A Late Bloomer's Powerful Restart ~My Second Life Starts at a Prestigious School Where the Gender Ratio Is Totally Off, and for Some Reason, All These Talented Girls Get Attached to Me...!?~ - 04

Chapter 4: The Outcome of the Bet with My Cousin

A week passed.

The lottery ticket won safely… but the problem came afterward. Convincing my parents turned out to be a bit tough.

If their son spent all his money buying ten tickets with the same numbers, of course my parents would worry. Even though it was only ten tickets, to a middle schooler like me, it felt like splashing out a huge sum.

And since it actually won, feeling a sense of crisis was only natural for any human being.

In the end, I let my parents manage the money and the matter was settled.

To be honest, I wanted to invest it, but if it could cover the entrance fee when I got the recommendation spot for Teimon Academy, it wasn’t such a bad choice.

Considering my goal, money could wait.

After the chaotic lottery win story ended, I talked to my parents about applying to Teimon Academy.

The lottery win was a big deal too, but there was something else I needed to focus on now.

Days of concentrating on studying for the mock exam continued.

I didn’t want to get careless here and ruin everything, so no matter how many times I solved practice tests and got perfect scores, I thoroughly crammed the entire high school entrance exam range into my head.

I didn’t neglect going to middle school, but I had no friends.

I had no intention of hanging out with the guys who mocked me in my previous life.

I ignored all the noise and poured the results of that focus into the mock exam.

Time flew by, and the mock exam results came back.

The real thing didn’t feel like the real thing.

It was more like a simulation to get perfect scores in all subjects.

So when the results showed perfect scores across the board, I wasn’t particularly surprised.

“That’s amazing! Your hard work finally paid off!”

“Taiki, you really did great!”

But for my parents, it was different. They rejoiced over the results as if it were their own achievement.

In my first life, even after my talents bloomed, I think they smiled like this.

My purpose was different, but making my parents smile gave me a small sense of pride.

It wasn’t many days later that I was invited to the Yashima house again.

The chairman of a major company shouldn’t have much free time, but Grandpa said he wanted to talk with me alone.

This time, Mom wasn’t allowed to come, so I went by myself.

Kuya Yashima, whom I ran into at the entrance, left quickly with a frustrated look on his face.

I thought he might accuse me of cheating or something, but he seemed to have his own pride.

Fortunately, I didn’t run into Uncle Chuya Yashima, and the next person I met was the second son, Utsumi Yashima.

He seemed shy, only giving a slight nod in response to my greeting.

Even though greeting is basic manners… Grandpa really wasn’t blessed with children who had business talent.

The future downfall of Yashima Electronics wasn’t because of bad management, and it wouldn’t change no matter who inherited the chairman position.

From my perspective, as long as they didn’t cause trouble for Mom, I didn’t care at all.

Today, I was just here to collect my reward.

“It’s been a while. Grandpa.”

The study where a servant led me was filled with the latest electronic devices.

In complete contrast to the antiques placed in every corner of the mansion, only new things were here.

No chair could suit the top of Yashima Electronics better than this one.

“To think you got perfect scores on the mock exam. Even I was honestly surprised.”

“I worked hard to win the bet with Kuya.”

For me, the only thing that mattered was the recommendation spot.

Since I didn’t know how good Kuya was at studying, I just took the surest method.

So I wanted him to let me go home soon… but Grandpa didn’t seem inclined to.

“You take after your mother.”

Maybe because I was being modest.

Well, Mom was supposed to be excellent too, so it didn’t feel bad to hear that.

He let out a breath and gestured for me to sit on the sofa.

The atmosphere didn’t allow refusal, so I obeyed quietly.

“That guy Chuya was boasting about the Teimon Academy entrance exam, but not everything he said was wrong.”

“Is that so?”

“The teaching staff at that academy isn’t incompetent enough to ignore the top exam scorer.”

I had felt the unpleasant direction of the conversation since he said he wanted to talk alone.

In other words, Grandpa was telling me to decline the recommendation spot…

If I got perfect scores on the regular exam too, I could get in. Then I wouldn’t need the recommendation, but there was no guarantee that information wasn’t a lie.

Since there was a sure method with the recommendation, I couldn’t back down here.

“Are you perhaps trying to make me take the regular exam and give the recommendation spot to Kuya?”

I responded as if taking his provocation.

Actually, that possibility was high. Letting two people from the same generation into Teimon… thinking about the future of Yashima Electronics, he would want to keep the excellent heir candidate.

“Heh heh heh… Hahaha!!”

My words must have amused him, because he burst out laughing.

“I wouldn’t do that. Didn’t I say it? There are plenty of excellent children outside the family too. If I’m giving it to Kuya who lost, it would be many times more valuable in the future to invest in them instead.”

He seemed to mean it sincerely, not just as an excuse.

It didn’t seem like he was simply encouraging his own bloodline to get in on merit.

He was probably looking at the future of talent.

“Besides… your mother accomplished it.”

“!?”

…So that’s what he meant by resembling her.

No, if so, that means there was a witness to the claim that the top scorer gets in.

This old man read that I didn’t believe it and deliberately held back until now?

He did the same with Uncle Chuya. The type who keeps their trump card in reserve is hard to deal with.

“You might have forgotten, but I didn’t say I’d give the recommendation spot to the winner. The promise was to recommend the winner.”

I thought that was splitting hairs, but I decided to hear him out first.

“What exactly does recommending mean?”

“I’ll give you a choice. The recommendation spot, or the tuition fees until graduation.”

I got played. Giving me a choice I couldn’t refuse right at this moment.

For the first time since regressing, I felt so strongly the helplessness of being a child.

But I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Please give me the tuition fees. However, I’d like to request a change in the conditions.”