The First Big Haul: A Huge Payday! / Ichinose Honami Learns to Act Cute
"Hmph, all you do is say weird things to fool girls. I'm so unlucky to have met you." Kushida rested her face against his chest and muttered softly.
"That's really bad luck." Hashiba Hikaru nodded in agreement.
"Hey, did I tell you to let go? Keep holding on tight!"
"Good."
The tender moment with Kushida lasted until around 8 p. m. After she left, Hashiba Hikaru found several text messages on her phone.
Ichinose Honami sent me an information-sharing text message, along with the execution plan organized by Horikita Suzune. It seems she started working on these things after returning to her dorm.
In addition, the post the boy made on the Student Forum has already received many replies. Because of the example of a student from Yamamura, many first-year students have expressed interest.
"We should be able to reap the first harvest by tomorrow, right?"
Hashiba Hikaru in her chair, pondering the details of the plan.
While Sudoku isn't something accessible to everyone, it's particularly suitable for places like schools because its challenging, puzzle-like format, coupled with point rewards, makes it uniquely appealing.
Even those who earn points will feel like they're making money through their intelligence; as long as the process is well-designed, there's no shortage of people willing to take on the challenge.
"Let me look forward to tomorrow."
Meanwhile, in Horikita Suzune's dormitory, the black-haired girl was sitting at her desk, having already finished the first poster and was diligently refining and adjusting the rules.
Tomorrow is the first day, and she wants to succeed more than anyone else.
--
The next morning, as soon as Hashiba Hikaru arrived at the door of Class A of the First Year, she immediately heard people discussing plans for Sudoku Challenge.
"Hey, Ninomiya, have you heard? There's a club holding Sudoku Challenge. If you succeed, you can get a lot of points as a reward."
"Of course I know, and it seems to be related to Classmate Hashiba, I saw that post yesterday."
"That's right, it seems to have been started by Horikita from Class C. I heard that someone actually won points. Let's go check it out after school."
"Hmm, I'm actually quite interested. Is Sudoku really the challenge format?"
After listening to their conversation, Hashiba Hikaru was quite satisfied. In any case, in this closed school environment, the possibility of earning points was bound to resonate with everyone.
As soon as the boy entered the classroom, people saw him and immediately began to greet him.
"Good morning, Classmate Hashiba."
Good morning, everyone!
"Classmate Hashiba, is that Sudoku Challenge related to you?" someone asked.
"Yes, but I'm just an assistant; the real organizer is Horikita."
The boy had already prepared his answer to the question.
He can't tell the answer to his classmates in Class A now, because if the truth is revealed, it would be too obvious if no one in the class would take the challenge, which would affect his ability to collect points from other classes.
It's not too late to tell everyone after we've collected most of the points from the first-year students. Anyway, he can take half of the points, which will be more than enough to pay back the students in Class A.
Why did Classmate Hashiba go and help students from other classes?
"It's a bit complicated. This matter is related to the Student Council's assignment, so if anyone is interested, you can give it a try. I'll be there to help out."
"I see, then I'll go try it later."
"Me too."
But just then, Shibata, who had sharper eyes, suddenly shouted.
"Hey, Hashiba, what happened to your lip?"
"I accidentally bit myself, it's not a big deal."
"Hikari, are you alright?"
Upon hearing Shibata's voice, Ichinose Honami immediately looked at the boy's face. Sure enough, she found a cut on his lip, which wasn't there when he left school yesterday.
"It's nothing serious, just a minor issue."
"Really?" The pink-haired girl was still somewhat worried.
"Yes, I know what I'm doing."
"Oh well."
Ichinose Honami glanced at the other person's face, her blue eyes flickered, but in the end she said nothing.
Chapter 250 The First Wave of Harvest: A Bountiful Fortune!
After school, since everyone in Class A knew that Hashiba Hikaru had participated in the event, many people planned to participate in the challenge. This was actually a good form of advertising, which could increase the attention of the entire grade.
Hashiba Hikaru specifically asked the Student Council for a day off so she could go to the club Activity Classroom early and see how the first day went.
