Shiina Hiyori

The task of buying test questions from the upperclassmen was assigned to Akasaka.

Akasaka was thus able to excuse himself, leaving the study session to find a solution on his own.

Kato Megumi had intended to follow, but considering her average academic performance, she decided against it, realizing she wouldn't pass without proper review. She returned to Horikita's side, seeking her patient guidance.

Horikita patiently taught Kato Megumi.

The main issue was Kato Megumi's personality; she was too good-natured, never getting angry no matter what. This left Horikita with no outlet for her efforts.

Even the aloof and proud Horikita found herself completely at a disadvantage with someone like Kato Megumi, who had her completely cornered. It seemed likely the two would become good friends.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, standing nearby, couldn't help but think this.

Meanwhile, Akasaka Ryunosuke had already spent 20,000 Personal Points to purchase the test questions.

However, he had a dilemma: he wanted to get them for free, but that was impossible. If he didn't pay the points, the other party wouldn't sell him the questions. So, he had to think of another way.

Crowdsourcing from his classmates? Forget it... It was impossible to even consider.

Those Dog Students would rather die than part with their money, and besides, they didn't have much. To get them to pay, they'd have to wait until next month's Personal Points arrived; they had not a single cent this month. He needed to think of another plan.

Akasaka stroked his chin, contemplating how to deal with law enforcement.

Suddenly, he thought of Class C. This might be something he could exploit. But if he went to Ryuen Kakeru alone to negotiate, he'd likely never return.

Given that guy's attitude, he wouldn't just get beaten up; he wouldn't get the money either, and the test papers would be snatched away.

In a worse-case scenario, his pants might be taken down, and compromising photos could be taken to threaten him into becoming an inside agent. It wasn't impossible.

It wasn't that Akasaka Ryunosuke was overthinking; he was just considering the worst-case possibilities to prevent future trouble.

Otherwise, if it really happened, he'd have no preparation and nowhere to turn for help.

As Akasaka pondered what to do, his gaze suddenly fell upon the Library nearby. He seemed to have thought of someone, and the corners of his lips gradually curled upwards.

How could he have forgotten about her? The only anomaly in Class C, and also Class C's strategist and tactician, Shiina Hiyori.

Inside the Library.

Shiina Hiyori sat in a chair, gently flipping through a book titled Sherlock Holmes Casebook, engrossed in her reading.

Her black hair, blown by the gentle breeze from the window, flowed as softly as silk.

This literary girl, engrossed in her reading, was Shiina Hiyori of Year 1 Class C.

She lightly turned the pages, enjoying her solitary afternoon.

This should have been the case...

Shiina Hiyori raised her eyes and looked at the boy across from her.

At this moment, the boy was writing on draft paper on the desk, seemingly writing a novel, which immediately piqued Shiina Hiyori's interest.

Shiina wanted to lean over and take a look, but she felt a bit too embarrassed.

After a long while...

Shiina finally couldn't hold back. Pretending to read a book, she kept glancing at the boy across from her.

She bit her lip lightly and asked.

"Are... are you writing a novel?"

Akasaka's writing paused. He put down the pen in his hand, looked up at the literary beautiful girl in front of him, and nodded gently.

"You could say that. I plan to write a novel."

"I heard that this school doesn't restrict students from submitting their work elsewhere, so I wanted to try writing a novel. Do you want to read it?"

Shiina's eyes lit up, and she even stood up excitedly.

"Can I?!"

Akasaka nodded gently and pushed the draft paper towards Shiina.

Shiina took it with both hands, cherishing it as if it were a treasure. She glanced at the content of the book and was immediately captivated by a sentence.

"The speed at which cherry blossom petals fall is five centimeters per second."

Shiina felt as if she had dived into an ocean of knowledge, drawn in by the content. She read it bit by bit, with such seriousness.

After a long while...

Shiina finished reading the entire manuscript, which was about 20,000 characters. She looked at Akasaka Ryunosuke with a hint of longing, as if to say: [Is there more?]

Akasaka spread his hands, indicating there wasn't.

