Chapter 3: Harvesting Points
"Oh dear, I was really careless, wasn't I?"
Miyano Makoto said in a theatrical tone that even he found a bit forced.
"Why would I, someone who dislikes alcohol, think apicking this up?"
He said this, but his hand reached towards the chest of the girl beside him.
"You don't want the school to find out about your theft, do you, fellow student?"
Miyano Makoto lowered his voice.
Kamuro Masumi pouted, reluctantly taking a can of beer from her embrace and placing it in Miyano Makoto's hand.
"Here, take it. Can I go now?"
Miyano Makoto took the beer, wiped its surface with his hand, and put it back in the refrigerated display.
"Of course, I just happened to be passing by. You don't need to ask for my opinion."
Miyano Makoto didn't plan to do anything about it; students should act like students, but…
"Can you not do things like this again?"
"You're so annoying! What I do is none of your business!"
Kamuro Masumi left, and Miyano Makoto could only sigh lightly.
"What's wrong?"
Ichinose Honami appeared beside Miyano Makoto; she had witnessed everything that had just happened.
"That seemed to be Kamuro from your Class B. Was she just…?"
"It's exactly as you think; she was just stealing something."
Miyano Makoto said truthfully.
"Honami, you can pay more attention to her in the future. I feel like she's not stealing beer to drink it, but simply to satisfy her kleptomania."
"How did Makoto figure that out?"
"Because, think about it… Would female university students really like something as awful-tasting as beer? Enough to even resort to stealing it?"
"Does Makoto mean he's tried it before?"
Ichinose Honami pointed out the problem in Miyano Makoto's words.
Oh no, Miyano Makoto thought to himself. This was a thought from his previous life, and now he had unintentionally blurted it out.
"I tasted a little bit before."
It wasn't a big problem, though. Miyano Makoto very easily fabricated a non-existent history.
"Alright, I'll pay more attention to her in the future."
Having finished what Miyano Makoto considered a lukewarm topic, he then turned to Ichinose Honami's plans.
"Honami, do you have any plans for the afternoon?"
"Hmm… I'll probably go shopping with my friends."
Ichinose Honami pressed her index finger against her lower lip and turned her head to the side.
"Look, they're watching us over there right now~"
"..."
Miyano Makoto stiffly turned his head in the direction Ichinose Honami was looking.
Sure enough, several girls who were ostensibly picking out merchandise kept glancing over here and whispering to each other.
"Is this Honami's idea?"
"No, they insisted on coming to confirm my relationship with Makoto. They were also there during lunch. Makoto, really, you were so easily followed."
Ichinose Honami blamed Miyano Makoto for his carelessness, though her tone was still as usual.
"Sorry, sorry. There were just too many people at the beginning of the school year, so I thought it wasn't strange even if it was on the way. So that's what it was…"
Miyano Makoto admitted his mistake to Ichinose Honami and offered an explanation.
"Then let's go to the dorms!"
Ichinose Honami wanted to go to the student dorms with Miyano Makoto.
"Honami can go by herself. I'm leaving first."
Ichinose Honami watched Miyano Makoto leave. He was empty-handed, having left everything to her.
"What's wrong, Honami? Did your little boyfriend abandon you and run off?"
Seeing Miyano Makoto leave, the girls who had kept a certain distance surrounded Ichinose Honami.
"No, he just has some private matters. Look, his dorm key card is in my hand!"
Ichinose Honami smiled and showed them the room 301 key card from her pocket.
"Wow! I'm so envious of you, having a boyfriend who trusts you so much!"
"No, we're not that kind of relationship yet…"
"..."
"You're not?"
"No, neither he nor I have expressed our feelings to each other."
"Even if it's a relationship where he can give Honami his dorm key card?"
"Yes."
"..."
They all fell silent.
...
...
Miyano Makoto naturally had something he needed to do, and that was—
Challenging a club.
Challenging a club right after the opening ceremony, he believed no one in this school could be faster than him.
"Is this the Chess Club?"
"Yes, may I ask who you are…? If you're a new student looking to join, please come back tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day for new students to apply to clubs."
"No, I'm here to exchange chess insights with you seniors."
Miyano Makoto denied the other party's guess and stated his true intention.
"Of course, with stakes involved."
"May I ask your class?"
The student who greeted him at the door asked. This was important.
"First-year Class B."
"Then please come in."
The student at the door stepped aside to allow Miyano Makoto to enter the club room.
"How many private points are you betting?"
"One hundred thousand."
Upon hearing this answer, not only that student but even others who had not been paying attention turned their gazes towards him.
"One hundred thousand points? Junior, do you not need to live?"
"While it's true that the school provides free daily necessities and vegetable meal sets, it's really not something an average person can live off of."
Not only the student at the door but others also spoke up to dissuade him.