"Hikaru, let's go together. I'm quite interested." Ichinose Honami took the other's arm, a gentle smile on her face.
"Sure, but I'm just going to help out. I won't hold back when Honami participates."
"Hehehe, then let me give it a try."
Because the post was made under her real name on the forum, and Horikita Suzune got up early to post the first poster on the bulletin board, the information spread very quickly. When the afternoon bell rang, many people went to the address on the poster – the Potential Development Club.
This is Hashiba Hikaru's name, which conveys its meaning very well.
When the boy and Ichinose Honami arrived at the club Activity Classroom he had applied for yesterday, they were surprised to find that the entrance was already crowded with people, and it was impossible to even walk through the middle.
"This..."
Looking at the almost packed corridor, Hashiba Hikaru's lips twitched involuntarily.
Everyone's really enthusiastic about money...
Just then, two people emerged from the gap in the middle, and immediately people surrounded them and asked loudly.
"How was it? How was it? Did you win?"
"I lost, and I even lost 30,000 points." The boy on the left was dejected, his expression gloomy.
But the girl on the other side was beaming with excitement, smiling as she told everyone, "I won the first three rounds, so I got 50,000 points!"
"Really?"
"You'll see for yourselves if you don't believe me. I heard that I was the first person to win after this challenge started. It seems I really do have a talent for Sudoku."
"Can each person only take on the challenge once?"
"That's what Horikita said, but the questions are random. If you're good enough, the grand prize is 300,000 points!" The girl's face flushed slightly. After all, it was her first time participating in such an event, and she hadn't expected to gain so many points in the blink of an eye.
"No, I want to join the queue too. Maybe I can win this grand prize."
"Me too, me too."
"Don't push me! Hurry up and line up!"
After witnessing this scene, Hashiba Hikaru's lips curled into a satisfied smile. In fact, earlier that morning, Horikita Suzune had given him feedback based on some rules she had come up with.
Through continuous discussion and analysis, the two finally came up with a relatively complete implementation plan.
First, after the challenge begins, each person can only challenge once. After submitting their points, they can play Sudoku. For each round won, they have to pay more points than the reward as a ticket to the next round, but the prize pool will double.
The Sudoku puzzles in the middle are all randomized. To ensure that the plan can continue and that no one fails, after more than ten people, one person can win and then their exam will be terminated.
The decision of how to handle this is up to Horikita.
Because the questions are answered one by one, there is no opportunity for prior communication, which gives the two ample room to maneuver.
There have been many participants since school ended at 3:30. The winners are all smiles, while the losers can only leave more dejected.
Because a contract must be signed before the challenge begins, there is no room for denial or credit; all payments must be settled on the spot using points.
"Hikari, this event is really amazing, there are so many people." Ichinose looked a little surprised, she didn't expect it to attract so many people.
"Yes, Horikita's idea is really interesting; he actually came up with the idea of organizing an event like this."
Hashiba Hikaru glanced at the crowd around her and whispered to Ichinose Honami, "Then I'll go in and help. After all, I was asked by the Student Council to do this. Honami can go and queue up if she wants to play."
"Okay, I understand. I'll go queue up with Ando and the others then. Just wait for me inside."
After Hashiba Hikaru squeezed in, she immediately saw a row of things placed at the entrance like a screen. Horikita Suzune must have brought them herself; her efficiency was quite impressive.
"Good afternoon, Classmate Hashiba."
The black-haired girl stood behind the screen, holding a timer in her hand. In front of her was a table where a girl was working on a Sudoku puzzle, her expression somewhat troubled, as if she were struggling with it.
"Well, since I said I wanted to cooperate with you, I won't just make empty promises. I'll make time to come over for the first few days."
"Then please have Classmate Hashiba maintain order and organize the people coming in, since there are too many people." Horikita Suzune's small face was covered with a layer of sweat, but her expression was very serious.
"I see."
A few minutes later, Horikita Suzune glanced at the timer expressionlessly and said to the girl sitting in the chair, "Time's up. I'm sorry, Kitahara, you failed."
