They all have hidden attributes!

—The multi-person assistance card can be triggered as long as one person is present.

Today's help cards are Nekoya Hina, Uesugi Maya, Tachimi Yuki, and Kashima Reiko.

Another reason for this configuration is that it is not possible to use two assistance cards for the same character on the same day. In other words, after selecting a two-person assistance card, the single-person assistance cards for Nekoya Hina and Uesugi Maya cannot be loaded.

The system is still encouraging him to make more friends, Makoto Takahashi thought to himself, as he went downstairs to the convenience store for breakfast, just like always.

After boarding the tram, while checking my phone messages, I saw a text message from Maya Uesugi.

Congratulations on winning the gold medal! Give yourself a nickname!

"It's probably for the art exhibition," Makoto Takahashi thought to himself.

Chapter 26 Perhaps she isn't Hell Girl, but rather...

A pen name is probably something similar to a pseudonym.

Winning a gold medal, even if it's just for a newcomer exhibition, makes you a well-known figure in the art world, so naturally you need an elegant title.

Makoto Takahashi pondered for a while but had no inspiration. Fortunately, Maya Uesugi said there was no need to rush, as the official exhibition would be held on Sunday.

This is often the case in the art world: first, awards are established, submissions are accepted, and after layers of evaluation, an exhibition is finally held to showcase the winning works.

In addition, Maya Uesugi said that as the artist who won the gold medal, he can apply for some exhibition tickets to share with friends or family.

Rather than showing off his tickets, Makoto Takahashi was more concerned about whether there would be a prize, which resulted in Maya Uesugi's disdain.

[Are you really not concerned about art at all?]

Makoto Takahashi doesn't understand art; he only wants to pass the "exam" to become a well-rounded individual, and even if he wins an award, he doesn't consider himself a true artist.

Because he was woken up by the system, he entered the academy earlier than usual today. Remembering that Uesugi Maya said she insisted on going for a morning run every day, Takahashi Makoto strode towards the playground.

Standing at the edge of the playground, I indeed saw a youthful and energetic figure.

Under a clear, bright sky, Maya Uesugi, dressed in a black and white tracksuit, jogged along the rubber track, her long black hair tied in a high ponytail swaying in the cool air.

I didn't see Nekoya Hina. She seemed to have said last night that she had successfully obtained the spare key to the gymnasium.

After a while, Maya Uesugi slowed down and walked around the playground again before heading towards the exit where Makoto Takahashi was.

Her fair face flushed slightly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead, but she maintained her usual cold expression.

"Good morning."

Maya Uesugi greeted him, and Makoto Takahashi immediately asked, "Why did you buy me cheap paint?"

“Without quick-drying paints, oil paintings need to dry for three to five days. Now it’s the rainy season, so it will probably take more than a week.” Uesugi Maya gave him a speechless look.

"I see. You're quite reliable."

Makoto Takahashi walked with her toward the building where the student council was located and casually asked, "What's your pen name? I'd like to find some inspiration for a nickname."

Although that book may have been a bestseller, Makoto Takahashi usually only reads books that are easy to read.

“The flax, the hemp,” said Maya Uesugi.

Her name, Maya, is pronounced the same as Masaya in Romanization. Following this line of thought, characters with the same Romanization as Makoto include Shin, Makoto, Shin, and Shin.

First, we can rule out Makoto, as that's a female name.

"True faith, the truth of reality, the faith of conviction." Makoto Takahashi chose to repeat his name twice.

Maya Uesugi nodded, indicating that she understood.

Seeing that she didn't seem to want to talk, Makoto Takahashi really wanted to chat with her.

"Do you know the band NG.Party? Senior Tachimi said she was inspired to come to Tsurumizawa."

"To create a band for the light music club," Maya Uesugi explained succinctly.

"You came to Tsurumizawa because of Tatsumi-senpai, didn't you?"

"Yes."

Seeing her nod in confirmation, Makoto Takahashi continued, "I have a question: do you want to defeat her, or do you want to gain Tachimi-senpai's approval?"

Upon hearing this, Maya Uesugi stopped in front of the kendo club and turned to face Makoto Takahashi.

A chill visibly crept into her beautiful caramel-colored eyes: "Didn't I tell you last night? Defeat her fair and square. I really hate repeating myself."

"Didn't you already defeat Tachimi-senpai in kendo?" Takahashi Makoto asked.

"For her, there are three kinds of things in the world: things that interest her, things that must be done, and things that are neither interesting nor necessary."

Maya Uesugi opened the door to the kendo club and turned to look at him: "She will do her best in the first two categories, but kendo is something she doesn't want to do at all. She would never challenge me directly."

After saying that, she walked into the kendo club and locked the door from the inside, clearly refusing to let Takahashi Makoto follow her in.

"I didn't mean to watch you take a shower," he called out from inside, then turned and left for the teaching building, texting Uesugi Maya on the way.

I want the best paint.

Arriving at the classroom of Class 1-C, Makoto Takahashi opened the window while the weather was nice. Just as he pulled out a chair and sat down, Hina Nekoya ran over excitedly.

Seeing Takahashi Makoto take out a light novel as usual, she reached out and snatched it, placed it on her desk, and coughed twice to signal him to look at her.

