Ying could only suffer in silence. He hadn't expected those upperclassmen to come up with such a tricky question. Who besides second-year students would know the answer?
But Ying still wanted to make one last attempt. There were 40 students in a class, and four classes made 160 students. There was at least one Special Exam every semester, two major exams, and Special Exams during the holidays, too. Any of them might result in expulsions. And considering that Miyabi Nagumo...
Seeing Ying deep in thought, the three upperclassmen knew those 30,000 points were as good as theirs. They couldn't help exchanging knowing smiles.
"150 people..." Ying said nervously.
"Hahaha! Wrong! It's 151!" said the upperclassman in the lead.
Damn, he'd still failed?
"Boss, isn't it 150 people?" asked the upperclassman on the left, puzzled.
"Huh? Isn't it 149?" the one on the right chimed in.
The three of them then launched into a heated discussion about how many second-years there were.
"Stop!" Ying suddenly interrupted them. "The rules say you have to know the answer yourselves before asking me, so how could you ask without even thinking it through? That question doesn't count. Ask another one."
"No way! We'll figure out the right answer soon. Just wait!" the upperclassman in the middle insisted, apparently unwilling to give in.
"If that counts, then I'm adding another rule: you can only ask questions about first-years. If you agree, I'll consider that question unanswered. How about it?"
The upperclassmen pretended to think it over, then agreed to the additional rule. Ying breathed a sigh of relief. If they hadn't agreed, some other impossible question would have finished him off.
"Then... the second question: what were the criteria for the deductions in the first month?"
"I know this one. Classroom discipline and whether students followed the school rules. In short, whether they'd fulfilled their duties as students."
The three upperclassmen were startled. Ying answered the next five questions in a row, and their faces darkened as they started looking for a chance to run.
"Oh, come on, upperclassmen, don't leave. My Student Terminal's been recording the whole time. You don't want to get expelled, do you? Heh heh heh. Let's keep playing."
In the end, Ying answered all but the first question perfectly. After the teachers confirmed the value of the information, Ying received a total of 1.17 million private points. The upperclassmen went green in the face. They were already being squeezed by Miyabi Nagumo, and now they'd been squeezed by a first-year, too. They'd lost face in front of the entire first-year cohort, so they unanimously decided not to tell anyone what had happened. Meanwhile, Ying took his newly acquired points and went back to the store to pick out daily necessities.
Was this what they meant by every dog having its day? Ying loved it.
After returning to his dorm and organizing his daily necessities, Ying decided that a single room was still too luxurious. It had practically everything he needed, which made him want to stay a Kouiku student forever.
"Kanzaki said they're going to the karaoke place at Keyaki Mall for a party. There's still some time, so why not check it out?" Ying decided it would be good to show his face in front of his classmates. It definitely wasn't because he wanted to see Ichinose.
Ying opened his dorm room door just as the door across the hall, Room 401, opened too. Ayanokoji stepped out, and their eyes met again.
Ying: ...
Ayanokoji: ...
"Aya... Ayanokoji, hello. Looks like we're going to be neighbors from now on. We'd better get along. Hahaha..." Ying greeted him first.
"Yeah. I didn't expect we'd end up in rooms next to each other."
"Since we're here, how about we introduce ourselves? I'm Baiye Ying, from Class 1-B."
"Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Class 1-D."
"Um, this is a little embarrassing to admit, but I went to the wrong classroom at first. Could you keep it a secret for me? Onegai!"
As he spoke, Ying clasped his hands together and made a pleading gesture.
"I haven't told anyone about it. Though, it seems like someone in my class already knows," Ayanokoji said, remembering Ike and Yamauchi's conversation.
"Eh? Seriously?" Ying felt as if the world were about to end.
Ayanokoji hadn't met anyone like Ying before, and wanted to observe him a little more. So he decided that next he'd tell Ike that the black-haired student lived across from him.
"Ahem... It's no big deal if people find out. The main thing is, Ayanokoji, you must have completely understood what I meant this morning, right?"
Ayanokoji: ? Was he talking about that declaration that he'd drop out? Was there some other meaning?
"No, I have no idea why you said that." After thinking it over, Ayanokoji decided he simply didn't have enough information to infer anything else.
"Heh, you're joking, right? Someone as capable as you must have already grasped the deeper meaning. Looks like we'll be comrades from now on! I have somewhere to be, so I'll get going. Kano."
Ayanokoji: ? This guy really was strange.
At Keyaki Mall, Ying spotted Kanzaki waiting for him. He was glad the two of them had added each other as friends beforehand. He'd wandered around for ages without finding them before remembering he could contact Kanzaki through his terminal.
"Baiye, over here!" Kanzaki spotted Ying and waved.
"After Ichinose learned it was your idea, she was really grateful for your contribution to the class. If you didn't come today, she might have held a separate celebration for you tomorrow," Kanzaki said as he led Ying along.
"Huh? There's no need to make such a fuss..." Ying couldn't help feeling a little worried. Was he going to have to attend social events every day, like at his old job, or give some kind of work presentation?
"The whole class is grateful to you, too. I do think we shouldn't hold big gatherings like this too often, but you deserve to be rewarded. Especially since you contributed all your private points to the class."
"Ah... You don't need to worry about that. I've already—"
"Baiye! You're here."
Before Ying could explain that he wasn't broke anymore, Ichinose interrupted him as she greeted them at the karaoke room entrance.
"Come on, everyone's waiting for you. You're the star of today's party!" Ichinose pulled the bewildered Ying into the karaoke room.
Everyone from Class B was there; not a single person was missing. As soon as Ying walked in, they rushed over to talk to him.
"Hello, Baiye. I'm Shibata Sou. I hope we can become friends."
"And me, and me! I'm Hamaguchi Tetsuya. Let's exchange contact information later."
The enthusiasm of Class B left Ying at a loss, so he could only respond to each of them with, "Sure."
"Okay, everyone. Baiye's starting to feel overwhelmed, so you can talk to him more later. For now, I'll thank him on behalf of the whole class. Does anyone have any objections?" Ichinose spoke up, and the lively crowd quieted down a little as they waited for her to continue.
"Good. On behalf of Class B, I'd like to thank Baiye for bringing us some very important information. It'll give our class an advantage in future class competitions. To make sure Baiye doesn't have to live on free meals for a month, I propose that everyone transfer him 2,500 points as payment for the information we're purchasing together. Does anyone object?"
"It's okay. We all just agreed to pool our points with Honami. You can transfer them directly to Baiye from your account later," Kobashi Yume said.
"Exactly," Amikura Mako agreed.
The other students agreed as well. Seeing this, Ichinose turned to Ying. "Then I'll transfer the points to you later. For now, Baiye, go have fun with everyone."
"You really don't have to. I'm not short on—"
"Baiye, you're the star. Sing a song!" Shibata handed him a microphone. By the time Ying tried to bring up the points with Ichinose again, she was surrounded by other students.
"Yeah, sing one! I'll pick one for you," Hamaguchi chimed in.
Ying had no choice but to agree and show off his singing voice. With the new-player reward from the system, he was practically good at everything now. A mere song was no problem.
Ying confidently entered the song title on the control panel and cleared his throat into the microphone. Under the expectant gaze of the whole class, he grinned. Just listen to this glorious voice!
"Hakimi do, nanami ru do, ashiga hayagu gu na ru, hakiki mi do, nanami ru do, ashiga ha, mambo mambo, omasugi mambo..."
Everyone: ...
Before you continue