Chapter 065: Second-Year Nagumo Miyabi: Huh? No, Wait—Am I Being Set Up Right Here?!
Nagumo Miyabi raised his hand casually, a playful curve hooking the corner of his mouth.
"I just thought of something funny. Don't mind me."
'Is that so?'
Horikita and Hikigaya chose to ignore him with practiced synchronicity. Horikita naturally held a dismissive attitude toward unimportant strangers; her eyelids lowered slightly, her expression indifferent, as if she hadn't heard a word.
Hikigaya, having already identified the man, naturally couldn't be bothered to engage.
Thus, their conversation continued to flow in the café amidst the faint aroma of milk tea, acting as if the person in the adjacent booth simply didn't exist.
"Starting with 0 points in Class D is indeed shocking," Hikigaya said. "But it's not hopeless. For you, there's still a chance to scrape together 20 million points in Class D." He looked at Horikita. "Because this class hasn't been abandoned by the school yet."
"Oh?" Horikita Suzune's slender brows knitted slightly, a clear flash of confusion in her sharp eyes. "Because Class D hasn't been abandoned? What kind of logic is that?"
Almost simultaneously, the blonde second-year behind them, Nagumo Miyabi, leaned forward.
His previously lazy posture became focused, and a spark of genuine interest flickered in his eyes.
Nagumo had originally intended to just buy some milk tea for the chattering girls in his class to score some easy favorability points. He had been hesitating between shops on the street until his gaze was firmly snared by the silhouette of a black-haired girl by this shop's window.
She was stunningly beautiful.
In terms of pure aesthetics, she blew the girls in his class out of the water; even his childhood friend, Asahina Nazuna, was a tier below this girl in looks.
Without hesitation, he had pushed through the door and walked toward the counter through the sweet-scented air—only to find that sitting opposite this beautiful kouhai was a dead-fish-eyed boy radiating a heavy aura of gloom.
Even more surprising was their topic of conversation... it was actually quite interesting.
Regarding the concept of "charging a leadership fee," Nagumo was a seasoned pro.
He didn't just do it; his methods were "highly efficient." He directly collected 50% of every classmate's personal points as a "management fee" and strictly mandated that no individual's
private balance could exceed 500,000 points. Anything over that had to be surrendered to him.
Consequently, in the Class 2-A under his control, no student besides himself could break the 500,000-point threshold.
As for the legendary Class 1-D that lost 1,000 points at the start and hit zero within a month? Nagumo remembered it well; as a member of the Student Council, he had been responsible for recording the first-year exam results.
That conduct exam, even if the freshmen were unprepared, only tested basic daily norms. For Class D to drop to zero was unheard of in the history of Advanced Nurturing High School.
And someone wanted to try "charging fees" in that Class D? It sounded like a pipe dream. Class D's zero evaluation meant no base living expenses from the school—survival itself was an issue.
Trying to collect money from the pockets of broke, disorganized students was pure fantasy.
"What do you mean by... Class D hasn't been abandoned?" Horikita Suzune pressed, a hint of tension in her voice.
'Not abandoned? Does that imply... the possibility exists that Class D could be 'discarded' by the school?' If that happened, would she even be able to stay enrolled?
One could only say Horikita was letting her anxiety cloud her judgment. Even if Class D was seen as "defective," the current third-year Class D still existed within the school. The first-years' performance was shocking, but not yet grounds for disposal.
"My phrasing might have been misleading," Hikigaya explained immediately.
"I mean that while Class D is at 0 points, it is still part of the competitive system. As long as special exams are held, Class D has the chance to participate—meaning the possibility to lose points, gain points, and turn the situation around.
And," he paused, looking directly at Horikita. "Class D's current zero-point status is, in a sense, not entirely a bad thing.
Of course, if you want to rise to Class A, unless a monster-level leader appears to turn the tide, it's basically a delusion."
"..." Horikita Suzune pursed her lips in silence. She recalled the information she had caught from Hikigaya's inner thoughts earlier—that Class D did indeed hide several "monsters."
However, the thought vanished as quickly as it appeared. She had already given up on leading Class D. Among those so-called "monsters," who besides her and the proactive Kushida had actually bothered to buy the old questions or study seriously for this crucial exam? They showed no signs of leading.
"So, what was the method for gathering points in Class D you mentioned?" Horikita pulled the topic back. She remembered when she asked him "what he would do if he were in Class D," and his answer was "gather 20 million and run," rather than lying down in defeat. This meant he believed there was a path to achieving that impossible goal even in Class D.
