Horikita said nothing more. Her earlier question to Subaru had merely been out of curiosity, wondering if he had truly changed his mind. Whether Yamauchi was ultimately expelled or not, Horikita didn't care much.
For the past few days, Horikita had patiently tutored Yamauchi and the others. However, the process and results were utterly unpleasant; they were completely hopeless cases.
At this point, she still considered her earlier discussion with Ayanokoji regarding the potential pitfalls of a student being expelled from Year 1, Class D. However, Horikita was gradually coming to believe that prioritizing the removal of unruly troublemakers from Year 1, Class D might be a good option.
Meanwhile, Kikyo Kushida, sitting in the front row, was also pondering Subaru's earlier words.
"Do personal points symbolize one's strength in this academy?"
"Is what Subaru said true—that using personal points can make Yamauchi drop out?"
Kushida's thoughts were complex.
Ever since the start of school, Kushida had been thinking about getting Horikita expelled. However, these were mostly just internal desires. She had no idea how to actually make it happen. Now, Subaru's earlier threat to Yamauchi had given Kushida a sudden realization.
"If I have enough personal points, can I really get someone I dislike expelled?"
"It probably isn't something that can be done with just tens or hundreds of thousands of personal points. Even if Subaru has a million, it wouldn't be that easy..."
Kushida considered the possibility of using personal points to expel someone. However, she quickly grew frustrated.
Her biggest problem was her own lack of personal points, which fundamentally rendered her idea baseless.
There was also a serious issue concerning Kushida's persona. She couldn't openly stand up and use personal points to expel someone, as Subaru might. Doing so would completely shatter the carefully crafted image she had built for herself.
After all, Kushida disliked Horikita and wanted her expelled primarily because she suspected Horikita might know about her past. This was just a possibility. If she were to act directly, wouldn't that possibility become a certainty? Then, expelling Horikita would become a pointless, redundant endeavor.
Kushida slightly turned her head, glancing at Subaru, who sat in the corner at the back of the room.
"Subaru seems completely indifferent to the gazes of others..."
"If I had genuine leverage over Subaru, and could get him to help me expel Horikita, would that even be possible..."
"Damn it, is Subaru even a man..."
Kushida thought back to last night's events. She had been so unguarded, lying on Subaru's bed, yet he hadn't made any further advances. She had been fully prepared. Thinking this, Kushida sighed.
Subaru was like a turtle shell, she mused, completely impenetrable. Even when she had taken the initiative, it had no effect.
Regardless, Kushida would continue to pay close attention to Subaru. She was very curious how Subaru would use his personal points to achieve the expulsion of Yamauchi. As for what Yosuke Hirata had said earlier?
Although Kushida still found Subaru inscrutable, she didn't believe his thoughts could be changed by a few words from Yosuke Hirata.
With these thoughts, Kushida refocused her attention on the class. While her academic ability was usually excellent and the possibility of failing an exam almost nonexistent, she still needed to work harder now that failing meant expulsion. She was quite satisfied with this academy.
...
After morning classes, Subaru went to the cafeteria as usual.
Horikita seemed to have accepted that Subaru wouldn't be easily persuaded. She no longer pestered him as before, instead pulling Ayanokoji along to work on other matters.
As for Kushida, she had too many friends and was always surrounded by them. Aside from private times in the evening, it was difficult for her to find time to meet Subaru.
"Each class teacher's salary is also in personal points..."
"However, these personal points are divided into two parts: one that can be freely traded, and another that can only be used for consumption or exchanged for yen."
"Chie Hoshinomiya, the teacher of Year 1, Class B, absolutely does not want Year 1, Class D to rise. I can trade with her: if someone from Year 1, Class D definitely drops out in this midterm exam, she'll cooperate."
As he leisurely ate a piece of pre-cut deep-sea oarfish, Subaru pondered the subsequent methods for acquiring personal points.
At this point, Subaru had already "rolled back" several times.
Chie Hoshinomiya was relatively easy to handle. Subaru only needed one rollback to achieve his goal, discovering how many personal points she could use and learning some detailed information he hadn't known before.
For instance, why Arisu Sakayanagi was so confident she could make everyone in Year 1, Class D pass without studying.
There were two options: everyone scoring zero, or the exam using questions from previous years. Year 1, Class D couldn't possibly be that united, so the first option of everyone scoring zero was virtually impossible. This left the second option: questions from previous years' exams.
Subaru didn't care about this.
Subaru had confirmed his idea: it was indeed possible to use personal points to expel a specific student, though it required a substantial amount—a full twenty million personal points.
However, other options were available.
Scores could also be bought. One point was priced at one hundred thousand, with a maximum of ten points.
The eleventh point would then increase to two hundred thousand, the twenty-first to three hundred thousand, and so on. Conversely, one could spend double the personal points to deduct scores, following the same escalating rules.
Beyond that, there were other details Subaru could analyze on his own.
Additionally,
Each year's class teacher had an annual quota of one million personal points, which contributed to their overall strength.
This academy's emphasis on meritocracy extended not only to students but to teachers as well.
