"Maya! Chiaki!"Karuizawa Kei suddenly raised her voice. "Sorry, but I won't be able to go shopping with you guys today!"
"Huh? Karuizawa? What's wrong?" The two girls turned to her in surprise.
Karuizawa's eyes flickered toward Shimizu Akira for a split second before she straightened her posture. "Starting today, I'm joining the boxing club after school!"
"Boxing club?!"Satō Maya's eyes widened. "Can girls even join that kind of sports club?"
"Of course!"Karuizawa planted her hands on her hips proudly. "Well, I'm joining as the manager!"
"Manager? That's perfect!"Satō's eyes sparkled. "The boxing club is one of the school's most popular clubs. Speaking of which…" She suddenly lowered her voice, grinning mischievously. "Isn't Shimizu-kun a member?"
Karuizawa coughed lightly. "Well… yeah. So from today on, I'll be going to club activities with him…"
"Ehhh—?!"Shinohara leaned in, elbowing her playfully. "Are you two… dating?"
"N-No way!"Karuizawa waved her hands frantically. "We just happen to be going to the same place!"
Internally, she sighed.
In a way, she had been rejected after confessing.
Shimizu's phone buzzed unexpectedly.
The message wasn't from Chabashira Sae—but from Kamuro Masumi of Class A:
["Start saving your points."]
The usually aloof Class A honors student was warning him?
He replied swiftly:
["Has Sakayanagi already shared the S-system intel with your class?"]
Her response was immediate:
["You catch on fast—unlike most Class D trash."]
Another message followed:
["What did you think made Sakayanagi one of Class A's core figures?"]
A flicker of surprise crossed Shimizu's eyes as he typed:
["One of? There's another?"]
Kamuro's reply carried a knowing edge:
["Katsuragi Kōhei. Steady, meticulous, and well-respected. They're the twin pillars of Class A."]
Shimizu fell into brief contemplation. Class A had clearly unified into a cohesive force.
Like him, Sakayanagi Arisu had uncovered the school's hidden rules.
His gaze returned to the second piece of intel:
[Class Points After First Month: A:940 | B:650 | C:490 | D:0]
Without prior knowledge, it was impossible for Class A to amass 940 points in just one month.
This wasn't just a cold statistic—it revealed critical insights.
For one, Classes B and C clearly hadn't discovered the hidden rules. Otherwise, their scores wouldn't be 650 and 490, respectively.
Class B's performance was particularly puzzling.
When he'd paid 10,000 points for intel, the senior had emphasized: "Historically, Class B has the highest potential for overthrowing Class A."
Yet their current score fell short of expectations.
(Strange… With Ichinose's social skills, she shouldn't be this far behind.)
He vividly recalled the pink-haired girl's early networking—hundreds of contacts within days.
(Was she just making friends, Ichinose?)
A realization struck him.
(Wait… Did she not connect with desperate Class D students?)
It made sense.
In this school, only Class D's dropouts would sell class secrets for a few thousand points.
No other class would betray their group for such meager gains.
(The cost-benefit analysis just doesn't add up…)
Shimizu ran the numbers mentally.
20,000-30,000 personal points might seem tempting, but converted to class points, it's only 200-300.
Yet getting caught meant losing 100-200 class points monthly—dooming the entire class to reduced income.
Only the truly desperate would take that risk.
As for Class C—
(Come to think of it, I haven't interacted with them yet…)
Their structure remained a mystery.
Did they have a unifying leader like Sakayanagi or Ichinose?
That was still a question mark.
After a long pause, he typed:
["By the way, did Sakayanagi give you trouble over that beer?"]
Kamuro's reply dripped annoyance:
["You think I'm that stupid? You destroyed the evidence. Besides—"] A two-second delay. ["I'm Class A. A single beer won't topple me."]
Shimizu's fingers danced across the screen:
["Hard to say. When we first met, you nearly exposed everything—not very Class A of you. Without me, you'd have become Sakayanagi's puppet. Like, holding her umbrella when it rains levels of pathetic."]
His phone vibrated violently.
["SHIMIZU AKIRA. YOU WANNA DIE?!"] Her rage practically burned through the screen. ["I JUST realized—you were calling me stupid from the start! Who the hell would hold an umbrella for Sakayanagi?! She's a genius, but so am I!"]
["Whatever! Talking to you is a waste of time."]
Shimizu stared at the screen, then typed sincerely:
["Sorry, that was too far. But… I'm glad Sakayanagi didn't exploit you."]
The message was marked read, followed by a long "typing…" status.
A full 30 seconds later, the reply came:
["Prostrate yourself and let me step on your head as apology."]
["Heh~"]
Shimizu set his phone down, glancing at Horikita Suzune.
After a moment's thought, he asked with feigned seriousness:
"Horikita-san, if a girl replies with 'heh~', what does it usually mean?"
Horikita didn't look up from her textbook, responding with a cold:
"Hmph~"
Shimizu blinked.
Now the real question was—what did a girl's "hmph~" signify?