Chapter 067: Bad, Too Bad, Sakayanagi-kouhai!
So, the negotiations had broken down.
Nagumo crossed his arms. He felt he had shown a proper attitude and had even made concessions by being willing to let Class 1-A's Sakayanagi Arisu become the next Student Council President. Yet, he had been rejected.
And what were those words from this dead-fish-eyed kouhai?
"The things Little Princess Sakayanagi wants, she will take for herself."
In other words, she wasn't interested in "handouts"; she wanted a direct challenge.
As someone who ruled nearly the entire second year, Nagumo interpreted this immediately: Sakayanagi didn't just want the identity of the next President—she wanted to dominate the current transition.
However, Sakayanagi had completely offended the third-years.
Even if she hadn't, Nagumo planned to fan the flames and ensure they held a grudge against her. Logically, she should have failed. Even with candidacy, she wouldn't get the third-year votes, and the second-years certainly wouldn't vote for her.
She would only have the first-year votes—but Class 1-B definitely wouldn't support her. Overall, she was destined to lose.
Yet, a turning point had appeared.
Sakayanagi was preparing to attack the second year. Based on the dead-fish-eyed kouhai's constant leading of the conversation toward "points," it was clear that Sakayanagi actually wanted to target Nagumo Miyabi himself. And what could be gained from attacking him?
The massive pool of second-year points he had consolidated.
"So, Sakayanagi-kouhai is preparing to go to war with me," Nagumo noted. He realized that if attacking the third year was to gain candidacy, then attacking the second year was to gain the points needed for the election.
The school aimed to prepare students for society, and the current class competition simulated social pressure. While Classes C and D existed to provide "biodiversity," the school wasn't so corporate that an election required a massive budget.
However, Sakayanagi was different. She wanted to pave her way with money. Could she? Yes, she could.
The third-years were about to graduate. Especially in Classes B, C, and D, where many had gained nothing. Receiving a large sum of points to convert into cash would be an excellent parting gift. Would they be that easy to buy? Possibly.
Because of President Horikita Manabu's compromise, the third-year special exam was still using the old questions, meaning they would still receive their usual living expenses. There was no need to hold a terminal grudge against Sakayanagi, especially if she was willing to pay for their votes.
And it wasn't just the third-years. The first-year Classes C and D had 0 evaluation points and no living expenses. They were stuck eating awful mountain vegetable sets. Would 50,000 points buy a vote? Or even 20,000 or 10,000? It absolutely would.
Sakayanagi was a Class 1-A student; her class would support her even if Katsuragi disagreed—otherwise, the whole class wouldn't have helped her deal with the leaked data that morning. This meant she could potentially lock down five classes' worth of votes.
Meanwhile, on Nagumo's side... even if he controlled the second-years, his penchant for expelling dissenters meant his total voter count couldn't match the combined might of the first and third years.
His advantage would vanish.
Sakayanagi's offensive could actually hurt him.
However, this all relied on her having enough points to bribe everyone. If she didn't, it was just a paper tiger.
Class 1-A had already spent 1.5 million points on the first day for "the truth," and another 2 million this month to buy a Secretary position from Hikigaya.
They couldn't possibly have enough points left to buy an election right now.
But there was nearly a year until the election. With Class A's high evaluation points, they had plenty of time to accumulate. He had to strike first.
What could he do? Buy the votes before she could. But he also held a grudge; he had to retaliate for her meddling in the power transition.
Cross-grade special exams were rare. Even though he felt he had no rivals in the second year after defeating Kiriyama, and longed to face the "strongest president in history," Horikita Manabu, there were few opportunities. Interfering in the first-year exams was difficult, but not impossible.
For instance, he could support Class 1-B and have them attack Class 1-A. It was a tit-for-tat strategy.
But before that, Sakayanagi was trying to treat him like a "wealth-distributing boy." That wouldn't do. He had to fire back.
Nagumo finished his rapid calculations, his eyes shining as he looked at the dead-fish-eyed kouhai.
"Don't think that just because you can't get the second-year votes, you can declare war on us. This exam is a 'welfare exam'—I already told Katsuragi-kouhai. If you attack the second-years, you make an enemy of the entire grade.
