Ryuen Kakeru's Persistence

This time, the tables had completely turned. The store manager dropped onto the floor, looking utterly dazed. He wanted to fight back, but knew he was powerless.

If the school was notified, he'd lose his job, and the consequences wouldn't end there.

After all, the school had been established and heavily supported by the government. It was widely publicized, and the school itself wanted to avoid any kind of scandal.

Was this really his only option? If he refused, he'd be separated from Shizuku, and he wouldn't even be able to make ends meet.

"Fine. I'll do anything. Just don't—don't hurt my Shizuku.

"But 40 million points is completely unrealistic. I can only do my best."

At that moment, the store manager seemed like a warrior, shouldering everything alone and resolved to bear all the darkness himself.

His self-sacrificing, touching resolve moved Beihai. He almost felt sorry for him.

The man was being so sincere. How could Beihai not respond? He immediately held out his hand.

"Give me a million. Let's see if you're capable of that."

The man reluctantly handed over a million Personal Points. It was more than the store owner could bear. His heart clenched painfully as he handed them over, but when he thought of Shizuku, it was all worth it.

That was equivalent to a month's worth of sales.

Beihai watched as the million points arrived in his Terminal, feeling nothing. As far as he was concerned, points were just something to have enough of.

"Mm, not bad. You've got three days left. Do your best, or I'm sure you know what'll happen."

Beihai turned to leave, but he hadn't taken more than a few steps when the man called after him.

"I'll give you the Personal Points, but about Shizuku..."

"Okay, okay. Don't overthink it. Just remember, I get what I want, and you get what you want. We both win."

He hadn't spelled anything out, but he hadn't ruled anything out, either. Beihai didn't care what the other man thought.

All he wanted was to keep him busy and squeeze every last bit of value out of him.

From the moment he'd met the store manager and learned that he'd been stalking and peeping on people—such perverted behavior—and had even considered killing him, Beihai had known the man wouldn't come to a good end.

The man's emotions could turn extreme with ease. When threatened or angry, he could become frighteningly violent; if rejected, he could lose his mind.

He might end up like that one pusher, knocking on his idol's door at the start of the story before drawing a knife and brutally murdering her, then convincing himself afterward that he'd saved her.

Beihai smiled at the middle-aged man. Since they were already going to maximize their profits, he might as well stoke the flames.

"Give him a call, uncle. I'll tell you what to say."

"I need to order a shipment. Yes, the top-of-the-line stuff."

The school's facilities could only be purchased with points, but restocking was another matter. The convenience store, for example, would eventually run out of merchandise, so it had to be brought in from outside.

Other businesses might have reached some kind of agreement with the school, offering goods at cost—not for any other reason, but to be politically correct.

The easiest example was supplying food to the military. Plenty of businesses jumped at the chance. They might not make much money, but it let them establish a connection with the military.

Likewise, this school had been funded by the government and invested in by the zaibatsu. It was home not only to talented students but also to the heirs of those conglomerates. And all of that depended on cash, since points only worked within the school.

All he had to do was sell high-end equipment at a steep discount, letting the points circulate.

Even if the points only circulated within the school, the school's point system had already begun to inflate behind the scenes. People simply saved their points instead of putting large amounts into circulation.

Consider the lower grades, never mind the upper ones. Even the better-off students still had over 90,000 points each month.

There were only so many places to spend them. The school's employees had expenses, too, and their salaries and daily costs were also handled through the point system.

Maybe someone would think they could keep the points circulating internally. But the employees had families, didn't they? Points could cover their own needs, but did their families not need money?

High-end equipment was expensive. Buying brand-new items for half their usual price in points and then selling them outside could make a handsome profit. Anyone who understood the difference in value would rarely pass up a deal like this.

Beihai finally left. After hearing what he'd said, the middle-aged man believed that Beihai's involvement made them partners in crime. If it all came out later, he could drag Beihai down with him.

That made the whole thing much easier to handle psychologically. What was more, the man was already trying to convince himself of his own lies, and his emotions were verging on madness.

Beihai had already headed off into the distance, thinking about how he'd sell the man out in three days. The mess he'd made this time might well get him quietly disappeared.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Let's see what an Otherworldly Sasaeng Fan can do. He can't be that stupid, right? If he really does it, even I won't be able to save him."

Beihai thought about it with a touch of malice. It reminded him of the rotten things he'd done in middle school. He'd used the same methods against bullies back then. This time, he'd picked a different target. He wondered how it would end.

While Beihai was dealing with the middle-aged man, Class A and Class C were about to make their own moves.

Class A wouldn't be Class A after this month. For now, they still held the position only because the time hadn't come yet.

The situation had started to resemble a factional struggle.

There was Kohei Katsuragi's conservative faction and Sakayanagi Arisu's radical faction. One side believed that if they were going to attack, they should make some preparations first, such as forming an alliance with Class C. The points they had to spend were part of the strategy—and a show of trust.

The other side wanted to jump straight into a full-scale attack. Cooperation was fine, but the other party had to bring something to the table. Otherwise, they should be giving Class A points.

Class A had split right down the middle during the exam in May.

Sakayanagi Arisu sipped her coffee, her mind already made up. Before, she'd been willing to let Katsuragi make a few moves, then take over and set things in motion after he lost.

She'd even looked forward to watching the show and then making some dismissive remark. But now she was intensely interested, and itching to act. Still, with only half the class behind her, she couldn't show her opponent the respect he deserved—or even land an effective blow.

"Sigh. One time is all it'll take to bring this to an end. Enjoy your final days, Katsuragi. After all, I'm not a cruel person."

Ryuen Kakeru looked at the score table, staring intently at the spot where Class B used to be.

They'd moved up. They'd moved up after just the second month!

No—that wasn't quite right. If they hadn't come to him with a deal in the first month, and he hadn't known about them, they might have moved up after the very first month.

"Who the hell is propping up Class B? Heh! Whoever it is, I'll drag them out into the open!

"I've still got a score to settle with you, but Class B's in the spotlight now, too."

Ryuen's eyes darkened. He considered the matter, then looked at the students following behind him. Not one of them was worth talking to, and the girl who could actually fight had plenty of grievances against him.

As for the class's hidden mastermind, he wanted no part in the conflict. Every day, he stayed in the library as if he lived there.

With his hands in his pockets, Ryuen headed straight for the library. It wasn't as if he couldn't listen to reason, or that he'd charge ahead stubbornly after taking a loss. If there was someone who could help, why not seek him out?

As for the other guy not wanting to get involved—if he were a man, Ryuen would've elbowed him in the face already. Even without that, he could pester him until he got fed up and started giving advice.