Besides, this content was something he had just written. Finishing 20,000 characters was already quite remarkable.

Shiina sighed with a hint of longing and returned the draft paper to me with both hands.

"Thank you, classmate. You let me see such wonderful content. In my opinion, your work is completely publishable, even better."

"If you're struggling with which publisher to submit to, I recommend Shinazugawa Bunko, because Shinazugawa Bunko is very friendly to newcomers."

"Thank you very much, classmate."

I expressed my gratitude and asked at the same time.

"Does submitting require points? I heard that everything costs points at this school, and I don't have many points left, so I might not be able to submit."

Shiina thought for a moment. "At this school, if you want to submit something, you need to pay a 20,000-point handling fee. The school will take care of the rest. You don't happen to be short on those 20,000 points, do you?"

Shiina covered her small mouth in surprise.

Akasaka shrugged helplessly.

"Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Akasaka Ryunosuke from Year 1 Class D, the class that got 0 points on the first monthly exam. Do you think I have any points left?"

Shiina's mouth opened slightly. After realizing I was from Class D, she finally understood why I couldn't come up with the points.

After all, 20,000 points is a small amount. Students in classes A, B, and C could all afford it. Only Class D couldn't, because they scored 0 points. Unless they had been extremely frugal from the very first month, it would be impossible for them to have any points.

Shiina understood my predicament and, without much thought, took out her mobile terminal because she didn't want such a good piece of work to be buried.

"Akasaka, how about... I lend you the points? You can pay me back when you have some."

Shiina was prepared for the possibility of not getting her points back, but she didn't regret it. That work was worth it to her.

Akasaka narrowed his eyes and looked at the balance on Shiina's mobile terminal. It was only a small amount of points, and he said with some distress, "Thank you for your kindness, Shiina. But you don't have many points either. After lending me 20,000, you'll only have 3,000 left. Can you make it through this month?"

Shiina shook her head.

"It's okay. This school has free food. With 3,000 points, I can manage if I'm careful."

"Besides, I don't spend much. I usually just like to read, so I don't waste too many points."

Facing Shiina's kindness, I didn't accept immediately. After a moment's thought, I took out the exam paper I had just spent 20,000 points on and handed it to Shiina.

Shiina took it with both hands, looking a little confused.

"This is... a First Year Exam Paper?"

I nodded. "That's right. This is the First Year Exam Paper. Our class pooled our money to buy it from the upperclassmen."

"The content inside is exactly the material for the first semester's exams. We want to use this to help everyone in the class pass the exam."

"We've already asked the upperclassmen. The exam papers for the first three months of each semester are exactly the same."

"As long as we memorize the content, the exam will be no problem."

Shiina looked at the exam paper in her hand and seemed to understand what I meant.

"You want to use this exam paper to offset my 20,000 points?"

Akasaka waved his hand helplessly.

"I'm not that much of a jerk. By the way, classmate, what's your name? I still don't know your name."

Akasaka asked knowingly, as they weren't acquainted yet and he needed to play the part.

Shiina stated her name frankly.

"Shiina. My name is Shiina Hiyori. You can just call me Shiina. I'm also a student in Year 1 Class C."

"Alright, then I'll call you Shiina-classmate."

Akasaka had now officially met Shiina. He then slowly said, "Shiina-classmate, you can take this test paper back and collect funds from the class."

"I imagine they'll be very willing to chip in points for such important information, right? That way, Shiina-classmate's points will be returned."

After Shiina understood everything, she covered her mouth with her hand, a smile on her face.

"Akasaka-classmate, your plan is really brilliant."

"This way, you solve my point crisis and also resolve your troubles. It's killing two birds with one stone~"

"No, no, this is just a little trick that can't be seen in the light," I said, waving my hand dismissively.

But Shiina's expression was unusually serious.

"This isn't something that can be explained away by a little trick, Akasaka-classmate."

"Being able to flexibly use school rules to cheat... While I don't think it's right, it's certainly something that should be done for the benefit of the class."

