she spent points to retrieve the surveillance footage around the Student Council room from the first week that she finally confirmed: that mysterious person was definitely Shimizu Akira.
She wasn't particularly surprised when she learned the truth. From the very beginning, she had suspected it was him—on the first day of school, he had beaten her using the "buy beer" strategy.
Come to think of it, wasn't renting the cameras just another kind of "winning strategy"? This man never makes a move lightly; once he acts, he is 100% certain of success.
She felt a slight sense of indignation—it felt as though, without realizing it, she had lost another round to him. But then she couldn't help but acknowledge him.
'As expected of the opponent I chose, Shimizu Akira.
On this chessboard called "School," with such an opponent, I won't feel bored.'
From the first day of school, Sakayanagi's ultimate goal was never simply to graduate from Class A. In her view, an interesting opponent was the number one priority. Fortunately, she was lucky enough to find such a person.
As for everyone else, they didn't catch her eye for the time being. Ichinose Honami and Ryuen Kakeru could barely be counted as half-opponents.
With the former, she had no intention of acting yet; with the latter, the incident with the midterm exam last month was her handiwork, and she wanted to see how he would respond. Why suddenly strike at Ryuen Kakeru? The reason was simple—how dare that man mock her for relying on her father for everything!
So what if her father is the Chairman? I, Sakayanagi Arisu, reached this point entirely through my own hard work and sweat!
Khem... maybe not a single drop of sweat, because her body was weak and she couldn't do physical training at all. Better change that to coffee!
Let's re-integrate the line.
'I, Sakayanagi Arisu, reached this point entirely through my own hard work and coffee!'
In short, she was always petty and held grudges.
Since she had obtained the authority from Shimizu Akira to modify up to five questions on the midterm, she naturally made Ryuen Kakeru her first target for "special care." Last month, she specifically made the test papers public, earning herself a great reputation.
Now, when she walked down the street, many students greeted her warmly; who would ever suspect her?
Class C already had a bad reputation among the other classes, so with this incident, the vast majority of people naturally pointed their fingers at Ryuen Kakeru.
Furthermore, she hadn't told a single student in Class A about modifying the questions. If word got out, other classes could easily analyze the abnormal accuracy rates and conclude Class A was behind it—with her intellect, she would never leave such an obvious trail. Now, only one person knew what she had done: Shimizu Akira.
But as the saying goes: You're looking for Miao Miao Cat? What does that have to do with me, Sakayanagi Arisu?!
Even if it's "Arisu" (Alice), that's just a pun.
'Shimizu-kun is probably still wondering why "Miao Miao Cat" helped hide his identity!'
In fact, the moment Shiina Hiyori found her and said her assistant was Shimizu Akira, she already had a vague answer in her heart. But she didn't poke through that layer of paper to tell Shiina Hiyori, for very simple reasons:
First, she wasn't kind enough to proactively reveal the truth to others; second, she simply didn't want Shiina Hiyori to know—or rather, she didn't want anyone other than herself to know.
This way, she could naturally occupy a higher position than Shimizu Akira, looking down on him, and she could use her main account and her alt account to secretly manipulate him. All told, she had three different identities to deal with him.
Just thinking about Shimizu Akira scratching his head and searching everywhere to figure out her identity made Sakayanagi Arisu feel exceptionally amused.
Even walking with her cane felt more energetic, and her appetite improved—she could eat a whole half-bowl of rice! This secret pleasure had to be hers alone; she couldn't allow anyone else to share it. If one more person knew Shimizu's identity, the "game" would become very unfun.
That's why, after Shiina Hiyori left, she sent Shimizu that message about the "Lady Detective looking for him." In a sense, it was a minor "backstab" to Shiina, but Sakayanagi never considered Shiina Hiyori a partner.
It was merely an equivalent exchange: she gave the information that should be given and asked the questions that should be asked; and she indeed followed through on her promise to ask the homeroom teacher about "alt accounts."
As for "Since she said no one in Class A bought an alt account, how did she buy one?"—that was simple. When she sent the message, she specifically added the qualifier "as of right now." Once the message was sent, she just went and bought the alt account. That way, she wasn't lying.
