A Deal with Kikyo Kushida

The evening breeze by the lake was still slightly cool, dispersing the heat of the night but unable to blow away the suffocating awkwardness and tension that had settled over the path.

Kikyo Kushida clutched her chest and bent forward slightly, still recovering from the piercing pain in her sternum. Physiological tears hung at the corners of her eyes, but she forcibly held them back. Her fair face had gone deathly pale, and even her breathing carried a faint tremor.

That blow had completely thrown all her vicious calculations into disarray.

She had originally planned to frame him in return, seize some leverage, and silence him for good. Instead, she had failed to catch the thief and lost the bait—taking a brutal hit of pain herself. Humiliating and agonizing, it was easily the most absurd fiasco of the year.

Bai Mu steadily supported her by the arm, his grip restrained and impeccably measured. The moment he confirmed that she could stand on her own, he immediately withdrew his hand. There had not been a single unnecessary touch throughout, perfectly avoiding any opening she could exploit.

Looking at the blonde girl before him, enduring the pain with humiliation and anger in her eyes, his voice was utterly flat, carrying even a hint of helpless amusement. "I was just passing by. I planned to leave after seeing it. I had no intention of getting involved in your private matters, much less exposing you."

"If you keep yourself in line, neither of us has any reason to bother the other. Insisting on taking risks and framing me was completely unnecessary."

Those two simple sentences precisely pierced through every one of Kushida's little schemes.

Kikyo Kushida bit her lower lip and looked up at Bai Mu. There was no trace left in her eyes of her usual sunny, energetic demeanor—only obsession, wariness, and poorly concealed panic.

She knew her own weakness far too well.

The universally adored persona she had painstakingly cultivated, the reputation of being kind, gentle, and the pinnacle of social skills—those were the only foundations she had for surviving at this school, as well as her deepest obsession. If her two-faced personality were exposed, everyone would learn that Kikyo Kushida, the girl who pleased everyone and was loved by all, secretly despised socializing and was sick of the classmates around her. She would instantly become the laughingstock of the entire school, isolated and scorned by everyone.

That was an outcome she could never accept.

No matter how much pain and humiliation she was in right now, she could only swallow it and admit defeat, not daring to offer even the slightest rebuttal.

After resting for quite a while, the dull ache in her chest finally eased somewhat. Kikyo Kushida straightened up, concealed all the darkness and hostility in her eyes, and smoothed the corner of her clothes as if forcing herself to remain calm. Her voice still trembled slightly. "What... do you want?"

Bai Mu looked at her tense, guarded expression and did not beat around the bush. He went straight to the point, his calm tone carrying an unquestionable certainty. "I won't expose your loss of composure tonight, nor will I reveal any of your secrets to anyone."

Kushida's pupils brightened slightly at once, and the weight hanging over her heart eased a little. But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Bai Mu's next words made her expression change drastically.

"But there's no such thing as free safety. I need you to do something for me. Consider it hush money between us, and a contract of equal exchange."

Kikyo Kushida's heart tightened as she instantly went on guard. "What is it?"

Bai Mu's gaze remained indifferent as he slowly spoke, laying out the plan he had long since prepared. "I'll tell you the school's core underlying rules—the truth about the S-System that most freshmen don't know, the linkage mechanism between class points and personal points, and the hidden risks behind expulsion exams."

"You will sell this information to the entire Class D for five hundred thousand personal points."

Seeing her half-understanding expression, Bai Mu casually asked, "You say the school feels off, but how much do you actually know about Advanced Nurturing High School?"

The question immediately made Kikyo Kushida furrow her brows as she began to think seriously.

She had connections throughout the entire first-year cohort and had interacted with all kinds of students from the four classes, seeing far more clearly than an ordinary freshman. After a moment of thought, she spoke with certainty. "I've felt for a long time that this school is anything but simple. The four classes may look like nothing more than a basic ranking system, but their overall standards and the students' temperaments are completely uneven. The gaps are absurdly huge."

As she brought up the differences among the classes, a hint of disdain surfaced in her eyes, and she launched straight into her complaints. "Leaving everything else aside, you can tell at a glance just by looking at the emotional intelligence and character of the boys in each class. The boys in Classes A and B are at least mentally mature, behave normally, and know how to conduct themselves with proper restraint."

"The bunch in Class C are outright delinquents. They rely on violence to throw their weight around all day, form gangs, have terrible tempers, and love picking fights. They're mindlessly stupid—there's simply no way to communicate or get along with them normally."

At that point, the corner of her mouth twitched hard, and her helpless complaints grew even sharper. "But the most ridiculous ones are the boys in Class D. To put it bluntly, they're practically a bunch of uncivilized savages. They loaf around however they please, break rules freely, do things with no logic or sense of limits, and are ridiculously emotional. Sometimes I can't help wondering whether they even count as normal human beings."

Though Kushida's words carried personal frustration, every sentence was true, precisely hitting on the real state of all four classes.

Bai Mu listened to her blunt, down-to-earth rant, a faint smile flickering through his eyes. Neither agreeing nor disagreeing, he smoothly took over. "What you've seen is only the difference on the surface. You've only just begun to touch the truly brutal part."

Seeing that she had relented, Bai Mu did not waste any time. He immediately and concisely laid out all of Advanced Nurturing High School's underlying rules.

