Chapter 77

Although he did find Kushida's true self charming, he frankly admitted that he didn't enjoy listening to people criticize him, and he didn't want to be someone else's emotional dumping ground.

The invitation I extended to Kushida, suggesting that I could vent my negative emotions through him, was merely a transactional arrangement where both parties got what they needed.

But as the reply stated, Kushida Kikyo is now useless!

After all, the other party chose that location, clearly intending only to let him take advantage, without any intention of taking things further, right?

On the roof of the teaching building, in front of the rooftop gate, Kushida Kikyo sat quietly on the top step of the stairs, gently patting the dust off the hem of her skirt with her hands, her face bearing the same gentle and lovely smile as always.

Her previous experience of being exposed by Aragaki Shun taught her that this seemingly secluded location was actually not safe at all.

Therefore, before Aragaki Shun arrived, she did not plan to kick the door wildly and vent her negative emotions as she usually did.

Of course, she didn't want to go back here at all, and she certainly didn't want to contact Aragaki Shun and invite him over.

After all, extending such an invitation to the other person is practically an implication that the two of them could rekindle their romance here.

The thought that Aragaki Shun would most likely have this misunderstanding made Kushida Kikyo unable to suppress the urge to curse.

But the person she wanted to yell at wasn't Aragaki Shun, but Sakayanagi Arisu from Class B, who had caused her to accumulate a lot of negative emotions throughout the day.

How can there be such a disgusting person in this world? Relying on her status as the daughter of the Board Chairman, she actually dared to pry into the personal privacy of students and even spread rumors about the dark history of her rival junior high school!

That damn cripple, could he also know about what happened to her in middle school?

The thought of this possibility sent chills down Kushida Kikyo's spine.

Two months have passed since she enrolled, and before that, the only people Kushida knew about her dark past were Horikita Suzune and Aragaki Shun.

However, Horikita Suzune is a loner who has no interest in socializing, Kushida Kikyo is confident that she has more say in the class than Suzune.

If Aragaki Shun really wanted to get back at her, he wouldn't need to use this leverage at all. With her strength, suppressing her would be a piece of cake.

Therefore, both of them can rest assured for now. As long as they keep a low profile, neither of them should be interested in exposing their dark past.

But now, there's another person who might know about her past: Sakayanagi Arisu. That cripple even likes to use public opinion attacks!

Kushida really wants to kill someone!

Board Chairman, you @#@%￥$#*&!!!

No, in just one day, Kushida Kikyo had accumulated more negative emotions than she had in a month.

If she doesn't find a place to vent, she doubts she'll be able to maintain her angelic state when she's with her friends tomorrow.

Therefore, after much hesitation, she still came to the rooftop of the teaching building and gritted her teeth to send an email to Aragaki Shun.

This was a relatively secluded area within the school that she had searched for a long time to find. If she hadn't come here, she wouldn't have known where else could be safer.

She couldn't exactly kick down the dorm door and yell at people, could she?

As for why I called Aragaki Shun over, one reason was that I really wanted to talk to him about Sakayanagi, but criticizing Sakayanagi in an email would be subject to school supervision.

On the other hand, it was also a form of insurance—with Aragaki Shun by her side, even if others discovered her coming here at night, she could say that the two of them were having a secret rendezvous.

At worst, I can accept that guy's suggestion, change course, and become his girlfriend in public.

Only--

[Aragaki Shun]: "I already have a girlfriend who's practically throwing herself at me. Kushida, you're useless now. I don't want to go over there and listen to you get yelled at."

Kushida Kikyo:???

140. The final outcome of the rumor-mongering incident; a vote by the entire first-grade class.

On the morning of June 2nd, the school decided to swiftly address the rumors spread by Sakayanagi Arisu, and thus notified all faculty and students to assemble at the First Gymnasium.

"Red bean paste, a secret Marseille!!!"

As expected, the opening of this Aragaki Shun -wide assembly began with the Board Chairman showcasing the spirit of craftsmanship in his country, as is customary.

