"Let me make this clear first. I didn't lose to you—I lost to the law. Don't think I've surrendered!"
Ryuen said this first.
After some discussion.
The settlement agreement was soon written up in duplicate.
Private Settlement Agreement
Party A: Ryuen Kaito (Perpetrator) Student ID: XXXXXXXX
Party B: Bai Lan (Victim) Student ID: XXXXXXXX
On April 3, XX, Party A attempted to use violence to force Party B to reveal important information of high commercial value. Party B exercised legitimate self-defense to protect his personal safety and property.
During the incident, Party A caused Party B severe psychological trauma, leaving him with emotional scars.
Party B also caused Party A some physical injuries during the process of self-defense.
Party A deeply regrets his actions and wishes to repent.
Therefore, Party B will not pursue the minor physical injuries he sustained and voluntarily demands 500,000 private points as compensation from Party A for emotional damages, lost work, missed schooling, and nutritional expenses.
Upon signing, 80,000 shall be paid immediately.
The remaining 420,000 shall be paid in installments from any disposable income Party A receives each month exceeding 20,000. At least 80,000 shall be repaid each month until the debt is cleared, with the full amount to be repaid within three months.
In addition, every month, the outstanding balance shall immediately increase by 10% as interest.
Party A's signature: Ryuen Kaito
Party B's signature: Bai Lan
Date signed: April 3, X
With two identical settlement agreements, Bai Lan and Ryuen... that was, the boy named Ryuen Kaito, each took one copy.
That way, everyone could pretend nothing had happened.
However, Bai Lan had made another tidy profit.
And the title of "the poorest person in the entire grade" had fallen to this guy named Ryuen Kaito.
"Don't think you've won just because of this!" Ryuen Kaito put away the agreement and pen before leaving in a sorry state.
Ryuen headed toward the classroom, only to discover that Bai Lan was following him the whole way.
"Why are you still following me?" Ryuen snapped angrily.
Bai Lan said, "I haven't sold you the information yet. I was going to your class to sell it."
"Oh, right. The information!" Ryuen finally realized what this beating had been about. "How much? I'll buy it."
Bai Lan asked, "Do you still have any money?"
Ryuen said, "The others in Class C do. What's theirs is mine! I'll 'persuade' them."
"Feeling confident?"
"Write another IOU! Same terms—repay it within three months, with interest."
"That works. I have faith in you. But since you're so confident, I need you to repay this portion within the month."
Ryuen gritted his teeth. "Fine."
Since he had failed to sell any information to Class B, he had quite a lot of information available for sale.
Because buying and selling information required a contract, they needed paper again.
Ryuen ran back toward the classroom once more.
Half a minute later, Ryuen returned.
This time, he had been a little smarter and had brought an entire notebook with him...
Bai Lan wrote the titles of the information he had specifically reserved for Class C on his phone, then sent them to the other party.
The information titles were all the sort that could easily arouse curiosity:
"The Basis for the School's Evaluation of Classes and Individuals (Already Bought Out)"
"Information Purchase Records (Current)"
"13 Ways to Use Points!"
"Tips for Improving Advancement and Employment Rates"
"Why Are You in Class C?"
For "The Basis for the School's Evaluation of Classes and Individuals (Already Bought Out)" and "Information Purchase Records (Current)," Bai Lan enlarged the text, bolded it, and added flashy colors.
Sometimes, the fact that your opponent possessed certain important information was itself a piece of important information.
Although you didn't know the specifics, you could imitate, probe, and indirectly make use of the important information in someone else's possession to gain an advantage...
After picking and choosing for a while, Ryuen finally clenched all five fingers in the air.
"I want everything!"
"That's 500,000 in total. Do you want to buy them all out?"
"Buy!"
"Three classes, 500,000 each, for a total of 1.5 million. But with today's bundle price, it's only 1 million! You're making a killing, Ryuen. You're saving 500,000!"
13, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's Disaster
After selling the information.
Bai Lan currently possessed 1.13 million private points in "cash," plus the 1.42 million in debt Ryuen owed him with interest, bringing his total assets to 2.55 million.
"Chaos Strike" had been activated.
Now, he only had to wait for the wind to rise.
There was still some time before the entrance ceremony, so Bai Lan planned to look around for somewhere like a bulletin board.
He wanted to see whether there had recently been any cases of students being punished or even expelled.
He needed to learn from his seniors and study their advanced experience in getting expelled.
Not long afterward, the new students left the classrooms to attend the entrance ceremony.
Before the entrance ceremony began.
Having already toured several places around the school, Bai Lan arrived punctually at the auditorium and took his place in the area assigned to First-year Class D. Under the students' piercing gazes, he stood in the formation as if nothing had happened.
The opening ceremony officially began.
It consisted of the same old routine.
Important figures gave speeches, spouted platitudes, and brought up the school's promises, such as its "high advancement and employment rates" and how "you won't regret coming here."
Soon, the opening ceremony ended.
After the ceremony.
Although it was only noon.
There were no more tasks for the day. The students were free to spend the rest of their time as they wished, and the new students had the afternoon and evening to familiarize themselves with their new school.
Tomorrow, the new students would receive their textbooks under the homeroom teacher's arrangements, after which formal classes would begin.
Hirata Yosuke.
He was the kind of man who wanted to be the mother of every classmate, refusing to give up on anyone and caring for everyone equally. He was also especially afraid of and opposed to school bullying, hoping to create a harmonious class where everyone could get along and care for one another.
At the same time, he was the handsome boy who had stepped forward today and persistently sought an explanation from Bai Lan with a consistently friendly attitude.
Hirata had originally planned to do his best to establish a relatively harmonious class structure over the course of the day.
According to his original plans, he had intended to guide everyone through self-introductions, then hold some kind of gathering after the opening ceremony.
But the result...
There had been no self-introductions.
As for the class gathering...
Hirata thought about it and decided to postpone it.
He had a strong feeling that there was something strange about Bai Lan's behavior.
Perhaps Bai Lan hadn't deliberately acted as though he was at odds with the class.
Thinking of this left him both troubled and happy.
He was troubled because the gathering couldn't be held.
After all, until the "misunderstanding" was cleared up, nobody would be able to enjoy themselves if Bai Lan were invited to the gathering.
But if he wasn't invited, it would seem as though they were ostracizing him.
He was happy because, in his view, if this really was some kind of misunderstanding...
Then once the "misunderstanding" was cleared up, perhaps the class wouldn't head toward the worst possible outcome...
Just think about it. What would happen to someone who didn't fit in and had provoked the entire class indiscriminately right at the start of the school year? The answer was obvious.
Bullying, bullying, and more bullying.
He didn't want to sample that sort of thing again.
The mere thought of the word "bullying" made him involuntarily recall that unbearable past.
Precisely because of what had happened in the past, Hirata—despite excelling in his studies, athletics, personality, appearance, interpersonal skills, and every other aspect—had been assigned to Class D, a class made up of trash and defective products.
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