After school on April 30, I visited a classroom in the club building.
My destination was a room near the stairs on the fourth floor—the Chess Club's activity room.
"Excuse me."
I knocked, then stepped inside.
The room was about the size of a regular classroom. Seven boys and four girls were inside; everyone but one person was playing chess. The faculty advisor sat in a corner reading.
A boy who hadn't taken a seat noticed me and called out:
"Who are you?"
"Hikigaya Hachiman, Class D, first year."
"First year? Oh, don't tell me you've been agonizing over joining a club until today."
Most people would assume that, since club registration closed at the end of April.
However...
"No. To be honest, I'm here to bet Private Points."
The moment I said that, the air in the room froze.
Everyone scrutinized me.
As I'd just said, I'd come to the Chess Club to gamble.
The school intranet said all the clubs held these kinds of events, and I'd chosen the Chess Club.
"Oh? What exactly do you mean by betting points?"
"I mean exactly that. I looked into the school system, and Class D's situation this year is downright miserable."
The senior in front of me looked intrigued.
"Heh... It's impressive that you figured that out before May. So you're planning to earn points through bets?"
"Exactly. I checked, and the Chess Club accepts bets."
My research suggested that every club held bets—presumably because the members wanted points themselves.
"Haha. I've bet before, and I don't mind taking you on."
"Really?"
"Of course. But are you prepared to lose everything?"
"Absolutely."
"Good. How much are you betting?"
"I'll put up all 50,000 points."
I held up my terminal, and the senior smiled, impressed.
"All in, huh? Out of respect, I'll bet 100,000."
Was this the confidence of a strong player? Or did upperclassmen simply have plenty of points?
Either way, I was in luck.
If I won, I'd get 100,000. And if I lost, I wouldn't have to worry—I'd transferred my points to Shiina for safekeeping this morning, so at least I wouldn't be left with nothing.
What? You think that's underhanded? Shut up. There's nothing wrong with planning ahead.
"Have a seat over there."
"Sure. You seem pretty experienced."
The faculty advisor glanced over at us but made no move to stop us.
Apparently, these bets were permitted.
"Like I said, someone came to bet last year, too. Let's get started. Do you want the first move?"
"I'd be honored."
As I spoke, I moved a pawn.
Ten minutes later...
"..."
"..."
We silently traded pieces.
The seniors watching held their breath. When I moved my knight, the senior's mouth twitched. That move would force him to sacrifice either his bishop or his rook.
(I'm well ahead for now. As long as I don't let my guard down, I won't lose.)
Like Sakanayanagi, the senior favored an offensive style, but his attacks were nowhere near as fierce.
That girl's attacks were so savage they seemed intent on crushing everything in their path.
Maybe because I'd been slaughtered by Sakanayanagi hundreds of times and gone over the games again and again, my skill had improved far beyond what it was when I first played her.
The senior's attacks were limited, and I could defuse them one by one. I figured I'd have him in checkmate in another twenty or thirty moves.
After the senior reluctantly sacrificed his rook, I took his bishop without hesitation. If only chess let you reuse captured pieces like shogi.
The match continued until the twenty-fifth move—
"Checkmate."
I murmured as I placed my queen beside his king.
If the king stayed put, the queen would take him. If he ran, the rook would kill him. If he took the queen, the knight would finish him—and the king, the only piece that could attack my queen, had nowhere left to go.
"Haha... I lost. You're really good."
After all, I'd spent the past month getting mercilessly beaten by that monster, Sakanayanagi, and desperately studying how to beat her.
Honestly, I had no hobbies besides reading and chess, so it was only natural that I'd improved quickly.
"I've had some practice."
"If anything, you're just too good at handling attacks. Anyway, I concede. I'll transfer you the points. Give me your account number."
At his request, I wrote my number on a piece of paper and handed it to the senior.
He worked on his phone, then looked up at me.
"I've transferred them to your terminal. Check it."
I opened my terminal and saw that my balance had indeed gone from 50,000 to 150,000.
So transferring points was that easy.
If something like this wasn't handled properly, it could lead to disputes. I'd have to stay on my toes.
As I was thinking that, a female senior who'd been watching the whole time spoke up. "You're pretty good. Want to play a game with me?"
"Does 'play a game' mean we're betting points?"
"Of course. Your wallet's gotten a lot fatter, hasn't it?"
"More or less. Should I bet it all?"
"If you lost, that'd be too sad. How about 80,000?"
That was a huge relief.
I'd bet everything in the first game to get their attention, but truthfully, I hated risking it all.
