In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 68

Chapter 68: New Student Recreation

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The day of the opening ceremony arrived, and we had officially become third-year high school students. Even though it was the start of a new term, the girls in our grade were already in full-on exam mode. The school too had turned into something like a cram school from day one, with back-to-back practice lessons.

But in contrast, we boys had several free periods, and the relaxed atmosphere made us feel a bit guilty toward the girls. As long as we showed up and submitted our assignments properly, we were guaranteed spots at top universities through recommendations. So despite this being the final year of high school, we actually had more free time than we did in our second year. And with the school thinking it would be a waste to let us slack off, they’d prepared this event for us.

<New Student Recreation>

For one week after entrance, third-year boys would accompany and interact with the first-years.

Just for this event, male students were evenly assigned to all six first-year classes—including the all-girls ones—as recreation leaders. There were thirteen third-year boys total, so it worked out to about two boys per class. The goal was to give the hopeful new students an opportunity to interact with actual male students and motivate them to get better scores.  

“Only 1-A has three assigned students, huh.”

After the event program booklet was handed out, I looked over the assignment chart and saw that 1-A had one extra person assigned to them.

“If you divide thirteen by six, there’s one extra, right? Think of it as a little bonus for Class A.”

Satou-sensei, who continued as our homeroom teacher this year, gathered the third-year boys before the recreation started to distribute the booklets and explain the event to us.

Oh, right. Of course there are boys among the first-years, too. So that means for 1-A the male-to-female ratio temporarily becomes… 8 to 20! That’s 2 to 5. From the perspective of women in this world, that’s probably an insanely male-heavy environment.

“For reference, we’ll show last year’s VTR later, but today’s activities are all simple games. Work together with your assigned partners and follow the announcements. If anything goes wrong, contact a teacher on-site immediately.”

And so, likely on purpose, I—someone who was relatively good at dealing with girls—got assigned to 1-A with Yuuki and Uesugi, both of whom weren’t exactly known for being charming to the ladies.

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“Nice to meet you all. I’m Yuusei Takeda from 3-A. Congratulations on your admission. I’m sure some of you are new to this school since you’re not from the affiliated middle school, but this school is a really fun place. I hope you all enjoy a fulfilling school life for the next three years. Looking forward to the recreation with you.”

“Kyaa!“

“OMG, this is already too much to handle!”

“This is the legendary royal quality… Roses! Endless roses blooming everywhere!“

“Unbelievable… He’s sparkling so much! I’m so glad I applied to this school!“

Among all the shrieking voices, I handed off the greeting to Yuuki and stepped down from the podium for a moment.

“I’m Ren Yuuki. Studying can be tough, but I’m sure good things will come. Hang in there.”

“Kyaa!“

“Okaaay♡ I’ll do my best!“

Whoa, short and sweet. That’s it? But hey, everyone seems happy, so I guess that works.

“I’m Kento Uesugi. This school puts a strong focus not just on academics, but also on extracurricular activities. So I hope you’ll enjoy those as well.”

“Kyaa! He’s so tall!“

“I wonder what club he’s in?~”

“Any club recommendations~?“

I didn’t join any clubs because I was too busy, but I’d heard that the kendo club Uesugi was in was one of the strongest in the area. The soccer team was also doing well, and among the culture clubs, choir and calligraphy were pretty well-known.

Yuuki, like me, was in the go-home club, so I guess Uesugi would have to handle all the club-related questions. For the first day of recreation, the plan was to play games within each class to help everyone get to know each other better.

〈Ping-pong-pang-pooon! First-year students, please follow the recreation leaders and gather in the gymnasium.〉

“Okay then, we’re heading to the gym now. Line up in two rows by student number and follow us.”

“““““Okaaay♡”””””

The first event held in the gym was a class-based game called “Wild Beast Hunt.” I was the first game leader. Since I had to shout loudly and use big gestures toward a bunch of first-years I’d never met before, it was pretty embarrassing. But this was supposed to be a hype-up moment, so I couldn’t let that stop me.

It’s all about the energy. Gotta get the rhythm right and keep the momentum. You got this, me!

After explaining the game to everyone, I psyched myself up and launched us into it right away.

Alright, here we go!

“Let’s go hunt wild beasts!” 

Hyaa!

“““““Let’s go hunt wild beasts~♪”””””

“We’re not afraid of any beasts!” 

Bring it on!

“““““We’re not afraid of any beasts~♪”””””

“We’ve got spears, after all!” 

Spear pose!

“““““We’ve got spears, after all~♪”””””

“And we’ve even got guns!” 

Gun pose!

“““““And we’ve even got guns~♪”””””

“Ah! ……A ‘giraffe’!”

Gi-raffe is three syllables.

You had to quickly form a group with the same number of people as the number of syllables, then crouch down in a circle. Anyone left out lost. That was the rule. This time it should be a group of three, but then…

With a loud rush, a crowd of girls swarmed toward us boys at full speed.

Whoa! Wait, wait, wait! Hold on a sec!

I’d mentally prepared myself when I watched the VTR. But even so, the merciless full-body tackles from all directions threw me off balance. Just like last year, it seemed that a lot of the girls who had progressed from the affiliated middle school had no qualms about mobbing us third-year guys.

“You and you. Okay, that’s three. Crouch down.”

Yuuki quickly formed a group and crouched without missing a beat. 

That guy’s way too good at this! But he’s right! That’s the key! Speed is everything if you want to survive this!

The girls who’d been near Yuuki, realizing they needed a new target, now came charging straight at me.

Crap, this is bad! Gotta move fast!

“U-Uh, you! And, you over there! Crouch down!”

I somehow managed to pick two girls and sit down with them in time. Surprisingly enough, Uesugi, who wasn’t as quick on the uptake, got pretty roughed up before the first round finally ended.

After that, those who didn’t make a group became the next round’s leaders, and the game continued.

“African Elephant!”

“Bengal Wildcat!”

“Armadillo!”

We kept taking on the bold tackles of the enthusiastic first-years, and I was completely exhausted by the end. But as for them—they looked like they were having an absolute blast, each of them grinning from ear to ear.

If that’s the case, then I guess today’s event is a big success.

Yui should’ve been somewhere in that gym too. I thought I’d at least say hi if I spotted her, but there was no time at all for that.

Guess I’ll ask her what she thought when I get home.

Thinking that, I casually flipped through the program booklet we got today again—and then my eyes landed on the new students’ class schedule.

Wait. In that case…There’s no need to wait until I get home, right?

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