The Plan

"Um, who are you...?" - Esther's eyes met Ryoshu's.

Those deep red, captivating eyes made his fragile heart flutter a little.

'Oh, I forgot I'm covering my wound... Should I temporarily hide my identity? Even if I told them, it wouldn't make any difference... I might even get driven away.'

Without hesitation, he began chattering away as if trying to create a completely different identity:

"Ah, hello everyone. I don't think this is the best time for introductions. But I'll introduce myself anyway. My name is Aisti-"

"Дурак." (Idiot)

Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind the girl named Esther.

The person who had just spoken that incomprehensible language was the Russian princess, Ryoshu's in-game crush, Katia Volkov.

'Oh... so that's the Russian language? What does it mean? I only know English and Japanese...'

And according to the world of the game Rainfall Disorder, those were the two most common languages.

Because England and Japan were the only two countries that still developed strongly during the period when the gates dominated most of humanity.

Therefore, these two languages naturally became more common for those wanting to trade with the thriving economies of these two countries.

Everyone seemed to agree with what he had just thought and turned to the girl with the dreamy purple hair.

They looked at Katia, hoping she would explain what she had just said.

"This guy is Ryoshi or something like that."

She spoke so slowly that others might think she was soliloquizing.

Ryoshu felt as if a knife had been plunged straight into his fragile heart without mercy.

'So this is what it feels like when your crush doesn't even know you exist?'

After hearing those words spoken in a monotone voice, they turned back to carefully examine the person whose face was bandaged, revealing only his eyes and nose.

The one who started the conversation was once again that energetic girl named Esther.

"Why is it that every time I see you... you cover your face so carefully? I know you're ugly... but covering it won't help."

An unethical smile gradually appeared on the playful girl's plump lips.

Ryoshu couldn't help but feel irritated.

But he could only suppress his anger and reply to her:

"Teacher Kenzo accidentally cut off one of my ears."

The atmosphere grew somewhat quiet after he said that.

Esther didn't say anything more and just silently turned away to where Alan was.

Katia had always been quiet as usual, but somehow she looked even more beautiful than usual today.

"Really?"

Charlotte was the first to break the silence and moved closer to Ryoshu with a worried look.

Next was Haruki, who examined the bandages quite carefully.

He looked shocked as he tried to imagine what Ryoshu had gone through.

Especially the severe burns on his face.

"With bandages like these, the bleeding won't stop... let me rebandage it for you, Ryoshu?"

While saying this, the blue-haired boy had already removed the makeshift bandage covering Ryoshu's right ear.

Then, he took out a more proper medical bandage.

Haruki bandaged it as gently as possible, as if afraid of hurting Ryoshu.

'These kids are so presumptuous...'

Although Ryoshu grumbled internally, he still felt somewhat heartwarmed.

Charlotte also became less worried and proceeded to bandage her brother's wound.

While being re-bandaged, Ryoshu tried to recall Katia's sweet and cute voice from earlier.

And of course, besides reminiscing, he didn't forget to admire the fairy-like beauty of the girl leaning against the wall.

'She looks quite sleepy, huh...? Some things don't change even in the virtual reality version, do they?'

Meanwhile, Alan was discussing some plan with Esther, looking quite secretive.

"Alan, with my wound like this, can we continue with the original plan-?"

"Just stay calm, sis. Either way, I couldn't have helped much from the beginning. But I still have Plan C."

Alan calmly replied as if he had read the girl's mind.

She just gaped for a moment.

Perhaps she felt offended being interrupted mid sentence like that.

But Esther couldn't do anything about it.

'Because simply put, how could the title of Grand Duchess of the White family compare to the Prince of Britain?'

Seeing this rare silly scene of the arrogant girl also warmed his heart a bit.

Haruki tied the bow for the third time and then placed his hand on Ryoshu's shoulder:

"All done, Ryoshu. Remember to move carefully! Otherwise, it will come loose."

'I need to get involved in their plan... because if I just solo, it'll be too difficult.'

"Haruki, does your group have a plan yet?"

"What if we do? I know full well you're just looking to freeload off us."

As usual, Esther would always be the one to bluntly rebuff Ryoshu like that.

Haruki also thought quite carefully, not as carefree as usual.

Only Charlotte tried to convince her friend to let him join:

"Come on, Esther. Either way, we need more people to increase our chances of success."

Ryoshu was also quite surprised to see the sweet princess helping him.

Although he didn't know why she would do so.

'From their perspective, my strength is too weak to be of any help... plus we've already had quite a few arguments before. Why is Charlotte helping me?'

"Anyone but this piece of trash."

Esther flatly rejected the unappealing proposal.

