According to scientific studies, someone who is under immense pressure will most of the time speak the absolute truth without realizing it. Furthermore, against the popular belief that humans constantly lie per day, the truth that comes out of a human being's mouth is thanks to those lies.

Without lying first, the truth cannot come out first.

Knowing that I just have to wonder.

How much did Rayazaki deny his feelings for Hinagiku?

"You'll c-confess!? You're not afraid of being rejected, Rayazaki?!"

Kuzan was looking at Rayazaki with eager eyes. It was as if he was looking at his new hero.

Oi, stop that.

Your Aniki is here, how dare you look at someone else with those eyes.

"Nonsense, Kuzan! A true man cannot be afraid of rejection! How are we supposed to move forward in life if we are constantly thinking about the possibilities that the future holds in store for us!?"

Well, here we go.

"I see! So instead of being preoccupied with what life has to offer, we should just move forward!?"

I'm not sure if this is Kuzan's intention or not, but he is giving Rayazaki a gigantic ego boost right now.

I wasn't feeling like interrupting their pathetic exchange of words, so I allowed them to proceed.

Plus, Sagasuga was observing the situation as if he was watching a telenovela.

Hyunda, though. I have no idea. What's on his mind exactly?

No matter, I had to pressure the topic at hand even further. Today's seeds will be the fruits of another day.

"That's exactly right, Kuzan. Listen up."

Rayazaki then sits down on his bed while patting down a soft spot on his bed. In other words, he wanted Kuzan to sit down and listen to his words, which he did.

"I've decided that after committing the crime that I committed that it was about time I would settle down... I... don't have much time left... you see..."

Oi, what the fuck is this piece of shit actually saying?

You're fucking 15, stop acting like you're about to pass away!!

"W-What!? It can't be..."

And of course, Kuzan, the dumbest motherfucker on this planet is going along with Rayazaki's words.

"Unfortunately, it is. Life is short yet the moments you can share with the ones you love will feel like a bliss itself. That's why... I want to truly love someone before I die-"

"You're not gonna die you melodramatic piece of shit! Get off your high horse already! She's manipulating you! How the fuck would someone like you get the attention of a pretty girl like Hinagiku!? Yeah, sure, you got her attention, but in a bad fucking way, you colossal retard!"

Rayazaki was not understanding a single bit of the situation at hand, not only that but he was also spouting some of the most bullshit sentences I've officially come across.

Furthermore, he's been speaking about his life as if it was coming to an end. What the fuck? You might not be mentally healthy but from my understanding, you are incredibly physically healthy.

"Shut up, man! You don't get to decide that! My time to bloom has come and there is nothing you can do to stop it!"

Fucking bloomer, actually kill yourself.

"I couldn't give a fucking shit about your blooming phase, Rayazaki!"

Actually, I do care about that. Bloomers are my natural enemies. My first thought when I was born, believe it or not, was to actually eradicate all bloomers from this Earth's surface.

"Then, what's your deal, man?!"

Our argument was actually escalating pretty loudly. I wouldn't be surprised if we managed to attract the attention of the rest of our dormmates.

"Wanna know my deal? Fine. I broke your phone earlier because the girls might actually take advantage of the fact that you are going to be in contact with a girl in order to sabotage us yet again in the upcoming special exam!"

"That's ridiculous! No way am I getting manipulated here! You're just jealous of our relationship!"

"You two don't even have a relationship, to begin with! The hell are you on about!?"

"Oh, right... Hehehehe, that's about to change, though.... hehehe."

One more 'Hehe' and I'll break his fucking face.

"What the fuck is all this noise, damn it?!"

Given that we, well, my strong words, in particular, were creating a whole lot of noise, the attraction was bound to be formed.

"Don't abuse it just because King George isn't around, you guys..."

First Kawahara and then Tatsu. They had both gotten themselves here on their own.

"It's Daniel's fault! He's the one who broke my phone!"

And of course, Rayazaki just had to say that out loud.

"And? What of it? Is that the reason why you are on a whining spree?"

"Whining spree, hahaha."

Hyunda apparently found something funny about Kawahara's words. Also, this man was showing off his abs even though we are in the middle of the winter.

