My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 40

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 40
“Oh.”
But he failed immediately. Cyrus rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then added in a low voice.
“You’ll have your arguments prepared, and there’s still an hour left—is that really impossible?”
Ibis found herself at a loss for words.
What was she supposed to do with this arrogant nerd?
“Fine, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Say you could do it.”
“It’s not about giving me the benefit of the doubt. I’m just stating what’s possible.”
“Ugh, okay. So why exactly are you suddenly deciding to show off that brilliant brain of yours here?”
…….
He’d gone quiet again.
“You hate school events, and you couldn’t care less about extra credit. I’m not wrong, am I?”
“No, you’re right.”
He pulled out his smartphone and held the screen toward her. Ibis recognized Joy’s number and a message on the display.
[Cyrus, compete in the debate tournament as my substitute.]
It was unmistakably a command.
Ibis looked back and forth between the message and Cyrus.
It was strange, really—Cyrus, who always did exactly as he pleased, was now completely at Joy’s beck and call.
Was this Joy’s charisma?
Or was it possible that… Joy was special to Cyrus?
“……So you listen when Joy asks?”
Back when she’d asked him to fetch something from the Underground Storage, he’d brushed her off as a bother.
“Read the rest of it. The postscript just annoyed me.”
A postscript?
Ibis now read the additional message written below that command.
[If you don’t agree, you’ll get to watch Logan compete instead. I bet Ibis’s stammering would be absolutely entertaining, wouldn’t it?]
That was a horrifying thought.
Logan Blake in a debate tournament?
He’d waltz in without even wearing a Necktie, rely on brute stubbornness instead of logic, and if that didn’t work, he’d probably vault over the table and grab his opponent by the collar.
“As his roommate, I know better than anyone that Blake can’t hold a proper debate.”
He frowned, visibly displeased at the mere thought.
So that was it?
He didn’t care about school events, but the idea of a sacred “debate” turning into chaos was unacceptable to a nerd who worshipped knowledge?
“Now that you understand the reason, shouldn’t you hand over your Study Notes? We’re running low on time.”
“You’re really going to do this?”
“……If you don’t want me to, I’ll drop it.”
The response came after an odd pause.
Ibis realized he’d misunderstood and quickly corrected herself.
“I didn’t mean I don’t want you!”
Not that Ibis disliked Cyrus—she did, actually. But not as a debate partner.
“If I’m being blunt, I’d say you’re the better choice.”
“What?”
He looked taken aback. It wasn’t like Ibis to say something so unexpected.
“Obviously. Think about the chaos Blake would cause. And the way you talk sometimes—I can tell you’d be strong at debating. But…….”
Ibis hesitated, and this time he posed a question.
“Were you hoping to forfeit?”
Ibis pressed her lips together firmly.
The truth was yes. She didn’t want to step onto that debate stage.
The problem was she couldn’t explain why.
“No, not really. It’s just that since Joy and I prepared together…….”
And there it was—another Lie.
“So what are you going to do?”
Ibis hesitated, then finally made her decision.
“……I’ll do it.”
If she refused, she’d have to make up another excuse to Joy, who’d gone to the trouble of finding her a substitute.
“Then go to the Dormitory and grab the Study Notes. You go to the Waiting Room and look at these first.”
Ibis pulled up the Study Notes file from her Smartphone and handed it to Cyrus.
“No, the Waiting Room is too loud to concentrate. Here is better.”
He settled onto a high planter near the back entrance of the Auditorium. His eyes immediately fixed on her Smartphone.
Ibis watched him for a moment, then hurried off to the Dormitory.
When she returned with the Study Notes she and Joy had prepared, Cyrus was in the exact same posture as before, eyes glued to the screen.
He was so absorbed that he didn’t even notice her return.
Ibis hopped up onto the planter beside him without disturbing him.
The planter was quite high, and her feet dangled freely in the air.
Cyrus, meanwhile, had his feet firmly on the ground, his knees bent comfortably.
Looking at that cocky posture, her pride was oddly stung.
Ibis set aside the pointless rivalry and pulled out the Study Notes she’d brought. She’d memorized most of it, but once on that stage, things could slip her mind.
Flipping through notes up there would look ridiculous—it was basically handing the opponent an opening to attack. She needed to make absolutely certain she owned every bit of this material down to the last moment.
For a long while, they sat in quiet concentration at the back of the Auditorium.
“Here.”
Cyrus held out the screen he’d been studying.
“Hmm? You have a question?”
“No, the word choice is too sentimental.”
At the spot he was pointing to, she’d written: “The Wound That a Lie Inflicts.”
“‘Wound’ is too literary, too abstract.”
“What else would you call it? If someone finds out you lied…….”
Her lips went rigid.
They were just discussing the debate, but the phrase “being caught in a lie” felt unbearably dreadful and terrifying.
“W-well…… either way, the other person is genuinely hurt, right?”
“So where does this hurt come from?”
“Because suddenly, every moment you spent together feels completely false.”
Then the words from last night’s dream flickered through her mind.
<Right, it must’ve been amusing. Disguising yourself, sneaking into school, pretending to be close, pretending to care while you extracted family secrets. Truly impressive cunning, Your Highness.>
She’d never thought of it that way. Though nobody would believe her.
“So all Trust and relationships are destroyed.”
Cyrus’s answer sounded like a specific pronouncement on the future to come.
…….
“And ultimately, you end up with the problem of increased Trust Cost. Because the things you’d have to pour into regaining belief are so overwhelming.”
“Huh?”
When Ibis reacted with surprise, he furrowed his brow and asked.
“Wasn’t that what you were trying to argue? Personally, I think broken Trust isn’t worth salvaging.”
“No, no! You have to recover it! Right?”
“Then you’d have to pour in so much more time, cost, and energy than the benefit you gained from the Lie.”
“If you do that…”
Without realizing it, Ibis had gripped her Study Notes so tightly they’d crumpled slightly.
“Would any Trust come back at all?”
“I don’t know.”
Cyrus didn’t answer right away.
“In some relationships, you could spend a lifetime and still never fill that Trust Cost.”
…….
“So lying to someone important enough to be worth restoring Trust with is stupid. No matter what your reason.”
“But sometimes there’s no choice…….”
She knew it was a cowardly thing to say.
It was the convenient excuse Ibis always used whenever her conscience started bothering her.
“You can think that way. But the other person has no obligation to understand, so in the end, the conclusion is the same.”
She couldn’t argue.
By his logic, Ibis was currently committing the most idiotic act possible.
‘……But I didn’t know.’
That the friends she’d meet here would become so important.
Especially when just a few months ago they didn’t even exist in her world.
“And here too.”
Cyrus leaned in slightly and pointed to a corner of the Study Notes in Ibis’s lap.
There she’d written anticipated counterarguments and responses to them.
“The opponent will definitely bring up the argument about lies told to ‘Protect’ someone. But before piling on examples, you need to clearly redefine the term.”
“Redefine?”
“It’s simple. That’s Information Asymmetry. One side knows while the other doesn’t, and you’re manipulating them. You can’t call that ‘Protection.'”
Suddenly something in her chest twisted—was it guilt?
No, it was probably because Cyrus’s phrasing was too harsh. Manipulation. It wasn’t quite that grand.
Even Ibis herself—her identity being revealed was more dangerous, so everyone’s safety…….
“That’s not Protection. That’s Control.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Without thinking, Ibis lifted her head sharply toward him.
But at that very moment, he too was leaning toward her Study Notes…….
Click.
Their Glasses frames collided sharply.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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