Macho Man Doesn't want a Slice-of-Life

At this point, it was obvious: Rinji was popular now.

Last semester, people tried to stay away from him. They didn't treat him badly, but no one wanted to hang around a guy known for breaking someone's leg.

But now, they were actively seeking him out. Even Ishigami, just a bystander, felt something was off.

"Rinji… you're seriously popular now."

Ishigami looked at Rinji in disbelief.

"Yeah… this is weird."

"You've officially become a normie."

"…"

Rinji had to admit it. Ever since he got a girlfriend, he had become visibly more popular. Not only were there more girls around, but even his classmates treated him better.

After brushing off the enthusiastic crowd, Rinji went to his seat, dropped his bag, and handed some of his homework to Ishigami.

"Hurry up and copy. Iino's probably checking dress codes at the gate."

"Right."

Ishigami grabbed Rinji's homework and started copying frantically. Luckily, he'd already done most of it at home, or he wouldn't finish in time.

"By the way, Rinji, do you have any idea what's going on?"

"None at all," Rinji said. "The only major thing over the break was meeting my girlfriend. Everything else was trivial."

"Your classmates seem super friendly."

"I noticed."

Rinji rubbed his forehead, eyes growing sharp.

"It feels like there's some kind of hidden conspiracy… like they're luring me out to ambush me with gunfire or poisoning my food with cyanide at lunch."

"…You've got a dangerous imagination."

Ishigami sweatdropped. He was used to Rinji's wild ideas, though.

Just then, a girl's voice came from the front row.

"Rinji, do you really not remember what you did during the break?"

"Hmm?"

Rinji looked up. It was a pretty blonde girl sitting diagonally in front of him.

As for the girl's name, Rinji honestly couldn't remember.

"Her name's Onodera," Ishigami whispered in his ear.

"Onodera Rei. We've been in the same class for an entire semester, and you still don't know your classmates' names?"

"Minor characters aren't worth taking up my brain's storage."

"…"

Rinji looked at the girl named Onodera Rei again.

"What did I do over summer? I wasn't even in Tokyo."

"I know that."

Onodera's expression didn't change. She simply said, "A few days ago, my family asked me if someone named Takamine Rinji was in my class. I told them yes, and then my dad told me to try and build a good relationship with you... I'm guessing a lot of other classmates heard the same thing from their families."

"...I don't remember doing anything noteworthy over summer."

"Really?"

Onodera raised an eyebrow.

"Then do you know the name 'Amano Pharmaceuticals'?"

"!?"

As soon as he heard that name, Rinji's gaze toward Onodera changed.

"How do you know about that?"

"My family told me. They said you're the company's president," Onodera replied. "They also mentioned something about you joining some competition and that your company now has assets in the trillions."

"…"

Rinji recalled participating in Katahara Metsudo's Kengan Annihilation Tournament, where he siphoned off profits from the top sixteen competing companies and funneled it all into the company he founded—Amano Pharmaceuticals. So technically, he was now a trillion-yen asset holder.

Many of the spectators and bettors at the Kengan matches were high-ranking businesspeople and politicians. Aside from those from abroad, there were at least 100,000 prominent Japanese attendees.

Among them were undoubtedly the parents of several students from Shuchiin Academy.

They would have witnessed Rinji's fights, the amount of money he made, and his association with Katahara Metsudo firsthand. It was only natural for them to mention it to their kids.

After all, most of Shuchiin's student body came from powerful families across all sectors of Japan. Onodera, for example, was the daughter of a major jewelry company CEO.

"Tch. This bourgeois academy really lives up to its name. So rotten."

"You realize you're insulting yourself too, Mr. Trillion-Yen Asset," Onodera said.

It wasn't an exaggeration. Among the children of elites at Shuchiin, Rinji was now at the very top—not because of his family background, but through assets he owned himself.

"In other words…"

Rinji stroked his chin, thinking.

"I'm now the dad of everyone in this school?"

"I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but yeah, people trying to cozy up to you for personal gain definitely won't be few."

"Are you one of them too, Onodera?"

"Yup, my family did tell me to try and get close to you. But I don't really plan to do it for their sake. It's just too tiring," Onodera smiled. "At most, I'll wait for a chance to get you to treat me to a nice meal."

"At least you're honest."

Rinji laughed too.

"I don't mind treating people."

Right now, the school had two standout figures. The first was Shirogane Miyuki, who became acting president of Dainippon Bank during the summer break. Even though he was just a temporary fill-in, it still proved his capabilities, and everyone at school knew about it.

The second was Rinji. He was now a young entrepreneur with massive personal wealth and a Kengan Association member. Of course, not all students knew this, since their families didn't all move in such elite circles.

Still, Onodera's mention reminded Rinji of one important thing.

Even though the company had received huge capital injections, it hadn't actually produced anything yet. A pharmaceutical company with no products and relying only on Kengan prize money was not sustainable.

It was time to start doing real business.

"I can't just leave trillions in assets to Amano-san's kids. That'd be too irresponsible. I need to make sure it's at least a stable, profitable company."