Shimizu Akira had won against her twice: the first time with the "buy beer" strategy, and the second time by quietly buying the surveillance footage. And she, Sakayanagi Arisu, had also won twice: first by making the exam public to stop his plan to sell test papers, and second by seeing through his identity in advance and playing him in the palm of her hand with the "Miao Miao Cat" alt account. As of right now, she and Shimizu were at two wins and two losses each.
'Shimizu Akira and I are equal; it's no exaggeration to say it's a fifty-fifty split.'
She instantly reached this conclusion and was quite satisfied with the result. Between true geniuses, there should be back-and-forth wins and losses. If one side were completely crushed easily, this "game" would be too boring.
'Therefore, Shimizu Akira must not join Class A—at least not for these two years.'
What she looked forward to was the game between classes. If he were in the same class as her, it would only evolve into internal strife, and the excitement of the game would be greatly diminished.
However, she truly admired Shimizu Akira. By the time they reached the third year, she would have long since kicked Katsuragi Kohei out of Class A, and she would have full authority to "buy" him directly with 20 million points.
And she had no doubt that with Shimizu's ability, he would have no less than 20 million points by the third year—after all, by the end of the first month, he had already taken 12 million points from the four classes. Perhaps in two years, his class would become Class 3-A, and she would be in Class 3-B.
'In that case, it would be quite interesting.'
If it truly came to the third year and she and Shimizu belonged to different top-tier classes, that confrontation would surely be a hundred times more intense than now. She could even imagine the scene: he standing in the Class A camp, his gaze calm but hiding a sharp edge, while she composedly laid out her strategy in Class B, closing in step by step with accumulated points and connections.
There would be no more testing, hiding, or developing like in the lower years; there would only be a naked clash of strength—that was the chessboard she truly craved.
Though, to be honest, everyone carries a risk of being expelled; no one can guarantee they will stay until the third year. But she was 100% certain that she and Shimizu Akira would be the ones standing at the very end.
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Nearby, Katsuragi Kohei truly couldn't understand why Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly laughed so happily after picking up her phone.
'What is she laughing at? Could she be in love?'
Generally speaking, when a girl laughs that joyfully, it's mostly because she has a boyfriend. But he really couldn't imagine Sakayanagi Arisu dating anyone—this woman's head was full of schemes; who would like her?
'Speaking of which, I hope no strange boys are bothering my sister.'
Katsuragi's thoughts drifted toward his sister. Since entering this school, his only regret was the inability to contact the outside world; he couldn't even say a word to her.
However, since Sakayanagi had already agreed to the plan to prioritize recruiting combat-type talent, he had nothing else to discuss with her, so he walked straight back to his seat.
As soon as he sat down, Totsuka Yahiko leaned in excitedly from the side: "Katsuragi-aniki! Look what I found!"
"Mmh?" Katsuragi was about to scold him for being so restless, but Totsuka had already slammed a flyer onto his desk with a thwap.
"There's a boxing match next Tuesday! Katsuragi-aniki, let's go watch it together! A real man can't miss this kind of hot-blooded showdown!"
"...A boxing match?" Katsuragi's first reaction was surprise that the school allowed boxing matches. They probably paid points to the school for the privilege. He picked up the flyer and looked closely, instantly freezing—Class 1-C's Albert Yamada vs. Class 1-D's Shimizu Akira?
Just looking at their builds, the two weren't in the same weight class at all. Even if he didn't understand boxing, he knew the side with the size advantage had a natural lead.
"I think this person named Shimizu Akira is definitely going to lose! You can tell who wins just by looking at their size!" Totsuka Yahiko blurted out bluntly in a loud voice.
"What?!"
Nearby, Kamuro Masumi reacted strongly to the sound, reflexively snapping her head toward them. Meanwhile, Katsuragi was somewhat surprised—he caught a glimpse of Sakayanagi Arisu, who had just been looking at her phone, also putting it down to cast a faint glance in their direction.
'What's the situation?! Do both of these people know this male student named Shimizu Akira?!'
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