Bab 3: Attaining Positions

Ch 3

POV Shinji

"Shit" I said as I saw the time. I must have held my phone upside down while looking. Then what was the point of running. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

"Haah…" I sighed; well, it doesn't matter, at least I'm on time. Let's go check which class I was put in.

"I am in 2b, looks like he is in a different class" I said while looking at the list.

Amano and me are finally going separate ways. Seems like my chapter in his story is over. Maybe I will get a side story next.

When I turned around a beautiful girl came in view. She is probably someone else's heroine already, I thought as I continued my way to class.

As I walked to my class, in the hallway I met some of my previous year's classmates and 'friends' whom I greeted cheerfully. Maintaining a smile is the hardest part. You have to smile at everyone, even people you don't really care about. Sometimes I wonder if others are acting as well. How can you be frivolous and laugh every goddamn second of the day?

As I entered the class, I finally got ready. Ready to play the hardest minigame in life. The reason I am on good terms with so many people is because of my secret skill — Absolute Perception of the Heart. Okay, that is a bit too chuuni. Reading situations, I am good at reading the room and what others are thinking. It gets more accurate the better I know the person. So much so, that I can perfectly predict the response of my family members when I ask them about some things. It is this skill that enables me to manipulate the protagonists' heart into making the best decisions.

But a classroom is different from a family, the large number of people increases the difficulty exponentially. There are people coming in and leaving, multiple groups of both genders, extroverts and introverts, riajuus and loners. In these webs of relations, I must choose the right ones and solidify my position in them. If I fail and choose a controversial group or a group who is into occult or something it would be the end. No offense to people who like occult by the way.

"huu fuu" I took a deep breath and entered the classroom.

As soon as I went in, I activated my secret skill. You can say time slowed down and background noises were muted. A big group with many girls and few guys near the middle of the last row. Looks like that will be the ruling party this year. To the sides I could see smaller groups of gamer boys, the quiet and responsible girls' group was near the front row, a few loners were scattered around, there was a delinquent guy group in a corner, noted. I took in all of this information and digested it. Each of their faces were imprinted in my memory.

Next step is to know my seat. This is a very important factor. It is the base from where I will be launching attacks and keeping the battlefield in view. If you stand facing the board in our classroom the door is in the front right corner and windows are on the left wall. My seat was in the second column, last row. A very good seat indeed. The seat to my left would be the back corner window seat, or in other words – the throne. Only those chosen by God are eligible to be put there and I will dutifully guide that person onto the right path.

Looking around, I could recognize a few classmates from last year. I put down my school-bag and took my seat. The protagonist seat was empty, not a big deal. We can find out about him later. Now, it's finally time to begin the battle. I turned right to greet my neighbour.

"Good Morning" I put on a fake smile as I greeted her.

"Ah"

Shit, there's a delay. Not good. Why is she not saying abything?

"…"

More delay. This is really not good. Maybe I should switch the attack target. Just as I was about to change tactics, the reply came, but,

"Oh, good morning"

Huh? Monotone? Why so cold? This is the first day of the new term. Shouldn't the girls in the ruling party be extroverts and full of energy? Is there a mistake in my calculations? Or is there an impostor among us? With no choice left, I made my decision. I switched target to one of my old classmates.

"Hey Seiji."

"Phew" that was so close. I almost messed it up. Although I am not at the very top, I am still up there. I guess it suits the supporting character. I was lucky Seiji was here, otherwise it could have gone very bad. After this I am now considered a part of their group. Even though I don't have administrative rights I am still a core member. But what's with this girl. She was this cold only to me. At least she wasn't talking in monotone with others. I didn't even know her before today. I wondered if I could have somehow made a grudge with her unknowingly.

This session of talking doesn't only establish my place, it also helps me ascertain others' positions. From what I gathered her name is Akari Nakano. She, Tsukumo and Hiwari are really good friends and they give off a gal vibe. She had many chances to grab the top queen position but didn't. Meaning – either she is dumb to understand, or too pure to understand, which are both not likely. Someone like that would not be sitting in this group of people. Then that only leaves a trait — Inborn Superiority. The ability of the ruler that disdains the world from a fundamental level. This also might be a reason she is cold with me. I must have something her trait reacts to more than others. Even so, since she didn't take the seat of queen it went to somebody else who we will now call The Fake Queen – Kanade Hagihara. But few have already understood this power that she wields is not completely hers, if she touches the sleeping lion her head will be eaten, The Secret Ruler – Akari Nakano. Another title holder is the Riajuu King – Seiji Nakamoto. He was the one who I switched targets to after Nakano didn't reply to me properly. And of course, the last title holder is me – Hidden Expert.

Although it might seem that this process of classification took time, it occurred simultaneously while chatting. Now the only one left to know is...

Ladies and gentlemen let's have a round of applause for the one who is always late, the one whose luck is unfathomably deep, the one whose brain is the densest thing known to man. Yes you guessed it – God's Chosen One – the one and only Protagonist!

"Gacha" the door opened. Everybody turned their heads only to see a medium sized guy with black hair.

"Am I late?" He asked while looking at everyone.

Just then the door opened again and the teacher came in. Everyone lost interest in the newcomer, after all he was pretty unremarkable. But not me. My eyes sparkled as I scrutinized his every action. Huh, that's weird he stopped for a moment. Ah so that's it, we have the final piece – The Heroine – Shizuo Hiwari.

What I didn't notice was someone else was observing my actions.

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