Bad Mood, Nagumo Miyabi

"The second thing, and a truth that will make you feel your hopes shattered, is that in this school, only Class A receives the benefits advertised in the brochure upon graduation. The records of students from other classes will simply be distributed to other high schools."

"Verifying this truth is simple enough; you can just ask your homeroom teacher how many points are required."

"We have all been assigned to Class C, and it seems we have no hope, but there is always a way out."

"Do you remember what I said about class points earlier? In this school, the ranking between the four classes—A, B, C, and D—is determined by the class points each possesses."

"As long as our class points exceed those of a higher-ranked class, we can take their place. Overthrow the superior! This is the first way for us to graduate from Class A."

"We will not adopt this method because I feel the hope of doing so is too slim. You can ask the upperclassmen from other grades how many classes in history have actually managed to stage a comeback and reach Class A."

"What we will adopt is the second plan for promotion to Class A: private points."

"There is a rule in the school: as long as a student can scrape together 20 million private points, they can use those points to transfer classes once or be exempted from expulsion."

"What we need to do is gather the 780 million points required for our entire class to be promoted. Don't panic; I'm not so bad at math that I'd miscalculate this. I am not included in this count; I don't care whether I graduate from Class A or not, so I've lightened the burden for you."

"What you need to do is obey me completely and follow my instructions. Whatever I tell you to do, you must do! I will do my utmost to send you all into Class A."

"If, in the end, I fail to lead you in gathering those 780 million points, I will distribute the points proportionally to everyone in the class. I'll take a few extra points as a service fee."

"The school will eventually buy back these points for cash at a set rate, so you won't be at a loss. Just think of it as coming here for three years to earn money."

"These are the points I currently have on hand. I show you these points only to tell you that I have the ability to execute this plan."

"Now, you are free to do as you please, but I do not want to see anyone late for the opening ceremony later, nor do I want to hear any noise while lining up. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Class Leader!"

Having quickly unified the class through sheer intimidation, Ryuen disappeared after finishing his speech. I knew he had likely gone to subdue those who were still dissatisfied with him.

Ryuen's efficiency was quite high; 5.42 million points appeared on my system panel. Don't ask why the points were collected by Ryuen but credited to me; it's because the card Ryuen used to collect the points was mine. He had already gone to Sakagami in advance to take my student card under false pretenses.

Excluding the 3.22 million private points from our class, the extra 2.2 million points likely came from Class A and Class B. I just don't know who the sucker was that gave up those extra points.

"Then, while we still have some time, would Hiyori be willing to accompany This Humble One to the Student Council to pick up a spare key and then go receive our club activity room? Clubs have activity budgets, you know."

After Ryuen left, I proposed the next step to Hiyori, who was pouting at me to express her dissatisfaction.

"Sima Zhenglong-kun is truly mean. It would have been enough for you to cooperate with Ryuen-kun alone, yet you had to drag me along too."

"My apologies~ I was just worried that my own leadership wouldn't be enough, so I took this desperate measure without seeking Hiyori-san's opinion. As compensation, I hope Hiyori-san will do me the honor of appreciating the work I am currently preparing. It is a piece that combines classical literature with modern literature~"

This was the third layer of the trap.

"Mm, alright. But for the coming month, I will be seeking Sima Zhenglong-kun's help, you know~"

After standing up from her seat, Hiyori leaned over, whispered into my ear, and then ran to the classroom door to wait for me.

"Please come in."

After I knocked on the Student Council door with Hiyori, a slightly frivolous voice came from within.

"Oh? It seems President Horikita Manabu has already gone to the gymnasium to prepare. Found it."

Ignoring Nagumo Miyabi, who was sitting at his desk, I picked up a small envelope containing a key from Horikita Manabu's desk.

This was something he had asked Horikita Manabu to do via phone last night; the phone number had been provided by Chairman Sakayanagi.

The matter of me founding a club had been handed over entirely to President Horikita Manabu by the Chairman. Armed with the Chairman's order as my imperial sword, I naturally wouldn't let the Student Council's entry-level labor go to waste.

"So you're the freshman who made the President crawl out of bed in the middle of the night to run errands for you? That is truly interesting."

Seeing Sima Zhenglong pick up the envelope, Nagumo spoke with a hint of irritation.

"How would President Nagumo know about this? Could it be that you're jealous because President Horikita Manabu was doing things for me in the middle of the night? This school is truly terrifying~"

Nagumo Miyabi, a student who squanders his gifts. To have a gold mine here and not know how to develop it—it's truly hard to watch.

Perhaps it won't be until he graduates from university and enters society that he will look back on his experiences at this school and begin to regret his actions.

There aren't many opportunities to openly exploit power and rules for profit, especially when this school provides you with the platform and the opportunity. Even if Nagumo enters a large company later, it would take him a very, very long time as a middle-to-high-level manager to embezzle that much money.

"That's certainly not it. It's just that when President Horikita Manabu was running errands last night, he specifically called me up too. I was in the middle of an important matter at that time. I wonder if you, Junior, can compensate for my loss?"

Nagumo Miyabi, feeling unnerved by the pity in Sima Zhenglong's eyes, tried to use the same tactics he used on his peers to pressure the other party.

"Of course. President Nagumo's loss must be significant. I wonder, is this so-called important matter a project worth hundreds of millions? I feel it might be necessary to inform Senior Asahina about such a serious loss, provided you can still stand here in one piece afterward."

What kind of "important matter" could Nagumo Miyabi possibly have? If it were truly that important, would he have been able to be summoned by Horikita Manabu?

Judging by his reputation, it could only be some sordid business.

"It seems I really underestimated Junior Sima. I am a magnanimous senior, so I won't pursue this. I still prefer to be called President Nagumo. Don't get it wrong next time."

Nagumo's expression shifted repeatedly before he finally gave a response before I walked out of the Student Council door, though the response felt pale and lacked any real force.