"..." Chabashira said. "It's fine now."
With that, Chabashira hung up.
Nakano Yuu's lips curled slightly.
Chabashira had just tried to sound him out, but it wouldn't work, Chabashira-sensei.
Whoever wanted to take responsibility for this lousy class could go ahead. He wasn't interested.
After all, this wasn't just any Class D. It was the first Class D in history to start with zero points in its very first month. It was beyond a gathering of sleeping dragons and hidden phoenixes—it was unprecedented!
Thinking this, Nakano Yuu looked at the number Chabashira had sent him.
It was the Student Council President's contact information. By this school's rule of strength above all, the Student Council President was naturally at the top of the student body, a symbol of strength.
And, of course, he was also someone who could accumulate a large number of points.
So,
Nakano Yuu opened his Student ID Card and took a screenshot of the transfer record from Horikita Suzune.
However, he blurred out the "Horikita" in Horikita Suzune's name as the sender.
Then he sent over the edited screenshots.
There were two in total.
One showed Horikita Suzune transferring him 82,400 points.
The other showed him transferring 2,400 points to Horikita Suzune.
Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President, had spoken at the opening ceremony on the first day of school. Nakano didn't remember the details, but Manabu had mentioned that this school valued strength above all.
It seemed this Student Council President was fairly tolerant and willing to give the new students some information.
Whether the new students could get the message was another matter.
Horikita Manabu also had another identity: he was Horikita Suzune's older brother.
As the strongest Student Council President in history, he'd been able to state the male protagonist's written-exam score at a glance. He could naturally find out that his younger sister had enrolled and been placed in Class D.
According to the original plot, once Horikita Suzune learned the school's rules, Horikita Manabu would order her to withdraw. It would seem heartless.
But Nakano Yuu had older sisters of his own, so he knew that anime siblings never truly lacked affection. They were either brother- or sister-complexes.
And so,
President Horikita was actually very concerned about his younger sister.
So,
now that he'd learned that not only had his younger sister been placed in Class D, but someone had also tricked her out of points, could he really sit still?
As long as he came looking for Nakano-kun, Nakano-kun's empty wallet would be filled.
With that in mind, Nakano Yuu began selling information that was about to expire.
Since the only contact in his phone was Chabashira-sensei, Nakano Yuu had no choice but to wait in the cafeteria. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long before he found his target.
P.S. Some words in the Shanhai Gacha's dictionary are banned, so I had to use typos. Sorry about that.
P.S. Please add this to your bookshelf, please add this to your bookshelf, please add this to your bookshelf.
P.S. Updates are at 7 and 11 every day. I might also write 5,000 words at once and be unable to split them into chapters; if that happens, it'll update at 11. Please add this to your bookshelf.
Chapter 4: Using the Student Council President as bait—aren't you taking things a little too far?
He had red hair parted down the middle, and he didn't wear his school uniform properly. Instead, he wore a black athletic T-shirt with the school's red uniform jacket over it. The look was a complete mess.
If Nakano had to describe him, he'd say he looked like a delinquent, a hoodlum, and the leader of a gang of hoodlums.
That person was Ryuen Kakeru, a new student assigned to Class 1-C.
"You. Is what you said all true?"
Ryuen Kakeru fixed the black-haired boy in front of him with a piercing stare. The boy had stopped him when he'd come to the cafeteria with his hands in his pockets, swaggering around and looking for food.
He hadn't even had a chance to eat before he'd been dragged over to hear this information.
And what he'd heard was certainly worth listening to.
It included the fluctuations in the rankings of Classes A, B, C, and D, the fact that the school would give all its resources to Class A, and even the information that collecting 20 million Private Points would let a student transfer to whatever class they wanted.
There was also the Special Exam coming up this month, a test of the students' overall qualities during their first month after enrollment.
In other words, it would test things like the students' conduct, and it was important too.
"Ryuen, you can afford 100,000 points, can't you?" Nakano Yuu said. "I think you're a man with vision. You understand how important this information is."
Ryuen fell silent.
The person Nakano Yuu wanted to sell his soon-to-expire information to was the boy in front of him: Ryuen Kakeru, a student in Class 1-C.
In the original story, Ryuen was also in a lower-ranked class, but he was a sharp thinker who knew how to exploit loopholes. If the male protagonist hadn't been around, he would have been the most likely person to lead a lower-ranked class all the way to Class A.
And now, the male protagonist really wasn't around. But that didn't mean Ryuen was someone to be dismissed.
Well.
What Nakano Yuu was interested in right now was Ryuen's ability to collect points.
Though Ryuen was a new student too, he came from a delinquent background. A month was plenty of time for him to bring his class together and start collecting protection money.
So he should have a bit of cash on him by now.
Hearing Nakano Yuu ask for 100,000 points, Ryuen didn't answer right away.
In fact, Ryuen only had 340,000 points on hand. He'd just used his usual methods of intimidation to get the class under control, then collected 10,000 points in protection money from every student. Of course, he hadn't reached 390,000 because some idiots had already spent all their points.
Ryuen had always felt something was off about this school.
It offered far better treatment than schools outside, yet most of his classmates were trash. He didn't think they deserved such treatment. So the school had to have some kind of purpose.
