"...You think you're conquering the world, but in reality, you're just repeating the afternoon of your seventh birthday: solving complex problems you don't understand in the most simple and crude way. You've never grown up; you've just swapped the stone in your hand for a larger one."
Natsukawa Sosuke's voice fell, and a deathly silence filled the air.
"Cough... cough cough... Haha... Hahahaha!"
A spine-chilling laugh squeezed out from Ryuuen's blood-stained mouth. He struggled to lift his head, and although there was shock in his bloodshot eyes from being seen through, there was more of a near-manic stubbornness.
"Well said... Natsukawa."
Ryuuen spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his gaze still as fierce as a wolf's.
"Guinea pigs? Conditioned reflex? So what?"
"As long as the stone is big enough, it can crush a snake. As long as the fist is hard enough, it can make people shut up. That is the truth of this world! Fear? I've never known what that tastes like!"
Looking at the man before him who refused to repent and was even trying to maintain his sense of self through provocation, Natsukawa Sosuke shook his head helplessly.
"It seems ordinary methods won't make you understand what awe is."
Natsukawa sighed, his gaze falling on the puddle of water on the floor that Ryuuen had poured earlier to humiliate him.
The water there had mixed with the years of dust on the floor, turning into a puddle of black sludge.
"Since you like this puddle so much, don't let it go to waste."
Natsukawa casually grabbed a dirty rag used for wiping equipment nearby and soaked it thoroughly in that black water. The cold, turbid mud-water saturated the fabric, dripping black droplets.
Ryuuen's pupils constricted slightly.
"What do you want to do..."
"I'm most annoyed by you youngsters who talk about life and death all day without taking it seriously. I'll help wash your brain and let you see why life falls asleep."
Natsukawa didn't hesitate for a second. He pinned Ryuuen's chest down with his knee and then slammed the rag hard onto Ryuuen's face.
"Mmph—!!!"
In this moment, what Ryuuen felt was not just suffocation, but a nauseating stench and filth.
Sludge poured into his nasal passages, and sewage seeped into his throat along the corners of his mouth. The air in his lungs was instantly sucked away, replaced by a choking, strange smell.
Natsukawa picked up a bottle of mineral water from nearby and poured it unhurriedly over the rag, maintaining that suffocating sensation that made one wish for death over such a life.
Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds... Ryuuen's body was like a fish out of water, his hands thrashing violently, but he was held down by Natsukawa's hand, unable to move.
Just a second before Ryuuen was about to faint from lack of oxygen, Natsukawa suddenly ripped off the rag.
"Cough cough! Cough cough cough!! Blegh—"
Ryuuen jerked to the side, breathing greedily in large gulps, spitting out black, dirty water, looking pathetic to the extreme.
But before he could even catch his breath, Natsukawa's hand pressed down again.
"Continue."
"Mmph—!!!"
The second time.
This time lasted even longer.
When Natsukawa let go again, Ryuuen didn't even have the strength to struggle anymore, lying on the ground twitching like a pile of mud.
"It's not over yet."
Natsukawa's voice was like that of a judge from hell.
The third time.
The fourth time.
Repeated near-death experiences, combined with the shame and disgust of having filth poured into his mouth and nose, were bit by bit dismantling Ryuuen's will.
Finally, after the fifth time, Natsukawa tossed away the rag that was so dirty its color was unrecognizable.
Ryuuen Kakeru lay on the ground, his face covered in black mud-water, his eyes unfocused, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"How is it? This feeling."
Natsukawa crouched down, grabbing his hair to force him to lift his head.
"A mortal body, how can it resist genetic instinct? The will you take pride in is as fragile as paper before the most primitive instincts."
Ryuuen looked at Natsukawa, and for the first time, a crack named fear appeared in those eyes that were originally full of violence.
It wasn't because of pain, nor because of death.
It was because the man before him was so calm while doing all this. No anger, no pleasure, just like washing away grime in a toilet—matter-of-fact and without a ripple.
