Chapter 113 Horikita: Incredible; After meeting him, I feel an inexplicable sense of peace!
Inside the ship's cabin.
Sunlight spilled across a corner of the desk through a gap in the curtains. Horikita Suzune sat in her chair, a thick reference book open before her. As a bookworm capable of studying sixteen hours a day, Horikita's attention was not on the book at the moment.
Her gaze flickered toward the smartphone at the corner of the desk from time to time.
There was no other reason than a single message.
She stared at the chat box on the screen where she had only replied with a single word, "Okay." Her brow furrowed slightly, and doubt grew in her heart like creeping vines.
She was thinking: 'This is strange. I already replied to him, so why hasn't he sent another message? He clearly said "Let's go eat burgers together in the morning." The morning is so long—anywhere from seven to twelve is "the morning."
Couldn't he clarify the specific meeting time?
Did he forget? Or does he think I'll just default to some time he has decided in his head?'
But how could she possibly guess a time he hadn't stated?
Horikita pursed her lips, a trace of inexplicable irritation rising in her heart. She had very little experience meeting people one-on-one.
Since coming to this school, her few private interactions had mostly been with Hikigaya.
However, in the past, either Kushida was in the middle helping to coordinate, or while they were on the ship, she would message him and he would clearly tell her to go to the theater immediately. This was the first time he had said something as vague as "morning" without a specific time.
She was well aware of her own deficiencies in interpersonal communication. Both her brother and Hikigaya had said that if she were good at dealing with people, she wouldn't have been assigned to Class D, and she certainly wouldn't be at a loss over such a small matter now.
'Just foolishly waiting for the other person to reply... I really am a bit of an idiot' Horikita thought to herself.
"Ho-Horikita-san, do... do you want to go eat breakfast together??" Just then, Sakura Airi, carrying a small canvas bag, asked in a thin, soft, and slightly timid voice.
She was dressed in simple casual clothes, still sporting her plain twin-tail hairstyle. Her head hung low, her eyes submissive. She looked exceptionally well-behaved, like a small animal afraid of disturbing others. There was no hint of a smile on her face, only a sense of restraint.
It was clear that Sakura was also trying to learn how to interact with others and improve her social skills. She was already fully ready and prepared to head out.
But Horikita was in no mood to go with her.
Horikita looked up and shook her head, her tone remaining indifferent. "No, you go ahead. I'm going to read a bit longer."
In truth, she couldn't focus on the book at all; her mind was entirely occupied by the meeting time with Hachiman.
"Okay," Sakura responded softly, adding with some hesitation, "Then... then should I bri-bring some food back for you?"
"No need." Horikita's answer was crisp and direct, without the slightest hesitation.
"Oh, oh." Sakura nodded quickly, not daring to ask further. She closed the dorm door gently and slipped away.
After Sakura left, silence returned to the dorm, leaving only the sound of waves from outside the window and Horikita's own slightly rapid heartbeat. She glanced at her phone again; the screen was still black with no new message notifications. Hikigaya seemed to have vanished into thin air, with no further activity.
Just as Horikita couldn't help but want to pick up her phone and take the initiative to ask for the time, the dorm door was pushed open again. This time, it was Karuizawa Kei entering.
Karuizawa had her blonde hair tied in a high side-ponytail with a green scrunchie. She looked as proud, lively, and cute as ever, forming a sharp contrast with Horikita's bookworm appearance.
Karuizawa was long used to Horikita being like this—clinging to a book whenever she had free time, as if some rare treasure were hidden inside. Unlike Sakura, Karuizawa's personality was quite bold. She wasn't afraid of Horikita; she even walked over to her own desk and said casually, "Horikita, reading again? I'm telling you, don't just stay cooped up in the dorm. Go out once in a while. If you keep reading, you're going to turn into a total nerd."
Horikita didn't look up, only giving a vague "Mhm." Her gaze remained glued to her phone, not even sparing a spare glance for Karuizawa.
Karuizawa frowned, immediately sensing something was wrong. Previously, when Horikita read, she was always fully concentrated. Even if someone spoke nearby, she would only give a perfunctory response. She never acted like this—frequently glancing at her phone, looking completely distracted.
She followed Horikita's gaze and saw the black-screened phone at a glance. Oh... Her heart immediately filled with suspicion.
