Chapter 144: Ichinose's Decision, Before the End of the Exam (2-in-1 5k) (Patreon)

Cruise ship, guest cabin deck. Inside Honami Ichinose's room.

Hikaru Naruse sat on a small sofa in the corner of the room, with Honami Ichinose in the chair across from him and a glass coffee table between them.

The other three girls stood over by the bed. In a negotiation like this, after all, only Honami Ichinose was in a position to do the talking.

Sayo Ando, Yuki Himeno and Mako Amikura huddled together, glancing from Hikaru Naruse to Honami Ichinose and back again.

Hikaru Naruse swept his gaze over the room, then turned to Honami Ichinose and spoke first.

"I came to Class B about cooperating because of this Special Exam, naturally."

The boy's voice was steady, his unhurried manner perfectly composed.

"Mm. Naruse-san, please go on."

Honami Ichinose had already guessed that he wouldn't come to her for cooperation unless it was about the exam.

"Ichinose." Hikaru Naruse paused, then fixed her with a serious look. "I already know the identity of every [VIP]."

The moment he said it, the whole room went silent. You could have heard a pin drop.

It was a good few seconds before anyone reacted, and Sayo Ando was the first, and the loudest.

"W-what?"

"Naruse-san… you know who all the [VIP]s are?"

Sayo Ando was easygoing by nature, and this wasn't her first time dealing with Hikaru Naruse, so she blurted it right out. Mako Amikura and Yuki Himeno were surprised too, but clearly more reserved about it.

"That's right. I've figured out the pattern the school used to pick the [VIP]s, so I know the [VIP] of every group."

Hikaru Naruse's tone stayed calm. He glanced at the pink-haired girl across from him, whose face was plastered with disbelief, and spoke gently.

"What, don't you believe me, Ichinose?"

Honami Ichinose drew a deep breath, and her voice trembled when she answered.

"Naruse-san, do you really know them all?"

"I do. There's no reason for me to lie to you. I've already worked out who your three [VIP]s in Class B are."

"…"

Hearing that, the girls who had been merely curious a moment ago didn't know what to do with themselves. With that one sentence, Hikaru Naruse had Class B's lifeline in his grip.

If he answered early, Class B would be penalized.

"The reason I'm putting this on the table first is that I want to cooperate with you. Knowing every [VIP] is my bargaining chip."

Hikaru Naruse smiled faintly, while Honami Ichinose's pretty face turned visibly bitter.

Honestly, once Hikaru Naruse revealed that he had the identity of every [VIP], all four girls went through the same emotional swing.

First disbelief, then shock, and finally the sense that his ability had reached a level that was almost frightening.

After all, the school had only picked the [VIP]s at eight that morning, and it was now about six in the evening. In barely ten hours, Hikaru Naruse had already cleared the exam. Just how sharp was his mind?

Honami Ichinose glanced at her three classmates, whose expressions were far from good, then drew a deep breath and asked firmly.

"Naruse-san, so how do you plan to cooperate with us?"

"Simple. It has to do with the exam rules."

Hikaru Naruse studied the girl's "I'm ready" look and smiled, softer now.

"If you understand the rules well, you should catch my meaning quickly."

"I'm going to end the exam early by making every group go for [Result Three]."

"…"

Honami Ichinose realized it at once: if Hikaru Naruse truly had every class's [VIP] information, then pushing for [Result Three] did bring the highest payoff.

"But even though I know every class's [VIP]s, the school put in a precondition for ending the exam early, for fairness' sake."

"If someone in the same class knows who the [VIP] of a group is, they can't answer early. Even if they submit the correct name, it's invalid and the exam goes on."

Hikaru Naruse's tone stayed mild throughout. A real negotiator makes the other side understand him by speaking slowly and calmly, not by shouting.

"So… Naruse-san, you don't mean…"

Honami Ichinose was sharp, and by the time he reached his last sentence she had almost instantly grasped the deeper reason he had come to see her today.

"You want people from my class to answer early on the [VIP]s in your class?"

"Exactly."

Hikaru Naruse snapped his fingers, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. This was one of the reasons he had chosen Honami Ichinose.

With her razor-sharp mind, he didn't need to spend much effort explaining.

"In my original plan, I'd have my classmates submit the [VIP]s for nine groups. But for the remaining three groups, where the [VIP] is one of our own students, the exam can't be ended that way."

"If you can answer for us, the penalty gets cancelled out."

"That's true."

Honami Ichinose understood what he meant. With the class competition the way it was, he wasn't going to hold anything back.

If Class A answered for nine groups' [VIP]s, Class B would lose 150 class evaluation points.

But if Class B agreed to cooperate and answered early for the three Class A [VIP]s, the penalty would cancel out, and their points would neither rise nor fall.

