Chabashira Sae accompanied Akiyama Shin and the others all the way back to school. The security guard at the gate merely glanced at her teacher's ID before letting them pass without a hitch.
At the fork between the classroom building and the dormitories, they stopped. Chabashira simply reminded them to mind their manners, then turned toward the faculty building. Her figure looked a little slight in the evening glow.
Of the four remaining students, Koenji Rokusuke was the first to break the silence. With both hands in his pockets, he still stood as straight as a sturdy pine. He looked at Akiyama with a playful glint in his eyes, the corner of his mouth curling into a meaningful smile.
"I'm looking forward to it, Akiyama-boy."
"Don't disappoint me~"
His voice trailed upward at the end, carrying his usual arrogance, but with a hint of approval that was hard to detect.
Akiyama merely nodded. He offered no further response, his gaze as calm as a deep pool.
Once Koenji had turned and disappeared around the corner with a brisk stride, Akiyama looked at Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo beside him and spoke succinctly.
"Come to my dorm and eat."
"We'll talk about what comes next while we eat."
Horikita gave a soft "Mm" at that. Her expression didn't change, but her eyes betrayed her barely contained curiosity. Kushida immediately broke into a happy smile and nodded.
"Sounds good, Akiyama-kun!"
They both had the same thought in mind: What exactly was this plan that could unlock millions of points in profit?
Curiosity scratched at them like a kitten's claws, making them itch to know. Naturally, neither objected.
Back in Dormitory 501, Akiyama skipped the small talk and went straight to the kitchen. He took the ingredients he'd prepared in advance from the fridge—several boxes of fresh vegetables, chicken breast, and eggs—and deftly unwrapped, washed, and chopped them.
Once the pan was hot, he poured in a little oil. The ingredients sizzled as he stir-fried them to a fragrant crisp. In just over ten minutes, three dishes and a soup were on the table.
The three of them ate quietly, with only the soft clatter of chopsticks and bowls breaking the silence.
They finished quickly. Horikita put down her bowl and chopsticks and almost instinctively stood to clear the table. She neatly stacked the plates, and Kushida promptly got up as well.
"Horikita-san, let me help!"
The two of them carried the dishes into the kitchen in perfect sync. Water rushed into the sink, and the clink of dishes rang out clearly. They didn't say much, but worked together remarkably well, soon washing and drying everything before putting it back in its place.
When they were done, they returned to the living room and sat on the sofa opposite Akiyama. Their backs straightened almost involuntarily, their hands resting on their knees. They looked as solemn as students waiting for a lesson, even their breathing growing quieter.
Akiyama looked at the two tense girls before him and began to speak, his voice clear in their ears.
"The reason I spent five million points to get permission to build a subsite on the Campus Network was to create a platform."
He paused, then swept his gaze over their attentive faces and continued.
"Essentially, this platform is for the entire school. It'll host a fun quiz centered around the Midterm Exam."
"A fun quiz?"
Horikita's brows immediately furrowed into a small frown as she rapidly considered the idea.
A fun quiz?
Was it just guessing rankings?
How could that possibly generate millions of points in profit?
Akiyama's plan couldn't be that simple.
Kushida blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering lightly. She thought of how confident Koenji had seemed before leaving, and a thought suddenly occurred to her. She tentatively asked,
"Akiyama-kun..."
"Is this quiz... kind of like gambling?"
"You could say that's the core idea."
Akiyama readily nodded, confirming her guess, but then changed tack, his tone growing more serious.
"But calling it gambling would make it illegal, and the school definitely wouldn't stand by and do nothing. So we have to present it as a fun quiz to avoid unnecessary risks."
"Still, we'll borrow the odds and betting system used in gambling, and open it to all three years."
"The bets will be based on the upcoming Midterm Exam rankings."
He paused, then offered his assessment.
"I suspect this Midterm Exam won't just be for our entire first year. For us, it may be a Special Exam that determines the fate of our class and of each student."
"But for the second- and third-years, it's probably just an ordinary midterm test, with no extra rewards or punishments."
"To keep the first-year Special Exam orderly, the safest option for the school would be to hold exams for all years on the same day. The upper years would take their regular tests while the first-years took their Special Exam. That would maintain order on campus, and it would also give us room to operate."
