"Wow!! President, look, what a huge pool fountain!"
"Look, look, how many people are in that orchestra?"
Two boats slowly docked at the island situated in the center of the sea. The mont they disembarked, Yurianna's eyes lit up as she raised her mobile phone to film the surrounding scenery.
Behind her, Yan Huan and Yabashi Ki stepped off the boat, each carrying a massive leather suitcase.
"By the way, President, what exactly did you bring? It is so heavy..."
eting Yabashi Ki's confused gaze, Yan Huan smiled slightly, turned his head, and replied,
"You will know in a bit."
With that said, just as he was about to carry the suitcase further, a few girls wearing suits walked over and greeted the Student Council mbers,
"Everyone from the Student Council, please head towards the backstage area. You can go directly on stage from there to give your speeches later. President Yan, you will be the first to speak, followed by the school leaders and parent representatives."
Yan Huan had read through these procedures countless tis before the event started, so he was naturally aware of this.
His gaze simply lingered thoughtfully on the plain-looking woman in front of him who was not wearing a face mask.
This was also a clone of Sakuramiya, but...
Her appearance had been altered by her barrier.
Most of the staff mbers here were probably her clones.
Once inside, they would likely be under her complete surveillance.
"I understand... May I ask, where is Sakuramiya?"
Hearing Yan Huan's inquiry, the staff mber smiled slightly and answered,
"Miss Sakuramiya is on the island, but she will not et with the President until the ball begins."
"Honestly... I really wanted to know what kind of dress Sakuramiya is wearing today!"
Yurianna puffed out her cheeks beside them and grumbled.
Although this was completely expected, Yan Huan still could not help but take a deep breath.
What a cunning Perfect Sakuranomiya...
She knew that the mont they t and Yan Huan made contact with her tongue, he would be pulled into the barrier.
So, she decided to just hide instead?
"Alright, thank you."
Unsurprised, Yan Huan watched the staff mber leave. He then quickly stopped the other three Student Council mbers who were just about to continue walking forward,
"Wait a mont, I have a small favor to ask of you all..."
Hearing this, the three of them paused, looking at Yan Huan in confusion.
"What is it?"
eting their gazes, Yan Huan smiled faintly and lifted the suitcase in his hand.
"Sothing... very interesting. You will definitely be eager to join in."
"Ding-ding-ding~"
Inside the luxurious, three-story palace-like hall, Sakuramiya had set up three massive long tables running vertically, each capable of seating over a hundred people, much like the Great Hall of Hogwarts.
In front of the podium at the far end of the hall were a few dining tables arranged horizontally.
The foremost table was for the principal, school board mbers, and parent representatives, while the two rows behind it were for school administrators and teachers.
The stained-glass ceiling above reflected a lavish, golden brilliance. Outside the semi-open hall, the live orchestra that Sakuramiya Hitomi had spent heavily to hire was playing a lodious tune.
Down below, the school leaders took their seats, while students stood up to take photos of the surroundings by their designated na-tagged chairs.
In the shadows, Perfect Sakuranomiya monitored everything.
Her gaze beca omniscient as her barrier expanded, instantly splitting to focus on countless notable targets...
'An Le, Spencer, Bai Yi, and Ye Shiyu...'
Every ti her eyes fell upon a Modifier Host seated in the student area, a few waiters in black suits would silently appear behind them.
Evidently, they were there for surveillance.
'Mhm, as for the President's side... he will be giving the opening speech shortly.'
Her gaze shifted slightly, landing on the backstage area where Yan Huan was sitting on a sofa, gripping his speech manuscript and reading.
Beside him stood two staff mbers, also dressed in black suits.
She had already laid down an inescapable net of defense here.
Every step and every zone was as impregnable as a fortress.
'Hehe, President, you cannot stop .'
Sakuramiya Hitomi smiled softly as she thought this. Her gaze gently drifted to the seats right at the front of the podium where the school leaders were sitting.
There, Principal Hers was stroking his beard with a beaming smile, observing the amazed and admiring looks of the school board mbers and parent representatives around him.
'Oh my, oh my, this is truly... heaven helping
out.'
Was there anything more satisfying than boosting his own prestige using the wealthy Eldest Miss's money?
In previous years, the school board would provide ager funding while the High Table Dinner required a mountain of tasks.
Because of this, the Student Council Affairs Office was cursed out by the students every single year they organized it.
But look at this year...
Oh man, this was fantastic!
