COTE : Backed By Black Technology System-Chapter 184 - : You Had 50 Million Ready, But You Only Asked for 20 Million?

The current situation wasn't completely hopeless. As long as Horikita stood her ground, there was nothing Ryuen could do to her. After all, in terms of injuries, she and Kinoshita were equally hurt.

Even though Japan tends to side with the weaker party, neither of them played a key role in the follow-up events, which made it difficult to clearly assign blame.

If this incident escalated, it would eventually reach the teachers, and then the student council. Based on past experiences, the student council president would likely step in to resolve it. The last thing Horikita wanted was to cause trouble for her brother because of her own mistakes.

Instinctively, Horikita Suzune looked toward Kanda Shuichi.

Before she could say anything, Ryuen sneered.

"Oh? So when things go south, all you can do is rely on others? Looks like all that tough talk before the exams was just empty boasting."

His words hit Horikita right where it hurt.

The match order was leaked, Sudou had been forced out of the competition by Ryuen's tricks, and now she had fallen for the same kind of scheme.

She had lost—completely. That thought filled her with frustration.

But Kanda Shuichi had no intention of helping her. His only concern was making sure Horikita didn't suffer any lasting injuries—that was the promise he had made to Horikita Manabu. Whether Suzune was completely crushed by Ryuen wasn't something he was worried about at all.

She wasn't the type to break that easily.

"Ryuen, are you really that afraid of me?" Kanda Shuichi sighed. "Afraid that if she asks for help, I'll step in?"

"I already told you, fear isn't in my vocabulary." Ryuen prided himself on being fearless, and Kanda Shuichi bringing it up again was starting to get on his nerves.

"Is that so? Well, let's go with that then."

Kanda Shuichi took two steps forward, stopping about a meter in front of Ryuen.

"But your methods were pretty sloppy this time. Even now, I have a way to turn this situation around. Want to bet on it?"

Ryuen narrowed his eyes, while Horikita's expression lit up with hope behind him.

"But don't worry," Kanda Shuichi continued. "I already said I wouldn't step in this time, and I won't. Besides..."

He turned back to Horikita.

"You took responsibility for this sports festival, so see it through. You can't expect someone to always clean up your mess."

"At least, I won't."

With that, Kanda Shuichi walked out of the infirmary.

"Step outside for a chat?"

"Of course."

Ryuen seemed to be in a good mood and followed Kanda Shuichi out, leaving Horikita sitting on the bed, lost in thought.

"Not bad. That provocation was well played," Kanda Shuichi said.

"You're not so bad yourself. I learned from the best," Ryuen smirked, hands in his pockets.

"But I didn't expect you to go this far with Horikita. You're pretty ruthless," Kanda Shuichi said with a sigh. "No... Kinoshita is even worse than you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sudou's case was a clear example of baiting and self-sacrifice tactics. No matter how unsportsmanlike Ryuen's methods were, technically, he hadn't broken any rules.

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Sudou throwing a punch at Ryuen was clearly against the rules of the match, so it was only natural that he was disqualified from competing any further. Ryuen had no problem admitting that.

But in Kinoshita's case, it was a classic example of turning the tables. If the truth came out, all of his schemes against Horikita would fall apart. That's why he would never admit it so easily.

"Don't worry. There are cameras here, but no audio recordings. And I wouldn't do something as low as recording with my phone."

"Oh, really?" Ryuen pulled out his phone. "Then let's make a hypothetical scenario. Suppose I told Kinoshita to frame Suzune on purpose—what would you do? I'd love to hear your solution."

"Isn't it simple? When Kinoshita fell, the medical staff weren't the first to take her to the infirmary, right? That means there was plenty of time to do something to her. For example, on the way to the infirmary, someone could have done this to her foot..."

Kanda Shuichi stomped the floor twice on purpose.

"You've got quite the imagination."

"At that point, it'd be on you to prove that the injury on her foot wasn't self-inflicted to frame Horikita. After all, Class C already has a history of framing people."

Of course, Kanda Shuichi was just making stuff up. If he actually tried using that argument, he'd probably lose the case.

He was just giving Ryuen a little warning—his plans still had flaws, so he should be careful about provoking him.

Ryuen wasn't going to figure out the truth right away anyway, so Kanda Shuichi wasn't afraid of being exposed.

"By the way, I hope you can let Sudou off the hook for this."

"Oh? He did punch me pretty hard, you know. And you're asking me to let him go?" Ryuen laughed like he had just heard a joke.

"Yeah, that's right. In return, I'll do the same for you next time when it's my turn." Kanda Shuichi said it like it was only natural.

