How to Earn System Points

The opening ceremony finally ended.

In the original story, Ayanokoji had called the ceremony long and boring.

But Dongfang Yi thought it had been quite brief. Very brief.

There was a curious disconnect, but it made perfect sense to him.

After all, the Chairman's frail daughter was standing down there.

The speakers were all school officials. None of them would be so tactless as to ramble on and on just to kill time.

Come to think of it, if they really had delivered a few more long-winded speeches, would they have been taken to report to the Chairman afterward? Would they have been dragged off to be beheaded before they could even finish, amid the Chairman's furious cry of "How dare you assassinate the emperor?"

Dongfang Yi blinked. The audacious thought flashed through his mind and vanished.

He was completely unaware of his own love of stirring up trouble.

As expected, it was better to have no book at all than to believe everything in one.

How many years had Ayanokoji even spent in school? How many opening ceremonies had he attended?

What the heck did he know about school officials' speeches?

Trusting his experience was less believable than trusting that I'm Qin Shi Huang.

Send me fifty yuan, and after Crazy Thursday, I'll even pick a few people to be generals in my Terracotta Army.

"Finally over."

Where no one could see him, Dongfang Yi reached up to rub his aching neck, then stretched.

He'd just finished lunch, and now it was free time.

Most students were heading to the convenience store, either scattered about or in groups of two or three, to buy daily necessities.

They chatted and laughed, full of anticipation for the school life ahead.

Dongfang Yi, however, had no plans to join them.

He didn't need to buy any supplies yet, and he didn't even need to sleep at night.

His system account was pretty broke at the moment, with only 1,635 System Points to spend, but that was enough.

After all, it only cost fifteen points to enter the system space and sleep for twenty-four hours. Add a soak in a five-point nutrient solution and a five-point nutritional meal, and he could restore himself to peak condition in no time.

And without any side effects.

Besides, as a capitalist country, Japan didn't generally burden students in its public schools with much homework. This school was no exception.

That left him with what could only be called an ample amount of free time.

But if he wanted to get into a university, he'd have to attend the corresponding cram school established by his target university.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even know what material the entrance exam covered. He'd start out a thousand miles behind everyone else.

Of course, cram schools were expensive, but you got what you paid for. They were well worth the cost.

Unfortunately, someone as broke as Dongfang Yi obviously couldn't afford to attend one.

But none of that had much to do with Dongfang Yi for now. The most relevant part was that he'd have plenty of time the next day to shop for daily necessities.

There'd be even fewer people around then.

So, to use his time more sensibly,

Dongfang Yi decided it was time to put his plan into action and take the first step.

Make a show of repairing the plank road while secretly advancing through Chencang.

He'd use the pursuit of points as a cover for his real objective.

Of course, his next destination wasn't a club. It was the most popular spot in the original story: the Palette Cafe.

Betting with club upperclassmen might look like a way to get rich overnight, but frankly, it wasn't realistic.

People had to understand their place in the world.

Dongfang Yi was just an unknown first-year student, not some daughter of the Chairman. He had no standing to make the upperclassmen play pretend games with him.

They weren't idiots or gambling addicts. There was no other hidden benefit to betting with him, so why would they risk a huge number of points against Dongfang Yi?

In fact, every gambler who fell into the abyss had to be lured in with small wins first. Only after their psychological threshold had been raised step by step would they be trapped in the vortex, unable to escape. Dongfang Yi clearly didn't have the time to train the upperclassmen, and he disdained such underhanded methods.

Besides...

He glanced back at the club building, raised an eyebrow smugly, and let anticipation flicker in his eyes.

What if, in the next couple of days, a certain lovely lady really started visiting clubs nonstop to build connections, hoping to find him, her "upperclassman," and solve the mystery?

If he joined a club, wouldn't he help her figure out the answer right away?

That wouldn't do.

As a kind passerby, Dongfang Yi didn't think he should spoil the fun for an enthusiastic explorer.

After all, there was nothing more wonderful in this world than searching for someone a thousand times over, only to turn around and find them beneath the lanterns.

What kind of expression would she make at the moment she uncovered the truth?

"Can I get you something, sir?"

The young woman at the cafe counter blinked her sparkling eyes and subconsciously swallowed.

There was only one reason: the person in front of her was... incredibly handsome!

So love at first sight really did exist!

The young woman had been captivated. It seemed she'd fallen in love.

"I'll have some rabbit... Ahem, I mean, I'd like to speak with your manager."

Dongfang Yi indulged in a little joke, then straightened up and spoke seriously.

"Is something wrong?"

The young woman asked softly.

She was feeling a little excited. After all, every unforgettable romance began with a small shared experience.

Helping the handsome guy in front of her with his problem would obviously be the beginning of their love story.

Next, he'd run and she'd chase him; he'd never escape...

At that moment, she'd even decided how many children they'd raise together someday!

It felt as if life was full of hope.

"Sorry, miss. I'm not having any problems. I'd just like to work part-time at this cafe," Dongfang Yi said honestly. "Could I speak with the manager?"

He... called me... miss?

In an instant, the young woman's heart shook. Her heart turned to stone, her spirits sank, her heart died, and sorrow flooded over her...

Her beautiful dream shattered into pieces with a crack.

Dongfang Yi waited patiently for a while, but the young woman's reaction was strange. She stood there frozen, as if her system had crashed.

He had no choice but to wave a hand in front of her and ask gently, "Could you go get the manager for me?"

The young woman looked at the sunny, handsome boy before her. Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, and she wiped them away as she hurried toward the back without looking back.

"P-please wait a moment. I'll go get them right away."

Dongfang Yi raised a hand. He wanted to tell her to watch where she was going and that there was no need to rush.

But she moved too quickly for him to get the words out.

A while later, the young woman returned. The corners of her eyes were red, as if she'd just been crying.

She refused to look at Dongfang Yi again.

"Please follow me."

"Thank you."

After leading Dongfang Yi to the door marked Manager's Office, the young woman, her heart broken by him, stamped her foot lightly, turned around, and walked away without looking back.

Dongfang Yi didn't think much of it. He assumed the staff member was simply very professional.

After all, everyone at this academy was either a student or a staff member. The only difference was whether they were temporary or permanent employees.

To be fair, this school was a great place to slack off. He had no idea what the crowded shopping center mentioned in the story was supposed to be like.

However, around the corner, where he couldn't see her, the young woman took a few more lingering glances at his retreating figure.