Tokyo Soft Rice King.

"It's obvious that this is your style."

Aiyuan Moe smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that's definitely Kuroba-kun's style."

What do you mean by "my style"...? Does it mean it's exaggerated and sensational?

However, he had never told the two of them that he had planned and designed the haunted house, but they still guessed it, which made Kuroba Akira secretly happy and feel a sense of pride in being favored.

"I saw on this promotional image that it says something like 'A Brand New Interpretation of Haunted Houses' and 'A Thrilling Story,' so it seems your haunted house has a 'main storyline'?"

"That's right, that's the core selling point."

"Did you design the plot too?"

"Yes."

"Then there's definitely a reason to come and have some fun."

Shiori Shirai wasn't interested in most of the events at the cultural festival. Despite being called a 'cultural festival,' it lacked any literary elements, making her feel it was a misnomer and just a playful festival for students.

However, after learning from Hitomi Anri that the haunted house in their class was designed by Akira Kuroba, Shiori Shirai became interested in it.

If it's a work by 'Master Bai Zi', then as his top disciple, I should definitely experience it.

"Mengmeng, let's go line up."

"it is good."

Shiori Shirai then asked Akira Kuroba.

"Would you like to come with me, wise ruler?"

"Um……"

Kuroba Akira thought for a moment. If he were to come and visit later, he would most likely be with people he didn't know.

Because if you come alone, you will be grouped with other people who also came alone to enter the haunted house, which is called 'random matching'.

Incidentally, this was also Kuroba Akira's 'bad idea' to attract single men and women who want to try to meet their other half in a haunted house.

But without the class monitor accompanying him, Kuroba Akira is all alone, unless he goes to find Dolph to come along.

Although Michio was also in the logistics team, he was pulled away by his seniors in the computer department early in the morning to help out. It seems that the computer department was responsible for compiling the various data for this cultural festival. This was a task that Nishimura Tatsuya had taken on before, but the school did not know that Nishimura Tatsuya was no longer at the school, so the poor new department head, Michio Fujiyoshi, had to take the blame.

So, going into a haunted house with these two girls from the Literature and Art Department would probably be quite interesting, since you could see their reactions...

Since I have nothing else to do anyway, I might as well agree to their request.

However, just as Kuroba Akira was about to agree, the class representative stepped in and refused on his behalf.

“Mingjun won’t be with you. He’s the designer of the haunted house, and if he goes in with you, it will really affect your experience. Shiori and Momo, you two go in together.”

"That's a reasonable reason," Shiori Shirai nodded in agreement.

"Hmm...that makes sense. I'll go with Mengmeng then."

"Uh... okay then..."

According to this logic, it's like saying that Kuroba Akira, the designer, had absolutely no need to visit the haunted house, yet the class president just gave him a number to wait in line...

Did the class monitor want to come alone?

Could it be that the guys in his class secretly created some kind of 'Easter egg' without his knowledge as the designer?

Kuroba Akira scratched his head. Since the class monitor had already refused on his behalf, he might as well go somewhere else and stay where he could.

Since Shirai Shiori and Aizono Moe were also there, Kuroba Akira continued to ask.

"By the way, I remember Shiori and Momo, your class had a riddle challenge activity, right? What kind of activity was it? Was it a quiz competition?"

If it's a riddle, that's fine, but if it's a random trivia question, Akira Kuroba feels his chances of winning are slim.

"Originally, we wanted to have a quiz show, but there were too many people signing up. We couldn't possibly do a quiz show all day long, could we? And we couldn't think of that many school-related riddles, so we changed it to a riddle-treasure hunt. Based on the clues we got, we found the cards hidden in the school and could redeem prizes in our class."

"Treasure hunt...sounds interesting. I'll go check it out. By the way, what are the prizes?"

Shiori Shirai pointed to the cultural festival brochure in his hand and said.

"It's written on the promotional poster you have."

"Oh, let me see..."

I glanced at the prizes and they seemed pretty generous: a 10,000 yen dining voucher, an MP3 player, anime merchandise, Shirai-sensei's autograph... Hmm?

Kuroba Akira narrowed his eyes and teased, pointing at the first prize on the promotional image.

"Oh ho? What's this?"

"what?!"

Shiori Shirai's eyes widened when she saw it. She snatched the brochure from Akira Kuroba's hand and exclaimed in disbelief.

"What is this?! Why don't I know what it is?!"

Then, blushing and embarrassed, she explained.

"Hmm...! These must have been added by those guys in my class without my knowledge!"

Aizen Moe smiled and said.

"Everyone thinks Shiori's autograph will be very valuable."

"Mengmeng, if you already knew, then you should have told me!"

"Everyone in the class specifically told me not to tell you, Shiori, saying that they would strongly object if you found out... But if it's already written down, you won't be able to refuse, hehe."