And now, everything made sense.
The school wanted to treat the students like lab mice and make them grow through competition.
And people like him, a bunch of scumbags, probably served as an example of social diversity.
Still, there were some things worth looking forward to.
The school recognized the classes' evaluation scores, and the rankings shifted according to those scores. So as long as his class's evaluation score was high enough, they could eventually climb to Class A. They might even graduate as Class A and receive the rewards the school advertised.
Wasn't that an interesting prospect?
The students' overall abilities differed from class to class, and being placed in Class C meant he was at the bottom. But at least all four classes had started with the same class evaluation score when they enrolled.
So if he seized the opportunity early, he could show a different kind of performance.
"What makes you think I'll definitely give you the points?" Ryuen's lips curled into a mocking smile.
"Special Exams are held every month. If you only want to make a one-time deal, you can refuse to pay. I'll just tell every class that you're a man who doesn't keep his word," Nakano said.
Ryuen's gaze swept over him like a sword.
Nakano-kun didn't so much as blink.
Ryuen looked away. "I can give you the points, but why are you telling me all this? Your class is at the bottom too. If you've got this chance, couldn't your class make a comeback?"
"First, I only found out about this this morning. And my class is probably going to lose all of its original 1,000 points," Nakano Yuu said. "So it's not a matter of whether I can save the class. Next month, I won't have any living expenses either."
So that was why he was selling information?
What a shortsighted move.
And if there really was a conduct exam, Ryuen figured his own class had probably already lost nearly half its points.
After all, he'd gotten the class under control by fighting a few times.
So his class wasn't in great shape either.
But Class D's behavior had been plain for all to see. After realizing how strange the school was, he'd watched Class D. Apart from having plenty of pretty girls, the class really was a mess.
And judging by the A, B, C, and D rankings, Class D was even worse than Class C.
"100,000 points is too much," Ryuen said. "I'll give you 50,000 at most."
"Your information is only worth 50,000? After all, it's already about to expire."
He was starting to believe it. After realizing there was something unusual about the school, he'd asked his homeroom teacher for information, but got nothing. He'd also tried cornering older students, only to be told that they'd been ordered to keep quiet and couldn't tell them anything.
They'd even said that when the time came, the new students would find out for themselves.
It all sounded so cryptic, like they were waiting to laugh at them. That had annoyed Ryuen quite a bit.
And now—
Damn it. So this was what it was?
This lousy school was certainly interesting, but it was also disgusting.
If they really wanted competition, they should have made the four classes equal from the start instead of assigning students according to their levels.
"Fine," Nakano Yuu said. "Transfer the points to me now."
"..." Ryuen.
Seeing Nakano Yuu agree so easily to sell the information for 50,000 points, Ryuen was a little surprised. Had he really gotten the information by chance, then sold it off shortsightedly?
Or did he also think the information would expire in just a few days, so he was selling it while he still could?
Beep!
[50,000 Private Points have been deposited into your private account. Sender: Ryuen Kakeru LY10340545. Current balance: 130,156 Private Points.]
Nakano Yuu received the points Ryuen had transferred.
Then, right in front of Ryuen, Nakano Yuu took a screenshot.
"Thanks for your business, Ryuen," Nakano Yuu said.
"What do you mean?" Ryuen felt that something wasn't quite right.
"Now that I have a record of your transfer, I can sell the information to Class A. I can tell them to be careful," Nakano Yuu said. "This information may seem worthless because it's about to expire, but once they know that Class C bought it, they'll need to watch their backs. After all, it's a conduct exam right now. They probably won't lose many points themselves, but if they get dragged down by you, they'll lose even more. So I think the students in Class A would pay 200,000 points just to be warned to watch out."
?
Ryuen's expression changed instantly. Then—
Shit!
For fuck's sake!
Was he being used as a stepping-stone to make money off Class A too?
Ryuen had no doubt that if Nakano Yuu went to Class A and showed them the transfer record, the students there would absolutely pay him a handsome reward.
And if Ryuen had wanted to buy this soon-to-expire information, it wouldn't have been treated as a way to get an early heads-up and prepare for the exam. Instead, it would look like he was deliberately targeting Class A students and trying to drag them down with him while the conduct exam was still in effect.
"..." Ryuen.
Ryuen began to think. Ryuen began to feel sick.
"If you're thinking about using violence against me, I wouldn't recommend it," Nakano Yuu said, seeing Ryuen's expression change. "My class has basically lost all its points already, so even if you fight me under a security camera, your class will just lose points too."
In other words, fighting would cost them points too.
"And if I report to the Student Council that you beat me up, your class will lose even more points," Nakano Yuu said. "You need to understand that fighting within your own class and fighting with students from another class are completely different things."
Ryuen said nothing.
He took back what he'd thought earlier about underestimating Nakano.
He'd thought this guy was shortsighted, but now he saw that he was a high-level viper.
Wasn't this bastard saying that since his class had zero points, he could mess with everyone else? If Ryuen was too stingy, then this bastard would come after them and drag his class down too.
Would he plunge into the abyss with him, or pay protection money to keep the peace?
Before you continue