Haruno's skills were enough to prove that she truly deserved her spot as a student in Class A. As expected of the "Demon Queen" and the untouchable flower of Sobu High, she was completely unreadable.
The picture she painted was certainly tempting, but...
Hikigaya wasn't so easily fooled. He shook his head.
"Using the student council to connect with the outside world? Even if it were possible, do you really think the school wouldn't have precautions in place for students who go out for competitions? They must have a strict system to handle such situations. If we get caught stepping out of line, I doubt either of us could bear the consequences."
As far as Hikigaya was concerned, there were still too many holes in Haruno's plan. At the very least, he didn't believe this school would be that stupid.
"Impressive as always, Hikigaya-kun. No wonder you figured out the truth about this school in less than two days. It's a shame you ended up in Class D. I'd bet most students are still living in their little 'dreamland,' thinking this place is paradise, completely unaware that they're already in hell." Haruno clapped her hands.
Hikigaya was completely unfazed by her "praise." People said whatever suited the situation best, and the more pleasant something sounded, the more cautious he needed to be. However, one thing she mentioned caught his attention.
The school will reveal the truth?
Now that he thought about it, the school couldn't hide things from the students forever. The most likely scenario was that there was a grace period. Since private points were distributed every month, that probably meant the truth would be revealed in about a month.
Until then, most students would remain clueless. And his classmates... no, they were definitely included in that group.
Just this morning, Hikigaya had already noticed how many of his classmates were spending money like crazy. In just a day, they had blown through a third—or even half—of their 100,000 private points.
The idiot duo, Yamauchi and Ike, had already bought a gaming console yesterday. By today, they were openly playing it in class and during breaks. Meanwhile, Karuizawa and her group had gone on a shopping spree at Keyaki Mall Shopping Center, buying tons of makeup and clothes.
Hikigaya could already picture the hell that awaited Class D a month from now.
"For students who leave campus for competitions, the school obviously has countermeasures in place to prevent rule-breaking. I won't deny that," Haruno said. Then, after a deliberate pause, she added, "But Hikigaya-kun, do you remember what the homeroom teacher said on the first day of school?"
Hikigaya recalled Chabashira-sensei's words from yesterday. There wasn't much to remember—the usual student handbook distribution, an explanation of the S-system, and the private points system.
Wait.
Private points?
Hikigaya frowned. In a normal school, this wouldn't have seemed suspicious. But ANHS High was different. Everything—the surveillance cameras, the S-system, class points, the initial 100,000 private points—was meticulously planned. That meant every single word Chabashira-sensei said on the first day must have been carefully chosen. There was no way she wasted time on meaningless talk.
Then, one particular line from Chabashira-sensei stood out.
"Inside this school, there is nothing..."
"That you can't buy with points!"
Both Hikigaya and Haruno spoke at the same time.
Haruno remained calm, but Hikigaya's face was filled with shock.
Now he understood Haruno's real plan.
Joining the student council, then using private points to buy the chance to contact the outside world?!
Leaving aside whether it would actually work, Haruno's words had completely changed Hikigaya's perspective. He now saw private points in a new light. They weren't just a replacement for money—they were bargaining chips for making deals with the school.
"So, your answer is...?"
"Deal. I'll do my best to get into the student council," Hikigaya said without hesitation.
Haruno's face lit up with amusement.
"As expected from a loving older brother! Now, I really should report you to the police~"
...
After leaving the gym and returning to his dorm, Hikigaya collapsed onto his bed. Today had been exhausting.
The mess in Class D.
Haruno's student council invitation.
And running into Shizuka-sensei again.
He had to take Haruno's words seriously.
"I thought I had already figured out most of this school's secrets... but I was still careless."
He reflected on his own oversight. If it weren't for Haruno, he never would have realized the true use of private points. He had assumed they were just money, but their value was far greater than that.
"In this school, there's nothing you can't buy with points? Ha... what a disgusting system." Hikigaya smirked coldly.
So private points weren't just for buying goods. They could also be used to purchase invisible privileges.
The first thing that came to Hikigaya's mind was grades, then information, and finally, the "privileges" Haruno had mentioned.
"But if you look at it from another angle, this is also a kind of fairness," Hikigaya muttered with a complicated expression.
ANHS High School clearly encouraged competition among students. The abilities of Class A and Class D students were far from equal. However, Hikigaya had to admit that, to some extent, the school's rules were relatively fair.
In the outside world, they might not even have the chance to "compete" at all.
"Sigh, I agreed to join the student council because of Haruno, but saying it is one thing—actually doing it is a whole different story!"
That student council president looked like a strict and difficult person. As someone from Class D, Hikigaya had no idea if he could pass the guy's evaluation. He could only hope the president was as "fair" as he claimed to be and not just favoring the higher-ranked classes. Otherwise, as a so-called "defective product" from Class D, he was doomed.
"But the name Horikita... could it be related to that ice-cold girl?"
Hikigaya suddenly thought of that proud, frosty girl. She was in the gym that day too, wasn't she?
Still, joining the student council wasn't the most urgent issue right now. The real problem at hand was private points!
After learning from Haruno just how important private points were, Hikigaya started to feel a serious sense of crisis. The situation in Class D was already a disaster, and if things kept going like this, there was no telling how many points they'd even get next month. No... it was entirely possible they'd get nothing at all!
"I guess I should look into the school clubs for a solution."
At the moment, this was the only way Hikigaya could think of to earn private points.
"But this is just a temporary fix, not a real solution."
He scratched his head in frustration. If the bad atmosphere in the class wasn't dealt with, their private points would always lag behind others. Or worse, he'd be wasting his points covering for those rule-breaking idiots—becoming a sacrifice for no reason!
"Rise and fall together"—this was what it meant to be part of a group.
Unfortunately... for Class D, there was only "fall."
For students like Hikigaya, Hirata, and Horikita, who actually paid attention in class and followed the rules, this was completely unfair.
Hikigaya could already picture the "hell" they'd be facing in a month. If things went badly, the class might completely fall apart.
Even though he usually didn't like interfering with other people's choices, now that his own interests were at stake, Hikigaya decided it was time to take some action.
---
一 一 一 一 一
You can read 30 advanced Chapters on
pat reon.com/GMadman
一 一 一 一 一