After reading all the messages she had sent, Shimizu Akira replied, "Your Class A has barely lost any Class Points. There's no need to spend three million points renting surveillance, is there? It's not a good deal."
Sakayanagi Arisu: Are you testing me again? You know I hate being spied on more than anything. What I care about isn't the surveillance itself, but the footage from the past two weeks. Two weeks is enough to analyze the personalities, habits, and academic performance of most of our class. What everyone says, their whispers, their private matters—that's the information that really matters. If that mysterious person sells it to the other classes, even we might struggle to gain an advantage early on. After all, knowing yourself and your enemy means you'll never lose a battle.
Shimizu Akira's gaze lingered for a few seconds on the words "two weeks."
It seemed she really hadn't found her father, the chairman.
But only he knew that, in reality, he had footage from this week alone.
There was no way he'd tell her that and give up the initiative for nothing.
Sakayanagi Arisu: In that case, I should go have a proper talk with that mysterious person. Goodbye.
After Sakayanagi Arisu sent that message, she went offline completely.
Right after that, his alt account received a message.
Sakayanagi Arisu: Can I rent it for just one day?
Shimizu Akira was slightly taken aback. She was pretty clever.
Class A really didn't care about being monitored, nor did they worry about losing points. The only thing they cared about was the footage from the past.
Twenty-four hours of access would be enough for her to delete the footage.
Yueqing: Dream on. I refuse. I don't offer one-day rentals.
Sakayanagi Arisu: Would you let me pay 500,000 Private Points to delete all surveillance footage of Class 1-A since the start of the school year?
Yueqing: Princess, don't keep testing me. I'll make this clear: I only rent out the whole package.
Sakayanagi Arisu: Heh... I thought as much. Then let me ask one more question. Have you already sold the surveillance footage of Class A to the other classes for a high price? If you have, I won't rent it.
Shimizu Akira fell into thought.
So that was what she was worried about.
After all, he held the surveillance access, and the footage itself was valuable intelligence that could easily be sold.
If Shimizu Akira had already leaked Class A's footage to the other classes, there'd be no point in her paying for access now.
But he'd considered that from the start. He'd never planned to sell any of the footage.
Yueqing: I don't sell the footage. I only rent out the whole package.
Sakayanagi Arisu: That's unexpected! You're not deliberately lying to me, are you?
Yueqing: You can ask the Student Council. They'll ensure the transaction is fair to both parties.
Shimizu Akira had prepared for that.
Sakayanagi Arisu: "A neutral Student Council, huh? Heh. I'll ask them tomorrow."
She paused, then asked, "By the way, aside from Class A, which other classes have you offered surveillance access to? I wonder whether you've contacted any classes besides Class 1-A. Don't tell me you've informed all four classes."
Shimizu Akira obviously couldn't answer that. It was clearly outside the scope of their deal.
Sakayanagi Arisu: Heh... But even if you have surveillance access for Class 1-C, Class 1-D, and Class 1-B, I can't afford to buy it this month. By next month, though, your so-called surveillance access might be completely useless. The School Administration only recently announced that points can't be used to purchase or rent school equipment. Even if you were the first to try it, all you've done is sublet it. I'm curious—how long will the access you rented actually last?
Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow.
Sakayanagi Arisu was undeniably clever. She'd easily figured out that the surveillance access he held was rented, too.
Well, he thought for a moment, then slowly typed eight characters.
Shimizu Akira: Rent it or don't. I'm going to bed.
He'd held the initiative over the surveillance access from beginning to end.
Even if he couldn't rent it out, the official price of 400,000 per unit was a safety net. From the very beginning, this deal was guaranteed to make a profit.
078 Today's Intelligence: Shiina Hiyori Will Guess Shimizu Akira's Identity
Friday came.
When Shimizu Akira finished his morning workout, beads of sweat still clung to his forehead.
He picked up his phone and first sent a message to Student Council President Horikita Manabu:
[The leaders of a few classes should come to the Student Council to sign the formal agreements before seven tonight. Sorry for the trouble, President.]
After sending it,
Shimizu Akira realized that he really had been bothering the president a lot these past few days. Though Horikita Manabu had said he owed him a favor... Still, it was Friday. He felt bad making someone work overtime.
His phone soon buzzed. Horikita Manabu's reply was brief and firm: [Understood.]
Shimizu Akira stared at the screen and muttered,
"Looks like I've made him work overtime again..."
(Maybe... I should do something nice for his sister?)
He narrowed his eyes, seeming to picture a relieved smile beneath the president's stern expression.
But on second thought, he decided that was probably just his imagination.
The thought of Horikita Manabu smiling was downright terrifying.
That stern man didn't look like the type to smile, either.
When Shimizu Akira returned to his seat, the familiar system notification rang out right on time:
[Ding~ Today's intelligence has been updated]
[1. Kushida Kikyou's blood type is A]
[2. In May, the first person to deduce Shimizu Akira's true identity was Shiina Hiyori of Class 1-C]
[3. To simulate society, Advanced Nurturing High School's point system includes a borrowing feature linked to the social credit system. Any debt is automatically deducted when points are distributed at the beginning of each month.]
Shimizu Akira rubbed his eyes, wondering if he'd misread the second item. His name had actually appeared in the intelligence system?
Who said information about Shimizu Akira didn't count as intelligence? It seemed perfectly reasonable.
But had someone really seen through his disguise? Did that mean she'd figured out the identity behind his alt account?
