Shock! Long Aotian's Threat!

After returning Sakura to her dormitory and grabbing a meal, I headed back to my own room.

Long Aotian was in his dorm, watching the camera feed on his phone.

The time was 8:35 PM. Hasn't it started yet? I'll head to the tree in the back and stake it out.

[Flying Thunder God!]

A figure appeared in the tree, maintaining a delicate balance among the branches like a silent sentinel of the night, gazing down at the scene below.

"Ptooey! Nothing but leaves," Long Aotian muttered, pulling leaves out of his hair as he waited quietly.

As time ticked by...

Two hours later...

A short-haired boy and a long-haired girl appeared in Long Aotian's field of vision.

It's time! He pulled out his phone to record the video (a phone bought outside the school).

The girl was Horikita Suzune, whom he had seen at the library earlier that day.

The boy was the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu, who was also Horikita Suzune's older brother.

"I am no longer the failure you once knew, Brother. I came here to catch up to you."

On the other side, a head poked out. Long Aotian glanced over; it was Ayanokouji. It seems the plot hasn't changed.

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses, his tone heavy. "To catch up to me? You still haven't realized your own shortcomings. Choosing this school was your failure."

"I will be promoted to Class A soon, and if that happens—"

"You can't do it."

Horikita Manabu grabbed Horikita Suzune's right hand with his left, lifting it and slamming her against the wall. "The one assigned to Class D is my sister. The one who ends up losing face is me. Leave this school immediately."

"You lack the ability and the qualifications to climb higher. Have some self-awareness."

Here it comes! It's about to start! Long Aotian quickly adjusted the angle on his phone.

Just as Horikita Manabu's right hand moved to strike Horikita Suzune's abdomen, Ayanokouji appeared instantly and grabbed his arm.

"You were actually planning to hit her just now, weren't you? Let her go."

"Don't do this, Ayanokouji."

"Hmm?" Hearing Horikita Suzune's voice, he hesitated for a moment before letting go.

Horikita Manabu, showing no regard for fair play, swung his right hand backward.

Ayanokouji leaned back to dodge the attack. Seeing the miss, Horikita Manabu followed up with a direct kick.

Ayanokouji watched the incoming kick and quickly regained his stance, dodging to the right.

Horikita Manabu lunged with his right hand shaped like a claw. Ayanokouji swatted it away with his left hand and clenched his fist, as if preparing to land a punch.

That's enough. Long Aotian watched the clear footage on his phone and shook his head.

If it were me, I definitely wouldn't have thrown a direct kick. I would have taken advantage of his unstable posture to land a low sweep, forcing him to either fall or jump away.

The rest was just a conversation about how the protagonist scores exactly 50 points on every test—a truly interesting person.

Once it ended, Long Aotian didn't leave immediately; staying cautious is always the right move. He retrieved the camera and used [Flying Thunder God] to return to his dorm.

Thirty-some minutes later...

Back in his dorm, Long Aotian took the recorded footage and synced it with the camera feed, edited the compilation, found Horikita Manabu's email through the school system, and sent the video over.

[Horikita: What are your terms?]

[a: 2 million points.]

[Points: Original 11.9 million → Current 14.9 million (Fake account 50,000 points) (Buff bonus 2 million → 3 million) (Won't show the rest, too lazy to calculate)]

Use Double Points Card!

[Points: Original 14.9 million → Current 29.8 million]

Done! Watching the points hit his account, he immediately used [Flying Thunder God] to reach the D-Class intersection and hid his phone and computer in a concealed spot.

Meanwhile, Horikita Manabu looked at the text on his phone, his brow furrowed. He pushed up his glasses and said in a heavy tone, "Interesting. You think I can't find you? Points can buy anything."

The next morning~

A student wearing a school uniform, with short black hair and glasses, walked toward the teachers' office.

He looked at the teacher in front of him and said, "Teacher, I would like to inquire how much it costs to check the surveillance footage."

"100,000 points."

"Very well."

Arriving at the surveillance room, Horikita Manabu watched the screen, which was displaying the footage of the path to the vending machines from the previous night.

Horikita Manabu carefully observed every detail on the screen, not missing a single clue. The footage was unusually quiet, and he found nothing particularly suspicious. He frowned slightly, feeling puzzled.

Recalling the video from yesterday, there was a segment that had been recorded manually. Could there be someone else behind this?

Yet the screen only showed Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka walking toward the vending machine. Could this have been a trap set by the two of them?

