Chapter 88 She's making a scene, he's laughing. See you ne...
Around 3 p.m., the large screen in front of the central square displayed a ranking of the perpetrators based on their votes.
Perhaps because Risa said that Yagyu was the mastermind behind the scenes during the preliminary round of the campus image ambassador competition, he was far ahead with 688 votes.
2nd place: Niou Masaharu 535 votes
3rd place: Yanagi Renji, 358 votes
......
39th place: 3 votes from game participants
At 3:30, the square was filled with students from the school and visitors from other schools.
All players waited with bated breath for the answer to be revealed.
"Who is the perpetrator?!"
"Is the final boss a con artist?!"
"It's definitely the student council president! My deduction can't be wrong!"
"It should be Yagyu Hiroshi, he got so many votes, and Matsuno mentioned it before."
"I don't think so. Maybe they're taking advantage of that."
"......"
Just as everyone was discussing this, a clear, cool female voice came from the loudspeaker:
"Gentlemen, are you having fun?"
The large screen went dark, then immediately lit up again, beginning to play today's highlights:
Scene 1: Student Union Office
Yagyu Hiroshi plays mahjong with three "himselfs".
(Close-up: The expressions of the students watching)
A bespectacled boy gaped, his glasses sliding down to the tip of his nose: "This...this is not scientific!"
The girl next to him had already pulled out her phone and was snapping photos like crazy: "Yagyu-sama is so handsome! All four of them are!"
[Scene 2: Biology Classroom]
Kirihara looked in the mirror and muttered to himself, "Magic mirror, magic mirror, who is the real Kirihara?"
(Background sound effect: eerie echo)
Marui, who was passing by, popped his bubble gum and said with a look of disgust, "This kid is hopeless..."
The jackal behind him silently took out his phone and recorded a video: "Sending it to Matsuno should fetch a good price."
[Scene 3: Main Road of the Campus]
Sanada, wielding a bamboo sword, chased Niou across the entire school.
(Slow motion replay + tragic background music, subtitle: Samurai's Elegy)
Students watching from the roadside:
"The betting has started! I'm betting on how many minutes it will take for Vice-Captain Sanada to catch the fraudster!"
"I bet five bags of potato chips, we definitely won't get caught today!"
"Ahhh, Niou-senpai, look this way!"
[Scene 4: Panoramic view of the campus square]
A long shot unfolds, revealing a bustling square bathed in sunlight:
• Marui Bunta and Chinatsu were busy at the dessert station.
• In front of the takoyaki stall, players wearing red bracelets are asking the NPC stall owner for clues;
Inside the divination tent, the magic club president's tarot cards drew elegant arcs in the air, and the line of people stretched endlessly.
• In the shooting game area, a girl with pigtails closed her eyes and hit the bullseye, then flashed a "V" sign at the camera.
......
But within each scene, there's a close-up shot of players passing on information about the seven incredible secrets.
"Ah! That's me!"
A surprised scream suddenly erupted from the crowd.
"Look! I'm in the picture too!"
"Oh my god, we were all caught on camera!"
Gradually, unease began to creep into the rising and falling gasps:
"Wait a minute, it can't be what I'm thinking, can it?!"
"If that's the case, then the perpetrator must be—"
The film abruptly ended, and the screen went dark.
As the background music played continuously, several lines of white text slowly appeared:
"In the autumn of Reiwa 7, a performance was presented by 1246 people."
"The Seven Mysterious Events of Rikkai University Have Been Perfectly Disseminated"
"That's right, perhaps you, the clever reader in front of the screen, have already guessed it."
"The perpetrator was actually—"
Pause for three seconds
"The curiosity that sparkles in your eyes"
"And the adventurous spirit stirring within my heart"
"congratulations--
Become an accomplice in spreading the news of the seven incredible events!
The words vanished like cherry blossoms, only to reappear in the end:
"Youth Never Ends"
"See you next Umihara Festival~"
Two seconds of absolute silence followed—
The shouts of "Eh?! Eh?! Eh?!" swept across the entire square like a tsunami.
