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Unlike Shiina Hiyori, an NPC who refreshes at fixed times in the library, Ichinose Honami has no set schedule or location outside of her dormitory and classroom.

She also tends to travel with classmates whenever she goes out.

To avoid drawing attention, the best approach is to arrange a private meeting for the transaction; this allows for flexibility in time and location, keeping the risk of discovery very low.

Hoshino Kanade's terminal only contains two contacts: one is Kiyona, and the other, naturally, is the queen of popularity in Class D, Kushida.

"Kushida-san, do you have the contact information for Ichinose Honami from Class B?" (Read)

As expected of the queen of popularity, the message was read instantly. She probably keeps an eye on her terminal twenty-four hours a day—is this the price one pays for being popular?

"I do, but why does Hoshino-kun need Ichinose's contact info?"

"Ichinose helped me out at the library a couple of days ago, and I wanted to express my gratitude."

The reason was, of course, a lie, but given Kushida's persona, she wouldn't dream of digging any deeper.

"I see. Don't tell anyone I gave it to you, okay? Ichinose's contact info:..."

"You've been a huge help, thank you."

The result was that Kushida handed over Ichinose's contact information quite easily.

Although Kushida isn't a true angel, it's enough that she acts like one toward me.

After adding Ichinose, the request was approved almost immediately.

The common traits of popular people are likely that they spend most of their time socializing, possess high emotional intelligence, constantly monitor messages from friends, and are physically attractive.

"Hello, I am Hoshino Kanade from Class 1-D. I have something important I'd like to discuss with you in private. Would that be possible?" (Read)

The phrasing might sound a bit robotic, but it covers all the bases, making it a solid opening.

"Sure."

Seeing Hoshino Kanade's message, Ichinose knew that nothing could be resolved online, so she didn't ask any questions.

She has also vaguely sensed that there is something wrong with this school, and perhaps Hoshino Kanade will provide her with the answers.

Ichinose's angelic nature leads her to believe that no one in the school would harm her; of course, she wouldn't show up to the meeting without taking precautions.

"Tomorrow at 8:00 PM, KTV Room 206."

There was no other choice. If I chose to meet after school tomorrow, I'd be screwed if Kiyona stuck to me like glue. I have to wait until after dinner, once we part ways at the elevator, to have any personal time.

Before then, Hoshino Kanade still needs to prepare the contract.

The validity of a contract depends on whether both parties can independently maintain the balance, so a teacher's witness is not strictly necessary.

However, when it involves the transfer of points, having a teacher witness is safer. If Ichinose requires it, we can just negotiate the terms first and then find Hoshinomiya to witness it.

Hoshinomiya holds a grudge against Chabashira Sae, so the chance of her exposing me is almost zero. With someone like me working against the class, there's no doubt Class D will remain at the bottom.

This is the fourth day since school started, and Class D remains as indulgent as ever.

A zero-point month is truly well-deserved, though Hoshino Kanade feels that he and Kiyona missing the opening ceremony on the first day already cost the class a significant amount of points.

Since it's going to be zero points anyway, we might as well splurge and make this zero-point status create more value. I've never felt this wealthy before.

The day passed uneventfully.

"See ya~"

I said my daily goodbye to Kiyona at the fourth-floor elevator lobby.

Next, it's time to take action.

I returned to my room to grab the book containing the prepared contract, then took the elevator downstairs. Since the KTV room had already been booked, Hoshino Kanade only needed to wait outside the KTV, keeping a low profile.

At 7:40, Ichinose arrived alone at the KTV entrance, twenty minutes ahead of the scheduled time.

After observing the surroundings for a few minutes to ensure there were no tails, Hoshino Kanade entered Room 206.

As expected, the layout of the room differed slightly from what Hoshino Kanade remembered; Ichinose must have inspected it.

Ensuring the door was firmly shut, Hoshino Kanade turned around to face the great angel.

Her honey-gold, silky long hair fell naturally to her shoulders, the strands shimmering with a warm luster that complemented her fair, translucent skin.

Her gradient gold-purple eyes were clear and bright, the corners slightly drooping. Although she looked a bit guarded, she still radiated an infectious sense of approachability.

As expected of a great angel, she is indeed "great." Of course, the little angel isn't small either.

"Let me formally introduce myself. Class 1-D, Hoshino Kanade."

"Class 1-B, Ichinose Honami. Just call me Ichinose."

It seems she really did have something to discuss, as Ichinose let out a sigh of relief.

"I've heard your name mentioned by people in my class."

Hoshino Kanade already knew what she was going to say.

"The legend of the fastest freshman to make a move, capturing a beautiful girl from his own class within two days of starting school, and then flaunting his relationship in various settings."

Ichinose Honami wore a faint smile at the corners of her mouth, recounting the school legend in a soft, melodic voice.

