"400,000 points is too little. It's not enough to hurt anyone."
"Let's play bigger. Every student in the class contributes 25,000 points. That's 1 million points per class. Three classes combined makes 3 million points."
"Winner takes all, loser gets nothing."
Katsuragi Ren's words pushed the game Arisu Sakayanagi wanted to play from a mere pastime to a dangerous height.
For the two classes at the top, losing 1 million points was manageable; they could survive a month of austerity.
But for Class C, which only had 36,000 points this month, it was different. This meant…
Division.
Ryuen Kakeru ruled Class C with violence. If he dared to accept this game…
And if they lost, Class C would fall into a mud pit deeper than Class D's.
As the instigator, Ryuen's tyrannical rule would be overthrown.
Even the most extreme violence becomes pale and powerless in the face of a fight for survival.
Arisu Sakayanagi, the little rich girl, could easily cover the 1 million points herself, but Ryuen could not.
"Will your classmates in Class A agree to this?" Ryuen made a final struggle.
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Who would dare disobey Ren-sama?"
As soon as Ryuen finished speaking, the students of Class A formed a circle around them, answering Ryuen's question without hesitation.
Katsuragi Ren didn't even need to ask his classmates. The moment he spoke, everyone's attention shifted here.
"So, what is your answer? Ryuen-san." Katsuragi Ren looked indifferently at Ryuen in front of him.
Noticing the encroaching Class A students, Albert and Ishizaki took a step forward to shield Ryuen behind them.
There was nothing wrong with their behavior, but they hadn't considered that their actions made Ryuen-san's momentum appear weaker.
The main point was to make the opponent hurt.
Looking at Ryuen, Katsuragi Ren threw the other party's words back at him: "Ryuen-san, will your classmates in Class C agree?"
"Fine!" Ryuen gritted his teeth and agreed to the stakes.
As long as it didn't leave Class C completely unable to eat, he was confident he could suppress any minor unrest it might cause.
"Everyone… did you forget there is also a Class D?" Ichinose, seeing Class D being excluded, couldn't help but mention them.
"???"
"???"
Hearing Ichinose's words, Arisu Sakayanagi and Ryuen Kakeru were shocked. They suddenly felt they had underestimated the nominal leader of Class A.
Let alone 1 million points, it would be hard for Class D to scrape together even 200,000 points. Yet, Ichinose-san wanted to drag them into this mess too.
This woman is the one with the blackest heart, huh!
"Class D doesn't have enough points. They don't qualify," Katsuragi Ren bluntly told Ichinose the reason for excluding Class D.
Yes, no qualifications.
The current Class D couldn't even get an entry ticket to the struggle between the four classes.
With all three parties agreeing to the competition, Arisu Sakayanagi began to explain the rules.
Each class would send three people to participate. There were no gender restrictions; boys or girls could join, but there would be no gender handicaps. Everyone's swimming distance was the same.
The criteria for winning were simple and straightforward: the class whose students all reached the finish line first would win.
And the winner's reward was the 3 million points pooled by the three classes.
"Well then, you can go back to your classes to select your people." After stating the rules, Arisu Sakayanagi tapped the floor with her cane.
Hearing the unique sound only Arisu Sakayanagi's cane could make, Masayoshi Hashimoto, Masumi Kamuro, and a student named Hayato Kitou stood up from Class B.
Obviously, they came prepared.
Ryuen, who quickly returned to Class C to select people, also returned to the Class A area with his chosen classmates.
They were Daichi Ishizaki, Ryuen Kakeru himself, and Mio Ibuki.
"Anyone want to go play?" Katsuragi Ren asked the crowd, checking if any classmates were interested.
"Katsuragi-san, can I go?" So Shibata raised his hand, wanting to bring glory to the class.
After Katsuragi Ren nodded, Shibata walked out of the group and stood behind him.
Seeing that both Class B and C had lineups of two boys and one girl, Katsuragi Ren didn't want to take advantage of them. "Any volunteers from the girls?"
"Ren-sama, me!" Mako Amikura volunteered and stepped forward.
She hadn't swum to her heart's content during the race with Chihiro Shiranami earlier. It was time to show everyone in the class what she could do.
"The last one, Ryuji Kanzaki." Since there were enough volunteers, Katsuragi Ren directly called Ryuji Kanzaki's name.
"…"
Kanzaki, having his name called, reluctantly came to stand behind Katsuragi Ren.
He thought Katsuragi Ren would participate personally, but instead, he ended up being chosen.
"Are you sure, Katsuragi-kun?" Like Kanzaki, Arisu Sakayanagi, who thought Katsuragi Ren would participate, confirmed with him again.
Ryuen Kakeru, who was participating personally, felt the same. He wanted to compete with Katsuragi Ren in the water to see the gap between them.
"Positive." Katsuragi Ren had no intention of participating. The aggressive raising of the stakes earlier was just for fun.
Beyond the visible 3 million points, Katsuragi Ren made a personal promise to the three contestants: "Do your best. If you win, I'll reward the whole class with an open-air BBQ tonight. If you lose, there will be a punishment."
"Kanzaki-san, we're counting on you for our BBQ."
"Go for it, Brother Shibata!"
"We're counting on you, Mako-chan!"
It wasn't just the contestants who heard Katsuragi Ren's promise. The eyes of the Class A students gathered around lit up simultaneously, and they began to cheer for Shibata, Kanzaki, and Amikura.
With the start of the competition between the three classes, the swimming pool became lively again. Class A shouted the loudest, cheering for their contestants like their lives depended on it.
Kanji Ike put his hand to his forehead, shading his eyes as he gazed at the pool, muttering, "What are those three classes doing? It's so lively. Why don't they include us in whatever good thing is happening?"
Kikyo Kushida, who had friends in every class, randomly found someone and asked what was going on.
Hearing that it was a competition involving 3 million points, she couldn't help but feel envious. And only envious.
She didn't rely on Class D; after all, her quality of life was much better than most people in Class D.
She wondered if Katsuragi-san, who gave her more than 80,000 points, participated in this competition. Thinking of this, Kushida also looked towards the pool.
The speed of the boys in the three classes was about the same. However, on the girls' side, Mio Ibuki from Class C had superior skills, reaching the finish line a step ahead of Masumi Kamuro and Mako Amikura. Despite Shibata's speed, the difference in the girls' stamina became the deciding factor.
The 3 million points from this competition ultimately ended up in Ryuen Kakeru's hands.
The three defeated members of Class A returned to the group, lowered their heads in front of Katsuragi Ren, and didn't dare to look him in the eye.
"Ren-sama, what's the punishment…" Kanzaki's voice was a bit hoarse. Fighting for the class but returning in defeat made him feel gloomy.
When the word "punishment" was mentioned, Shibata and Amikura lowered their heads even more.
"Punishment…" Katsuragi Ren paused deliberately before speaking.
"I sentence you to hold an open-air BBQ tonight and cook for everyone with your own hands."
---
NOTE:
I would also like to apologize for a mistake in previous chapters. I accidentally used the name Utako Asada, who belongs to a different novel, when the correct name should be Asahina Nazuna. The earlier chapters are currently being corrected.
I sincerely apologize for the confusion.
---
Unlock 400+ chapters across 7+ different novels on Patreon!
👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/LEYI396