A little later, in the classroom of Class 1-A at Shuchi'in Academy.
The homeroom teacher, Miwa Ashikaga, was giving a lecture. The students below were all concentrating, as the students who could enter Class A were all excellent in academics. After all, Class A was also known as the key class.
However, in the corner of the classroom by the window, one student was lying on his desk, in a deep sleep, completely out of place with the scene of diligent study.
And Kaguya Shinomiya seemed to be listening attentively, but in fact, every time she lowered her head to take notes, she would secretly glance at Asagiri Utsunomiya, who was sleeping openly in the corner of the classroom and was not criticized or woken up by Miwa Ashikaga.
'Utsunomiya-san... is actually sleeping during class?'
Kaguya Shinomiya frowned slightly, feeling very strange in her heart.
One must know that Asagiri Utsunomiya was the top scorer in the entrance exam of the High School Department of Shuchi'in Academy and also the top scorer in the national joint exam. He was a true academic genius. Although he hadn't shown much diligence in his studies since the start of the school year, sleeping during class had never happened before.
Why was this happening?
Could it be... that he entered a dungeon last night or early this morning, and was severely sleep-deprived, which was why he was sleeping during class?
Then why didn't he just ask for leave?
Kaguya Shinomiya couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. To be honest, she couldn't even quite understand Asagiri Utsunomiya as a person.
According to normal logic, if he was really a Player and was severely sleep-deprived because he entered a dungeon, he would definitely find a reason to ask for leave. After all, Miwa Ashikaga's attitude towards him was unusual, which was obvious to anyone with a normal, healthy pair of eyes.
Was asking for leave really a difficult thing?
However, it was also possible that he was using counter-logic to clear his suspicion...
No, that was not right.
If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that Asagiri Utsunomiya, as a Player, had already started to suspect that there were other Players around him, and even suspected her and Chika? Otherwise, who was he showing this counter-logic to?
Kaguya Shinomiya couldn't think of a convincing answer. The only way was—
To test him.
◆◇◈◇◆
The morning classes quickly ended, and it was lunchtime in the blink of an eye.
Kaguya Shinomiya stood up from her seat, walked to Asagiri Utsunomiya's front, and spoke in a flat tone.
"Utsunomiya-san, the spring exams are next week. At a time like this, you still have the leisure to sleep during class. It seems the position of top in the grade this time belongs to me."
This was the most reasonable and least suspicious statement Kaguya Shinomiya had thought of after much deliberation.
After all, her usual image at school, while not the kind of aloof indifference that avoids interaction with everyone, was also not the type to proactively seek out other students, especially male students, for conversation.
Therefore, the upcoming spring exam and the competition for the top spot in the grade became the perfect reason for her to initiate a conversation with Asagiri Utsunomiya.
"So sleepy... Oh, it's you, Kaguya."
Hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya's overly familiar way of addressing her, Kaguya Shinomiya couldn't help but frown slightly and spoke in a flat, emotionless tone.
"Utsunomiya-san, please address me properly as Shinomiya."
"Look at what you're saying." Asagiri Utsunomiya said this first, then shook his head and asked with a light chuckle, "Then if I asked you to address me as Utsunomiya-sama, the strongest in Shuchi'in Academy, would you comply?"
Kaguya Shinomiya's frown deepened upon hearing this and her expression showed some displeasure as she said, "How could that be possible..."
"Then there's your answer, isn't there?" Asagiri Utsunomiya waved his hand, then added nonchalantly, "So, if you won't let me decide how you address me, how could I possibly agree to you deciding how I address you?"
"That's sophistry..."
Before Kaguya Shinomiya could finish, Asagiri Utsunomiya suddenly spoke, uttering a surprising remark.
"I was up all night clearing a dungeon yesterday, didn't sleep at all, so I had to come to school to catch up on sleep."
Hearing the word clearing a dungeon, Kaguya Shinomiya's pupils shrank in surprise, but in the next second, she immediately raised her right hand, gently placed it on her left cheek, and maintained a flat tone as she spoke.
"Clearing a dungeon... Are you talking about an online game? I didn't expect you to be addicted to online games. It seems this competition is my victory."
"Your victory?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya stood up, shook his head, and walked out with Kotoko Iwanaga, leaving Kaguya Shinomiya with just one sentence.
"You already lost a long time ago."
Watching Asagiri Utsunomiya and Kotoko Iwanaga's retreating figures, Kaguya Shinomiya's beautiful red eyes flickered, her thoughts unknown.
◆◇◈◇◆
Ten minutes later, in Miwa Ashikaga's office... No, it should now be called the dedicated activity room for Asagiri Utsunomiya and his team.
Asuna Yuuki, who had just woken up not long ago, her pretty face showing undeniable fatigue due to excessive physical exhaustion in the dungeon and insufficient rest, but still forcing herself to rush to school, looked at Asagiri Utsunomiya, who was sitting on the opposite sofa happily drinking iced cola, and said softly with a complex expression.