"Hey, Horikita, what are you looking at your phone for? Did someone message you?" Karuizawa simply walked over and leaned in close to Horikita, her tone carrying a clear hint of teasing.
Horikita was startled by her sudden approach and instinctively pulled her phone back. Her face immediately stiffened into her usual cold expression, but her tone was inevitably a bit unnatural. "It's nothing, just checking the time."
"Checking the time?" Karuizawa arched an eyebrow. Although Horikita usually seemed reliable, Karuizawa didn't trust her at this moment. "I think you're clearly waiting for a message. Could it be that Hikigaya messaged you?"
Having been seen through by Karuizawa, Horikita stopped hiding it and nodded.
"Yes. He asked me to go eat burgers this morning to review the results of the island exam."
"Oh? Asked you for burgers?" Karuizawa smiled, a playful look in her eyes. "So, did you agree on a specific time? Like, what time in the morning? Where on the ship are you meeting?"
"..." Horikita was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.
At this moment, Horikita could somewhat empathize with why Kushida felt helpless sometimes—the Karuizawa in front of her was clearly stepping on her landmines over and over, making her feel uneasy all over.
However, she also knew that Karuizawa's social skills were far better than her own. For this kind of matter, perhaps she could ask her. Thus, Horikita steadied herself and answered truthfully, "No. Last night he only said we'd meet this morning. After I replied 'Okay,' he never sent another message."
'?? No, sister!'
Hearing this, Karuizawa couldn't help but roll her eyes, her tone full of exasperation. "My god, you two really are a perfect match! That Hikigaya guy—I heard him say before that he wanted to learn how to get along with girls. I thought maybe it was a surge of hormones, but looking at it now, he might really be a blockhead. And you, Horikita, you're not much better. If he doesn't message, can't you just take the initiative to ask?"
Horikita blanked, looking at Karuizawa with a bit of daze.
"Take the initiative to ask? But... wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate?"
In her view, taking the initiative to ask for the meeting time seemed too eager, as if she were impatient to see Hikigaya. That would be unbecoming.
"What's inappropriate about it?" Karuizawa sighed helplessly. "You're going to review an exam, not going on a date. Isn't it normal to clarify the time? Or are you going to sit here restlessly until he finally remembers to message you?"
Horikita fell silent. Karuizawa had a point, but she still couldn't bring herself to ask first.
Seeing her acting against her own heart, Karuizawa stopped making it hard for her. She simply took out her own phone, waved it, and said, "Fine, fine, I'll ask for you. I'm really fed up with you two blockheads—making people worry over such a small thing."
With that, Karuizawa sent a message to Hachiman: [Hikigaya, you asked Horikita to eat burgers this morning, but what time specifically? She's been waiting for your message. The scene looks awkward even to me.]
A moment after the message was sent, Hachiman replied.
[If possible, let's say nine o'clock. The location is the McDonald's on the ship. Be there or be square.]
Karuizawa handed the phone to Horikita. "See? Nine o'clock, the ship's McDonald's. Next time you run into something like this, don't be so passive. Asking a question won't cost you a pound of flesh."
Horikita looked down at the message on the phone. The stone in her heart finally fell, and her voice softened a bit. "I understand. Thank you, Karuizawa. I owe you a favor."
"Why thank me? I just didn't want to see you sitting here all restless. And saying you owe a favor for this is too dramatic." Karuizawa waved her hand dismissively, her tone a bit impatient, but there was no malice in her eyes. "By the way, I'm planning to lead the 'gyaru' group to the library to study today. Someone said Shiina Hiyori from Class C will be there too. That girl is a top student; maybe we can get her to help guide our studies."
Horikita nodded, her tone becoming a bit more serious. "Is that so? That's good."
She had always been very dedicated to studying and was satisfied when others were willing to hit the books.
Actually, she felt a bit of regret—when she first discovered Karuizawa and the others wanted to study seriously, considering Class D's situation, she thought she could use the opportunity to stabilize Karuizawa's position in the gyaru group.
She was willing to tutor them personally. But after only one day of teaching, Karuizawa messaged her privately saying that Sato had already been scolded to tears three times by her. If she kept teaching, Sato might have a breakdown.
Horikita was speechless about that.
Was she really that scary? Or rather, she truly didn't understand why some people couldn't solve problems that were clearly very simple—if you just study and memorize seriously, you can master them easily.
