At Keyaki Mall, inside a certain karaoke room—

  Ryūen Kakeru sat in silence, staring at the three kneeling in front of him.

  "So, you're telling me he beat you up... and all you ended up with were a few scrapes?"

  The three Css C students knelt before him awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably.

  "Boss Ryūen, we didn’t pn for this either! We really thought our act was convincing—he even believed he had actually beaten us up! But who could've guessed his punches were so weak? He kept swinging, but we barely felt a thing. Still, we made sure to threaten him before we ran off!"

  That’s right.

  Css C had long since set their sights on Css D as their prey, focusing particurly on the hot-tempered Sudō Ken.

  However, for some reason, Sudō had recently become as docile as a quail. Even when provoked, he showed no reaction.

  With no opportunities to strike, Css C was forced to shift their target.

  Enter Yamauchi Haruki—the guy who always hung around Sudō. Naturally, he became their next choice.

  After some observation, Css C quickly identified him as the perfect victim: a cowardly, loud-mouthed show-off who was easily carried away.

  Thus, the three-man squad from Css C devised a pn to stage a fight against Yamauchi.

  First, they led him to a spot without security cameras and deliberately picked a fight. Then, they pretended to lose.

  Unlike Sudō, who was muscur enough to potentially take on all three at once, Yamauchi was more likely to turn tail and run if things got heated.

  So, to make sure their setup was foolproof, the weakest-looking of the three started the provocation. The moment he made contact with Yamauchi, he flopped onto the ground as if struck down.

  As expected, the cowardly Yamauchi, seeing how easy it was to beat someone up, grew emboldened and threw a punch.

  The second guy went down just as easily.

  Then the third.

  Once Yamauchi's confidence was soaring, all three stood back up, acting as if they had recovered, and lured him toward a security camera—where they would capture footage of him beating them up for real.

  Finally, they would threaten him and flee, solidifying the act.

  On paper, the pn wasn’t fwless, but it was good enough.

  Everything went smoothly—until the unexpected happened.

  Yamauchi, who appeared to be an average guy, started throwing wild punches.

  But no matter how many he nded, they felt nothing.

  After filing at them for a while, he exhausted himself and colpsed from sheer fatigue.

  With no other choice, the three had to give it their all, putting on their best performance, pretending to be injured, and then running back to report.

  Now, looking at the barely scratched trio, Ryūen sighed and turned away.

  If they weren’t visibly hurt, the entire setup would fall apart the moment a medical check was done. The school wouldn’t buy it.

  "Albert."

  "Ok, boss."

  A towering bck man stepped forward from behind Ryūen, cracking his knuckles with a low rumble.

  Without hesitation, he threw a solid punch straight at one of the Css C students.

  The sound of brutal beatings and screams soon filled the karaoke room.

  ---

  A Few Days Later—

  Since the contract between Css D and Css B had been signed, some time had passed.

  With Chabashira Sae personally stepping in to mediate, she barely managed to keep Css D from self-destructing.

  Although most students were furious at Horikita Suzune and Hirata Yōsuke for signing the deal without consulting them, what was done was done.

  There was no way to go back now.

  After all, Hirata had secured approval from the majority of the css before borrowing the points.

  No matter how dissatisfied they were, they could only swallow their frustration.

  That said, their resentment toward the so-called problem trio was at an all-time high.

  Sudō, at least, was making efforts to improve. He no longer slept through css or disrupted lessons—showing signs of actual change.

  But the other two?

  The moment they realized their expulsion crisis had passed, they immediately reverted to their old ways, acting like nothing had ever happened.

  At that moment, Yamauchi Haruki stood beside Ike Kanji, pretending to have a casual conversation—while making sure his voice was loud enough for the entire css to hear.

  "Hey, Ike… You know, maybe… just maybe… I awakened a superpower."

  Ike snorted.

  "Yeah, right, Yamauchi. There's no way superpowers exist. Cut the crap."

  But Yamauchi ignored the mockery and continued boasting at the top of his lungs.

  "I’m serious! Lately, I’ve felt a surge of strength! I bet I could easily take down Sudō now!"

  Without warning, he started provoking Sudō.

  Sudō, who had been quietly reviewing his notes, clenched his pen tightly.

  But in the end, he exhaled, rexed his fist, and went back to studying—completely ignoring Yamauchi’s taunts.

  "Don’t be ridiculous, man," Ike ughed. "You couldn’t even beat me."

  "I’m telling you, it’s real! Just yesterday, three guys from Css C tried to pick a fight with me, and I completely wrecked them!"

  Yamauchi’s voice echoed across the entire room.

  Horikita Suzune sat at her desk, staring at him bnkly.

  The moment she heard Yamauchi cim he had defeated Css C’s students, she immediately deduced what had happened.

  She was 90% certain this was a setup.

  With a tired sigh, she rubbed her forehead and turned to Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.

  "Tell me… does that guy even have a brain?"

  "Uh…"

  Even Ayanokōji, usually expressionless, showed cracks in his usual demeanor.

  At the same time, Hirata, sensing something was off, quickly approached Yamauchi.

  "Hey, Yamauchi… What exactly happened yesterday? Did Css C students pick on you?"

  But Yamauchi waved him off casually.

  "Nah, nah, nothing serious. Just some Css C small fries trying to mess with me. I totally bodied them."

  Watching Yamauchi cluelessly brag, Horikita took a deep breath, stood up, and walked straight out of the cssroom.

  "Hey, Horikita, where are you going?"

  Ayanokōji called after her.

  "I’m going to return this defective product to Uesugi," she deadpanned. "While I’m at it, I’ll ask if he deliberately sent this guy over as a spy."

  A trap so obvious, and yet Yamauchi had walked right into it. Not only that, but he had smeared the mess all over his face and proudly decred, "Look at me! Aren’t I amazing?"

  At that moment, Horikita regretted everything.

  This guy wasn’t worth saving.

  For the first time, she seriously questioned if Uesugi had pnted him in Css D on purpose just to drag them into the abyss.

  Meanwhile, somewhere far away, the real mastermind sneezed cutely…

  ---

  T/N: scapegoat king