"Class D is a heap of loose sand," Hikigaya analyzed calmly, "filled with numerous small cliques and circles."
Noticing Horikita's blank expression—clearly, she didn't care about the internal factions—he continued.
"In your Class D, having strength or being right doesn't mean people will obey you. They act mostly on personal likes and dislikes, often making short-sighted moves that damage the class's overall interests. These students likely make up the majority.
However." His tone suddenly sharpened.
"Once it involves their immediate, most fundamental interests, you can easily mobilize these scattered forces.
From another perspective, dropping from 1,000 to 0 isn't necessarily a bad thing. Because there is no source of living expenses, the entire Class D now has a single, urgent, common goal: to get points for food! Eating those unswallowable mountain vegetable sets every day for half a month has made their nerves sensitive enough."
"So... Class D is actually easy to win over right now?" Horikita's eyes widened slightly, a hint of surprise in her voice.
"It's not about winning them over," Hikigaya corrected, his tone very pragmatic.
"It's about the fact that whoever can bring them tangible benefits—life-saving points—becomes essential. This is the core strategy I want to teach you: Distribution According to Labor.
For example, if you use a strategy to win 100 evaluation points for the class in a special exam, you can set a rule: You personally take 50% of the revenue converted from those 100 points. The remaining 50% becomes class property, distributed equally for everyone's living expenses. 100 evaluation points means the class receives a total of 400,000 points from the school. You take 200,000, and the remaining 200,000 is split. That's just the profit from one month."
200,000 points a month! That's 2.4 million a year! 7.2 million over three years! Horikita's heart rate accelerated. Following this logic, if she could secure a total of 300 points in bonuses for Class D, the 20-million-point target... didn't seem out of reach.
A task she previously thought was impossible now had a clear path. Horikita was shaken; this method of using the class platform to manifest personal value was a road she had never imagined.
However, she looked at the boy across from her. Staring at his face, into his eyes, she felt some things needed to be said.
"If that's the case," Horikita pondered, "then... Class D's mobility would be greatly stimulated. Then, the capable people in my class wouldn't let the opportunity slip; they would act to secure those profits. In that case, Class D... doesn't seem completely without a chance to rise?"
"Do you think," Hikigaya countered in a cold, plain voice, his dead-fish eyes showing no ripple, "that a class capable of losing 1,000 points in a single month has anything to worry about?"
"Uh."
"Ugh."
Horikita froze, her expression hardening. Hikigaya's casual question was like a bucket of ice water, instantly extinguishing the small flame of hope she had just lit.
Right—under the lure of profit, they might cooperate briefly, but with Class D's desperate "prodigal" nature, could they even keep the points they earned? Not a chance.
"So. Even if you propose distribution according to labor and gain personal points by earning evaluation points for Class D, the 'validity' of this strategy will likely last three months, maybe six at most. Essentially, this is just 'fast money.' You would need to achieve this result many times. Can you actually do that?"
'Can you do that?'
Horikita didn't reply immediately. This meant she had to handle special exams with extreme care and seize every chance for "fast money." The 20-million-point goal still stood like an insurmountable mountain. She bit her lip, a trace of disappointment crossing her face, but she quickly took a deep breath. She had three years! Three whole years to climb this peak.
"I understand," Horikita said. "The road is hard, but I want to work for it. I want my brother's recognition... so I will do my best. I will choose to gather 20 million points and transfer to your class."
"Then I will assist you," Hikigaya said.
"For my class, the more capable people, the better."
"...Yes," Horikita nodded.
"..."
In the booth behind them, Nagumo Miyabi had listened to the entire thing. Looking at the dead-fish-eyed boy and the stunning kouhai with the fox-like eyes, he suddenly realized: this breathtakingly beautiful girl was likely being... scammed by the boy across from her!
While the logic sounded sound, as the man who led the original Class B to the peak of Class A, Nagumo had a razor-sharp judgment. He heard what was hidden in the kouhai's words.
Yes, earning points alone is inefficient; you must bind yourself to the class interests to leverage huge gains. That was undeniable. However, from the details, Nagumo caught a key point: they weren't in the same class. The black-haired girl was from Class D. If she wanted to transfer to the dead-fish-eyed kouhai's class, it meant he had to be a student of Class 1-A. No one would pay 20 million points to transfer anywhere else.
