The next morning...
Hakuto, carrying a black school bag, arrived early to stake out the entrance of Otosaka Yuu's school. With him were Nao and Jojiro.
"By the way, Takajo, where were you yesterday?"
"Me? I was stationed in the student council office the whole time."
Hearing that, Hakuto's face twisted in disbelief.
"You're telling me... I was out here in the blazing sun carrying out the mission, and you were sitting in an air-conditioned office?"
"Well... there was also a fan."
"That's not the point!"
"Enough, quiet down. The target has appeared."
Following Nao's voice, Hakuto turned to look. Otosaka Yuu was walking through the school gates, looking utterly exhausted—his face clearly showed he hadn't slept well.
"Is this really necessary? We already gave him a proper warning last night. Wouldn't it be easier to just pull him into the school?"
Nao turned her head and stared straight at him.
"You really think your warning worked?"
"Of course. I almost had to reveal everything yesterday."
"In my opinion, he might not use his ability for something as extreme as hijacking a truck again. But if he wants to maintain his rank as the top student, he has no choice but to use his power."
"But that's just a guess. Let's observe first."
"What a hassle... Does someone really need superpowers to be the top student?"
"That's only easy for you to say."
With that, Nao raised her camera and followed Otosaka Yuu into the school. Hakuto trailed behind her but noticed that Jojiro remained in place.
"Huh? Why isn't he coming with us?"
"Too many people would be suspicious. Stop asking and hurry up."
With Nao urging him, Hakuto sighed and rubbed his forehead in resignation.
The two of them reached a staircase corner, watching as Otosaka Yuu entered his classroom. Nao, however, didn't follow him any further.
Instead, she stopped and turned to Hakuto.
"Hakuto, open your bag."
Without questioning, Hakuto did as told. The bag was something Nao had handed to him earlier at the school gate.
Nao reached inside and pulled out a laptop, holding it up in front of Hakuto.
"??? What, are you giving me a break so I can play Black Myth: Wukong for a bit?"
Just as Hakuto was about to comment on how terrible the experience would be on a laptop, Nao shoved the camera right in his face.
"I'm telling you to hack into that guy's classroom surveillance."
"??!!??"
Hakuto instinctively took two steps back, almost tumbling down the stairs.
"Are... are you serious? I know I'm a genius, but I don't remember ever having hacking skills."
"..."
"Stop looking at me like that."
"And besides, you're asking me to hack a surveillance system with just a laptop? Are you sure this thing even has the specs for it?"
"Is that so..." Nao shrugged and placed the laptop on the stairs, pulling out her phone as if she was about to call Takajo.
"So I was supposed to be some kind of all-powerful genius in your mind?"
The moment Hakuto said "all-powerful," Nao paused, lowering her phone slightly.
"All-powerful?..."
"...Why are you looking at me like that again?"
"Just remembered something you said yesterday."
As soon as she finished speaking, Nao picked up her phone again, but this time, she wasn't making a call.
A moment later, Hakuto's phone chimed with a notification.
"Bank deposit: 30,000 yen..."
Hakuto blinked in confusion.
He was about to wonder which client had just paid their overdue balance when he noticed Nao shaking her phone at him and nudging the laptop his way.
"...So what exactly did you just remember?"
"You said, 'Money makes the world go round.'"
Hakuto let out a long sigh and took the laptop from her hands.
"I thought you said I couldn't do it?"
"Now that you've been paid, you can't just sit around doing nothing, right? Just pray this laptop doesn't explode on you."
Hakuto powered on the laptop, but as soon as the screen lit up, he nearly burst out laughing.
"360 Antivirus? Tweety Bird Wallpapers?"
Seeing these two infamous programs, he could barely hold it in.
Of course, opening a girl's laptop, you were bound to find these two classics.
"Where did you even get this laptop?"
"Hmm? From the student council office. Just grabbed one randomly. Why?"
"...Nothing, nothing. Watch me work my magic."
Hakuto quickly deleted the 360 Antivirus and Tweety Bird Wallpapers shortcuts. He didn't have time to deal with these two troublemakers—out of sight, out of mind.
But this was still a laptop—a laptop with 360 and Tweety Bird Wallpapers. It took him forever just to connect to the internet.
"Are you actually going to be able to do this?"
"Tsk... If you're trying to provoke me, then congrats, you succeeded."
If the equipment wasn't up to par, he'd just have to make up for it with raw talent.
Super Calculation—Activate!!
From Nao's perspective, Hakuto suddenly flicked his hair dramatically, and in the next second, he placed the laptop back in her hands.
"Huh?"
"All done. The surveillance is unlocked. Oh, and I cleaned up some junk files for you too."
Nao looked at the live camera feed on the laptop screen, then instinctively turned to stare at Hakuto.
"Thanks for your business. Feel free to come again."
Hakuto looked at the extra 30,000 yen in his bank account and felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
Especially the feeling of earning money with his own abilities—it was amazing.
And just like that, Hakuto had become the very thing he once despised.
Not long ago, he was scoffing at Otosaka Yuu for using superpowers to cheat his way to the top of the class.
Now, he had just made 30,000 yen using his own superpower.
Gotta admit... well, that aged well, heh.
Just as Hakuto was basking in his success, Nao smacked him across the head.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You were smiling way too creepily just now."
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Check out the other translations too: [Mash-Up: I'm Not A Substitute]
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