Chapter 358: Housen Kazuomi: Where'd This Gloomy Dead-Fish-Eye Come From?
The next morning, Hachiman woke up from a beautiful dream. "F-..." "That was quite an incredible guy."
In last night's dream, Hachiman had worked hard while coaxing information out of Amasawa Ichika. He learned that she actually came from the White Room, an experimental research facility dedicated to creating artificial geniuses. Under the orders of Ayanokouji Atsuomi, she and another White Room student had entered the Advanced Nurturing High School with the nominal task of forcing Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to withdraw.
Amasawa Ichika had responded passively, only wanting to live the life of an ordinary high school student. To punish her as a traitor, Tsukishiro intentionally set up a situation in a future special exam to force her expulsion, intending to drag her back to the White Room. In her desperation, Ichika turned to Hikigaya Hachiman. She offered to "work and support Hachiman and his sister in the future" in exchange for his help.
Hachiman took a series of measures and successfully got Tsukishiro removed from his position as Acting Chairman. After entering university, Hachiman studied law and later declared war on the White Room as a human rights lawyer. With the help of the Sakayanagi, Kiryuin, Koenji, and Yukinoshita families, he successfully dismantled the White Room and sent the mastermind, Ayanokouji Atsuomi, to prison!
The remnants of the White Room hated him to the bone and vowed revenge! For safety, Hachiman had to take his family abroad to lay low. Coincidentally, Komachi got into a prestigious overseas school, the University of Hong Kong, and the Hikigaya family moved to Hong Kong.
...Just hearing the summary made Hachiman's scalp tingle!
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The Classroom of Class 2-D
The classroom was as noisy as ever.
"Dammit!"
"Why is it that no one is willing to partner up with me?"
"For mere first-years, they're sure acting arrogant!"
As expected, the academic underachievers of Class D were having a hard time finding partners willing to team up. "I talked to the underclassmen yesterday. They said people from Class A and Class C have already approached them, offering to pay over 200,000 points per person to buy the academic elites for their teams."
Hirata Yousuke's social skills were still formidable. If nothing else, just based on that handsome face, people were willing to listen to him. Seriously, "normies should explode"... er, okay. At this point, Hachiman didn't really have the right to say things like that anymore.
"200,000 points? Why don't they just commit highway robbery!" The students of Class D wailed in unison. In the last two months, Class D's points had finally reached the 400 range, meaning everyone got over 40,000 a month. However, having lived in poverty for so long, most of the students had engaged in retaliatory consumption! Now, almost everyone had very few points left; where could they find the money to buy an elite partner?
"Currently, 26 people still haven't found partners. The situation is beyond dire."
"Hachiman, what do you think..." Horikita Suzune was about to ask Hachiman for advice, only to realize he wasn't listening at all. His gaze was fixed intently on Kushida Kikyo in the front row.
"You're staring at Kushida-san without blinking. What are you thinking?" Horikita frowned. "Kikyo's situation looks a bit off."
Although on the surface Kushida Kikyo was chatting with those around her with a smile as usual, Hachiman keenly captured a trace of unnaturalness in her brow. Her hands, hidden under the desk, were also clenched tightly. This was a sign of internal panic!
Hachiman stood up, walked over, and patted Kushida's shoulder from behind.
"!" Kushida jumped as if she'd been electrocuted; her reaction was unusually large.
"Sorry, did I startle you?" Hachiman asked with concern.
"Kikyo, did something happen?"
"No... oh, it's Hachiman-kun."
Kushida glanced at him and then quickly waved her hand to indicate nothing was wrong. Hachiman's gaze swept over the curious looks from the surrounding classmates, and he immediately gave up on further questioning.
It seemed Kikyo had indeed run into trouble. And it was the kind that absolutely could not be made public!
Just then, a cry of alarm came from the classroom door. "This is bad! Some first-years have come over to our floor!!" The one shouting was Hondou Ryoutarou. Hachiman didn't understand—so what if first-years came? Was there a need to be so dramatic?
"A proactive negotiation?" Horikita was the first to walk out of the classroom. The newcomers were a boy and a girl. The boy was very tall, half a head taller than Sudo Ken, roughly 1.9 meters. He had a menacing face full of oppressive energy. He walked with his nose in the air, his lips curled into a smirk, clearly not respecting his second-year senpais at all. The Class D students, seeing his aggressive approach, automatically stepped aside, not daring to speak.
The girl, on the other hand, appeared much more friendly. She had golden hair reaching down to her waist tied with a large white bow, looking like a girl with very good upbringing.
"I am Tsubasa Nanase from Class 1-D.
This is also a classmate from Class D..."
The boy's arrogant voice took over: "The name's Housen."
Hachiman observed him secretly and opened the OAA data.
[Housen Kazuomi, Class 1-D]
Academic Ability: B+ (76) Physical Ability: B+ (80) Adaptability: D (32) Social Contribution: E (12) Overall Rating: C (55)
His stats were above Ryuen Kakeru's. This guy looked like a reckless brute, but his grades were surprisingly decent. Truly, you can't judge a book by its cover!
"To trespass onto the floor of your senpais... for a kouhai, you're certainly bold," Horikita evaluated calmly. "I admire your courage."
Unexpectedly, the other side didn't appreciate the comment at all.
"Huh? 'Admire'? You're acting pretty high and mighty!" Housen Kazuomi's words remained arrogant and full of provocation.
"Hey! Stop acting so cocky, you first-year brat!" Sudo Ken was already fuming from not being able to find a partner. Seeing someone come to provoke them, he couldn't help but step up to confront him.
"?" Housen narrowed his eyes, sizing Sudo up with a judgmental look. Tsubasa Nanase, standing beside him, opened her phone and found his info via OAA: "Sudo Ken, Academic Ability E+."