I won't go into the subsequent rambling, but to summarize, the Board Chairman delivered a passionate Speech expressing deep regret, followed by Director Kanda taking the stage to announce several resolutions made by the Advanced Nurturing Board of Directors to the entire school community.

[Article 1: Starting from the next semester, the Board of Directors will suspend Sakayanagi Narimori from his position as Board Chairman. All matters related to his tenure will be gradually handed over to the Acting Board Chairman appointed by the Board of Directors. This resolution will remain in effect while Sakayanagi Arisu is enrolled in Advanced Nurturing.]

[Article 2: From today until the next semester in September, for three months after the Board Chairman has completely handed over his duties, Sakayanagi Arisu will be suspended from school and is prohibited from going to the school building to interfere with other students' class competitions.]

[Article 3: Spreading rumors indiscriminately by personnel on campus is prohibited. Anyone who spreads false information to attack others can appeal to the Student Council. Depending on the impact of the rumor, the most severe penalty may be expulsion from the school.]

[Article 4: Regarding the questions raised by teachers and students about Sakayanagi Arisu's class assignment...]

[Article 5:...]

This school-wide assembly lasted for almost two hours. By the time the school leaders announced the meeting was over and each class left the First Gymnasium in order and returned to their respective classrooms, the bell for the third period in the morning had already rung several minutes earlier.

However, today was a special day. The school had announced that there would be no classes all morning, so everyone was relaxed and discussing the various announcements from the school with their classmates.

Aragaki Shun took out a contract from his drawer. It had been delivered to him that morning by Katsuragi Kohei, but he hadn't had a chance to look at it closely because he had to go to the Gymnasium for a group meeting.

Or rather, there's no need to look too closely, because the conditions above were what he proposed yesterday, and there's absolutely no room for negotiation.

Class B gives Aragaki Shun 400 evaluation points each month in exchange for Private Points letter of understanding from him, waiving his responsibility for pursuing Hashimoto Masayoshi in the rumor-mongering incident.

Clearly, faced with the difficult choice between maintaining Class Evaluation Points of 300 and maintaining 400,000 Private Points per month, Katsuragi Kohei and the rest of Class B ultimately chose the 300- Class Evaluation Points.

"Actually, the factors that can influence Class B's decision-making, which serve as bargaining chips, include Hashimoto Masayoshi's own abilities and his connections within Class B."

Kanzaki Ryuji walked over, saw the contract in Aragaki Shun's hand, and couldn't help but express his opinion.

Last night, Aragaki sent him to Class B to play the villain and put pressure on Katsuragi and the others, threatening that if they didn't make a decision soon, they would expel Hashimoto Masayoshi along with the school once the school's notification came.

Therefore, he specifically sought out a few Class A students who were relatively indifferent to outsiders, and took them to the Class B classroom to have a heated debate with Katsuragi.

During this process, Kanzaki Ryuji also learned about the different attitudes of the many students in Class B towards the contract.

"Hashimoto Masayoshi's strength is actually among the top in the entire Class B, which is why he was able to become a key member of the Sakayanagi Faction and be trusted by Sakayanagi Arisu."

"Besides his ability, Hashimoto is also on good terms with many classmates in Class B. If Katsuragi forcefully abandons him, the already weak atmosphere in Class B will likely become even more fragmented."

"After all, it's a choice between a bad one and an even worse one," Aragaki Shun smiled. "Katsuragi didn't really have a choice."

By abandoning Hashimoto Masayoshi, Class B will not only lose 300 Class Evaluation Points, but will also become the first class in the entire first year to have a dropout.

With Sakayanagi Arisu suspended from school, and now completely losing Hashimoto Masayoshi, Class B has two fewer members who can be considered combat-ready in the Special Exam compared to other classes.

The impact of this incident goes beyond the visible weakening of our strength; more importantly, it damages class cohesion and the morale of our competitors, including Class B.