-
On the night the Haiyuan Festival ended, a popular post on the 2ch campus forum read:
[Breaking News] The truth behind Rikkai's Odaihara Festival special event, "Immersive Murder Mystery Game," has been revealed! Everyone was fooled!
Original Poster: Anonymous Warrior
Submission date: 20XX/09/22 22:17
We thought we were champions of justice... but we were all accomplices! What the hell is this Murder on the Orient Express?! [Tears emoji]
[Image 1] Players lying haphazardly in front of the Kendo Club
[Image 2] A photo of four "Yagyu" students playing mahjong in the student council office.
3rd floor (Qingxue)
Hey Rikkai! This is practically a group scam!
How about giving a fraud lecture at Seigaku before the next Kanto Tournament?
5th Floor (Hyotei)
No wonder they beat a con artist in the campus image ambassador competition...
The psychological manipulation in this proposal was so sophisticated that even Atobe remarked that it was "quite elaborate."
19th floor (hexagonal center)
Is the chief planner God's girlfriend?
Ah~ no wonder his cunning is so high~ (lazy joke mode OFF)
33rd floor (Higa Middle School)
Diving and watching
But why did Mr. Kito suddenly say he wanted to develop fraud-themed tourism for guesthouses in Okinawa?!
(Attached: A candid photo of a handwritten business plan titled "How to Save on Air Conditioning Costs Using Illusion")
111th Floor (Rikkai University)
Absolutely true! [winking emoji] When we were looking for clues...
I saw Yukimura-kun drawing for Matsuno-kun in the rooftop garden [heart emoji]
113th Floor (Fudomine)
I'm going to fight you sweet couples to the death!
I can't keep up with the scammer's pace!
Floor 215 (Yamabuki)
Lucky you~! No wonder you're Rikkai's girlfriend~
Could we... (winking) for the next social gathering?
216th Floor (Rikkai University)
@215 - Qianshijun^_^
Floor 217 (Yamabuki)
I'm sorry [╥﹏╥...]
(Post #215 has been deleted)
316th Floor (Rikkai University)
This perverse sense of humor is terrifying ww
But it was so much fun, so I forgave her.
Floor 378 (Hyotei)
zzz... Huh? Is it over?
I think someone drew cat whiskers on me while I was sleeping in the divination tent.
Floor 398 (Qingxue)
What an interesting project!
Echizen, let's do it again at our next school anniversary celebration →_→
Floor 399 (Qingxue)
......
(Silently holding up a sign that reads "No Fraud")
Floor 408 (Shitenhoji Temple)
Ahhh, Matsuno-kun's Liar Game is so cool~
Our Shitenhoji Temple is also going to hold a Couple Fraud Festival!
Yi Shi: Hey, you're missing the point!
Floor 409 (Hyotei)
Hmph! What a magnificent farce!
However, my Hyotei Academy Festival will be even more...
Kabaji: USU.
777th Floor (Rikkai University)
So much fun! I want to participate again next year! Pfft~
-
Late at night, at Yukimura's residence.
Yukimura leaned against the headboard, his fingertips tracing the screen of his tablet. A video titled "Umihara Festival: Risa's Observation Log," sent by Asuka, was playing.
"00:03"
Suddenly, the camera was blocked by a hand, and Risa's panicked voice came from off-screen: "Wait, we can't film this! I just talked to Shiraishi-kun about the licensing of Shitenhoji's image rights."
Asuka: "Is Shiraishi-kun the universally acknowledged handsome young man you mentioned?"
Risa: "Shh—! You absolutely have to keep this a secret from Yukimura~"
"01:17"
In front of the delicious dessert stall, Risa helped up the unconscious seaweed, pointed at Marui Bunta and unleashed a torrent of abuse, taking her brother-complex to the extreme.
The red-haired boy huddled in the corner, timid, helpless, and pitiful.
"02:42"
Beside a bench along the tree-lined path, Ryoma Echizen was talking to Risa, who momentarily lost focus.
Yukimura chuckled and long-pressed the screen to save the frame.