"150 class evaluation points. I don't think you can just ignore that, can you?"

Hikaru Naruse raised the corner of his lips, waiting for Honami Ichinose's answer.

"Of course not."

Honami Ichinose quickly worked out how the pieces fit. After the island survival exam, Class B's points had gone up while Class C got nothing, so the gap between the two classes was roughly 200 points.

If she agreed to cooperate, their class evaluation points, a little over 400, wouldn't change, while Class C would lose 150. Weighed against each other, the gap would only widen.

Honami Ichinose ran the numbers in her head. If the exam really went according to Hikaru Naruse's plan, then when the class evaluation points refreshed in September, Class B would lead Class C by more than 300 points.

For two classes ranked right next to each other, that was a very comfortable safety margin.

"The cooperation plan you're proposing is really tempting for us, Naruse-san, and I believe you really do know every [VIP]."

Honami Ichinose's mind worked fast. Once she had sorted out the stakes, she wanted to hear his terms.

"But if you want students from my class to answer, what's the price?"

"Ha ha ha, I'd expect nothing less from you, Ichinose. Talking with you really is easy."

Hikaru Naruse laughed and began laying out his conditions.

"Since I now hold every [VIP]'s identity, the initiative naturally rests with us in Class A."

"Don't blame me for asking a lot. If you want to avoid the penalty, you have to pay for it."

Hikaru Naruse paused, then added deliberately.

"And you're not the only class we could cooperate with."

"Mm. I understand what you mean."

Honami Ichinose nodded, but her small hands suddenly clenched, and she couldn't hide her nerves.

Hikaru Naruse had so much information, and had even given her a warning shot beforehand. If Class B wanted to take points from Class A's hands, the price would be steep.

"Naruse-san, tell me your terms first."

"Simple. Let's work through an easy math problem."

Hikaru Naruse spoke without haste. He took his phone out of his pocket and opened the built-in calculator.

"I tell you the [VIP] answers, and your class evaluation points cancel out. Not a single point lost."

"And since three people are answering, you also collect the school's reward of 1.5 million Private Points."

The boy paused and went on.

"I won't ask for too much. Let's just count the second semester, which runs four months."

"Those 150 points you don't lose, converted into Private Points for each of your students, come to 15,000 apiece. Multiply it out, and your class gets an extra 600,000 Private Points every month."

"…Yes."

Honami Ichinose fell quiet for a moment, feeling less and less sure of herself.

"And the second semester is four months, so those 150 class evaluation points convert to 2.4 million Private Points."

"I won't ask you to pay much. Just those four months of the second semester."

"Of course, the 1.5 million the school rewards you with comes to me too, since I'm the one giving you the [VIP] information."

"Add it up, and round it off with a little something for my trouble."

"A flat price: 4 million Private Points. That's how sincere we are about working together."

"So? What do you say?"

When Hikaru Naruse finished his last sentence, all four girls in the room were stunned stupid.

4 million Private Points?

"Naruse-san, do you even know what you're saying?"

"Starting next month, we only get a bit over thirty thousand a month. That's way too much!"

"Yeah, Naruse-san, we don't have that many points…"

"Heh heh, don't get so tense, everyone."

Hikaru Naruse waved a hand, glanced at the three girls over there, and finally let his gaze settle back on Honami Ichinose.

"A negotiation has to have some negotiating in it. You can tell me what price you have in mind, too."

"It's not like I'm not giving you the chance."

"Naruse-san!"

Honami Ichinose knew exactly what 150 class evaluation points were worth. Hikaru Naruse hadn't said it outright, but if he really did cooperate with Class C, things would get very bad.

Back in April, Kakeru Ryuen's deliberate frame-up had cost Class B several hundred points in one go.

If Class B lost those 150 points while Class C kept its own, the gap between the two classes would shrink to two digits in an instant.

Two digits!

If Kakeru Ryuen and Class C went on using underhanded tricks after that, Class B's slide would be impossible to stop.

If our class turns into Class C… what will happen to everyone…

Honami Ichinose didn't dare imagine that ending, and her whole expression grew agitated.

"Naruse-san, how about this? After we answer early, we give you the whole 1.5 million Private Points the school pays us, and then our class scrapes together another 1 million as our share of the cooperation."

"What do you think?"

Seeing how earnest Honami Ichinose looked, Hikaru Naruse only laughed.

"Ichinose, I have to answer to my class too. I said haggling and assessing were fine, but you can't just slash it by this much."

From four million down to two and a half. If he accepted, it really would come out to just two and a half million.

Honami Ichinose knew he wouldn't agree. After thinking it over, she asked again, steadier this time.