No, that was impossible. Horikita Suzune had encountered him by chance; there was no time to set a trap. Besides, based on his understanding of his younger sister, she wasn't capable of such a thing.

Could it be Ayanokoji Kiyotaka? But looking at the footage, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had also discovered the situation suddenly and followed her.

Horikita Manabu picked up the mouse and clicked replay, rewinding the screen to just past 12:00 PM and accelerating the playback.

One hour later...

Horikita Manabu was completely dumbfounded. Aside from the three people from the previous night, absolutely no one had approached the vending machine.

Combining this with the time the video was sent yesterday, Horikita Manabu had gone to check the location of the camera from the video early in the morning, but it wasn't there! By that logic, someone should have retrieved the camera, and a figure should have appeared on screen at that moment.

But no matter how he looked at it, there was no one under the dormitory building, nor at the exit. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

Just then, a steady voice came from beside him: "Did you find it?"

"No." Horikita Manabu shook his head, then immediately thought of a solution: "Teacher, I intend to pay a visit to the Chairman."

"Very well."

Arriving at the Chairman's office~

"Good day, Chairman." Horikita Manabu bowed to the man before him, took out his phone to display the text message on the screen, and said, "I want the real name of the person who sent this text. How many points will it cost?"

The man was of medium build, well-proportioned, with a slightly square face and sharp, well-defined features that gave him a stern appearance. His eyes were deep and piercing, as if they could see right through a person's heart.

"Horikita Manabu, to think there is someone in this school capable of threatening you. 1,000,000 points."

Horikita Manabu frowned slightly. This was no small sum. The video from yesterday was worth 2,000,000 points if it were to be used as a threat against him, though it depended on the person. If it were some fool, holding the video wouldn't threaten him at all.

But he feared a clever person who would use this video as a trump card, combine it with an investigation by upperclassmen into his past conduct, and expose it all at once. That could affect his position in the Student Council—at best, he would lose his presidency; at worst, he would be expelled.

Feeling the point cost was steep, he changed his line of thinking and asked: "If I want to trace the account that received the points, how many points would that require?"

The man looked at the person before him with appreciation and satisfaction, replying, "500,000 points."

Note: The text message and the account from yesterday were essentially anonymous.

"Fine."

Horikita Manabu picked up his phone and paid the 500,000 points.

The man took Horikita Manabu's phone and left immediately, leaving behind a single sentence before he walked away: "Five minutes."

Five minutes later...

The man returned the phone and said to Horikita Manabu, "The receiving account was under the name Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but then the funds vanished."

Horikita Manabu was even more confused. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka? And what did he mean by the funds vanished? Was there an even greater expert involved?

Horikita Manabu pondered for a moment, and to resolve the doubt in his heart, he asked, "Then, if I want to investigate the name of the person behind the account that sent the message, how many points?"

"1,000,000 points."

At this, Horikita Manabu was certain: the person who sent the text had nothing to do with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. As for why the funds "vanished," it meant Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had been used as a scapegoat.

PS: When the Chairman investigated, the final recipient of the account was indeed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but the funds were then transferred back to Sakayanagi Arisu before disappearing. The Chairman confirmed it wasn't Sakayanagi Arisu, so he could only provide the name Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, adding a remark to let Horikita Manabu figure it out himself. However, he did discover the account 'a', but since Horikita Manabu's question differed from the account name issue, the answer provided was different as well.

Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses. If anyone were present, they would have noticed that the Student Council President's expression was chillingly cold.

Determined to find this person, he said gloomily, "Then 1,000,000 points it is."

"Very well. The account is under the name 'a'."

Horikita Manabu frowned. 'a'? What the hell was that?

As if seeing Horikita Manabu's confusion, the man added: "That's right, the name is 'a'. This account was created half a month ago, meaning a little mouse infiltrated the school's system. However, the account has already been deleted. The school will continue to investigate."

Horikita Manabu was lost. Half a month ago? That was the first month for the freshmen. It had to be a freshman; otherwise, someone this skilled would have already made a name for themselves or appeared in previous years. After all, hacking the school's system wasn't something an ordinary person could do.

That left only the path of investigating the camera and computer purchase records.

"Chairman, I will take my leave."

Horikita Manabu bowed and departed.

The Chairman shook his head, as if he had guessed Horikita Manabu's thoughts. How could someone capable of such a feat leave behind any traces?

Horikita Manabu's trip was destined to be in vain. During the Airi incident, Long Aotian had already deleted his own purchase records. As for the computer? It was even more impossible to trace, as it had been bought outside.