NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 27: Quick!
Omni POV
"Ha! What on earth are you blabbering about? The classes are already at each other's throats!" Hiroyo Tokito smirked. a sly grin spread across Yuto's features as he met Tokito's gaze, "Perhaps I didn't make myself clear..." He coughed, "I meant that 'you' as an individual shall be Class D's enemy." The room grew heavy with tension as Yuto's words settled in. Grim expressions spread across the faces of everyone present as they glanced at the contract laid out before them.
Matsushita cast a curious look at Yuto, her thoughts racing, 'He knows the VIP? How?' Meanwhile, the members of Class D exchanged puzzled looks, trying to decipher Yuto's cryptic statement. Yuto surveyed the room before posing the question, "So, is everyone in?" Most of them nodded in agreement. Tokito, however, fixed Yuto with a skeptical gaze. "How exactly are you going to prove that you know who the VIP is?" he questioned.
Yuto's laughter was soft but confident as he gestured with his hands, "I might answer if you sign the contract." With a reluctant click of his tongue, Tokito begrudgingly complied, followed by the rest of the room. Yuto's smile widened as he declared, "Alright! Now that everyone's signed the contract-"
"Just tell us who the VIP is already," Mariko Yajima interrupted. Sudo shot her a disapproving frown, but Yuto held up a hand to silence him. "Oh, that's me."
Shock swept through the room and could be seen on everyone's faces. Hashimoto couldn't help giggling: "Hey, are you serious?" Yume got up from her seat and shook her head. "No, he's just joking," she giggled, confused as to why she had stood up. She stopped by Yuto and said with a smile, "Because I am." she showed the room the email on her cell phone.
Laughing, Yuto pointed his finger at Hashimoto, "Gotcha!" Hashimoto laughed along, amused by Yuto's antics. Yuto playfully waved his deck of cards and suggested, "So, now that the discussion is over, wanna play poker with class points?"
"No," came the immediate response from one of them.
Yuto's glare was icy as he spoke in a low voice, "This is not a request." The individual shivered under his gaze, nodding in compliance.
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"Should we pool everything we know so far?" Hirata asked as he looked at Ayanokoji and Yukimura. Just then, Yuto walked into the lounge. "Oh, it's Kazuki-kun," Hirata said, waving at him. Yuto walked over to the boys and asked, "What are you guys up to?" Hirata was about to speak when a sweaty Koenji walked up, saying, "Keeping up with this test nonsense for two more days is such a nuisance." Yuto's face brightened as he replied, "I know, right."
Just then, all their phones received a notification. "What's that?" Yukimura commented as they all took out their phones. "The Monkey group's test has concluded," Hirata read aloud.
"Did you do this, Koenji?" Yukimura yelled in shock. Koenji started laughing as he walked away, saying, "Adieu!" Yuto joined in the laughter, saying, "We really are the same, Koenji!" Yukimura and Hirata turned to Yuto with dismay.
"What do you mean?" Ayanokoji asked. "It should come any minute now," Yuto shrugged. Suddenly, their phones began to ring again. Yukimura's eyes widened as he heard the sound. "Y-You didn't..." he stuttered. "The Cow group's test concluded," Ayanokoji read aloud in a straight tone as Hirata and Yukimura stood up from their seats. "You guessed the VIP in your group?!" Yukimura shouted. Yuto raised a confused brow as he said, "What do you mean? I am the VIP."
"H-How?"
Yuto shrugged and began limping away, saying, "I'll tell you later if you pay me 10,000 points." Yukimura gritted his teeth as Hirata chuckled softly, "That's a bad habit of his."
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YUTO POV
"I sent the 100,000 points, Ichinose-chan!"