"Who... on earth... are you..."
"Who I am isn't important. What's important is that it's time for you to exit the stage."
"Ryuuen, this is the final ultimatum."
"Don't bother me again, and don't touch the people around me. Otherwise..."
Natsukawa's gaze swept over Ishizaki and Albert, who were lying unconscious to the side.
"I will have everyone in this room, except for you, expelled."
Hearing this, Ryuuen, who was still gasping for air, suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a mocking smile that looked worse than crying.
"Heh... hehe..."
He forced himself with his last breath to put on an indifferent posture, trying to maintain his final shred of dignity.
"You're threatening me? With these pieces of trash?"
Ryuuen spat out a mouthful of muddy blood.
"You think I care about them? They're just my pawns, my tools! As long as I want, I can have as many of these obedient dogs as I need!"
"Expulsion? Then let them be expelled! It'll save me the annoyance of looking at them!"
He was gambling. Gambling that Natsukawa was just bluffing. Ryuuen Kakeru was a cold-blooded tyrant; he absolutely could not have a weakness.
However, seeing his blustering front, Natsukawa Sosuke suddenly laughed.
That smile was full of pity, as if watching the final solo performance of a clown.
"Is that so?"
Natsukawa softly uttered a number.
"Eight hundred million."
As soon as those words came out, the air seemed to freeze.
Ryuuen Kakeru's mocking smile instantly froze on his face. His pupils contracted violently, and his whole body stiffened as if struck by lightning, unable to move.
"What... did you say?" His voice was trembling.
Natsukawa ignored his reaction and simply said slowly, word by word:
"If you really didn't care about them, if you really just treated them as disposable tools."
"Then why did you formulate that crazy '800 Million Points Plan' that only you know about?"
"It only takes twenty million points for one person to rise to Class A. And eight hundred million..."
Natsukawa leaned down, his black eyes like two sharp swords piercing directly through Ryuuen's heart.
"That is the number of points needed for all 40 people in Class C to rise to Class A."
"Ryuuen Kakeru, you say they're trash and tools. But in your plan, you never intended to leave anyone behind, did you?"
"You want to take everyone and climb to that peak together."
"Is this what you call 'not caring'?"
"!!!!"
He began to feel afraid.
He suddenly realized that he had known nothing about Natsukawa from the start, while Natsukawa seemed to see through everything about him.
That was the absolute secret hidden deepest in his heart, which even Ibuki and Albert didn't know. It was his only remaining, and most heavy, 'tenderness' and 'ambition' as a tyrant.
In this world, only he was supposed to know.
But now, this secret was being spoken nonchalantly by the man before him.
An unprecedented, bone-deep sense of fear instantly swept through his entire body.
Before this man, he had no secrets to speak of. His past, his personality, his plans, even that faint bit of humanity deep in his heart—everything was seen clearly by the other party like the lines on a palm.
This wasn't an opponent.
This was a god. Or a demon.
"You... what on earth are you..."
Ryuuen looked at Natsukawa, the ferocity in his eyes completely extinguished, replaced by a deep sense of awe and powerlessness.
"I've said it before."
Natsukawa stood up straight, straightened his slightly messy sleeves, and looked down at the man who had completely lost his fighting spirit.
"I'm just an ordinary person who wants to live a peaceful life."
"As long as you don't mess with me, that 800 million plan of yours might still have a chance of being realized."
"But if you dare to cross the line again..."
Natsukawa didn't continue, but the meaning was already self-evident.
He picked up his school bag, turned, and walked toward the door, leaving only a cold back.
"Take care of yourself, Ryuuen."
The iron door closed with a "clang."
In the dim equipment room, Ryuuen Kakeru lay in that puddle of black mud-water, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He lost.
He had lost completely.
"...Heh."
He closed his eyes, and a drop of turbid liquid slid from the corner of his eye.
That heart named 'Ambition' stopped beating at this moment.
...
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