"Hoshino-kun is truly amazing."

Looking at Ichinose, who didn't seem to be faking it, she likely genuinely felt that Hoshino Kanade was impressive.

Hoshino Kanade really wanted to know who had spread such an absurd rumor, especially when his relationship with Kiyona was merely that of ordinary friends... or at most, something slightly more than friends.

"Although I'm not sure what exactly is so amazing about me, let's get down to business."

Ichinose sat up straight.

"Sign this first, and then we can continue with the rest."

Hoshino Kanade produced a contract.

"...Party B must keep Party A's identification information strictly confidential... Any violation will result in a payment of 10,000,000 points to Party A."

Ichinose took the contract, initially just skimming it, but eventually couldn't help but frown as she read it aloud.

This contract was binding only on Party B, which was Ichinose.

"Of course, if you're afraid I might try to extort you, you can record our conversation, but make sure to keep it safe and don't let anyone else find it."

If Ichinose signed the contract and Hoshino Kanade immediately went to the school to falsely accuse her of exposing him, the school would likely not recognize the validity of such a contract.

The amount of points involved was too large; a false accusation would never succeed.

However, if there were a recording, and the leak later became known to the entire class, using the recording as evidence might actually make the contract enforceable.

Ultimately, the validity of this contract depended entirely on whether the school recognized it, and given the vague wording of the clauses, it was even harder to enforce.

Ichinose hesitated, clearly understanding this point, but she didn't know if Hoshino Kanade possessed valuable information, or if the contract contained traps she hadn't yet discovered.

For Hoshino Kanade, the core value of this contract lay in verifying a cooperative attitude—the partner had already been strictly vetted by him, so the risk of identity exposure was already under control.

It seemed it was time to turn up the heat.

"Only Class A can enjoy all the preferential resources provided by the school upon graduation, such as guaranteed admission to top domestic and international universities or entry into the companies of their dreams."

The first half of that sentence had already stunned Ichinose; although she couldn't verify if what Hoshino Kanade said was true, she already believed the news.

The conditions at this school were too good—so good they felt unreal. How could such a massive pie fall from the sky?

This feeling was as illusory as the time in middle school when Ichinose thought she could give her younger sister the hair clip she wanted on her birthday.

But the price was getting caught stealing—even after using the most humble dogeza to earn forgiveness, that hair clip never ended up in her sister's hands.

So, what would be the price for a wish worth countless times more than that?

"I understand."

Ichinose decisively signed her name.

Unlike Shiina Hiyori, an NPC who refreshed at fixed times in the library, Ichinose Honami had no fixed schedule or location outside of her dorm and classroom.

She also generally traveled in groups with her classmates when going out.

To avoid attracting attention, the best method was to arrange a meeting for the transaction; it allowed for flexibility in time and location, and the chance of being discovered was very low.

Hoshino Kanade's terminal only had two contacts: one was Kiyona, and the other was naturally the D Class popularity king, Kushida.

"Kushida-san, do you have the contact information for Ichinose Honami from Class B?" (Read)

As expected of the popularity king, the message was read instantly. She probably kept an eye on her terminal twenty-four hours a day—was this the price of being a popularity king?

"I do, but why does Hoshino-kun need Ichinose's contact info?"

"Ichinose helped me at the library a couple of days ago, and I wanted to express my gratitude."

The reason was, of course, a lie, but given Kushida's persona, she wouldn't press for details.

"I see. Don't tell anyone I told you, okay? Ichinose's contact info is:..."

"You've been a huge help, thanks."

The result was that Kushida provided Ichinose's contact information very easily.

Although Kushida wasn't a true little angel, it was enough that she acted like one toward him.

Afterward, he added Ichinose, and the request was approved shortly after.

The common traits of a popularity king were likely spending most of their time on social interaction, having high emotional intelligence, constantly monitoring messages from friends, and being physically attractive.

"Hello, I am Hoshino Kanade from Class D of the first year. I have something important I would like to discuss with you privately. Would that be possible?" (Read)

This message sounded a bit like a bot, but it stated everything clearly, making it a good opening.

"Okay."

Seeing Hoshino Kanade's message, Ichinose knew that nothing could be asked online, so she didn't ask anything at all.

She had also vaguely sensed that there was something wrong with this school, and perhaps Hoshino Kanade would bring her the answers.

Ichinose's angelic nature led her to believe that no one in the school would harm her; of course, she wouldn't agree to the meeting without making some preparations of her own.

"Tomorrow night at 8:00 PM, KTV Room 206."

There was no other choice. If he chose to meet after school tomorrow, and Kiyona happened to stick to him, he would be done for. Only after dinner, once they parted ways at the elevator, would he have his own private time.

Before that, Hoshino Kanade still needed to prepare the contract.

