COTE : Backed By Black Technology System

As expected, Kanda Shuichi's actions of aggressively collecting points during the exam spread quickly. Though people in Classes B, C, and D had already heard about it, they still found it hard to believe.

For the students of Class D, it was like a thunderclap in their ears.

There were all sorts of discussions. Some felt that Kanda Shuichi should just openly give the answers so that Class D could gain 450 class points, or at the very least, 300 points.

Others thought that since there were no changes in points this time, gaining a large amount of points didn't matter much. After all, Kanda Shuichi didn't take Class D's points but allowed Hirata to collect them as an exemption ticket for the students in their class.

This way, they wouldn't have to worry about being expelled.

Of course, some students planned to butter up to Kanda Shuichi.

Just from this time alone, Kanda Shuichi had earned nearly 50 million private points—enough to transfer two people into different classes.

If they could build a good relationship with him, even if they didn't manage to transfer to Class A through class points by graduation in the third year, Kanda Shuichi might still take them with him to Class A.

However, Kanda Shuichi didn't give such people any favor at all and immediately sent them away.

"Ugh, I'm so tired," Kanda Shuichi complained as he leaned on the desk in the Dragon Group room, almost dozing off.

"Come on, they don't mean any harm," Hirata tried to smooth things over.

"How can they not? Those bastards are only after my money," Kanda Shuichi muttered angrily.

"Do you want me to keep the points for you?" 

The only person who would say something like this was Ryuen.

"Dream on."

Kanda Shuichi immediately refused, then stood up from the desk and sat up straight.

Soon, the students started coming into the room one by one.

Although everyone wasn't feeling the stress of the exam anymore, things were starting to get boring.

"How about we play some mahjong?" Kanda Shuichi suggested, feeling bored. "100,000 a game, winnings go to you, losses go to me. Anyone want to join?"

"I'm in," Ryuen immediately responded. He was just as bored and figured a round of mahjong wouldn't be too bad.

"I'll join too."

The second person to raise their hand was Ichinose.

"Oh? Ichinose, you can actually play mahjong?" 

"I've learned a bit about it before," Ichinose smiled. "Would the students from Class A like to join?"

Hearing this, the others exchanged looks, and no one seemed to know how to play.

"Well, what about the rest? Anyone want to join for a round? If no one else, we'll have to play with just three players."

Saying this, Kanda Shuichi looked toward Horikita, but Horikita turned her face away.

Alright, looks like she doesn't know how to play either.

"Then I'll join," said Kushida. This surprised everyone. Even Kushida could play mahjong? Or was she just trying to increase the numbers to tease Horikita?

"Now that we have enough players, where's your mahjong set?" Ryuen glanced at Kanda Shuichi, asking the crucial question.

"Of course, it's all ready," Kanda Shuichi replied.

He stood up, walked over to the corner of the room, and uncovered a table covered with a cloth.

When Kanda Shuichi lifted the gray cloth, a mahjong table came into view.

"Looks like you really came prepared," Ryuen chuckled, standing up and casually sitting down at an empty spot, while Kanda Shuichi took a seat across from him.

In Japanese four-player mahjong, you can "eat" cards, and since Kanda Shuichi didn't want Ryuen to eat his cards and wasn't expecting to eat any of Ryuen's, he sat across from him. 

Kushida and Ichinose also sat down on either side.

"Since I'm paying, how about I start the first round?" 

East is the dealer. If the dealer wins, they continue being the dealer; if anyone else wins, the dealer position rotates counterclockwise.

After shaking the dice, Kanda Shuichi and Ryuen Kakeru exchanged a glance, both seeing the competitive fire in each other's eyes.

However, what was expected to be a fierce battle turned into a relaxed game after about half an hour.

"Ron! Riichi, Pinfu, Iipeikou, Dora 2, Mangan, 12,000 points!"

This was Ichinose's hand, who was Kanda Shuichi's upper neighbor.

"Ron! Riichi, Seven Pairs, Tanyao, uh... no middle Dora, what a pity, only 9,600 points."

This was Kushida Kikyo's hand, the lower neighbor.

Throughout the entire round, it was mostly Ichinose and Kushida trading points, occasionally self-drawing, while Ryuen Kakeru and Kanda Shuichi were pretty much outsiders to the game.

But even as outsiders, their points were quickly drained, and by the end of the game, Ichinose's self-draw sent both of them to the bottom (in Japanese four-player mahjong, each player starts with 25,000 points; being "sent flying" means your points go below zero).

When the game was finally over, Kanda Shuichi and Ryuen exchanged a look, both with the "finally done" expression in their eyes.

Kanda Shuichi quickly settled the points, making a mental note to never play with these two again.

This is ANHS, not Aoyama High! What's going on with you two?

Later that night, during the discussion session, Kanda Shuichi and Ryuen Kakeru both insisted they wouldn't play mahjong again. The game was just too terrifying.

Losing the money was one thing, but being completely outclassed and having no chance to fight back was something neither Kanda Shuichi nor Ryuen wanted to experience again.

However, after the mahjong game, it seemed that Kushida and Ichinose had become a bit closer, and Kushida Kikyo's "princess" group seemed to have expanded.

After finally enduring an hour of discussion, Kanda Shuichi got up and left the room.

The moment he stepped out, he felt refreshed and relaxed.

After glancing at the students about to come out, Kanda Shuichi took a step forward.

"I'm outta here."

After leaving the Dragon Group's room, Kanda Shuichi returned to his exclusive spot on the second deck.

Even though it was already 9:00 PM, Kanda Shuichi wasn't feeling sleepy at all, so he decided to stay out for some fresh air and enjoy the beautiful night sky.

However, it wasn't long before he noticed something unusual.

On the lower deck, many people had appeared without him realizing it, and they were in pairs, a man and a woman. Although the lighting was a little dim, the night sky didn't prevent Kanda Shuichi from seeing them.

"Damn it, are they killing a dog over there or what?"

"Where's the FFF group? Get to work already!"

"Don't forget to clean up after you're done!"

"Feeling envious?"

"Of course I am."

Kanda Shuichi instinctively responded, then turned around and saw Kushida Kikyo, who was smiling at him.

"Don't you want to hang out with your friends?" Kanda Shuichi didn't expect the busy Kushida to have time to come here.

"Well, Kanda-kun, you're my friend too," Kushida Kikyo said sweetly, her expression unchanged.

"Who would believe you, idiot."

"Then how about this?"

With that, Kushida Kikyo stepped closer to Kanda Shuichi, stood next to him, and pulled his head into her embrace.

————— ----

You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu