Chapter 81: Kaguya Shinomiya Completely Reveals Her Flaw
A short while later, in Year 1 Class A at Private Shuchiin Academy.
The homeroom teacher, Miwa Ashikaga, was in the middle of a lecture. The students below listened with focus. Class A was the academy's top class, filled with students whose grades were strong enough to make "excellent" feel like an understatement.
And yet, by the window in the far corner, one student was facedown on his desk, sleeping like a baby.
It was so out of place that it felt almost deliberate.
Kaguya Shinomiya looked like she was taking notes seriously, but every time she lowered her head, her eyes slid sideways. Again and again, they landed on Asagiri, who was sleeping openly, without even being scolded, much less woken up, by Ashikaga sensei.
"Utsunomiya… is sleeping during class?"
Kaguya's brow tightened.
Utsunomiya Asagiri was the top scorer of Shuchiin's entrance exam, and the top scorer of the joint exam. A real academic monster. Even if he had been noticeably relaxed since the school year began, he had never done something this blatant before.
So why now?
Could it be… he entered a Dungeon last night, or early this morning, and was running on no sleep?
Then why didn't he just ask for leave?
Kaguya couldn't find a clean explanation. To be honest, she still couldn't fully read Utsunomiya Asagiri as a person.
If he truly was a "Player," and he was this sleep deprived because of a Dungeon, then logically, he would find a reason to take the day off. Especially when Ashikaga sensei's attitude toward him was unusual in a way anyone could see. Asking for leave should be easy.
Unless…
He was using counter logic to erase suspicion.
No, that didn't fit either.
If he was doing that, then it meant Utsunomiya Asagiri, as a "Player," had already started suspecting other "Players" around him, and was even aiming his performance at her and Chika. Otherwise, who was this counter logic for?
Kaguya couldn't land on an answer that satisfied her.
So there was only one option left.
Test him.
…
Morning classes ended quickly, and lunchtime arrived in a blink.
"Utsunomiya."
Kaguya stood and walked to his desk, her voice flat and composed.
"The spring exams are next week. And at a time like this, you still have the leisure to sleep during class." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "It seems the top rank this time will be mine."
It was the most reasonable excuse she could craft.
Her image at school wasn't the cold, untouchable kind that avoided everyone, but she also wasn't the type who sought out casual conversation, especially with male students. Using the upcoming spring exams and the fight for first place gave her a justification that wouldn't draw attention.
Asagiri lifted his head slowly, hair a mess, eyes half open.
"So sleepy… Oh, it's Kaguya."
Kaguya's brows twitched.
"Utsunomiya, address me as Shinomiya."
"Listen to yourself," Asagiri said, amused. "Then if I told you to address me as Asagiri sama, the strongest in Shuchiin Academy, would you do it?"
Kaguya's expression tightened with visible irritation.
"Of course not."
"Then there's your answer." Asagiri waved a hand lazily. "If you won't let me decide how you address me, why should I let you decide how I address you?"
"That's sophistry…"
Before she could finish, Asagiri cut in with a line that hit like a thrown rock.
"I was up all night playing a Dungeon yesterday. Didn't sleep at all, so I came to school to catch up."
The word Dungeon landed.
Kaguya's pupils shrank.
But the next second, she lifted her right hand and lightly pressed her left cheek, a familiar, controlled gesture. Her voice stayed flat, as if nothing had happened.
"A Dungeon…? You mean an online game?" She tilted her head slightly. "I didn't expect you to be addicted to games. Then this competition is already my victory."
"Your victory?" Asagiri stood, shook his head, and walked past her.
Kotoko fell in beside him, and together they headed out.
Asagiri left her with just one sentence.
"You lost a long time ago."
Kaguya remained where she stood, watching their backs. Her crimson eyes flickered, her thoughts unreadable.
…
Ten minutes later, in Miwa Ashikaga's office.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to call it the dedicated activity room for Asagiri and the strategy group.
Asuna, who had only recently woken up, looked visibly exhausted. The Dungeon's physical strain and her lack of rest sat plainly on her face, yet she still forced herself to come to school.
