Mazumi Mami opened the door to Room 601 and stepped inside.
The room was much more spacious than he had expected.
"They call this a single room, but this much space..."
He looked around, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "It's practically a small apartment."
The room was exceptionally bright. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows along one entire wall, the afternoon sun was sinking toward the horizon, and the view stretched far into the distance.
His room was at the end of the hallway, and the window faced the main road by the dormitory entrance. He could clearly observe the flow of people coming and going—a perfect place to keep an eye on who entered and left.
But the interior furnishings were even more striking. Just inside the entrance was a simple foyer. On the left was a private bathroom, with the shower and toilet areas separated, and all the fixtures were brand-new.
Further in was a spacious living area, furnished with a comfortable sofa, a coffee table, and a desk.
Along one wall was a simple open kitchen, equipped with an induction cooktop, a range hood, a sink, and cabinets. There was even a medium-sized refrigerator, a microwave, and an electric kettle.
A sliding door separated the bedroom from the living room. Inside were a standard single bed, a wardrobe, and another desk.
The air conditioner hummed quietly, keeping the room at a comfortable temperature.
"These conditions... aren't they a little too generous for a high school dorm?"
Mazumi Mami lightly ran his fingers over the gleaming kitchen counter, doubts gradually forming in his mind. "It's understandable to provide students with the necessities, but with this kind of setup, they seem more intent on encouraging students to enjoy life—even become dependent on it—than on teaching them self-discipline and frugality."
"Is there really such a thing as a free lunch? Or a school this generous, purely for the sake of 'educating' its students?"
He kept his skepticism in check.
He seemed to wander casually around the room, admiring the layout, touching the furniture, and checking whether the appliances worked.
At the same time, however, a subtle but powerful mental force, imperceptible to ordinary people, quietly spread outward from him, scanning every corner of the room.
The space inside the walls, the ceiling light fixtures, the power outlets, the gaps in the furniture, the vents...anywhere a listening or surveillance device might be hidden.
A moment later, he withdrew his mental force, feeling somewhat reassured.
"I didn't detect any unusual electronic signals or suspicious devices. At least for now, this room itself seems to be 'clean.'"
"Looks like the 'Mazumi Mami' identity Father arranged for me is providing good cover. It hasn't drawn any extra 'attention' from the school."
He walked to the window and watched the students returning below, his thoughts drifting.
"But this identity was arranged so flawlessly—the background, medical history, and social connections all fit together perfectly...when did Father start planning this?"
"Could it be another case of...one of those countless 'romantic entanglements' from his younger days happening to produce just the right person?"
Thinking of his father, renowned throughout the empire for his great ambition and...to some extent, his "amorous" nature, Mazumi Mami couldn't help putting a hand to his forehead and grumbling inwardly.
"I hope he hasn't set me up with some half-sibling this time...Well, what's done is done."
He put his thoughts aside, his gaze sharpening once more.
"Whatever the case, I've successfully infiltrated the school. Just like on previous missions: proceed carefully, gather information, analyze the target, formulate a strategy, and then...complete the mission."
He checked the time. It was about time to buy ingredients for dinner.
"Since students are allowed to cook for themselves, there must be a grocery store nearby that sells fresh ingredients."
He recalled the campus map and store information Chisato Nishikigi had shared in the group chat, and identified a medium-sized grocery store not far from the dormitory.
"I'll take my time walking there. It'll give me a chance to observe more along the way."
By the time he left the dormitory, the setting sun had dyed the horizon a warm orange-red. Yet the campus had lost none of its liveliness. If anything, the arrival of dusk lent it a more relaxed atmosphere.
Students wandered among the various shops in pairs and groups, chatting and laughing.
The cafés and bubble tea shops were packed. Students sat with drinks in hand, chatting, reading, or simply staring out the window.
In the clothing stores, girls excitedly tried on all sorts of casual outfits.
