Chapter 74: Karuizawa Kei, I Have Seen Through Your Essence
Just as Katsuragi Keima and Elsie were on their way back to the dormitory building, Karuizawa Kei happened to be passing by the vicinity.
Since the events of this morning, Kei had become slightly preoccupied with Keima. In particular, after seeing students from other classes come looking for him today, the confusion in her heart had only grown.
Keima seemed to be just a slightly "peculiar" student. Aside from his pathological love for games and his exceptionally high academic ability, there shouldn't be anything else special about him, right?
By all logic... a guy like Keima, who could be called a "freak," should be the type of person who is more easily bullied. The most common targets for bullying are those who don't fit in with their surroundings. Sometimes, even being too outstanding can trigger the jealousy of others.
Keima was exactly that kind of person. This caused Kei to involuntarily recall her own past. The scars left on her body from past bullying seemed to throb with a faint ache.
Kei would absolutely never let such a thing happen again. That was why she had always used the "gal" persona to disguise herself. She had maintained a certain distance from Keima; from the start of the term until now, the two of them hadn't spoken a word.
Yet, Keima was not only not being bullied, but was increasingly becoming a core figure in the class. This was something Kei found difficult to understand.
Therefore, upon spotting Keima, Kei instinctively followed him. She followed until she saw Ryuen Kakeru and his group surround him. Their menacing expressions were enough to explain their impure motives. It was just like what Kei had experienced in her past—being collectively bullied by others.
At that moment, the sense of pain in Kei's heart became even more pronounced. Her breathing grew rapid, and her body even trembled slightly. After being dazed for a long time, Kei finally snapped out of it, thinking about whether she should contact a teacher.
But before she could act, she saw Keima and Elsie walk out of the alleyway completely unharmed.
"..."
Ryuen and the others failed to appear for a long time. This left Kei feeling utterly shocked. Could it be... that Keima had knocked all those people down?
Although there had been mentions of Keima on the forum previously, Kei had found it hard to believe at the time. Now, she realized those rumors might be true.
At this moment, Kei hid behind a corner, watching from a distance as Keima and Kiryuin Fuuka spoke. She had never seen Kiryuin before and didn't know her identity. However, Kei was certain the other party seemed interested in Keima.
In that instant, Kiryuin suddenly turned her head and looked in Kei's direction. Kei quickly turned away, hiding behind the wall. But she soon realized there was no real need to hide. A few seconds later, Kei peeked her head out again and saw that Kiryuin had already left.
'Was it a hallucination?' Kei didn't think much of it and simply continued to observe Keima from afar. Seeing that he also seemed ready to leave, she adjusted her breathing and walked up quickly.
"You're Katsuragi from our class, right?" Kei asked, pretending she was just passing by.
Keima's gaze moved to her. Earlier, Kiryuuin had mentioned someone else was observing him in the dark; it must have been Karuizawa Kei.
[Name: Karuizawa Kei] [Current Favorability: 0%]
Keima didn't know much about Karuizawa Kei, and they had zero interaction in class. In his impression, she was already a core figure in the girls' circle, a "gal" type character. Theoretically, this type of person shouldn't be interested in him.
However, it was incorrect to judge a person's type based solely on prior perception. After all, in this school, everyone might have hidden attributes.
Since meeting Sakayanagi Arisu, the frequency of other target characters contacting him had become more frequent. This was likely related to the post Sakayanagi made, which made many people who previously ignored him notice his existence.
This wasn't entirely a bad thing for Keima—after all, it could save him a lot of "seeding" time.
"..."
But Keima's gaming time would also be significantly reduced! If it weren't for Ryuen and Kiryuin, he would have already been back in his dorm playing games! This was at least twenty minutes of gaming time lost!
Fine. Since things had developed this way, he could only go with the flow.
"And you are?" Keima asked intentionally. The other party already knew his name, so now he needed to deepen that impression further. He needed to "water the plant." Assuming Kei really was the gal type, saying some slightly "contrarian" words might work better.
"Hey, hey, hey, we're classmates, aren't we? You don't even know my name?" Kei frowned, her words carrying a hint of blame, but as if remembering something, she sighed and answered in a relatively polite tone, "Karuizawa Kei. Don't forget it."
"Pleased to meet you, Karuizawa-san."
"I saw you walking with your sister Elsie earlier; why are you alone now?" Kei asked tentatively.
"I ran into a bizarre person who tried to strike up a conversation, so I let Elsie go back first."
"A bizarre person?"
"A second-year student named Kiryuin Fuuka."
"A second-year?" Kei was surprised. She hadn't expected that not only other first-year classes but even second-year students had noticed his existence. Just how many secrets did Katsuragi Keima have?
"So, Karuizawa-san, why are you here?"
"I... I just happened to be passing by," Kei said immediately.
"Oh."
"By the way, I heard you've been running a study group lately?"
"Correct."
"I have a friend—not me, it's Sato-san."
"Sato?"