Across from her, Asagiri sat on the sofa, looking far too pleased with himself as he drank iced cola.
Asuna stared at him for a moment, then spoke softly.
"Confirmed?"
"It's confirmed." Asagiri set the cup down, tone calm. "Kaguya Shinomiya exposed two fatal flaws. At this point, it's one hundred percent."
Asuna's gaze sharpened.
"The first flaw," Asagiri continued, "was her reaction when I said 'Dungeon.' She immediately used her usual method of forcing herself to calm down with psychological suggestion. That means she was shaken hard internally."
Kotoko nodded along, satisfied.
"The second flaw was the cover up. She desperately tried to change the subject, claiming she didn't expect someone like me to be addicted to online games."
Asagiri's eyes narrowed slightly.
"But she doesn't even have a smartphone, and she can barely operate a computer properly. How would she know about online games in enough detail to respond like that?"
He raised a finger.
"Even if she heard the concept from other students, she still shouldn't know terminology like 'Dungeon' in that exact form. And even if she did, combined with the first flaw, her response was still abnormal. It doesn't match common sense."
He concluded plainly.
"Therefore, she must be a Player."
Kotoko immediately chimed in, tone casual.
"Still, considering Kaguya's situation, she isn't that threatening to us." She swung her legs lightly from the sofa. "She lives under constant surveillance with almost no freedom. Even if she uses the excuse of sleeping over at Fujiwara Chika's place to enter a Dungeon, she can't schedule freely or enter as often as we can."
Asuna's expression turned complicated.
"Threat…" she murmured. "Will Kaguya be our enemy?"
"Hard to say." Asagiri shook his head, neither agreeing nor denying. "Her personality is… warped. She was raised under a cold, imperial style of education."
His voice stayed level, but his meaning wasn't.
"At school she looks like a refined lady, the eldest daughter of a prestigious family. But who knows how she acts as a Player? If she enters Dungeons alone, then for survival, for power, for a chance to break free from her fate, I don't think she'd hesitate." His eyes flicked toward Asuna. "Even if it meant killing someone."
Asuna opened her mouth to respond.
Asagiri smiled as if he'd just remembered something.
"Oh, right. I wouldn't hesitate either."
Kotoko shot her hand up, bouncing slightly on the cushion.
"Me too, me too!"
Asuna stared at them, then sighed.
"I'm scared that if I stay with you two too long, my moral compass is going to snap clean in half."
"All right." Asagiri's smile faded, and he leaned forward. "Serious topic."
Sixteen days had passed since the game began.
"We need to decide something," he said slowly. "Next time, do we enter another first stage Dungeon immediately and not waste a day, or do we wait a bit and jump straight into a second stage Dungeon after the overall difficulty increases?"
Asuna thought carefully before answering.
"My suggestion is… wait a few days, then enter a second stage Dungeon."
"That's what I was thinking too," Asagiri said without hesitation.
Asuna blinked. "Huh?"
Kotoko looked equally stunned.
Asuna couldn't help asking, "At a time like this, shouldn't you be saying something like, 'No Dungeons means I'll die of boredom,' or 'I really want to hunt banshees and zombies'?"
"That's fair," Asagiri admitted with an easy smile.
Then he added, in the same casual tone, something that made both girls freeze.
"But the spring exams are next week."
Asuna and Kotoko both stared at him.
"Exams…?" Kotoko echoed, genuinely lost.
It was the kind of whiplash that felt unreal. Like villains finishing a night of chaos, then dragging themselves to the supermarket for groceries before going home to cook dinner. It made sense, and yet it was absurd.
"That's one reason," Asagiri said, "but not the main one."
He spoke with complete seriousness.
"The main reason is that after several difficult, dangerous Dungeons, the pressure in my head has hit critical mass."
He paused.
"So I need to play some eroge for a while to maintain my mental health."
Asuna's face turned bright red on the spot.
Kotoko, however, leaned forward as if she'd been waiting her whole life for this moment.
"What? You're stressed?" She clasped her hands, eyes sparkling with shameless sincerity. "Relieving the Leader's stress is also my duty as a team member. Don't hold back. Rough is totally fine too!"
.....
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