Hoshida No returned to his dorm. Room 403 was directly across from Ayanokoji's.
Fresh from his shower, he lay on his bed and pulled out his phone. Messages were waiting from Sakayanagi Arisu and Ichinose Honami. He opened Ichinose's chat first.
15 minutes ago,
Ichinose: The other party transferred 1,000,000 Personal Points
Ichinose: Brother No, our class agreed to the trade. Here are the 1,000,000 points.
5 minutes ago, Ichinose: Brother No, are you resting?
Hoshida No accepted the points, then replied: I was in the shower and didn't see your message.
As soon as he sent it, the message was marked as read.
Hoshida No's fingers tapped across the screen, sending her the rules he'd obtained from Chazhu Zuo Zhi.
Only then did he open Sakayanagi Arisu's chat.
20 minutes ago,
Sakayanagi Arisu: The other party transferred 1,000,000 Personal Points
There was no explanation, just a transfer notification. Hoshida No sent her the school rules, then added: Ryuen Kakeru from Class 1-C used violence to try to take control of his class. I also made an information deal with him.
Sakayanagi Arisu replied quickly: You even made a deal with Class C? Does that mean every class knows about the hidden rules now?
Hoshida No raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. He closed the chat and found Ayanokoji, then transferred the 250,000 points from his deal with Class B.
But Ayanokoji didn't accept them. He declined and said, "I already have the 400,000 points you gave me. This is enough, especially since I didn't really help."
Seeing that Ayanokoji had refused, Hoshida No replied simply: ok.
He opened the chat with Kushida Kikyo, whom he'd run into outside a shop a few days earlier and added as a contact, and asked, "Kushida, are you there? I want to talk to you about the school's hidden rules."
Two minutes later,
Kushida Kikyo finally replied: "I was drying my hair and didn't see your message. Sorry."
Kushida Kikyo: Hoshida, does this school really have hidden rules?
Hoshida No: It does. The school isn't as good as it seems. I spoke with Chabashira-sensei, and she asked for 500,000 Personal Points to tell us the rules. This affects how many Personal Points we'll get next month. I don't have that many points, and I'm not close with my classmates. So I wanted to ask if you could find out whether the class would be willing to buy the rules.
Kushida Kikyo took a moment to process Hoshida No's message, then replied: "Okay, Hoshida. I'll ask everyone tomorrow."
The morning assembly bell had barely rung, and the morning bustle still lingered in the Class D classroom. When Hoshida No and Kushida Kikyo stood side by side at the front, the chatter abruptly died, as if someone had pressed pause.
Sunlight slanted through the windows, catching the damp tips of Hoshida No's hair. He calmly surveyed his classmates, who were whispering among themselves.
His voice rang out, clear and steady. "I'll only take a few minutes. I have something to tell you that affects everyone's point income next month."
Standing beside him, Kushida Kikyo wore her usual friendly smile and added, "Hoshida noticed the school's hidden rules. We just need enough points to get them from a teacher, so we'd like to ask everyone about pooling our points~"
An uproar immediately broke out.
"Hidden rules?"
"And we have to pay points for them?"
"Could this be a scam?" Doubts rose from all sides, and a few boys who usually liked to stir things up frowned.
Hoshida No didn't rush to defend himself. He simply raised a hand for silence, his tone carrying an unshakable certainty. "The way this school distributes points is more complicated than it looks. The school gives us so many points, yet older students still eat those free meals that taste awful. You might say they've run out of points, but could anyone really spend all 100,000 points they get each month in less than three days after school starts..."
He paused, his gaze settling on Ayanokoji at the back of the room. "Ayanokoji asked some of the students eating those free meals, and most of them were from the upper-year Classes C and D."
Everyone looked at Ayanokoji. He hadn't actually done that, but he could only play along and nod.
Yamauchi Haruki, sitting against the wall with his prominent chin, asked in confusion, "What's the problem with that?"
Hoshida No glanced at Yamauchi Haruki, unwilling to explain further. Instead, Hirata Yousuke stood up and said, "Hoshida means there's a difference between classes, and that difference affects how many Personal Points we receive each month."
Hoshida No nodded to Hirata Yousuke in agreement, his tone even. "Chabashira-sensei has confirmed that the school has hidden rules. They aren't made public because the school wants to test the classes and even us students. If we understand them, we can at least avoid unnecessary losses of points each month and might even gain extra benefits. But getting the rules costs 500,000 Personal Points."
"500,000?" someone gasped. "That's way too much!"
"There are 25 of us in the class, so that's 20,000 points per person on average. It's not that much." Kushida Kikyo spoke up at the right moment, her gentle tone persuasive. "And this affects how many Personal Points we'll receive next month. If the rules are useful, we can make back the points that would otherwise be deducted in the months to come."
Hirata Yousuke was the first to speak up. "I'm willing to contribute 40,000 Personal Points. Hoshida was the one who noticed the school had hidden rules, so I'll cover his share."
Seeing that both Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyo were willing to pay for the rules, many classmates followed suit. Quite a few had received help from the two of them over the past couple of days, and they were willing to contribute as well.
More and more people agreed. Everyone took out their phones and began transferring points to the account Hoshida No provided.
At the front of the classroom, Hoshida No and Kushida Kikyo checked each payment one by one. Every so often, someone looked up at them with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Hoshida, Kushida!"
"It's a good thing you found out. We would've been completely in the dark otherwise."
In just ten minutes, they had gathered all 500,000 points. Hoshida No put away his phone and gave the class a slight nod. "Thank you for trusting me. As soon as I get the rules, I'll share them with everyone."
As he left the classroom, he found Chazhu Zuo Zhi leaning against the hallway railing in the morning light, idly playing with her phone. When she saw him, she raised her eyes. "I didn't think you'd actually manage to convince students with so many different interests."
Hoshida No stopped and turned to her, gesturing for her to wait. "Chabashira-sensei, I'll need you to play along with me. Let's go in a little later."
He glanced at the classmates still discussing the matter inside. "Everyone's already interested. If you 'officially' announce the rules afterward, they'll take them more seriously and be more willing to follow them."
Chazhu Zuo Zhi raised an eyebrow, a flicker of approval passing through her eyes.
She'd listened to the whole conversation from outside. Class D needed a leader like him, and this also suited her original intention of getting Hoshida No to fit in with Class D.
She put away her phone and said flatly, "Fine. But once the rules are announced, I expect you to put them to good use and lead Class D to some decent results. Don't waste my time."
"Of course." A faint smile curved Hoshida No's lips.
His gaze passed over the hallway and landed on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was strolling slowly past the classroom across from them. Ayanokoji seemed to glance their way by chance, then quickly looked away and disappeared into the crowd.
Hoshida No looked back at Chazhu Zuo Zhi and gestured toward the classroom. "After you, Sensei."
The moment they walked in side by side, the noisy classroom fell silent, and everyone turned to look at them.
Chazhu Zuo Zhi went to the front of the classroom and spoke in a stern tone. "Next, I'll announce the school's hidden rules for 'point deductions'..."
Standing at the back of the classroom, Hoshida No watched his classmates take notes attentively. His fingertip tapped lightly against his phone screen—Personal Points: 3.595 million.