Ren Takahashi gave the girl a faint smile, then looked back at Mr. Yamaki. "Teacher, let's continue with the class. This seat is quite comfortable. From now on, this will be my seat. Is that okay?"
"Alright. Since you've made up your mind, suit yourself."
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Ren, Mr. Yamaki sighed and had no choice but to agree.
"Next, let's open our textbooks to page 23..."
Mr. Yamaki then proceeded with the lesson as normal.
The class time passed quickly.
Ren didn't sleep; instead, he was reading a light novel to pass the time.
After Mr. Yamaki left the room, Saeko Busujima slowly turned around to look at Ren.
Just as she was about to say something...
A loud commotion suddenly erupted from outside.
"Damn it, I can't believe the boss of Karen First Middle School got taken out by that murderous duo."
"Yeah, things haven't been very peaceful lately."
"A few days ago, I heard the boss of Senren Middle School was taken out too. He was beaten so badly his own mother wouldn't recognize him."
"For real? The boss of Senren might be a bastard, but you have to admit, he's strong."
"It's absolutely true. I heard he hit on a girl from our school—Kamakura Third—and apparently went too far. He was treated like a pervert and then got destroyed by some guy who was passing by and decided to play hero."
"A girl from our school?"
"Yeah, rumor has it she's a tall girl with deep purple hair. And the guy who took out the Senren boss had silver-white hair."
Accompanying these voices, five figures slowly walked into the classroom.
Of the five, three had dyed yellow hair, and some wore nose rings and earrings.
They walked with a swagger, looking arrogant.
Without a doubt, the standard delinquent look.
With the appearance of these five, the boys in the class cast gloating looks at Ren.
It was as if some misfortune was about to befall him.
The leader of the five, a delinquent with a nose ring, noticed Ren sitting there reading a novel.
The expression on his face changed instantly.
"Oi! Who the hell are you? You dare sit in my seat? Do you want to die?"
The nose-ring delinquent lunged forward, slamming his hand heavily onto the desk in front of Ren, glaring with uneven eyes and shouting angrily.
"Sorry, I quite like this seat. Could you let me have it?"
Ren slowly put down the novel in his hand, turned his head to look at the nose-ring delinquent, and asked calmly.
"Hah? Kid, do you think I'm the type of person who's easy to negotiate with?"
The nose-ring delinquent glared, leaning his face almost right up to Ren's, wearing a fierce expression.
"Judging by your appearance, you look like you'd be quite reasonable."
Ren smiled faintly.
"Me? Reasonable? Hahaha!!!"
The nose-ring delinquent threw his head back and laughed as if he had heard a hilarious joke.
The other four delinquents laughed along with him.
Not only them, but some of the boys in the class were also covering their mouths and snickering.
"He actually thinks Yuji Oguchi is reasonable!"
"Does this Ren Takahashi have water in his brain? Can't he see that Yuji is a delinquent, and the boss of the delinquents at that?"
"I think... this Ren guy just has a pretty face, but inside he's actually an idiot."
The "Yuji Oguchi" the boys were referring to was obviously the nose-ring delinquent.
In their eyes, Ren had completely provoked Yuji.
As for helping Ren stop Yuji?
Naturally, that was impossible.
Ren, who had attracted the attention of all the girls in the class, had undoubtedly become the public enemy of all the boys.
The boys were more than happy to see Ren suffer.
Especially the thought that Ren might get brutally beaten by Yuji and humiliate himself in front of all the girls...
They couldn't help but feel happy and excited deep down.
The girls' attitude, however, was the complete opposite. They looked at Ren with faces full of worry.
"Takahashi-kun, hurry up and apologize, then find another seat."
"Yuji Oguchi, I-I'm warning you, don't do anything reckless, or I'll tell Mr. Yamaki."
"Oguchi-kun, Takahashi-kun is a new transfer student. He doesn't know the situation. Just forgive him."
Some girls urged Ren to submit and apologize, some warned Yuji, and others made excuses for Ren.
They knew Yuji Oguchi's character well.
They were worried he would attack Ren directly and injure him.