"Akasaka-classmate's ability to come up with this method already surpasses most people in the school."

"Even I didn't think of buying test papers from upperclassmen to cheat."

Akasaka quickly interrupted.

"It wasn't me who thought of this problem. It was someone else. I was just the one carrying it out."

"Oh, is that so..."

Shiina didn't doubt him too much, but instead asked with some concern, "Then what will you do after giving me this test paper?"

Akasaka casually waved the test paper in his hand.

"Don't worry. I'll just spend 50 points to get a copy at the Copy Shop across the street. I still have the original."

Shiina finally relaxed. She took the test paper from my hand, and after we both made a copy, she handed the original back to me.

Shiina carefully put away the copy she made and stuffed it into her schoolbag. At the same time, she transferred 20000 Points to me as thanks.

"Thank you, Akasaka-classmate. I imagine this test paper will also help quite a few problem students in our class."

"You're welcome."

Akasaka said dismissively, then suggested, "When Shiina collects funds, set the price a bit higher."

"Anyway, only you and I know the real price, so it's fine if you ask for a little more."

Shiina understood my subtle intentions and chuckled.

"I'll consider it."

The two walked back to the Library and patiently looked at books, also becoming good friends.

Mainly, Shiina thought the other person must like reading, because they could write such wonderful literary works, so they must be a great book lover.

Akasaka's objective was also achieved. Not only did he earn back his points, but he also had an unexpected bonus.

That was establishing a connection with Shiina, and at the same time, his casually written novel seemed to have a chance of being published.

Originally, he was just acting, casually copying literary works from his past life, all to get closer to this Literary Girl as a stepping stone to achieve his goal.

It's just... he didn't expect any surprises.

In this way, he could start his plagiarism journey through Shiina's introduction, and perhaps earn extra income from it.

Shiina also revealed her relationship with Shinazugawa Bunko.

"My mother is also a novelist, but she's a Loser author."

"To fulfill her wish, my Father bought 51% of the shares of many publishing houses, including Shinazugawa Bunko and Kadokawa Bunko, giving him a veto right and a deciding vote."

"My Father went to great lengths to let my mother publish her Loser works."

Shiina said these extremely arrogant words with a calm expression.

Akasaka was shocked.

Did you hear what you're saying?

Damn it! You're also a rich second generation!

Akasaka couldn't help but think to himself. He might as well pursue Shiina, and maybe he could live off her in the future.

Of course, this was just a thought. Akasaka was too proud to live off someone else.

Mainly, he was also aware of his own debt situation. The other party's parents weren't fools, so how could they hand over their Daughter to someone with a second-generation debt?

So, he would just think about such unrealistic dreams and not take them seriously.

Akasaka was a realist and didn't have impractical dreams.

As the two chatted, they moved on to discussing issues within their respective classes.

Shiina couldn't help but sigh.

"The person who thought of buying exam papers is truly remarkable."

"They must have noticed the school rules within the first few days of school, right?"

"If that's the case, why let Class D become like that? I don't understand."

Shiina appeared quite puzzled, which was rather cute.

Akasaka cleared up her doubts.

"There's a reason Class D is Class D. Even I... cough cough"

Close call, he almost let slip. Akasaka quickly corrected himself.

"Even someone who noticed this problem couldn't save Class D, because they simply wouldn't listen."

"If they were willing to listen, they wouldn't have scored 0 Points."

Shiina seemed to understand.

"It must be tough for you, Akasaka, being in a class like that."

Shiina felt a sense of empathy. After all, her Class C wasn't exactly friendly either.

All day, it was nothing but fighting. If she hadn't actively cooperated back then and wasn't uninterested in the class leaders, she might have been disciplined by Ryuen Kakeru herself.

Afterward, she was the first to discover the school rules and reported them to Ryuen Kakeru, which finally brought her a peaceful life.

Akasaka also felt a sense of empathy, slumping onto his desk with a look of utter despair.

"You can say that again. Being in a class like this is simply torture."

Shiina looked at Akasaka slumped on his desk and covered her mouth, chuckling softly.