MrBlackWing
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❂ Chapter 197 ➺ Kakeru, You Were Set Up From The Start! ❂
🕑 Added 2025-05-19 20:26:35 +0000 UTCSuzune took the black voice recorder that Airi handed to her.
"Thank you, Sakura-san."
In Class C, Suzune had two people she could talk to: Airi and Kikyō. Earlier, she had befriended Kikyō first to gain points, but that friendship was now gone. Airi, however, remained reliable.
"Ryūen." Suzune said, holding the voice recorder as she faced Kakeru, "What were you just saying about requesting arbitration from the Student Council and demanding that I kowtow?"
Kakeru: "..."
Damn!
As soon as Suzune spoke, all eyes in the room turned to him.
Sae could barely contain her laughter. Minori looked pitiful. And Kikyō remained expressionless — likely because she understood the gravity of the situation.
She had disposed of both the voice recorder and phone while Suzune wasn't watching, even going so far as to throw away her own phone to avoid any disturbances.
But someone had found and returned both devices, and her mood was undoubtedly terrible.
Still, Kakeru's situation was far worse. While Kikyō had merely lost Suzune's trust, he faced consequences for false accusations and attempting to force someone to kowtow.
"We withdraw the complaint." Kakeru said.
"Then I'll apply to the Student Council for arbitration regarding your false accusations." Suzune replied, "And Chabashira-sensei, you can be my witness, right?"
"Yes." Sae nodded.
She pulled out her phone, and everyone realized it had been recording for over ten minutes.
She had started recording the moment Suzune entered the infirmary, and this evidence would be enough to prove Kakeru's false accusations.
Damn! Is this what a teacher is truly capable of?
Kakeru realized insulting her earlier had been foolish. He'd underestimated this school's teachers.
The situation was worse than he thought — not only was there testimony, but Sae had physical evidence, plus the voice recorder in Suzune's hand.
If this went to the Student Council, he wouldn't just face paying compensation — he might be expelled.
His previous record of fighting with Ken and the others meant he'd be treated as a repeat offender, making the punishment even more severe.
Even if he avoided expulsion, their Class Points would plummet.
After considering this—
"Heh—" Kakeru let out a self-mocking laugh, "Two million. I can compensate you 2 million."
He only had slightly over 3 million Points, not quite reaching 4 million.
And how ironic — just earlier he had demanded 4 million from Suzune, but now he was the one offering to pay.
"No." Suzune replied firmly, "I refuse. I'm not unreasonable, but being bullied like this — doing nothing isn't my style. So, Kakeru, 4 million, plus a kowtow. That's my price for not reporting your false accusations. Moreover..."
She turned her gaze to Minori.
The girl quickly lowered her head, hugging her legs, looking pitiful.
But before her stood Suzune, who had unflinchingly taken down not just Shiho, but all four of them.
"Kinoshita, you're now suspected of intentionally harming me, plus causing losses after I forfeited. You'll need to pay compensation too." Suzune said emotionlessly.
"Ugh... I don't have any money… Ryūen!" Minori quickly looked at him, "Didn't you say you'd take responsibility for everything?"
Indeed, when Kakeru had arranged for Minori to scheme against Suzune, he'd promised to take responsibility and give her 500,000 Points.
But now it was 4 million...
"3 million." Kakeru said, "Final offer. I'll withdraw my accusations against you and pay 3 million for emotional damages. Then this matter ends here."
"Three million..." Suzune hesitated.
While Airi was confused by the tense atmosphere, she quietly stood to the side.
Sae felt relieved. She thought Suzune had been quite fortunate — the lost voice recorder had been found and completely turned the tables.
The more arrogant Kakeru had been earlier, the more submissive he was now.
"It still has to be 4 million points." Suzune said, "Not just my share — Chabashira-sensei needs hush money too. A total of 4 million points."
Oh...?
Sae looked over. So she would get a share too?
She reconsidered her assessment of this girl — Suzune had truly changed, becoming more thorough.
"4 million is impossible." Kakeru said, "I only have a little over 3.6 million on hand right now."
"Then go collect it." Suzune said, "Didn't your class still have 8.5 million left from the VIP exam?"
In the VIP exam, his class received a total of 17 million Points from the school.
Half was split by Houtarou. Kakeru himself collected 4 million, claiming everyone deserved points. This left his classmates with remaining 4.5 million points.
If he needed to, he could still collect more.
However, Suzune's statement was terrifying. She viewed his classmates not as people, but as ATM machines.
In other words, she had targeted them from the start!
Kakeru: "..."
Damn.