But the girl didn't give up and continued to negotiate with Esther.

"Please, Esther. Ryoshu also has pretty good reasoning skills. Who knows, he might be able to do something."

At this point, the arrogant girl seemed to waver a bit.

But he was quite sure it wasn't because of the persuasive words that she changed her mind.

The persuader was the most important factor in this case.

Partly because Esther greatly respected and cherished Charlotte.

The rest was because she trusted her friend's intuition.

She let out a sigh and replied rather reluctantly:

"Whatever. I'm only agreeing because you asked, but I still haven't forgiven him yet."

'You're in the virtual reality version and you're still a Tsundere, miss?'

In the gaming community, Esther White was known as the "Tsundere Queen."

Sometimes she was the sweetest person in the world, sometimes she treated those she cared about extremely coldly.

'Typical hot and cold, sunny one minute, stormy the next... Haruki will have quite a challenge with this girl in the future. Haha.'

The British princess with blonde hair rushed to hug Esther.

And of course, the white-haired girl didn't hesitate to catch her clumsy best friend.

"Thank you so much, Esther."

Ryoshu just sat watching them talk without making any movement.

"So Alan... would you please explain the plan again for this guy?"

"No, I'm too lazy, sis."

Alan refused immediately without even thinking.

Seeing this, she could only sigh:

"Alright, then let me recap the plan again for the whole group. Especially Haruki and Charlotte, you two try to remember for me, okay?"

"Hehe. Sorry..."

"I'll try to remember..."

The two who were just mentioned suddenly jumped.

But they had to listen to every word from the girl.

"That's the entire plan and contingency measures for different scenarios."

'...'

After hearing the entire long-winded speech, Ryoshu grasped some things.

He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, thinking carefully as if trying to find a flaw, whether big or small.

Esther noticed this.

She also became a bit curious about his reaction, so she asked:

"How does a piece of trash like you pretend to understand anything?"

Ryoshu didn't try to add anything more and just silently ended the pointless conversation right there:

"Shut up."

"..."

The girl's smile was instantly extinguished.

"Although the plan isn't perfect... I'll support you from a distance."

Ryoshu stuck the academy's bow into the cement floor to lean on it and stand up.

With his other hand, he summoned Atsuta's Invisibility Mask.

He put it on his face as if completely ready for what was to come next.

'My goal isn't to help each other... but to thoroughly exploit your main characters to become a Star student.'

Star was a noble title given to the top student in the first-year placement exam.

Those with this title would receive quite a lot of support from the school in terms of finances and "materials."

If this were a normal test, Ryoshu would give up right away... but because this wasn't a "normal" test, he was fueling this intention.

Partly because he was still quite upset with the teacher who had made him feel quite humiliated, and partly because he had found a way to outdo all the students here and come out on top, including the main characters.

"What do you mean the plan isn't 'perfect'? Does a weak commoner like you have the right to judge the plan made by Alan and me?"

Alan had no opinion and just silently observed Ryoshu.

The blonde prince's eyes, though not emitting killing intent, had pupils as sharp as bullets that could pierce through anything.

Meanwhile, those not involved in the argument remained silent and seemed unwilling to get involved.

'I can't lose to them either.'

Ryoshu didn't waver but closed his eyes slowly.

Then, he opened his eyes wide and looked carefully into the hostile eyes of both Alan and Esther.

For a brief moment, Esther somehow stepped back.

And Alan was slightly better as the boy's eyes wavered a bit, but quickly returned to their usual sharpness.

The atmosphere was already deathly silent, and now it became so heavy that it felt like a bomb was about to explode.

And they were the unfortunate ones listening to every tick of that time bomb.

Boom!

A loud thunder rang out, severely damaging Ryoshu's ears.

Without needing lightning-fast reflexes, he knew the sound just now definitely had some intention behind it.

"CHARLOTTE!!! PLAN B!!!"

Esther used all her strength to call out to her friend who was also in a state of bleeding ears.

Fortunately, the blonde princess could still faintly hear it and immediately summoned earth from around them.

Those pieces of earth quickly formed a solid wall, covering all the gaps in the room that had been split in half.

"The teacher is really disappointed to know that you still have so much energy left."

The sound of steady footsteps came from within the thick smoke and dust.

A dark figure emerged from the dust cloud and became increasingly clear.

"You even argue with your own teammates in the moment of life-and-death battle."

The scholarly figure stepped out and stood before a group of teenagers with somewhat worried faces.

Only Katia and Alan's expressions weren't very clear.

And besides them, there was also a madman smiling in a disgusting way as if he had found a treasure chest.

That person was Amemura Ryoshu.