Housen sneered. "Heh~ looks like he's just a moron who matches his appearance!"
"What did you say?!" Sudo's face turned red, yet he couldn't refute the words.
"This is perfect. Only Class D trash would show up here anyway," Housen laughed coldly. "Just what I wanted."
Horikita frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
"Your Class D is just a bunch of bottom-feeders! If we don't 'benevolently' choose you, you won't be able to form teams at all, will you?" Housen threw a collective insult at the Class D students without restraint.
"Th-that's going too far..."
"Aren't you guys Class D students too?" Okitani Kyousuke tried to argue back, but his timid manner made him look incredibly weak.
"Trash! Don't lump us in with you second-year pieces of garbage!" Housen insulted them without hesitation. Even the usually sharp-tongued Horikita bit her lip, unable to find a retort.
"Class 1-D has 13 people with Academic Ability B or higher," Hachiman noted while checking the OAA data. It had to be said that the average level of this year's freshmen was indeed better than the second years. Especially between the two D Classes, the gap was massive! Therefore, as nasty as Housen's insults were, they were based on facts.
"Good that you realize you're garbage! So I'm going to help you incompetent idiots! Put that way, you should understand, right?" Housen continued his arrogant speech.
"So, you're saying you want to team up with us?" Hirata Yousuke stepped forward.
"Hmph! You should be the ones begging us! Come on, first say 'Please team up with us,' then bow your heads and beg!" Housen pointed his finger downward, continuing his "face-riding" verbal assault.
"You seem to be mistaken," Horikita argued. "We are both Class D; our positions are equal. I've checked the OAA data for Class 1-D; there are also many students at the bottom of the academic scale who also need help..."
"Those losers? Let 'em rot!" Housen had no intention of helping his own classmates.
"...!" Hirata's face darkened, and he clenched his fists.
"Furthermore, according to the penalties for this special exam, first-years only lose personal points at most. But you second-years are facing the risk of expulsion! Even if we drag you down to a failing grade together, only you guys will be going to hell!" Housen threatened.
"Are you crazy?" Sudo yelled.
"Deliberately throwing an exam can get you expelled too!"
"That's why you're a moron, Sudo-senpai~" Housen poked Sudo's chest, his face full of contempt.
"I just have to order the whole class not to team up with you. If you don't find a partner within the time limit, the punishment is a different story!"
According to the rules, taking the exam alone resulted in a 5% deduction from the total score—for academic losers, that was a death sentence!
"You bastard!!"
Infuriated, Sudo grabbed Housen's collar and was about to throw a punch.
"Calm down, Sudo-kun." Horikita stopped him.
"Don't repeat the mistakes you made when you first enrolled." In the first month, Sudo's hot temper had led to many conflicts and fights, costing the class massive points.
"I... I get it..." Sudo glanced instinctively at the security camera overhead and forced himself to swallow his rage.
Housen took the opportunity to strike back, shoving his palm into Sudo's chest and knocking him to the ground.
"Truly just a big guy. I only touched you lightly~" With this test, Housen confirmed that Sudo's [Physical Ability: A+] was just for sports; he hadn't studied martial arts. Shamed in public, Sudo's head ran hot, and he wanted to rush back in regardless of the cost. But Hirata stopped him in time, grabbing his shoulders from behind.
"Don't do anything that harms the class!"
"Oh? You, pretty boy, actually have some backbone. You want to spar with me?" Housen looked at Hirata with interest, as if he smelled a kindred spirit. He cracked his knuckles, looking ready to go.
At that moment, Nanase cautioned him: "Wait, Housen-kun! Since a moment ago, the senpais have been glancing at the cameras. I believe there is a reason they are restraining themselves from using force."
'This girl is quite smart,' Hachiman thought, checking her OAA data.
[Tsubasa Nanase, Class 1-D]
Academic Ability: B (74) Physical Ability: B+ (78) Adaptability: B (71) Social Contribution: C+ (59) Overall Rating: B (72)
These stats wouldn't look out of place in Class A!
At the very least, she belonged in Class B.
No matter how you looked at it, she shouldn't be in Class D. Was she like Kushida, hiding a massive dark history?
Hachiman activated his "Human Observation" skill. After close inspection, he noticed Nanase's peripheral vision seemed to be drifting toward Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who was hiding in the crowd acting like a bystander.
'Eh? The target is Ayanokouji! Is she from the White Room? No. Based on the dream intel, the two students sent from the White Room were Amasawa Ichika and someone in Class 1-B.'
"Tch! I noticed that ages ago!" Housen claimed. "It's just losing some points. We start with 1000. Let's see who's more afraid of losing points!" Housen struck a pose of a man who would stop at nothing. This caused the Class 2-D students to pale with fear. They had finally saved up some "family wealth" and didn't want to return to the misery of zero points.
"Ha! Scared already?" Housen saw their weakness and trampled their dignity further.
"If you don't want to die, just shut up and obey, you second-year garbage!"
"I really can't listen to this anymore..." A calm, waveless voice interrupted Housen's ongoing arrogance.
"Excessive bluffing only exposes your own weakness, Housen-kouhai." Hachiman stepped forward.
"Ha? Where'd this gloomy dead-fish-eye come from..." Housen's brow twitched.
"Hikigaya Hachiman. Academic Ability: C," Nanase paused, then immediately added as a supplement: "However, according to information gathered from the upperclassmen, this person is likely the rumored Great Demon King!"
"Great Demon King? Him? Don't make me laugh!
I can't tell at all what's supposed to be so great about this guy!"
Housen looked dismissive, but in reality, he was secretly observing Hachiman, trying to find any opening in his expression.
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