Time passed quietly, unnoticed. Before long, the night of April 30th had arrived—the end of the first month sihe school year began.

  Aside from the initial race to accumute points, the past few weeks had been rather enjoyable for Hikaru.

  Seated at his desk, he absentmindedly scrolled through the Css B group chat, where messages were tinuously popping up.

  Tomorrow was May 1st, the day the updated css rankings would be announced. Having worked hard for aire month, Css B was naturally eager to see the results.

  At this moment, the Css B family chat was buzzing with discussion.

  Ando Sayo: What do you guys think Hoshinomiya-sensei will annouomorrow? Do we have a shot at ranking up to Css A?

  Kanzaki Ryuji: I think we have a good ce. Didn't Hikaru-kun mao earn us ara 100 Css Points? That alone gives us an advantage.

  Himeno Yuki: But I heard that Css A is extremely discipliheir behavior has been impeccable sihe beginning.

  Shibata So: But haven't we also been putting in the effort? Thanks to Hikaru-kun and Iose-kun leading the way, we made sure to avoid breaking any school rules!

  Iose Honami: Exactly! Everyone has worked really hard, so I think we have a real shot.

  As the rest of his cssmates passionately discussed the possibility of ranking up, Hikaru didn't join in.

  Ultimately, the authority to calcute Css Points beloo the school, and they had no way of knowing if any points had beeed, let alone how many.

  Oher hand, Katsuragi and Sakayanagi were far from easy oppos.

  While the two were engaged in a fierce struggle for trol of Css A, their status as Css A students meant they would strictly enforce discipline among their respective fas.

  Moreover, the students in Css A already had strong foundational habits—they knew what not to do and didn't need stant reminders.

  As for whether Css B could actually surpass them, Hikaru wasirely fident.

  While Css B was certainly uhat didn't mean everyone was fwless. The probability of someone making a mistake was undeniably higher than in Css A.

  "Well, we'll know for sure tomorrow."

  Hikaru leaned ba his bed when suddenly—

  Ding.

  A message notification.

  ---

  Kushida Kikyo: Hikaru-kun, the new css rankings will be annouomorrht?

  Hashima Hikaru: Yeah. I'm guessing eaeroom teacher will expiails. It's a pretty big deal, after all.

  Kushida Kikyo: I'm a little nervous… Even though our css bought the hidden rule information from you, a lot of people couldn't stick to it.

  Hashima Hikaru: That's fine. You've already done a great job. Didn't your study group start showis?

  Kushida Kikyo: That's true! Lately, more students have beeing involved—they're even voluntarily participating now.

  Hashima Hikaru: That's great progress. And what about Horikita-san? Have you two bee friends yet?

  Hikaru watched the s, throwing out yet another baited question.

  Despite chatting with Kushida frequently, her stock price hadn't moved.

  It wasn't just because she was naturally cautious—the real reason was that she had been too focused on building rapport with Suzune, meaning she hadn't spent much time meeting Hikaru in person.

  But with a new month starting tomorrow, it was time to speed things up.

  ---

  Kushida Kikyo: Hmm… I'd say we've made some progress, but we still don't talk much.

  At that moment, Kushida was sitting on her bed, dressed in a cartoon bear-print pajama set. A shadow crossed her delicate features.

  After their first unpleasant enter, she had held several more study sessions.

  And while Suzune always showed up on time, her attitude remained cold and indifferent.

  Beyond academic discussions, she had no i in anything else.

  But Kushida wasn't pletely without results.

  At the very least, she had firmed something—

  Suzune was indeed a student from her middle school.

  That meant there ossibility she had heard about "that i."

  The question was—how much did she actually know?

  There was still no way to be certain.

  Retly, however, a hought had emerged in Kushida's mind.

  While Suzune's personality was certainly difficult, it wasn't all bad.

  At the very least, she was a plete loner, which lowered the ces of her spreading information.

  Additionally, since agreeing to the study group, she had never once skipped a session.

  That meant she was someone who kept her promises.

  Kushida now saotential way to approach her—but first, she o know just how much she knew.

  Of course, her ideal oute would always be the same:

  To make Suzune drop out.

  And to get closer to that goal, she once again thought of her "tool"—Hashima Hikaru.

  She o see if he had arategies.

  ---

  Kushida Kikyo: Actually, I was thinking… Maybe we could meet up?

  Hashima Hikaru: Let me guess—you want my help with another pn to get closer to Horikita?

  Kushida Kikyo: Mmm, yeah… Horikita-san is really amazing. She's got great grades and is super responsible… I really want to be friends with her!

  Hashima Hikaru: Got it. I'll think of something. Just wait a bit, and I'll let you know when I have a pn.

  Kushida Kikyo: Okay! I'll be looking forward to it.

  ---

  Pg his phone down, Hikaru immediately began strategizing.

  First, he o figure out a reliable way to help Kushida get closer to Suzune.

  She was being a real hassle—it had been two weeks, aock price still hadn't moved.

  Maybe it was because he hadn't uncovered whatever her "true self" was.

  And without uanding that, her stock value might remain stagnant.

  There was another issue—his funds weren't increasing.

  With the new month arriving, his "Athletic Booster" was about to expire.

  He o re, no matter what.

  But a 30-day supply of Athletic Booster cost credits—and if a crucial em appeared irading Shop, he might not have enough to buy it.

  If that happened, he'd have no choice but to cash out his most valuable stock—Iose Honami.

  ---

  The m of May 1st arrived.

  Hikaru woke up early, immediately opening his system menu.

  A new notification appeared.

  [New Month Update]

  [Trading Shop items have refreshed!]

  [Trading Shop]

  -Stoalyzer

  -Wooden Sword

  -Athletic Booster (30 Days)

  -Martial Arts (Master Level)

  -Chess (Advanced Level)

  -Charisma

  "Martial Arts?!"

  Hikaru's eyes widened.

  That was a major skill.

  No self-respeg guy would pass up on that.

  After the i with Ryuen, Hikaru had already started thinking—

  If I had actual bat skills, wouldn't it be even easier to manipute the situation?

  After all, when words failed, there was always another way to "vince" people.

  ~~~

  Read 30 Chapters Ahead!

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