"Naruse-san, what's your final price? We truly can't pay 4 million."

"…Is there really no room to negotiate?"

"Our class has only been together five months since enrolling, and we don't have many points in total. Naruse-san, what I just offered is our limit."

Honami Ichinose knew Hikaru Naruse wasn't someone who wavered easily, but she had no other way to persuade him now.

In an environment of class competition, even though the two had become "good friends" in private, he still wouldn't show mercy.

"Fine."

Hikaru Naruse shrugged and said, resigned.

"Since you want to know my bottom line, Ichinose, I won't beat around the bush."

"Our Class A's bottom line is simple. Once the [Result Three] for three groups is done, the school's 1.5 million points go to us."

"Then your class scrapes together 2 million Private Points for us…"

"That…"

"Hold on, I'm not finished."

Hikaru Naruse cut off Honami Ichinose and continued.

"We accept installment payments. It's August now, so we'll give you three months. By the end of October, the 2 million has to be paid in full."

"It's all written in the contract. Take a look."

Hikaru Naruse had said both the kind words and the threats. Since Honami Ichinose and the Class B behind her cared so much about class rankings and class evaluation points, he was naturally going to squeeze a good sum of points out of them.

"Okay."

When Honami Ichinose saw Hikaru Naruse take out the contract, a shudder ran through her whole body.

It was a good while before she reached out and took it.

It was indeed spelled out clearly. Every condition he had just mentioned was written there.

Class B's class evaluation points would neither rise nor fall, but they would owe Class A a total of 3.5 million Private Points: the first payment when the school's reward came through, the second at the end of October.

The exam had barely started, and they were already standing at the edge of a cliff.

Am I really… this powerless?

A tangle of emotions surged through Honami Ichinose's chest, and all at once she found it hard to breathe.

"Ichinose, do you need time to think it over?"

"Yes, may I? Naruse-san, I need to discuss this with everyone in my class." Honami Ichinose glanced at Hikaru Naruse's expression, but still forced down her feelings and pressed on. If she didn't, what awaited Class B was a slow death.

"No problem. I can wait outside the door and not listen to your discussion."

Hikaru Naruse looked at the three girls by the bed, smiled and waved to them all, then walked out of Honami Ichinose's room alone and leaned against the cabin wall.

"Thank you for this, Naruse-san."

Honami Ichinose watched the other girls gather around her, then took out her phone to discuss it with the rest of the class in the group chat as well.

This was a full 3.5 million Private Points. She had to hear everyone's opinion.

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"I hope it ends in a perfect result."

Leaning against the wall, Hikaru Naruse sent Kohei Katsuragi a message saying everything was under control.

Honestly, for this [VIP] exam he hadn't approached Arisu Sakayanagi at all. He just wanted to get the exam done quickly and return to school.

In Class A these days, Kohei Katsuragi was the nominal leader who oversaw all of the class's affairs, and he also held a post on the Student Council.

Hikaru Naruse, meanwhile, was the class's "uncrowned king." He had been given supreme command in both of the last two Special Exams, and his standing in everyone's eyes kept rising.

As for Arisu Sakayanagi, who had been sidelined from the start, aside from a few lackeys she could hardly stir up any trouble.

He'd see what she did later. They were all minor problems.

As for the deal at hand… Naruse was sure Honami Ichinose would agree.

Throwing out the figure of 4 million Private Points a moment ago had really been a simple show of force.

He knew Class B's situation well. After the island survival exam, their class evaluation points should be close to 500.

Once the second semester started, from September through October, the class could earn roughly 4 million Private Points in total over those two months.

Taking half of that would be painful for everyone, but it wasn't something they truly couldn't bear.

Capping Class B's class evaluation points and its total Private Points as a class was what real control of the situation looked like.

The deal might look like Class B was paying a lot, but as long as Honami Ichinose was a "smart person," she wouldn't refuse.

Never mind how much 150 class evaluation points were worth. Just being able to widen the gap with Class C was enough to tempt Class B into choosing.

If the negotiation went through smoothly, the second group discussion at eight tonight wouldn't even need to happen.

All Class B had to do was submit three names, and Class C would be pinned down tight.

Class C was their biggest rival, and with the fresh grievances on top of the old ones, the "football frame-up" and the "mole in the camp," Hikaru Naruse believed Honami Ichinose would make the right choice.

About ten minutes passed. Standing in the corridor, Hikaru Naruse felt his phone buzz.

He looked down at the screen. Honami Ichinose had indeed sent him a text.

"Naruse-san, you can come in now. We're willing to cooperate."

"Good."

Looking at the message, the corners of Hikaru Naruse's mouth slowly curled upward.

Sure enough, everything was going according to plan.