Chapter 9

"You managed to do this much in just a single day, or maybe even less than that? You're even planning to sell this intelligence to other classes in exchange for private points... Are you trying to take a different path after realizing the situation in Class D?"

It would be fine if he had chosen this path.

However, if the other party intended to lead the entire class upward, then this year's Class D might truly be different.

Right now, he had no time for sighs; under the gaze of more than forty pairs of eyes, he gave his objective and fair answer.

"The contents of this document are entirely true, and I can act on behalf of the school as the witness and guarantor for this transaction."

As a teacher, he had to follow the rules.

After hearing Tomoya Mashima's reply, Arisu Sakayanagi wore a thoughtful expression, then quickly followed up with a question—

"Teacher Mashima, could it be that the contents of this document are very important to us?"

"You need to judge that for yourselves."

He neither admitted it nor denied it.

Yet Tomoya Mashima said this partly because he believed Class A's overall competence would allow them to make the correct judgment, and partly because there was a sense of testing to it.

There was no helping it; this batch of Class D was probably truly different. While it wasn't enough to directly threaten Class A yet, the waters in this year's cohort were indeed deeper than before, posing an even greater test to the overall competence of Class A's students.

"All I can say is that I value this document at 2,000,000 private points... Nangong, you have no objections to that price, do you?"

"None. However, just as Teacher Mashima said, everyone's time is tight, especially since we still plan to go and sell the information to Class B. So please hurry and decide whether to make the transaction, everyone in Class A."

Nangong Cheng shrugged to indicate he had no objections, spreading his hands directly to apply pressure.

Suzune Horikita stood to the side in silence. Although her expression remained as consistently cold as ever, the shock in her heart was by no means small.

For she had already understood Nangong Cheng's train of thought.

"My, my~ Nangong is really putting us in a difficult position. Two million points is hardly a small amount."

Upon receiving the reply, Arisu Sakayanagi wore a very intriguing smile on her face.

Her words also drew the attention of the entire room, because the facts were just as she said: splitting 2,000,000 points evenly meant that everyone had to cough up 50,000 points to make up the sum.

Yet once a portion of them was unwilling, either the transaction would fall through, or another group of people would have to pay an extra sum of money.

"Still, with Teacher Mashima acting as guarantor, I personally am willing to shell out these points."

Arisu Sakayanagi tilted her head slightly, resting her other hand on her cane as well before calmly uttering a breathtaking guess.

"But since you deliberately mentioned Class B, Nangong, am I to assume that if we don't buy your information and Class B does, they'll take our place as Class A?"

Nangong Cheng smiled and lightly stroked his palm in place of applause.

As for an answer? There was no need.

With the mind of Arisu Sakayanagi, who had not yet turned into a love-stricken fool, she could basically guess seven or eight tenths of it through the hints he deliberately provided.

"If Class A's position can be snatched away, it means the school has ranked the four classes, and the rankings must have meaning. Coupled with Teacher Mashima's attitude..."

Arisu Sakayanagi's gaze remained fixed on Nangong Cheng's face, pausing deliberately midway through her sentence.

"I suspect Class A is perhaps the most special class, and over the next three years, the goal of all four classes will be to target Class A and compete with one another."

"Then why should we compete for Class A's position? There is only one answer—interests, which means the graduation benefits publicly promised by the school, and those benefits can only be enjoyed by graduating from Class A. Only by explaining it this way does everything appear logical."

"Am I right, Nangong?"

Right?

Oh, absolutely right.

Nangong Cheng was still lightly stroking his palms, a polite yet unfazed smile hanging on his face.

"Classmate Sakayanagi's analytical reasoning is very interesting, but I can only say the answers are all within the document. If you want to know, you just need to pay the points."

"It's still 2,000,000 points, non-negotiable. If you all are reluctant to part with it, we'll change course and head to Class B. I believe they will be more than willing to trade 2,000,000 for a bright future."

Kohei Katsuragi, who had been watching from the sidelines, could no longer sit still.

Because time was limited, he could only run Arisu Sakayanagi's analysis through his mind at top speed, yet he fundamentally agreed with this guess.

"I agree with Sakayanagi's idea. We must pull out these 2,000,000 points for the transaction; we cannot gamble on that remote possibility, and the price of guessing wrong might be more than just 2,000,000!"

After the first and second people stepped forward to lead the analysis of pros and cons and make a judgment, one after another, students finally expressed their willingness to fork over the money.

Upon confirming that the points had been collected in full, Tomoya Mashima transferred them to Nangong Cheng with a complex expression.

Class A had been played.

Because Arisu Sakayanagi had already guessed the correct answer, but when all was said and done, it was still just a guess; they ultimately still had to spend money to buy peace of mind.

Fortunately, the value of this document was indeed worth 2,000,000 points, and even if Nangong Cheng were to sell the information to Class B afterward, the threat it posed to Class A would be greatly diminished.

At the very least, they safeguarded their ranking for the first month, sparing this year's Class A from becoming a laughingstock.

"Happy transaction~ Looking forward to our next trade~"

After getting the money, Nangong Cheng decisively called out to Suzune Horikita at his side to prepare for their next stop, though he did not forget another pressing matter.

[Publish Task: Request Nangong Cheng's contact information] [Points will be acquired upon completion of the task, and points can be used to redeem items in the Exchange Shop] [Failure of the task will incur a punishment: Take a fake tumble onto the ground, then say to Nangong Cheng with a pitiful expression and tone: "Big brother, I fell down..."]

What is the meaning of this?