So, why was this boy from another class so "eager" to advise a Class D girl? Either it was out of affection, or... she had massive utility for him! Nagumo's mind raced, immediately connecting this to the special exam scheduled for next month.
Usually, the school arranged a large-scale special exam for freshmen on an uninhabited island at this time. These exams were "welfare packages" with generous point rewards. As he had told Katsuragi Kohei in the Student Council, the school sometimes provided these "welfare exams" for lower classes to prevent them from falling behind too early. With Class C and D performing so poorly, the school would likely pour resources into the next island exam to "subsidize" them.
Thus, Nagumo was 100% certain: this dead-fish-eyed boy was a Class 1-A student. He must have received the info from Katsuragi, who in turn shared it with his faction. They were making moves.
Once he assumed the boy was from Class 1-A, the "kind guidance" was clearly a trap to induce this beautiful Class D kouhai to work with him from the inside during the future exam, essentially packaging Class D's potential resources and selling them to him. It was a massive advantage for his class.
It was essentially a betrayal of her own class, masked reasonably under the guise of "distribution according to labor." The result would be Class D abandoning the chance to change their destiny for petty short-term gains. And keeping Class D down was always good for the upper classes.
One stone, two birds. How ruthless!
'Wow—!' Nagumo marveled inwardly, feeling a surge of excitement. What a sophisticated, cold calculation! Interesting, so interesting! And this story probably only existed because he had told Katsuragi about the welfare exam in the first place.
Nagumo's smile widened. He began to lift himself off his chair, ready to meet this dead-fish-eyed boy.
Class 1-A's foundation truly was full of talent. This year's batch was excellent.
Despite being teased by Asahina Nazuna for being "extraordinarily lenient toward girls," he took pride in appreciating capable boys and giving them a stage. He wanted to build a school based on "meritocracy," a direct contrast to Horikita Manabu's "protection of the weak."
Natural law dictates the weak are culled; the strong deserve the best treatment—including recruiting the prettiest girls into the Student Council.
He also needed people who could get things done. Katsuragi Kohei was one, and this sharp, sophisticated kouhai definitely qualified to join his staff.
However.
Just as Nagumo's hand pressed onto the table to push himself up, the boy's voice came again, clear as day—but it was like ice water hitting the fire of his recruitment drive.
"To get points faster, relying on your own class isn't enough. Another important way is to 'demand' them from other classes. Within the school's rules, of course," the boy said.
He continued guiding the girl's thoughts: "If your own class's resources aren't enough, just include the resources of other classes into your accumulation range... won't the pressure be greatly reduced?
How to manipulate other classes and seize points from them—that is the manifestation of your personal ability. That is the true essence of 'Meritocracy.'
Just like Sakayanagi's 'Little Princess' actions this morning. She attacked the third-years directly and got exactly what she wanted."
'Sakayanagi's 'Little Princess'... so it's Sakayanagi?'
Hearing the name, Nagumo sat back down. The morning's leak was the work of that Class 1-A kouhai, Sakayanagi. So this boy wasn't from Katsuragi's faction, but... the highly aggressive, consequence-ignoring Sakayanagi faction?
After all, you wouldn't call someone a "Little Princess" unless she was your boss. A cute girl indeed.
But then the boy added:
"And for a practical example: look at the second-year representative, Nagumo Miyabi. That's exactly how he does it. He doesn't limit himself to his own class; he's expanded to the other two classes and ambitiously plans to turn the entire second year into his point source.
So, 20 million points? No. 40 million, 80 million, even over 100 million... in his eyes, those aren't unattainable ambitions.
I'm not wrong, am I, Nagumo-senpai?"
As he spoke, the dead-fish-eyed kouhai looked directly toward his booth.
??
Nagumo Miyabi, who had stepped into this shop just for a glimpse of a beautiful girl, froze instantly. He heard his own name—Nagumo Miyabi—drop from the boy's mouth. And it was used as a "role model" for analysis!
How? Why here? Why now?
No! This feeling... was this dead-fish-eyed kouhai... waiting here for him all along?
Waiting for him to jump out?
Was he being set up?!
Or was it that Sakayanagi had attacked the third year, and now... she was going to attack the second year?!
.
.
.
Meanwhile, at the school library.
"A-choo!" Sakayanagi Arisu sneezed.
"Caught a cold? Little Princess Sakayanagi, you're a hero of Class A now. It's better to take care of your health," said Hashimoto Masayoshi, her tall, blonde follower.
He, too, called her "Little Princess.
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