He did not have to worry or spend a di, yet this perfectly executed High Table Dinner would serve as an excellent showpiece for the school going forward!
"Ahem, rember to take plenty of photos. Send them to my secretary later so I can put them up on our school's website."
His face glowing with joy, Principal Hers turned to the nearby staff and happily gave his instructions.
The staff mber nodded but kindly reminded him,
"Principal Hers, it is almost ti. It is nearly 6:00 PM. Do you think we should have the students quiet down?"
"Mhm, indeed."
Principal Hers glanced at his watch and stood up.
He reached out his hand, and a staff mber imdiately handed him a wireless microphone.
"Everyone, quiet!!"
His voice echoed slowly across the entire hall, prompting the students who had been playing around, taking photos, and chatting to fall silent. They all sat up straight and looked toward the principal.
Principal Hers offered a warm smile and addressed the crowd,
"The ti has co. Our academy's annual tradition, the High Table Dinner, is about to begin.
"As a symbol of the end of the spring sester and the conclusion of the entire academic year, we welco the Forty-Seventh High Table Dinner.
"Here, we would like to give our special thanks to the Forty-Seventh Student Council, who took charge of organizing this year's dinner!
"Everything you see before you was created by their managent team. Let us give them a round of applause!"
As soon as he said this, thunderous applause erupted from the crowd.
However, looking across the entire front section and the student seating areas, not a single mber of the Student Council's managent could be seen.
Yan Huan was scheduled to speak, so it made sense for him to be backstage.
Sakuramiya Hitomi was in hiding, so naturally, she would not show herself casually.
But... Yabashi Ki, Yurianna, and Ashley were nowhere to be found either.
It was one thing for the crowd to look around and fail to spot them, but even Sakuramiya Hitomi, who was monitoring the entire venue from the shadows, wore an expression of confusion.
She searched around to no avail, but just as she was withdrawing her gaze, she spotted Ashley and Yurianna stealthily sneaking back to their seats.
'Hmm?'
anwhile, in the venue, Principal Hers's opening remarks continued,
"Now, just like in previous years, we will begin with a speech from this year's Student Council President, Yan Huan. Please welco him!"
"Clap, clap, clap!!"
Amidst the enthusiastic applause from the front, Yan Huan stepped out from the shadows of the backstage area.
Grasping his manuscript and carrying a suitcase, he strode up to the podium.
The mont his sharp figure in a fitted suit with perfectly styled hair was revealed, a wave of cheers erupted from the girls in the audience.
"President Yan!!"
"President!!"
"Huh, why is the President carrying a suitcase?"
"What is that?"
Cheers and murmurs rose and fell in waves. Yan Huan stood on stage, swept his gaze over the entire school gathered below, and accepted the wireless microphone from the staff mber beside him.
"Thank you."
Then, gripping the microphone tightly, he took a deep breath and looked out at the students.
"..."
Under everyone's watchful eyes, he glanced at the gorgeously written speech manuscript penned by Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Then, he unceremoniously crushed the paper into a ball.
"Rustle..."
The sound of crinkling paper was amplified by the microphone, imdiately causing the students below to gasp in confusion.
In the shadows, the watching Sakuramiya Hitomi pursed her lips.
"Before coming on stage, I thought about it and realized that since everyone just barely survived such a grueling finals week, we should skip the formulaic speeches. What do you all think?"
Yan Huan smiled faintly, walking to the edge of the stage with the microphone as he asked.
"Exactly!!"
Receiving his answer, Yan Huan set down the suitcase in his hand and continued,
"The so-called High Table Dinner was originally founded with the hope of using a 'banquet' setting to create an environnt of equal and harmonious exchange between teachers and students.
"Our current Student Council also intends to return to those roots. We only want everyone to have a fun and relaxing social environnt.
"Therefore, for the remaining ti, I do not want to say any more empty platitudes."
Saying this, Yan Huan raised a single finger on stage.
"I just want to play a ga with everyone... and I an everyone present here!"
A ga?
Upon hearing this, the unaware students below assud this was a pre-planned segnt, their faces filling with anticipation.
After all, before it started, most of them had braced themselves for a painfully long, tedious marathon of speeches.
Only after those old n and won finished talking and the ball began would they officially get to relax.
That was why they had all been secretly scrolling on their phones under the tables.
But when Yan Huan spoke these unconventional words, the vast majority lifted their heads, looking at him with imnse curiosity.
