Everything Within Reach

After school, Hoshino arrived at the library early. His answer was already correct, and he was essentially in an invincible position; he was just waiting for Sakayanagi's answer.

Hoshino was a bit impatient. After all, the possibility of getting 500,000 points made him somewhat excited. Although he held a book in his hand, his mind had long since flown off to who knows where. Instead of sitting down to read as usual, he stood beside a bookshelf, idly flipping through various books while keeping a direct line of sight on the entrance and the elevator.

He waited and waited, and only after the clock had ticked past a full hour did Sakayanagi finally arrive, fashionably late, accompanied by a follower. Looking closely, he realized it was actually Kamuro!

I wonder if I'll actually get those 500,000 points? Hoshino felt a surge of excitement. Therefore, the moment he saw Sakayanagi, he returned the book to the shelf and quickly approached her.

"Oh my, is Hoshino-kun in such a rush?" A mischievous smirk played on Sakayanagi's face as she covered her smile slightly with her hand.

Kamuro, standing to the side, felt a bit strange and stared at Hoshino, lost in thought.

"Is Hoshino-kun that confident?" Sakayanagi asked as they entered the elevator.

"I wouldn't call it confidence... It's just that since such a large amount is involved, I naturally want to know the result as soon as possible!" Hoshino rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful.

"What about you, Sakayanagi? How was your guess?" Hoshino asked, feeling curious.

"This? It's hard to say! But I have a feeling that I've lost!" Sakayanagi pondered for a moment before giving an answer that caught Hoshino off guard.

"Is that so?" Although he was shocked inside, Hoshino still replied with a calm expression on the surface.

"Do we still need Hoshinomiya-sensei to witness it?"

Stepping out of the elevator, Hoshino and the others arrived at the spot where Sakayanagi usually sat. After she took her seat, Hoshino asked tentatively.

"Wait! Don't you dare reveal the results behind my back! Honestly!"

From a corner that no one had noticed, Hoshinomiya-sensei slowly walked out, a hint of dissatisfied, coquettish playfulness on her face.

"Little Hoshino, and little Sakayanagi, sneaking off like this is not allowed!"

"Alright, alright, then let's have the teacher reveal the answer now." Hoshino didn't have the patience to bicker with Hoshinomiya-sensei anymore and got straight to the point.

"Honestly, little Hoshino is so inconsiderate!... Fine! Let's start with little Sakayanagi's answer! The answer little Sakayanagi sent me was point-to-point, and their class point total is 940. As for little Hoshino, the answer was zero, and the class point total is also zero. Therefore, this time it is little Hoshino's victory. Congratulations!" Hoshinomiya-sensei looked a bit disgruntled, but she still announced the result and took out her phone, pulling up the two messages to display them before the two of them.

"You guy..." Kamuro, standing to the side, looked completely stunned. Sakayanagi had actually lost!

"Congratulations, Hoshino-kun!" There wasn't a trace of dissatisfaction or discouragement from the defeat on Sakayanagi's face; she only wore an intrigued smile.

This girl really must be a sadist. Hoshino muttered to himself.

"Um, when will the points be...?" Hoshino rubbed his hands together and approached Sakayanagi with the face of a profiteer.

"Right now is fine! Hoshino-kun, let's exchange contact information!" Sakayanagi took out her phone and looked at Hoshino.

"Sure, sure!" With 500,000 private points about to hit his account, Hoshino was quite excited!

In truth, until the very last moment when the result was revealed, Hoshino had felt a bit uneasy. After all, this was Sakayanagi! There might have been some unexpected reversal. But fortunately, everything went smoothly!

"Come to think of it, Hoshino-kun, your class really managed to get zero points! You've worked quite hard! Would you like to come to Class A?"

"Hmm—"

Sakayanagi was playing a clever game! Hoshino rolled his eyes.

However, Hoshino was actually quite tempted. After all, no matter how you looked at it, Class D had little chance of surpassing the other classes now! The points they received each month were also pitifully low!

"Is it even possible to transfer classes? Doesn't the rule say you have to stay in the same class for three years?" Hoshino asked, feeling surprised.

"That's under normal circumstances. Of course, there is also a rule that allows a person to transfer classes under certain conditions!" Hoshinomiya-sensei joined the conversation, bringing up a rule Hoshino hadn't known about.

"???" Hoshino looked at Hoshinomiya-sensei with a confused expression, then shifted his gaze back to Sakayanagi.

Since Sakayanagi had brought it up, she must know what the condition was!

"Twenty million private points! You can transfer classes!" Sakayanagi seemed to see through Hoshino's confusion.

"Uh... hey, Sakayanagi! Do you already have twenty million?" Hoshino asked, looking incredulous.

"I do not!"

"..." Hoshino was speechless. Was she just dangling a carrot in front of him?

"There is always a way, Hoshino-kun, as long as you want it!"

"..."

Confirmed: Sakayanagi was planning to get a "free ride"! Good thing he didn't fall for it.

"Little Hoshino, you can come to our Class B too! Ichinose in our class is a great beauty, you know!" Seeing Sakayanagi's recruitment attempt, Hoshinomiya-sensei couldn't sit still either!

"...Eh? Is Hoshinomiya-sensei the homeroom teacher for Class B?" This was the most surprising news Hoshino had heard all day.

"Eh? Little Hoshino didn't know that?..." Hoshinomiya-sensei was also a bit dumbfounded, and the smile on her face vanished! Hoshino suddenly felt an oppressive aura.

"...Hoshino-kun, you dared to approach Hoshinomiya-sensei without knowing anything at all! Your courage is commendable!" Sakayanagi also wore a playful expression.

"...I just assumed that every teacher besides the homeroom teacher was a neutral party! After all, this school is so wealthy!" Hoshino rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

He was genuinely surprised that they had suddenly decided to be frugal in such an irrelevant area.

"It's truly a wonder you managed to beat Sakayanagi!" Kamuro, standing to the side, also looked speechless.

"This... come to think of it, I wasn't sure either. I just noticed that there were quite a lot of rule-breaking incidents, and even Chabashira-sensei said we were an unprecedented Class D! I just took advantage of that human psychology. Pure luck, pure luck!"

Checking the extra 500,000 points on his phone, Hoshino felt like he was floating on air.

Right, Ryuen's 500,000 points hadn't been transferred yet! He needed to urge him about that soon! Hoshino suddenly remembered Ryuen.

"So, in such a short amount of time, I've suddenly become a millionaire? This school is truly terrifying." Hoshino suddenly felt a sense of unreality, followed by a sigh at the school's extravagant spending.

"It's been such a long time since I've felt this way!"

"...No, I've already said it, you didn't defeat me; it was just luck!"

"Hoshino-kun, that's where you're wrong! Failing to anticipate such a situation was my own fault, and I cannot shift the responsibility onto other factors."

Feeling a bit surprised, he shifted his gaze toward Sakayanagi. Hoshino suddenly felt that Sakayanagi was indeed quite an impressive person! At the very least, Hoshino didn't think he could be as magnanimous as she was!