"She's a bit worried about the upcoming midterms, so she's looking for a place to get some tutoring. I happened to hear you were running a study group, so I came to ask if more people can still join."
Kei inquired. She wanted to understand Keima better. It wasn't purely out of curiosity; she was looking for a suitable host. If she could parasitize herself to a sufficiently powerful existence, then things like school bullying would never happen to her.
Her initial target was Hirata Yousuke, but now Keima had also caught her attention.
Would Katsuragi Keima be a suitable candidate?
"It shouldn't be much of a problem. However, Horikita-san should also be running a study group; you could go check theirs out too."
"I feel like Horikita and I wouldn't get along," Kei shrugged. She didn't have much contact with Horikita Suzune, but she could clearly sense the other girl wasn't the easy-going type.
Keima scrutinized Karuizawa Kei. He had already sensed a slight dissonance in her. If she were truly a gal-type girl, she shouldn't be this interested in him. Furthermore, her way of speaking to him shouldn't be this... gentle?
Despite her style, Keima had already detected something "off" about her.
'Is it a disguise?'
In games, Keima had seen many characters who appeared very cheerful and strong on the outside, but in reality, it was a shell to protect themselves—they had likely experienced something in the past that left scars in their hearts.
Was Karuizawa Kei such a person?
An ordinary person could never detect Kei's disguise. But in this first contact, Keima had already gained some insight into her essence. This was the insight of the God of Conquest!
"If you can still take more people, I'll let Sato know."
"Mm. But who is Sato?"
Kei was somewhat helpless.
'Is this guy really completely immersed in games?'
She sighed again and took out her phone. "By the way, Katsuragi, did you see the forum? Did something happen this weekend?"
"Oh, apparently some criminal infiltrated the school."
"I saw on the forum... that you were the one who caught that person?" Kei looked at Keima curiously.
Normally, Keima would definitely say it had nothing to do with him. After all, Elsie had done everything. Keima didn't want to invite trouble upon himself. However, looking at the Karuizawa Kei in front of him, Keima decided to change his approach.
Kei seemed to care about this matter, and she had been following him just now. Providing a different answer might allow him to capture useful information from her. This was one of the most important strategies in playing gal games. Regardless of whether the result is good or bad, as long as you get feedback, it's a success.
"Correct." Keima nodded while carefully observing Kei's reaction.
"Is it... really you?"
"I couldn't just stand by while that person caused trouble for the students in our class."
"Which student in our class?"
"Sorry, that involves privacy matters; it's not convenient for me to say." Keima shook his head.
"I see..." Kei lowered her head thoughtfully. At least it sounded like... Keima seemed to care about the students in the class. This was different from what she had imagined. It caused a small stir in her heart.
"I didn't expect... Katsuragi to be this kind of person. I thought... you were the type who didn't care about the real world at all."
"I am indeed disappointed in the real world, but I am not disappointed in myself, nor in the friends beside me. What I hate are the dark sides that exist in reality: bullying, social climbing, discrimination, and a series of troublesome matters."
Keima pushed up his glasses. These words came from the bottom of his heart. While listing those terms, Keima was observing Kei's reaction. When he mentioned the word "bullying," the corner of Kei's mouth twitched slightly. Though it was only for an instant, Keima captured that micro-expression.
'Bullying?'
Keima immediately filled in the settings for Karuizawa Kei in his mind. It was highly likely she had been bullied in the past, which was why she now used this persona to protect herself. So, what was her purpose in seeking him out? To find a protective umbrella?
Keima connected everything that had happened. It was just like analyzing the truth through various details in a game. Karuizawa Kei, having suffered from bullying, sought someone who could protect her upon entering high school, using the gal image as a disguise.
Only a few minutes into their meeting, Keima had already grasped the basics of her background.
"If Karuizawa-san has any trouble in the future, you can come find me—"
"I—how could I have any trouble?" Kei said immediately. Such a reaction only proved Keima's guess was correct. In a game, a girl's denial is an affirmation!
To conquer Karuizawa Kei, the next step would be to slowly break down the defenses in her heart and make her trust him completely.
Although it was just the beginning, he could already see the ending.
"You guys are going to the library for the study group tonight, right? I might come by and take a look then."
"Isn't Sato-san coming?"
"I'll come in her place first! After all, our time is very precious!" Having said that, Kei took her first step and accelerated away.
Keima looked down at his terminal. "Wasted nearly half an hour!!! No!! I must win back that time!" He pulled out his handheld and sped toward the dormitory while playing.
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Ten minutes later, in the alleyway, Ibuki Mio was the first to painfully crawl up from the ground. Because her distance had been the furthest at the time, she was the one least affected.
"My head hurts..." Ibuki held her forehead. Not just her head, every part of her body hurt. She shook her head, trying to clear her consciousness, and looked around. Ryuen, Ishizaki, and Albert were all still lying on the ground.
"What... exactly happened?" Ibuki couldn't remember what had happened at all; she had just suddenly lost consciousness.
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