Horikita followed his train of thought at once. Her eyes lit up, and she jumped in.
"So you mean... this quiz platform..."
"Could allow bets on the score-ranking ranges for all three years?!"
"Exactly."
Akiyama looked at her and nodded in approval.
"The wider the range, the greater the uncertainty. That's what could increase student participation and the total amount wagered, which would naturally give us more room for profit."
Kushida looked puzzled again. Tilting her head, she wore a perplexed expression, with a hint of regret on Akiyama's behalf in her voice.
"Akiyama-kun, this plan does sound amazing, but there's something I don't understand. Why did you have to work with Koenji-san? You had enough points of your own, didn't you? After paying five million, you should've still had over 800,000 left. Doesn't that mean you'll have to give him a share of the profits? Even if we get the bigger share at a 9:1 split, every little bit counts."
She paused, then added,
"And the students who win will split the prize pool too. Even if the platform can't lose money, that has to affect our profits, right?"
Horikita's pupils suddenly contracted, and shock spread across her face.
She hadn't even thought to calculate it. After paying the huge sum of five million, Akiyama still had over 800,000 Personal Points?
And with the additional million Koenji had just transferred, he now had a full 1.8 million points at his disposal!
That was far more than she'd expected. It made her even more confused. If he had enough funds of his own, why bring Koenji in? And how did Kushida know how many points Akiyama had left?
She glanced at Kushida, then quickly looked away. Whatever that was about, Akiyama's plan was clearly more important right now.
Both girls stared at Akiyama, puzzled. He simply looked back at them calmly and revealed a key piece of information that would upend their understanding.
"Because in this Midterm Exam, the two biggest potential payouts from the entire prize pool—the first- and second-place rankings—will be you two."
"What?!"
Horikita and Kushida froze at the same time, their minds going blank for a moment before they immediately understood.
Horikita's pupils shrank. Her lips parted, disbelief in her voice.
"You mean... we'll take the top two spots in the year?"
Kushida covered her mouth, a flash of realization in her eyes, her voice tinged with excitement.
"Ah! I get it! You're setting this up, Akiyama-kun!"
They instantly understood the crucial point. As the platform's bookmaker, Akiyama could control the core results.
The contract with Koenji clearly stated that only the net profits Akiyama made through the website would be divided at a 9:1 ratio. If Horikita and Kushida won, their prizes would come from the prize pool and count as a platform payout, not as Akiyama's earnings. In other words, Akiyama was using Koenji's million points as startup capital, getting Horikita and Kushida to bet on themselves, then using his inside information to eliminate the biggest payout risk through behind-the-scenes manipulation. In the end, he'd securely pocket the platform's commission and the first and second prizes. The plan was airtight.
Akiyama didn't bother explaining the website's more complicated rules or the finer details of how to rig it. That much was enough. He glanced at the clock on the wall, his tone turning more urgent.
"There are less than two weeks until the Midterm Exam. Now's the best time to open the betting."
"The sooner we launch, the more time we'll have to promote it."
"That'll give the prize pool more time to grow, and naturally increase our final take."
Without wasting another moment, he stood and walked to the desk. His chair scraped softly across the floor as he sat down, opened his laptop, and connected his phone terminal. The screen lit up at once, illuminating his focused profile.
Unable to contain their curiosity, Horikita and Kushida moved closer, one after the other.
They sat in the empty seats on either side of Akiyama, leaning forward slightly and staring intently at the computer.
Akiyama's fingers settled on the keyboard. The crisp sound of typing echoed through the quiet dorm room.
Lines of code raced across the screen, white characters leaping against a black background.
The navigation bar, betting module, and rules panel gradually took shape. Every so often, he paused to adjust the layout and color scheme.
The once-blank page slowly filled out.
Time slipped by as they worked. Outside the window, the sky faded from pale gray to deep black.
The moon climbed high overhead. Silver moonlight streamed through a gap in the curtains, casting flecks of light across the keyboard. A cool breeze drifted in through the window.
No one knew how much time had passed. The hands on the wall clock crept forward until the hour reached two or three in the morning. At last, Akiyama stopped typing and let out a long breath.
"Done."
His voice carried a trace of fatigue, but the sharp light in his eyes was unmistakable.
The website was complete!
