Chapter 63 – Horikita’s face is swollen

Bonus chapter

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"Oh? An interesting assessment," Yukio wasn't the least bit ruffled by Horikita's words. The defeat of Class D was already sealed, and the victor always has some leeway for tolerance.

So, he neither showed dissatisfaction nor rebutted her, instead treating her comment like a funny joke and turned to Ryuen, "Ryuen, she says you're content with mediocrity, not worthy to be her opponent."

"..." Ryuen internally cursed, thinking, 'Damn it! She was clearly talking about you!'

He felt like hundreds of alpacas were stampeding through his heart, itching to question Yukio's hearing!

But in the end, Ryuen held back and picked up the conversation: "Right, you're the idiot, enduring this sweltering summer on a deserted island? Conserving water and food? Struggling through seven hard days? Just thinking about it makes me want to laugh."

"Great!" Yukio genuinely cheered for Ryuen, clapping and encouraging: "I just love this blunt attitude of yours, Ryuen!"

Ryuen, initially composed, was thrown off by Yukio's bizarre response. His eyebrows, and now even his cheeks, started twitching. He turned away, unable to look at Yukio, cursing internally, 'Damn! This guy is toxic!'

Horikita wasn't deterred by such low-level retorts and continued with righteous indignation: "This exam is meant to test endurance and mental fortitude."

"Having such an attitude shows that fundamentally, your endurance and willpower are just mediocre!"

Seeing Ryuen silent, Yukio took over: "Endurance and willpower, huh? Would you like a cup of smoothie? Or maybe try the jet ski? As classmates, it's on the house."

"Or maybe," Yukio sized up the haughty Horikita with a meaningful smile, "you're looking for a deserted tent to have some fun with me?"

"No way." Shiina, who had been silent, suddenly couldn't sit still any longer, pulling Yukio's arm: "How, how could you say such naughty things?"

Her words were as light and airy as ever, lacking any seriousness or scolding tone, but unmistakably carried a note of disapproval.

Seeing Shiina so proactive in stopping something was a rare sight for Yukio, causing him even to blink.

Shiina seemed to realize her reaction was a bit unusual but stubbornly pouted, clinging to Yukio.

"What kind of books do you usually read, Shiina?" Yukio teasingly comforted the literary girl, quite surprised. He hadn't expected the seemingly gentle Shiina to know so much.

"Well, well, it seems the saying 'Books hold beauty beyond words' is true, and the ancients didn't deceive me."

Shiina, already a bit shy, blushed deeply when Yukio teased her like that. She quickly lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at people, but her small hand still firmly gripped Yukio's arm. She was afraid that a moment's distraction might lead Yukio to actually grab Horikita and head for a secluded tent, and she had no intention of letting go.

"…" Horikita was not in the mood anymore. Why were both the boys and girls of Class C so crazy? Didn't they realize they were in the middle of an exam?

"It seems Shiina doesn't welcome you here." Yukio gently patted Shiina's hand to reassure her, then turned back to Horikita: "Since that's the case, we can't let you join our feast and fun."

"I never had that intention!" Horikita coldly retorted, sounding like she had come to take advantage of them. Was she that kind of person?

"How about we make another deal?" Yukio, like a hunter who had waited patiently for his prey, suddenly threw out a sentence that disrupted Horikita's composure.

Make a deal with Yukio? Haven't we been tricked enough?! The thought of spending points on a settlement, nearly causing three classmates to drop out, and then being extorted for 200,000 points a month by Class C, made Horikita's heart tremble with fear.

It was Ayanokoji who subtly kicked Horikita's heel, bringing her back from her painful memories, prompting her to reply subconsciously, "What kind of deal?"

Yukio, looking relaxed, decided to reveal his hand: "How about you give us an additional 100,000 personal points every month, and then I'll tell you the leaders of Class A and Class B in this exam."

"!" Horikita couldn't keep her composure; her expression changed dramatically, as if she had heard some shocking news, unable to control her facial expressions.

The leaders' information! The uninhabited island's special exam's additional mechanism: guessing the leader of another class would add fifty class points! With such significant benefits at stake, who wouldn't be tempted?

If Yukio really had the specifics of the leaders and then informed Class D, they could easily guess and effortlessly gain hundreds of class points.

This would narrow the gap with the top three classes and increase the average monthly personal points for each student in Class D by 10,000!

Calculating this way, the cost required, including the previous monthly contract of 200,000, would only amount to an average monthly payment of 7,500 points to Class C, with a net gain of 2,500 points per person!

Not a loss at all, even a slight gain! For Horikita, who was determined to rise to Class A, this was undoubtedly the greatest temptation!

"No way!" But she wasn't foolish. Hearing this and looking at the luxurious materials around, she began to understand Yukio's strategy: "No wonder you're squandering special exam points!"

"You don't care about these at all. You just want to guess the leaders of the other two classes at the last moment to gain a hundred class points! Not aiming for the top score, just a guaranteed hundred points as a safety net!"

Horikita finally understood Class C's strategy. No wonder the students of Class C were laughing so loudly all the time! The clown turned out to be her! Even Horikita, usually so composed, couldn't help but feel a mix of shame and irritation. She had really embarrassed herself this time.

Recalling how righteously she had criticized Yukio, claiming he wasn't worth being cautious about and not worthy to be her opponent, only to completely miss his tactics.

Every word she had said, every laugh from a student of Class C, now seemed like invisible slaps, hitting her face repeatedly.

Though not physically struck, Horikita felt her cheeks burning, as if they were swollen.

Yukio wasn't surprised that Horikita discovered the truth. He didn't even bother to make her sign a confidentiality agreement, revealing everything because the outcome was already decided. The biggest share, Class A, had already signed the contract, and now that Horikita had realized it, it was too late.

At this point, Class C was in an invincible position. What remained was just to extract more benefits and reduce the earnings of other classes.

"So," Yukio didn't directly respond to Horikita's deduction but instead prompted, "are you doing this deal or not? If you're worried about the accuracy of the information, we can sign another bet contract. If our information is wrong, we can even pay you 300,000 a month."

Now Horikita was caught in a dilemma. Such significant profits were impossible to ignore! But remembering how Yukio had tricked her before, she hesitated: "I, I just want to ask, why are you telling us such important information?"

Yukio shook his head in disappointment, perfectly imitating Horikita's earlier frustrated tone: "With that attitude, how can you achieve anything? Don't you understand something so simple?"

"Do you think we're after the measly 100,000 points a month? What can we do with such a small income? Our main goal in telling you is to lower the class points of Class A and B."

"If only we guess, they lose fifty points. But if you join in, they lose a hundred. Understand?"

Hearing Yukio's tone of disappointment, Horikita bit her lip, determined. It was a no-lose situation! And most importantly, Yukio's reasoning was too compelling.

This time, Yukio's main target was attacking Class A and B. In Horikita's view, there was no problem with that. If Class C also wanted to advance, they had to pull down the other top classes.

No matter how she thought about it, there was no logical flaw.

"Where's the contract? We'll sign it right away." After blurting out these words, Horikita almost wanted to touch her face. The sensation of being slapped was too painful, as if her face was swollen!

***

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