"It's fine, thank you for your concern, seniors. Someone else will help me handle matters in that regard."
Miyano Makoto was genuinely a little embarrassed. He had come to challenge them, so why were they now worrying about him?
"Alright, since you've put it that way, junior, I won't be modest any longer."
The senior who greeted Miyano Makoto at the door said.
Twenty minutes later...
"How is this possible...? I actually... lost?"
"Thank you, senior. It was a good match."
Miyano Makoto said humbly. He had consistently displayed a strength on par with his opponent, only delivering the decisive blow at the very end.
"It's fine. I'm a good sport. It's only 100,000 private points."
The senior readily transferred the points to Miyano Makoto.
"Anyone else want to play? I'm offering 200,000 private points."
Miyano Makoto said indifferently. A mere 100,000 private points couldn't satisfy his appetite.
"I'll play!"
The senior who had reminded Miyano Makoto to pay attention to his quality of life said.
Twenty minutes later...
"How is this possible? I actually lost too...?"
He had initially thought this would be an easy win, as Miyano Makoto's skill level seemed average to him just now.
Unexpectedly, once they started, he found that the opponent's skill was on par with his own, and just now, he was decisively defeated at the very last moment.
"I say... are you perhaps playing dumb to catch a tiger?"
"How could that be?"
Miyano Makoto said with a wry smile,
"I just got lucky. Senior, you don't need to doubt your skill. Thank you for the game."
After receiving the 200,000 private points transferred by the senior,
"I'm offering 400,000 private points. Who wants to continue playing with me?"
"..."
The senior's gaze at Miyano Makoto had changed. And he still claimed he wasn't playing dumb to catch a tiger?
"I'll play."
A senior said.
"Vice President..."
"So it's the Vice President of the International Chess Club? My apologies, then let's play."
Twenty minutes later...
"I lost to you... You really can't judge a book by its cover."
The Vice President readily paid Miyano Makoto 400,000 private points.
"Anyone else want to play? I'm offering 800,000 private points."
Everyone exchanged glances, but since even the Vice President had lost, no one else stepped forward to make a fool of themselves.
Moreover, 800,000 private points was no longer an amount they could casually use as a wager.
"Is the President not here?"
Miyano Makoto was a little disappointed. Although 800,000 private points seemed like a lot, it was actually just so-so.
"What happened?"
The door to the club activity room was opened from the outside, and the student who entered was very confused by the situation.
Why was everyone gathered around an unfamiliar face?
"President, this freshman... just won 700,000 private points from us..."
The Vice President said with a hint of bitterness. Although he had paid the private points very smoothly, only he truly understood the pain within.
"What? It seems your skill has really declined. You need to practice more diligently in the future."
The President said displeased.
"800,000 private points, President, want to play a round?"
Miyano Makoto invited. If he won this round, it would be 800,000 private points, which was directly 100,000 more than all the points he had won before combined!
"800,000, huh..."
The President pondered for a moment,
"Then let's play!"
Ten minutes later...
"You still say we are playing dumb to catch a tiger!"
The second senior who played chess with Miyano Makoto exclaimed.
Oh my goodness, the President, who had the highest skill level, couldn't last ten minutes! So, when he played with them before, wasn't he just going easy on them?
"My apologies~"
After receiving the 800,000 private points from the President, Miyano Makoto said with a beaming smile,
"This was just a strategy. Thank you, seniors, for your generosity. I will always remember you!"
Miyano Makoto was in a very good mood with 1,600,000 private points in hand.
However, he needed to speed up now, so other clubs wouldn't react and spread the news.
Without time to continue chatting with his dear seniors, Miyano Makoto arrived at the next club.
Chinese Chess...
There was actually such a club.
Miyano Makoto was also surprised when he saw it in the morning, but it didn't matter to him; any club that could yield private points was a good club.
An hour later...
"Thank you, seniors, for your generosity. I will always remember you!"
Miyano Makoto's private points reached 3,100,000.
Is there still enough time? The next club is...
The Go Club.
However, Miyano Makoto only got 100,000 private points.
Because he only knew 'honte,' 'myoushu,' and 'zokushu.'
This 'tejaku'...
He was stumped.
"You must be the freshman they're talking about, right? we really can't judge a book by its cover. One person actually masters International Chess, Chinese Chess, and Go simultaneously."
"Ah, have I already been discovered?"
Miyano Makoto admitted his identity. 3,200,000 private points was already enough.
"Otherwise? No matter how slow someone is, this is too exaggerated. The news about you has already spread throughout our chess clubs."
"So, the sports clubs don't know about this yet?"
Miyano Makoto asked in return. He had originally decided to stop, but upon hearing that, his heart began to stir again.
"Yes, you're not thinking of...?"
"That's right, please keep it a secret for me~
(∠・ω＜ ) ⌒ ☆"