In the past, Aizono Moe would definitely have sided with her best friend because she was afraid that Shiori would be angry, but now she no longer schemes against it.

Because Kuroba-kun is there, even if Shiori gets angry, Kuroba-kun can always appease her... So it's okay to tease Shiori a little, right?

After finding a 'master' to support her, Aiyuan Moe no longer blindly indulges her best friend, and her mischievous and cute nature slowly awakens.

Girls who love to draw are not rigid by nature. Aizen Moe is just too shy and too sensitive, which is why she appears so gentle and weak.

But once she opens up in front of her friends, she also has a quirky and mischievous side, which is typical of Pisces girls.

Akira Kuroba and Moe Aizono secretly teased Shiori Shirai with smiles.

"Hehe, then this prize is my goal, Shirai-sensei. I'm really looking forward to your autograph."

"You...! Don't call me that anymore!"

Shiori Shirai immediately covered her head in embarrassment, so embarrassed she just wanted to disappear into the ground.

To be called "sir" by his respected master, Kuroba Akira, was clearly a mockery!

If Kuroba Akira really finds the prize, does that mean I have to sign it for my teacher?

What kind of humiliating play is this?! It's practically self-punishment!

However, the other students were unaware of the relationship between Shirai Shiori and Kuroba Akira, nor did they know that Shirai Shiori had become his student, which they found very mysterious.

That aloof librarian... can actually make such a girlish expression?

The person who made her blush and blush was none other than Akira Kuroba.

In other words... he really is surrounded by women in the Literature and Art Department!

Akira Kuroba's reputation at school, which had just started to improve due to his active performance at the cultural festival, has taken a sharp turn for the worse.

Akira Kuroba, I'm so envious... oh no, I'm so damn jealous!

Chapter 231 A Cultural Sacrifice in Tranquility and Serenity (Part Three)

After saying goodbye to the two girls from the Literature and Art Department, Kuroba Akira first went to Class 3 of the first year to check the clues for the riddle.

His goal was to get Shiori Shirai's autograph, so he only looked at the puzzle corresponding to the prize.

However, I can't understand it at all!

The clue they gave was actually a Go board, with several black and white pieces on it.

Kuroba Akira initially thought the patterns of these black or white stones were some kind of clue, but after looking at them for a long time, he still couldn't figure out what they were; they just seemed to be randomly placed.

Then Akira Kuroba remembered a Conan episode he had watched before, where he matched the horizontal and vertical letters... and the result was still a string of words that had no meaning.

This is way too difficult! Who came up with this riddle?!

While it's understandable that if the puzzles were too easy for students to solve, the prizes would be redeemed quickly, leading to a sharp drop in customer traffic, the puzzles need to be a little more difficult...

But if it's this difficult, and no one can solve it in the end, wouldn't that be ridiculous?

Perhaps it's because this autographed signature is a 'special prize' that the puzzle is set to be particularly difficult.

So, we have no choice but to give up now... It's a pity we won't get to see Shiori's humiliated expression as she had to sign her autograph.

Although she would probably agree to sign my autograph if I were to act as her mentor, that would lose the 'shameful play' element. It's the kind of scene where I 'force her to serve me' that's exciting!

But there was nothing they could do. Even with the class monitor's talent, they still couldn't solve the problem without a clue.

"Hmm... I see."

At that moment, Kuroba Akira noticed a boy with naturally curly hair standing next to him, also looking at the chessboard with a thoughtful expression.

Could it be that he discovered some clue?

"Hey student, what did you discover?"

Kuroba Akira reflexively blurted out the question.

But then I suddenly realized that asking that question was actually quite unreasonable, since they were there to solve the mystery and wouldn't share the clues they found with others.

Unexpectedly, this classmate actually told him his thoughts.

“Oh, I just realized that this game isn’t a Go problem in the traditional sense… Well, since no pieces were even provided, it means it’s not meant to be solved.”

Then he turned to Kuroba Akira with a smile and introduced himself.

"I am Shi Guangxue, a second-year student and the head of the Go club. I heard from a friend that a first-year student was setting up a Go board here, so I came to see what kind of game it was. Are you also interested in Go?"

Oh, he's a senior student, and the head of the Go club. No wonder he's been so friendly to me.

Because he 'monopolized' Anri Hitomi, the school beauty and talented girl in the first year, Kuroba Akira was already notorious in the first year, but he was not particularly famous in the second and third years.

"Ah, hello senior, I'm Akira Kuroba, a first-year student... I'm here for the prize."

"I see. For someone who doesn't understand Go, this puzzle should be completely baffling. However, if you have a little knowledge of Go, it shouldn't be difficult to find clues in it, since the intention of the person who set the question is too obvious."