Saturday morning.
A cool morning breeze gently swept across the campus. Sakayanagi sat on a bench by the roadside, her slender fingers lightly scrolling on her phone screen.
The phone screen displayed a chat interface with "Sakayanagi Narumori"—her father, and also the current Chairman of Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.
As the Chairman's only daughter, Sakayanagi had already had a private conversation with her father the day before enrollment.
Her father, Sakayanagi Narimori, told her frankly that he hoped she could find a male student with strong physical qualities and no family history of hereditary diseases during her high school years.
The reason her father emphasized the conditions of "physically strong and no family history of diseases" was related to her parents—
Sakayanagi Narimori himself was healthy, but her mother was naturally frail.
After they married, Arisu was born with a congenital heart condition.
Her childhood was almost entirely spent in the hospital, and playing chess alone became her most familiar pastime.
It wasn't until later, when her health improved slightly, that she began attending school with the doctor's permission.
And now, her father's expectation was actually very simple—the next generation must not repeat the past. His future grandson or granddaughter must be a healthy child.
Sakayanagi Arisu was not currently interested in romance, but she respected her father's wishes and promised that her future spouse would be someone healthy and without a family history of hereditary diseases.
For her, this wasn't even a choice that required hesitation.
People always crave what they lack—and what she lacked was a strong physique.
Her childhood experiences of being bullied by classmates and even having her cane taken away had already made her determined: her future partner must possess overwhelming physical prowess.
She couldn't tolerate a sickly man standing beside her—a guy who couldn't even protect his own woman was no different from worthless.
However, compared to boring things like romance, she was now more enthusiastic about intellectual battles with geniuses.
Just like the confrontation with Akira on Monday—even though she lost all her points, she was not angry. Instead, she developed a stronger interest in that man.
After all, opponents who could make her serious were too few.
Sakayanagi tapped her fingertip on the screen and sent a message to her father:
"Father, could you please send me the entrance exam scores and physical examination records of this year's new students?"
As soon as the message was sent, she added another line:
"After all, you said to find someone with good health. I need to screen them first—it would be troublesome if I met a sickly person."
The phone vibrated almost immediately.
"I see! You're right, Arisu, I'll send them to you right away."
"First-year New Student Physical Examination Report.xlsx"
"First-year Entrance Exam Score Report.xlsx"
Looking at the files that arrived instantly, Sakayanagi couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, her slender calves gently swaying in the air. "Father is really easy to trick..."
Indeed, Sakayanagi Narimori almost always granted his daughter's requests.
Sakayanagi looked at the additional information her father sent, her fingertip gently tapping the phone screen.
{Anyone with a physical ability rating of B+ or higher can be considered, but by my standards, A-rank is best. These children, let alone hereditary diseases, rarely even catch a cold since childhood, and some have never even taken medicine.}
{Oh! That Koenji Rokusuke from Class D has been seen in the upperclassmen girls' dormitory for three consecutive days—this person is directly excluded.}
"Is Father... helping me screen potential partners?" She couldn't help but hold her forehead, her fair cheeks slightly puffed out.
To investigate even such details so thoroughly was unnecessarily overprotective.
The light from the screen reflected in her amethyst-like eyes, showing a hint of helplessness and amusement.
Her father's excessive enthusiasm was exactly like those middle-aged women eager to find a match for their daughters.
Sakayanagi's slender fingers tapped lightly on the screen, replying:
"I know, Father. I'm familiar with the young master of the Koenji conglomerate~ I'll look at the data first."
Putting down her phone, she directly opened the first-year entrance exam report and unhesitatingly scrolled to Akira's file in Class D.
The moment the data unfolded, her pupils slightly contracted—
[Academic Ability: E-]
[Judgment: B]
[Intelligence: E-]
[Physical Ability: A]
[Teamwork: E-]
"..."
This was impossible.
The person who made her taste defeat in a psychological battle actually had the lowest intelligence rating across all subjects?
And most ironically, this "Intelligence E-" guy's most dazzling achievement was... combat prowess?
An E-grade student who thought with his muscles actually defeated her, an A-grade genius?
When her gaze swept over his physical examination report, it paused again.
[Family History of Hereditary Diseases: None]
Beneath this brief record lay astonishing data.
Platelet count far exceeded the normal upper limit, red blood cell oxygen-carrying capacity surpassed most athletes' levels, and even his basal metabolic rate was 30% higher than the standard value.
As someone who dealt with medical reports regularly, she knew too well what these numbers meant: this was not the physical function an ordinary high school student should possess.
"Too perfect! This is almost like..." She unconsciously bit her lower lip. "A genetically optimized experimental subject."
The phone trembled slightly in her hand.
That calm opponent at the "chessboard" actually harbored such astonishing physical abilities deep down.
The energy unleashed by this body could probably easily break her fragile wrist—as simply as breaking a reed.
"The physical ability assessment absolutely cannot be wrong... Then the interviewer must have underestimated Shimizu-kun's strength!" Thinking of this, a hint of displeasure appeared on Sakayanagi's fair face.
After all, Akira was an opponent who had fairly defeated her in an intelligence game. If he was rated E-grade, wouldn't her own A-grade evaluation become a huge joke?
{Father, I am very interested in Shimizu-kun from Class D. Could I review his entrance exam video?}
{Shimizu Akira? Indeed, this child's physical ability is A, which perfectly meets the conditions. I'll send you the video right away.}
And as Sakayanagi watched the screen displaying all subjects with uniform failing grades, her elegant posture uncharacteristically stiffened in place—this girl, known for her wisdom, fell into a five-second blank in thought for the first time in her life.
{What, Arisu is interested in Shimizu-kun? He's a bit slow, but I don't object. After all, my requirements for a future son-in-law are simple—to protect you well and give me a healthy grandchild is enough. Anyway, in terms of intellect, who in this world can compare to my daughter?}
Sakayanagi ignored her father's playful teasing and instead refocused her thoughts on the mysterious boy.
"I see..." She suddenly chuckled, a hint of playfulness flashing in her eyes. "Starting the layout from the entrance exam? Deliberately lying low in Class D with failing grades in all subjects, waiting for the right moment... Shimizu-kun, what kind of game are you really playing?"
The phone screen lit up again.
Sakayanagi lowered her gaze, her fingertip gently sliding across the screen—it was a message from a classmate in Class A.
Katsuragi Kohei: I have already privately settled with those students who violated school rules. From now on, no one in Class A will violate the "Daily Conduct Code."
Katsuragi Kohei: Based on the information and data analysis you proactively provided, Class A will at most only have fifty-six class points deducted this month.
Katsuragi Kohei: This way, Class A will still maintain its top position next month.
Sakayanagi's gaze finally moved away from the screen, her fingertip gently tapping her cane.
Class A's opening strategy was already in place. All that remained was to await the results.
"Shimizu-kun... how are things prepared in your Class D? Please, don't disappoint me too much."