Similarly, for you first-years, you basically all know the questions for this exam. Tell Sakayanagi: if she attacks my grade, we will attack yours. Does she want to leak more review materials? Or just leak the answers directly? Rest assured, if you move, we will use the same tactics.
If it comes down to it, no one gets the 'welfare.' We'll force the school to rewrite the exams. For you first-years, that means facing mass expulsions. Classes 1-C and 1-D will be decimated, and they won't let you off the hook.
"o cause your own Class B to compete with you and Classes C and D to hate you, all within your first semester—a 1-versus-3 scenario—is just foolish," Nagumo evaluated coldly.
Despite his words, Nagumo was actually intrigued.
This move would make Classes 1-C and 1-D loathe Class A. Everyone had a tacit agreement to memorize the old questions, and if Class A snitched or sabotaged it, they'd be pariahs.
Nagumo remembered when he posted the results on the first-year bulletin board; the arrogant redhead from Class C had been screwed over by Class A's reports to the Student Council, leading to their zero-point status. Class 1-C would already be happy to fight Class 1-A to the death. (Note: Nagumo mistakenly attributes the reporting to Class A).
Nagumo's confidence surged again.
"So that's how it is—" Horikita Suzune realized that while Nagumo mistook Hikigaya for a Class A student, the two were engaged in a high-level contest.
She saw that while her brother might compromise, Nagumo would counter-attack without hesitation. If she were in Hikigaya's place, she wasn't sure she could handle it.
She looked at Hikigaya.
"Then we can still get 50 evaluation points," Hikigaya said quickly.
"And the reason Nagumo-senpai feels the second year is fearless is because you can 'control the scores,' right? All students only complete the multiple-choice questions and give uniform answers, ensuring no one is expelled even if the average is low. However, you'd only get half of the 100-point reward, as you wouldn't meet the 60-point average threshold for the other half.
That same plan can be applied to all first-years," Hikigaya continued.
"No one gets expelled, the rankings don't change, but everyone's potential living expenses are halved. My class is willing to accept that. But Nagumo-senpai , since you control the entire second year, your loss isn't just 50 points—it's 50*4 = 200 evaluation points.
That's 800,000 points the second year loses every month. 9.6 million a year. 19.2 million by the time you graduate. Yet, you could save that entire sum by paying us just 5 million points right now. Surely, Nagumo-senpai , you haven't lost the ability to do basic math?"
Horikita Suzune's eyes widened.
'He found it.'
The one place where the first year could win against the second year.
The first-years were fragmented; losing 50 points was a localized sting. But because Nagumo had turned the second year into a single entity, any loss was magnified across the entire grade. In a "mutually assured destruction" scenario, the second year lost far more. Nagumo couldn't escape that reality.
Nagumo fell silent. He suspected this dead-fish-eyed kouhai had prepared this entire script from the start, deliberately talking about points with the Class D girl just to bait him into the conversation.
"Faced with losing the welfare of this special exam, President Horikita Manabu chose to compromise. Nagumo-senpai , you don't actually think you are stronger than President Horikita, do you?"
The kouhai's gaze no longer held even a shred of respect.
'Dammit. This brat.'
Was this what Sakayanagi wanted to tell him? Nagumo felt he understood now why she hadn't come herself.
She sent a subordinate to deliver the message: 'Do you think you're on the same level as Horikita Manabu?'
"I don't have 5 million points," Nagumo said. "It's impossible for me to have that much on hand."
"Is that so? Then I'll go make an appointment with Kiriyama-senpai from Class 2-B. Nagumo-senpai has only gathered Classes A, C, and D, right? Class 2-B hasn't surrendered yet. I imagine they still have the ambition to strike back. If they can disrupt your deployment and prevent your three-class bloc from solidifying, they'll do it. And if they need a strategy, I think I could be of use."
"..."
'Wait a minute.' Nagumo thought.
'This guy actually intends to interfere in the second-year special exams? Sakayanagi-kouhai... is she really this 'bad'?'
Nagumo was arrogant, but he knew the resistance from Class 2-B would eventually be crushed.
He was looking for higher goals, like the Presidency and his "meritocracy" vision. But before he could even start, Sakayanagi was trying to gut his base.
Truly "bad" to the core.
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