The Money-Making Plan

Shiomiya Yo put away his phone. He had sent the message; Yamada-senpai could overthink it on her own.

After all, he had only said he didn't dislike her.

It didn't count as a confession.

If it had been Kushida, these tricks definitely wouldn't have worked.

Still, this Yamada-senpai didn't seem so simple either. She could actually be socially anxious to this extent, causing the very first step of his affinity-building plan to fail.

The corners of Shiomiya Yo's lips curled up. He already knew what he needed to do.

Filed away—"Observation Diary of a Pure-Hearted, Socially Anxious Introvert"!

[Evaluation of newly added record complete. Reward: 50 points]

That was all?

Maybe the record hadn't contained enough. Her oddball nature hadn't been fully displayed.

He could worry about that later!

What mattered now was that this school's meritocracy was actually like this?!

Shiomiya Yo had already learned most of the school's rules, as well as the fact that the first month of school would involve a special exam.

He had just been worrying about not having enough points, and now he could make a fortune selling information!

Shiomiya Yo suddenly felt a little melancholy. He actually had a day when he had to worry about money.

Exchanging yen with the other students in the school was too troublesome. Small amounts were useless, while large amounts could easily draw the school's attention.

So Shiomiya Yo could only earn it himself.

Every class was a complete mess right now, and none of them had selected a leader yet. He would sell it later.

That afternoon, in the office.

"Teacher, I want to buy information on everyone in the school!"

To avoid running into oddballs in the future without recognizing them, Shiomiya Yo had come to Sae Chabashira to purchase information on every student in the school.

"Oh...? Shiomiya, why would you have such an idea?"

Chabashira looked at Shiomiya Yo with an amused expression.

"Didn't you say points could buy anything, Teacher?" Shiomiya Yo said as if it were only natural.

"Just name your price, Teacher. Don't waste time!" Shiomiya Yo didn't want to haggle with Chabashira for too long.

"Fifteen million!" Chabashira said.

"Uh... could you make it cheaper? I'm your dear student, after all!" Shiomiya Yo activated the [Act Cute] skill.

"Unfortunately, no, Shiomiya.

A student's enrollment file costs 50,000 points. That's the school's fixed price."

Chabashira indicated that there was nothing she could do.

Shiomiya Yo put his clever brain to work.

He clarified his needs and budget, then made his decision.

"Chabashira-sensei, how much would it cost if I only bought the names and photos of all the first-years?"

Sae Chabashira thought for a moment before giving him a new quote.

"Two hundred thousand points."

Still not enough. It seemed he would have to cut down his requirements further.

"Then what if I only look at it once and don't share it with anyone?"

This time, Chabashira gave him the answer directly.

"Fifty thousand points."

"Deal!"

Shiomiya Yo stopped haggling and agreed right away. He was genuinely too lazy to keep bargaining.

Before long, Chabashira-sensei had organized the spreadsheet on the computer.

Shiomiya Yo immediately took the mouse and began looking through it. The scroll wheel never stopped beneath his hand as each student's face and name flashed past his eyes.

After reading through the information, Shiomiya Yo closed his eyes and began sorting through his memories.

Shiomiya Yo placed the information on all the first-year students into his [Memory Palace].

As the [Ultimate Detective], how could he not know Holmes's classic memory technique?

"Finished looking?"

Shiomiya Yo opened his eyes and nodded.

Having received his answer, Sae Chabashira deleted the file.

Then she looked seriously at Shiomiya Yo. "Shiomiya, what do you think of the school?"

"I think it's pretty good. Every classmate is a 'talent,' and they all speak so nicely."

"Talents?" Sae Chabashira fell into thought.

"Then what do you think of the school rules?" Chabashira pressed.

This was obviously a test!

Shiomiya Yo shrugged, intending to laugh it off and muddle through.

This woman had felt like trouble from the very beginning.

It was a detective's intuition!

And Shiomiya Yo hated trouble!

"I don't understand what you mean, Sensei. Aren't the school rules just ordinary school rules?" Shiomiya Yo looked at Sae Chabashira with an innocent, clueless expression.

Sae Chabashira did not even want to comment. That act was far too fake.

Just as she was about to press further, Shiomiya Yo cut her off.

"Ah—! I promised to go to karaoke with some classmates. Bye-bye, Sensei!"

With that, he ran off.

After running back to the classroom, Shiomiya Yo let out a long breath.

Why did that teacher have no sense of tact at all?!

I'd made it obvious that I didn't want to talk. I gave you an out, so take it!

(Due to personal reasons, Shiomiya Yo had always been fawned over by others, so Chabashira's questioning made him very uncomfortable.)

Annoyed, Shiomiya Yo bought a bottle of soda and started drinking it in the classroom.

With a sharp "Pssht!", the entire class turned to look at him.

Shiomiya Yo was baffled. When he had swaggered out during class to buy soda, none of them had looked. Why were they all staring now that he was drinking it?

It was only the second day of school, so even the oddballs of Class D still retained a basic sense of discipline.

Someone as brazen as Shiomiya Yo was rare, instead.

Shiomiya Yo paid no attention to the looks around him and drank his soda as if no one else were there.

After finishing it, he even burped.

"Burp~"

Seeing that the teacher said nothing, the students could not say much either and could only continue with the lesson.

"How utterly unbeautiful!" Koenji's voice suddenly rang out.

Shiomiya Yo rolled his eyes and could not be bothered with him.

You've got your feet on the desk and you're talking during class. You're no better than me.

Just because you've got some physical talent, you show off those little muscles of yours every day, going on about how this is beautiful and that is beautiful.

Why don't you dare compete with me academically?!

Seeing that Shiomiya Yo ignored him, Koenji did not get angry and simply continued with the lesson.

Or rather, he had long since grown used to it.

Koenji had also been called a genius since childhood, but he had never really been aware of it, because above him stood a monster—Shiomiya Yo.

No matter what Koenji learned, he was always one step behind Shiomiya Yo. It was not until they grew older and his physical gifts began to emerge with puberty that he came to recognize himself as a genius.

Seeing his little brother wanting to surpass him, Shiomiya Yo had also trained hard, but with limited results.

So whenever Koenji spoke to Shiomiya Yo from a position of superiority, Shiomiya Yo simply ignored him.

The lesson ended amid this strange atmosphere.

After class, several small cliques that had already formed began discussing Shiomiya Yo and Koenji's behavior during the lesson.

Others discussed how to spend their money.

"I bought a tablet for 80,000 points. It was a little expensive, but we'll get another 100,000 points next month."

Shiomiya Yo remembered that this person was called Hideo Sotomura, and Kanji Ike beside him chimed in.

"I bought a game console too. 100,000 points a month is seriously great!"

The girls, meanwhile, were discussing buying accessories and clothes.

Shiomiya Yo was somewhat speechless.

It seemed that no one in Class D would be spending points to buy his information afterward.

These people had already immersed themselves in the fantasy of "100,000 points every month."