People at the practical education center only want to drop out.

Creating hardships in the path to benefit others makes them appreciate it more and feel grateful to those who benefit them.

Of course, if you feel you're running out of time at work, you can let me know, and I can come over and help you.

After school in the afternoon, Bai Lan earnestly and persuasively taught Horikita, who was traveling with her, her own fabricated "Emperor's Mindset," or "Mind Control Techniques," also known as "PUA."

As Horikita walked alongside Bai Lan, he listened to her story, nodding as he did so. He occasionally looked enlightened, as if he had learned a lot. He readily accepted Bai Lan's suggestion, saying that he would work overtime to complete Bai Lan's task as soon as possible.

"Wait a minute!" Horikita seemed to be deep in thought, then looked at Bai Lan with a very strange, wary and suspicious gaze, and said, "After hearing what you said, why do I have a feeling that I've seen this before?"

Horikita feels like she's being manipulated!

Bai Lan nodded and said, "Your feeling is correct, because this is how I have always treated the people in the class, and you are one of those people within the scope of my abilities."

See, I bully you by arguing with you and telling your brother to tattle on you, just to show off my power and authority.

Then they pretend to help you, acting as if they're doing it for your own good.

So, you see, aren't you starting to trust me now?

Cherish it.

I don't usually tell this kind of thing to just anyone.

I wouldn't teach you if it weren't for the deal we made.

This skill is very valuable, so don't tell anyone else.

Bai Lan's blatant "I'm manipulating you" attitude shows she has absolutely no shame.

In fact, Bai Lan had a purpose in telling Horikita these things; it wasn't just for the sake of "teaching."

Bai Lan said this for two reasons.

Firstly, it was to trick Horikita into working overtime so that she could finish the task Bai Lan had assigned her as soon as possible and send over the points that belonged to Bai Lan.

Only after Horikita has properly managed and distributed all the points can Bai Lan go and beat up Nan Yun and the others, and then exchange those points for cash when she drops out of school.

Secondly, it was to clear up any misunderstandings.

Bai Lan felt that Horikita had some misconceptions about her.

Previously, Bai Lan only wanted to bring Horikita, Kushida, and Hirata over to be extras for him.

As a result, Horikita seemed to have misunderstood something. She thought that Shira was paving the way for her to enter the leadership of Sakayanagi, and that Shira was deliberately arranging for her to show herself in front of her brother and gain his approval.

Horikita therefore added a lot of drama to his previous story.

Bai Lan felt that Horikita, this honest man, seemed to think too highly of her, and his affection for her seemed a bit too high.

This made Bai Lan a little worried. If she were expelled from school tomorrow, would Horikita take advantage of the "political maneuvering" skills that she had inexplicably learned from Bai Lan these past few days and cause some trouble? It might even hinder Bai Lan's plan to drop out of school.

Therefore, Bai Lan felt she should correct Horikita and tell him that she was not a good person.

Bai Lan's solution was to explain her behavior as: "I've actually been manipulating everyone, including you, Horikita!"

In Bai Lan's view, once Horikita discovers that all her actions have been the result of Bai Lan's mental control through words, and that she is actually just a "puppet" being manipulated, she will realize that she is the result of Bai Lan's words controlling her mind.

Someone as proud and aloof as Horikita would definitely feel greatly humiliated and hold a deep grudge against Bai Lan.

In this way, Bai Lan can clear away the inexplicable goodwill and trust that Horikita has imagined.

To avoid her interfering with his plans to drop out of school.

At the same time, this can be seen as Bai Lan giving Horikita, the "little brother" who had worked for him for a month without paying for anything, a lesson before leaving, so that the honest Horikita would learn a little more.

After hearing Bai Lan's "self-revelation," and learning that she had been subjected to Bai Lan's manipulation all along, Horikita's reaction was...

Horikita: "..."

Horikita fell silent.

She didn't know how to comment.

When Horikita remained silent, he was actually thinking.

how to say?

Weird!

In Horikita's view, PUA should logically be a kind of "conspiracy".

The characteristic of a "conspiracy" is that once it is seen through, it usually loses its effectiveness and may even backfire on the person who carried it out!

Once someone who enjoys using PUA tactics sees through their methods, that person will become wary of them, and once they are on guard, PUA becomes much less effective.

This is what happens when a conspiracy is exposed.

In addition, since people know that the person is into PUA, others will lower their trust in them, and the person who uses PUA will face the crisis of losing credibility. This is the backlash of a failed conspiracy!

However, Bai Lan took the initiative to expose her own conspiracy.

Why would someone who plots something deliberately expose their own plot?

Once the conspiracy is exposed, wouldn't the costs he incurred in carrying out the conspiracy be sunk?

Why would Bai Lan do such a thing?

This is a completely unprofitable business!

Based on Horikita's understanding of Shirai, Shirai has always been a person who never suffers a loss.

Why would someone do such a losing business?

This is unreasonable!

So, there's a problem with this.

Bai Lan must have some self-serving purpose in doing this!

So, what exactly is Bai Lan's purpose?

Horikita remained silent throughout, deep in thought.

The two parted ways at a fork in the road because they had different destinations.

Seeing that Horikita maintained a gloomy expression throughout the journey, Bai Lan nodded, feeling that he had successfully achieved his goal, and turned to leave triumphantly.

As if she had been freed from some heavy burden, Bai Lan's steps became somewhat unsteady.

Watching Bai Lan's departing figure, Horikita suddenly had a thought: "It seems that the distance between Bai Lan and me has become even greater."

This statement may sound like a truism at first glance.

After all, the two people are walking in different directions, so isn't it normal for the distance between them to grow?

However, the "distance" Horikita refers to is not just physical, but also emotional.

She felt that she and Bai Lan had become somewhat distant because of what they had just said...

Thinking about the help Bai Lan had given him during this time, and his dependence on Bai Lan...

After realizing that Bai Lan was becoming distant from him, Horikita couldn't help but feel a little empty inside.

Somewhat uncomfortable.

"Wait! Why is this happening?"

Knowing that a conspiracy against me has been exposed, I should be happy and wary of and disgusted by Bai Lan who used such underhanded tactics, right?

But why do I feel so bad about the estrangement that has developed between me and Bai Lan?

Horikita thought to himself.

As she thought about it, Horikita couldn't help but recall what had happened between her and Shirai.

Bai Lan had once told her those things, using various rhetoric to manipulate her into doing things according to Bai Lan's ideas.

The consequences of what she did under Bai Lan's control.

Compare what you gained and what you lost before and after being controlled by Bai Lan...

After comparing, Horikita discovered...

"I don't think I've lost anything?"

After comparing the two, Horikita was somewhat dumbfounded: "On the contrary, I've gained quite a lot."

Horikita recounted what he had gained under Bai Lan's "mind control".

This prevented her brother from persuading her to quit.

I learned how to gain status and a voice in a group.

I learned how to use the power of others.

More advanced techniques for roasting people.

They learned how to be shameless without feeling guilty.

She got the chance to be taken seriously by her brother.

They learned to exploit the rules and find loopholes in them.

You also gained a lot of points.

Not long ago, I also learned a technique called PUA.

As for what was lost...

face?

Yes, she was tricked by Bai Lan in various ways, lost face in front of Bai Lan, and also made a fool of herself in front of others.

But how much is a face worth?

She's already mastered the art of being "shameless"!

In other words, after rounding up, she received all the benefits under Bai Lan's "control"!

So, what's wrong with being subjected to PUA by Bai Lan?

For an instant.

Horikita has figured it out!

Horikita felt like she had finally figured it out!

Isn't it just PUA?