Chapter 17

Ell Success!... (This is an insert song from the anime.) Haha! I'm on a roll! It feels great to have money! I immediately sent Koenji the news that the plan had succeeded. A moment later, I got a reply that left me torn between laughter and tears: "Keep working hard, Kitazawa boy. If you're going to cash it in, start with a hundred million. That's the only amount worthy of a beauty like me!" All right, you're the one who's really got nerve! My imagination can't keep up with yours! Once I'd finished celebrating, I immediately called over Oda and the others, who'd been waiting at the next table, and launched into the next step of the plan without wasting a second. "The money's in. Go lend it out to the first-years at high interest, just like we planned. Oh, and revise the contracts. Make them contracts certified with school points. I've already looked up exactly how to do it." As I spoke, I showed them my phone. "No problem. Leave it to us! The first-years probably have the fewest points right now!" Oda said excitedly. "When you lend the points, make the repayment deadline the first of next month. If they haven't paid it all back by then, interest will start accruing. Keep the interest low for the first few days. We need to play the long game." "But what if they don't pay us back next month? We can't exactly act like the yakuza..." Sonoda said, looking worried. "We don't have to. A contract certified with school points has to be honored. Just tell them we'll report them to the school. If they don't want to get expelled, they'll pay us back, even if they have to borrow from everyone they know." "But, Minya, won't this make people hate us?" Suzuki asked. "Make people hate us? This school is all about strength. If you've got points, then who cares if people hate you? Making them pay for a lesson is doing them a favor! Of course, if they're in our class, we can give them a few extra days and just have them pay the interest. We don't need to crush them completely. Capital is never clean, boys..." "Got it... Minya's starting to sound like a big-time capitalist!" "Don't say that. What does a little over two million yen make me, a capitalist for the poor? Oh, almost forgot. I'll pay each of you two hundred thousand yen in wages for now. We're about to get busy, so make sure you eat well." "But... isn't that too much, Minya? We haven't done anything yet." Sonoda looked embarrassed. "Take it. You've earned it. Our group never shortchanges loyal employees." "Then thanks, boss! Minya, what do you think our class will be like next month?" Oda asked. "Hard to say. I've already told you what I think: things are bound to get chaotic in class. We'll just have to see how it goes!"

The First Spark of Brilliance: 8. Noble competition is the source of all great talents

Noble competition is the source of all great talents. —David Hume

It was the same classroom, with the same students. The difference was that today was the day they received their points for the new month. "Hey, hey! Did you get yours? This month's points? Was it a hundred thousand?" "No! I only got forty-nine thousand..." "Same here! What's going on? My pocket money's suddenly less than half!" "I've got it worse than you! I borrowed a few points last month, thinking I could easily pay them back today. Now I've been hit hard!" Rumors like these were spreading all around the class. Class D was probably in the same situation, right? I toyed with my phone, where millions of points gleamed on the screen. Thanks to Igari-senpai's saleswoman-like promotional efforts, I'd managed to make a few more "currency exchange" deals. We were still far from Koenji's goal of one hundred million, but it was enough to keep us going for a while. But that eccentric Koenji didn't need much pocket money. Even after I'd transferred two million points to him, he'd barely used any, which left me completely baffled. Had he been eating so much lately just so he could freeload off his senpai girls without a care in the world from now on!? That's Koenji for you. He's playing five-dimensional chess! Well, it was a good thing, too. The smarter Koenji was, the less trouble I'd have, right? I reassured myself. "Teacher Sakagami, what's going on?" By the time the middle-aged teacher strolled into the classroom, the students were already impatiently asking questions. "Surprised? I told you, didn't I? This is a school where strength comes first. You get evaluated according to your abilities. Isn't that perfectly normal?" He unfolded the notice and pinned it to the whiteboard with a magnet. "Talking during class, using your phones, skipping class... Points are naturally deducted for all sorts of behavior that violates school rules." "But we were never told..." "Did you leave all those rules back in kindergarten? You're about to become members of society. You should know better." "Teacher, I didn't talk during class... Why was I..." A girl named Nishino asked, sounding upset. "I told you, didn't I? You won't be reassigned to new classes for the next three years. You're all part of one group, so of course the points deducted are the so-called Class Points!" Teacher Sakagami smiled and pointed to the prominent figures on the notice. 940, 650, 490, 0. The four classes, A through D, were clearly divided. Well, I hadn't expected Class D to have zero points. It seemed their class had even more "talent" than ours. "How could this happen... Why did I get assigned to a class like this..." Quite a few people were complaining inwardly just like Nishino. "Not happy with your class assignment? I'm sorry to tell you, but at least before the school year starts, your abilities are only at Class C level!" Teacher Sakagami bluntly pointed this out. "Before the school year starts? So we still have a chance?" I casually asked him. "That's right. If your Class Points overtake the others, you can become Class A! That's a necessary condition for getting a guaranteed place in higher education or a job." "What!? I thought everyone was guaranteed a place!" "How could that be? You reap what you sow. It's simple. This school already provides you with a generous living allowance every month. You expect it to give you a good path after graduation, too? There's no such thing as a free lunch." Compared to being assigned to Class C, this news was an even bigger shock. I couldn't help smiling bitterly at how wrong my earlier assessment had been. I hadn't expected the school to go this far to motivate the students. Getting promoted to Class A? With our current Class C standing, that'd be tough! I could transfer classes for twenty million, but now that I'd come to this school, I didn't want to avoid the chance to challenge myself. All right, let's go all out! "Teacher Sakagami, how can we raise our Class Points?" Kaneda, who hadn't said a word until now, asked. "The simplest way is to do well on exams. As students, you're surely used to that by now. You already took a practice quiz a while ago, didn't you? The midterm exams work the same way. Do everything you can to pass! Unlike the previous practice exam, future exams will..."