"Natsuki, what did you do with Sakura?"
"To think you could actually get the school to reward you with one million personal points?"
Suzune Horikita could not fathom how, in just two days, Subaru and Airi Sakura had managed to cause such a huge commotion. Meanwhile, Horikita herself still had no leads on how to acquire personal points.
It wasn't that she had absolutely no leads.
Exploring with Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, Horikita had gained a little something. For example, students who were truly short on personal points could actually spare some time each week to work part-time jobs.
Earning thirty to fifty thousand personal points a month was still feasible.
If she could mobilize the entire class to work part-time, then even if their class points returned to zero, they could still survive. Currently, Year 1, Class C only had a monthly income of forty-nine thousand personal points.
However, although the idea was beautiful, Kiyotaka Ayanokōji had dispelled Horikita's thoughts.
The school was merely an isolated circle, not a bustling metropolis. The number of part-time jobs it could provide was not as high as imagined. Moreover... it wasn't just first-year students coming to work part-time.
In fact, more second and third-year students were taking up these jobs.
Finding two or three part-time positions was already very good, let alone finding work for the entire class.
The most critical issue was that Horikita didn't just want the people in her class to be more financially comfortable; she wanted to call upon them to contribute a portion of their part-time earnings to the collective class.
Given the current state of Year 1, Class D and Horikita's personal appeal... it was impossible.
So, for the past few days, Horikita had been constantly annoyed—annoyed by the problem of personal points.
Personal points were a symbol of strength. Without personal points, it was extremely difficult to raise the class level. If the class didn't rise, it was hard to get more personal points income. Without more personal points... it was a complete vicious cycle.
"We didn't do anything much, did we?"
"Didn't the school's announcement already say it?"
Hearing Horikita's inquiry, Subaru looked up and said with a smile, "We helped the school identify loopholes and plug them, allowing the school to avoid a massive loss. Thus, they specially rewarded Sakura-san and me with one million personal points."
"Hmph, that kind of talk only fools guys like them."
Hearing Subaru's answer, Horikita let out a soft snort carrying a hint of disdain.
"Furthermore, and most importantly, Natsuki, I believe the mastermind behind this was you."
"It wasn't a reward for helping the school 'identify loopholes,' but rather a result of your active guidance, Natsuki."
Horikita seriously stated her analysis. "You knew long ago that you could obtain a large amount of personal points from the school, which is why you did something with Airi Sakura."
"Airi Sakura herself knew nothing; she was just cooperating with you."
"That is why she transferred the vast majority of the personal points to you, Natsuki."
The process she deduced was entirely wrong, but the conclusion was entirely correct.
Subaru had indeed thought of a follow-up series of blackmail plans only after encountering the stalker tracking Airi Sakura.
If Arisu Sakayanagi's father, Chairman Sakayanagi, hadn't emphasized that this was a one-time exception, Subaru could have pulled off similar blackmail schemes many times over. Never mind tens of millions of personal points—if Subaru looped a few more times and blackmailed the entire school, it wouldn't be a problem.
Kikyō Kushida needed to make friends and become a trusted confidant to have a certain possibility of obtaining some hidden secrets.
But Subaru didn't need that here.
As long as Subaru was willing to loop, almost no one could have secrets in front of him.
If there were secrets, there could be blackmail. If there was blackmail, getting over a hundred million personal points was only a matter of time.
Subaru had always been this unpretentious on his path to becoming the Purge King.
There were no intriguing commercial wars; Subaru didn't need them at all. Subaru always played it in the most direct way. After obtaining the secret he wanted to know, he would simply loop and become the one with prophetic foresight.
The reason the Purge King was so terrifying was precisely because of this preemptive, prophetic capability.
In the eyes of outsiders, the Purge King's brutality was merely an additive. What was truly terrifying was that precognitive ability, as if no secrets existed in the presence of the Purge King.
"If Horikita-san wants to interpret it that way, there's indeed no problem with that."
