Yesterday, Shimizu had actually tried reaching out to Ryūen Kakeru, Kushida Kikyō, Hirata Yōsuke, and Ichinose Honami via a burner account, probing for intel on this month's special exam.
The results were unexpected—aside from Ryūen's deliberate silence, the others all confirmed that Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A had already approached them with a collaboration offer. Ichinose had even specified the terms:
200,000 points for the intel.
Sakayanagi herself would announce it to each class.
Split across a class of 40, that came to 5,000 points per person. He'd assumed this would drag on for days, but Sakayanagi moved startlingly fast—by noon, she'd already stormed into Class D with her entourage.
"Everyone, pardon the interruption." Sakayanagi stepped onto the podium, her beret tilting as she smiled. "There's another special exam this month. Coincidentally, I've uncovered details that could boost Class D's points by 100."
Her fingertip tapped the lectern. "I'm here to share this news."
The room erupted in murmurs:
"Why would Class A help us?"
"Aren't we rivals?"
"There's really a special exam? No one mentioned it!"
Skeptical eyes locked onto Sakayanagi and her silent purple-haired shadow.
"Oh, it's real." Sakayanagi wagged a finger, her tone laced with amusement. "Didn't you notice those unsolvable problems hidden in recent tests? Those were clues—questions designed to stump first-years."
"Huh?!"
"Wait, most questions were impossible!"
Yamauchi Haruki, Ike Kanji, and Sudō Ken huddled together, their faces blank with delayed realization.
"How intriguing."Kōenji Rokusuke twirled his pen, his gaze sharpening. "These clues do suggest an exam. But what's your aim? Class A gains nothing from aiding us."
"My reason is simple." Sakayanagi's smile didn't waver. "I refuse to let that person keep profiting off all four classes."
She leaned forward slightly. "Last month, a mysterious figure offered us surveillance access for 3 million points. This month, they're peddling exam intel. I'm sabotaging their scheme—pure spite. That's my motive."
Her words were 100% true.
Revealing the intel did undermine the mystery seller. And when building trust, partial truths worked best.
Besides, she'd already deduced—Class D had likely rented surveillance too.
"What? Class A also rented cameras?!"
"We paid 3 million too!"
"That bastard's selling intel again?!"
Just as predicted, the class erupted in commiseration.
Sakayanagi's ears, however, pricked at a critical detail.
('Again?')
The mystery seller had only dealt in surveillance rentals before. Since when did they hawk intel?
In other words… Class D had a separate intel transaction with them.
(How fascinating.)
(An unexpected bonus from this visit.)
"Sakayanagi-san got scammed too?!"
"Who would cheat such a cute girl?!"
"We've got your back!"
Two particularly loud voices rang out. Sakayanagi's eyes flicked toward them—two dim-witted boys, their support blatantly transparent.
(These two are…?)
(They look impressively stupid.)
(But their idiocy simplifies things.)
(Keep cheering for me.)
With such eager allies, her next move would land smoothly.
"Since we share a common enemy, let's proceed." Her smile remained serene. "But this intel cost me considerable effort—I can't give it away. 200,000 points seems fair, no?"
Yes, 200K.
She'd spent an entire afternoon dissecting test patterns at the café. This wasn't charity.
And it was a steal—that mystery seller had extorted 3 million for cameras alone.
Core exam intel like this? Easily worth 500K.
At 5,000 points per student, it was practically free.
"This is a guaranteed win for you," she added, oozing confidence.
Her gaze drifted back to her two "supporters," expecting gratitude.
Instead, their faces contorted in outrage.
"Wait, we have to pay?!"
"200K?! How?!"
"That's way too expensive!"
Sakayanagi's eyes widened.
Were they serious?
Class D had just received 530 class points this month—53,000 personal points per student. Even pooling four people would cover it.
With 40 students, sacrificing a tenth of their points was too much?!
More baffling was their whiplash-inducing hypocrisy—
"We'll support you!" → "No freebies? Screw you!"