Chapter 166 Everything is Within My Calculations
"Whew—"
The moment the door closed, the calm and composed expression on Shimizu Akira's face abruptly collapsed. He leaned his back against the door panel, the steady facade he had been maintaining finally cracking.
"Shiina-san's deduction was terrifyingly close!"
He couldn't help but show a look of lingering fear, muttering under his breath: "That was close... she really almost turned my world upside down. One move after another! Thank goodness I was prepared. I had a trump card!"
After a moment of thought, he fished his phone out of his pocket, operated the screen for a bit, and dialed his own number.
"Hey," his voice still carried a trace of lingering tension, "you can come back now."
"What? Is it handled?" Karuizawa Kei's voice came through the other end, filled with questions.
"Yeah," Shimizu replied, short and concise.
"Got it. I'll bring your laptop over right away."
Not long after he hung up, there was a knock at the door. Shimizu opened it to find Karuizawa Kei walking in, hugging the laptop and looking completely bewildered.
"What exactly happened? Suddenly telling me to take your computer away and borrowing my phone." She set the laptop on the desk.
"But since you promised to protect me for free this month... you're done now, right? Can I have my phone back?"
She held out her hand, her fingertips wiggling in front of him, her eyes full of curiosity as she waited for an explanation.
"A 'detective' wanted to investigate me. Having you take the computer was to move the evidence." Shimizu pointed at the laptop on the desk, his tone much calmer.
"As for borrowing your phone... naturally, it was to clear my name."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Karuizawa frowned, clearly not following his train of thought.
"Did you forget? The phones in this school are all standardized and issued by the school." Shimizu looked up at her.
"Since the freshmen don't have many points yet, almost everyone has the exact same model. So... even if the 'detective' saw me holding your phone, human nature would make her subconsciously assume it was mine."
He tapped the phone screen. The moment it lit up, it showed a wallpaper interface identical to the one on Karuizawa's own device—a background he had specifically modified.
"This way, every step became easy to manipulate." He handed the phone back to her, his tone tinged with relief.
"At least for now, the 'detective' won't be staring at me anymore."
"I have no idea what you're talking about!"
Karuizawa's fingers tightened around the phone as she grumbled.
"...What happened to my phone? You changed all my info? The avatar is yours, even the profile is yours! And you downloaded so many apps, plus your own personal info—wait, you changed the avatar and name to a girl's avatar? Who is this person? Do you have any idea how much trouble it is to change it all back!"
"Alright, alright, give it to me, I'll change it." Seeing her reaction, Shimizu added, "I really have to thank you for the help this time. The promise of protection for this month obviously stands, but beyond that... I owe you a favor. Just say the word."
He truly felt a bit guilty. Karuizawa's help was the key to successfully bluffing his way through—if she hadn't happened to come looking for him to confirm the "protection" matter, he might not have been able to come up with the moves of moving the computer and swapping phone info in such a short time.
To some extent, if she hadn't appeared when she did, Shiina Hiyori might have actually found something.
Even though the detective girl said she would hide it for him, Shimizu hadn't planned on confessing.
Upon further reflection, he realized Hiyori was still missing the most crucial thing—hard evidence. And truthfully, Shimizu himself was a bit caught up in the moment. In a way, he almost looked forward to her finding true, ironclad proof and exposing his identity in a straightforward manner.
The phone-swap move was his ultimate trump card. No matter what information the opponent found regarding the alt account, as long as he was holding someone else's phone while pretending it was "his own," no problems would be exposed.
He hoped she could find sufficient evidence and seek him out again, giving him no chance to explain and sealing off all his escape routes. Perhaps only such a development would truly fit the script a "Miss Holmes" deserves.
While thinking, he took the phone back from Karuizawa and quickly swiped through the screen, resetting the tampered information to its original state.
'This guy actually knows how to apologize properly?'
Karuizawa marveled silently. She felt that the shock of today could easily rank in the top three of her "Shocking Events of the Year" since entering the school.
Just last Friday, he had coldly rejected her request for protection, his tone as hard as a rock, telling her to go apologize properly.
She never expected that just a few days later, because she lent him her phone for a few dozen minutes and helped move a laptop, he would not only agree to protect her for free for a month but even offer to grant her a request.
She watched Shimizu's profile as he lowered his head to fix the phone settings, suddenly feeling like he was a riddle hidden in a fog—one second pushing people away, the next suddenly showing an unexpected side.
