Chapter 022 Buying Cards / Bargaining Master Ayanokouji / Enemies on a Narrow Path / Does Class A Even Have Money?
If June's weather was muggy, then July had officially transitioned into the scorching heat of midsummer. The average daily temperature was around 30°C. Although Japan was at the end of the rainy season, the rain in such a summer only made the air feel thicker. At the very least, on Shimizu Akira's way to school today, he inexplicably felt like the air had a burning quality to it.
Fortunately, the moment he stepped into the Advanced Nurturing High School teaching building, the cool blast of the air conditioning hit him, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. By the time he sat down in the classroom, he had completely recovered.
Turning his head, he saw that Horikita Suzune had arrived at her seat early.
"How about I be responsible for cooking for you?" she said matter-of-factly.
"Huh?" Akira blinked, blurting out, "Are you moving in with me, or are you proposing?"
"What are you thinking!" Suzune rolled her eyes at him. "I'm talking about the Deserted Island Special Exam next week. Didn't that woman tell you? Karuizawa and I are your teammates."
She began to organize things seriously: "Fourteen full days of living in the wild makes maintaining personal hygiene essential. I'll take charge of the group's three meals a day, and Karuizawa will handle the laundry. As for you, you'll be in charge of gathering firewood, and if there's any game, hunting is up to you. How does that sound?"
"Ah, I see," Akira nodded. "Sure, no problem."
Come to think of it, it was already July 11th. They would be heading to the deserted island next week on July 19th.
"However," he suddenly remembered something, "there probably won't be any game in this special exam."
"How do you know?" Suzune asked back.
"A staff member I met last year told me," Akira explained. "Actually, those wild rabbits and pheasants last year were farm-raised by the school and released. Considering that all students are participating this time, using bows and arrows might easily injure someone, and fighting over prey would be an issue. In short, the school wants to focus on the exam itself, though fishing should be fine, and there should still be some edible wild fruits."
"I see." Horikita Suzune nodded thoughtfully. "Then the food sources will mainly rely on rations and fishing. But since it's a deserted island, there should be a water source, right?"
"Mhm, there was a freshwater source last year, and it should be similar this year." Akira sat down in his seat. "But we won't know the specific location until we get there."
He looked at Horikita. "By the way, regarding the division of labor you just mentioned—have you discussed it with Karuizawa?"
"Of course." Horikita Suzune nodded. "That's the most basic element of teamwork. We have to live on the island for fourteen days; how can we manage without dividing the work in advance?"
Akira watched her scribbling and drawing densely in her notebook again, finally unable to help himself from speaking:
"Suzune, don't push yourself too hard. I remember before last year's island exam, you weren't feeling very well. You should pay attention to resting occasionally."
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Suzune wasn't just being dismissive. Ever since she started running consistently with this guy, it had been nearly a year. With daily exercise, regular meals, and sleep, her current health was excellent; there was no room for a cold.
Instead, she was starting to worry about the sleeping arrangements at night.
'Ugh... according to the various romantic experiences shared by Tachibana-senpai before graduation, it seems quite normal for couples to sleep together at night? Does that mean she and Karuizawa Kei will both be sleeping alongside Shimizu Akira?'
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After school today, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka took the rare initiative to stand up and pat Akira on the shoulder, signaling that he wanted to chat privately. Akira nodded, and the two went to a quiet corner.
"Nagumo Miyabi is buying up 'Free Ride' cards in bulk. Twenty thousand private points per card," Ayanokouji said directly.
"Oh?" Akira mused. "It seems he's very confident in his group."
Nagumo was clearly planning to bet all the Free Ride cards on his own team. That way, if they actually took a top-three spot, the rewards would multiply several times over.
"Wait," Akira suddenly realized, "How do you know about this?"
"I went to buy a card a few days ago, and the student who sold it to me mentioned it in passing," Ayanokouji replied.
