"Damn it, I got played!"
"You... who the hell are you?"
Kushida had well and truly lost it. Normally, even if someone discovered her other side, it wouldn't have been a big deal.
At worst, she could threaten him into keeping quiet.
But now she couldn't even threaten him. Instead, he'd turned the tables on her.
Was this really the same guy who'd always been so inconspicuous in class?
All he made her feel now was fear, as if he, too, had another side just like her.
"Who am I? I don't think there's much point in answering that."
Mu Tianchen said it calmly, but to Kushida, that only made him more frightening.
The calmer he was, the harder he was to read.
"Fair enough. Name your price!"
Kushida was fairly clever. After hesitating for a moment, she immediately thought of buying the recording with points.
She didn't have many points, but if she wanted to protect the image she'd built up, this was the only way.
If she didn't have enough, she could always borrow some using her connections...
"I don't need points," Mu Tianchen immediately rejected her offer. In the long run, Kushida was far more valuable than points.
"What? Then what do you want me to do?"
"Don't tell me you want to do that to me, Tianchen-kun. You're so naughty~"
When Kushida saw that being forceful wasn't working, she immediately switched back to her usual cute persona.
She gazed at the man in front of her with an innocent expression.
Honestly, Kushida's attitude still shocked Mu Tianchen.
She was actually willing to go this far to protect her image...
But that only showed how important it really was to her.
"What are you talking about? Why would I do that?" Mu Tianchen said, feigning nonchalance. "I need you to do a few things for me, and I'll pay you some points in return."
"Of course, to make sure you'll do as I say, I'll hold on to this recording for now."
"I'll do whatever you say. Let me keep the recording, okay? Please~"
Kushida kept up her usual persona and spoke in a sweet voice. Most men would probably find it hard to refuse her.
But when Mu Tianchen remembered how hard she'd kicked the railing just moments ago, he got goosebumps.
"No."
"I see... Fine." Kushida was a little unhappy, but she didn't dare push her luck, so she reluctantly accepted. "But how am I supposed to trust you?"
Mu Tianchen considered her suspicion a normal reaction. After all, forming a relationship through such heavy-handed means was bound to create distrust.
At this point, he needed to prove himself and put her doubts to rest.
"How many points do you think the person with the most individual points in Class D has?"
"The person with the most points?" Kushida didn't know why he was asking, but she began calculating in her head.
The school had given everyone 100,000 points in May, their first month after enrollment. Then, in the second month, their class rating had been zero, so they hadn't received any points.
They'd had to cover some expenses along the way. After subtracting those and assuming everything else was bought at the lowest possible price, having 60,000 points left would already have been impressive.
"The answer is 60,000, right?"
"60,000?" It seemed Kushida thought just like most people and was still focused on spending carefully. She hadn't considered other ways to earn points.
"Am I wrong?" Kushida was sure she'd calculated it carefully.
After all, she had lots of friends, and conversations often turned to their everyday expenses at school.
She knew a fair bit about that.
"Take a look at this." As if he'd prepared it in advance, Mu Tianchen handed his phone to Kushida.
When Kushida saw the screen, she could hardly believe her eyes. She rubbed them, confirmed she'd read it correctly, then exclaimed in shock,
"It really is over 1.24 million points. How... did you do that?"
Kushida had considered the possibility that he'd borrowed the points through his connections, but quickly dismissed it. Gathering that many points would have required a lot of people.
Besides, she'd never seen him with any so-called friends in their class. Friends in other classes were even less likely.
That could only mean he'd used a method most people hadn't noticed.
So he really had been hiding his abilities...
Seeing Kushida staring blankly, Mu Tianchen smiled mischievously. "You didn't really think this school only had the rules they made public, did you? Think about it."
That was right. Kushida finally realized it, too. She'd noticed a few odd things in the student handbook at the start of the school year.
The rules seemed rather superficial. For instance, the handbook clearly prohibited students from fighting, yet from what she'd observed, there were plenty of places where it was as if they'd deliberately left out the security cameras. This was a perfect example.
She didn't believe the school was short on money for cameras.
Then there was the matter of point trading. If the school gave out points and even provided free items, why did it allow students to trade points with one another...
Wait, trading points between students? Could that be what he'd used? Kushida lightly tapped her head. She'd just considered using points to buy the recording, so that meant...
"You got these points from other people, didn't you?" Kushida finally reached a conclusion she was satisfied with and looked at Mu Tianchen with a firm gaze.
"Good. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me." Mu Tianchen lowered his head and tapped at his phone. "I've already transferred 100,000 points to you. That's your payment for doing this for me."
When Kushida heard that he'd transferred 100,000 points to her, she kept her expression calm, but inside, she was thrilled.
As a popular girl, she needed plenty of points for socializing and going out. The class hadn't received any points, and she was almost out herself, so this really was a lifeline.
She could borrow some, of course, but she'd never ask unless she had no other choice. It would damage the image she had with her friends, at least a little.
"You're quite generous. So, what do you want me to do?"
There was no such thing as a free lunch. Now that Kushida had accepted the points, she naturally wanted to know what he expected of her.
Still, even if it was something difficult, she'd have to do it. He still had something to hold over her...
Mu Tianchen leaned closer. "Here's what I need you to do... First this, then that..."
"I understand. That's no problem." What Mu Tianchen had proposed didn't seem as difficult as she'd expected. If anything, it sounded easy.
It was just a little immoral...
Before you continue