Watching the light-blue translucent panel that appeared out of nowhere in her field of vision, Arisu Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes.

Her first reaction and intuition told her that this thing was the handiwork of this male student named Nangong, but unfortunately, there was no direct evidence to prove it.

"The others don't seem to see this thing, so is this targeted at me?"

Observing the reactions of the others in secret, she saw they were basically all waiting for Tomoya Mashima to tell them what the contents of this document actually were.

After a moment's thought, Arisu Sakayanagi did not refuse this task, for she truly had developed a slight interest in Nangong Cheng, and asking for contact information wasn't anything strange anyway.

"Wait a moment, Nangong. Could we exchange contact information? I doubt this will be our last transaction."

"Most gladly, my lovely young lady."

Naturally, Nangong Cheng would not refuse the task he had issued, even though he really wanted to see the deflated look on Arisu Sakayanagi's face if he were to reject her outright in public. However, he was rather pressed for time right now, so he would just have to look for similar opportunities later.

The exchange was completed swiftly, and their next stop was Class B.

Sincere thanks to all the reader lords who have tipped and kept up with the updates.

I thought about it and still intend to poll when everyone hopes to see updates.

Cast 1 for daytime Cast 2 for nighttime You can also leave a specific time

Volume 1: 12, Want to understand the meaning of life?

After acquiring Nangong Cheng's contact information, Arisu Sakayanagi saw the contents of the panel in her field of vision change.

[Task completed] [Task reward: Host acquires 50 points] [System Exchange Shop is now open]

Oh? There are new items?

With keen interest, Arisu Sakayanagi looked at the panel as it refreshed to reveal a dazzling array of merchandise interfaces.

[Youth-Preserving Pill] [Perfect Body-Shaping Liquid] [Flawless Skin Cream]

Eternal youth, a perfect physique... These truly held an immensely strong temptation for ordinary women, and Arisu Sakayanagi had to admit that if the items here were real, she indeed felt a stir of emotion known as temptation.

Yet putting aside whether these items were truly as magical as described, if her heart condition remained unresolved, then no matter how beautiful her appearance and figure were, she would still end up nothing more than a pile of dust.

If all of this truly was real, however, might there be something in there capable of resolving her heart disease once and for all?

Harboring such anticipation, Arisu Sakayanagi shifted her gaze downward, and her pupils immediately began to dilate.

[Panacea: Immune to all diseases after consumption. Points required for exchange: 100,000] [Time-Limited Panacea: Maintains the body in an absolutely healthy state for one hour after consumption. Points required for exchange: 50]

As if able to guess her thoughts, this so-called System Shop actually went out of its way to give her an opportunity to experience health.

All of this was practically like a trap meticulously designed by a hunter to capture its prey, just waiting for the prey to take the plunge.

Yet whether that lay ahead was heaven or hell... remained hard to say.

Because once she experienced an absolutely healthy physical state, could she truly accept this sickly body of hers anymore—a body that required a cane even to walk and could collapse at any second?

The answer was... she didn't know.

Perhaps she would refuse.

For she could have endured the darkness, because she disliked this feeling of jumping into a pit while knowing full well she was being manipulated.

Yet perhaps she would accept.

For she had caught a glimpse of the light, because she genuinely wanted a healthy body.

[Want to understand the meaning of life?] [Do you want to truly... live?]

That cold, mechanical voice sounded in her mind once more, resembling a demon's whispers enticing humanity into depravation.

Arisu Sakayanagi pressed her lips together.

"This multiple-choice question... is really hard to answer."

On the other side, Nangong Cheng and Suzune Horikita had already arrived at Class B.

Because it was a moe class consisting of one archangel and a bunch of lesser angels, things were much simpler compared to the situation in Class A.

Big Brother Cheng took the floor once again.

"Hello everyone, I'm sorry to take up a bit of your time. I have a very important matter I'd like to discuss with everyone here."

Because of the prior notice, Chie Hoshinomiya, the homeroom teacher for Class B, had already appeared inside the Class B classroom at this moment.

She gazed at the young man before her with a meaningful look.

"Go ahead, Nangong. What did you want to say?"

Suzune Horikita consciously stepped forward and handed a piece of paper to Chie Hoshinomiya, but without waiting for Chie Hoshinomiya to react, Nangong Cheng continued speaking directly.

"We have a piece of secret information regarding Advanced Nurturing here, the authenticity of which has already been certified by Class A's homeroom teacher, Teacher Mashima. We just completed a transaction with Class A as well."

"Now we intend to sell this information to Class B, and we also ask Hoshinomiya-sensei to act as the witness for this transaction."

As a former student of Advanced Nurturing and now a teacher, Chie Hoshinomiya naturally understood what the contents of the paper in her hand truly signified.

Yet she was still deeply shocked by this.

Because only a single day had passed, and these two students—or perhaps just one of them—had actually already cracked the school's secret, even choosing to cash it in for private points.

She cast another meaningful glance at Nangong Cheng and Suzune Horikita, then looked toward a student in her own class.

"Ichinose, you handle the negotiations."

Huh? Me?

Honami Ichinose blinked in surprise.

"Teacher, I'm a bit lost right now... What does 'secret information of Advanced Nurturing' mean? Is the school hiding something from us? Can you explain?"

Chie Hoshinomiya shook her head, yet she made a choice similar to the one Tomoya Mashima had made.

"Teacher can only assure you of the truth of this news, and the value of this information is estimated at around 2,000,000 points."

"As for the rest, you must judge it yourselves."