Had she not only predicted his actions but planned to use them for point extraction?
"Looks like I misjudged." Kakeru said, "I thought this would be my comeback battle, but... I was completely outplayed. 4 million — I'll give it to you when I collect it."
"No." Suzune refused, "I want it now."
Kakeru: "..."
Damn!
『3,670,000 Points have been credited to your account!』
『Sender - Kakeru Ryūen』
Kakeru swiped his phone. These were all the points left in his account, but the gesture showed he was choosing to settle matters peacefully.
However, someone else was in an even worse situation.
"Ryūen..." Minori, still lying in bed, broke into tears.
Indeed, she was the most pitiful one.
Though she had been injured alongside Suzune, her initial injuries weren't serious — she had deliberately fallen again to make false accusations against their target.
Now she not only had serious injuries but also had to pay compensation.
But Kakeru couldn't worry about her anymore.
"I'll still transfer the points I promised you." Kakeru said, "Take care and get well. One failure means nothing."
In other words, even though his scheme failed, he still wanted to maintain loyalty.
Which meant he still wanted to fight again.
Sae observed this scene.
When the teachers of the four classes met, they would discuss how this year's students were different from previous years.
She agreed. Class A was exceptionally excellent, Class B was like a group of angels, and even the often-overlooked Class C had become quite well organized.
Then there was Class D — while it had some troubled students and problem children, some students' capabilities were undeniably worse than in previous years.
This year's students were unique. The chairman and others frequently expressed excitement about their development.
As for Kakeru, though his methods were underhanded, he was undeniably calculating. In the future, when he entered society, he might become quite formidable.
However.
"Um... are you Kakeru Ryūen?" Airi, who had brought the phone, asked timidly.
"What do you want?" Kakeru looked over.
He didn't know this girl — or rather, he strongly disliked her now. If she hadn't found and returned Suzune's phone and voice recorder, he wouldn't have lost so badly.
"Um... I came from the school building." Airi said, "Class A's... Class A's homeroom teacher wants to see you."
"?" Kakeru looked over in confusion.
He had no connection with Tomonari — or rather, didn't know him at all.
"Hmm?" Sae looked at her phone at this point.
She seemed to have found something amusing but tried hard to maintain a straight face.
"Kakeru, go to the first floor of the Physics building." She said, "Class A's Mashima-sensei wants to talk to you. His students have reported you for cheating in the pole toppling competition. If it can't be settled privately, it will be reported to the Student Council for arbitration. You might face expulsion."
Kakeru: "..."
His eyes widened.
Now he finally understood why Suzune carried a voice recorder. He also understood why she told him to collect from his class when she knew he couldn't gather 4 million Points.
Because Houtarou had the same plan.
Most likely, he had been waiting for Kakeru to break the rules from the start, planning to blackmail him. Then not only would Kakeru's Points be gone, but all his classmates' Points would be stripped away too.
What a disgusting school.
So Kakeru went to the science lab feeling sick. His prediction couldn't be wrong...
He checked his phone. Earlier, to focus on breaking through Suzune's defenses, he had kept it on "Do Not Disturb". Now there were countless missed calls.
It must be about that.
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"Class D's Kakeru Ryūen."
Kakeru arrived at the science lab.
Many students were inside — all familiar faces. Daichi, Albert, Kyōgo, and others. Not just anyone was waiting here, but all nineteen male students from his class.
Class A's teacher stood at the podium.
"Well then... Now that everyone is here." Tomonari said, "My students have reported your violations during the pole toppling competition. Your actions caused serious harm to Class C's Ken Sudō. They suggest each of you needs to pay 500,000 points in compensation."
500,000 per person. With twenty people here, that would be 10 million.
Damn. This was nothing short of extortion.
But.
"They submitted this to me." Tomonari said. Everyone's attention turned to a black voice recorder in his hand, "This was retrieved from the pole during the pole toppling competition. It contains a recording. I consider this a very serious matter."
"..."
Oh. That pole from the competition.
The other male students from Class D seemed to realize something, their faces darkening as they looked toward Kakeru.
"First, if this is reported to the Student Council, all your scores will be invalidated." Tomonari said, "Your competition entries will be marked as zero. You'll occupy the bottom ten spots in the Sports Festival. And on the next written exam, ten points will be deducted from all subjects. I believe this is quite troublesome."
Troublesome? This wasn't just troublesome — it was terrifying.
Most students in the class were already struggling academically. With a ten-point deduction in every subject, failure would be almost certain.
And in this school, failure meant expulsion.
In other words... this was a choice between staying enrolled or getting expelled.