"You think too highly of yourself, Kanda. But fine, I'll let Sudou off—on one condition. Join Class C, and I'll forget this ever happened. You've seen it yourself, haven't you? Class D is full of trash. That kind of place isn't worth your time."

Even now, Ryuen hadn't given up on trying to get Kanda Shuichi to transfer.

"I'll pass. I don't care where I graduate from—it makes no difference to me."

Kanda Shuichi shook his head, once again rejecting the offer. "I'm not transferring. Just name your terms."

"Hah, you really don't know what's good for you. Fine, then just pay me 20 million points. That was mine to begin with."

Ryuen's expression darkened. If he weren't so interested in Kanda Shuichi's abilities, he wouldn't have made repeated offers.

But after being turned down so many times, he was starting to lose patience.

Kanda Shuichi, on the other hand, was disappointed. That's all?

*Sigh, Ryuen... I gave you a chance, and you only asked for 20 million?*

*Do you even realize how hard you're making this for me? If you had just asked for 50 million, that would've been great! You'd be happy, and I'd successfully drain my wallet. A win-win situation! (Meaning I win twice!)*

*But now, you've only made me win once. That leaves me with 30 million still lying around, and those bastards in Class D will keep watching my wallet. I still have to find a way to get rid of it.*

"You sure don't hold back, asking for 20 million just like that."

"Well, if that guy comes back, our class might lose class points because of it," Ryuen said seriously.

"Cut the act. You don't actually care about class points, do you?" Kanda Shuichi shook his head. "So you're saying, between 'letting it slide this once' and '20 million points,' you chose the 20 million?"

"Enough talking. If you want me to let that guy off, transfer the points now." Ryuen's face was full of satisfaction.

To him, this was an unexpected bonus. He never thought Kanda Shuichi would go this far for that dumb musclehead Sudou.

*Kanda, you're practically handing yourself over on a silver platter. If I don't take a big bite, wouldn't that be a waste? Hm?*

Kanda Shuichi glanced at Ryuen, then took out his phone and transferred the 20 million. He even added a note: "In exchange for Ryuen forgiving Sudou for the incident at the sports festival."

The moment Ryuen accepted the money, he could no longer use this as an excuse to go after Sudou.

And knowing Ryuen, he would never give up 20 million just to mess with Sudou. It was way too lopsided of a trade.

*Ding!*

Your account balance has been credited with 20 million points.

Of course, Ryuen's phone didn't actually make such a notification sound.

But without a doubt, he saw the massive amount of points transferred by Kanda Shuichi, along with the note attached to the transaction.

"You think that guy is worth it?"

"Sort of. He helped me before. He's impulsive, but not a bad person. Don't forget to withdraw your complaint against Sudou at school."

"No problem. Since I got the money, I'll handle it. But are you really not going to help Suzune?" Ryuen still seemed hungry for more of Kanda Shuichi's money.

"Heh."

Kanda Shuichi actually had a good opinion of Sudou. Sure, the guy had a bad temper and wasn't very popular in class, but that wasn't a big deal.

Just the fact that he had carried Kanda Shuichi to the hospital back then proved he wasn't a bad person at heart. That alone was enough for Kanda Shuichi to help him.

Right now, he was rough around the edges, but that could be fixed. And this was a great chance to do just that.

As for the 20 million points he gave Ryuen, that wasn't a problem at all. As long as Ryuen didn't spend it, Kanda Shuichi was confident the points would eventually return to him.

As for Horikita, it wouldn't hurt for her to struggle a little. Besides, someone had been slacking off all this time—it was about time they did something useful.

After leaving the infirmary, Kanda Shuichi sent a message to Ayanokouji, informing him about the situation. He had already decided not to do anything himself.

Whatever happened to Horikita was now up to Ayanokouji. At worst, she'd just be humiliated by Ryuen for a while.

In Japan, where people constantly say "sumimasen" for every little thing, this wasn't really a big deal.

After messaging Ayanokouji, Kanda Shuichi found Sudou's contact and sent him a screenshot of the transaction with Ryuen.

It didn't take even a few minutes before he got a reply.

[Why... Why would you do this for someone like me?]

[Let's talk in person. It's hard to explain over text. Where are you?]

[In my dorm.]

[Got it. Meet me in the dorm lobby in a bit.]

Putting away his phone, Kanda Shuichi headed toward the dorm's first-floor lobby.

Meanwhile, with both Sudou and Horikita gone, the ongoing competition was a complete disaster. The boys' team, without Sudou, and the girls' team, without Horikita, were utterly crushed in the cavalry battle.

The three-legged race and 200-meter sprint didn't go any better either.

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