The validity of the contract depended on whether both parties could autonomously maintain the balance, so a teacher's witness was not strictly necessary.

However, when it involved the transfer of points, having a teacher witness was safer; if Ichinose needed it, they could just agree on it first and then find Hoshinomiya to witness.

Hoshinomiya and Chabashira Sae had a grudge, so the chance of her exposing him was almost zero; with someone like himself who was always working against his own side, there was no need to worry about Class D not hitting rock bottom.

This was the fourth day of school, and Class D remained indulgent.

The zero points for next month were truly well-deserved, although Hoshino Kanade felt that he and Kiyona had already caused the class to lose a massive amount of points by not attending the opening ceremony on the first day.

Since it was going to be zero points anyway, they might as well spend lavishly and let this zero create more value; he had never felt so wealthy before.

The day passed uneventfully.

"Ja ne~"

He said his daily goodbye to Kiyona at the elevator entrance on the fourth floor.

Next, it was time to start the operation.

He returned to his dorm to grab the book containing the prepared contract, then took the elevator downstairs; since the karaoke room had already been booked, Hoshino Kanade only needed to wait outside in disguise.

At 7:40, Ichinose arrived at the karaoke entrance alone, twenty minutes earlier than the agreed time.

After observing outside for a few minutes to ensure there was no tail, Hoshino Kanade also entered Room 206.

Unsurprisingly, the layout inside the room had a few subtle differences from what Hoshino Kanade remembered; Ichinose must have checked it.

Ensuring the door was locked, Hoshino Kanade finally turned around to face this archangel.

Her honey-gold, silky long hair fell naturally to her shoulders, the strands shimmering with a warm luster that set off her fair, translucent skin.

Her gradient gold-purple eyes were clear and bright, the corners slightly drooping; although her expression looked a bit guarded now, she still radiated an incredibly infectious sense of approachability.

As expected of an archangel, she was indeed "big"—of course, the little angel wasn't small either.

"Let me formally introduce myself: Class D, first year, Hoshino Kanade."

"Class B, first year, Ichinose Honami. Just call me Ichinose."

It seemed she really had something to discuss, as Ichinose let out a sigh of relief.

"I've heard your name mentioned by people in my class."

Hoshino Kanade already knew what she wanted to say.

"The fastest legend of the incoming freshmen, capturing a beautiful girl from his own class less than two days after school started, and then showing off his relationship in various situations."

Ichinose Honami wore a faint smile at the corners of her mouth, recounting the campus legend in a soft voice.

"Hoshino-kun is truly amazing."

Seeing that Ichinose didn't seem to be faking it, she must have genuinely thought Hoshino Kanade was amazing.

Hoshino Kanade really wanted to know who spread the news; it was so absurd, when his relationship with Kiyona was clearly just that of ordinary friends... or at most, more than friends.

"Although I don't know what's so amazing about it, let's talk about business first."

Ichinose sat up straight.

"Sign this first, and then we can continue with the rest."

Hoshino Kanade took out a contract.

"...Party B must keep Party A's identification information strictly confidential... Violators will pay Party A 10 million points."

Ichinose took the contract, browsing it at first, but finally couldn't help but frown as she read it aloud.

This contract only placed restrictions on Party B, which was Ichinose.

"Of course, if you're afraid I'm trying to swindle you, you can record our conversation, but keep it safe and don't let anyone find it."

If Ichinose signed the contract and Hoshino Kanade immediately took it to the school to falsely accuse her of exposing him, the school likely wouldn't recognize the validity of the contract.

The points involved were too large; a false accusation wouldn't succeed.

However, if she recorded the audio and it later leaked to the whole class, using the recording as evidence might actually make the contract enforceable.

Ultimately, the validity of the contract depended entirely on whether the school recognized it, and the terms were defined too vaguely to be easily enforceable.

Ichinose hesitated; she clearly understood this point, but she didn't know if Hoshino Kanade possessed valuable information, or if the contract contained traps she hadn't discovered.

For Hoshino Kanade, the core value of this contract lay in verifying their cooperative attitude—the partner had already been strictly screened by him, so the risk of his identity being exposed was already under control.

It seemed it was time to turn up the heat.

"Only Class A can enjoy all the preferential resources provided by the school upon graduation, such as guaranteed admission to top domestic and international universities or companies one dreams of."

The first half of the sentence had already stunned Ichinose; although she couldn't verify if what Hoshino Kanade said was true, she already believed the news.

The conditions at this school were too good, so good that they felt unreal; how could such a huge pie fall from the sky?

This feeling was as illusory as when she thought she could give her sister the hair clip she wanted on her birthday back in middle school.

But the price was being caught stealing—even after using the most humble dogeza to beg for forgiveness, that hair clip never reached her sister's hands.

So, what was the price for a wish worth countless times more than that?

"I understand."

Ichinose decisively signed her name.