[Detective Novel Rule No. 18: In a detective novel, the final outcome must never be an accident or suicide. Such an anticlimactic ending is an unforgivable joke on the reader. If someone pays for a book and discovers it ends with such nonsense, any fair court would side with them and punish the author who betrayed their loyal readers.]
"It's over."
Kitagawa Ryo sat at the edge of the infirmary bed, crouched over as he carefully dabbed Shiina Hiyori's scraped knee with iodine and a cotton swab.
It was just a minor scrape. But once the medical staff learned the two were a couple and heard Ryo's insistence, they left the task to him. Before departing, they even thoughtfully drew the curtain and shut the door.
"You could've just let me take a fall at the end," Ryo murmured as he gently cleaned the wound, clearly pained by the sight.
"That would've been too fake," Shiina said with a soft chuckle, seemingly unfazed by the sting. "With your athletic skills, suddenly tripping at the finish line would be like a flawless detective getting killed by the culprit in the dumbest way possible. A third-rate detective novel."
"Still, this isn't exactly a pretty picture," Ryo muttered, raising a brow. "The invincible Kitagawa Ryo has finally lost."
"Isn't this the outcome you wanted?" Shiina looked at him sideways. "Otherwise, why would you have hidden the fact that you knew Karuizawa would betray Class 1-B?"
"You figured it out?"
"It was obvious," she sighed dramatically, like critiquing a detective novel that had promised much but delivered poorly. "During the first six rounds against Class 1-D, you barely spoke compared to how active you were against Nagumo in the morning."
"Maybe I was just stunned by the betrayal," Ryo said, tilting his head.
"Oh, totally believable," Shiina replied with a teasing smile as she snatched the iodine bottle from him. "If you keep lying to me even in private, I'll pour this down your throat."
"...Fine."
Ryo took the bottle back casually. "I did know ahead of time."
"Ryuuen had suspected Class 1-D might act, but he trusted his spy too much. It wasn't until noon that he confirmed it and even then, he barely managed to steal a point back. Kei kept the plan secret from her classmates. As Class 1-D's commander, she had the right to choose opponents, so once the match began, everyone had no choice but to follow."
"But there was one person she couldn't deceive."
"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."
Ryo recalled the scene on the deserted island. He had used a video as blackmail to force Ayanokouji to support Kei. The footage of their fight could be considered a violation of school rules and grounds for expulsion.
However, the logic had a massive flaw.
According to the exam rules, using violence against members of another class would lead to expulsion. That's why Ayanokouji held back—getting expelled meant losing his freedom, being dragged back into the White Room.
But Kei had overlooked something: the video showed Ayanokouji and Ryo. If Ryo, the victim, claimed it was just training, the video would be meaningless. Two months had passed. The school wouldn't be able to act on it. Worse, if it got out, Class 1-D would question why their own leader outed a classmate.
"That's why Ayanokouji's influence in Class 1-D has grown."
"Exactly," Ryo admitted. "On the surface, it looks like he's helping Kei, but he's also building support. Kei can't touch him now."
Ryo had secretly met with Ayanokouji on the cruise ship and even had Ryuuen talk to him back at school.
"The fortune-telling incident," Shiina recalled.
"Right. Ayanokouji is the sharpest weapon against us that Class 1-D has. Kei sees him as being under her control."
"So why lose to Class 1-D?"
Shiina inched closer.
Ryo was quiet for a while.
"You know about Kei and me, right?"
Shiina nodded. She'd even attended the trial but hadn't been seen.
"Back then, I understood Kei's family. But things didn't go the way they expected," Ryo said with a bitter smile. "They thought transferring would give her a fresh start since she forgot about the bullying."
"The irony is—in her new school, she got bullied again. Nothing changed."
"Worse, she lost someone who would've taken the fall for her."
For the first time, Ryo spoke openly to Shiina about it.
She gently held his hand, stopping his movements.
"Then why not just leave her be?"
"Call it a bleeding heart."
He didn't tell Shiina the truth: everything he did for Kei was because of a mission.
"It's all over now. Kei beat me. That should be enough."
Having finished treating her wounds, Ryo stretched lazily. His tone was light.
"What about the expulsion?" Shiina asked. "Losing means you should be expelled."
"Ryo still got about 7 million points left from the Werewolf game. Class 1-B has forty students and six months' worth of points. So if..."
Ryo cut her off, watching her adorably count on her fingers.
"It's fine. I already spoke with Arisu. She'll cover it. She still has over 20 million points."
"She's that generous? Or did you make a deal with her? Wait, you never told me what happened between you two."
"Oh, that? Her family helped get me out of a legal mess, so I worked as a chess tutor for a year. She never liked calling me 'sensei,' though."
"Including enrolling here?"
"That too."
Shiina looked skeptical.
"Swear it's the truth."
"Still doesn't explain why Sakayanagi would pay for your penalty when she actively sabotaged Class 1-B during the relay."
"Because she profited the most. A-Class didn't lose, our class did, and she got to defeat me. Three wins."
"And I needed A-Class to make the loss look more real. I wanted the other students to believe Kei had outmaneuvered us."