If I was going to bet, it was better to keep something in reserve.
"All right. Eighty thousand it is."
"Deal. Kato, move aside."
"Okay. Be careful—this guy's good."
"I can tell from the match record."
As she spoke, the female senior set up the pieces again across from me.
Now then... time to win the second game, too.
Three hours later...
"Phew..."
I sighed as I walked down the stairs in the club building.
The betting had continued until club activities ended, and playing match after match had left me mentally exhausted.
I was tired, but it was satisfying.
I looked at the terminal in my hand. It showed 860,000 points.
I'd played against every member of the Chess Club, won nine games and lost two, and turned my initial 50,000 into nearly 900,000.
All things considered, it was a huge victory.
Every one of the seniors had built up a large stockpile of points, and toward the end, some of them had bet 200,000 outright.
It was a shame I'd lost to the club president and vice president.
If I'd beaten those two, I could've made around 1.5 million.
The other seniors said they'd come back for revenge at the beginning of next month, so I planned to return then and play a few more games.
But...
(I absolutely can't let anyone in my class find out about these points.)
Based on what I'd heard about the S-System from the seniors at the Chess Club, our class would definitely still have zero points tomorrow.
Some of my classmates had already run out of points. If they found out I had this much, it would definitely cause trouble.
(I've made a profit, but I wish this school had a banking system.)
Then even if someone saw my terminal, I'd be fine as long as they didn't find my passbook... Anyway, I'd better not turn it on in the classroom.
Walls have ears.
"Hikigaya?"
I'd just reached the first-floor hallway and was about to leave the club building when I heard a voice near the entrance stairs.
I looked up and saw Shiina standing there.
"Oh, Shiina. What a coincidence."
"That's what I should be saying. I just finished Tea Ceremony Club and was about to head back. Didn't you skip joining a club, Hikigaya? Did you join one today, on the deadline?"
Shiina walked down the stairs as she spoke.
I hesitated over whether to tell her the truth, but given her personality, she probably wouldn't spread it around. So I decided to be honest.
"I went to challenge the Chess Club and bet on points."
"Bet on points... Was that to prepare for what comes after tomorrow?"
Shiina had some understanding of the points system, so she immediately grasped what I was getting at.
"More or less."
I'd thought most girls disliked gambling, but there wasn't a trace of disdain on Shiina's absentminded face.
She simply asked, "How much did you make?"
"Eight hundred and sixty thousand."
I leaned close to her ear and answered quietly. Shiina, who rarely showed surprise, looked astonished. "That's quite a lot."
"The seniors were all millionaires. They bet big."
"I see. Was there anyone stronger than Classmate Sakanayanagi?"
"No."
The answer slipped out before I could think.
I'd lost twice to the president and vice president, but Sakanayanagi was definitely stronger than either of them.
"Anyway, we don't have to worry about points for now. I'm heading back to the dorm. What about you?"
"Okay, let's go back together."
As she spoke, Shiina took my hand.
Ever since Sakanayanagi and Shiina had each taken my hand on the second day of school, they'd grabbed it whenever I ran into them after class. The boys around us looked like they wanted to kill me with their eyes.
Shiina was absentminded and didn't care what other people thought. Sakanayanagi, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy the situation.
But I couldn't bring myself to pull away from Shiina when she was only trying to be kind, and Sakanayanagi was physically frail, so I was afraid of hurting her. As a result, whenever either of them held my hand, I couldn't escape.
(Sigh... Whatever. I'll just let them.)
I let out a small sigh and left alongside Shiina.
I'd come to terms with it a week ago. If I couldn't get away, I might as well accept it.
There was no point complaining now.
And so we walked back to the dorm with everyone watching us.
The sad thing was that I'd already gotten used to being stared at, compared with when I first enrolled.
I'd originally resolved to keep my distance from everyone, but ever since I'd met Shiina on the bus on my first day, then caught Sakanayanagi's attention after school, I'd spent more and more time with them.
"...Life sure is unpredictable."
"Hm? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking that school life is completely different from what I imagined before enrolling."
"Ah... That's true. I thought I'd spend every day in the library, too." Shiina smiled warmly. "But even if it's not what we imagined, I'm happy with how things are now."
Seeing her smile made my cheeks burn, and I quickly looked away.
The heat probably wouldn't fade until we parted at the dorm elevator.
The next morning, I checked my terminal as soon as I woke up—860,000 points.
As expected, not a single point had been added.
As I got ready for school, I figured the classroom would be in an uproar.
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