In this incident, Sakura-san had indeed mainly been cooperating with him.
Looking at Airi Sakura not far away, Subaru leaned back lazily in his chair.
"It seems you really are sparing no effort to expel Haruki Yamauchi."
"With this sum of personal points, combined with what you can earn before the midterm exam..."
Horikita roughly calculated the points on Subaru. "By the time of the midterm exam at the end of the month, you'll probably have over two million personal points. Do you think that is enough to expel Haruki Yamauchi?"
"According to my observations, Hirata has spent a lot of effort supervising Yamauchi and the others these past few days."
"If defined by ability, by the time of the midterm exam, Yamauchi's ability will definitely have improved considerably."
Whether Haruki Yamauchi could be expelled or not was not the important issue itself.
What was truly important was that Horikita wanted to use this question to see if Subaru had a deeper understanding of this school.
For example... knowing explicitly the cost of expelling a student.
"Hehe, if it's over two million, it might be a bit insufficient."
"Yamauchi-kun has really been working very hard lately; his ability has indeed improved by a large margin."
Propping up his head, Subaru spoke in a lukewarm manner.
If Haruki Yamauchi continued to maintain this momentum, especially after obtaining the past exam questions, and his attitude remained undiminished, the personal points on Subaru might really not be enough.
"Might be insufficient?"
"Natsuki, are you saying you roughly know how many personal points it takes to expel Yamauchi?"
Horikita quickly seized the key point.
The fact that personal points could be used to expel someone was hard to ignore.
Even though Horikita considered herself top-tier in academic ability and her strength evaluation in the school must be very high—making the cost of expelling her something even Subaru likely couldn't afford—this was all still Horikita's own speculation.
Knowing the specific cost of expelling someone would definitely make one feel a bit more at ease.
"I know a little roughly."
"After all, personal points can buy anything, right?"
Subaru didn't state it clearly.
After all, Horikita didn't exactly approve of him expelling Haruki Yamauchi. If Horikita went directly to Haruki Yamauchi afterward and told him something like 'twenty thousand for one point, forty thousand for anything over ten points,' causing Haruki Yamauchi to work violently hard...
Not caring was one thing, but Subaru had no interest in creating trouble for himself.
If he could expel Haruki Yamauchi for three or four million, why spend more personal points?
Moreover, Subaru had learned something previously from Chie Hoshinomiya and Sae Chabashira: the passing grade wasn't fixed, but determined based on the class average.
Yōsuke Hirata's transformation leading to a better overall atmosphere in Year 1, Class D was fine. It was also fine that they would be like tigers with wings added after getting the past exam questions. But ultimately, this would lead to one thing.
The class average would increase significantly.
At this time, if Haruki Yamauchi accidentally slacked off...
Subaru felt that perhaps he wouldn't even need to spend two million personal points.
Seeing that Subaru didn't answer her question directly, Horikita understood his meaning and simply stopped saying more. Those few words just now were enough for Horikita to understand sufficient intelligence.
Arisu Sakayanagi: [Ara~ Natsuki-kun has really done something quite big again~~~]
The school's announcement also attracted Arisu Sakayanagi's attention.
Counting the previous personal points and the points obtained through other methods during this period, Arisu Sakayanagi felt that by the time of the midterm exam, Subaru might have more than three million personal points on him.
Subaru: [Is Sakayanagi-san not preparing to bring out the method that allows the class to easily pass with a 100% rate yet?]
Arisu Sakayanagi: [I originally wanted to wait a few more days, but the personal points on Natsuki-kun are really putting some pressure on people.]
Arisu Sakayanagi: [So... I'd better bring it out a little earlier~]
Arisu Sakayanagi: [I assume Natsuki-kun should be able to guess my method, after all...]
Arisu Sakayanagi: [Natsuki-kun is the 'strongest' student in the first year~]
Originally, Arisu Sakayanagi planned to reveal the news that 'past exam papers do not change' to Year 1, Class D in the final few days. But now, Subaru had actually secured another one million personal points from the school.