I'm somewhat glad he didn't participate in the tournament. He might've been a huge threat. A build that strong is not to be overlooked.

"Are you kidding me!? What gives him the right to do that?!"

"Right? Are you fucking high or something? How is he to blame? You were actually expecting a guy that has a fucking 1000 years of jail sentence to not be fucked up in one way or another?"

"W-What?! 1000 years?! Why!?"

Apparently his memory is so disfigured that he doesn't remember the event where Basara-sensei showed everyone's jail sentences. Even if I wanted to answer Rayazaki's question, which I don't, I wouldn't be able to. Because I can't remember it for some damn reason.

"Hell if I know. My point is, we're all fucked up, regardless of what we did. You're dumb as fuck to expect something non-malicious from any of us."

"But he thinks that I'm being manipulated by Hinagiku!"

Perhaps Kawahara didn't notice that he was actually being kind by telling Rayazaki how it was. But, I didn't do what I did out of malice.

I had no reason to commit a malicious act in the first place. It's just Rayazaki's interpretation at the end of the day.

"Hold on. Why would you assume that, Daniel?"

Instead of asking Rayazaki the question himself, Tatsu questioned me.

"I believe that this is their way of manipulating someone from our dorm into committing a major mistake. I didn't forget how we were punished for something we didn't do in the previous exams. I just don't want the same to happen again."

"I knew it... That bitch Aki is planning something again, isn't she!? Alright, hand over your phone, Rayazaki! I'll break it myself!"

"No, Kawahara, I already did that."

Kawahara then raised his left hand as a signal for me to high five.

I obviously high fived.

"What the hell is wrong with you people!? Just let me have my romance!"

"Wait, romance? Explain."

Tatsu was completely clueless about that as well.

"That bastard's getting in my way only because I like Hinagiku!"

"Like? I thought you loved her. Guess I misheard then."

I didn't mishear his previous words.

"N-No! I love her, damn it! Don't get it twisted!"

That's a good boy.

"But Rayazaki, according to Daniel, he only broke your phone because he didn't want you to be manipulated by the other girls, right? Therefore, he didn't break your phone out of jealousy but out of action, no?"

Hopefully, Tatsu's analogy manages to reach out to Rayazaki in a logical manner.

"That doesn't make any sense! How come I'm the only one who is being suspected!? Then, if in the future other girls approach the rest of us, then, is it alright for me to break all their phones too?! What a load of bullshit!"

Well, well.

I had not thought about that yet. I'm aware that my action can be considered a malicious act, but that's beyond my caring. However, what Rayazaki just said caught my inner interest quite hard. If the other girls start to make a move on the boys, then how will we counterattack?

"Why not tell the rest about this? This way, a counterattack strategy could be formed..."

Sagasuga made a reasonable proposition. There was just a slight problem. Most of us didn't actually give a fuck about it.

"Why bother with that shit even? How the hell can those bitches even get something rolling just by communication alone? I don't expect anything from you fuckers, but I'll never fall for that shit."

Of course, this was exactly what I was talking about. Sagasuga is proposing that we think as a unit, but in reality, everyone here is far too independent or just completely distant from that mindset of his.

"But, Kawahara, can we really afford to lose another special exam like that?"

"Huh? What's the harm? It's just another exam. Sure, we got some consequences for this failure, but all we have to do is pass the recovery exam."

I had the same idea as Kawahara, honestly.

Yet, Hyunda began to speak as if to differ.

"I finally managed to get my hands on the rule index. Hey, Kawahara, did you read it?"

"Rule index? What are you on about, dude?"

Hold on... Did Kawahara also not receive it?

"So you didn't receive it too. I see. Well, rule #8 states that there is only 3 recovery exams available. Do you know what happens once you aren't able to take another recovery exam?"

Hyunda was speaking news to me. Since I had no idea about the rules, I could not know a single thing about it.

"Bastard, you can't be serious right now..."

"What? Did you actually think that we could just fuck around all these 3 years without anything to act as a drawback?"

"Where the hell is that index?! Let me see it!"

They weren't exactly telling us what they were thinking about, it's as if they had already understood what they meant and thus were communicating on that premise. They did not care about our lack of knowledge whatsoever. Also, this situation got Kawahara pretty pissed off, since he formed a fist at Hyunda.