"03:22"
In a close-up shot, Risa is holding a tablet and clicking on a link to vote for the prisoner. Asuka's voiceover says, "What happened to voting for Yagyu-kun?"
Risa turned to the camera and winked: "Con artists should help con artists!"
The scene shifts to a rooftop at dusk.
Risa stood by the railing, her hair gently ruffled by the evening breeze. She gazed at the laughing crowd in the square below, a smile unconsciously playing on her lips.
One night, she also showed that kind of smile.
He asked her what she was looking at, and she said she was watching "Fleeting Youth".
Yukimura thought the video would end there, leaving a gentle aftertaste.
However, the scene suddenly changed the next second.
The camera suddenly zoomed out, as if someone had played a prank on it.
...Huh?
He stands in the corner of the picture, in the shadow of the fire escape.
His gaze pierced through the gaps between buildings and the swirling flock of pigeons, silently landing on Risa. His eyes were incredibly gentle, even carrying a smile he himself didn't realize.
No wonder Asuka smiled and said she'd charge double. She really put her heart into it.
Yukimura smiled and pressed the screenshot button.
A new message from Asuka popped up at the top of the screen:
P.S.: A special bonus for Yukimura-sama ↓
The attached photo is a snapshot of both the bustling activity and the tender moments:
Marui carried the cake, and Risa and Kirihara approached with shining eyes. Niou was about to play a trick when Yagyu grabbed him by the collar to stop him. Sanada held up a sign that read "No Fraud," and Jackal made an "X."
Yukimura sat to the side, his gaze quietly fixed on his companions, his gentleness almost unbelievable.
The message flashed again:
"If Minister Yukimura is satisfied, remember to pay the final installment!"
Meanwhile, in Risa's room.
"bite!"
Asuka's message was accompanied by more than a dozen videos.
Risa opened the folder labeled "YS", and the first frame was a profile of Yukimura asking everyone to sign autographs at the entrance of the Garden of Five Senses.
It was clearly taken secretly.
Yukimura smiled warmly, then suddenly turned to look directly at the camera: "Nakano-kun, there's a charge for taking candid photos."
The screen shook violently, and Asuka's screams and the sound of her running footsteps made him chuckle.
Next, she opened the "Rikkai Tennis Club Top Secret Files" folder. Inside was a nearly ten-minute fast-forward video recording the highlights of Rikkai's members at the Kaihara Festival.
She forwarded the video to Yukimura with the following message:
"This is a gift for the tennis club members, as a thank you for using their image rights all this time~"
(Attached is a winking emoji)
Then, she also sent over this exclusive video of Yukimura alone:
"This is specifically for Aichi. Although I didn't edit the video, but—"
The message was deleted and rewritten before being sent:
"This is specially for Aichi. Although I wasn't the cinematographer or editor, every shot... is a treasure I carefully selected."
Five minutes later.
The phone vibrated gently in my palm.
Risa unlocked her screen and found a 3-minute and 57-second video file sent by Yukimura. The cover image was a silhouette of her standing under a ginkgo tree, looking back.
Risa paused for a moment when she clicked on it.
The familiar piano prelude flows out, the close-up shot suddenly zooms in from the distance, the tracking focus, and those slow motion shots... This is clearly Asuka's best editing technique.
Risa chuckled, her fingers flying across the screen as she typed:
"I see......"
Deleted and rewritten:
"That Asuka girl..."
Delete it again, then send it:
"Looks like we've arranged to have the same 'camera' on us (laughs)."
Almost simultaneously, the dialog box displays "The other party is typing..." at the top, pauses for a few seconds, disappears, and then reappears.
It was as if they were considering the perfect response.
Then, messages popped up one by one, with his characteristic leisurely pace:
"It seems our thoughts are always in sync."
(Read)
"but--"
(Types...)
"Rather than sharing the same sentiment..."
(Read)
"I'd rather have it all to myself."
(Read)
After a brief silence, the last message appeared:
"So, for the next shot..."
"I'll capture it myself."
"—Risa who belongs only to me."
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