Hideo Sotomura's Talent

At lunchtime, Hoshino hurried to the school cafeteria.

As usual, he ordered tonkotsu ramen. As expected of Advanced Nurturing High School, even the tonkotsu ramen was quite delicious.

He wondered how they made the noodles. Maybe he could try working part-time at a restaurant and learn! Hoshino chewed while thinking about all sorts of pointless things, then suddenly spotted an unusual pair!

Ayanokoji had actually come out to eat with Horikita! Hoshino was shocked.

When had their relationship gotten so good? He was a little surprised, but quickly accepted it. After all, it had nothing to do with him. Besides, one look at Ayanokoji's constipated expression told Hoshino that Horikita had probably dragged him into this.

As expected, Mom was right: the prettier a woman was, the better she was at lying!

Hoshino wanted to use the lunch break to invite Professor out for a chat.

But where had Professor gone? Hoshino searched for a long time and still couldn't find him.

Hoshino usually kept to himself and didn't know where the others tended to eat. After looking around without success, he gave up.

The afternoon classes were just as boring. Although this was Advanced Nurturing High School, the lessons weren't all that different from those at other schools. There were only some minor differences in the details.

Hoshino didn't really care about that, though.

Chabashira-sensei still wore her usual indifferent expression at the front of the classroom.

Hoshino stared at the blackboard, but his thoughts had long since wandered elsewhere.

He thought about the details of the secondhand sales plan. If Professor could build a website like that, things would be much simpler. Professor also knew Kushida and the others, so Hoshino wouldn't have to advertise himself. If he could just get Professor to spread the word, everything might go much more smoothly.

There were also the matters of receiving and delivering goods after a sale. These were all things he needed to consider. He couldn't let the items sit around for too long, or they might lose value and even end up costing him money. As for finding sellers, he'd have to rely on word of mouth and promotion. There should be plenty of people who needed to sell things right now.

"Hello, I'm Hoshino, your classmate. Are you Professor?"

"...Ahem. Hello, my name is Hideo Sotomura. You can call me Professor, if you like!" Sotomura cleared his throat, looking a little awkward.

"...Okay. Um, could I borrow a little of your time to talk?"

"Oh! Sure, I don't mind." Sotomura didn't look surprised. It seemed Yamauchi had already told him about it. That was perfect.

Hoshino invited Sotomura to a nearby café. Since school had just let out, it wasn't very crowded yet. They found a nice spot by the window, with a view of the school buildings in the distance. More students were beginning to fill the streets.

After calling over a server and placing their orders, Hoshino said, "So, Hoshino..."

Sotomura didn't know how to begin and stammered a little.

"I wanted to ask you something, Sotomura. Do you know how to build a website? ...There's something I'd like your help with!"

"Huh? But Yamauchi... said you wanted to learn computer skills from me?" Sotomura was a little taken aback.

"Yeah! But that's not something you can learn overnight, right? I want to make a website now, so I'm looking for people who know how to build one to help me. If there's a chance to learn later, even better! So, Sotomura, could I ask you to help?"

Two cups of coffee arrived, and Hoshino picked one up and took a sip.

"...I know a little, but I'd have to try it out before I could say for sure. What kind of website do you want to make?" Sotomura lowered his head and thought for a moment before giving an uncertain answer.

"Well, I want to build a website for buying and selling secondhand goods, so I was hoping you could help."

"...A site for buying and selling secondhand goods? I see. You bought Yamauchi's game console, right?"

Hoshino was surprised that Sotomura had figured it out so quickly.

"Yeah! He happened to be selling it, so I took the opportunity to buy his game console." Seeing no point in hiding it, Hoshino told him the truth.

"I see..." Professor fell into thought, lowering his head and gently stirring the coffee the server had just brought.

"Of course, I won't make you do it for free. I'll pay you in points." Sotomura immediately looked up, his eyes gleaming.

He had bought quite a few things, and his points were nearly gone. At Hoshino's words, Sotomura was instantly fired up.

"What should I do?" he asked, suddenly brimming with confidence. The old saying was right: money could make even a millstone push a ghost.

"Well, I was hoping you could help build the website and recommend it to people you know—or anyone around you who might have things to sell. I'll buy whatever they want to sell, depending on the item and how damaged it is. I'll also give you some points for your help. This would last for one month." Hoshino briefly explained the plan he had in mind.

"...You mean this is a short-term website?" Sotomura looked up in surprise.

"Yes."

"Hmm... In that case?" Sotomura thought it over, then asked again, "I wouldn't recommend building a website. Are you going to buy the items yourself and then sell them yourself?"

"Yes, that's more or less how it would work. I'm just not quite sure how to go about it. It's my first time..."

"In that case, I wouldn't recommend building a website. Most websites don't buy the items themselves. They're platforms that let the two parties make deals with each other. Put simply, the platform acts as a guarantee. Since you're buying the items yourself, I'd suggest setting up a group chat or something. Just chatting directly would work well too." Sotomura's eyes had gone a little unfocused.

"No, setting up an online shop could work too. You could ask people to help advertise it, and it'd take off in no time. Wait, you only have one month..."

Watching Sotomura mutter to himself, Hoshino began to feel uneasy. Was something going wrong?

"No, that won't work either. There's only one month, so the time frame is too short. The effort and the returns wouldn't be proportional!..."

"Got it! Just make accounts on the school website and forum! Post the details there, and there's also the school's electronic bulletin board. I heard you can post messages there for a few points. Then spread the word to people around you. The costs won't be high, and you can stop whenever you want. For just one month, two people will be more than enough to run it." Sotomura finally snapped out of his daze, his eyes gleaming behind his glasses.

Hoshino had considered something like this, but he hadn't come up with a complete plan or a clear idea of how to do it. As expected, getting advice from someone more experienced was a much better approach.

Sotomura had taken Hoshino's idea and offered such professional advice. That showed Professor had real talent—at least when it came to business.

And Sotomura hadn't tried to grab a share of the profits. He'd readily agreed to help put Hoshino's plan into action, then objectively weighed the different factors and suggested a genuinely sensible approach. That made Hoshino admire him.