These two intangible factors may be the most important components of a class's strength.

Therefore, no matter how unwilling Katsuragi Kohei, as long as he still wanted to lead Class B forward, he had no choice but to sign this contract.

Signing this contract, transferring the Private Points corresponding to 400 Class Evaluation Points, which is 1.6 million yen per month, to Aragaki Shun... for Class B, this is definitely a major loss that could send them plummeting to rock bottom.

The problem is that even if they don't sign and allow Hashimoto Masayoshi to drop out, Class B can only retain 400,000 yen, while the remaining 1.2 million yen will inevitably be lost.

At least by signing this contract, Class B's Class Evaluation Points can still be maintained at 850 points. On the surface, it is not much different from Aragaki Class's 1060 points. Perhaps a Special Exam is all it takes to turn the tide.

"This is all the Katsuragi Class has left."

A gentle smile played on Aragaki Shun's lips. "If we allow Hashimoto Masayoshi to be expelled, the gap in evaluation scores between the two classes will widen to 510 points. At that point, many students in Class B will completely lose their will to compete with us."

Private Points represent the class's foundation, while Class Evaluation Points are the apparent ranking of strength. There is no definitive answer as to which of these two things is more important in class competition; different people have different opinions.

However, one thing is certain: to compete for Class A, you need to ensure that at least one of your Private Points or Class Evaluation Points is not too far behind.

If you lag behind in both, it's obvious to anyone with eyes that there's basically no hope.

"In Katsuragi's eyes, our Private Points accumulation has always far exceeded that of their class. They can't compete in this aspect. Therefore, between the 300 Class Evaluation Points and the 400,000 Private Points per month, he can only choose to maintain the Class Evaluation Points."

"Only in this way can he convince the students in Class B that they still have a chance to overthrow us and take back Class A's position."

However, even this hope was deliberately left behind by Aragaki Shun.

Otherwise, why would those students in Katsuragi Class be willing to diligently face the school's tests and strive to maintain their current Class Evaluation Points?

It's important to know that most of the Private Points corresponding to these scores are supplied to him.

If Class B were to give up now, Aragaki Shun's gains would be greatly diminished.

His gaze was fixed on the invisible panel visible only to him; the changing information on it filled him with joy.

[Achievement Completed: Debunking the Rumors, Sakayanagi Arisu, Source Power +2.]

[Achievement Completed: New Contract, Possess Most of the Wool Produced by Class B, Source Power +3.]

[Achievement Completed: Gaining Momentum, possessing sufficient influence in all four first-year classes, Source Power +3.]

[Source Power: 16→24 (Current efficiency: 4 per month)]

The impact of the changes in the school's senior management has not yet been fully assessed, but the current Source Power gains are already roughly equivalent to two months of fixed income.

Unfortunately, the time and place are not right now, otherwise he would definitely try to fix those two brand-new skills that have not yet been formed.

"It seems that Katsuragi is planning to find an opportunity to terminate these contracts during a future Special Exam, although I think he's dreaming."

Kanzaki's expression was as if he were telling a lame joke; he simply didn't think Katsuragi and his gang had the ability.

Do you think Aragaki would spit out what he's eaten?

"By the way, it seems that Katsuragi, along with everyone in the class, signed a liability transfer agreement with Hashimoto Masayoshi."

"Everyone in Class B will take responsibility for this, but Hashimoto will only be allowed to keep 10,000 yen a month for living expenses. Any extra Private Points will have to be handed over. In addition, if more than half of the students in Class B believe that he has harmed the class's interests again, he can be expelled directly."

At this point, Kanzaki Ryuji looked at Aragaki Shun with amusement, "It seems they got their inspiration from you. I heard Katsuragi mention the contract you signed with Hirata and Ken Sudō of Class D."

"This at least proves that their IQ isn't too low, right?"

