2 Chapter 2 – Reversed strategy

The students of Class C were momentarily stunned, then turned their attention to the middle of the classroom. Who was this student who had bluntly told Shiho Manabe to shut up? Why was he so irritable?

Yoritaka Yukio, curious, also looked over and saw a boy with shoulder-length, parted purple hair. Didn't such long hair itch?

Checking against the seat chart on the blackboard, he found that this purple-haired boy was Ryuen Kakeru. His rebellious demeanor easily gave off the impression of a delinquent.

"...?" Shiho Manabe, who was energetically speaking, paused, her eyes showing panic for a few seconds before she regained her composure. "Do you have a problem with me?" she asked the boy.

"Tch." Ryuen didn't bother to respond to her. Instead, he looked directly at the homeroom teacher, Sakagami, and said, "Teacher, doesn't this school care too much about its students?"

Finishing his sentence, Ryuen acted defiantly, tilting his head up and nudging his chin to point at the surveillance camera on the ceiling at the front of the classroom.

"You!" Shiho was furious. What did he mean by this? First, he told her to shut up without explanation. If it weren't for Ryuen's delinquent appearance, making him seem unapproachable, she would have severely reprimanded him.

But no one was paying attention to Shiho anymore.

Sakagami, as the homeroom teacher, did not get angry at Ryuen's arrogance. Instead, there was a hint of appreciation in his eyes. It seemed he had struck gold with this class division.

Having taught at Advanced Nurturing High School for many years, he had seen several talents like Ryuen. Such talents, once properly utilized, could exhibit tremendous strength.

Sakagami immediately understood Ryuen's intention and indulgently said, "You all continue with the self-introductions. Whoever performs well will get a balloon as a reward from the teacher."

With that, he playfully, and not at all like a serious teacher, pulled a deflated balloon from his suit pocket and a hand pump from the lectern drawer. He inflated the balloon, tied it, and let it fly.

Yukio found this intriguing! The balloon skillfully floated right in front of the camera, completely blocking the surveillance.

All this indicated that Sakagami, the homeroom teacher, was encouraging some form of aggressive behavior. Otherwise, why would he need to block the school's surveillance?

A teacher encouraging violence? Yukio felt that this school might be even more interesting than he had anticipated!

Seeing this, Ryuen relaxed completely. He stood up, sat on the lectern, and faced the class with an air of dominance: "Stop these boring introductions. If you want to keep receiving 100,000 points every month for the next three years, you'd better listen to me."

Like a proud monarch ascending his throne, Ryuen sat there, casually dictating the fates of his classmates, telling them that they all had to obediently follow his lead.

'Bang!' The sound of a fist slamming on the desk echoed through the room as a muscular boy with small eyes and a crew cut stood up: "Damn it! What a joke!"

"You want to be the boss of the class? Why don't you ask my fist first?!" Saying this, the crew-cut boy charged towards the lectern. His skilled posture and delinquent aura suggested that he too was a well-known bad boy in the past.

"Ah!"

"Get away! Get away!" The sudden outbreak of conflict startled many of the girls, who either gasped or screamed, but instinctively moved away from their seats, crowding towards the edges of the classroom. Keeping distance from the center of the fight was their only semblance of safety. They really hadn't expected this! On the very first day of school, the class had erupted into full-blown violence!

Yoritaka Yukio watched with interest. He even had to stand up due to the girls moving in front of him, blocking his view. He wanted to see the unfolding conflict. Checking against the seating chart, he identified the small-eyed, crew-cut boy as Daichi Ishizaki. He looked fierce, but probably was no match for Ryuen.

As expected, Ishizaki had barely charged forward when Ryuen kicked him in the abdomen, using the reactive force from his hand on the lectern. Ishizaki hadn't even managed to throw a punch before he was kicked, turning pale and doubling over in pain.

Ryuen, seizing the opportunity, showed no mercy, landing several vicious punches on Ishizaki's face, leaving him with a bruised eye socket and a nosebleed.

"You bastard!"

"That's pretty good! Count me in!"

Perhaps Ryuen had angered the crowd, or maybe this class had its share of issues. Several other boys, looking like delinquents, rolled up their sleeves to join the fight.

However, they were easily subdued by Ryuen. His skilled and underhanded fighting techniques, using desks and chairs, and targeting eyes, meant these boys stood no chance against him. They were quickly defeated.

Eventually, Ryuen smugly stopped in front of a seat on the right, where the biggest student in Class C sat. He looked more like a bodybuilder than a student.

Ryuen glanced back at the blackboard to find the student's name, then turned back and said, "Yamada Albert? A mixed-race?"

Albert silently nodded, appearing rather reserved. Despite his size, he seemed unassuming.

Ryuen smiled slyly and threw a straight punch at Albert, who unexpectedly reacted faster, blocking it with one hand while the other hand swiftly slapped Ryuen back several steps.

"Heh." Ryuen, like a wild warrior, casually wiped the blood from his face and charged again, only to be repelled by Albert once more.

However, Yukio could see that Albert seemed to be getting scared.

Maybe it was Ryuen's relentless stance and fearless aura. When Albert countered the second time, it seemed more laborious.

Undeterred, Ryuen launched a third attack on Albert, even smiling, "What? Are you getting scared now?"

'Bang!'

A dull sound followed. This time Albert intercepted Ryuen's arms, blocking without retaliating.

Ryuen looked even more triumphant: "Albert, even if I can't beat you now, you won't have an easy life. Every time you leave the dormitory in the morning, every time you go to the bathroom..."

"I'll always have a chance to take you down."

Now Albert really seemed scared. What was up with this guy? Openly declaring ambushes, even in the bathroom? After hearing this, who would dare to mess with him?

Albert's eyes twitched violently before he somberly nodded and released his hold, seemingly indicating submission.

Yukio, dissatisfied with this outcome, stood up to join in: "Are you done fighting? Then it's my turn now."

***

300 power stones = 1 extra chapter