Chapter 015 Information Fee: One Million!
First-Year Class A.
"The truth behind the class assignments at Advanced Nurturing...
Personal points are linked to class points...
Only students who graduate from Class A obtain the qualification for guaranteed admission to elite universities..."
Looking at the information displayed by Katsuragi Kouhei on the projector screen, the students of Class A were all greatly surprised.
"Amazing! Did Katsuragi analyze all this information by himself?"
Totsuka Yahiko looked at the tall, bald man on the podium with a gaze full of admiration.
"No.
This information was sent to me by an anonymous account.
If we want to obtain more information, we must spend personal points to purchase it."
Katsuragi Kouhei raised his student terminal to show everyone the contents.
"I see. So it's an information broker?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi clasped his hands behind his head, leaning back in his chair as he glanced toward Sakayanagi Arisu diagonally across from him. "What does the Princess think?"
"Fufu~ Such shallow information isn't worth much."
Sakayanagi Arisu was full of confidence. She took a pre-printed stack of A4 paper from her drawer; it contained several pages of information regarding the school's S-System. The similarity to the intelligence shown by Katsuragi Kouhei was nearly 90%.
"As expected of Sakayanagi-sama!"
Several Class A students instinctively gathered around Sakayanagi, making their factional allegiance clear.
"Then, I wonder how much useful intelligence Katsuragi-kun has analyzed personally?"
Sakayanagi Arisu looked at him with interest. He was her only rival for the leadership of Class A.
"I am ashamed to admit that currently, I have only deduced one or two points from it."
Katsuragi Kouhei spoke the truth, admitting that in terms of pure "intellect," he was inferior to Sakayanagi Arisu.
Then, changing his tone, he continued: "If Sakayanagi-kun can provide more information, I will hand over the position of Class A's leader without hesitation!"
"If you give me two or three more days..."
"But now, someone has already beaten us to it and obtained more information."
"..."
Sakayanagi Arisu's brow twitched slightly, feeling a bit helpless. Limited by her weak body, her mobility was quite restricted. However, for someone to move so quickly on only the second day of school indeed exceeded her expectations.
"Forgive my bluntness, but I believe it is unsafe to place the burden of Class A entirely on Sakayanagi's personal abilities."
Katsuragi Kouhei launched a verbal offensive.
The students of Class A began to whisper among themselves. On one side was a physically robust bald man, and on the other was a frail white-haired girl; from a rational standpoint, most tilted toward the former.
Consequently, nearly ten students moved closer to Katsuragi.
"Besides, the fact that the information broker chose to contact Katsuragi instead of Sakayanagi proves that even they recognize Katsuragi as the representative of Class A, doesn't it?"
Totsuka Yahiko's words were highly provocative.
Some wavering centrists, though they didn't officially pick a side, tacitly supported Katsuragi Kouhei.
"Fufu~ It seems I've been underestimated.
That's fine. Let's let Katsuragi-kun make the decision this time."
Sakayanagi Arisu smiled, appearing unbothered.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
Katsuragi Kouhei, believing he had won a round against Sakayanagi, allowed a sliver of a smile to appear on his serious face. He continued: "I have decided to purchase the information from the other party."
In front of everyone, he sent a request to purchase information to the anonymous account.
Ding~
The reply was almost instantaneous. The other party sent a long string of numbers: 1,000,000 personal points.
"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million..."
"What? A million?!"
"Why doesn't that bastard just go rob a bank?!"
The students of Class A were aghast. Totsuka Yahiko had the strongest reaction, nearly unable to stop himself from cursing out loud!
"Sakayanagi, what do you think?"
Ignoring the heated reactions of the crowd, Katsuragi Kouhei turned his gaze toward Sakayanagi Arisu.
"To ask for only a quarter of the class's total personal points... it only shows that this anonymous information broker lacks vision.
If it were me, I'd take at least half."
Despite her cute and charming face, Sakayanagi Arisu spoke words of greed.
"In other words, you think this price is acceptable."
"Precisely. I believe so too."
Katsuragi Kouhei's voice was calm, giving off an air of maturity and stability.
"The reason everyone enrolled in this school is surely for the guaranteed admission to elite universities that the school advertises.
If the information is true, then over the next three years, we must defend Class A's status to secure those slots.
Compared to the chance to change one's life by entering a top-tier university, I believe a mere amount of personal points is completely trivial!"
Katsuragi's words were deafeningly logical, causing even Sakayanagi Arisu to look at him with a bit of respect. To her knowledge, Katsuragi came from a modest background; for him to resist the temptation of money and keep his eyes on the long term was truly admirable.
About ten minutes later...
Hikigaya's anonymous account received a transfer of 1,000,000 points from Class A.
'It only took ten minutes?
It seems the caliber of Class A is even higher than I anticipated.'
The more it was like this, the less hope Hikigaya had for any class competition.
An hour later...
The 1,000,000 points from Class B arrived, along with a request for an offline meeting.
Hikigaya refused decisively. After sending the complete information document as a package, he immediately blocked the contact to cut ties.
(As a side note, point transactions are protected by school rules; any acts of fraud or extortion are prohibited!)
Two hours, then three hours passed...
Class C showed no movement.
'As expected of the "defective products."
The only ones who can truly compete are likely Class A and Class B.
As for the value of Class C and Class D, they probably exist only to serve as negative examples.'
Having seen through this, Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes grew even deeper.
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Class D.
It wasn't until after school that Hirata Yousuke made the information public, asking everyone to discuss how to respond.
"What? The classes are ranked by ability?"
"Class D is the worst class, and we are the worst students?"
"How is that possible!
I'm a tennis player who's been to national tournaments!"
'Hey, didn't you say baseball earlier?' Hikigaya looked on with sidelong disdain.
Bang!
Even Horikita Suzune, who usually showed no interest in class matters, became agitated. She slammed her hands on the desk and stood up abruptly.
"First of all, I absolutely do not accept this suspicious information!
If classes were assigned based on individual ability, then with my academic and athletic scores, I should have been placed in Class A!"
'Just like her older brother was assigned to Class A when he enrolled.'
"I want to know the exact, specific criteria for the class assignments!"
Horikita Suzune bit her lip, her face full of indignation.
"I'm sorry... the message states that to get more information, we need to pay 1,000,000 personal points."
Hirata Yousuke looked troubled. It was precisely because the amount was so massive that he hadn't known how to tell the class, dragging it out until now.
"What?!"
"A million!!"
"Son of a—! @#!@$%... &!!!"
The students of Class D began venting their fury. The various foul words made Hikigaya shake his head.
He knew it would be like this. If Class D had even the slightest possibility of being carried to victory, he wouldn't have sold the information to the other three classes.