Before agreeing to the bet, Shimizu Akira had indeed been having a long conversation on his phone with someone.
Looking back now, that must have been him discussing this plan with his homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.
Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly realized the perfection of this setup. The homeroom teacher, an adult, legally purchased the beer, and ownership was indirectly transferred through Shimizu Akira.
This created an ingenious legal loophole—whether the act of theft was constituted depended entirely on the subjective determination of ownership.
"This is truly a flawless winning strategy." Her voice carried a trembling unwillingness, yet it was mixed with undeniable admiration.
What was most admirable wasn't the plan itself, but that Shimizu Akira had already laid out a meticulous trap before even agreeing to the bet. He'd prepared a surefire winning strategy the moment she issued her challenge.
This plan was so perfect that she felt inferior. First, with her arrogant personality, she would never have thought of asking her homeroom teacher for assistance. Second, she was too focused on her competition with Shimizu Akira and overlooked the most basic examination of the rules.
"I concede." Sakayanagi Arisu looked up, a forced smile on her lips. "Let's add each other as friends. The 100,000 points... I'll transfer them to you now."
"Alright." Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
He'd expected her to continue asking for details, but then he thought—with Sakayanagi Arisu's intelligence, she'd probably already seen through the entire setup.
After they exchanged contact information, 100,000 points were immediately transferred.
"Netting 80,000 points on the first day of school. That's not bad." A pleased smile curved Shimizu Akira's lips.
Minus the 10,000 point errand fee for Chabashira Sae and the cost of the beer, this was indeed a substantial income.
More importantly, he'd successfully given this proud silver-haired girl a taste of defeat.
However, would she hold a grudge against him because of this?
As he pondered this, he met Sakayanagi Arisu's complex gaze.
Confusion, unwillingness, and an unnameable emotion intertwined in her eyes.
"I truly don't understand." Her voice was uncharacteristically wavering. "With your talent, how did you end up in Class D?"
"I didn't perform very well during the interview," Shimizu Akira casually brushed it off, naturally not mentioning the absurd truth of transmigration.
"How badly did you perform?! To the extent of Class D?! Wait, could it be that the interviewer disliked you and gave you a low score?! In any case, I will investigate this thoroughly." Sakayanagi Arisu's voice instantly turned cold, but when she looked up at Shimizu Akira again, her face had returned to her usual elegant smile. "Shimizu-san, I won't lose next time."
"You're welcome anytime." Shimizu Akira shrugged casually. "Just make sure to have an interesting game and enough points." For such "sponsorship" that came to him willingly, he naturally wouldn't refuse.
However, the girl's earlier comment about "investigating thoroughly" caught his attention.
Why did she suddenly use the tone of the school authorities?
Did Class A hide some kind of special privilege?
Could it be that this seemingly delicate young lady was actually the Chairman of the Board's beloved daughter, or even his direct granddaughter?
If that were the case, wouldn't he have offended the daughter of a high-ranking school official on the very first day?
On the other side, Kamuro Masumi pretended to be calm as she blended into the student crowd.
The canned beer in her bag felt inexplicably heavy, as if it might at any moment break through the thin fabric and expose itself to everyone's sight.
'Just now, was someone looking at me?'
She subtly glanced sideways, her peripheral vision sweeping behind her.
A few blurry figures moved between the shelves. No one stopped, no one paid attention.
'Was it a hallucination?'
She let out a soft breath, unconsciously quickening her pace the moment she stepped out of the convenience store's automatic doors.
The refreshing summer breeze filled her lungs, slightly easing the tension in her chest.
Feeling the cold touch of the beer can inside her bag.
The corners of Kamuro Masumi's lips unconsciously curved upward, a strange thrill surging in her chest.
'I succeeded again!'
She cheered silently in her heart, tasting a subtle sweetness on her tongue.
This wasn't the first time. Ever since that stuffy afternoon in junior high, when she first slipped an eraser from the stationery store into her uniform pocket, that thrilling sensation of her heart almost leaping out of her throat had been deeply etched in her memory.
She'd just taken a step when a strange male voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Kamuro-san, wait a moment."
Her spine suddenly stiffened, her blood seemingly freezing in that instant.
'Could it be... I've been discovered?'
Slowly turning around, a male student she didn't recognize came into view.
"Is there something in your bag?"
His gaze lightly fell on her shoulder bag.
Kamuro Masumi's throat tightened slightly, but her face maintained a cold expression. "What are you talking about? I don't understand."
The male student took a step forward. "Your technique is quite clean. It shouldn't be your first time, right? But why beer? Do you like drinking a lot?"
'This guy! He even knows what I stole?!'
Her pupils suddenly contracted, and her heart involuntarily clenched.
This was the first time in her life she'd been caught red-handed.
"Take it! If you're going to report me, do it now!" She abruptly pulled the can of beer from her bag, almost defiantly holding it out.
The other person was stunned for a moment, then showed a wry smile. "Wait, why are you giving me the evidence? You're surrendering a bit too readily, aren't you?"
"Enough!" She turned her face away, her ear tips reddening from shame and annoyance. "You saw the whole thing anyway, didn't you?!"
"Are you really a Class A student?" The male student suddenly looked at her with a strange gaze. "This on-the-spot reaction... it's almost like someone in my class."
Kamuro Masumi's temples throbbed.
'How does he know my class? And even my name?!'
What annoyed her even more was his gaze—that look of surprise mixed with a hint of disdain.
Was he looking down on her reaction?!
"What exactly do you want?! If you don't report me, I'll contact the school authorities!" Her voice rose slightly, and the beer can was squeezed slightly out of shape.
"I never intended to report you from the start. On the contrary, I came to give you a share of the profits." The other party suddenly chuckled, then pulled open their shoulder bag with a rustle.
Clang! Clang!
Over a dozen cans of beer rolled onto the floor.
"Thanks to you, I made a small profit—a total of 100,000 points." He shrugged. "I don't drink, so here, they're all yours. You seem to like beer quite a bit."
"Huh?!" Kamuro Masumi's eyes widened, staring at the pile of beer on the ground, her brain momentarily crashing.
'Not reporting me... and even giving me beer? A share of the profits? What did I do?! Who's the idiot who lost 100,000 points to this guy!'
The other party turned to leave but suddenly stopped, raising their hand and waving it.
"Let me give you some advice, by the way."
"First, those beers you took were already bought by me, so it doesn't count as theft at all."
"Second, points can buy anything at school. You can directly buy off this act of theft from the school authorities."
"Third, you can directly use points to bribe witnesses or buy the convenience store's surveillance footage. In short, there are many ways to solve problems. Don't let others get a handle on you."
Kamuro Masumi froze in place, the beer can in her hand making a slight metallic creak from being gripped too tightly.
'These loopholes... why is he specifically telling me?'
'Not only not reporting me, but also giving me beer... even helping me avoid the consequences of theft... he's actually quite nice!'
She watched his receding figure, and a ridiculous thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
"Wait, could he be..."