Aragaki Shun put the contract back in his drawer, casually commenting as he sent a debt collection text to Katsuragi: "Given Hashimoto Masayoshi Hashimoto's opportunistic nature, if Class B is really stupid enough to do nothing, then I certainly wouldn't mind taking in this masterless scoundrel in Sakayanagi's place."

"But it's all good now. After signing this contract, Hashimoto will most likely never graduate from Advanced Nurturing. It just depends on when the school suddenly decides to hold Special Exam for first-year students that requires sacrificing expelled students."

The main reason why Class B suffered such heavy losses this time was due to Sakayanagi Arisu's strategic mistake. This little princess came to cause trouble for Aragaki Shun with great enthusiasm, but was easily defeated by a counterattack, leaving her and Class B half-crippled.

The culprit was Sakayanagi Arisu, but the one who carried out the act was Hashimoto Masayoshi. The students in Class B definitely didn't like either of them.

If a withdrawal exam is required, these two students are most likely to be expelled.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Hashimoto Mirai will have no choice but to cling tightly to Katsuragi and compete with Totsuka Yahiko for the title of Katsuragi's most loyal lackey."

Hearing Aragaki Shun's teasing remark, Kanzaki couldn't help but chuckle.

But thinking about it, it's actually not wrong.

Katsuragi is relatively responsible and has a strong sense of duty towards the students in Class B.

If Hashimoto wholeheartedly follows Katsuragi and works hard to prove his strength and value, he still has a chance to preserve himself.

As for the possibility of contacting other classes to act as traitors, that's basically out of the question.

After all, he had signed that contract, and if he was found to have betrayed it, he would be expelled from school. Even if he used Twenty Million Personal Points to transfer to another class, it wouldn't make a difference.

"If we take the Private Points transfer route, Hashimoto needs to collect at least 40 million."

Contracts signed in the name of the class as a whole are more difficult to terminate, but contracts signed in the name of an individual can be torn up directly.

Once Twenty Million Personal Points are collected, enough to withstand the penalty of expulsion, the binding force of this contract becomes essentially nonexistent.

Of course, this is only an operation under extreme circumstances. Anyone with a bit of intelligence, who actually had that many Private Points, would probably think of directly negotiating the termination with the beneficiary of the contract, which would only require ten million or even five million.

However, Hashimoto signed a contract with everyone in Class B, and given the damage he caused to the class, it's impossible to terminate the contract for just five or ten million.

Therefore, if someone from another department wants to recruit Hashimoto to work for them, they would have to pay at least 40 million yen to first help him break his contract and then help him transfer to another department.

But clearly, Hashimoto doesn't have that value; at least, Aragaki Shun isn't bothered to put any more effort into him.

While analyzing the situation of the first-year students with Kanzaki Ryuji, Aragaki Shun's phone suddenly vibrated. He looked down and saw that, sure enough, 1.6 million Private Points had arrived, transferred from Katsuragi's side.

Kanzaki glanced at it curiously, then deliberately clicked his tongue and teased mischievously:

"It's really pitiful. Class B only had 850 points to begin with. Yesterday you took 200, and today you took another 400. Now each of them has only 25,000 Private Points left to spend each month."

"It's alright! There are even fewer in Class C and Class D! Their quality of life will still be the highest among the lower-ranked classes; at most, they just won't be able to save much money."

Aragaki Shun smiled and operated his phone, transferring 600,000 yen directly to Kanzaki Ryuji. "Alright, everyone gets a share. This is the errand fee you guys paid last night for putting pressure on Katsuragi in Class B. Divide it up."

Kanzaki raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and the class fund administrator, who already understood the other party's style, didn't refuse the perk, but couldn't help but remark, "Have you reached an extreme level of laziness?"

"Last night, it was just me and Shibata and the other four of us who went to Class B. You know who we are, so why do you need me to transfer money several more times?"

"This is your job, isn't it?"

Aragaki Shun waved his hand, stating matter-of-factly: you should do the job according to your position.

So Kanzaki could only go find Shibata Sou and the others with a dark expression.