"But doesn't that just mean you lost on purpose? Does that really help Karuizawa?" Shiina asked.
Like the world of Truman, from the moment Kei enrolled, Ryo had crafted "Karuizawa Kei's World."
Were her achievements even real?
"Who knows?" Ryo replied as he flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "If you believe it, it's real. That's enough."
"Rest up. The sports festival isn't quite over. Maybe I can squeeze in one more win."
Just as he reached for the door, Shiina's voice stopped him.
"...So being with me, that was just part of it too?"
Her voice was so fragile it seemed like it would shatter.
Ryo turned back with a warm smile.
"What are you saying?"
"Get some rest."
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The annual Sports Festival finally came to a close at 6 p.m., just as the sky was dyed red by the setting sun.
Class 1-A won both of their matches. Their opponent in the afternoon, surprisingly, was Class 2-D, and they secured an easy victory with a score of 5-2.
Class 1-B ended with two wins and one loss. After their defeat to Class 1-D, they leveraged the advantage of being lower-year students and crushed Class 2-B with a dominant 6-1.
Class 1-C also claimed two victories. What surprised Ichinose Honami was that Class 1-A didn't follow through on their threats to mess with Class 1-C, allowing them to narrowly defeat Class 2-C with a score of 4-3.
After defeating Class 1-B, Class 1-D chose to withdraw from further competition. The other classes, wary of them, didn't issue any challenges. In the end, they also finished with two victories.
Final point standings for the first-years:
[Class 1-A: 1284 points]
[Class 1-B: 1157 points]
[Class 1-C: 1103 points]
[Class 1-D: 427 points]
All four classes saw a rise in their class points, proving the effectiveness of the joint first-year strategy during the Sports Festival. Although Class 1-B lost one match to Class 1-D, they maintained their lead over Class 1-C due to their small-field victories and even narrowed the gap with Class 1-A.
"It looks like the competition is only going to get fiercer from here," one of the teachers remarked. After all, this was just the start of the second term for the first years. They still had more than two years to go.
Aside from Sakagami Kazuma expressing mild regret over Class 1-B's loss, no one took Kitagawa Ryo's expulsion seriously.
As the absolute core of Class 1-B, it was assumed that the students would pool together the 20 million private points needed to save him. Including the 7 million Ryo earned from the Werewolf game, and if needed, even Class 1-C would be willing to pitch in. An expulsion seemed impossible.
Even Karuizawa Kei thought so.
From the beginning, her plan was simply to defeat Ryo, then use her own 20 million private points to cancel his expulsion as a form of punishment. She never intended for him to actually leave the school.
However, when she tentatively approached Shiina Hiyori about it, Shiina told her that Class 1-B could gather the needed amount on their own and wouldn't require her help.
Sakayanagi Arisu didn't care either. Ryo had told her that Horikita Manabu would cover the remaining cost. In his usual cocky tone, he boasted that he would soon be appointed Vice President of the Student Council and used that as leverage to get Manabu to pay up.
Classic Ryo.
It even made people excited to see what would happen when he and Nagumo eventually clashed in the Student Council.
Shiina Hiyori wasn't worried either, trusting what Ryo said about Sakayanagi covering the cost. She was currently focused on improving her cooking skills, particularly trying to bake blueberry pies—something Ryo often made for her.
Ryuuen Kakeru seemed to suspect something, but after a private conversation with Ryo, he chose to stay silent.
["Just do what you want."]
After all, he had said those very words to Ryo before.
Until—
Kitagawa Ryo disappeared from Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.
He was expelled.
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[Congratulations, Player, you have achieved the ending: "Like a Dream"]
[Like a Dream: A life of fifty years is as fleeting as a dream in a foreign world.]
[Chapter 2 Completion Objective: Discover and correct Karuizawa Kei's psychological weakness. Objective completed. Final evaluation...]
Before the text could finish displaying, Ryo exited the game.
He took off the virtual headset and shook his head.
It had been nearly a whole day.
"That con artist skill really is useful," he muttered, squinting.
Feeling slightly dizzy, Ryo stepped out of the game pod and picked up the phone resting on the desk nearby.
"It's that day again, huh..."
He logged into a certain website.
With the rapid advancement of technology and population growth, land had become so expensive that even cemeteries had been virtualized—ridiculous and laughable.
He tapped the screen lightly.
A pre-programmed script offered incense and gifts at a virtual memorial. There were flower arrangements of every kind to choose from.
[Hotaru]
That name was etched into the digital gravestone.
Virtual smoke curled into the air.
Water dripped steadily from a corner of the basement ceiling.
Drip. Drip.
Ryo carefully selected the sweets his little sister had always wanted to try but never had the chance to.
Watching a 30-second ad for the latest VR game earned him enough tokens to "purchase" these picture-and-text offerings.
A text alert informed him that he had exceeded his electricity usage for the month. He checked his dwindling emergency savings.
He'd have to be frugal next month.
If he was late on rent—yes, even for this damp, dim basement—he'd be thrown out without mercy.
He grabbed a bucket to catch the leaking water and sat back at his desk.
Time to work.
[Hello, Reality]
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