The exchange rate for personal points to yen for the Year 1, Class D teacher was 1:1.1, meaning one million personal points could be exchanged for 1.1 million yen. For Year 1, Class C, it was 1:1.2, and for Year 1, Class B, it was 1:1.3. Finally, Year 1, Class A offered the most generous rate at 1:1.5.
Teaching at this academy already came with a very generous salary, but the Year 1, Class A teacher's ability to exchange points at 1.5 times the rate was simply perfect.
Normally, this one million personal points could theoretically be used by each class's teacher to invest in their class. In reality, however, this constituted the teachers' side income.
One million personal points was no small sum. Only Chie Hoshinomiya was willing to fully expend hers, ensuring Year 1, Class D remained permanently in Class D.
Sae Chabashira was similar.
After "dealing" with Chie Hoshinomiya, Subaru, to avoid wasting this rollback, went to Sae Chabashira to confirm the accuracy of the information.
Sae Chabashira could also provide one million personal points. However, her conditions were far more demanding than Chie Hoshinomiya's.
She required Subaru to do his utmost to lead Year 1, Class D to Class A, even if only once.
It was clear who to cooperate with.
Chie Hoshinomiya was far more convenient than Sae Chabashira. It was simply easier to spend a small amount of personal points to directly expel Yamauchi. Sae Chabashira was truly troublesome and offered less.
After "dealing" with Sae Chabashira, Subaru's actions were almost exposed.
After all, it was late at night with surveillance cameras everywhere. Subaru running around was inherently suspicious and would be highly scrutinized by school staff.
This was a government-supported project, and any incident would be very troublesome. For example, the things Subaru was doing.
These actions could essentially cripple the academy, or even force it to close. Their nature was simply too malicious.
The personal points from the teachers represented normal trading income, and the amounts earned weren't significant.
For the subsequent rollbacks, Subaru was naturally preparing for some less-than-normal income. Thinking this, Subaru quickly finished his lunch and moved to a corner.
In this corner sat a girl wearing unremarkable square glasses, appearing somewhat timid. This was Airi Sakura, a student from Year 1, Class D, almost invisible in class.
"Hello, Sakura-san, may I sit here?"
Seeing Airi Sakura almost bury her head in her chest as he approached, Subaru offered a slight smile. This was a key figure in Subaru's upcoming blackmail plan.
After "dealing" with Chie Hoshinomiya and Sae Chabashira, Subaru, in a new rollback, accidentally discovered that Airi Sakura was being followed. Without hesitation, he "dealt with" the follower.
The follower was an employee of an electrical repair shop within the school, a die-hard fan of the online idol "Zero." Most importantly, Airi Sakura was the online idol "Zero."
From this employee, 3.67 million personal points could be extorted, though that figure was under life-threatening circumstances. Under normal circumstances, blackmailing for around three million points would suffice.
"Ah!"
"Su-Subaru-kun..."
Airi Sakura responded nervously after hearing Subaru's words, "Y-Yes... you can."
"Alright."
Subaru sat down, "Then I'll get straight to the point, Sakura-san."
"Have you been followed these past few days?"
Hearing Subaru's words, Airi Sakura momentarily forgot her nervousness. Looking at him, she said with surprise, "Su-Subaru-kun... how do you know about this..."
Airi Sakura had been greatly troubled by this matter for the past few days.
Airi Sakura loved idols and enjoyed revealing her true self online, which led to the birth of the online idol "Zero." She had amassed a large number of fans.
However, Airi Sakura was uncomfortable with others' gazes and was usually very sensitive to them, even able to sense exactly where they lingered on her.
So, while she was dazzling online, in reality, Airi Sakura disliked attracting attention. Normally, Airi Sakura was very careful to hide herself.
Yet, even so, Airi Sakura had noticed something amiss these past two days. In corners she couldn't perceive, a gaze always lingered on her, making her deeply uncomfortable and afraid.
Now, Subaru suddenly stood up and mentioned this matter, which surprised Airi Sakura. She even subconsciously suspected Subaru was the stalker; otherwise, how could he know so clearly?
Airi Sakura quickly dismissed this suspicion, however, because Subaru's gaze was different from many others.
In the eyes of many others, her unhidden self appeared very special, and their gazes always lingered on uncomfortable or even sensitive areas.
But Subaru's gaze was completely different. Airi Sakura felt as if she had become an ordinary, unremarkable stone.
This feeling was both novel and very much to Airi Sakura's liking. Subconsciously, Airi Sakura was less nervous in front of Subaru, precisely because she felt like an ordinary, unremarkable stone.
"Because I saw it."
"Sakura-san, how many personal points do you have left?"
Observing Airi Sakura's somewhat curious gaze, Subaru offered a brief explanation.
Airi Sakura would be a crucial element in Subaru's blackmail operation. Even shady blackmail, after all, needed to adhere to certain unspoken rules.
Last time, Subaru had directly proceeded with blackmail on his own, which resulted in a minor mishap. This time, Subaru decided to bring Airi Sakura along for the attempt.
"I still have over 18,000 personal points..."
Airi Sakura responded softly.
Airi Sakura didn't usually spend much, but her photography hobby was inherently a money pit.
Aside from basic daily expenses, most of Airi Sakura's personal points were poured into her photography hobby.
Airi Sakura had been eating the mountain vegetable set meal for a long time.
___
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