Fortunately, it was Saturday, so he didn't have to worry about sleeping through the night and missing class the next day. At this hour, he'd have had a hard time staying awake otherwise.
Horikita and Kushida immediately perked up. The dull ache in their eyes gave way to renewed excitement, and they leaned in closer to examine the newborn website, which might cause a huge stir throughout Advanced Nurturing High School.
The website had a clean, straightforward design, but there was something powerfully enticing about it. At a glance, it was hard not to be tempted.
At the top of the page was the bold black title: "Campus Midterm Fun Quiz." Beside it, in even larger, brighter red letters, was the subtitle: "Split a Prize Pool of Ten Million Points!" Those words alone were enough to pique the interest of most students.
Below the title, the betting rules were laid out clearly, in a format anyone could understand at a glance.
"Betting Rules"
"Quiz: Individual Overall Score Ranking Range"
Covers all students in Years One through Three, with different tiers based on difficulty.
(The higher the difficulty, the higher the winning odds.)
S-Rank: 1st–3rd place in each year (base odds ×10)
A-Rank: 4th–10th place in each year (base odds ×5)
B-Rank: 11th–30th place in each year (base odds ×2)
C-Rank: 31st–100th place in each year (base odds ×1)
D-Rank: Below 100th place in each year (base odds ×1)
"Betting Methods"
▶ Single Bet:
Choose one year and one rank tier to participate.
Minimum bet: 100 points. No maximum. Bets can be combined. If you win, you'll split the prize pool allocated to that tier with everyone else who picked it, in proportion to each person's bet as a share of the total wagered on that tier.
▶ Parlay Bet:
Choose 2–9 options and combine them freely (any combination of years and tiers). The more options in a parlay, the greater the difficulty—and the bigger the reward if you win.
Minimum bet: 100 points per parlay.
You must correctly predict the range of every option in your parlay to win. Miss even one, and the entire bet is void.
Parlay odds are multiplied by the number of options selected!
"Prize Distribution"
Once the Midterm Exam results are announced, the school's published "Individual Overall Score Rankings by Year" will be the sole basis for determining the results.
Within 24 hours of the results being published, the platform will automatically match the rankings to the selected ranges and determine the winners. Winnings will be sent directly to users' Personal Points accounts.
"Winning Conditions"
Single Bet: Correctly predict the selected year's specified ranking range to win.
Parlay Bet: Every selected year and ranking range must be correct to win. Miss even one, and the entire bet is void.
"Prize Pool: Sources and Distribution"
The platform will first take 15% of all users' total wagers to cover operating costs and profit. The remaining 85% will go into the prize pool in full and be used to pay out winnings.
The prize pool will be allocated as follows:
1. First Prize (Ultimate Difficulty): Users who correctly predict a 9-leg parlay (including at least three S-Rank options from different years) and whose selections are not identical will split 50% of the total prize pool. If only one user wins, they'll take the entire 50%. If no one wins, the prize money will be reclaimed by the platform.
2. Second Prize (High Difficulty): Users who correctly predict a 5-leg parlay (including at least one S-Rank and two A-Rank options, or four A-Rank options) and whose selections are not identical will split 25% of the total prize pool.
3. Third Prize (Standard): All users who win a single bet or an ordinary parlay (one that doesn't meet the first- or second-prize requirements) will share the remaining 25% of the prize pool, distributed according to each person's share of the total wagered.
"Special Notice"
If different users place parlay bets with exactly the same selections (year and tier combinations), the bets will be considered identical. Only the first bet placed will count; all subsequent identical bets will be void. This rule applies only to parlays. Single bets are unaffected and will still be paid out proportionally to the points wagered. This is to prevent deliberate bet manipulation.
Looking at the enticing page on the screen, Horikita and Kushida both felt a chill run through them, their backs prickling with unease.
They could almost picture the frenzy that would take over Advanced Nurturing High School when the website was officially announced tomorrow.
The lure of a ten-million-point prize pool, combined with betting rules simple enough for anyone to understand, would be hard for any student to resist.
Akiyama leaned back in his chair, his body tilting slightly as he folded his hands over his abdomen and quietly contemplated the situation.
His board was fully set. Now he only had to wait for those fish, driven by greed and wishful thinking, to swim into the carefully woven net on their own.
And the entire website
was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Before you continue