"Not here. I can't tell you where I got it, but I can tell you this, I'm in the same position as you are. But, I have the clear superior knowledge here, so listen up well. It's fucking retarded to wait around and just let us be fucked by a dumb strategy like that again."

"What the fuck are you saying exactly..."

"I'm saying that if you don't want to spend your life in jail then you should act in a way that will benefit you towards that goal. Not the other way around."

It's not like Hyunda truly was scolding Kawahara, he just wanted Kawahara to be aware of his own situation. But, Kawahara's temper is extremely short.

"Fuck off. I don't take orders!"

Angrily kicking Rayazaki's room door, Kawahara makes his leave.

From what I understand, rule #8 specifically states that on the occasion of a fourth special recovery exam, there will be a massive consequence to it. Although, I really had no truly understand what the whole rule was.

"Hyunda, what's the full rule? The eight rule, I mean."

"It's pretty self-explanatory. After we exhaust our recovery exams, the whole class is out of the program. No--- To be more precise, it stated that the individuals that were subjected to such will be expelled from the program. Therefore, the whole class isn't necessarily involved in this."

"Wait, if that's the case, then why are the girls screwing us up like this? Makes no sense!"

Kuzan did have a strong point here. What was the point of screwing us if you were going to suffer the same fate?

"Kuzan, you need to listen to my words more carefully next time. I said that the individuals who were subjected to the recovery exam for more than a third time will be expelled only. Now, tell me something real quick, were the girls subjected to any sort of recovery exam?"

"Y-You can't mean..."

"Truly, I don't have any concrete confirmation about whether or not what I'm about to say is the true truth but... they might want to expel us for some reason. Well, the reason doesn't matter honestly. What matters is that we are being targeted."

Although this is only Hyunda's hypothesis, it could very well lead to the truth. If the rule specifically states that only the ones who were subjected to a recovery exam for more than 3 times are to be expelled, then it would make sense for the other girls to try and sabotage us.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

While Hyunda did say that the reason for sabotaging is completely irrelevant, it will be important in order to determine as to why they are doing this in the first place. Of course, this is under the premise that they are actually aiming for this scenario.

Yet, why?

I couldn't understand.

"So, Rayazaki, do you see where am I going with this?"

"...No, sorry."

"Are you serious, man..."

Hyunda facepalmed as soon as Rayazaki said those words. I would too, since it's sorta obvious that Hyunda was aiming somewhere with all of this yet Rayazaki was far too absorbed into the fact that I ripped his phone to shreds to notice Hyunda's goal.

"...Whether you believe this or not is beyond my caring, but the possibility of Hinagiku using you is fairly high. I'm not saying that you should give up on your love or anything like that, but don't reveal anything unnecessary. Keep us out from being targeted, will you?"

Wait, what?

Isn't that bad, though?

What is Hyunda thinking? I thought that his whole aim was to make sure that he stopped Rayazaki from approaching Hinagiku in order to avoid stirring shit up, but now he is suggesting Rayazaki to do exactly that.

It doesn't matter if you tell Rayazaki to not reveal something unnecessary. Rayazaki is exactly the type of person to do exactly that. There's no way that Hyunda isn't aware of this.

........

In the end, I can't understand what Hyunda just did.

"...Gotcha. So, you really think I can do it!?"

Rayazaki just accepted Hyunda's words without a second thought. It wasn't a coincidence, really.

He only did that because Hyunda essentially approved of the possibility of Rayazaki succeeding in his romantic endeavor.

Also, Tatsu had left in the middle of this. The situation itself wasn't worthy of observing anymore, basically.

"Well, of course. But you are rushing this a little bit, don't you think?"

"You think so too, huh? Honestly, I was keeping myself from talking because I was analyzing Rayazaki's situation from a romantic perspective and I just found it catastrophic."

"W-What do you mean by catastrophic, Sagasuga!?"

"Wait, listen to him, Rayazaki. He's not wrong you know. Even though our main worry was the possibility of you being manipulated by Hinagiku, you can, nonetheless, make this work. Your approach is just way too hasty. Confessing straight up? Are you insane? You need to let her develop proper feelings for you first. Don't just waste a climax like that."

