Chapter 020: Only Asking Him for 500,000 Points, Is That Too Cheap for Him?
Ryuen had actually known since enrollment that this school was very special.
After all, he was a former delinquent. In his middle school, if you wanted money, you had to extort it or beat some weakling students into submission to collect protection fees.
Naturally, he was a poor student.
He was told about this school by the principal and successfully got in, only to find that most of his classmates were also delinquents—likely to become the "trash of society" once they grew up.
However, the treatment everyone received was very high.
Upon enrollment, they received 100,000 points, equivalent to 100,000 yen.
Furthermore, housing was provided for free, and even tuition wasn't required. The school even guaranteed that after graduation, they could go to their desired university without exams or fees, or be given recommendation letters to the careers they wanted to pursue.
One could say: what was the difference between this and "pie falling from the sky"?
At the very least, he knew that "rotten people" like them didn't deserve this.
So, if it wasn't for drug testing, then it was an experiment; someone wanted to use them as guinea pigs.
Eventually, the school would definitely speak up about how they planned to arrange things for them.
So, all he had to do was wait, and he had been doing exactly that.
And yet, now...
The school would reveal the truth in a month, but among the four first-year classes, three already knew the truth.
Was it only their Class C that didn't?
But now, they could be considered as having caught up with the main group.
Knowing that the school wanted them to engage in class competition as a unit, and that only by graduating from Class A could they obtain all the rewards promised by the school—and that being assigned to a lower class at the start meant they had already been judged as "trash" by the school—but only the students who ultimately graduated from Class 3-A would receive the school's rewards.
Since it was only the first year, even lower classes had a chance to overtake them, and so on.
Furthermore.
According to Hikigaya, this current month was actually the start of the first month's special exam. Moreover, Classes A and B already knew the test questions, while Class D didn't know because they had no money to continue paying.
And now Class C...
"200,000 points. Tell me the exam questions for this month," Ryuen said immediately.
"I can give you 200,000 points at most."
"Are you sure you can even get 200,000 points?" Hikigaya asked.
Ryuen: "...Don't look down on me. I can still scrape together a mere 200,000 points."
In other words, despite it being the eleventh day of enrollment and having failed to perceive the truth of the school like a pig, Ryuen had still begun the process of forcibly consolidating the class through violence.
Realizing this, Hikigaya quickly suppressed the corners of his mouth, which wanted to curl up.
"You should know that even knowing the truth normally requires a payment of 600,000 points, and I've already told you that for free. So, if you want the first month's exam questions, 200,000 points is not enough," Hikigaya said.
"At least 500,000."
Ryuen did not speak immediately.
He didn't think Hikigaya told him the truth of the school for free.
Because Classes A, B, and D already knew the truth, Class C could seemingly obtain the information cheaply if they were determined.
Ryuen seemed to understand the reason Hikigaya came to find him: it was to sell the content of this first month's exam at a high price.
And 500,000 points wasn't much compared to the 100,000 points each Class C student received at enrollment, since there were 40 students in Class C.
They could gather enough even if they harvested only 12,500 from each person.
However, according to Hikigaya, the fact that Class C's living expenses would start to fluctuate starting next month was the most fatal part.
For every 1 point deducted from the 1,000 points, it was equivalent to receiving 4,000 fewer private points from the school for a month. If they could save or recover 100 points, they could obtain 400,000 more points from the school every month.
With that in mind, since Hikigaya only wanted 500,000 points, Ryuen even wondered if Hikigaya was being too cheap with him.
Especially since Classes A and B now knew the exam content, but their Class C did not.
Thus, with almost no hesitation, Ryuen chose to buy the information.
Hikigaya also quickly informed Ryuen of the content of the special exam.
Things like: you cannot be late for class, you cannot whisper to each other at will, you cannot arrive late or leave early, you cannot use your phone to chat or pass notes in class, you cannot kick trash cans, litter, fight or provoke others, destroy public facilities, and so on.
These things were referred to as a "Code of Conduct," a performance of "good student" virtues.
The more Ryuen listened, the darker his expression became. If Class C was unprepared and knew nothing, given the current undisciplined style of these delinquents, they would likely be deducted until nothing was left.
But if he used violent means to force everyone to "follow the rules," then perhaps point loss could be greatly reduced.
At the very least, he wouldn't be putting his feet on the desk tomorrow.
"Why are you telling me so much?" Ryuen looked at Hikigaya and frowned slightly again. If Hikigaya hadn't told him this information, or even done nothing, it would surely be more beneficial for Class B.
Because Class C would definitely lose a massive amount of points, thereby widening the gap.