Did I... lose?
Seeing Hashiba Hikaru immediately stepped forward and said gently, "Um, Kitahara, it's okay to fail. There will be other opportunities in the future. Please go out now; there are many people waiting in line behind you."
"Okay, I understand."
And so, the Sudoku Challenge, which started at 3:30 p. m., continued until after 7 p. m. Because everyone knew it was a chance to win big with a small investment, many first-graders who knew about the advertisement came over.
After seeing off the last person, Hashiba Hikaru and Horikita Suzune were exhausted. After all, this was not just a matter of maintaining order, but also involved many unexpected situations, which was a considerable test of their mental strength.
"Let's organize what we've learned today." Horikita Suzune hung the sign that read "Event Over" at the club entrance and sat back down in her chair.
"Hmm, let me calculate it."
Hashiba Hikaru volunteered for the task, because the black-haired girl opposite her was experiencing such a situation for the first time, so she was initially a little too excited, but now she was exhausted.
"Today, a total of 105 people participated. 93 people chose to challenge until they failed, so the total ticket price paid was 2.79 million. Six people successfully challenged to the third round, and their total reward was 300,000. One person successfully challenged to the fourth round, and their reward was 100,000. Five people won the first round but gave up, and their reward was 45,000."
After calculating the costs, Hashiba Hikaru's face lit up with a delighted smile. Although there were some oversights along the way, almost 90% of the people chose to take a big gamble, resulting in substantial profits in the end.
"How much is it in total?" After a whole day of planning, Horikita Suzune was physically exhausted, but seeing real points increase still put her in a very good mood.
"We've earned a total of 2,345,000 points; that's our total profit for today."
"If you split it in half, it would be around a million or so, right?"
"Don't be too disappointed. It's already quite good to earn this much on the first day," Hashiba Hikaru said with a smile. "Don't forget, the first-year students haven't finished harvesting yet. In addition, the second and third-year seniors can also go and promote it. There's plenty of time, Horikita."
"I see."
Chapter 251 Ichinose Honami Learns to Act Cute
After finishing the first round of point collection, Hashiba Hikaru and Horikita Suzune left the club Activity Classroom.
The black-haired girl planned to go back and devise a new strategy for carrying out the plan. Logically, the first day should have been the most popular, and the popularity might gradually decrease afterward. In addition to continuing the promotion, she also needed to develop a new plan with the senior students, since they also needed points.
Meanwhile, Hashiba Hikaru took his phone and went into the convenience store. He'd been quite busy these past few days and felt he'd neglected his girlfriend a little, so he planned to go back and make up with her later.
Earlier that afternoon Ichinose Honami also participated in the Sudoku Challenge, but perhaps she discovered something along the way, because she stopped after completing the second round of the challenge. Hashiba Hikaru didn't say much and simply let the girl take her reward and leave.
After buying the snacks the other person liked, the boy carried the things back to his dormitory. When he got to the door, he heard cooking noises coming from inside, and a delicious aroma was wafting out.
"Drop."
The boy swiped his card to enter and, sure enough, saw a pink-haired girl wearing an apron by the stove. Upon seeing the familiar figure, she immediately looked over with a beaming smile.
"Hikari, you're back."
"Um."
After closing the door, Hashiba Hikaru leaned over to take a look at the food in the pot. It was his favorite type of food, so it seemed that the other person had made it especially for him today.
"You must be exhausted after working so hard. Go and rest for a bit; your food will be ready soon."
Ichinose Honami gazed intently at the fragrant food in the pot, indicating that the other person could go and rest first.
"Okay, I understand."
Despite saying that, after putting her things in the refrigerator and changing out of her school uniform, Hashiba Hikaru walked back behind the girl.
"What's wrong?"
After Ichinose Honami uttered a question, she immediately felt the person behind her tighten their arms around her waist and bury their head in her hair.
Smelling the familiar scent lingering around her nose, Hashiba Hikaru held the girl and whispered, "I feel like I did something wrong, so I want to apologize to Honami."