Business Knocking at the Door

Odd Jobs Agency.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Please, come in."

A tall, thin boy walked in from outside the door, holding a file folder in his hand.

"Excuse me. Are you the president of the Odd Jobs Agency?"

"That would be me. How can I help you?"

"Ah, looking at you, you must be a junior, right? Let me introduce myself. I am Hayato Kojima from Class B, second year. To be precise, I'm not here to commission anything."

Katsuya Shinjo, who had been full of enthusiasm, lost interest the moment he heard that.

Because of the introduction and guarantee from Manabu Horikita, many people had been curious about the Odd Jobs Agency lately, and there was no shortage of visitors who just wanted to look around.

However, Katsuya wasn't the type to give someone a cold shoulder just because of that; as the saying goes, even if the deal doesn't go through, the friendship remains.

He took the initiative to stand up, pour the visitor a glass of water, and invited him to sit in the chair across from his desk.

"In that case, are you here to take a tour of our Odd Jobs Agency, senior?"

"No, I'm here to do business with you."

As Hayato Kojima spoke, he placed the file folder in his hand onto the desk.

Katsuya glanced at it openly.

"Oh? Senior. I'm just a greenhorn who just arrived, so I really don't understand what kind of business we could have."

"Hehehe, that's a bit disingenuous, isn't it, junior? I don't believe for a second that you don't understand what I mean, given that you're running an Odd Jobs Agency right here in the school."

As he spoke, Hayato Kojima tapped his index finger lightly on the file folder.

"But you at least have to tell me what kind of treasure this is, right?"

"Uh, of course. Of course. I know that you are from Class D, first year. The overall academic level of your class still has a lot of room for improvement, wouldn't you say?"

Isn't that just stating the obvious?!

Seeing that Katsuya had no intention of speaking, Hayato Kojima added:

"I also know that the school's midterm exams are coming up soon. If you fail the exams, you'll be facing penalties on the level of expulsion, you know."

"So, if you could get your hands on a copy of the midterm exam answers in advance... such a great opportunity can be yours for just 20,000 points~"

Katsuya Shinjo raised an eyebrow. The other party wouldn't have come here to make a deal if he didn't have something concrete. In other words, these answers were likely genuine.

"Answers?!"

"Not interested."

[Heh, is this that 'playing hard to get' tactic you guys have run into the ground? Damn merchant! But I'm not some wet-behind-the-ears kid; that micro-expression when you raised your eyebrow didn't fool me!!]

"Don't be like that, junior. These answers are extremely valuable. Although they are actually the original test questions from when we took the exam, I can guarantee that they will be a huge help to you."

Even though the other party was painting a flowery picture, Katsuya remained unmoved. Instead, he said in a lazy tone:

"I believe that. But I think you haven't done much market research, senior. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come to me to peddle answers."

"What do you mean by that?"

"As everyone knows, I am a businessman. Why would I ever engage in a losing business? Class A and Class B are full of top students; there is no market there at all. My relationship with Class C isn't great, and their leader doesn't seem to like me very much. As for Class D, you wouldn't expect me to charge my own classmates for this, would you? That would be an easy way to get ostracized."

"So, even though your product is excellent, it's nothing but waste paper to me—worthless."

Hearing Katsuya disparage his answers like that, Hayato Kojima hurriedly tried to persuade him:

"But, even so, it would be worth it to give them to your classmates and earn some goodwill! How about this? 15,000 points! I'll sell them to you for that."

Katsuya scoffed.

"If I were buying favors, 15,000 would still be a bit too high for me."

Hayato Kojima's expression shifted upon hearing this.

"It seems you're dead set against it, junior. In that case... never mind then."

As he spoke, he picked up the file folder from the desk and started walking toward the door.

One step, two steps, three steps.

"Wait!"

[As expected! Heh, I knew you were an impatient guy.]

Hayato Kojima feigned annoyance as he replied:

"What? Is there something else, junior?"

"I thought we were doing business. You're being very impatient, which isn't a good look, is it? Sit down, sit down. How about this? I'll offer you a proposal; see if you can accept it, how about that?"

"In that case... I'll hear what you have to say."

Hayato Kojima feigned reluctance as he returned to his chair and sat down.

"How about this: you take a step back, I take a step back. Five thousand points, how does that sound?"

Hayato Kojima narrowed his eyes, his patience clearly wearing thin:

"Junior, are you intentionally messing with me?! You want me to take two steps back, is that it?!"

"Look at you, getting worked up again."

"I haven't finished speaking yet. For five thousand points, you gain the friendship of our Odd Jobs Agency, and in the days to come, you will enjoy our priority... line-cutting rights."

Hayato Kojima, who had been on the verge of an outburst, suddenly flared up. He didn't know what these priority line-cutting rights were, but he could tell that the friendship of the Odd Jobs Agency was nothing more than a hollow promise.

Seeing the other party about to explode again, Shinjo unhurriedly picked up his teacup and took a sip:

"Actually, you should think about this carefully. If you sell it to someone else for fifteen thousand points, that's all you're going to get. Although I don't know what the situation is like for you second-years, coming from Class B, you shouldn't be too short on cash, right?"

"Look at the big picture. Even though you're earning ten thousand points less, you've gained our friendship. The person behind the Odd Jobs Agency... you should know who that is, right?"

Shinjo shamelessly used Manabu Horikita as a banner to bolster his position.

"This..."

Upon hearing this, Hayato Kojima actually felt that what the other party said made a bit of sense.

He wasn't personally short on those ten thousand points, but these so-called priority line-cutting rights sounded like complete nonsense.

Therefore, he decisively took out his phone and sent a message to someone.

Shinjo wasn't in a hurry; he simply closed his eyes and rested.

Three minutes later, Hayato Kojima nodded as he looked at the text message on his screen.

"Fine, junior. I'll consider it making a friend out of you! You can transfer the points to me now."

"Eh? It seems you've misunderstood something, haven't you? When did I ever say I wanted to trade with you?"

"Ah?... Wait! You were just playing me this whole time?!!"

Hayato Kojima shouted and slammed his hand onto Shinjo's desk. He looked absolutely furious, as if he were ready to transform into a wild beast the next second and tear Shinjo to pieces.