Arisu Sakayanagi didn't believe Subaru could only get one million personal points.
This one million was just what the school announced; no one knew how much wasn't announced.
Although she felt that if she asked Subaru directly, he would tell her, doing so would completely remove the necessity of the contest and the chess match. If she just asked, she would have lost before the game even started.
As the pawn chosen by Arisu Sakayanagi, she naturally spent some energy understanding Haruki Yamauchi.
It could be said that even with the exam questions, Haruki Yamauchi wouldn't put much effort into memorizing them.
It was only Yōsuke Hirata's transformation that put considerable pressure on Haruki Yamauchi, forcing his attitude to be much more focused during this period. But just this was not enough.
Haruki Yamauchi's foundation was simply too poor.
Even with a serious attitude, it couldn't be changed in ten or fifteen days. He had to be given more time to memorize the answers.
Subaru: [Sakayanagi-san can do whatever she likes. Just don't forget to transfer the 770,000 personal points to me when the time comes.]
Subaru didn't care about Arisu Sakayanagi's actions.
Whether Haruki Yamauchi worked harder after getting the exam questions or just decided to rot didn't matter.
Even if Haruki Yamauchi ended up getting a good score, causing Subaru's personal points to be insufficient for expulsion, it didn't matter.
Many things are fine if left unsaid, but once said, trouble is guaranteed.
The fact that 'past exam questions remain unchanged'—if one reported this to the higher-ups just a little bit, they would be cancelled.
At that time, the exam questions Haruki Yamauchi had painstakingly memorized for ten or fifteen days would all be useless. It would only make Haruki Yamauchi break down even more. Arisu Sakayanagi's act of giving the questions in advance would only cause Haruki Yamauchi to score even worse.
Arisu Sakayanagi: [Ara~ It seems Natsuki-kun already thinks he's won for sure~~~]
Arisu Sakayanagi: [Well~ Then I will wait and see~~~]
Looking at Subaru's reply, Arisu Sakayanagi, sitting in the classroom, smiled and casually set her student terminal aside.
"Haruki Yamauchi is not a hardworking character."
"If you leak the matter of the exam questions to Year 1, Class D in advance, it will only make things worse, right?"
Not far away, a look of incomprehension appeared on Masumi Kamuro's face.
According to Masumi Kamuro's thinking, they should have waited until the last few days to leak the midterm exam questions to Year 1, Class D. This would have kept Year 1, Class D in a proactive and positive atmosphere during the interim.
That way, there would be a greater possibility for everyone in Year 1, Class D to pass the exam.
Telling Year 1, Class D about this now would definitely cause their overall atmosphere to slack off completely. They would surely spend more effort memorizing answers rather than studying.
And if Subaru reported it to the school then, this gamble would be lost for sure.
"Oh my, Little Masumi, don't think of things too simply~"
"From the very beginning, I never prepared to definitely win this gamble~"
Hearing Masumi Kamuro's question, Arisu Sakayanagi gave a slightly mysterious smile.
"It's just like playing chess."
"Sometimes, to win the whole game, you have to sacrifice one or two pieces."
"Otherwise, if you can't bear to sacrifice anything, the final result will definitely be a total loss."
Looking at Masumi Kamuro, Arisu Sakayanagi smiled and explained, "Whether it's Haruki Yamauchi or those 770,000 personal points, they are merely pawns I've conceded to thoroughly subdue Natsuki-kun~"
"If Natsuki-kun wants personal points, I'll just give them to him."
"Winning or losing this time doesn't matter at all. I just really want to know what Natsuki-kun's choice will be next~"
"Will he report it to the school authorities~? Or will he watch the changes quietly~? It really is something to look forward to."
As she spoke, the smile on Arisu Sakayanagi's face became increasingly intense.
In Arisu Sakayanagi's view, from beginning to end, Subaru had never escaped her chessboard.
His gaze was firmly attracted by the two pawns she had casually discarded with such ease.
___
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