Huh...? Is Hyunda serious about helping out Rayazaki? I can understand Sagasuga, but I didn't know that Hyunda was actually like this...

"But I really want to let her know!"

"You fool. You can't. Can't you see? You have three years up ahead of you. Three years with Hinagiku. You have to treasure her for the upcoming three years."

"That's right, Rayazaki. Listen to Hyunda. If you don't stay with her in the next three years, then you won't be able to develop your romance."

Wait...

"It's exactly as Sagasuga says. In order for you to be with Hinagiku at all times, you have to demonstrate that you actually care about being in her presence. In other words, you have to be there at that moment."

"And let me add something to Hyunda's words. If we pass every special exam, then that will for sure mean that you will be able to spend more time with Hinagiku."

These guys...

"I-I see!! I see now! How could I not notice?! If I fail the special exams then my love life is ruined! What an idiot I am!"

"I'm glad you understand, Rayazaki. You should, therefore, aim to do your best and do everything in your power to completely crush any sort of opposition in the upcoming special exam. Because, you know, if you fail, then you are making your days with Hinagiku all the less possible. You just wouldn't want that, right?"

"That's true... In order to make sure that a future where I can spend time with her happens, I have to eliminate every single thing that gets in my way of doing so... I won't forgive anyone who dares to jeopardize my happiness."

"But Rayazaki, you must also understand something important. It won't just take a simple crushing in this scenario. Since our enemies are the girls, you have to be merciless against them, no matter what."

"I know, Sagasuga. Don't worry. I alone will carry this whole special exam. You guys just relax."

I'm so conflicted right now.

Rayazaki has no idea what's going on.

What bothers me about this is how we were arguing to Rayazaki that he is being manipulated yet Hyunda and Sagasuga are resorting to the same methodology.

"Hey, Rayazaki. I have an extra phone. Do you want me to borrow you? This way, you'll be able to contact Hinagiku tonight. Better start blooming as soon as possible, am I right?"

Once again, Hyunda was doing something beyond my understanding. I was already aware that he and Sagasuga were manipulating Rayazaki's emotions by giving him a massive ego boost but what was the whole point of giving Rayazaki a cellphone?

Is Hyunda that helpful?

Maybe I saw him in the wrong light.

"Seriously!? You'd do that!?"

"Yeah, I don't really mind. I'm just repaying the favor since Daniel refuses to do the same."

What favor exactly? You didn't owe him anything.

But I guess Rayazaki's ego is so fucking big to realize the contradiction in Hyunda's words.

"Well... true."

I wasn't going to deny it. However, I will not overlook his bloomer behavior.

He might think that he can get away freely but just he waits once this is over.

Speaking of which, we were literally overstaying inside Rayazaki's room. I understand that this type of development was bound to happen but I didn't expect it to happen so soon.

I mean...

Can I even call it soon?

It's been a month and more than a half. This is sorta late, it's just that since majority of my dormmates are somewhat antisocial, I guess it was normal for this development to be delayed.

Also, something was triggering me right now.

Therefore, I had to ask him.

"Rayazaki, is that a PS4?"

"Hm? Yeah."

"How the hell did you get a PS4 in here...?"

"Huh? What do you mean how? I brought it from my home. How else?"

"No, I get that. But, how the hell did you leave school to do that? You can only leave school at the end of the month."

"What? No. You can leave at any time, as long as it's once per month."

"Wait, seriously?!"

"Yeah. Ah, but be aware... You have to tell Basara-sensei that you want to leave school first."

"And why is that though?"

I was asking a question that I most likely already knew the answer to either way.

However, instead of Rayazaki answering me that question, Sagasuga took the chance to do that.

"Daniel, we are criminals. Therefore, once out of school, the individual will be escorted by two guards. They aren't cops from my understanding. They had black suits and glasses."

"Oh, those dudes from the first day?"

"Yes, exactly. Otherwise, how the hell would you be allowed to leave school in the first place? Plus, it doesn't matter where you go, for that whole day, while you are out of school, they will trace you everywhere you go. Can you imagine what it would be like to let a beast like Kawahara roam around for free?"

Well, Hyunda sorta put that in a way that anyone could understand. Ultimately, the conclusion would be that Rayazaki got that PS4 by going back to his home. If I wanted to leave school at any time soon, then I would be escorted.