"It's simple. Because ultimately only Class A can receive the school's rewards, and my classmates trust me very much; I also hope to work hard with them.
So, our goal for Class B is to ultimately graduate as Class A.
But, we are also very clear that Class A, which could pool money to buy the truth of the school on the very first day, is not simple," Hikigaya said.
"Finding out the truth of the school ten days late is already a shortcoming of ours.
Either our Class B has such a gap with Class A, or this year's Class A is too strong."
"..." Ryuen said nothing.
Hikigaya continued, "But one thing is also very clear: there are special exams every month during the study period, and the content and scope of the exams are all different. So, compared to launching an assault on Class A alone—when Class A's comprehensive strength is stronger than my Class B—I don't think that's the way a smart person acts.
Especially since there was a case in the second year where Class B was promoted to Class A. And that is definitely not something that can be won by fighting alone."
In other words, with a successful Class B record before them, they were absorbing the winning experience of their seniors. So before that, did he want to pull in an ally?
Or rather, did he want to tear Class A down?
And once Class A was pulled down and suppressed ruthlessly, for Class B, the only one left to defeat would be their ally, Class C.
But that was Class B's idea. Class C could also have its own fantasies; for example, if Class A was taken out, the next one they would have to face would just be Class B, who was weaker than Class A.
It was also beneficial for Class C.
"Quite interesting." Ryuen curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a playful smile. "But aren't you afraid of personally fostering a powerful opponent?"
"I'm not afraid, because your class has too many poor students," Hikigaya said, shaking his head.
"Since we are students, there will definitely be written exams. That is your weak point; you won't be able to catch up with us."
"Heh—"
Ryuen's mouth still bore a mocking smile.
However, he knew very well that Class C, including himself, were all poor students. Those who truly had "good student" qualities likely did not exceed ten—no, perhaps not even seven.
So that might be the reason the other party dared to be so confident.
Thinking that once Class A was ruined and they faced Class C, Class B would surely win.
But using a hand of bad cards to blow up a group of top-class classes with good cards? This thought made the blood dormant in Ryuen's body boil slightly.
Because, in this school, there finally seemed to be a stage where he could show his full potential.
.
.
.
Perhaps having obtained the information he wanted to know—and because his account only had 170,000 points—after paying the 5,000-point booth fee and the 10,000-point lunch fee, Ryuen Kakeru still owed Hikigaya 340,000 points.
After adding Hikigaya as a friend and agreeing to pay the rest in seven days, he quickly left.
But on the other side, at the third-floor restaurant.
"Sakayanagi, I just received news. Some classmates saw Hikigaya Hachiman from Class B go to the Class C area... he seemed to have asked Ryuen out alone," reported Kamuro Masumi, who had finally brought back Sakayanagi's lunch.
It seemed that while she was queuing for food, she had specifically checked her phone messages and received news from the students of the Sakayanagi Faction in the class.
"Heh, your news is a step too late," Sakayanagi Arisu said with a polite smile.
"They didn't 'go out alone'; they just... walked right past us."
As she spoke, she tilted her head slightly, her gaze seemingly piercing through the walls toward the direction Ryuen had left.
"So what are they planning to do?" Kamuro recalled the incident where she had just made eye contact with Hikigaya from Class B and was immediately doxxed, feeling a lingering fear once again.
"Likely seeking an alliance. After all, the ultimate goal of all classes is Class A. It's not surprising for alliances to form between classes to attack a strong enemy together," Sakayanagi analyzed calmly.
"However, choosing to meet so publicly, and even specifically coming to the third floor... I think that Hikigaya-kun from Class B might have other motives. Class C is likely in for some bad luck."
"Oh?" Kamuro's expression turned slightly serious as she began to analyze Sakayanagi's words, but she found that she couldn't seem to figure it out.
Although academic ability does not equal intelligence, she often felt unable to keep up with the pace of Sakayanagi's mental leaps.
However.
"Since you just saw Hikigaya, did you hear his inner voice? Is it very scary? He must know all your details too, right?" Kamuro thought of another aspect.
Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."
The all-controlling composure on Sakayanagi Arisu's face froze for a split second.
Then she pouted in dissatisfaction.
Because her "little puppy" really had to bring up a sore subject.
Just now, she indeed had an encounter with Hikigaya-kun, and she had even seriously paid attention and made eye contact. But unfortunately...
She heard nothing.
No inner voice, no supernatural things—nothing appeared.
Did she really not have the destiny of a heroine? Was Kamuro really the chosen one?
Of course, it was also possible that Kamuro-san was truly under too much stress and was starting to have auditory hallucinations.
Therefore, she might also need to start reflecting on whether she had been giving her too much pressure lately.