Ichinose looked at me with a deadpan expression as she said, "Kazuki-kun, you're smarter than people give you credit for." I chuckled awkwardly, "No, no, this is all thanks to you and Kobashi-chan." I paused. "Thank you, both of you." Ichinose gestured with her hands to deny as she said, "Oh, it's fine! You paid us after all!" I snickered at the thought that I earned 150,000 points from playing poker. Kobashi turned a bit pink as she shifted her posture and fidgeted with her fingers, "Like Ichinose-san said, plus, playing with y-you w-was fun!"
I giggled, "Same here," causing the girl to turn pink. That's when I got a message from Suzune.
[Come to the usual spot in 10 minutes or I'll skin you alive.]
I shivered as I took my leave.
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"How did you do it?" Horikita asked in a crude voice as Ayanokoji listened in. Yuto scoffed, "Give me 10,000 points—" he was cut off by Horikita's painful pinch. "5000!" he said in a painful moan as Horikita agreed. She looked towards Ayanokoji as she said, "Pay for me," in a deadpan tone. Ayanokoji frowned but didn't argue.
"What are you waiting for?" Suzune urged.
"Well, firstly, I am the VIP," Yuto stated matter-of-factly. Horikita's facial expression changed to a grimace as she asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Yuto replied with a straight face, "You never asked." Horikita's frustration was evident but she didn't say anything as Yuto continued. "I didn't want to waste my time in that place, so I made a plan to end it today itself. Firstly, I led the discussion and drew a lot of attention to myself, something which the VIP wouldn't do. Then, I made them sign contracts to not name the VIP after it's revealed, to which they all reluctantly agreed."
Horikita got up from her seat and stared Yuto dead in the eye. "What were the conditions of the contracts?" Yuto shrugged, "I'll tell you the details later."
"I paid Class B 100,000 points to have Yumi Kobashi act as the VIP," Yuto continued. Horikita's eyes widened, "Why?" Ayanokoji answered for Yuto, "Because Yuto betrayed Class B in the island exam. So no one would think that Class B would help Class D to such an extent." Horikita nodded, prompting Yuto to continue.
"I switched my phone with Kobashi's and joked about being the VIP before Kobashi came and showed my phone to the crowd, claiming she was the VIP."
Horikita looked confused, "Why would you joke about being the VIP?" Yuto sighed as he explained, "To see the micro-expressions of anyone who was going to vote for me and to eliminate any threats of people voting for me by 'gazing' at them."
Horikita nodded in understanding, but a question lingered in her mind, "I understand all of this, but how exactly did you get Class C to vote for you so quickly? I mean, I would've observed for at least a day before voting."
Yuto smirked, "Precisely. That is why I asked Kondo to 'convince' the other Class C guys to vote for Kobashi. It was just assurance. They would've voted for Kobashi anyway, as Class A would've waited for at least a day before breaking the contract, and Class C was our enemy from the start. Those fools would've thought that Ryuen would've protected them anyway."
Horikita simply nodded and commented, "Your plan had so many flaws and relied too much on speculation. You were lucky this time."
"No, it wasn't luck," Ayanokoji finally responded, causing Horikita to look at him. "While it's true that this plan was extremely unreliable, the part that makes it so effective is that," he paused to look at Horikita dead in the eye, "it was executed extremely fast."
Ayanokoji turned to Yuto as he asked, "You forced them to play poker immediately after Kobashi showed your phone to keep people's minds occupied by betting their points, right?" Yuto smirked as he nodded. Horikita had a frozen expression as she reanalyzed the plan in her head. Suddenly, her eyes widened, "You didn't let them think straight for one second, did you? You somehow kept their focus on something else the entire time. Pretty masterful indeed."
Yuto looked at Horikita with a smug face as he replied, "Of course it is! It's my scheme, after all!"
Horikita rolled her eyes as she got up to leave. Yuto waved at her and then turned to Ayanokoji, "Kiyo-chan, pay 15,000!" Ayanokoji blinked as he replied, "It's only 5000—"
"No. 5000 for Suzune and 10000 for you."
"Yuto, you are a scammer."
"I've heard that a lot."
"I believe you."
"Talk about a first."