But Yuji wasn't listening to a word they said.
Yuji's laughter suddenly stopped. His eyes widened as he stared viciously at Ren.
"Kid... it seems you don't know who I am. My name is Yuji Oguchi, and I'm the boss of the delinquents here. You're not wrong; I am indeed very 'reasonable.' Before the next class starts, as long as you can take my punches without making a sound, I'll let you have this seat."
As Yuji spoke, he cracked his knuckles loudly.
Clearly, he was getting ready to fight.
"Is that so?"
Ren's expression remained calm, as if he felt no threat whatsoever. He slowly stood up from his chair.
And just then.
Yuji watched as Ren got taller and taller, forcing his neck to crane upward.
As Ren stood to his full height...
Yuji Oguchi, who was only 160cm tall, realized he actually had to look up to see Ren's face.
The oppression brought by the massive height difference made Yuji's Adam's apple bob involuntarily.
"This is too damn high. Is he really a middle schooler?"
Yuji's eyes looked a bit dazed as the question popped into his mind.
...
Just as Ren stood up...
He noticed the popup panel appearing out of thin air again.
The task details surfaced on the panel.
[0.5 meters directly ahead, tasks detected: "A Small Delinquent Dispute (1)" and "The Good Student and the Bad Delinquent"]
[Task: A Small Delinquent Dispute (1)]
Description: Disputes over seating among delinquents are the most normal thing in the world.
Completion Condition: Make the opposing delinquent submit using any means necessary.
Reward: 3 Random Attribute Points.
.....
[Task: The Good Student and the Bad Delinquent]
Description: As a good student, you should not oppose delinquents.
Completion Condition: Submit, apologize, and make the opposing delinquent forgive you.
Reward: Standard Dogeza Skill.
[Standard Dogeza]: An ancient traditional etiquette of the island nation, involving prostrating oneself on the ground to express deep apology or earnest pleading. Increases the chance of others forgiving you.
...
[Please choose to accept a task.]
Whether before his transmigration or after...
He would kneel to heaven, to earth, and to his parents. But he had never knelt to anyone else.
The choice of which task to take was undoubtedly obvious.
"Crush them all!"
Ren slowly took off the gold-rimmed glasses from the bridge of his nose, making no effort to hide the ferocious and sharp look in his eyes.
The moment he removed the glasses, Yuji Oguchi, who had been incredibly arrogant just seconds ago, suddenly froze. His pupils constricted.
"This guy..."
Yuji instinctively took a step back. He felt as if he were being stared down by a starving lion. A chill ran down his spine, and cold sweat began to break out.
The four delinquents behind him also froze in unison, gulping instinctively.
They felt that Ren, standing before them, was incredibly dangerous.
Suddenly, one of the delinquents seemed to realize something and cried out, "Ahhh—!"
"Oi!"
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Why are you screaming for no reason!"
Yuji, whose nerves were already frayed, shuddered at the sudden scream. He immediately turned his head and scolded the lackey.
"No... Big Bro Yuji, look at them."
The delinquent looked at Saeko Busujima: "Purple hair."
Then he looked at Ren standing there: "Silver-white hair."
"Could it be?"
Yuji Oguchi realized it instantly too.
He remembered the recent rumors.
The boss of Senren Middle School had harassed a purple-haired girl from his own school.
He was treated like a pervert and beaten beyond recognition—left half-paralyzed—by a passerby with silver-white hair acting as a hero.
"Is Miss Busujima that purple-haired girl? And is this guy in front of us the silver-haired one who took out the Senren boss?"
"Can it really be that much of a coincidence? Gulp..."
Yuji's Adam's apple bobbed nervously.
"Boss, hair colors like purple and silver aren't exactly common."
"I think... it really is them."
"I think the possibility is high, too. The aura radiating from this guy... it makes me want to tremble."
"True. The last time I felt this way was when I ran into the Captain of the Midnight Angels' Special Attack Unit. back then, I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life in a hospital bed."
"What should we do? I heard the Senren boss was beaten so badly he's still in the hospital with a catheter inserted."
The four lackeys huddled around Yuji, whispering anxiously.