COTE: Popularity System

"Karuizawa, you were the one who bumped into my friend earlier, right?"

Manabe Shiho from Class C knitted her brows, looking at the blonde girl in front of her with a dissatisfied expression.

As a delinquent girl, Manabe Shiho's attitude was quite aggressive. Not to mention girls, even some boys with less courage might be afraid of her.

However, the person she was talking to right now was Karuizawa Kei from Class D. She was not only the boldest gyaru in Class D but also the official girlfriend of Class D's most popular boy, Hirata Yosuke. Her status in the class was like a queen, and she was usually surrounded by many girls.

Facing this little delinquent girl, Manabe Shiho, would she be afraid?

The answer was yes.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about."

Karuizawa Kei's expression stiffened and she said with an agitated face, "You definitely have the wrong person."

"But I clearly remember my friend saying it was Karuizawa who bumped into her."

Seeing her reaction, Manabe Shiho felt a bit strange, so she took out her phone and aimed the camera at the girl in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Karuizawa Kei's emotions were agitated.

Manabe Shiho spoke up, "I want to take a picture of you, send it to my friend, and ask her to confirm if she mistook the person. Since you think you're innocent, letting me take a photo to confirm shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"I won't agree to that!" Karuizawa Kei reached out, wanting to snatch the other party's phone. "You're taking secret photos!"

"Hey, what are you doing!"

Manabe Shiho hadn't expected the other party to be so brave suddenly, and she was a bit flustered for a moment.

Just at this moment, someone grabbed Karuizawa Kei's arm.

"We shouldn't fight, okay?"

Takada Hikaru appeared between the girls at some point, stopping the escalation of the conflict with a smile on his face.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was sitting not far away silently watching the show, was slightly stunned.

When did he appear there?

Although most of his attention was on the girls' argument just now, he shouldn't have failed to notice someone as big as Takada Hikaru walking into the women's battlefield.

Recalling the scene just now, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka discovered that his memory indeed contained the image of Takada Hikaru walking into the middle of the girls. But he had completely ignored him.

'This technique of erasing one's presence... even the White Room didn't teach this.'

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka lowered his head slightly, feeling his chest throb.

He really wanted to learn this technique.

Having received White Room education since he was a kid, he didn't understand what so-called emotions were. However, he possessed a stronger thirst for knowledge than others.

Leaving the White Room, besides gaining temporary freedom, was also to learn knowledge that couldn't be learned in the White Room.

The technique Takada Hikaru had just displayed perfectly attracted his thirst for knowledge.

[Erasing presence... is this something that should appear in a high school anime?]

[Kuroko Tetsuya: Hello.]

[Shiraishi Junta: Hello.]

[Kato Megumi: Hello.]

The barrage seemed to become lively because of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's inner monologue.

But Takada Hikaru still had to resolve the commotion between the girls.

"Kei-san, perhaps you didn't hear the rules explained by the teacher last night clearly, so let me remind you now."

Takada Hikaru let go of her hand, looking at the agitated blonde girl, and said, "In this exam, snatching someone else's phone is strictly prohibited, violators will be expelled. If I hadn't stopped you just now, you might have been expelled by the school for snatching Shiho-san's phone after this discussion ended."

"Expelled?"

Hearing this, Karuizawa Kei was shocked. "That serious?!"

She was just stopping the other party from taking secret photos, and she almost got expelled?

Is this school sick?!

"Um... thank you, Takada-san."

Karuizawa Kei pulled back the arm that had just been held, thankful that her previous action had been stopped in time. Otherwise, she would have been expelled directly.

Seeing that there was no problem with Karuizawa Kei, Takada Hikaru turned his gaze to the dissatisfied Class C girl.

"Shiho-san, you are a student of Class C. You should also know how severe the school's current punishments for violent incidents are."

Takada Hikaru smiled and said to the brown-haired girl in front of him, "If you continue to argue with Kei-san, your dispute might escalate into a violent incident. Your behavior will most likely be judged by the Student Council as actively provoking trouble. At that time, it will affect your class's Class Points, and it will also make that tyrant of your class unhappy—that wouldn't be good."

Tyrant...

Manabe Shiho's face turned pale, and her expression became ugly.

She didn't dare to offend Ryūen Kakeru. If she caused Class Points to be lost without Ryūen Kakeru's permission, she would definitely be taught a harsh lesson.

Ryūen Kakeru was not the type to cherish the fair sex. As long as someone defied him, he would hit them regardless of whether they were a girl.

Should she just let it go?

Looking at the blonde girl hiding behind the boy, Manabe Shiho felt unwilling, but out of fear of Ryūen Kakeru, she had to give up for the time being.

The dispute was over but the conflict was not resolved.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka watched silently from the side, discovering that Karuizawa Kei's behavior was completely different from when she was in class.

At the same time, Manabe Shiho and the others from Class C also had a conflict with Karuizawa Kei, which could evolve into a violent incident at any time.

Perhaps he could use this to turn both Karuizawa Kei and Manabe Shiho into his tools.

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.