"A g-ga?"
In the shadows, Sakuramiya Hitomi cursed inwardly. Even though she had orchestrated the entire schedule, the dinner was officially hosted by the Student Council.
As the Student Council President, adding a few impromptu segnts would seem perfectly reasonable to anyone not in the know.
'If the President intends to ruin the High Table Dinner with this, I...'
"That is right, a ga!
"It is called... 'Student Council's Hidden Treasure'!!"
Yan Huan reached into his pocket and drew out a card slightly larger than his palm.
One side of the card featured a black background with the words "Far Moon Academy Forty-Seventh Student Council" written on it, along with a blank serial number slot.
"Everyone, please look at the card in my hand. One side has a serial number, while the other side contains a ssage I left behind, along with an Easter egg regarding the Student Council...
"Before the dinner began, I hid ten of these cards in ten random locations across the island!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yurianna raised her hand from the crowd and gleefully chid in,
"And the rules of the ga are!!
"In the hour and a half before the ball officially begins, everyone should try their best to find them!!"
Yan Huan smiled broadly and lifted the massive suitcase in his hands.
He flipped it open, revealing it was completely stuffed to the brim with Linn banknotes!!
"Whoa!"
"How... how much money is that?!"
"It's a whole suitcase full!!"
This money was the briefcase of US dollars that Elvira had given him earlier, converted into the equivalent Linn currency, plus the fifty thousand he had obtained previously.
"There is half a million here! For every card you find, you can take one-tenth of it!
"However, redeeming the prize requires more than just finding the card. Vice President Sakuramiya is also currently hidden sowhere on the island!
"The thod to claim the prize is: bring the card to Vice President Sakuramiya and read the Easter egg written on the back out loud to her!"
Once he said that, Ashley, who was nearby, covered her face but shouted at the top of her lungs,
"After finding Vice President Sakuramiya, notify President Yan or , and make sure to record the process of shouting the Easter egg at Vice President Sakuramiya! Then you can claim your prize!!"
Upon hearing this, the entire venue completely boiled over!
"That sounds so fun!"
"Can we team up?!"
"Let's... Gongzi, how about we go together?!"
The crowd below was visibly getting restless, itching for action.
Especially Ye Shiyu and the other three girls.
This was their chance to find Sakuramiya Hitomi ahead of schedule!!
The families of Far Moon Academy students might not lack this kind of money, but it depended on the context.
It was like a cheap takeout al you would barely glance at outside, yet within a closed-campus boarding school, it suddenly turned into an irresistible delicacy.
Being able to play a ga like this during the historically stiff and formal High Table Dinner was incredibly thrilling.
'President...'
Watching Yan Huan pull off such a stunt, Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes widened in sheer disbelief from her hiding spot.
Biting her nails, she realized the nature of Yan Huan's offensive strategy.
'Is the President's true goal to find ?'
The initial part of her schedule consisted entirely of speeches by various school leaders and the al, which was the most boring part.
For Yan Huan to replace that with a ga segnt could not exactly be called ruining the dinner...
At the very least, looking at the eager excitent of the students now provided the answer.
"..."
But everyone knew that the mandatory school leader speech segnt was supposed to be next, so they were slightly afraid to move, all turning their gazes toward the school administrators.
Principal Hers was montarily stunned, and the school board mbers next to him were already showing visible displeasure.
"What is the aning of this?"
Principal Hers stroked his beard and was just about to speak...
"Bang!"
Down below, in the previously quiet hall that had felt like the tense calm before dawn, a blazing sun suddenly rose!!
"Hell yeah, I am off to find the cards!!"
A blonde girl in a dress abruptly shot out of her seat and bolted off.
"Hey, hey, that student over there!"
A school board mber was just about to stand up when Principal Hers grabbed his wrist.
"Hers, what are you—"
The school board mber angrily tried to speak, but Hers nonchalantly choked back his words with a single sentence,
"That is Elvira Spencer's daughter."
"..."
Hearing this, the board mber sat back down, fuming but not daring to say another word.
"Bang!"
But the mont he sat down, another girl down below—a teenager with long, straight black hair and an expressionless face—silently stood up and turned to leave the hall.
It looked like she was also off to find the "Student Council's Hidden Treasure"!
"Hey, hey, hey! That student!"
Another board mber, who had not yet sat down, angrily slamd his hand on the table, planning to go settle the score.