"Then I'll have to think about it carefully." Karuizawa crossed her arms, a spark of curiosity creeping into her eyes.
"After all, opportunities like this don't come often."
"However, I'll do the phone settings myself." Karuizawa said, taking Shimizu's own phone from her pocket and handing it back. "By the way, your phone received several texts just now. I didn't look at them; check them yourself."
"Okay." Shimizu took his phone and handed hers back in exchange.
"I'll be going then." Karuizawa thought for a bit; since it was confirmed Shimizu would protect her this month, there wasn't much else to say, so she turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Shimizu picked up his phone. The moment the screen lit up, several unread messages popped up. The sender's name was "Miao Miao Cat."
Miao Miao Cat: So? Were you caught by that detective?
Miao Miao Cat: I reminded you two hours in advance; if you still got caught, I'd really look down on you.
Shimizu's fingertips paused on the screen as he slowly typed a line.
Yue: Thanks to your reminder, I managed to bluff my way through in the end.
Miao Miao Cat: ? What did you do? Let's hear it.
Yue: I simply used the "phone swap" method to dispel her suspicion.
Yue: Additionally, I used Student Council authority to shut down the deduction that "one must buy an alt from the homeroom teacher."
Miao Miao Cat: Hehehe, interesting. I didn't expect you to start with the phone—you made clever use of the loophole in the school's standardized equipment.
Miao Miao Cat: Since you owe me a favor, how do you plan to repay it?
Yue: I'm really grateful for your reminder this time. Thank you so much.
Shimizu's thanks were heartfelt. Regardless of who this "Miao Miao Cat" actually was, without that tip-off, he might have been caught red-handed by the detective lady.
Yue: So, what do you want? Points?
Miao Miao Cat: I don't want points. Tell me your thoughts on this month's Special Exam. What interesting things have you discovered? Consider it a return gift for me.
Shimizu pondered. Since the other party had helped him significantly and was only asking for his thoughts, he disclosed his findings regarding the past question exam in their entirety.
Miao Miao Cat: That's it? Nothing else? That's not worth the favor I did you by reminding you.
Shimizu started, then quickly added: In the midterms, you can buy one point of a grade for 100,000 points, and the exam questions can be modified—up to five major questions, for a total of fifty points! By doing this, you could lower each class's points by about ten, but it's limited to one person per grade.
Miao Miao Cat: That's more like it. Looking at this, you've been running to the Student Council again, haven't you? Don't tell me you've already finished changing the exam questions.
Yue: Not yet. After all, this strategy doesn't earn any points; it's a team-oriented tactic.
Yue: However, now that I've told you these two pieces of intel, it should be enough to clear the favor I owe you, right? By the way, isn't it strictly forbidden for students to tamper with surveillance? How did you get the footage?
Miao Miao Cat: You indeed can't buy or rent it, especially the two cameras in each class; thanks to you, they're practically "not for sale" now. But surveillance footage from other areas can still be obtained, though the point cost is ridiculously high. I spent quite a lot of points.
Miao Miao Cat: Of course, that recording has been completely deleted by me.
Yue: I see... truly deleted?
Miao Miao Cat: You actually believe that?
Yue: Whether I believe it or not isn't important, since the initiative is in your hands.
Yue: As for the recording, handle it yourself. I told you this intel not to buy back any recording, but just to repay the favor of your reminder.
Ultimately, Shimizu didn't care if his identity was exposed. He felt that Miao Miao Cat was likely Sakayanagi Arisu—if even she knew, what did he have to fear?
Miao Miao Cat: Don't worry, I won't reveal the identity of your alt to anyone.
Yue: Your reason? And who are you, anyway?
Miao Miao Cat: Guess.
Yue: I can't guess. Give me a hint.
Miao Miao Cat: Stupid.
As Shimizu typed his reply, his lips twitched uncontrollably. With this way of speaking and this penchant for playing riddles, who else could it be but Sakayanagi Arisu?! He couldn't find a second candidate. He truly couldn't figure out how she had uncovered his identity.
But then again, he decided to just pretend he didn't recognize her. After all, in a sense, he really did have her to thank for fooling Shiina Hiyori this time.
Miao Miao Cat: By the way! These two pieces of intel you gave are quite good! Heh, since you don't plan to take action, I'm going to start my operation.
Miao Miao Cat: Just you wait and see, the questions for this midterm exam will be very "exciting"!
The moment the message arrived, the other party's avatar went completely dark, indicating they had logged off.