Houtarou joined the small Class A group created by Kōhei. As expected, Arisu wasn't in it. There were only 22 members — likely those he had attracted with his personal charisma.
It was only the second day of school, and Class A students were already dividing. But this was a good thing. It meant Kōhei was willing to step up and take charge. What an honest guy!
Houtarou typed in the group chat:
| Houtarou Oreki - Class A Student |
| I wanted to create this group chat to share some information. |
| Yesterday, I obtained a position as secretary in the Student Council through some channels. |
| The Student Council President stated that during his term, he won't accept any applications from first-year students to join the Student Council. |
| This position comes at a cost of 1 million Points, to be paid in full by the 1st of next month. |
| Pay 1 million Points next month, and you can join the Student Council. |
"One million points?" One of Kōhei's faction members couldn't help but exclaim after checking their phone.
Just yesterday, everyone had pooled half of their Points to gather 2 million to buy the school rules from Teacher Mashima. And now they needed another 1 million...
They looked in Houtarou's direction.
| Arisu Sakayanagi - Class A Student |
| Are you in dire need of money? |
At this moment, the white-stockinged girl Arisu, sitting in front, suddenly sent him a message.
"..." Houtarou paused, puzzled.
Wasn't Arisu excluded from Kōhei's group? How did she know about this conversation? Could there already be a mole in the newly formed group?
If so, this wasn't a case of someone stepping up to unite Class A and instill confidence. Instead, the class was on the brink of fracturing.
The realization left Houtarou feeling uneasy.
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Although this school prioritized ability above all else, it hadn't completely departed from the realm of traditional education. Students still attended regular classes with textbooks consistent with the outside world, without increased difficulty.
However, there was a key difference: special exams were held at the end of each month. It was as if the school had broken down the thinking patterns and modes of thought they wanted students to acquire into a series of regular assessments.
This month's assessment was the usual behavioral norms test. Everyone's performance was excellent, maintaining the dignity of Class A.
Even during regular classes, their performance was outstanding. Teachers rarely needed to call on students; there were always volunteers raising their hands to answer questions. As academic elites, no student worried about being called on and unable to answer.
The morning classes — Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry — were enjoyable for Houtarou rather than painful.
However, he was the type who didn't do homework after class. His philosophy was simple: if you could master the necessary knowledge during class, wasn't that enough?
Don't do unnecessary things, and keep necessary things as simple as possible is what he believes.
For him, if he mastered the material in class, there was no need to review afterward. He didn't even take notes.
As lunch break arrived, Houtarou decided not to go home to cook. With enough Points on hand, he could easily afford to eat out.
His phone buzzed with a private message from Kōhei in the group chat, asking him to reserve the Student Council secretary position. He promised to gather the money by the first of next month.
For new students, 1 million Points was a substantial sum. However, Kōhei and his group, who were already familiar with the school's rules and understood the value of the Student Council, recognized this price as reasonable.
The situation was complicated by the fact that all classmates had spent 50,000 Points each to obtain the exam rules just yesterday, leaving everyone essentially broke.
Selling information was an option, but with Class A students having taken the initiative, the only potential buyers were other first-year newcomers. Selling to Class B or C would be tantamount to sabotaging their own class. As for Class D, Houtarou had already sold to them, so that avenue was closed — and it certainly wouldn't have fetched 1 million Points anyway.
Consequently, Kōhei would likely need to explore alternative methods of fundraising. One possibility was to gather Points from members of the Katsuragi faction after the school's monthly Point deposit on the first of next month.
Given the current atmosphere in Class A, each student might receive 100,000 or more Points at the start of the month. With the Katsuragi faction already boasting 22 members, amassing 1 million Points at that time seemed feasible.
Based on Houtarou's perception of Kōhei as an honest and steady individual, the latter possibility seemed more probable.
Ultimately, he was unconcerned with the specifics — as long as the Points ended up in his possession, he'd be satisfied.
He opened the System's Task List.
〖 Main Task: 20 Million Points Big Mission! 〗
〖 Task Requirement: Gather 20 million Points within three months! 〗
〖 Task Duration: 89/90 Days 〗
〖 Task Reward: Superhuman Physique — Major Physical Enhancement 〗
〖 Task Progress: 1,693,500 Pts / 20,000,000 Pts 〗
〖 Note: All Points earned by the host can be entrusted to Manabu Horikita, who is about to graduate from the third year, and can be guaranteed to be exchanged for cash! 〗
Hmm. The progress was acceptable, but there was still a long way to go to reach 20 million Points.
Now wasn't the time to worry about how Kōhei would gather 1 million Points; Houtarou needed to focus on finding ways to quickly amass 20 million Points himself.
But for now, it was time to eat.
'Time's up, let's grab some food.'
This school operated as a fully closed system, with students using Points for their daily needs. Naturally, there were channels provided for spending these Points. Eating was just one simple avenue.
However, just as he was about to queue up for food, Houtarou suddenly looked back. Feigning nonchalance, he continued forward, circling around a large pillar.
In less than 10 seconds, he turned around again and looked behind him.
"So, do you need something?" Houtarou asked.
Because—
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