In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 108

Chapter 108: Continuation of the Open Campus

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“Wow. It’s so spacious.”

Upon entering through the main gate, we were greeted by a neat, vivid streetscape lined with rows of street trees. A broad, generously spaced central avenue stretched out before us. Even from the entrance, we could see a statue of the school’s famous founder standing tall in the plaza at the far end.

The Eika Shuuei Academy also had a fairly large campus. But this place was on another level. I felt like entering an entirely different world, with the uniquely open and liberating atmosphere that only a university campus could have.

“There are so many buildings, I think I’d get lost without a map.”

No, if it were me, I’d still get lost even with a map. Still, what a cool campus. As one would expect from a school with a long history, just a glance was enough to see multiple buildings of varying ages and styles.

There were classic buildings in calm beige tones and modern ones using lots of glass, somehow all harmonizing together. The newly constructed tower building near the entrance looked more like a high-end city hotel than a school facility.

“We’ve still got time. Want to walk around the campus a bit?”

“Yeah, good idea. The entrance area is pretty crowded, so let’s start heading toward the back.”

Ideally, I wanted to go straight to the far end of the campus, where the Faculty of Education—my top choice—was located. But apparently, doing that would make it too obvious that I was targeting that department, and the three underclassmen quickly pointed that out.

Right. Not just the university itself. I had to  be careful not to make it obvious which department I was aiming for either. I had chosen the Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Education at Soukei University as my first choice because it offered a specialized mathematics curriculum on par with that of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and I could earn a Bachelor of Science degree here. 

If I wished, and if my grades were good enough, I could also pursue graduate studies in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Of course, since it was part of the Faculty of Education, the teacher-training program was also excellent—though surprisingly, it wasn’t mandatory. For someone like me, who aspired to become a teacher, that was an important factor to consider.

Plus, since it was a comprehensive university with many faculties and departments, I found the freedom to take courses outside of my major really appealing.

“I printed out the campus map from the university website.”

Sanae-chan, who was standing next to me, said this as she pulled out a color printout. A map, huh. Yeah, with a place this big, a map was definitely necessary.

“Nice! Mind if I take a look?”

That was when I made a bit of a careless move. See, Sanae-chan was about the same height and build as Yui. So I unconsciously treated her like I would Yui and leaned in close to peek at the map with her.

“Fwaa!”

Startled, Sanae-chan quickly backed away from me and held out the map.

“I-I printed enough for everyone, so here! You can have your own copy, Senpai.”

“Oh, sorry. Was I too close? Thanks for the map. You’re really helpful.”

“N-No problem… Oh no. This is really bad…”

Sanae-chan’s face was a little red. Crap. I forgot. In this world, personal space between males and females was much wider. Unless you were family, getting physically close to the opposite sex was something only people who were really close—like romantically involved—did.

“According to this, if we go past that statue and turn right, we will see the North Gate straight ahead. Just before that, if we turn left, we’ll find the Faculty of Education buildings, the co-op store, and the gym. Exiting through the North Gate, we’ll see the Central Library right in front.”

Still a little flushed, Sanae-chan explained while gripping the map tightly. 

I’m truly sorry about earlier…

“Alright, then let’s head to the North Gate under the pretense of checking out the library, and after that we can backtrack to explore the surrounding buildings. That sound good?”

The library that we visited was incredibly cool. 

“Eh? This is a school?”

“It might look like it, but this is definitely the Central Library.”

It was such a grand building, almost like a high school or middle school facility—but much larger.

“Hey, since we’re already here, why don’t we all take a commemorative photo?”

“Yeah, let’s do it!”

Thanks to Haruka-chan’s idea, we decided to have an impromptu photo session with the library as our backdrop.

“Alright, everyone line up there. I’ll be the first cameraman and take the picture—”

Before I could finish my speech, Haruka-chan interrupted, pointing behind me.

“Senpai! Aren’t those Eika Shuuei students over there? Oh! I think I might know them!”

I turned around—and sure enough, a few students in Eika Shuuei uniforms were standing nearby.

“You’re right! Those are kids from our class!”

Huh, so they’re Yui’s classmates. They’re pretty dedicated, even as first-years.

“This is perfect! Would it be alright if we asked them to take our picture?”

“Sure. I don’t mind at all, as long as it’s not a bother to them.”

It’d be nice if we could all be in the shot. If they were willing to take the picture for us, that’d be great.

“I’ll go ask them real quick!”

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“Haruka! What’s up? Did something happen?”

“Nope. Security’s all good, thanks to you. Anyway, this isn’t really a reward or anything, but I thought I’d create an opportunity to take a commemorative photo with Senpai. What do you think?”

“Haruka, you’re an angel! I’m in! Absolutely in!”

“A photo with him… Like, a real photo?”

“Exactly. First, we’ll have him take a picture of us, but after that, I’m planning to ask him to take more shots in different combinations. I’m pretty sure Senpai will say yes.”

“Yaaay!”

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“Are you all in the same class?”

“Yes! When we heard Yui-chan and the others were coming to the open campus, we figured we should go too.”

After that, another group from Eika Shuuei showed up, and it turned into a full-on photo session. Maybe because they were not third-years yet, everyone was in high spirits—like they were just on a fun field trip. Even after the photos were done, the natural flow of things had us all moving together as a group to kill time before the public lectures began.

“Whoa… Uh, I mean, what a charmingly historic building.”

Standing before us now was the main building used by the Faculty of Education. Apparently, it was the oldest structure on campus, with a long history and tradition. It did have a retro vibe to it, to be honest, it looked pretty run-down.

They were planning to rebuild it eventually, but that would be far in the future. For now, what stood out most were the obviously patched-up areas from recent repairs. Having just seen those glittering new buildings earlier, this was a bit of a letdown. But actually, I didn’t hate this kind of atmosphere either.

“It definitely feels old, but I kind of like this sort of thing.”

“So-So that’s  what they call a natural smile… Gwah… I’m dead…”

“He said he likes it… Our prince said he likes it… We’ve got a quote!”

Yuusei didn’t realize it himself, but that refreshing smile he gave while turning around—paired with the word “like”—directly struck the hearts of the younger girls. Yes, without noticing it, he had activated his special skill: [Radiant Photogenic Aura].

《You have met certain conditions. Special skill 【Sparkling Photogenic】 has evolved into 【Sparkling Photogenic – Hyper】.》

Huh? Evolved? Was it because we took so many pictures earlier?  But why was the diary tagging along with this open campus trip…? 

Well, never mind. Just stay out of sight during the upcoming lectures and department briefings, okay?

《Understood.》

“Well then, it’s about time. See you all later!”

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