After school.
While the people of Class B were preparing to train, Hikigaya was packing his schoolbag and preparing to leave the classroom.
"Hikigaya, another different girl is looking for you."
"What's going on?"
A Class B bystander stood at the classroom door, speaking in a slightly mocking tone, and the others couldn't help but be curious.
"However, this time it's Horikita-san from Class D—"
"Oh, I know about this, thanks."
Hikigaya quickly grabbed his schoolbag and left the classroom.
He remembered very clearly that that arrogant girl still owed him money; as expected of Horikita Suzune, even without signing a contract, she would keep her promise.
Thinking about another influx of private points, Hikigaya walked excitedly toward the girl emitting a cold aura.
"You should know the reason I'm looking for you."
Horikita Suzune had her arms crossed, her eyes so sharp that Hikigaya almost felt like he had done something wrong.
Forget it, she's always like this.
"Yeah."
Hikigaya said excitedly: "You're here to pay me back, right?"
"Before that, shouldn't you have something to say?"
Horikita Suzune's beautiful eyes instantly went cold: "What was the reason for blocking me? Or should I interpret it as you not wanting the money anymore?"
Go.
Right.
Game over.
Completely forgot about that.
So to speak.
Yesterday was the first of the month, when the school issues private points.
Horikita Suzune probably wanted to contact him, only to find out yesterday she was blocked, so she came today to hold him accountable.
Dammit.
From the sound of it, Horikita Suzune seemed to have some intention of defaulting on the debt.
"Hahaha, how could that be."
Hikigaya gave two dry laughs; how could anyone in this world not like money.
"Forget it, take out your phone."
Hikigaya obediently took out his phone and re-added the contact info. Soon, he received a transfer of 10,450 points from Horikita Suzune.
As expected of Horikita Suzune.
She said fifty percent, and it was exactly that, not a penny off, not even forgetting the change.
"Only this once."
"If you dare to block me for no reason again next time, I'll judge it as you voluntarily abandoning the contract and not wanting the money."
"Understand?"
"Understood..."
As expected, the one who owes money is the boss.
Looking at Horikita Suzune's slender back, Hikigaya still silently memorized the contact info; after all, who would have a problem with money?
"Hikigaya, why was Horikita-san looking for you?"
"Nothing, she just came to pay me back."
"Is it the reward for the advice you provided during the deserted island exam?"
"Exactly."
Hearing Kanzaki and the others' words, Hikigaya nodded.
As expected, Ichinose had already told them about this matter, and Kanzaki and the others didn't have any objections.
After all.
The two classes were in a cooperative relationship to begin with.
Class D's current results couldn't affect Class B at all anyway.
Using individual wisdom to earn a certain amount of private points was nothing improper.
"Then what about that girl from yesterday?"
A Class B boy spoke up naturally.
"Uh... probably?"
Hikigaya was stunned for a moment.
It took him a long while to remember that Sakura Airi also seemed to owe him 20,000 private points; she probably wanted to pay him back yesterday too.
Except he suddenly called her by her first name, and Sakura Airi was scared off.
After all.
In Japan, calling someone by their first name is a sign of great intimacy.
Thinking of this.
Hikigaya felt a bit bad; forget about this money.
Horikita Suzune's money was a reasonable transaction, so he remembered it clearly.
But, Sakura Airi's money.
If someone hadn't mentioned it, Hikigaya would have almost forgotten.
Keyaki Mall.
Outside a supermarket store.
Hikigaya, wearing a blue baseball cap and changed into a blue uniform, pinned his work ID to his chest.
Finally, he opened the prepared folding table and chairs and set them up outside the store.
Lifeless dead-fish eyes.
He looked exactly like a young corporate slave being oppressed.
"Um..."
The clerk said with a troubled face: "You doing this is making things difficult for me."
"It's fine."
Hikigaya placed dozens of copies of the 18th volume of Sword Art Online on the table.
Proudly saying:
"Anyway, you aren't operating for profit, right? You just do your own thing; all responsibility lies with me."
"I see..."
Hearing he didn't have to take responsibility, the clerk reluctantly returned to the store.
Choosing to work in this closed-off school.
Wasn't it just for some peace and quiet?
Moreover, something like this had never happened before; if there were any consequences, it wouldn't involve him.
As evening approached.
Students participating in clubs and those preparing for the sports festival gradually left the school gate and came to Keyaki Mall.
A boy had just walked into the convenience store, then walked back out.
Looking at the light novels on the table, he said in confusion:
"This is the latest volume of Sword Art Online, right? Why is it out here?"
"Yeah, there was no room inside. Want to buy it? You can check out directly with me."
Hikigaya lowered the brim of his hat and spoke in a low voice.
"Okay, how many points was it?"
"Six hundred private points."
"Eh?"
The boy took out his phone while saying in confusion: "I seem to remember the 17th volume was five hundred yen, or something like that. Has the price gone up?"
A difference of one hundred yen.
Couldn't even buy a bottle of soda.
If they had been using cash all along, they might have some impression, but since they had been using private points to pay, their sensitivity to money would also decrease.
How much did a book bought a few months ago cost?
Most people probably wouldn't remember at all; the one in front of him was considered to have a pretty good memory.
"Yeah."
"I heard that in this volume Kirito accepted a confession from a new girl, so it's selling very well; it went up by a hundred."