It makes perfect sense though. We are criminals and those guards are most likely suited to taking us down any time. In fact, it's a miracle that we are privileged enough to have freedom like this.

"Fair enough. But, if that's the case..."

All of this aside, if what they told me just now is the absolute truth, then I needed to make sure of something first.

"Kuzan, what the fuck are you doing? Are you fucking with me or something?"

"E-Eh!? What are you talking about Ani-"

"Oi. Don't you play dumb with me. We'll crucify you again if you don't do your deal."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!! B-But I don't have the money, Aniki!"

"Huh? The fuck are you talking about? Just ask your parents and get on with it."

"That's kinda the problem... I can't get my parents to give me an allowance. They haven't forgiven me for what I did..."

"Not my problem. You have until the end of the month to fulfill the deal. Otherwise, something far cruel awaits you."

To be honest, I wasn't in the mood for this anymore. I had agreed to check on the situation because I wanted to see Rayazaki's suffering yet I got the opposite of that. Essentially, Hyunda, Sagasuga, and Kuzan were helping Rayazaki bloom.

Now, I do understand that Hyunda and Sagasuga are manipulating him into blooming by making Rayazaki become extremely self-conscious about the consequence of the special exam. All in all, a well-timed tactic. However, what truly threw me off the hook was the fact that Hyunda offered him an extra phone.

Well, he had not given Rayazaki the phone yet but he already had said so, therefore I doubt that Hyunda would go back on his word like that. That action of his was totally beyond my understanding. I can understand the fact that you want to manipulate Rayazaki yet why bother so much?

Perhaps I viewed Hyunda far too high.

Regardless of whether or not I allowed myself to view him that way, it didn't matter anymore.

Something else was on my mind right now. The fact that Kuzan had not fulfilled his deal was pissing me off. I don't tolerate liars to this extent. Usually, if it's not related to me, I will tolerate but if it is related to me then I will really show a glimmering dislike for such attitudes.

Since I had already left Rayazaki's room, all that was left was to go to sleep.

What's done is done.

Plus, I need to rest. My physical condition as of the moment is terrible. I can barely walk too.

"Crap... I'm feeling thirsty..."

Thankfully, there was free water in the kitchen, always.

Everyone was most likely already in their rooms since I didn't catch the sight of anyone in the kitchen.

For the record, King George had not come back yet.

That was unusual. He was always around the dorm either watching his boring telenovela or just reading a history documentary yet to contrast that he wasn't here.

"The hell, why am I so thirsty...?"

I had drunken two water glasses already.

Normally, one glass would be enough yet for some odd reason I was really indulging myself in drinking water.

I was already aware that I was going to pee a barrage but decided not to give a fuck.

"Aren't you drinking way too much? It's just water."

...!!

"Pffftttttt!!!"

Crap, I spilled all my water, now who the hell is--

"Oh... It's just you. Turn on the light dude. Don't scare me like that."

I thought that it was common sense to turn on the light when you enter a kitchen but maybe he has a different idea in mind.

"Oh, I thought King George was here. I had to turn on the light to realize he's not."

Wow, Hyunda... How can anyone just...

No words for you.

"Are you thirsty too?"

"No, not really. But, I don't mind drinking water. No one does, if you think about it."

Water is a natural component, of course, no one minds it. When you think about whether or not you want to drink water, either you fully agree with drinking water or you just don't mind it.

There's not a single moment that I've felt that I just had to strongly refuse water.

Unless I'm missing something of course.

Either way, Hyunda grabbed a glass of water and drank it.

Slowly but surely, he put his back on the wall and then looked into my direction.

"So, why are you here exactly?"

"Hm, you could tell?"

"What exactly did you do to get away when I was chasing the piece of gold?"

"Oh... Hahaha, that? It's pretty simple. You know, while you lazy asses were busy lazying around in your free time, I was building multiple paths. Accordingly, I had built a path for my escape. It's alright, you aren't to blame here. You were never aware that I had such an escape route in the first place."

"But what for? Why are you doing all of this? For someone who doesn't take any responsibility, you are going through such lengths. I don't get it. Why?"

