Chapter 162 Meritocracy - Part 3
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***
It was a few years ago.
The only Outcome I had met since the violence collapse of the Ideal Human Project was Hasegawa Mio.
She was the other prodigy.
I guess if there was anyone who was most similar to me, it should've been her—whilst true in theory, it couldn't be further from the truth in reality.
She was much more capable at socialising than I was. And in society, that was a skill that shined above all others. For without communication, it would undoubtably be difficult to advertise any of your skills.
...
"Ayato-kun, I've been wondering, have you enjoyed being released from the project?"
She was curious.
"Ayato-kun, has anyone found out that you're different?"
She was social.
"Ayato-kun, have you been able to adapt to the outside world?"
She was intelligent.
"Ayato-kun, do you ever miss the project?"
She was emotional.
...
"No, Hasegawa-san—I haven't felt anything since I was released from the project."
Her expression changed.
Ah, she can feel sadness as well.
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Everyone stared anxiously at Kaoru-san and Furukawa-kun. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense as silence filled the air.
Walking forward a little, Furukawa-kun put his hands on the table.
"Let's begin. I see no purpose in delaying this any longer. Please raise your hand if you wish to allow Kaoru-san to continue being the leader."
It didn't appear as if he was trying to manipulate the vote in any way. I guess he had a certain level of confidence. Or maybe he just wanted to break down every barrier in his way.
The was some hesitation before people began raising their arms.
Hamasaki-san was first.
Others joined.
In total, there were 11 hands raised.
I didn't raise my hand.
Hamasaki-san looked at me with an unpleasant glare.
I didn't care.
There was a moment of silence.
"Alright, those who wish for me to be the next leader, please raise your hand."
If he had just decided to count everyone who didn't vote as a vote for him, he could've won the election right then and there.
...
I guess his overconfidence would come back to haunt him.
...
Itsuki-san was the first to raise her hand.
Then a few more people raised their hands.
Furukawa-kun appeared to be shocked.
There were only 8 votes for him.
...
I can guess what's going to happen now.
He frantically looked around the room before regaining his composure again. Itsuki-san moved a little closer to him as he began to speak.
"All the students who haven't voted, um, we'll run another round for you to put in your votes."
Kobayashi-san stood up.
"Kaoru-san just won. These were the rules weren't they?"
"Yeah, but lots of students didn't vote. It's fair to run another round, isn't it?"
"Four students didn't vote, that won't make a difference now."
"What makes you say that."
"Kaoru-san is far enough ahead of you. Just accept your loss."
There was a moment of silence in the room.
Furukawa-kun paced around the room anxiously. However, Kaoru-san decided to speak up.
"Those four students who didn't vote, could you please vote."
The other three non-voters aside from me didn't seem to care a lot either. It was natural that there'd be a number of students who didn't care about the inner workings of the class. Especially when there were many other aspects of the school to worry about.
I guess I'll see what happens.
I might put in my vote at the end if it'll help end this meeting.
But I'll just observe for now.
The other three students looked around at each other.
"...I don't really care either way. If you're both candidates, shouldn't you do a speech or something?"
"...same here, I might change my mind if you pay me some points."
"...yeah... I'll give you my vote for 1,500 points."
Furukawa-kun looked down at his phone. Kobayashi-san spoke up once again.
"We want you to vote based on your beliefs, we don't want this to be a competition of bibery between us."
However, despite Kobayashi-san's statement, Furukawa-kun looked up at the boy.
"I'll give you 1,500 points for your vote, but I'll only pay you if I win at the end."
Ah, this was about to spiral out of control.
Let's see what Kaoru-san's going to do.
She seemed to be hesitating.
Furukawa-kun continued.
"I'll spread this to the rest of you as well. 1,500 points to each of you four if I win the vote."
...
Before long, two of the students raised their hands for Furukawa-kun.
All that was left was me and one other.
"Hey! Furukawa-kun, this isn't fair. Our class is meant to be a democracy."
"And as such, we're making decisions with votes."
"You can't just pay them off!"
"Sure I can. Is there a rule saying I can't?"
"This isn't fair!"
Some of the other students also began speaking up. We had been sitting in this library room for almost 30 minutes at this point, and they were just waiting for the last two students to vote.
"...can you guys just vote already?"
"...how about everyone that's already voted be allowed to leave."
Kaoru-san looked over.
"Please, stay until the end of this vote. I want to make sure everyone is on the same page."
A few moments passed.
Kaoru-san looked over at me.
...
"Mizuhara-kun, who do you prefer."
It seemed she was just calmly asking for my opinion.
To be completely honest, I didn't care that much, I probably slightly prefered Karou-san, but it wasn't enough to make me want to take any action.
"I don't really mind."
She took a breath.
"You'll need to make a decision, I assume you're not someone who can be easily influenced with points."
Ah.
"Well, I'll just vote the same way as the other student."
I didn't really want to be the one making the final decision.
I was fine with leaving it up to the other student—I was interested in seeing their reactions and interactions after all.
The last student was a girl by the name of Hayashi Yui. She was a somewhat stoic person, sitting quietly in the background.
I wonder, who are you going to choose?
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