The next day.
It was the day after the preferred student exam ended, and also the last period of leisure before the cruise ship returned.
"Hirata-kun, you've worked hard these past few days with the exam. Shall we have a meal together?"
Karuizawa Kei, accompanied by Matsushita Chiaki, arrived at Hirata Yosuke's dorm. With her hands behind her back, she wore her usual radiant smile.
Before Hirata could respond, she naturally turned her head to look at Natsukawa Sosuke, who was sitting not far away, scrolling on his phone.
"Oh, Natsukawa-kun is here too. Since you're in the same dorm, why don't you join us? The more, the merrier."
Natsukawa put away his phone and nodded indifferently.
"Sure, I'm hungry anyway."
As the three were about to head to the dining area, they ran into Horikita Suzune, who was also coming to eat.
"Horikita-san," Hirata greeted her proactively, "if you don't mind, would you like to join us? We can discuss the exam that just ended yesterday."
Horikita Suzune was usually accustomed to solitude, but she glanced at Natsukawa behind them and then thought of the shocking exam results announced last night. She had many questions and wanted to hear their opinions.
"...Alright."
Horikita nodded and joined the group.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, it was the peak lunch hour. The group walked around with their trays but couldn't find a suitable large table.
"Ah, isn't that Kushida-san?"
Matsushita Chiaki, who had been following Karuizawa, was sharp-eyed and pointed to a corner, "It looks like she has plenty of empty seats there. Shall we join her?"
Everyone followed her gaze and saw Kushida sitting alone.
Seeing no one object, the group walked over.
Kushida was mechanically putting salad into her mouth when she suddenly looked up at the sound of footsteps. When she saw Natsukawa, who was walking last, her hand clutching the fork tightened abruptly, and her body trembled almost imperceptibly.
"Ah... it's Hirata-kun, and everyone."
Kushida's signature sweet smile quickly appeared on her face, but it looked somewhat stiff, "What a coincidence."
The group took their seats.
As soon as they sat down, the observant Matsushita Chiaki exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh? Kushida-san, that thing on your neck..."
Matsushita pointed to Kushida's neck, "Is that a collar? I've never seen you wear this style of accessory before."
A black leather collar with a silver ring in the middle was fastened there. However, it didn't look out of place, complemented by the clothes Kushida had deliberately chosen.
"Cough!"
Kushida almost choked on her salad.
"Th-this..."
Kushida let out two dry laughs, her mind racing, "I-I bought it online before. This punk style seems to be very popular recently? So I wanted to try it... Haha, isn't it strange?"
Kushida's heart was roaring wildly, but her body honestly dared not show the slightest defiance.
"It is a bit unusual," Matsushita didn't delve deeper, merely thinking it was different from Kushida's usual style.
As the meal progressed, the conversation naturally turned to yesterday's exam.
"Speaking of which, last night's results were truly astonishing."
Hirata put down his fork, his expression somewhat grave.
"Except for the Rabbit Group and the Snake Group, all other groups submitted a preferred student. And except for the Ox Group, all other groups answered correctly."
"Mm."
Horikita Suzune took over the conversation, her brows tightly furrowed, clearly troubled by this issue all night.
"Especially Class A and Class B. Judging by the results, these two classes almost monopolized all the spoils of victory."
"This means they have likely seen through the core pattern of how the school assigns preferred students and have cooperated accordingly."
Horikita's tone carried a hint of unwillingness.
"I originally thought that even if we couldn't guess the preferred students of other classes, just keeping our own preferred student from being leaked would be a good result. But now it seems... our perspective was too narrow."
She glanced at Natsukawa, "Natsukawa, you must have noticed it too, right? The leaders of Class A and Class B, their insight is simply terrifying."
"To be able to extract patterns from those complex distractions in just four days, or possibly even less, and accurately implement a strike..."
"Is this the gap between us and the upper classes?"
Horikita Suzune sighed, her hand gripping the water glass slightly tighter.
That feeling of powerlessness surged again. She tried her best to catch up, but found that the other party seemed to be on a higher dimension.
"However, I don't know why Katsuragi's gaze towards me felt strange. He even greeted me proactively after the exam..."
Natsukawa Sosuke swallowed the beef in his mouth and wiped his mouth with a napkin.
Meeting Horikita's serious and somewhat puzzled gaze, he nodded cooperatively, showing just the right amount of "surprise" and "admiration" on his face.
"Yes, it's truly impressive."
Natsukawa echoed sincerely, "I also didn't expect them to achieve this much. It seems these two upper classes are indeed formidable opponents. We'll have to be more careful in the future."
"…"
"…"
A brief silence simultaneously fell upon Karuizawa and Kushida's minds.
Karuizawa Kei, sitting nearby, couldn't help but twitch her lips.
And Kushida Kikyo almost bent the fork in her hand.
She looked at Natsukawa's innocent expression of "I'm also shocked" and silently cursed him.
(Act! You motherf***** just keep acting!)
(You were the one who sold all the information to them! And now you're still here, acting all innocent, you son of a b*tch!)
Horikita and Hirata were still earnestly analyzing the strategies of Class A and Class B, and guessing how they found the pattern of preferred student distribution, completely unaware that the true mastermind was sitting among them, enjoying this luxurious lunch.
"I'm full."
Natsukawa stood up, picking up his tray.
"I'm going to the deck to get some fresh air and digest my food."
"Ah, I'm done eating too!"
Karuizawa Kei stood up almost simultaneously, "I also wanted to take a walk on the deck. Shall we go together?"
This action seemed a bit abrupt at the moment.
After all, her publicly acknowledged "boyfriend" Hirata was still eating.
Hirata was surprised for a moment but quickly showed a gentle smile, "Mm, then you two go ahead. I still need to discuss class matters with Horikita-san later."
Horikita Suzune glanced at Karuizawa. Although she felt Karuizawa's attitude towards Natsukawa was a bit too eager, she didn't think much of it... On the deck, the sea breeze was cool.
Natsukawa Sosuke walked unhurriedly ahead, his hands in his pockets.
He was tallying the gains from this exam in his mind.
Materially, it could be said he had struck it rich. From now on, he should be able to live a completely carefree life.
From Class A, through the contract signed by Katsuragi, he would receive 1.4 million points each month starting from next month.
From Class B, Ichinose also brought him a monthly income of 600,000.
Adding them up, just from passive income, he would reach an astonishing 2 million each month.
The 20 million system debt hanging over his head now seemed to be just a matter of ten months.
And the gains in interpersonal relationships were equally abundant.