Similarly, before he could even rise, Hers nonchalantly pulled him back and calmly stated,
"That is the daughter of Ye International's Ye Lan."
"..."
Upon hearing this, the board mber panted heavily, looking as if he had just taken a vicious elbow to the gut, utterly suffocated.
'Yes, yes, yes, that is the exact expression!!'
Seeing the school board mbers looking like they had been forced to swallow bitter pills in silence, Principal Hers almost clapped his hands in glee.
'This is the very pain I am forced to taste all year round!!'
'The heavens have eyes! Today, you bunch of armchair critics who do nothing but collect money and dictate terms finally get a taste of it yourselves!!'
"..."
anwhile, the students below, having seen two people leave consecutively...
Instantly beca like an opened floodgate, utterly impossible to control!
"Chaaaaaarge!!"
"The Student Council's Treasure is mine! The One Piece is miiiine!!"
"Let's split up! You guys go look for Vice President Sakuramiya, and we will hunt for the cards! Grab as many as you can!!"
The entire school, hundreds of people in total, instantly abandoned their seats and flooded toward every corner of the vast palace grounds.
Of course, there were also many who simply did not want to sit through the school leaders' speeches and just wanted to wander around...
But that did not matter!
After all, Yan Huan only had one goal:
Find Sakuramiya Hitomi!!
"Rumble, rumble, rumble!!"
The thunderous sound of footsteps spread across the island, allowing Sakuramiya Hitomi, hidden away sowhere, to feel the incoming flood of people.
Among them, naturally, were those heading in her direction.
"..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi took a deep breath, her complexion turning sowhat grim.
Because if it were just ordinary students coming to look for her, she had countless ways to deal with it.
For example: she could set up a barrier with unopenable doors and simply hide inside.
But the terrible part was that the incoming group included super-powered hosts like Spencer and Ye Shiyu!
If a strange, unopenable door appeared sowhere, word would quickly spread among the students.
Then, if Spencer ca to open the door, her hiding spot's barrier would be smashed to pieces in an instant.
So, rely hiding was completely useless...
"You really played
this ti, President..."
Feeling the crowds drawing closer, Sakuramiya Hitomi squeezed out a smile, looking at Yan Huan on the stage as she murmured.
Back in the hall, all the students had evacuated, off to find the "Student Council's Hidden Treasure".
Aside from the staff and Yan Huan, only the school leaders remained.
"President Yan..."
The leaders and parents who were scheduled to speak turned around to glare at Yan Huan with dark expressions, making him instantly break out in a cold sweat.
He chuckled awkwardly, then hesitantly pointed at the microphone in Hers's hand and suggested,
"How about... the leaders go up on stage and speak now? The microphone is connected to the entire venue, so they will be able to hear it even out on the beach..."
Hearing this, the blue veins popping on the school leaders' foreheads beca even more pronounced.
"Are you saying we should stand here and deliver a speech to an empty room, for a bunch of students who are off playing a ga?"
Cornered by the angry administrators, Yan Huan scratched his cheek, but for the sake of finding Sakuramiya, he bit the bullet and nodded.
"Yep~"
"Students, I must say, this is the most crucial year of your lives. It is the key year for you to realize your dreams and achieve your life goals..."
At that mont, in the corridors of the palace's first floor.
The school leaders' formulaic speeches flowed freely through the corridors via the broadcasting system.
Bizarrely enough, it provided the most fitting BGM to this incredibly tense ga.
"Student Spencer, wait for us!"
An Le's voice rang out from behind, making Spencer, who was leading the charge, cast sharp glances at her surroundings.
She ca to a halt.
Not because she was too exhausted to run, but because her dress was far too long, hindering her movent.
"Seriously, this dress..."
The other three Modifier Hosts used this opportunity to catch up.
"Did you find anything, Spencer?"
"Oh, I found sothing!"
Hearing this, the other Modifier Hosts were imdiately fully prepared for battle, planning to clash head-on with Sakuramiya Hitomi, break her barrier, and save Yan Huan from the Common Sense Modification.
However, the very next second, Spencer bounded into the air with a soft grunt, snatching a black card labeled with the number "2" from the tray of a chandelier hanging on the nearby wall.
Then, Spencer bead brightly and held up the card, showing it off to the others behind her like a prized trophy,
"Look, I found the card Yan Huan hid!!"
"..."
The three girls behind her stared at Spencer, who was holding the card with a face that practically scread 'Praise
now'.
They could not help but let their faces darken in unison.
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