Chihaya Rei impatiently typed out a message, then sent it to Ryuen.
[Ryuen, I have a way to get every student in Class C through the midterm exams. It'll only cost 500,000 points. Yes or no?]
This time, he couldn't even be bothered to tease Ryuen by calling him "Dora-gon Boy" or "Shoko-chan."
He needed to hurry up and talk Ryuen into a deal. He still had to take a shower.
Or maybe he should shower first? If Ryuen replied while he was in there, he could leave him hanging for a while.
Ryuen Kakeru didn't disappoint him, though. He noticed Chihaya Rei's message right away.
When he saw that the guy who had sold him information last time, then vanished without a trace, had contacted him again, a surge of excitement welled up inside Ryuen. It was like a predator lurking in the woods finally spotting its prey.
Unlike last time, he now completely ruled Class C. He was the tyrant Ryuen Kakeru!
He would show this guy that Ryuen's points weren't so easy to take.
[Ryuen Kakeru: Heh. You think I'll do what you want?]
[Anonymous 114514: That's a pretty hurtful thing to say. We had such a nice time in our photo together, didn't we? Besides, this deal is just for you.]
A deal just for him?
Ryuen Kakeru furrowed his brow and thought it over.
He quickly realized what the message meant.
Class A and Class B had good grades, so they wouldn't waste their personal points on this person's guaranteed way to pass the exams. Class D didn't have enough points to buy it.
That left only one potential customer.
Ryuen was so annoyed he almost laughed.
This bastard was clearly picking him as the only one to milk for points, and yet he was making it sound so noble.
[Ryuen Kakeru: I don't need your method. I can get every student in Class C through the exams myself.]
[Ryuen Kakeru: And I'll find you and crush your class.]
[Ryuen Kakeru: Class D has zero Class Points. You didn't sell them the rules in the first month, either. Don't tell me you're from Class D?]
Ryuen Kakeru tried to tease out some information.
So far, all he could tell from the person's style of speech was that he was a man.
Why did Ryuen and Sakayanagi both assume that the person selling the rules was in Class D just because it had zero Class Points?
Couldn't he be hiding in Class A or Class B?
But Chihaya Rei ignored Ryuen's attempts to fish for information and carried on with what he wanted to say.
[Anonymous 114514: You really are a defiant one, Ryuen. Let me guess what your plan is.]
Ryuen Kakeru's gaze sharpened as he stared at his phone.
[You're planning to order the whole class to hand in blank papers, or write down identical answers.]
[You think the school can't expel an entire class, so that way everyone in your class will pass the midterms. Am I right?]
Ryuen Kakeru didn't answer right away, but his expression darkened.
Once again, the other guy had guessed what he was thinking.
[Ryuen Kakeru: Heh. I don't care if you know.]
Ryuen just couldn't believe it.
No matter how powerful this school was, could it really expel an entire class all at once?
So Ryuen was pretty pleased with his plan.
Though now he was annoyed that the other guy had seen through it so easily.
[Anonymous 114514: Your method might work, but is it really a good idea for the whole class to get zero points?]
[I mean, just hypothetically, is it possible that students' exam scores also affect how many Class Points they get?]
[After all, this school loves hiding rules that screw us students over.]
[If you do this, the gap between your Class Points and mine will just keep getting bigger!]
Ryuen Kakeru lowered his head and pondered.
So far, he didn't feel like Advanced Nurturing High School had screwed him over. He only felt like Chihaya Rei had tricked him out of a huge pile of points.
But there was no way he would tell the other guy something that made his class look bad.
Besides, those rules had helped him establish some authority in Class C.
And the reason the other guy was saying all this was to get his points, after all.
Chihaya Rei seemed to be reasoning with Ryuen Kakeru, pointing out the flaws in his plan, but in truth, he was spouting all kinds of nonsense to trick and mislead him.
[I have a better way to get through the midterms than yours. Don't you want to know what it is?]
[500,000 personal points for 100 Class Points is a pretty good deal. Surely you understand that much.]
A better way than his own?
Those words had struck a nerve with Ryuen.
Chihaya Rei's message seemed to echo in Ryuen's ears like a bewitching voice. He really did want to know what this so-called better method was.
But Ryuen stayed calm. He carefully weighed the pros and cons, then ultimately decided to spend the points.
When it came down to it, if there was a better way to pass the exams, Ryuen Kakeru didn't want his whole class to hand in blank papers.
If the other three classes got high scores while Class C handed in blank papers, who knew whether the school would dock Class C's points?
They say you shouldn't fall into the same river twice.
And yet he was being taken advantage of twice by the same person.
Ryuen Kakeru made a mental note to settle the score.
The 500,000 points had only just been forcibly collected from Class C. He hadn't even had time to enjoy having them before handing them over.
[Ryuen Kakeru: If this method doesn't satisfy me, I'll make you regret it.]
Ryuen Kakeru initiated a transfer of 500,000 personal points.
[Ryuen Kakeru: Tell me!]
Chihaya Rei immediately told Ryuen that the questions and answers for the upcoming midterm exams could be bought directly from upperclassmen.
He generously added that he'd already bought the answers and would give those to him, too.
Ryuen Kakeru looked at the information Chihaya Rei had sent him, and a look of sudden realization finally crossed his face.
He threw a hard punch into the air, cursing himself for not thinking of it sooner.
Next came the classic exchange of threats...
While Ryuen Kakeru plotted how to track down Chihaya Rei,
Chihaya Rei lounged back and tallied the points in his account.
After fleecing Ryuen Kakeru out of 500,000 points, the balance in this account had shot up to 3.15 million. Hoshinomiya Chie also owed him another million points.
Aside from Miyabi Nagumo, the blond second-year, there probably wasn't another student with more points than him.
Chihaya Rei figured that at this rate, it wouldn't take long to save up the 20 million points needed to change classes or avoid expulsion.
But even once he had 20 million personal points,
he'd definitely have to wait until the results of the final exam in his third year came out, then transfer into Class A at that point. That would be the safest option.
Then again, graduating from Class A didn't mean all that much to him.
Maybe in the end, he'd just trade those cold, lifeless points for warm, tangible money...
Before you continue