"Besides your 'Trial' card, what else did you buy?" Akira asked.
"Not much, just a 'Lead' card," Ayanokouji said. "The effect is that at the start of the exam, the 'usable points' are multiplied by 1.5. I don't know exactly what 'usable points' refers to yet, but based on the experience of the last island exam, it's likely similar to exam-specific points that
can be used to exchange for tents, flashlights, matches—the things you need on the first day. Personally, I suggest you buy one too."
Akira leaned against the wall, thoughtful. He had guessed the function of the Lead card last month. He just figured it wouldn't be too late to get one right before the exam. He hadn't expected Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to prepare so early.
"How much did you pay for it?" he asked.
"140,000," Ayanokouji answered. "The seller asked for 150,000, and I bargained them down by 10,000."
'Ayanokouji, the bargaining master!'
As he spoke, he briefly introduced the current prices for the tool cards. The three types of Special Cards were basically unavailable at any price. As for the five types of Common Cards:
Lead Card: 150,000 Addition Card: 100,000 Half-Off Card: 100,000 Free Ride Card: 200,000 Insurance Card: 100,000
The Free Ride card was clearly inflated by Nagumo. The Lead card had also gone up by 50,000 because it played a role during the exam. Although the Addition card could double rewards, if you didn't break into the top three and only finished in the top 50%, the school only awarded 50,000—doubling that only makes 100,000—so the cost-effectiveness wasn't high.
The Half-Off card was the same; it only mattered for the bottom five. The Insurance card was similar—if you're sick enough to rest for a day, you can basically kiss a high ranking goodbye.
The prices for these cards weren't cheap; they were equivalent to two or three months of savings for an average student. But for Akira, it wasn't a large sum. Since they were aiming for a high rank, buying a few for their group was fine. Three Lead cards would only be 450,000. Right, might as well get three Addition cards too.
He waved goodbye to Ayanokouji and opened the school forum. Students occasionally posted on the forum to buy or sell cards; as long as they weren't in the same class, they could trade.
Akira scrolled a few times and found a student from 2nd-year Class C selling a Lead card. The price was 150,000 points. The seller's name was Hidetoshi Suzuki.
Akira checked the other party's OAA data, which indeed showed he possessed a Lead card. He called the number left on the forum. After a brief chat, the two agreed to meet in ten minutes at the school fountain.
Ten minutes later, Akira arrived at the fountain on time. A boy was already standing there—not short, with regular features; he truly lived up to the name "Hidetoshi" (Handsome). However, he wasn't alone. Standing beside him was none other than Ryuen Kakeru.
"Why are you here too?" Akira asked instinctively.
"Why is it you guy?!" Ryuen froze as well.
Come to think of it, ever since their cooperation during the forest training camp, the two hadn't met privately.
"What's going on?!" Ryuen slapped Suzuki's shoulder with some annoyance. "Since it's this guy, why did you call me over!"
"Uh!" Suzuki muttered quietly. "Didn't you say, Ryuen, that if anyone in our class is selling a card, we must notify you first?"
"Get lost!" Ryuen cursed. "If the buyer is this guy, what use is there for me to be here!"
Hearing this, Akira immediately understood Ryuen's scheme.
"You aren't purposely setting up meetings with other classes just to hike up the card prices, are you?"
A few months ago, Ryuen had used similar tactics to drive down the point share when cooperating with the first-years. This time it was the opposite. He was aiming for a price hike.
Being caught red-handed, a flash of awkwardness crossed Ryuen's face, but he quickly returned to his usual arrogant "looking down on everyone" expression.
"Hmph, you talk like you're so innocent. You're allowed to buy cards, but I'm not allowed to oversee my class's transactions? I'm the leader of Class C; can't I have a little sense of responsibility?"
Akira couldn't help but laugh. "Responsibility? I bet the private points from this sale would end up in your pocket."
Ryuen snorted coldly. "So, you came to buy a Lead card?"
