Discussion (Continued)

Before Ichinose Honami opened the door, not a sound could be heard from inside.

Besides two ordinary circular sofas arranged in opposite corners of the private room, there were also several seats resembling small beds.

Several glass coffee tables of different shapes and sizes were scattered among the seats.

The students in Class B got along very well.

Almost everyone threw themselves into the team-building activity.

A few hadn't gotten fully involved, but they still hummed along with enthusiasm.

Only one girl, Himeno Yuki, was restless inside, yet had no choice but to go along with the class's mood, her eyes full of helplessness.

If she had to describe it, she looked like a teacher with dead fish eyes.

It wasn't that she disliked her classmates in Class B, or that she didn't like the atmosphere there.

On the contrary, she quite liked her classmates in Class B.

Everyone was easy to get along with and easy to talk to.

But the real world was all about ***.

They'd only been at school for two days!

No matter how you looked at it, they should have spent at least a week together before things could progress this far.

It was all the Sender's fault. They'd done a number on everyone.

Poor me, forced to hand over half my points.

Himeno Yuki silently grumbled about Tanaka Yukishin.

When Ichinose Honami returned, Kanzaki Ryuji was the first to notice that something seemed off about her.

He handed the microphone to another student and went over to her.

"What's wrong? Did something happen just now?"

Kanzaki Ryuji asked with concern.

"Oh, Kanzaki. I just ran into a senior..."

Ichinose Honami had come back to discuss the matter with her classmates in the first place.

When Kanzaki Ryuji asked, she took the opportunity to tell him what had just happened.

"I see."

After hearing the whole story, Kanzaki Ryuji grew serious and fell into thought.

So that was what "you can buy anything with points" meant.

But how many points to spend, and what to buy—

those were things they really needed to discuss with everyone in Class B.

"Then let's tell everyone now."

"This song's almost over. We should wait until it's finished, then pause it and tell everyone."

Unlike Tanaka Yukishin, who had stopped everything outright,

Ichinose Honami was just as concerned about the matter, but still chose to consider how everyone else felt.

Of course, it didn't make much difference.

As soon as Shibata Hayate finished singing the last line, Kanzaki Ryuji pressed pause.

"Kanzaki, is something up?" a student nearby asked.

Ichinose Honami spoke before Kanzaki Ryuji could, telling everyone in Class B what had just happened.

Honestly, Ichinose, there was no need to go that far.

Kanzaki Ryuji was similar to Hirata Yosuke, but although he was popular, he wasn't good at socializing.

Still, he liked the atmosphere in Class B.

So he didn't mind making a little effort to change himself.

But Ichinose's actions left him not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

You might be observant, but I'm not so bad with words that I can't manage this.

Once everyone in Class B heard what had happened, they began discussing it.

Some thought there was no need to buy the information.

The value of information was too subjective.

The school's guarantee could only ensure that it was genuine, but different people could interpret the same information differently.

Even if they bought it, there was no way to know whether Class B would get enough in return.

Others thought they had to buy it.

They had the Sender's example to go by: one Class Point was worth 100 personal points.

Across the entire class, that would be 4,000 points.

Even the most expensive tier, 10 million points, would come to just 1 million per month if split over ten months.

On average, that was equivalent to 25,000 points per person each month.

But getting information first could give them an advantage that would bring in even more.

Whether it was the potential shift in year-group rankings from an increase in Class Points, or the guaranteed increase in personal points from that increase, both were tangible advantages.

The two sides argued back and forth.

At that point, Himeno Yuki spoke up, sounding a little uncertain.

"If it seems too expensive, why not consider buying from another senior instead?"

Everyone considered the option.

Another senior?

That was a new idea.

From what Ichinose Honami had just said, once the school's ban had been partially exposed by the Sender, its effect had been reduced accordingly.

The rules could be countered with points that could buy anything; they could get information from their seniors through a transaction.

Maybe they could buy the information without spending so many points.

"But doing that might offend that senior."

"And since we have to choose, it's better to choose the strong over the weak."

Shibata Hayate disagreed with Himeno Yuki's idea and offered a compelling argument.

"Although we don't know whether that senior is in his second or third year..."

"But Ichinose just said his account balance has eight digits. She didn't catch the exact amount."

"In the best-case scenario, he's a second-year with the maximum account balance: 99,999,999 points."

"In the worst-case scenario, he's a third-year with exactly 10 million points."

"Think about it. Whether he earned 100 million points in one year or 10 million in two, there's no doubt he's strong by this school's standards."

"Ichinose was lucky enough to run into him. But if we don't seize the opportunity now and instead go out of our way to offend him, that..."

To spare Himeno Yuki's feelings, Shibata Hayate didn't say the rest too bluntly.

But his classmates in Class B understood what he meant.

The school was closed off, and there were only so many people here.

During the Secret Exam, the school's ban meant the second- and third-years hadn't had much contact with the first-years.

But it didn't take much to see what was coming.

The seniors were bound to have an influence on the competition ahead.

The simplest comparison was this:

In their first month, a class's total points amounted to 4 million.

With no changes, that came to 48 million a year.

But that was the most ideal scenario.

In reality, Class Points could drop, and they would inevitably use personal points in their daily lives and studies.

Compared to that, this senior had at least 10 million.

It was as if he alone was worth one-fifth of an entire class's yearly total.

That was the equivalent of eight people.

So no matter how they looked at it, they couldn't go out of their way to offend him when he hadn't acted against them.

Especially when he'd shown them goodwill.

He'd told Ichinose that the school's ban had lost some of its effect, and explained the true meaning of "you can buy anything with points."

After hearing that, Himeno Yuki thought for a while.

Then she offered a new suggestion.

"If that's the case, why not try asking a teacher?"

"Not another senior. We could get the information from a teacher instead. The senior would have no reason to hold it against us."

That made sense. This time, even Shibata Hayate agreed.

"If it's a teacher, that would work well. But should we send the senior a fruit platter or something later? We can't just leave him with nothing."

After all, changing the person they asked meant they couldn't be blamed for doing anything wrong.

A teacher's professional duties already covered this kind of thing.

It went without saying that students could get information from their teachers.

Ichinose Honami thought it was a good suggestion.

They hadn't gotten information from their teacher during class that day because of the school's ban.

Now that they were countering the rules, their homeroom teacher should tell them as much as she could within the limits.

But since they were changing who they asked, they should change the question accordingly.

By this point, Ichinose Honami also felt that her earlier question hadn't been the best choice.

Once the senior had agreed to answer in exchange for payment, she should have switched to a question that would benefit Class B more.

[How did the senior get so many personal points?]—Compared to that, asking about Class Points and the class would have been a better choice.

She contacted her homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie, through her student ID terminal.

"Hello, Honami. What's up?"

Hoshinomiya Chie's slightly sweet voice came from the other end of the student ID terminal.

She was chatting with other people, accompanied by the clinking of glasses.

"Ms. Hoshinomiya, here's what happened..."

Although Ichinose Honami felt that it was a little inappropriate for her homeroom teacher to go drinking right after school, given their respective positions, she didn't feel she could say anything.

After briefly and plainly explaining the matter of buying information with points,

she proposed a deal.

"Oh, how interesting. You ran into the Joker, Honami. You're lucky."

Having come across something interesting, Hoshinomiya Chie's voice turned serious.

But if a teacher got involved, the price in points would actually skyrocket.