"Confirmed?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya put down the iced cola and said in a flat tone, "It has been confirmed. Kaguya Shinomiya revealed two fatal flaws, so... it can be 100% confirmed now that she is a Player.
"The first flaw was when she heard me mention the sentence clearing a dungeon, she performed her usual action of forcing herself to calm down through psychological suggestion, indicating that she was greatly shaken internally.
"The second flaw was that in order to cover up the real reason for her sudden action, she desperately tried to cover it up and change the subject, saying that she didn't expect someone with my personality to be addicted to online games.
"However, how could she, someone who doesn't even have a smartphone before and can't even figure out how to use a computer properly, know about online games? To take a step back, even if she learned about the existence of online games from other students, she shouldn't know some gamer slangs like clearing a dungeon. To take another step back, even if she did know, combined with the first point I just mentioned, her reaction upon hearing the sentence clearing a dungeon was contrary to common sense."
After speaking at length, Asagiri Utsunomiya paused for a moment, then stated his conclusion in a flat tone.
"Therefore, she must be a Player."
After Asagiri Utsunomiya finished speaking, Kotoko Iwanaga immediately added.
"However, given Kaguya Shinomiya's situation, she doesn't pose too much of a threat to us. After all, she lives in an environment where she is monitored every moment and has no freedom whatsoever. Even if she can use the excuse of staying overnight at Chika Fujiwara's house to get time to enter a dungeon, she can't arrange her time freely and enter dungeon frequently like us."
Asuna Yuuki's face looked somewhat complicated upon hearing this, and she said, "Threat... Will Kaguya Shinomiya be our enemy?"
"Hard to say," Asagiri Utsunomiya replied while shaking his head, neither confirming nor denying. Then he explained calmly, "Kaguya Shinomiya's personality is too twisted. She received a cold, elite education from a young age. Although she always appears as a refined lady of a prestigious family at school, who knows what her style of action will be as a Player? If she enters dungeon alone, I think in order to survive and gain the power to break free from the shackles of fate, she wouldn't hesitate or waver at all, even if it meant killing someone."
Just as Asuna Yuuki was about to reply, Asagiri Utsunomiya spoke with a smile.
"Oh right, I forgot, I wouldn't hesitate to kill either."
Kotoko Iwanaga quickly raised her hand, her small body bouncing on the soft sofa, eager to speak.
"Me too~ Me too!"
Asuna Yuuki looked speechless, sighed slightly, and complained,
"I'm afraid that if I stay with you two for too long, my entire moral compass will completely break down..."
"Alright, enough chit-chat, let's talk about serious matters." Asagiri Utsunomiya put away his smile and then said slowly, "Sixteen days have passed since the Survival Game started. We need to decide something now.
"Should we not waste any day and enter a dungeon of the first stage difficulty next time, or should we wait a bit and enter a dungeon of the second stage difficulty directly after the game difficulty increases?"
Hearing the question Asagiri Utsunomiya posed, Asuna Yuuki thought for a moment before replying.
"My suggestion is... wait a few days and then enter a dungeon of the second stage difficulty."
"That's what I was thinking too."
"Huh?"
Hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya agree with her opinion, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but ask curiously.
"At a time like this, shouldn't you be saying things like, 'Oh no, there are no dungeons to provide me with fun, I'm going to be bored to death,' or 'Oh, I really want to kill specters and zombies'?"
"That's true." Asagiri Utsunomiya replied with a nonchalant smile first, then said something that surprised both Asuna Yuuki and Kotoko Iwanaga.
"But, the spring exam is next week."
"Huh?"
Kotoko Iwanaga and Asuna Yuuki both looked bewildered.
""Ex... Exam?""
As if their minds were connected, they asked the same question at the same time.
They really didn't expect that while they were talking about the supernatural game, Asagiri Utsunomiya would suddenly say that the spring exam was next week.
This was like the Joker and Harley Quinn, after a busy day of crime in Gotham City, still having to drag their tired bodies to the supermarket to buy groceries and then go home to cook.
It was reasonable, but felt abstract and wrong.
"There's that reason, but it's not the main one," Asagiri Utsunomiya said first, then added with a serious expression, "The main reason is that after experiencing several difficult and dangerous dungeons, a lot of pressure have accumulated in my heart, and I need to play some eroge for a while to ensure my physical and mental well-being."
Upon hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya's words, Asuna Yuuki's face instantly turned red.
Originally, she didn't know what eroge was, but after Asagiri Utsunomiya mentioned that game called Rapelay 3 last time, she went home and searched for it online...
At that moment, a door to a new world opened before Asuna Yuuki's eyes.
And Kotoko Iwanaga's remarks after hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya's words were even more unbelievably outrageous.
"What? You've accumulated a lot of pressure? Helping the captain relieve stress is also my bounden duty as a team member! Please don't be gentle with me! Being rough is perfectly fine too!"