Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break? - Chapter 128 - Survey Results

Chapter 128 – Survey Results

“That concludes today’s public debate. Thank you to all candidates for your hard work. After a short break, we’ll have speeches from each candidate, so please rest until then.”

“Phew… Finally over. Hey, Class Rep! We somehow pulled it off!”

“Good work, Andou-kun. I’d say it went pretty well, wouldn’t you?”

“Man, Asakura-san was incredible though. I mean, I think I put up a surprisingly good fight, but in the end she completely stole the show.”

“Indeed. At first I wondered why Asakura-san wasn’t jumping into the debate, but she must have been waiting for you and Ishida-kun to show your cards first. Let opponents speak first, attack their weak points, then present superior alternatives. With that strategy, Asakura-san had the whole room eating out of her hand.”

“Yeah, and after that she kept throwing out innovative ideas like keeping the cafeteria open after school, or transforming it into a proper café rather than just a lunch room.”

“I never expected her to have so many aces up her sleeve… This is just a theory, but I think the Student Council President gave Asakura-san quite a bit of coaching.”

“Probably. I don’t think she knew the topics beforehand, but the President must have taught her debate tactics—like letting opponents speak first. Those kinds of ‘combat strategies.’ That’s all Asakura-san would need, right?”

“Right. Just teach her the essential ‘combat techniques,’ and someone of Asakura-san’s caliber can strategize the rest herself…”

“Yeah…”

(Asakura-san’s base stats are seriously maxed out. Add the Student Council President’s knowledge and experience, and no wonder the debate became Asakura-san’s one-woman show.

In the end, Asakura-san kept unleashing ideas to demolish Ishida, and since my arguments were all smoke and mirrors anyway, I couldn’t compete with Asakura-san’s evidence-based reasoning. The debate ended in her total domination.

Which is exactly why—) (Andou)

“Look, Andou-kun. The post-debate support ratings are out.”

“Oh, let me see!”

[Student Council Election Support Rate Survey Results]

① Ishida-kun: 30% (Previous 57%, Support Rate DOWN 27%!)

② Asakura-san: 64% (Previous 43%, Support Rate UP 21%!)

③ Andou-kun: 6% (Previous 0%, Support Rate UP 6%!)

“YESSS!”

“Exactly as calculated!”

“YEAH~!” SMACK! ←High-five

“Class Rep, mission accomplished.”

“Fufu, indeed.”

(Yes, perfect! Our sole objective in this debate was to tank Ishida’s support rating! The strategy: ruthlessly attack Ishida during the debate. But that alone would paint me as the villain, so afterwards Asakura-san would completely dominate, I’d go down alongside Ishida, and it would end with Asakura-san’s glorious victory… That was the script the Class Rep and I wrote.

After all, no matter how well I performed, starting from 0% support meant I had nothing to lose. Meanwhile, Ishida’s high rating meant any screw-up would crater his numbers. And by beating Ishida—even with just sophistry—I’d snag some support from his haters.

Plus, the lynchpin was Asakura-san’s ultimate victory bringing her massive support. Our dream scenario: Asakura-san wins with overwhelming support while I just barely edge past Ishida’s depleted numbers at the finish line.

Looking at these results—only Ishida’s support dropped while mine and Asakura-san’s went up. Yeah, couldn’t have gone better.) (Andou)

“Andou-kun, the real challenge starts now. Even with the drop, Ishida-kun still has over 30% support. We can’t expect any more dramatic drops, and your support hasn’t even hit 10% yet.”

“I know… First goal is around 10%? Even if Ishida drops more, he won’t go below 20%… so I need to hit the 20s too.”

“An election where our target is the 20% range… What third-rate opposition party are we?”

“The loners’ ‘Loner Party’! You know, the type that gets lumped into ‘Others’ on election night coverage.”

“Could you stop phrasing it like that!? It makes me sound like a loner too!”

(Still, our biggest concern was whether Asakura-san could deliver in the debate, but she absolutely crushed it. That Student Council President and Asakura-san tag team really is broken OP…) (Andou)

“Oh! Class Rep, more importantly, what’s this ‘candidate speeches’ thing they announced? I haven’t heard anything about it…”

“Huh? What are you talking about? I definitely told you that after today’s public debate, each candidate gets a few dozen minutes for a speech.”

“When?! I’m seriously hearing this for the first time.”

“What? That can’t be… The student council distributed handouts, and since you weren’t around, I gave the handout and message to Yamada to— …Hm?”

“Y-Yamada…? When was this?”

“Let’s see… Last Friday, I believe.”

“…”

(Wasn’t that the day I was doing stealth ops for the Student Council President?) (Andou)

“Wait, wasn’t that the day Yamada ditched to play soccer on the field?”

“…”

“”YAMADAAAAAAAA!””