Looking at Horikita, Karuizawa couldn't help but add, "I say, Horikita, when you meet Hikigaya, is it really just purely for eating burgers and reviewing the exam?"
"Otherwise?" Horikita looked up at her with some confusion, not understanding what she meant by that.
"Otherwise?" Karuizawa understood now. "I'm telling you, you really don't understand the ways of the world at all. Meeting a boy alone and only talking business and eating... how dull. You won't gain any favorability that way. Even if you're mainly there to review the exam, you can chat about other things, like hobbies and interests, to narrow the distance between you. Of course, if you find out any of his hobbies, you can tell me too."
Horikita blanked, then shook her head. "We are just going to review the exam. Talking business is fine; there's no need to gain 'favorability'."
In her view, the purpose of meeting Hachiman was to summarize the gains and losses of this exam to prepare for the next one. Anything else was unimportant.
"Is that so?" Karuizawa arched an eyebrow, thinking to herself: 'These two really are a match made in heaven. Both are unskilled at romance, yet they seem like the type who would live in great harmony after marriage. One blockhead, one bookworm... it's really exasperating.'
"Fine, fine, I won't talk to you anymore. Hurry up and get ready to go see Hikigaya." Karuizawa patted Horikita's shoulder with a sense of urgency. "It's already 8:50. I'll walk you out, lest you can't find the place later—the McDonald's on the ship is in a pretty secluded location. Since it's your first time, you'll definitely get lost."
Horikita nodded, realizing she indeed hadn't visited the McDonald's since arriving on the ship.
So, she stood up and packed her things, put the reference book back on the shelf, picked up her phone, and followed Karuizawa out of the dorm.
In truth, Horikita Suzune wasn't a total blockhead.
She felt Karuizawa was being overly enthusiastic today—normally, while they were collaborators, they weren't this close—but she didn't reject the enthusiasm. After all, as Karuizawa said, she really hadn't been to the McDonald's on the ship. Having someone lead the way would save her some trouble.
The two walked side-by-side and soon reached the entrance of the McDonald's. Karuizawa stopped, glanced into the shop, and then turned to Horikita. "Alright, we're here. Go in; Hikigaya has already arrived."
"Understood." Horikita nodded, pushed open the door, and walked into the McDonald's.
Upon entering, Horikita saw Hachiman. He was sitting in a window seat with a cup of cola in front of him, holding a small notebook and looking down at something with a very serious expression. Aside from Hachiman, there were only a few staff members in the McDonald's; there were no other students.
This was hardly surprising—there were so many high-end restaurants on the ship offering all kinds of exquisite cuisine; fast food like McDonald's naturally wasn't the first choice for
students. But this was good; with no one else to disturb them, it was perfect for quietly reviewing the exam.
Hearing the door open, Hikigaya looked up and saw Horikita at a glance. He lightly raised his left hand and called out, "Over here."
Horikita nodded and sat down across from Hachiman, her tone still cool. "Sorry, am I late?"
Actually, as soon as she said it, she realized it herself—usually, asking that implies you are on the verge of being late, but it wasn't even nine o'clock yet. There were still 2 minutes until nine.
But Hachiman heard the stiffness in her tone; this clearly wasn't her usual state. It seemed she really did meet people alone so rarely that she was this restrained.
In terms of social ability, Hachiman felt he was far superior to Horikita. After all, every time he went out, he encountered girls from different classes. Even without experience, he had built up resistance.
"No, I just got here too." Hachiman shook his head and pushed a cup of cola toward Horikita. "I ordered it for you. Iced cola; it should be to your taste."
Horikita blanked, taking the cola with some surprise. She had thought he had ordered it for himself, but he had prepared it for her.
Hachiman didn't waste time on small talk. He took a black point card out of his pocket and handed it to Horikita.
"You worked hard during this island exam. This is your side's payment. You can distribute the points inside however you like. How you divide them among your group members is entirely up to your arrangement; I won't interfere."
Horikita took the point card, her fingertips brushing against its fine texture. She didn't immediately take out her phone to scan and check the points. She just placed the card gently on the table and looked at Hachiman with a firm gaze. "Let's review the exam first. It won't be too late to discuss the payment afterward."
"Fair enough." Hachiman nodded without objection, picked up the small notebook on the table, and gently flipped it open. "I've already reviewed all the circumstances of this exam in this notebook. I know you want to learn more, so I plan to analyze it from two angles.