While taking out a new volume and handing it to the other person, Hikigaya spoke in a low voice.
He felt that saying it hadn't gone up would also be fine.
After all, the other person was clearly not that confident in his own memory; he likely didn't remember and was just a bit confused.
But Hikigaya still felt it was better not to lie here.
After all.
Just a hundred yen—equivalent to fifty cents.
Private points are issued by the school and can be considered unearned gain; most people aren't sensitive to this price difference.
Even in this day and age, even if they saw one dollar on the ground, most people would probably be too lazy to pick it up.
As for the content.
He had only read a dozen or so volumes in middle school and hadn't really read it much lately.
But he figured the content would be about the same—action mixed with shipping.
Using the opportunity to build some anticipation, he figured the other person would buy it.
"Liar, doesn't Kirito-senpai always like Asuna? How could he accept someone else's confession?"
"Then I wouldn't know; that's just what I heard."
"Then hurry up and get me a copy."
Hikigaya briskly completed the transaction with the other party. Only when he walked into the store did the clerk secretly observe the scene.
Are students these days so bold? This guy will definitely be a scammer in the future.
The clerk's mouth twitched as he withdrew his gaze.
Anyway, it had nothing to do with him, and he was too lazy to go looking for trouble for himself.
A psychologist once said.
The sign of a person's maturity is being good at passing the buck.
And outside the store.
Hikigaya was slightly excited.
Sword Art Online is GOAT!
As expected of a popular work, over a hundred copies were sold in less than two hours. This way, he believed they would soon be sold out and the costs recovered.
Believe there will still be a profit.
Hikigaya was a bit tempted.
Should he come here to set up a stall every day after school in the future?
Find a product where he can control the stock to form a monopoly; he felt that saving up twenty million private points this way was quite reliable.
"What are you doing here?"
Just then, Himeno Yuki appeared in front of him.
Hikigaya lowered the brim of his hat to steal a glance and found her eating a hash brown while staring this way expressionlessly.
"Is there something you need, customer?"
Hikigaya lowered the brim of his hat even further, speaking in a trembling voice.
Game over. How could I be discovered so quickly? Calm down; maybe Himeno Yuki just likes light novels too.
He can definitely fool her.
After all, several people from Class B didn't realize he was a fake.
How could this guy find out.
"Ha?"
Himeno Yuki knitted her brows: "Customer? Hikigaya, what are you doing here?"
"Shh shh!"
As expected, he was found out. Hikigaya quickly put his finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.
==
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"I'm selling books, keep your voice down."
"Ha..."
Himeno Yuki drew out the sound, picked up a light novel in her hand, and said in confusion:
"SAO volume 18? Isn't this the latest volume? Why are you the one selling it here?"
This guy really likes light novels too.
"I'm begging you, keep your voice down."
Hikigaya walked to the side and gestured for her to come over before lowering his voice:
"This is a club activity."
"Ha?" Himeno Yuki tilted her head, even more perplexed: "What kind of club activity is this?"
"Didn't I tell you?"
Hikigaya said carefully: "The student council requires me to submit an achievement report every year. I plan to earn money here and write a report to submit."
"Uh..."
Himeno Yuki was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "You really can come up with anything."
Hikigaya's face was dark; can't this guy understand human speech?
But he didn't have any good ideas. He could only wait for Himeno Yuki to finish laughing. She still showed occasional smiles as she said:
"Speaking of which, how much have you sold so far? There's no way you can compete with the school's convenience store, right?"
"Won't happen."
Hikigaya said proudly: "I've done market research. The school only ordered 350 copies of the new SAO volume, and I bought all of them. No one else can buy them."
"You can even do that..."
These people obviously had no understanding of market conditions. Himeno Yuki thought for a moment and said in confusion:
"Then why are you being so careful?"
"Are you an idiot?"
Hikigaya said helplessly: "If the school finds out about this, they will definitely ban students from setting up stalls. Then I won't be able to sell them anymore."
"Eh? Why?"
Although she was a bit angry at being called an idiot, Himeno Yuki really couldn't figure it out.
"It's a simple logic."
Seeing no one around, Hikigaya lowered his voice to explain:
"The wholesale price of the book is 500, and I sell it for 600. As long as I sell out this time, I can earn over 30,000 private points. In the current situation, it's basically impossible to lose money."
"In other words, as long as I can monopolize these essential goods with low stock, it shouldn't be hard to earn twenty million private points in three years."
"This is a loophole; the school will definitely find a way to stop it. The only way they can stop it is to order in large quantities so no one can form a monopoly."
"But that would definitely greatly increase the school's operating costs; it's definitely not worth it. What they can do is add rules to ban stalls."
Simple logic.
The country spent such a huge amount of capital.
It was to cultivate elite corporate slaves; they couldn't allow them to earn money here.
It isn't hard to save twenty million or even move up to Class A.
For example, female sanitary products.
Hikigaya fully believed the school's stock must be limited every month; as long as he bought up all the sanitary pads and such.
Earning twenty million would be easy, but the risk is just too big.
Setting up a stall can be done outside the school.
Why come here then?
The school will definitely prioritize cracking down on this kind of loophole-seeking behavior.
Although many things are procured once a month, it doesn't mean they can only be procured once a month.
Once capital flows in.
A small business like his would be beaten to a pulp in an instant.
Better to be sensible.