The electronics store was even livelier. Groups of boys crowded around the latest game consoles, laptops, and headphones, talking animatedly, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
Everyone was immersed in the freedom to spend that seemed to come from this inexhaustible supply of "points," indulging in the energy and desires of youth.
The scene was beautiful, like a campus utopia.
But Mazumi Mami walked past calmly, his mind unmoved, his gaze even carrying a hint of cool scrutiny.
"Can this kind of frenzied consumerism really last? Is this school truly a carefree paradise for the young?"
He considered the matter coolly, his eyes sweeping over the students spending so freely.
"Nothing in this world comes for free. Such generous giving must come with an equal, or even harsher, price."
"One hundred thousand points per person each month—that's the equivalent of ten thousand Shenzhou Currency. And that's only for the 160 first-years. That comes to 1.6 million a month."
"And that doesn't even include the second- and third-years. Are they really pouring out such a huge amount of 'virtual currency' just so the students can enjoy the finer things in life?"
"Running the school, purchasing supplies, paying teachers...all of that takes real money. Points clearly can't be directly converted into currency in the outside world."
"So what is the true 'fuel' sustaining this points-based economy? Are the students' acts of 'consumption' themselves providing something to the system? Or...could these points be a form of 'debt' or 'evaluation'?"
As he pondered this question, which might touch on the school's central mechanisms, he followed a tree-lined path toward the grocery store.
As he passed a stylishly decorated café, he paid no particular attention to the window seats.
Yet the instant his figure swept past the window—
Inside the café, Karuizawa Kei was enjoying drinks with Matsumoto Chiaki, a classmate she had just met, and Mori Nene. She suddenly sprang up from her seat as if struck by something invisible, nearly spilling the coffee in her hand.
"!"
Her gaze darted toward the window. A look of astonishment flashed across her face, along with...a powerful, inexplicable stirring.
"What's wrong, Karuizawa?"
Matsumoto Chiaki, seated across from her, was startled by her sudden movement and asked in confusion.
"Yeah, you nearly gave us a fright when you suddenly jumped up."
Mori Nene, sitting beside them, blinked, just as puzzled.
But Karuizawa Kei seemed not to hear them. Her violet eyes fixed on the slender figure in a red coat, just about to disappear around the corner, and her heart inexplicably began to race.
"Sorry! Wait here for me!"
She blurted out the words in a rush. Without giving any further explanation, she grabbed her small bag and hurried out of the café onto the sidewalk.
But the paths across campus were crowded in the evening. The figure she had glimpsed for just an instant had already blended into the crowd and vanished.
She looked frantically from side to side but found nothing.
After a while, she bit her lip in disappointment and slowly returned to the café.
"So, what was that about?"
Matsumoto Chiaki asked curiously.
Karuizawa Kei sat back down, took a deep breath, and tried to calm her inexplicably restless heart. But her gaze still drifted toward the window now and then.
"I think I just...saw him."
Her voice was quiet and uncertain, yet carried a strange conviction. "The...person I came to this school to find."
"Huh?"
Mori Nene sounded puzzled and exchanged a confused look with Matsumoto Chiaki.
A person she had come to find? What did she mean?
It didn't sound as though she was talking about an ordinary classmate or friend.
But they had only met Karuizawa Kei today and weren't close yet. Seeing that she didn't seem inclined to explain further, they didn't press her, though the atmosphere grew a little awkward.
Karuizawa Kei didn't rejoin the conversation. Her thoughts had clearly drifted elsewhere.
Her fingers absently rubbed the side of her coffee cup as she replayed that brief glimpse over and over in her mind.
That profile...that inexplicable sense of familiarity and pull...It couldn't be a mistake.
She lowered her head, a complex, unreadable light flickering in her violet eyes.
Meanwhile, Mazumi Mami remained completely unaware.
He had already entered the grocery store and was carefully selecting ingredients for hot pot that evening, while continuing to observe the prices and points charged for the goods, hoping to glean more clues about the school's economic system.
A current of intrigue woven from the machinations of several different forces seemed to be growing more turbulent around him with the fall of dusk.