One is my operational logic, and the other is Ayanokouji's operational methods. By comparing them, we can see our strengths and weaknesses more clearly, and it will let you master the skills of planning more quickly," Hachiman said.
Horikita immediately leaned in, her gaze fixed on the notebook.
The handwriting in the notebook was neat and clear, densely filled with text and data—from the deep interpretation of the exam rules to the response strategies of each class, and down to the details and foreshadowing of every operation.
It was clear that Hikigaya had put a lot of thought into this review.
This reminded her of when she first organized study sessions in Class D. She had also been so dedicated, wanting to help those with weak foundations progress, even organizing junior high core knowledge points into a booklet to explain one by one.
She had always felt that if you were going to do something, you had to do it as well as possible; you couldn't be perfunctory. Now, Hikigaya's approach clearly mirrored her own thinking.
"First is my operation." Hachiman pointed to the content in the notebook and said slowly, "At the start, I deliberately induced Class A and Class C to smoothly gain the advantage of spots on the island. You might think I was giving them points, but in reality, that was just bait."
"Bait?" Horikita frowned, looking at Hachiman with some confusion.
"Yes, bait." Hachiman nodded and continued, "I wanted them to feel that by occupying spot advantages, they could easily get high scores. That way, they wouldn't choose the risky 0-point grand strategy and could only honestly buy the basic score scheme from me. By doing this, I effectively locked both Class A and Class C onto the island, making them follow my rhythm and leaving them at my mercy.
Furthermore, I intentionally stayed on the island so I could firmly restrain them, ensuring that even if they got spot advantages, they wouldn't get too high of a score.
So, it wasn't simply about selling scores; it was about obtaining a massive amount of private points while simultaneously limiting the scores of Classes A and C.
And then, just like that, the exam ended!" Hachiman explained.
Horikita listened seriously, a trace of admiration gradually appearing in her eyes. She finally understood that Hikigaya's planning was far more meticulous than she had imagined. She also finally understood why Class A only got 120 points and Class C got 350 points in this exam.
Class C's 350 points were to give them money to pay off debts, while Class A paid out a lot but had almost no significant income.
To put it bluntly, they were paying out of pocket.
It was an effective attack on Class A's opportunity to build up class point reserves based on their own accumulation.
One had to admit, this layout was exceptionally meticulous, with every step calculated perfectly to play Class A and Class C in the palm of his hand. This operational method was both unique and bold, filled with unexpected creativity. It was indeed... a level that she, as she was now, could not even imagine.
Hachiman paused and continued, "Besides that, we need to consider one issue—the school's budget expenditure. In this island exam, the final results of the students didn't reach their expectations. I think for the upcoming second exam on the ship, the school will likely pull the reward values to the maximum while also increasing the difficulty of the exam."
Hearing this, Horikita's heart stirred.
She suddenly understood that what Hachiman was thinking about now wasn't simple exam strategy anymore; he was standing in the position of the test-maker, analyzing the school's intentions.
This way of thinking was indeed far beyond her current self. Perhaps only her brother could keep up with him. She felt that during this period, she had been trying to chase Hachiman's footsteps and learn from him, but now she realized the gap between her and him was still very large.
"So, for the next exam, since the school might offer more resources, then... we can be even bolder." Hachiman looked into Horikita's eyes and said seriously.
Horikita nodded and said softly, "I understand."
She looked at the point card on the table and a guess suddenly formed in her heart—the points on this card were likely as high as several million. After all, Hachiman had earned nearly a hundred million points in the exam.
Since he said this was her reward, it definitely wouldn't be too little. Even if she was just "getting the scraps," she would still get a lot of points.
Now that this exam was over, as long as she could seize the opportunity of the next exam, she might be able to obtain even more points. In that case, her goal of collecting 20 million points seemed like it might not be entirely impossible to achieve.
Horikita Suzune gained motivation!
"Alright, that's it for the analysis of my operations. Next, let's analyze Ayanokouji's operations." Hachiman closed the notebook and continued, "You and Karuizawa and the others must have discussed Ayanokouji too, right? Tell me your conclusion."
Ayanokouji.
Horikita organized her thoughts, her tone turning serious. "We discussed it; Ayanokouji is a very frightening person. If I had to evaluate him, it would be that he uses any means necessary to achieve his goals. We all agree he intentionally made Hirata get injured and withdraw from the exam."