"Why? Daniel, don't you understand? It doesn't matter if you know it now, it won't matter in the slightest because that information already holds no value. You often ask questions that have no real value, by the way."

"It matters to me because I don't like to be manipulated. Hyunda, I won't be your puppet anymore."

I've been meaning to say this for some time now but I will not follow Hyunda's way of doing things any longer.

"You were never my puppet. Everything you did, wasn't it through your own accord?"

"What do you mean? You set the stages twice already. You could have prevented that dorm invasion and you could have let everyone out of the underground if you had put minimal effort to do so yet you didn't do that. You created a scenario where everyone else was a puppet to you, regardless of the situation."

"No, I don't really agree with that. You're viewing me from a wrong angle, Daniel. Everything I do is for the sake of my freedom. I love freedom. I think it's the nicest thing there is. What you are calling a stage set up is actually my freedom pursuit. If you think about it, the other events all happened coincidentally. After all, what happened after I was gone from the underground was beyond my control. Or are you going to argue back against this?"

So in other words, from his reasoning, I wasn't actually being manipulated into doing all of that but it just happened coincidentally? Inside my mind, I couldn't agree with what Hyunda had just said. The events that followed previously all happened far too accordingly.

His ideal of freedom is something I really couldn't care though.

But it's a reasonable trait to pursue, I suppose.

"I won't argue. No point, right? After all, you already thought of everything, right? But, if that's the case, then why are you helping out Rayazaki like this? We both know that this is a set-up. Or are you like Kuzan and Sagasuga, who believe that this is a romantic development?"

"Hahaha, no way, man. It's plainly obvious that Rayazaki's one-sided crush for Hinagiku is all there is. Hinagiku behaves like a girl who hides a mountain of feelings behind her smile. I'm familiar with her type. However, Rayazaki is not, which makes him the perfect target."

Hyunda seemed to be quite thirsty honestly, this was already his third water glass.

"And with all things considered, Hinagiku is most likely not acting on her own. If I had to produce a wild guess as to who is acting behind the scenes, then it would either be Akimiyashika or Ikkiri. Whatever the case, it doesn't really matter who is behind this. What truly matters is how they use Rayazaki."

"Huh? But, isn't that dangerous for us? Are you going to allow them to use Rayazaki freely like that?"

"Me? I'm not going to do a single thing. Just so you know, I wasn't joking when I said that I was on a freedom pursuit. True freedom requires liberation from all sorts of responsibilities. I can't pursue my ideal if I'm chained by responsibility like this."

His philosophical talk aside, it was as if Hyunda was saying something else...

"I don't get you, Hyunda. Why do you even bother to state things that matter when you don't do a single thing about it?"

"That's because I don't care. I'm acquiring knowledge about the situation at hand for two reasons alone. One, I'm simply curious about the situation. I get bored easily. These types of things manage to ease my boredom quite a bit. And two, the traitor."

"The traitor?!"

"Yeah. You seriously have to think about it a little. It's not hard, trust me. If the traitor is involved with the girls, then he is without a doubt aware of the situation, which means that he will do something about this, no? Now I just have to wait and see if he takes the bait."

"Bait? What do you mean?"

"Well, that's enough questions. But, listen up. I've got something important to say. This is probably going to help us out a lot in the upcoming special exam. I say this because we really can't afford to become Akimiyashika's dolls during this special exam."

True enough, that situation could never happen again. Although, I really couldn't tell where he was going with his words. He had already convinced Rayazaki to take the special exam to a serious degree.

What else was there?

"Do you remember when I said I would give Rayazaki an extra phone? Why do you think I said that?"

As I thought... He wouldn't do something without a logical reason behind it.

Even so, I couldn't really form a superficial guess about it, but...

"Well, one thing I know for sure. It's for the sake of contacting Hinagiku, right? But isn't that counterproductive? If Rayazaki makes contact with Hinagiku then he might get manipulated into doing something perilous..."

"That's correct to some degree. While on the surface the whole idea of giving him an extra phone will expose him to the possibility of being manipulated, it's not counterproductive and I'll explain why."

After his fourth glass of water, Hyunda placed the glass on the table and took a cellphone out of his pocket, which he then raised up.

"This right here is the key to success."

"...A phone? But how? Isn't that the phone that you are going to give to Rayazaki?"