Akira nodded. "Exactly! Are you selling?"
Ryuen stared at him for a long time. "200,000 points, and it's yours."
Akira heard this and immediately turned to leave.
"Wait! 150,000 points, fine!" Ryuen cursed under his breath. This guy was a cunning fox; despite having so many points, his face changed the moment the price went up.
"I thought you'd intentionally haggle a few more times." Akira was indeed surprised. This guy only raised the price once before returning to the market rate? It wasn't quite like him—it felt oddly disgusting.
Ryuen glanced at him. "You were already walking away; what else could I do?"
Akira thought about it and didn't act coy, taking out his phone: "Transferring."
"Wait." Ryuen suddenly raised a hand to stop him.
Akira looked at him. "What trick are you playing now?"
Ryuen folded his arms. "I'm not raising the price. I just wanted to tell you one thing: I gave Ishizaki a lesson."
"Meaning?"
"Hmph, my meaning is that unless you take the initiative to perform a dogeza and beg me for cooperation, I will absolutely never cooperate with you a second time."
"Mutual feeling. I dislike you quite a bit as well; you should give up on those baseless fantasies sooner rather than later."
The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Suzuki stood to the side, not daring to breathe. Finally, Akira withdrew his gaze first and showed the transfer interface to Ryuen.
"150,000, transferred."
Ryuen glanced at it, nodded, and said to Suzuki, "Received it?"
Suzuki checked his phone hurriedly and nodded, "Re-received it."
"Fine, the transaction is complete. Transfer the Lead card to this person." Ryuen clapped his hands and turned to leave. Suzuki bowed to Akira and hurriedly followed.
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Perhaps because accidentally running into Ryuen had exhausted his bad luck for the day, things went much more smoothly after that. Through the forum, Akira spent 550,000 points and successfully obtained two more Lead cards and three Addition cards.
He had specifically called Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to learn from his bargaining experience. Every little bit saved counts. However, this also made him realize that when he bought the card from Ryuen earlier, he had lost out! 150,000, not a penny less—that guy is a bit of a jerk.
Akira thought about it and simply leaked Ryuen's actions to the News Club. A few minutes later, they sent him 20,000 points as a high-quality manuscript fee. This was the real profit!
Of course, he transferred these cards to Horikita Suzune and Karuizawa Kei respectively. As for his other girlfriends, he didn't consider them much this time. If he even had to manage their tool cards, he would be overstepping as a boyfriend. In any case, the 2 million "safety deposit" had been sent over; as long as they were safe, it was fine.
As Akira was walking, someone suddenly called out to him.
"Yo! Shimizu! Good afternoon!"
It was Hashimoto Masayoshi. He immediately left the first-year student he was talking to and walked over quickly.
"Hashimoto, good afternoon," Akira greeted him naturally.
He had a good relationship with Hashimoto. From helping him during last year's island exam to sending gifts, and then helping test Ryuen's attitude during the forest training camp—although intelligence said this man was a "traitor" (two-timer), after so many interactions, Akira had long put that talk out of his mind. In his view, Hashimoto was actually quite reliable.
"Right," Hashimoto said as if remembering something, "During the Event Selection exam, I actually couldn't beat your class's Horikita at chess at all. The reason I won was because of Sakayanagi from our class; I personally am a terrible chess player."
See? Hashimoto was thorough. He knew to start by explaining why Akira's girlfriend had lost the match.
Akira smiled. "Suzune didn't mind that. By the way, I really should thank you for being willing to accompany our club manager out that time."
"Ah? You mean the time with Amasawa-kouhai?" Hashimoto's expression became unusually serious. "She's definitely cute, but she's not my type. However... that person is not as simple as she looks on the surface. She gives me a feeling a bit like Ayanokouji from your class. Akira, you should be careful in the future."
"Okay, I got it." Akira nodded. A White Room assassin capable of killing—wasn't that the most dangerous existence in this school?
