COTE : There is Something Wrong With Hikigaya-Chapter 167: Only Thinking About Myself

"Hikigaya-kun, y-you're back?"

Deep in the forest, Sakura stood nervously under a tree, glancing around from time to time. Before long, she spotted a familiar figure emerging from the shadows and immediately ran toward him.

"Sorry, staying alone in the forest must've been pretty scary for you."

Hikigaya apologized. He had been hiding to confirm whether his "bait" had worked. Thanks to the natural cover of the forest—and his innate "Presence Concealment B" skill—neither Katsuragi nor Totsuka had noticed him at all.

"But I didn't expect to pick up such an important piece of information about Class A."

Even though Hikigaya couldn't hear Katsuragi and Totsuka's conversation from where he was, he saw Totsuka using the key card on the machine with his own eyes.

Does this mean Totsuka is Class A's real leader?

Thinking about it, it actually made sense. Katsuragi was too obvious of a target to carry the key card himself. Since the card was crucial, he must've given it to the person he trusted most—Totsuka.

"Um... what about Koenji? Is it really okay for him to be wandering alone in the forest?"

Sakura asked, sounding worried.

"My dear Glasses Girl, I believe your concern is completely unnecessary."

A voice suddenly came from above. Hikigaya and Sakura looked up just in time to see a blond figure leap down from the tree with ease. Not only that, but he even had the extra energy to dramatically flick his golden hair.

Ignoring their stunned expressions, Koenji maintained his usual confident and self-absorbed smile.

"I must say, today was quite entertaining. A rare moment of amusement on this otherwise dull little island."

He then pulled out a comb from who-knows-where and began neatly brushing his golden locks.

Hearing Koenji's comment, Hikigaya realized that he had also been hiding in the shadows, watching the entire scene unfold.

"There are only two people in this class who interest me," Koenji said, as if talking to himself. "And, Pochi Boy, you're one of them."

He continued, "This so-called exam? I've already figured it out completely. It's nothing more than a childish game of playing house."

"Koenji, are you planning to... drop out of the exam?"

Hikigaya immediately understood what Koenji meant.

"Bingo!"

Koenji snapped his fingers. Even though quitting the exam would cost him 30 points, there wasn't a trace of guilt on his face—let alone any fear of being criticized by his classmates.

After saying that, Koenji didn't bother with Hikigaya or Sakura. He tilted his head back, let out a loud laugh, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared from their sight.

"Koenji is really hard to figure out."

Sakura sighed from the bottom of her heart. Rather than saying the class isolated Koenji, it was more like he was the one shutting everyone else out.

"I don't think so."

Hikigaya watched Koenji's back as he left, a faint smirk appearing on his face.

At first, he also thought Koenji was just a weirdo. But after this, Hikigaya had a much clearer understanding of what kind of person he really was.

To be honest, is Koenji a "weirdo"?

Most students would probably say yes. But if you asked someone like Haruno, the answer would be different.

At the end of the day, it all came down to the gap between social classes, which shaped how people saw things. It wasn't a secret that Koenji came from a wealthy family. To put it bluntly, his starting point in life was a place most students in this school would never even reach.

Why was ANHS so sought after?

It was because graduates could freely choose their future careers. In a way, this school was a shortcut for ordinary students to jump into the middle class—or even higher.

But for some people, that so-called shortcut was worthless. Haruno and Koenji, for example, didn't care about what most students desperately pursued.

The reason everyone thought Koenji was a "weirdo" was simply that he didn't think the same way as them.

From the start of the school year, Koenji had never cared about class affairs. So why did he suddenly agree to Hikigaya's request today?

It couldn't be because of Hikigaya's charm, right?

And judging by how often Koenji changed girlfriends—almost weekly—it didn't seem like he swung that way either.

So if you thought about it logically, it was all about benefits.

To Koenji, the 100,000 private points Hikigaya offered were worth the trade. Sure, he was still often seen in the cafeteria with girls, but the frequency had dropped compared to the first month of school.

If it were Class D instead, there was no way they could offer him anything valuable enough to take action. Expecting Koenji to work for free? That was ridiculous. Someone from a wealthy family like him would never agree to that.

The reason he accepted Hikigaya's deal was partly due to luck—but mostly because Class D's poor environment created the perfect opportunity.

Just like Horikita Manabu had said from the beginning, in this school, you had to handle problems by weighing gains and losses. Even Haruno wasn't the type to offer help for free without expecting anything in return.

The difference between her and Koenji was simply their goals. freēnovelkiss.com

Haruno cared about relationships and status, so she was willing to "selflessly" help others.

Koenji, on the other hand, was much more practical and realistic—he prioritized his own interests.

That didn't mean one was better than the other. Their family backgrounds, their education, and their purposes were just different.

Seeing human relationships in this way felt cruel, but Hikigaya couldn't deny it—it was also the simplest and most direct approach. Compared to all the complexities of human emotions, benefits were actually the purest and easiest thing to understand.

It was the so-called rationality.

That was what Hikigaya had learned from Haruno, from Horikita Manabu, and from those elite students at Sobu Middle School.

If this were the real world, Haruno would be the kind of boss who could make you work overtime voluntarily, get manipulated without realizing it, and even help count the money after getting sold out.

Koenji, on the other hand, would be the ruthless boss who only cared about short-term gains, squeezing out every last drop of your value before tossing you aside like trash.

So it didn't surprise Hikigaya that Koenji chose to quit the exam.

Once he got enough private points from him, the test no longer mattered.

After all, for someone like Koenji, a so-called "team" was nothing more than a fake excuse to exploit others. In the end, it only served a handful of people anyway.

Or maybe, from the very beginning, Koenji had already made it clear through his actions—he hated being part of a "group."

Even if Hikigaya hadn't been involved, Koenji probably would have quit the exam regardless.

Because at the end of the day, he had always been a selfish person.

Just like Koenji's first impression—self-absorbed, only caring about himself!

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