Makoto Takahashi turned his head and saw Hina Nekoya take two steps back, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt, and ask with a mysterious smile, "Makoto, do you want to see under my skirt?"

Upon hearing this, the girls gathered in small groups all turned to look at him, and Makoto Takahashi felt embarrassed.

It's one thing to joke around in private, but what's with saying such easily misunderstood things in the classroom?

In the eerie silence, he turned to look at the clear sky outside the window and said listlessly, "I guess it's athletic shorts."

"What? Ah Cheng understands me way too well."

Hina Nekoya muttered a few unhappily words, put down her pleated skirt that had been pulled up to her waist, walked over and leaned against the desk, and said in a cheerful tone, "I have good news for you. I've been confirmed to participate in the national team competition and will be playing in position S1."

"What is S1?" Takahashi asked listlessly.

"A singles position, the first singles match after two doubles matches. In short, I was the only first-year player to attend the national tournament."

"So I decided to wear my athletic shorts under my uniform, which can serve as safety shorts and make it convenient to change clothes during training."

This person is incredibly lazy.

However, in a place like Japan where the "senior-junior culture" is so strong, it is indeed very rare for a first-year student to attend a national competition, which is something to be happy about.

"Thanks to Kashima-senpai's strong opposition, it's a pity she didn't want to participate in this year's national tournament, otherwise she could have easily won at least one doubles match and one singles match, and winning the championship wouldn't have been difficult at all..."

Hina Nekoya began to speak at length, while Makoto Takahashi nodded in agreement while reading his light novel. He only looked up when she had almost finished.

"Yinna, do you want tickets to the art exhibition?"

"An art exhibition?"

Hina Nekoya paused for a moment, waved her hand in refusal, then raised her hand to scratch her head, laughed heartily and said, "I have absolutely no artistic talent. If it were Makoto who wanted to ask me out, I would definitely go."

"I have some free tickets, and I was thinking you might want to give them to your friends and the senior students in the badminton club as a favor," Takahashi Makoto said, turning a page of his book without looking up.

"Free?" Haruna Nekoya asked, as if confirming.

"Yes, the art exhibition I submitted last time won an award."

"what?"

Her mouth dropped open, a look of shock on her face. She remained stunned for a long while before swallowing hard: "Is it the art exhibition you and Uesugi were talking about last time? Really?"

“Really, it’s a gold medal, so you can apply for some free tickets.” Makoto Takahashi nodded calmly.

"I want to go see it!"

Hina Nekoya slammed her hand on the table, leaned closer, and stared intently at his face with her brown eyes: "Hey, Makoto, you're probably secretly laughing to yourself right now, don't tell me you don't care at all..."

Her cheerful personality made her even more excited than Makoto Takahashi himself; her sudden noisy voice and exaggerated expressions seemed genuine.

"I've already been happy." Makoto Takahashi was indeed in a good mood this morning.

It's not that he doesn't care, but he cares more about the attributes he gains and the prize money than about winning the award.

The result was that he only received a little recognition at the newcomer exhibition, with no prize money at all. Since he was not an artist indifferent to fame and fortune, he was naturally not too excited.

"Acheng! You're making me really angry right now!"

"Oh."

"That little A-Cheng is despicable! You must be pretending not to care on purpose!"

Hina Nekoya hooked her arm around Makoto Takahashi's neck and snuggled close to him, preventing him from continuing to read.

After a brief period of playful banter, Supervisor Chihaya entered the classroom and announced the arrangements for July at the morning meeting.

"The final exams for this semester are scheduled for the 9th and 10th of next month. They will still be national unified exams. Students who fail will have to take make-up exams on the 16th and 17th."

"Summer vacation officially begins on the 18th."

Students who fail the make-up exam must come to the college for mandatory remedial classes during the summer vacation.

......

Tsurumi Sawa's teaching style is quite relaxed. Even when the exam was approaching, he did not stop club activities, but only explained the consequences of failing the exam.

However, since there are no superficial people in this academy who only care about looks, there shouldn't be any people with poor self-awareness either.

Makoto Takahashi wasn't worried about the national entrance exams at all. Although he wasn't as good as Maya Uesugi, who was ranked first in the country, he was still in the top 100 in the last national entrance exams. He had no problem getting into the University of Tokyo, so he went to the light music club office as usual after school.

Before summer vacation, I need to study bass properly, since I'll be officially starting band activities during the summer.

As Makoto Takahashi pondered this, he stepped onto the fifth floor of the special building. Seeing that the extra doors and walls in the corridor had been removed, he felt exceptionally happy today.

No matter how troublesome Uesugi Maya's personality is, she respects her own opinions, which makes her not annoying.

Upon entering the clubroom, Maya Uesugi, as usual, sat by the window reading a music theory book.

The girl with long, straight black hair is so beautiful that just seeing her makes you feel good.

Makoto Takahashi raised his hand to greet her: "Good afternoon."

"Hmm, good afternoon," Uesugi Maya said without looking up. "Go to the art supply store on Sunday to pick up the paints you wanted last time."

"Do we need to make a reservation?" Takahashi Makoto asked.

"import."

"No wonder it's troublesome."