Hachiman nodded, a trace of agreement appearing on his face. "You're right, Ayanokouji is indeed frightening. His ambition is huge, and his individual strength is also monstrous. So, during the island exam, I was actually inducing him into the game too."
"Inducing him into the game?" Horikita looked at Hachiman with some surprise. "How?"
Because they only truly realized Ayanokouji's terror at the end of the exam. Furthermore, having been evaluated by Hachiman as the MVP of Class D's exam in the "original work," Horikita had already guessed that the person Ayanokouji arranged to withdraw due to illness in the original work wasn't Hirata, but her.
However, previously she had only heard Hikigaya's inner thoughts and felt the person was scary, without having a real sense of it. But now, Hachiman was saying he had already clashed with Ayanokouji once.
"I knew long ago that Ayanokouji would show his strength in this island exam," Hachiman said slowly. "So, right away, I represented Class B to buy out Class D's basic score, directly destroying his scoring opportunities. At that time, it was actually my test of him—I wanted to see whether he would choose to stay on the island and continue the exam given Class D's basic score was zero and their situation was difficult.
If he chose to give up, then he wouldn't be worth my attention. But if he chose to stay, it would mean his ambition is great and his perseverance is strong. Then I could specifically plan a layout, dig a hole for him, and let him fall into my trap step by step. And the result, as you saw, was that he chose to stay and successfully fell into my trap."
Hearing this, Horikita was completely shocked.
She had always thought Ayanokouji's failure in this exam was because Hikigaya knew the "original plot" in advance and figured out Ayanokouji's plan, so he could deal with it easily. But now she realized it wasn't what she thought at all—what Hikigaya relied on was never simply so-called "precognition," but insight and planning abilities far beyond normal people.
She suddenly thought of something, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Hikigaya and asked seriously, "Then, was selling the leader information for Class B and Class D together also part of your plan?"
Hachiman didn't hide anything and nodded frankly.
"Yes, that was also one of my plans. Selling the leader info for Class B and Class D was putting the cards of our two classes clearly in front of everyone. That way, as long as I slightly modified the strategy, I could make Classes A and C suffer; simultaneously, this was another bait I laid for Ayanokouji."
"Bait?" Horikita frowned, her eyes full of confusion, waiting for him to explain further.
"Correct." Hachiman continued, "After Class D's leader info was publicized, everyone knew Hirata was the leader for Class D. Meanwhile, as the leader of Class B, I chose to stay alone on the island, which was equivalent to giving away 50 points to Class A, Class C, and Class D for free—so if Class D wanted to continue the exam, they could easily guess the Class B leader and get those 50 points.
At the same time, my Class B leader info couldn't be changed, but Class D's 'card' was different. Ayanokouji is so smart, he would definitely think that since everyone assumed Hirata was the Class D leader, he only had to quietly change the class leader to make other classes guess wrong and lose points.
So, as long as Ayanokouji still wanted to rise to a higher class and still wanted high scores in the exam, he would definitely choose to stay. And that was the result I wanted.
Of course, to make the bait a bit more tempting, I also took the initiative to report the hidden spot. Ayanokouji would definitely be able to find that hidden spot, giving him a chance to get another 50 points.
So staying meant a chance to score, a chance to show himself. That was the trap I arranged for Ayanokouji."
Horikita understood; she understood completely now.
Ayanokouji was indeed frightening and meticulous, even capable of turning the tables against the wind, but Hachiman was not inferior in the slightest—he was even more aggressive than Ayanokouji.
Not referring to individual combat, but that Hachiman was like a hunter, setting traps step by step to lure the prey into the game and then taking them down in one fell swoop.
Thinking of this, a trace of powerlessness rose in Horikita's heart. She had been working hard to chase Hachiman's footsteps, wanting to learn from him, improve her own abilities, earn enough points, and hopefully help her brother and stand firm in this school.
After her brother graduated, she could stay behind. But now she realized the gap between her and Hachiman was simply too large.
Hachiman's way of thinking and planning abilities were far beyond her. She even felt that no matter how hard she worked, it would be difficult to catch up to him.