There was someone like that in Class 1-C? Shimizu Akira couldn't help muttering to himself.
It wasn't that he looked down on Class 1-C. It was just that yesterday, when he'd watched the surveillance footage, all he'd seen was Ryuen Kakeru dominating everyone like a tyrant. He hadn't paid much attention to anyone else.
(Shiina Hiyori, huh? Deduction... Is she some sort of detective? Looks like Class C isn't as weak as I thought.)
After reading that, Shimizu Akira continued to the third item.
(Hmm? You can borrow points, too? Interesting.)
He'd been wondering what would happen if the other classes couldn't afford the Private Points. He hadn't expected the school to have a policy like this.
After all, this was a simulation of society. Thinking about it, rules like this existed in the real world.
Student loans and the like weren't unusual.
"Remember to come to tutoring on time after school today." Horikita Suzune's cool voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Mm, I remember." Shimizu Akira answered softly, his gaze still fixed on the textbook in his hands.
The two of them had indeed made plans for this week's tutoring.
"Your math and English scores are excellent," Horikita Suzune said, frowning slightly as her fingertips tapped lightly on the desk. "Why is your Japanese score so poor?"
As his deskmate, Horikita Suzune had noticed it all these past few days.
In English class, Shimizu Akira's answers were even more standard than the teacher's. In math class, she often needed a good ten seconds to work out the answers he rattled off without hesitation.
Shimizu Akira obviously wasn't stupid. On the contrary, he was very clever.
For some reason, though, his Japanese scores were always poor. Such an extreme imbalance between subjects was hard to understand.
"Mm... I guess I was born with an uneven skill set." Shimizu Akira gave her a simple answer, but his eyes fell on the rice ball in her hand. It had no convenience-store packaging and was wrapped only in a plastic bag.
"Did you make that rice ball yourself?"
"...I gave all my points to you, after all." Horikita Suzune put the rice ball in her mouth and chewed slowly.
Shimizu Akira thought about it. She probably really couldn't even scrape together 5,000 points.
She was pretty pitiful.
For her brother's sake, and because she'd be tutoring him in the future, perhaps he should treat her to a proper meal.
"I'll take you out for a big dinner tonight," he said after a moment.
"...Why?" Horikita Suzune was taken aback. She'd meant to refuse, but then remembered that she needed to work on changing her personality, so she asked instead.
"To butter up my 'teacher.' I don't want to fail the exam, either, so this'll put my mind at ease. In the end, it's for my own sake," Shimizu Akira replied casually.
"...Butter me up? Then it depends on how much you're willing to spend." After thinking it over, Horikita Suzune agreed.
Some people really were the type who couldn't ask someone for help without treating them to a meal.
Shimizu Akira was probably lying, but then again, he'd taken 105,000 points from her. One dinner was no big deal.
"I should be able to make sure you leave with a full stomach." Shimizu Akira calculated that a large sum of points was about to come in, so he wouldn't need to pinch pennies anymore.
While the two of them were talking, Kushida Kikyou suddenly cleared her throat and slowly walked up to the podium.
"Um, everyone, starting today, I'll be the class representative of Class 1-D."
Hirata Yosuke stepped forward with her and said with a smile, "Kushida-san beat me fair and square this time. I'll be her deputy this month and help her with her work."
"Congratulations, Kushida-san!"
"Darn it, Shimizu Akira beat me to it!"
"I want to go on a date with Kushida-san, too..."
Some of the students applauded, while some of the boys looked at Shimizu Akira enviously.
"A date? Did you help her get votes?" Horikita Suzune asked, her gaze piercing straight through Shimizu Akira.
It wasn't jealousy. She was simply instinctively wary of such unusual behavior.
After all, based on what she knew about him, he wasn't the type to do business at a loss.
"She paid me points," Shimizu Akira explained briefly.
"...How much?"
"Eighty thousand..."
"Eighty thousand?" Horikita seemed to realize something and immediately said, "I'll pay you that. Help me get votes in next month's class representative election."
Her tone was decisive. She'd clearly already calculated the value of the deal.
"...You want to run for class representative, too?" Shimizu Akira immediately understood, his voice edged with surprise.
"Of course." Horikita Suzune straightened her back. "I told you, didn't I? Now that I've been placed in Class D, I'll lead this class—to the top of Class A."
"Pfft~" Shimizu Akira couldn't help laughing at how serious she looked.
He'd said before that Horikita Suzune might one day become one of the leaders of Class D.
But she was obviously nowhere near that level yet.
Had Horikita Suzune been drinking fake alcohol or something? How many peanuts had she eaten?
"What are you laughing at?!"
"Nothing. I'm just laughing at you."
079 You're Simply Not as Good as Kushida Kikyou
Horikita Suzune narrowed her foxlike eyes slightly and gave him a cold look.
"Are you questioning my ability?"
Shimizu Akira's expression didn't change. "Your grades are certainly excellent, but you're lacking in other areas. Here's the simplest example: you don't even know how to persuade people. Why should anyone listen to you?"
After a brief silence, Horikita said, "That's exactly why I need your help. I'll come up with a plan, and you'll carry it out. We'll each do what we're good at. Will that work?"
She thought to herself that this was exactly how her brother led the Student Council.
Just like the secretary who assisted her brother, clearly defined roles were the most efficient approach.
Shimizu Akira sighed and casually twirled his pen. "As your deskmate, I'll hear out your platform for class representative."
Before you continue