I Am Agent 17

The only trouble was that this kind of intelligence was useless in Beihai's hands. If he wanted to keep a low profile, no matter how he went about it, he couldn't use this information to gain benefits for himself.

After all, these terminals were all issued by the school—who knew if they had control over them? Like taking online classes in middle school, the teacher's main computer could monitor every student's screen.

Selling on the terminal, if you didn't stay anonymous and just added each other as friends, your location would be displayed.

Any transaction or notification would be traced back to me. That was a bit of a headache.

The best way to solve this problem was to just ignore it and spend sparingly. The ultimate goal of coming here was still to focus on classes.

Just then, the system's voice rang out.

"Detected that the host has entered high school, beginning the final three-year sprint phase. The host's studies have never fallen behind, always sprinting forward, yet the results have been unsatisfactory. Perhaps we must admit that people are unequal, that they are different. Mind Sharing has been specially unlocked. Want to experience a genius's brain? Proceed with a binding transaction. This is a fair trade."

The sudden system prompt caught Beihai off guard. He'd been getting traits all along—was this a surprise?

But what the system said wasn't wrong. Sometimes, in areas you weren't good at, it was tough to break through even if you banged your head against the wall. Beihai had been grinding nonstop, filling notebooks with notes in class, using different pens for Japanese and math.

Yet he'd ended up looking like the hardest worker while actually just going through the motions. But Beihai knew the struggle behind it all.

Some said that people who did well in school looked like they were playing on the surface but were secretly working harder than anyone, while those who looked hard at work were actually spinning their wheels. But was that really the truth?

In this area, you had to admit your limits. Take Gauss, for example—born in the same year as him. Were they even the same species as humans?

Everyone had the same brain, including all kinds of hard workers, but in Gauss's eyes, you were nothing but a grasshopper.

These words from the system made Beihai clench his fists, yet he had to acknowledge it, because he'd tested it himself.

In his past life, he couldn't study well, but he was great at shady tricks. This life was the same—even if he deliberately avoided them, it still didn't help much.

"If I used my lecherous intelligence or my IQ, I wouldn't have these problems. I can recite English subtitles on websites backward and type out a ton, but on the exam paper, they're all tied up in knots."

With a slight complaint, Beihai started hunting for a suitable target on the school's official forum.

First, he set himself to anonymous, then changed his name. Since this was a transaction, Beihai was confident there was nothing he couldn't do.

Unless it was getting first place in the whole school on an exam—that was a bit unrealistic. Everything else, he could handle.

After thinking it over, with this ability and contacting online, he'd call himself Agent 17. It was a bit of nostalgia for his past life. Wait, why that kind of nostalgia?

He quickly shook his head, tossing out the messy thoughts, then typed a message and sent it. Since it was a transaction, both sides needed mutual benefit.

"50,000 Personal Points, and I'll tell you some unexpected information. 100,000 points, and I'll do one thing for you. 1,000,000 points is the Buyout Right, but while directing you, you'll still need to pay 50,000 and 100,000."

He checked it over—should be fine. That was probably the max Personal Points a first-year could pull out.

After all, some geniuses liked to be aloof. Going solo was normal. And the 1,000,000 was for mobilizing people in the class.

That would definitely be a genius too. And why not go for second- or third-years?

Because they were about to graduate from this school. Once they left, who knew if that Mind Sharing would still work?

Walking back to his dorm, he daydreamed about what improvements Mind Sharing could bring him. Was a genius's brain really that good?

Just as he was thinking, his terminal suddenly vibrated. A ding came through with a message. Beihai instinctively looked at the terminal.

A bit surprising, and a pleasant one. People with good eyes weren't common in this world. No matter what, it had just been sent out and was immediately noticed. Whoever it was, Beihai decided to chat more.

"Who has such good taste?"

The message was brief.

[Is something wrong? We can meet. I can lend it to you, but you'll need to pay it back.]

The message was short, but the sender's name wasn't hidden at all. He glanced at the chat interface's top left corner—the name was Honami Ichinose.

Beihai was a bit surprised. This was a real good Samaritan. A bit too kind, wasn't she?

At the same time, probably because the forum post had been noticed, aside from Honami Ichinose, others started trying to contact Beihai. But unfortunately, everything came down to first come, first served.

So he edited a message and sent it.

[I don't have any difficulties. On the contrary, I can provide help to you, or unexpected help to your entire class—like the truth about this school.]

The online icon on the terminal changed to "typing," as if the other person was thinking or maybe a bit surprised.

[Huh?]

After the message came through, 50,000 points followed.

[So this counts as a deposit?]

Looking at the message, Beihai could almost imagine the other person didn't take it seriously, probably thinking it was a joke.

And indeed, Honami Ichinose did think that way. If the forum post had required over a hundred thousand points or more than 50,000, she wouldn't have foolishly lent it out. But 50,000 was a number she could accept and fully bear. Even if she got scammed, she'd just take it as a lesson.

In plain terms, she was a saint, not a sanctimonious one.

Beihai didn't have that many thoughts. He just thought she was a bit naive. But what did that have to do with him? He just needed a smart brain.

Since she'd sent the 50,000 points over, Beihai didn't hesitate and directly transferred the recording from his terminal.

[I suggest opening this recording when you're back in your dorm, and don't let too many people hear it. After all, you bought it with your points—it's your own thing. It wouldn't be good if someone freeloaded off you.]

[Of course you've already purchased it, so the usage rights are in your hands. This can only be a small suggestion from me.]

Just as this transaction concluded, the Mind Sharing interface and connection abruptly popped up.

Beihai glanced at it and saw that the other party's IQ was as high as 90. Combined with her naive and sweet appearance, she seemed easy to handle, so he clicked to confirm the connection. He believed she would definitely come looking for him again to strike more deals.

After all, she was kind and very outgoing—she must have many friends.

Since he now had a bound option, Beihai naturally deleted the post on the forum and ignored all other inquiries.