Hachiman seemed to sense the change in Horikita's emotions. Looking at her, his tone softened a lot. "Horikita-san, you don't need to feel weak. You did very well in this exam. If you and Karuizawa and the others hadn't helped inside Class D, it would have been impossible for me to buy Class D's supplies so smoothly, and impossible to win this exam so easily.
Furthermore, I still need your help for the upcoming exams." Hachiman paused and continued, "Because he suffered a failure, Ayanokouji will definitely use his full strength to try and turn things around next time. And he is indeed a frightening opponent. Although I predicted he would stay and was confident enough to serve as the leader myself to destroy his plan—otherwise, he would have achieved a score of 302 points.
So, it's hard to deal with it purely relying on myself alone. Therefore, I need you to continue assisting me."
Horikita: "..."
Hearing Hachiman's words, Horikita looked up at him and saw in his eyes that he truly hoped she would help. Or rather, those were words she had once said to him. And now he was extending a synchronized invitation to her.
However, this also proved that in his eyes, she still had room to grow. Thus, she nodded. "I will help you. Didn't I say that long ago?
And I need you to collect 20 million points," she said.
"That goes without saying." Hachiman then extended his left hand.
Horikita didn't seem to understand for a second, but very quickly she realized what it meant. She then extended her left hand as well and shook his.
"I estimate the point value or obtainable points for the next exam might be even more generous than the island one," Hachiman said. "So, going forward, let's do our best!"
"Let's do our best!"
Horikita felt his body temperature and nodded as well.
It was somewhat incredible. Before coming to see him, her heart had been filled with irritation and restlessness, but now she felt completely relaxed.
-
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Time moved to the evening.
Horikita returned to the dormitory and gathered all her group members—though there weren't many, only Karuizawa, Sakura, and Kushida.
Horikita picked up the point card on the table, placed it between the four of them, and said, "This is the reward Hikigaya gave me for this exam. He said the points inside are for me to distribute as I wish; how they are divided among our group members is my arrangement."
"This..."
Regarding the reward for this island exam—while they were essentially "selling Class D's resources"—the outcome was okay. At least the whole class was satisfied, and Horikita hadn't taken extra points from it. Hikigaya bought Class D's supplies at 800,000 points per month, and it was signed by the whole class.
So, Karuizawa and the others thought the exam had just passed. It turned out that guy Hikigaya gave Horikita an extra reward?
"It's probably like a referral bonus or a welfare subsidy," Kushida said. Kushida also looked at the point card, a hint of anticipation in her eyes. She knew Hachiman had earned a lot of
points in this exam. As people who assisted him, they should be able to get some points; she just didn't know the specific amount.
"How... how many points are in there?" Sakura Airi said. She felt she hadn't done anything worth being paid for, but she had tried to chime in when Karuizawa and the others were working hard to persuade everyone.
"I haven't checked yet." Horikita shook her head. "However, it shouldn't be too little...... I will take a 50% fee, since you are the team I gathered, and then the remaining part will be split equally among you."
In other words, Horikita would take 50%, and the others roughly 17% each. Still, this was an amount they hadn't expected to receive at all, so getting that much was seen as a windfall. As Class D students... they naturally understood that points were very important.
"For me, it's actually fine if I don't take any." Kushida, on the other hand, was good at playing people; she thought she could build a bit of favor with everyone. After all, because she had helped Hachiman monitor Ayanokouji and Chabashira-sensei's GPS, she had already received 500,000 points from him. 500,000 was already a very large sum for Kushida. So she wasn't short on money for the time being.
Moreover, she had once faced the prospect of 20 million points, and Hikigaya already had 20 million now. She had faced the loss of such a sum, so she felt she had nothing left to lose. Regarding points split over and over among everyone, she didn't think there would be much.
At most, Hikigaya might give them another 1 million or 2 million points to divide.
Horikita took a deep breath, took out her phone, and scanned the QR code on the point card. Instantly, the amount of points was displayed on the phone screen—5,940,000.
Seeing this number, the dorm instantly fell silent. Everyone froze, eyes wide, faces filled with disbelief.
Horikita was also stunned. She stared at the number on the screen, her mind a total blank. 5.94 million? There were actually 5.94 million points? She had guessed before that they hadn't actually done much—only helping speed up the persuasion of Class D to sell their basic score—but... she never expected there to be this many.
According to her previous thought, she would take half the points, and split the other half among Karuizawa, Sakura, and Kushida. That way, she herself would get 2.97 million points. 2.97 million—this was a massive figure. Perhaps there weren't even a few students in the entire grade who personally possessed three million points entirely of their own.
