Transaction Complete

"Leading Class D? That's impossible."

Mu Tianchen refused her outright without a second thought. While he could temporarily help Class D for points, he had no desire to take on the role of leading a class again.

"Oh? It seems there's some special reason behind it after all." Teacher Chazhu teased.

"Stay out of my business."

"Quite the temper you have. Fine, how about this—just raise the class points, then."

"That, I can do."

Raising class points was still beneficial for Mu Tianchen, since personal points were tied to class points. When class points increased, personal points would rise too.

Though it was a pittance for him, something was better than nothing.

"Then I'll make an exception and tell you this once. The next chance to raise class points is during the midterm exams two weeks from now. You've probably figured that out already, haven't you?"

"Mm."

Mu Tianchen was well aware of this. Where there was a penalty of expulsion, there had to be a corresponding reward.

Besides, the school couldn't possibly keep the first-year class points stagnant forever. Otherwise, the whole point of competition would be lost.

"So, how about I offer you a reward of 1:10,000?"

1:10,000 meant for every single point increase, he'd be rewarded with ten thousand personal points.

He had to admit, the terms were quite good.

"That's a decent offer, but do you even have that many points?"

Mu Tianchen wanted to probe the source of a teacher's points. Being able to offer such a large sum as a reward showed just how much power teachers wielded.

"Don't worry about that. Since I said it, I can definitely produce that many."

Teacher Chazhu wasn't so easy to pry information from, as expected.

"Fine. But aren't you worried I'll just sit back and take the points without doing anything? After all, Horikita and Ryoji might already be making moves. I could just reap the benefits."

"Hahaha, you're quite frank. Since I called you here for a private talk, it's because I think there are some things you're better suited to handle."

"As for Horikita, I don't trust her ability to significantly help her classmates in the midterms two weeks from now. She's that kind of personality..."

"And as for Ayanokouji, he's too unpredictable..."

"Ryoji is unpredictable? Looks like she doesn't know he's from that room. But that means she thinks I'm predictable?!"

Thinking this over, Mu Tianchen felt a bit speechless. Still, since it was a mutually exploitative relationship, there was no point dwelling on it.

"I understand. I'll help. Just remember the promise you made."

"Naturally."

"Also, I don't want you telling anyone about my affairs, including how many points I have."

"Don't worry. School rules prohibit unauthorized disclosure of student privacy."

Mu Tianchen: "..."

Prohibit disclosure of student privacy? She'd clearly done it before... Whatever, it wasn't like she'd only leaked his information.

Teacher Chazhu glanced at the clock on the wall. "Alright, that's enough for today. I need to head to the faculty meeting."

"Then I'll be going back."

With that, Mu Tianchen left the guidance room.

When he returned to the classroom, he could clearly feel several gazes fixed on him.

They were probably curious why Teacher Chazhu had called both him and Ayanokouji over.

After school, Mu Tianchen went to the library as usual.

Today, he had some things he wanted to ask Hiyori Shiina.

Sure enough, after she picked up her favorite book and read for a while, Shiina arrived.

"Um, Shiina-san, let's skip the book talk for today. How about we discuss studying and class matters instead?"

Once Shiina sat down, Mu Tianchen began his questions.

"Sure, but..." Shiina seemed a bit hesitant.

She was probably thinking about today's announcement of each class's points. Mu Tianchen's Class D had only scored zero points—bringing that up might affect his mood.

What a considerate girl she was.

"Don't worry about our class having zero points. I'm fine with it."

"In fact, it might even be a good thing for us. Zero points will ignite their passion for studying and help them break their bad habits."

Mu Tianchen dispelled her concerns.

"I understand."

Seeing Shiina nod in agreement, Mu Tianchen started his questions:

"What did you think of the difficulty of the last few questions on the previous quiz?"

Shiina shook her head. "It's hard. I don't think it's at the level a first-year should be able to handle. Afterward, I asked a few other top students in my class, and none of them could solve it either."

It seemed the school was indeed hinting at something. After all, if only Class D had this issue, it could be blamed on Teacher Chazhu pulling strings.

But since Class C was the same, it meant the school itself was behind it.

"What's wrong?" Shiina asked, noticing Mu Tianchen's silence.

"Nothing. I think the school might have done this on purpose. Our class is the same."

"Is that so? But what benefit does the school get from this?"

"In my opinion, part of the reason is to pick out exceptionally talented students. As for the other reason, I'd guess it's hinting at something for the midterms."

"That makes sense, but... is it okay to tell me all this? We're not in the same class, after all." Shiina hesitated.

She was sharp, he realized. She'd already grasped how crucial information was in class competition.

"If I'm not mistaken, you care more about this class than about class competition."

"Huh?" Shiina looked slightly surprised. "That's true. More than rising to Class A, I care about my classmates' growth."

"But if my class needs me, I'll do my best to help."

Shiina stated her resolve frankly.

"Speaking of which, your class is at zero points this month, meaning you didn't get any points. Are you having trouble with living expenses? If you're short, I could lend you some."

This was the second person, after Shibata, to offer to lend him points. How to put it—though he disliked the school, the students here seemed decent enough.

"No need. I'm very frugal. I had quite a bit left over from last month."

That wasn't a lie, he figured. Aside from what he'd earned recently, he really did have plenty left.

"I understand. If you ever need anything, feel free to come to me for help."

"Alright."

And so, after their chat, they each picked up a book they liked and read until the closing bell rang...

After parting ways with Shiina, Mu Tianchen went straight back to his dorm.

He sorted through the day's information a bit. Just as he'd told Shiina—this quiz was definitely hinting at the midterms. Maybe he could use it...