"I'll borrow, not give. But, yeah. Also, do you see this SIM card?"

"Of course. You're basically shoving it on my face."

He really was.

"Good. Inside this phone, there is a SIM card that is exactly the same as this. Now, what you will do is: you'll insert the SIM card that I'm holding inside your phone. Your phone model allows you to, correct?"

Coincidentally, it does.

But where was he going with this?

"But what for?"

"That's simple. You'll share the same number as Rayazaki and will, therefore, receive the same messages as him."

W-What the hell!?

"H-Hold on. Why though?"

"You will supervise their conversation. But, that's about it. You cannot interfere, EVER. This is for the purpose of simply knowing if Rayazaki is about to commit something that might put us in a tough spot."

"No, wait. Why don't you do this instead? Why does it have to be me?"

"I actually considered it. Seeing the conversation of two virgins developing their romantic tendencies. I happen to be a sucker for romances, but then I thought that you'd be the best individual for this."

"Okay, but why am I the best individual for this exactly?"

"That's due to one reason."

"That being?"

I was rapidly answering him back since I could not understand the meaning behind his words.

"You actually hate romance, don't you? Plus, you were recording the earlier conversation for a certain reason, right? Let me guess... You want to fuck Rayazaki up in the future for some reason. Maybe when he gets his memories back? Or maybe--"

"I'll do it. Say no more."

Shit, Hyunda knows way too much about it.

How the fuck though?

As expected of a real-life anime protagonist.

Plus, I accepted it because I realized that I could take screenshots of the conversation to add up to the torture fodder against Rayazaki.

This was actually a once in a lifetime golden opportunity.

"Also, make sure to have your phone on silent mode. It would be way too awkward to have both of your phones ring at the same time should you two happen to be close."

That's certainly true. I almost forgot about that.

"But still... Is that all there is to it?"

"No, there's a bit more actually. But I'm getting sleepy so I'll just leave it at that."

Hyunda was starting to yawn a lot now. Well, I was sleepy as hell too.

"Give me the SIM card then. Also, what's the pin?"

"It's an 8 code pin, be aware. The pin is: 42042069."

................

"Just curious what would your pin be if it allowed letters?"

"I'll leave that to your imagination."

Shit, he's way too cultured.

"Ahhh, also... I need you to understand something before we end this conversation. Well... Not really understand but... it's just a trade of opinions..."

Well, he's got my interest now.

"Sure, what is it?"

"What's your take on manipulation?"

"Manipulation? I guess it's really good if used correctly especially if the individual that's being manipulated doesn't realize that he/she is being manipulated. Even if the individual that is being manipulated realizes it, if it's too late, then it doesn't matter."

"That's a reasonable opinion. I believe manipulation to be virtually invincible as a method. There are no visible ways to defeat manipulation if done correctly. Knowing this, if you were up against a manipulator, how would you fight back?"

...

Is he hinting something here? He does tend to do that a lot.

If I think about it, he could be referring to the situation at hand, which would then be...

"By manipulating the manipulator?"

"...That doesn't work. Because, the manipulator, if clever enough, will never allow itself to be manipulated. Again, manipulation is only virtually invincible if used extremely correctly."

"Then, there's no way to fight back, I guess."

"Supposedly, fighting back against the manipulator is the wrong move. So --- in order to actually win against the manipulator, you don't fight the manipulator."

"Huh...?"

"Can't you see where I am going with this? The only way to win against the manipulator is to beat the manipulator at his/her game. Yet it's not by facing the manipulator straight up. But instead, to manipulate the one who the manipulator is manipulating from the shadows without the primal manipulator noticing it."

"I see... But, why are you telling me this---"

"About time you caught up. I thought you were retarded or some shit."

"So that's why you bothered to do all that..."

"Unfortunately, yes. Daniel, I'm not sure if you truly understood what I wanted you to truly understand, so I'll say it. Right now, you are being given the opportunity to potentially beat a manipulator. I created the chance, but it's up to you to do something with it. Whether you screw this up or not is beyond my caring. Use Rayazaki as you see fit."

Leaving the SIM card on the table, Hyunda leaves off to his own room.

It seems that the situation at hand just got a whole lot better.