An amount like this already had a chance to help her brother.
Kushida was also stunned. Looking at the number on the screen, her heart was filled with shock. If Horikita took half, and the remaining 2.97 million was split equally among the three
of them, then each person would get 990,000 points. 990,000 points, obtained so easily? This was simply way more than she had imagined.
Then, her statement just now about not taking points definitely couldn't continue. After all, this was 990,000! She had thought it was 100-200k, in which case she could indeed not care much, but since we were talking about 990,000, she couldn't ignore it.
Hikigaya Hachiman how are you still so lavish?
Now Kushida was completely convinced that this guy really would give 20 million points to a rich lady who could teach him experience in getting along with girls and help him pursue that Yukinoshita in his heart.
"..."
Karuizawa was also completely dazed. Her mouth hung open, unable to speak for a long time. There were actually 5.94 million. She remembered Hachiman saying before that her "errand girl" position was worth 500,000 points and called it "pocket change" that she shouldn't worry about. Looking at it now, Hachiman was telling the truth. To him, 500,000 was indeed pocket change. Being able to casually hand out 5.94 million points as a reward—he was truly too powerful.
Sakura was also stunned, her eyes slightly widened, lips pursed, her body slightly stiff as if she had been frightened. "5.94 million... is it really that much?"
Yes. It really was a lot. This was a number none of them had ever seen before.
After a long while, Karuizawa finally slowly came back to her senses. She swallowed hard, her tone full of shock. "I... I'm not seeing things, right? 5.94 million? That guy Hikigaya actually gave you that many points? Is he crazy?"
"He shouldn't be crazy." Horikita slowly recovered, though she couldn't hide the surprise in her eyes. "To him as he is now, 5.94 million probably isn't much."
"That may be true, but 5.94 million is still too much." Kushida's tone was still filled with shock. "I feel like I didn't do anything that warrants earning 990,000 points. Being able to get this much... it's simply incredible."
Even as she said this, Kushida felt this was the right way to put it; she had already walked back her statement about not splitting the money so they could all divide it later. After all, this was 990,000—990,000 private points.
"That's just Hikigaya's style, I suppose." Karuizawa sighed, her tone carrying a bit of helplessness mixed with admiration. "He may be good at calculating, but he's also generous. As long as you can help him, he won't mistreat you. It seems we really followed him and got some good scraps this time."
At the same time, she confirmed that since Hikigaya was this generous to his own people, his character was indeed excellent. As his "puppy," she certainly wouldn't be easily discarded.
.
.
.
What they didn't know was that at this moment, Hachiman had already arrived at the library and found Hiyori Shiina. Although this exam had earned him a lot of points, as expected, reading more was still very important.
However, just as Hachiman opened The Egyptian Cross Mystery recommended by Hiyori, he noticed his phone vibrate.
He had received a message sent from the school.
It was a notification about an exam.
Announcement!
Hello everyone, I'm VarieTL 😊
I'm happy to announce that I have posted 2 new Fanfiction!
You can find them in my second account VarieTL02(an account can only have a max of 20 fanfiction it seems)
Hikigaya and the Witches' Romantic Comedy
Hikigaya Hachiman, a high school student and staunch believer in celibacy, lives by the motto "Loneliness is freedom."
That's how it should be.
However, on his first day of high school, this motto is shattered.
A gyaru who transferred for him, an incredibly cute pink-haired girl sitting next to him who's always secretly watching him, a perfect superhero with long, straight black hair and an overflowing sense of justice, a childhood friend who always smiles and approaches him in a kimono, and that lone wolf with no boundaries…
Hikigaya Hachiman's daily life is completely disrupted.
Even more absurdly, all these girls are witches.
Crossover Oregairu/Manosoba (Magical Girl Witch Trials)
The Trash Returned from Warhammer
Shinji Ikari awakens in Neo Tokyo-2 with his memories and iron will as a Space Marine Librarian who served the Imperium for a century.
When a letter arrives from his estranged father, Gendo Ikari, summoning him to Neo Tokyo-3, Shinji ignores his past traumas. Instead, he interprets the summons as a holy mission from the God-Emperor. The former Astartes sets out to defend humanity once more, treating the events of Evangelion as his next theater of war.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting