The whole trading card plotline has always been dumb. TCGs have specific card quantities made for every card, and the amount he buys is a drop in the bucket for the amount needed to have a good pool of cards for proper deck building. And it feels like this plot line has taken over the story...
In a previous chapter they have the MC called Mars and Marth on the same page. It is very likely they MTL and proper nouns end up this way as a result.
I think everyone is overestimating the longevity of these new "characters". The boy badmouths his brother, the girl is overly familiar when he doesn't even know who she is.
Ayaka thinks he is making friends but he is clearly not happy and doesn't like these people.
I had to check. The last time the protagonist was seen was in chapter 35, being imapled and tossed onto the ground just before this coup attempt was started.
I don't know if this would actually work, but what about taking chunks out of the ground and/or putting obstacles in the way? Anything that would force the uniformity to break.
Yeah, my guess would be that he's the aloof overly friendly trope, or it's the typical Japanese view of a westerner who is too friendly because he doesn't understand Japanese culture trope. And then at some point he'll realize the two dorks are into each other and the male lead is being a weirdo...
I'm just glad the series is even continuing into this sort of thing. It could have easily ended immediately after the prom/flowers as a "and both couples will end up happy after this, the end" ending we have all seen so many times.