"Tsk... I've been outplayed!"
Ryuen's knuckles rapped heavily on the desk, his face so dark it looked like it could drip water. He stared at the surveillance camera on the ceiling, with its blinking red light, as if trying to burn a hole through it with his gaze.
(Who is pulling the strings?)
This thought spun wildly in his mind. He had instantly seen through the other's scheme—the surveillance rights were a sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. The continuous stream of surveillance footage was a silent mockery, a blatant declaration: either pay a high price in points to buy out the rights, or live forever under surveillance.
"You can rent the surveillance? This school really takes 'point supremacism' to the extreme," Ryuen squeezed out a cold laugh from between his teeth. His account did indeed have over 3 million points collected in the past few days. This class fund, which should have made him proud, had become someone else's property in the blink of an eye.
Ryuen thought for a moment, then decisively picked up his phone and sent a message to his homeroom teacher, Kazuma Sakagami.
Kakeru Ryuen: How many points does it cost to rent the school's surveillance room?
Sakagami replied quickly:
Kazuma Sakagami: You can't rent it. The school just issued a notice prohibiting students from buying, leasing, using, or replacing any school equipment. In short, all rights of interpretation belong to the school.
"Just been banned?" Ryuen's pupils contracted sharply. "Doesn't that mean... he was the first one to test the waters!" He immediately realized the gravity of the situation, his fingers flying across the screen as he sent a probing message to Yue Qing.
Kakeru Ryuen: How much do you want?
The reply was concise and direct.
Yue Qing: 3,000,000 points.
"Damn it!" Ryuen's hand, holding the phone, trembled slightly, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat. The number was terrifyingly precise—it was the exact total balance of his class fund today. This mysterious person not only knew his financial situation inside out but was also making an exorbitant demand, trying to swallow his entire class fund reserve in one go. What was even more terrifying was that this meant the other might have been monitoring him for a long time, and he didn't even know who he was.
"Since when..." Ryuen gritted his teeth. He had thought his method of obtaining A-Class's information through a listening device was clever enough, but compared to this mysterious person who was openly charging for the surveillance system, it was child's play. This level of all-encompassing surveillance, this precise control of information—they were not in the same league.
Ryuen's temples throbbed. This feeling of being cornered made his blood boil.
(It's not a second-year... Vice President Nagumo isn't that bored. The third-year student council president wouldn't bother...)
(So, it can only be a first-year who's short on points?)
"Ryuen! What's wrong?" Daichi Ishizaki noticed his boss's unusual expression and quickly came closer with concern. When he inadvertently glanced at the other's phone screen, his eyes widened. "What?! Someone is monitoring our class with the classroom cameras?!" Ishizaki shouted, his rough voice exploding in the classroom.
"What's going on? Since when?"
"Explain it clearly!"
"Aren't these cameras installed by the school?"
The once-quiet Class C was instantly in an uproar. Students started questioning one after another, and a sense of panic spread like ripples.
"Shut up!" Ryuen froze for a moment, then kicked Ishizaki in a rage. He had never intended to tell these idiots the truth—it would only shake the foundation of his hard-won rule. But he hadn't expected his own teammate to be such a loudmouth.
"Ryuen!" Ishizaki rubbed his sore hip, his eyes wide with grievance.
But Ryuen didn't even spare him a glance. His mind was now racing, weighing the pros and cons. To be forced to accept being monitored? The humiliation made his stomach churn. As a hunter used to being in control, he was now a trapped beast in someone else's surveillance net. But the cold lens of the camera was like an unblinking eye, making him feel like he was on pins and needles.
Destroy the equipment? Too naive. The other controlled the surveillance rights; smashing the hardware would be futile. It might even lead to a large deduction of...
CRASH!
A deafening sound of shattering interrupted his thoughts. Ryuen spun around and saw Ishizaki holding a chair high. The surveillance camera above his head was already in pieces, wires dangling like a severed snake's tail. "If the problem is the camera, then smashing it solves it!" Ishizaki grinned triumphantly, his face full of pride.
"Good idea!"
"This way we won't lose any class points!"
A few scattered voices of agreement actually sounded in the classroom, and a few boys even started to roll up their sleeves.
(Are these idiots attending school without their brains?)
Ryuen felt his temples throb, and the string of his sanity snapped with a "twang." He shot up, his right foot viciously kicking the back of Ishizaki's knee. The other fell to his knees unexpectedly. "Are you fucking stupid? The surveillance data is transmitted over the network! What's the use of smashing this terminal? The school can replace it in minutes! And if you destroy school property like this, how are you going to make up for the class points we'll lose?"
Beads of sweat formed on Ishizaki's forehead. He opened his mouth, but in the end, could only lower his head in defeat. "Ryuen... I was wrong this time. I'll listen to you from now on! I'll do whatever you say! If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west."
"Get lost! Go back to your seat and stay there! Don't do anything! I can't be bothered with you right now!"
Ryuen suddenly realized the surveillance camera was recording his loss of control. This would undoubtedly bring a more severe punishment to the class. "Damn it... looks like I have to rent it!" he gritted his teeth, forced to make this decision.
On second thought, purchasing the surveillance equipment wasn't entirely without benefits. It could effectively counter the prying eyes from the dark and also avoid the risk of losing class points due to disciplinary infractions. He had been confident that with his iron fist, he could make the idiots in Class C submit. But reality had given him a slap in the face—some people were just hopeless. No amount of threats or inducements could change their foolish nature. If that was the case, it was better to just rent the surveillance to have a safety net. This deal was like honey laced with poison; he knew it was dangerous, but he had to swallow it.
Ryuen's sinister gaze swept over the students in the classroom.
(...Are there no talented people who can use their brains?)
His gaze finally rested on Hiyori Shiina in the corner. In the entire Class C, only this silver-haired girl was watching him with a thoughtful expression. Ryuen suddenly found it absurd. This school, which claimed to be based on merit, had actually placed a group of strong but stupid idiots in the same class as him.
(Who is the real Class D...)
(If I hadn't quickly taken control of the class with force at the beginning of the year, these guys would have probably lost all the class points by now.)
He couldn't help but clench his fists. But the anger of being fooled was burning hotter and hotter in his chest, especially when he thought of a certain possibility.
(Silver threads... a spider's web...)
Ryuen suddenly broke into a dangerous smile.
(Could it have been you!... Arisu Sakayanagi... After all, your father is the chairman! It seems plausible that you could buy the surveillance rights from him!)
If she was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, then this game was truly interesting. Using the points he had extorted to extort him in return—a brilliant tit-for-tat.
(Is this your revenge, Sakayanagi? Don't tell me you already found out I bugged your class for the hidden information?)
"Hahahaha! This is getting more and more interesting!"
Ryuen suddenly burst out laughing, scaring the surrounding students into silence. He roughly wiped away the tears he had laughed out, his eyes becoming even sharper. This cat-and-mouse game had just begun, and what he loved most was pulling a high and mighty queen down from her throne.
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