Purchase Rules

"Clap, clap."

Two crisp sounds of clapping rang out, interrupting the noise in the classroom. The bald-headed boy walked up to the podium, his posture upright, carrying an air of steady composure.

"Everyone, please quiet down and listen to me for a moment." His voice was not loud, yet it possessed an undeniable sense of penetration.

Seeing that someone had finally stepped up to take charge, the crowd sensibly quieted down. Rather than arguing aimlessly here, it was better to listen to someone else's thoughts—especially this bald boy who looked like he had a plan.

Below the podium, Sakayanagi Arisu rested her chin on her hand, her cane swaying gently beside her. There was a hint of intrigued amusement in her eyes as she looked at Katsuragi Kohei on the stage, as if she were evaluating some interesting object.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Katsuragi Kohei continued: "Instead of arguing like this without a result, why don't we all introduce ourselves first? Use this time to think carefully about whether we should spend our Private Points to buy that rule."

He paused, pressed his hand against the edge of the podium, and spoke in a crisp tone: "I'll start. My name is Katsuragi Kohei. I look forward to working with you all."

After the brief self-introduction, there was a moment of silence in the classroom, and then people began to stand up one after another.

"My name is..."

"Please take care of me..."

Names were called out one after another. Uesugi Hara rested his chin on his hand, calmly matching these names to faces—regardless of whether he would need them later, it never hurt to remember them.

Soon, it was his turn.

Uesugi Hara stood up lazily, his tone carrying a hint of casual banter: "Uesugi Hara."

He scanned the crowd and added with a smirk: "I know a little bit about everything, I don't have any special hobbies, but I am a bit fond of money."

This remark drew a few chuckles from below, but he changed his tone, putting on a serious face: "Of course, if anyone needs help, feel free to come to me."

He paused, deliberately emphasizing the second half of his sentence: "The premise is—you can afford the points."

As his voice fell, the laughter in the classroom became more pronounced. Kamuro Masumi rolled her eyes nearby and muttered, "Always opening your mouth about money."

Uesugi Hara acted as if he hadn't heard her and sat down gracefully, though he was thinking to himself: Sticking the "money-loving" label on myself early on will make things easier to handle later.

He didn't care at all what others thought of him. After all, the sneers or disdain for his "love of money" mostly came from people who had never experienced the feeling of being too poor to afford a meal.

Uesugi Hara tapped his fingertips on the desk unconsciously, his thoughts drifting back a few years—back then, he often couldn't even scrape together enough money for a loaf of bread. If he hadn't occasionally "borrowed" money from street thugs to get by, he probably would have become a lonely ghost starving in an alleyway long ago.

People who have been terrified by poverty always have a bit of an obsession with things like points that can be exchanged for a stable life.

Just as he was pondering, it was Sakayanagi Arisu's turn. She stood up with her cane, her smile elegant yet sharp: "Sakayanagi Arisu. I am very happy to be classmates with everyone, and I look forward to 'getting along' well in the future."

After she finished speaking, she glanced toward Uesugi Hara, and Uesugi Hara returned her a bright, cheerful smile.

"Alright, now that everyone knows a little about each other," Katsuragi Kohei's voice rang out again, drawing everyone's attention back to the podium, "next, we should discuss whether we want to spend our points to purchase the rule."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room: "500,000 points split up comes to 12,500 points per person. I believe everyone here can accept this amount."

"And based on the information we just learned, the point distribution next month will clearly no longer be a fixed 100,000." Katsuragi Kohei's tone was logically sound: "Since our class's points will change, it is highly likely that other classes will be the same. What does this mean? It means that there is likely competition between classes, and the core of that competition will very likely be points."

He emphasized his tone: "In this situation, knowing the rules in advance will allow our Class A to gain an advantage at the starting line. In the long run, spending these points to trade for future initiative is definitely worth it—after all, no one wants to watch other classes seize the opportunity while we can only react passively, right?"

This explanation was clear and logical, directly pointing out the importance of the "information gap." The murmurs in the classroom gradually subsided, and many people showed expressions of agreement.

Uesugi Hara nodded inwardly—this bald guy really knew how to grasp the key points. His explanation of the pros and cons was clear and much more powerful than his own casual mention of "splitting the cost" earlier.

He glanced at Sakayanagi Arisu; she was still her usual composed self, as if she had expected this result all along. And Kamuro Masumi, who had been frowning and pondering for a moment, also gave a soft "hmm," clearly swayed by the argument.

It seemed that these 500,000 points had to be spent.

But that was fine; Uesugi Hara wasn't someone who only cared about immediate gains anyway. Figuring out the rules in advance was better than being caught off guard later.

Although a small number of people in the class looked reluctant, probably thinking that 12,500 points were enough to buy many things and that there was no need to spend them on such "intangible" information, under the logical analysis of Katsuragi Kohei and the momentum of the class, no one raised any further objections.

Everyone opened their Terminals one after another and transferred their share of points to Katsuragi Kohei. As the numbers on the screens decreased, some sighed softly, while others had thoughtful expressions—clearly, like Uesugi Hara, they felt this investment was worth it.

Uesugi Hara looked at the 87,500 points remaining in his Terminal. Although it wasn't much, it was enough to sustain him for a while. He looked up at the podium; Katsuragi Kohei was verifying the transfer records, his expression as serious as if he were handling a major transaction.

But what Uesugi Hara found strange was that Sakayanagi Arisu hadn't stepped up to take charge from start to finish. She was the one who first caught the loophole in Mashima-sensei's words and even asked for the price directly. With her calculating demeanor, it would have been logical for her to take the lead.

Did she think Katsuragi Kohei was no threat?

He couldn't figure it out.

After Katsuragi Kohei transferred the 500,000 points to Mashima Tomoya, his Terminal vibrated, and three messages popped up.

He glanced at them, then looked up at the crowd, reading them out one by one in a grave tone:

"First—Private Points are determined by Class Points. Each class starts with 1,000 Class Points, and Private Points = Class Points × 100."

As soon as this was said, the classroom was filled with realization—no wonder the first month was 100,000; it turned out 1,000 × 100 was exactly that amount.

"Second, the school has special exams, and Class Points will increase or decrease based on the results of these exams."

Katsuragi's voice paused, and he read the last one, which was also the most surprising:

"Third—you are currently undergoing your first special exam."

"What?!"

"Now? When did it start?"

Exclamations erupted instantly. Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow; no wonder Mashima Tomoya had been acting strange from the beginning.

So, being able to keenly detect the loopholes in a teacher's words and then using known rules to trade for unknown rules could be considered a shortcut, right?

After all, while most people were still cheering for their initial points, some had already touched the rules of the game.

Trading a small price for a chance to tear through the fog and achieve a lead.

It seems this school isn't as good as it looks on the surface.