"Right," Hashimoto rubbed his chin, "I've been commissioned by Sakayanagi to find Katsuragi and talk about him transferring classes."
"Katsuragi? Transferring now?" Akira had actually heard the gist of this from Honami Ichinose a few days ago.
"Mhm, the sooner it's done, the sooner we can relax." Hashimoto smiled, then pointed to himself. "So Sakayanagi's idea was for me to be the lobbyist. Luckily I ran into you; otherwise, I would have had to seek you out."
"Me?" Akira was surprised.
"He seems to trust you a lot," Hashimoto shrugged. "I'm different; I'm Sakayanagi's loyal lackey. If Katsuragi sees me, he'll probably feel resistant from the start."
Akira couldn't help but laugh. "You have a lot of self-awareness."
"Of course," Hashimoto said righteously. "How can you live in this school without self-awareness?"
As they talked and walked, they soon reached a rest area in a corner of the teaching building. It seemed Hashimoto had already arranged to meet the other person. Katsuragi Kouhei was sitting alone on a bench, holding a book on island survival, but his eyes were clearly not on the pages; he was staring blankly into the distance.
"Katsuragi," Hashimoto greeted first.
Katsuragi turned his head. Seeing who it was, his gaze lingered on Hashimoto for a moment before moving to Akira, appearing surprised.
"Shimizu is here too?"
"Mhm." Akira nodded and sat across from him. Hashimoto sat down beside him.
Katsuragi closed his book and looked at Hashimoto. "If Sakayanagi sent you, then there's nothing to say."
Hashimoto wasn't embarrassed, but instead laughed: "See? I told you, he gets annoyed just seeing me."
He stopped beating around the bush and explained directly: "Sakayanagi has 'sold' you to Ichinose and sent me as the lobbyist. But for you, this is also a good thing. Since Sakayanagi took power, your voice in Class A has plummeted. Rather than being suppressed over there, it's better to go to Class D and be a true second-in-command. I believe that with Ichinose's personality, she will definitely listen to your opinions seriously."
"Ichinose..." Katsuragi repeated the name. From the perspective of this deal alone, it was indeed a good opportunity for him. Honami Ichinose had helped him a lot privately. Class D was also a reliable team; at least you'd never have to worry about being backstabbed.
"Well, I know you've always been thinking about Totsuka Yahiko," Akira added. "He's in 2nd-year Class D now. According to school rules, Ichinose only needs to come up with 5 million to buy him. For you, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Katsuragi, you should think it over carefully."
He wasn't speaking to help Sakayanagi Arisu, but purely for Honami's sake. Plus, Katsuragi had been a companion during the forest training camp, so he offered a few words of advice.
Hearing this, Katsuragi fell into contemplation. After a few seconds, he looked up. "I can agree. But I have one condition."
"What condition?"
"2nd-year Class A must temporarily lend 2nd-year Class D ten million private points."
Katsuragi said word for word, "Based on Ichinose's personality, buying me requires twenty million, buying Yahiko Totsuka requires five million, and buying back Ryuji Kanzaki from Class
B requires ten million. 2nd-year Class D did make a profit in the VIP exam last year, but by my estimate, they have at most twenty-something million."
He looked at Hashimoto. "In contrast, Class A's class funds have always been abundant with almost no major expenditures. According to my estimate, there should be over twenty million. In that case, lend Ichinose ten million first to help her through this financial crisis."
Masayoshi Hashimoto's expression changed completely.
"..."
"Hm? Looking at your expression, the class fund doesn't have twenty million?" Katsuragi frowned. "That's impossible. Usually, everyone pays into the class fund every month; if you save a little, it's possible to have accumulated thirty million."
The corner of Hashimoto's mouth twitched.
How could he tell the man in front of him that his "Princess" didn't have twenty million—the last time he caught a glimpse of the account, there seemed to be... only twelve million left?
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