Asking for Help

Sae Chabashira pushed open the classroom door, sensing the atmosphere was a bit off. Normally when she walked in at this time, the class wouldn't be this quiet.

Half the students were looking at her, as if seeking some kind of answer, while the others had their gazes fixed on Haruki Yamauchi and Beihai.

As the homeroom teacher of Class D, Chabashira wasn't so clueless as to not know her students' names. Taking in the scene, she could roughly guess what had happened—probably a conflict, and now they were waiting to see how she'd handle it.

Seeing this, Chabashira almost laughed. Did that mean the clash in the classroom had been fully captured by the cameras?

How impressive. How very impressive. She should have known—these defective products in Class D, even with that special someone joining this year, couldn't change their fundamental nature.

Chabashira's mood was now terrible, sinking even lower, but she still picked up the chalk and continued teaching, acting as if nothing had happened. Unless someone spoke up on their own, she had no intention of getting involved.

Not just because this was during the assessment period, but because most teachers in Sakura Country, even if they noticed something off about the class atmosphere, would prioritize self-preservation and ignore it.

Unless the matter directly implicated them, they'd just muddle through until things got serious, then handle it by the book.

Since Haruki Yamauchi didn't have the guts to report Beihai, she didn't bother either. Besides, both of them were utterly unremarkable—one was plain on paper, the other plain in appearance.

Since the teacher didn't intervene, Beihai couldn't care less.

But there might be trouble later. Yosuke Hirata was a nice guy who had come over to mediate earlier, and given his social circle, he'd definitely try to talk things out.

It was obvious now that the teacher had started the lesson and everyone was busy with their own stuff, but Hirata kept glancing at Beihai, clearly planning to have a word after class.

Just then, a small paper ball rolled onto the table in front of Beihai, bouncing once.

Beihai found it strange, so he picked up the paper ball, slowly opened it, and found two words written inside: "Thank you."

Beihai instantly knew where the paper ball came from. He pulled a sour candy from under his desk, wrapped it back in the paper, and flicked it onto Airisu Sakura's desk.

The paper ball was returned, making two thudding sounds that clearly indicated something inside. Airisu Sakura quickly opened it, but there was no reply—only a candy coated in white powder. The excess powder even fell onto the desk.

She sniffed the air, catching the fruity sweetness and that sour tang.

Airisu Sakura turned her head to look at Beihai, her eyes pitiful, faintly misting over as if she wanted to say something. But in the end, she popped the candy into her mouth, pursing her lips and closing her eyes, looking utterly pathetic.

For a split second, Beihai felt a pang of guilt, but then his sense of pleasure beat that guilt back.

His mood lifted considerably, and he dove back into his studies. The class ended quickly, and as soon as it did, what Beihai had predicted came true.

Seeing Yosuke Hirata walking toward him, Beihai didn't panic. Instead, as Hirata approached, he raised his terminal in a gesture of apology.

"I might have something to deal with. Let's leave it for today. Besides, this was entirely the other party's fault—I'm not going to apologize."

Leaving that behind, he turned and walked away, drawing the attention of several classmates. Yosuke Hirata was the kind of person whose every move was watched by the whole class, a real social butterfly.

And since Beihai had just hit someone earlier, he naturally drew eyes too.

A couple of girls seized the opportunity to rush over and comfort Hirata. He could only watch Beihai leave the classroom, then get blocked by these girls, forcing a bitter smile as he dealt with them one by one.

This behavior stirred dissatisfaction among some of the male cliques, like Haruki Yamauchi and his group, who thought Hirata was putting on airs.

As for Beihai having things to do, that wasn't a lie. Just now, his backup brain had sent out a distress signal. Every time a transaction was made, the time for thought-sharing lasted longer and grew deeper.

Beihai almost wished Honami Ichinose would come to him every day.

Right now, 50,000 points had already been transferred to his terminal.

Honami Ichinose: [I've run into something—or rather, me and everyone in Class B have a problem.]

It turned out that after getting the information, Honami Ichinose had acted quickly. In the process, she couldn't possibly sign an agreement with the school.

If she did, she wouldn't be able to share the information with her classmates, which was completely out of the question for her.

So the only option was the second plan: trade with other classes while keeping her own class in line.

The trade with Class A went unusually smoothly. Their unity was high, and they easily came up with 2 million points.

But the trade with Class C hit a snag. Class C wasn't unified quickly enough to produce that much, and when they learned Class B might have some intel, they tried to freeload off the methods—pretty underhanded.

Now Class C was going all out against Class B.

Class B was being harassed relentlessly, with some even receiving threats.

Those Class C guys really did throw punches.

Under this kind of pressure, who could guarantee that Class B wouldn't spill the rules they'd received?

Honami Ichinose tried to negotiate with Class C, but it was a total failure. Not only was Class C not fully unified, but Long Yuanxiang, who held considerable sway there, directly stated:

If they spilled everything, Class C would be easy to deal with and stop harassing Class B.

Long Yuanxiang only refrained from adding conditions because Class C wasn't fully unified yet.

Honami Ichinose: [That's the situation. I'm hesitating now—should I tell him for the sake of Class B?]

It was clear Honami Ichinose was buckling under the pressure. With the constant harassment, Class B couldn't catch a break.

She was even starting to regret approaching Class C for a trade too early, drawing their attention. This month was still long.

If she didn't tell them, Class A would coast through the month while Class B took a heavy hit. If she did, maybe they'd back off.

But that would mean losing everything down to their underwear. Everyone hates freeloaders, especially after all this harassment. In utter desperation, Honami Ichinose naturally thought of Beihai, especially his words: he could handle anything.