Daily Rewards! Transmigrating into a novel as a side-character!

After all the students from the other classes had disappeared into the examination grounds, the Commander turned his attention to me with a look that mixed curiosity with stern authority. His experienced eyes seemed to be evaluating whether I had a legitimate reason for the delay or if I was simply making a rookie mistake.

I looked back at my team, ensuring they understood to maintain their positions. "Wait here. I will be back shortly."

I walked directly toward the Commander, maintaining confident posture despite the intimidating presence he projected.

"How can I help you?" the Commander asked, his tone neutral but clearly expecting a worthwhile explanation for my unusual approach.

"I want a hint."

The Commander looked at me as if I was an idiot, his expression shifting to one of complete bewilderment. He glanced over at my team, who had chosen me as their leader, clearly confused about why they would follow someone making such an apparently foolish request.

"Why would I give you a hint when I didn't give the others?" he said with obvious disdain. "I suggest you hurry up and make your way toward the forest before you fall too far behind."

I smiled confidently before delivering my real proposition. "You will give me a hint because I will pay for it with my points."

The Commander looked visibly shocked, his eyes widening as if he couldn't believe what the student before him had just said. The change in his demeanor was immediate and dramatic.

No student should know about the point system's deeper applications yet. Every student who discovered the academy's hidden point economy was required to sign a magical contract ensuring they couldn't discuss it with families, friends, or anyone else.

Once that contract was breached, the academy would be immediately notified. This was how the institution ensured that new students remained ignorant of the system when they first entered, only gradually learning about it through experience.

"Who told you?" The Commander's aura flared dangerously, his power pressing down on me with intimidating force. This was clearly a serious issue in his mind - if someone had revealed the information, it meant the academy's carefully designed secrecy system was compromised and fundamentally flawed.

"So I'm right... hah." I smiled with satisfaction at his reaction.

The Commander's expression showed he realized he'd been played, that his shocked response had confirmed my suspicions about the point system's hidden applications. His face darkened with a mixture of anger and grudging respect.

He looked like he wanted to detain me, interrogate me further, and take various disciplinary actions, but the examination was officially underway and he couldn't abandon his duties.

"What hints do you want?" he asked through gritted teeth. "And do you even have the points required for such information?"

I knew I couldn't ask for specific locations or detailed information - that would cost an astronomical number of points. Instead, I needed to ask an indirect question that would still provide valuable strategic advantage.

"I want to know the general direction of the shrine with the highest concentration of Crest Marks," I said carefully. "Since there are multiple shrines, one must be significantly more difficult and valuable than the others. Am I right?"

The Commander neither denied nor confirmed my assumption, remaining silent while he considered my request. "So you want just the general direction?"

I nodded my head firmly.

"Very well. That will cost you 50,000 points," he said with a smirk, as if saying 'would you really want to pay half of your monthly allowance just for this information?'

"That's it? That's pretty cheap," I replied with a smile, immediately agreeing without any hesitation or negotiation.

I could have involved my team and made them contribute to the cost, but there was a specific reason why I had left them behind for this conversation.

I took out my student identification card and handed it to him. "You can deduct it directly."

"You're not going to let your team help you pay?" The Commander seemed genuinely shocked. Everyone desperately wanted points, yet here was a student casually spending them without even considering shared costs.

I smirked before answering. "Why would I let them know about this system?"

After paying the amount, the Commander leaned in slightly and said in a low voice, "Head west."

A smile formed on my face as I processed this information. During the initial rush, I hadn't seen a single team heading in that direction. Most of the other classes had gone north toward the denser forest areas or south toward the more obvious shrine clusters.

I returned to my team, where some members were clearly frustrated that we had already wasted several precious minutes while everyone else had gotten a head start. We were clearly behind everyone else, even the teams that were considered untalented.

"So? What did you talk to him about?" Emmet was the first to ask, curious rather than impatient.

"I asked him about the direction of the shrine with the most Crest Marks," I replied matter-of-factly.

"And?" Emmet pressed, waiting for the response.

"He told me it's to the west. We should start moving."

My classmates exchanged confused glances, clearly bewildered by everything that had just transpired. How was such a thing even possible? Could they simply ask the Commander questions and receive answers?

One of the students spoke up with obvious scepticism. "If he told you this information, why didn't you ask him something more valuable?"

"Because he won't answer more detailed questions. You can try if you want," I shrugged my shoulders casually.

Indeed, the curious student quickly approached the Commander and attempted to ask for more specific hints. Within seconds, he was told to scram and stop wasting time by the commander that was already in a bad mood because he was played by Adrian.

The student returned looking dejected and embarrassed, finally understanding that whatever I had done was not something that could be easily replicated.

"How did you manage that?" Elen asked quietly as we began moving toward the western section.