From the two-way linkage between class points, CP, and personal points, PP, to the core logic behind monthly point distributions, the hidden rules of deductions for violations, Class A's exclusive graduation privileges, the top-tier authority granted by twenty million points to transfer classes or avoid expulsion, and finally the expulsion penalties in special exams—he left nothing out.

These core secrets, which most freshmen could not figure out even after half a month, were made clear and thorough by Bai Mu in just a few sentences.

The more Kushida listened, the darker her expression became, until every last trace of wishful thinking in her heart was shattered.

She finally understood that the school's so-called one-hundred-percent advancement and employment rate, along with its free elite education, had been a beautiful lie from beginning to end.

At its core, it was an endless struggle where the weak were prey to the strong. Among Classes A, B, C, and D, the weak would only be ruthlessly eliminated and forcibly expelled. Only the students at the top, in Class A, could enjoy genuine elite resources.

"No wonder things have felt wrong lately..." Kushida murmured softly, a chill running down her spine.

"So that's why those people in my class were able to get into a school like this."

Bai Mu added calmly, "On the first of next month, the school will announce the first class point rankings. Given Class D's current state of disorder, their complete lack of awareness of the rules, and everyone freely slacking off, their class points will most likely be reduced directly to zero."

Those words made the emotions she had only just calmed become even more restless.

When she had worked desperately to enter Advanced Nurturing High School, she had never intended to simply study diligently and compete honestly. She had ambitions of her own—she wanted to build a Kushida Empire.

She wanted to use her emotional intelligence and social connections to win over every student in the school, making everyone her friend and living in a perfect world where she was adored by all and rejected by no one.

But she had never expected that this elite school, which appeared so generous and free, hid such cruel elimination rules beneath the surface.

If Class D's points really fell to zero and triggered the school's punishment mechanism, the entire class would plunge to the bottom.

Then the Kushida Empire she had long dreamed of would be nothing but empty talk. Forget gathering connections and expanding her social territory—at this school where the weak were devoured by the strong, even whether she could gain a stable foothold and survive properly from now on had become uncertain.

"What I need you to do is sell this information to the entire Class D for five hundred thousand personal points."

The moment those words were spoken, Kikyo Kushida froze, her face full of disbelief as she wondered whether she had misheard him.

"Are you insane?" Kushida blurted out instinctively, her tone full of confusion. "Telling Class D the core rules is basically helping them avoid pitfalls and develop! Once Class D gets stronger, the first people they'll target will be classes at the bottom alongside them. They might even threaten Class B's ranking in return. There's no benefit in this for you at all!"

A faintly amused look flickered through Bai Mu's eyes. He showed no sign of being persuaded and unhurriedly began explaining the deeper layer of his plan.

"Class D is too weak right now. So weak that they have no ability to fight back."

"You should know Class D's situation even better than I do. Everyone is undisciplined, full of openings, and completely lacking in awareness of the rules. Their class points will most likely be reduced to zero next month, leaving them firmly at the bottom of the entire year."

"Once Class D completely collapses and has no competitiveness left, the greatest beneficiary won't be Classes A or B. It will be Class C, which has grown wildly through violence and ruthless internal competition."

"Without Class D to share the pressure and balance the conflicts, Ryuuen Kakeru and his gang of thugs will become completely unrestrained, directing all their malice and suppression at Class B."

This clear-eyed analysis instantly awakened Kikyo Kushida.

"Why me?" Kushida asked through gritted teeth.

Bai Mu gave her a casual glance, his reason blunt and piercing: "You're the only person in the entire first year who can do it."

"Your connections span all four classes, and your social network reaches everywhere. Everyone in Class D trusts you, likes you, and is willing to buy your information. If anyone else tried reselling it, it would only be treated as a rumor. No one would believe it."

This was Kikyo Kushida's one-of-a-kind value, as well as her most fatal weakness—and, at this moment, the most useful tool.

Kushida fell silent, forced to admit that every word Bai Mu said was true.

With her perfect, sunny persona, she had won over more than half the students in the entire grade. Especially those varied and hard-to-unite freaks in Class D—only around her did they let down all their guard and place exceptional trust in her. Bai Mu had her unique social capital firmly in his grasp.

"What if I refuse?" Kushida tested him, clinging to her last sliver of hope.

Bai Mu's tone was calm, yet carried absolute control. "If you refuse, this video will spread throughout the entire first year by tomorrow."

"The perfect persona you've painstakingly maintained will shatter completely. Decide for yourself which matters more."

There were no vicious threats, only a straightforward weighing of pros and cons, yet it was more suffocating than any intimidation.

Kikyo Kushida's face alternated between green and white, frustration nearly driving her mad.

The persona she was proudest of, the weakness she feared most, was now completely clenched in the other party's hand. She had no power to resist.

After struggling for a few seconds, she could only grit her teeth and compromise, her voice filled with unwillingness. "I understand. I'll do it."

After all, selling information would not cost her a single point. She only had to talk, and she could protect her most crucial secret. It looked like she was taking a loss, but in truth, it was a sure profit.

Still, having someone else hold her fate in their hands was unbearably humiliating.

Kushida shuddered all over, finally recognizing the cruel reality.

"I'll sell this information to everyone in Class D as soon as possible and gather five hundred thousand points to transfer to you." Kushida took a deep breath, suppressing all the resentment in her heart as she seriously accepted the deal. "But I have one condition: the video must never be leaked."

"Deal." Bai Mu agreed without hesitation.