COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 37: Sakayanagi Narumori's eyes sharpened

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Rin Matsuoka pushed open the door of the office and walked in. The furniture in the chairman's office was all made of dark-colored rosewood, which looked solemn and grand.

There weren't too many decorations, just two green plants.

Sakayanagi Narumori, who was sitting behind his desk reviewing documents, raised his head. When he saw Rin's figure, his calm expression couldn't help but reveal surprise.

"Why is it you, kid?"

When Rin heard what Sakayanagi Narumori said, he knew that the chairman didn't mind him entering the office at this time.

Rin smiled and said, "Ah, school doesn't officially start until tomorrow, and I don't know where to kill time, so I snuck over to see you, old man."

"I hope I didn't bother you."

"No, take a seat."

With a gentle smile, Sakayanagi Narumori stretched out his hand and motioned for Rin to sit on the sofa.

Rin happily sat down on the sofa. Sakayanagi Narumori put down the documents in his hand and asked, "What would you like to drink?"

"No need for this." Rin waved his hand quickly.

"Although you're a student, you're a guest sitting here. How could I not entertain you? Do you like tea? I've just made a pot."

"Okay, thank you for your hospitality."

Wasn't this old man being too polite to him?

Sakayanagi Narumori looked at Rin, who appeared a little uncomfortable. He picked up the teapot and said with a smile, "Relax, treat me the same way you did in the pavilion before. Don't be restrained."

"..." Rin looked at Sakayanagi Narumori suspiciously, "Then you won't retaliate against me later, right?"

"No, and I've never taken revenge on you."

"You called me to the podium at the entrance ceremony. Isn't that revenge?"

"It was a random draw. Who knew you'd be picked?" Sakayanagi Narumori said with a smile, without any guilt. "What a coincidence."

"…"

After all this nonsense and sophistry, the atmosphere between Rin and Sakayanagi Narumori became much more relaxed, and Rin also became more casual.

Rin and Sakayanagi Narumori sat opposite each other, both drinking fragrant tea that was emitting wisps of hot steam, looking like two old friends getting together.

"Still playing chess?" Rin suddenly asked.

Rin's words made Sakayanagi Narumori's eyes sharpen.

"Before, there was wind over there in the pavilion, which affected my concentration, so I lost to you."

Rin was amused by the chairman's stubbornness. "There's no wind in your office right now. If you lose later, don't use 'there's no wind in the office, and it's too hot to think' as an excuse."

"Of course not!"

Sakayanagi Narumori stood up and walked to the desk. He took out a chess set from the drawer.

"Come!"

"Just playing chess is meaningless. My idea is to add some spice to it."

"Oh? What do you mean by a prize, Rin? You want to give me a note if I lose? That's too childish. I won't agree to that."

Rin crossed his hands and said with a smile, "It is indeed childish to post notes, but I don't agree to that. How about this~ Let's bet on personal points, and the loser will pay the winner 30,000 personal points."

Upon hearing Rin's words, Sakayanagi Narumori immediately shook his head and said, "That won't work."

"Why not?"

"You ask why not? Well, let me tell you a story first."

"Okay." Rin made a gesture of listening attentively.

"This school has been established for more than ten years, and many large and small incidents have occurred during this period."

"The most impressive one was a fraud incident."

"Fraud?" Rin raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, fraud," Sakayanagi Narumori nodded slightly and continued.

"About three years ago, a student in Class B who was about to graduate was forced to drop out of school for fraud."

"Is it that serious?"

"Yes, it is that serious."

"That was also during the freshman enrollment period, and that student used verbal deception, threats of force, and other methods to steal personal points from the freshmen who had just enrolled and were unfamiliar with the system."

"He stole more than 12 million personal points from the freshmen."

"Because the means were vile and the circumstances were serious, it caused major unrest within the school, so the school imposed sanctions."

"The student with bad behavior was forced to withdraw from school."

"Finally, to protect the personal points of the freshmen, the school drafted a school rule."

Sakayanagi Narumori looked directly at Rin and said slowly, "Before the freshmen clearly understand the importance of personal points, all students, faculty, and staff in the school are not allowed to trade or gamble personal points with the freshmen."

"So I can't bet my personal points against a freshman like you, Rin."

"Ah..." Rin showed a conflicted expression.

This school rule is indeed meant to protect new students who are unaware of the harsh realities of the school.

However, for someone like Rin, this school rule is not protection but a restriction...

"Then when will the freshmen be allowed to bet each other's personal points?" Rin asked.

"Well, maybe in a month," Sakayanagi Narumori replied.

One month later is when the homeroom teacher will announce the class roll numbers to the first-year students.

By then, students will understand the relationship between class points and personal points and recognize the importance of personal points.

After that, if students still don't know how to protect their personal points, then it's their own problem and has nothing to do with the school.

"A month later," Rin said helplessly.

The task given by the narrator is for Rin to collect 300,000 personal points by today… After a month, everything will be over.

"Chairman, you're the head of the school. You should be able to make exceptions to this rule, right?"

"Of course not!"

Sakayanagi Narumori showed an upright expression, and he said firmly, "As the chairman of this school, I should take the lead and strictly abide by all the school regulations!"

"…"

You are amazing.

You are honest and fair!

Have you ever thought about me?

I need 300,000 personal points to complete the mission!

"Come on, let's not talk about anything else, let's play chess," Sakayanagi Narumori called out to Rin.

Rin suddenly lost interest in playing chess and said seriously, "I was wrong."

"What?" Sakayanagi Narumori looked at Rin, who suddenly apologized, in confusion.

"Old man, you are a fair and firm chairman. I just thought about it and felt that my asking you to play chess while you were working not only delayed your work but also caused you to make the mistake of slacking off during work."

"I can't be such a bad person!"