Naoki Kojima had been standing by the roadside for nearly two hours.
He was a second-year student in the Faculty of Economics and also one of the people in charge of recruiting new members for the Economics Research Club this year.
Since the entrance ceremony ended, he and a few other club members had been staying near their booth, handing out flyers to every freshman who might be interested in economics.
The results were not ideal.
The name "Economics Research Club" really lacked appeal.
When passing freshmen heard the word "research," they often looked hesitant before he could even introduce the specific activities.
Not to mention that today, both sides of the road were lined with clubs for skiing, tennis, music, travel, and all sorts of other activities that sounded very relaxed.
The Light Music Club across the way had even sent out an entire band to liven up the atmosphere, and now it was so crowded over there that there was no room left.
In contrast, the dense economic relationship charts behind their booth made it hard for people to imagine a colorful and exciting college life.
Naoki had just sent off a freshman who left with the excuse, "I will discuss it with my friends first," when he turned his head and noticed three girls walking from the other side of the road.
What attracted him first, of course, was their appearance.
The clothes the three wore did not have overly exaggerated brand logos, but the cut and texture were clearly a cut above most of the surrounding freshmen.
Their looks were also outstanding; just walking together in the crowd caused people to subconsciously turn and take a second look.
However, what really caught Naoki's attention was their demeanor.
Most freshmen who had just enrolled appeared somewhat reserved when walking here.
Even if they pretended to be relaxed, their eyes would constantly scan their surroundings, afraid of doing something inappropriate in an unfamiliar campus.
The three people in front of him, however, had no such feeling at all.
They chatted and laughed, slowly looking at the club booths on both sides, and showed no reaction to the obvious gazes around them, as if they were long accustomed to being the center of attention.
A somewhat cliché description suddenly popped into Naoki's mind.
"Young ladies of high status."
The kind of young ladies who walked right out of a manga.
His gaze swept between the three, and he quickly made a decision.
He had to find a way to recruit them.
Having all three join would be best, of course, but if that was not possible, keeping even one would be a considerable success.
Not to mention whether the club's future events would become more eye-catching, just having them stand near the booth for a while would be enough to make the nearby freshmen, who were originally uninterested, drift over.
Naoki even saw a few boys slow down their pace.
More importantly, the opportunity seemed to have been delivered right to him.
Of the three girls, the one standing in the middle clearly carried the most weight.
Her attire was the most elegant and understated of the three, and her long hair was just naturally draped behind her shoulders, but when the other two spoke, they would always subconsciously observe her reaction.
And she had looked toward the Economics Research Club's booth more than once.
Especially when passing by that main signboard, her gaze lingered for quite a long time, clearly interested in the topic they had been researching recently.
As long as there was an interest in economic research, many things would be easy to handle.
Their Economics Research Club might not be good at attracting freshmen with skiing and surfing, but Takahashi, the senior in charge of this open seminar, was indeed quite outstanding among the third-year students in the Faculty of Economics.
Naoki himself had been kept on by Takahashi.
When he first enrolled last year, his understanding of economics was limited to exams and job hunting.
It was not until he attended the research seminar for the first time and heard Takahashi break down a real estate company's land, loans, and actual cash flow that he realized those seemingly complex corporate events in the news could actually be analyzed bit by bit.
Takahashi had been preparing for this research on Seibu and Saionji for more than two months.
He had been collecting data since before the two sides officially announced their partnership.
The Ikebukuro Line and Shinjuku Line of Seibu Railway, passenger flow at key stations, the layout of Prince Hotel in Tokyo and Hokkaido, the businesses around the stadiums, and even those formerly stalled projects in Odaiba, he had organized them all separately.
For the management rights and procurement cooperation that the newspapers only covered in a few lines of text, Takahashi had even looked up their respective terms.
He had also personally visited several stations to confirm whether Saionji's products and logistics had truly entered Seibu's operating system.
Several of the photos on the display board today were taken by him personally.
Teachers from the Faculty of Economics had also seen the articles he compiled.
The teacher said at the time, "The data is very complete, and the conclusions can be discussed further," but in Naoki's view, being able to have a professor write comments specifically on a student club article was enough to prove Takahashi's capability.
As long as these three junior students in front of him were willing to listen for a while, it was very likely they would become interested in the Economics Research Club.
Naoki was ready to step forward.
However, after looking at the display board, the three girls did not approach the booth but instead continued walking down the road.
Naoki was stunned for a moment.
Seeing that the few boys attracted by them were also about to leave, he could no longer worry about guarding the booth; he grabbed a few introductory brochures and chased after them.
The most important thing now was to make them stop.
"Hello."
Naoki circled from the side to the front of the three, maintaining a distance that would not block their path, and his face quickly revealed the enthusiastic smile he had practiced all morning.
"You are first-year students, right? I am Kojima, a second-year in the Economics Research Club."
He did not speak directly to the girl in the middle, who was the hardest to read, but chose the one who looked the easiest to talk to.
Ayako was already holding several flyers from other clubs, and her reaction when looking at the display board earlier had been the most obvious.
According to the experience Naoki had accumulated over the past half-day, such freshmen usually would not immediately refuse to communicate just because an unfamiliar senior suddenly approached.
"Junior, I saw you all looking at our club's sign just now."
Naoki held up the thin brochure in his hand.
"Are you interested in the Economics Research Club's recent topics? Here is an introductory brochure we prepared for the open seminar; you can take a look."
As he spoke, he stepped aside half a step and made a gesture of invitation.
"As for economics, it is not that I am not interested."
Ayako tilted her head and looked at him for a while, then raised her hand and pointed to Satsuki beside her.
"But it is mainly her who is a bit curious about your research topic."
Naoki was delighted.
He had not judged wrongly, after all.
As long as they were willing to stop and listen to him, this recruitment drive had already taken a big step toward success.
"Is that so? That is great."
Naoki immediately picked a brochure without any creases from his hand and handed it to Satsuki with both hands.
"This is the material for our open seminar."
Satsuki took the brochure and looked down, opening the first page.
Naoki took advantage of the time she was reading to continue asking, "Are all three of you from the Faculty of Economics?"
"She and I are."
Ayako pointed to herself, then to Satsuki, and then looked at Reiko on the other side.
"She is from the Faculty of Law."
"The Faculty of Law is perfectly fine, too."
Naoki answered quickly.
"When we discuss corporate partnerships, we often deal with contracts, policies, and banking systems. We already have students from the Faculty of Law in the club; sometimes their perspective on issues is even more accurate than ours."
Reiko nodded slightly, not immediately committing.
Naoki looked at Satsuki again.
She had already flipped to the middle of the brochure, her gaze lingering on that diagram of the business relationship between Seibu and Saionji.
"If you are interested in the collaboration between Seibu and Saionji, why not go to the small lecture hall and listen?"
"Our club is holding an open seminar there today; it has just started, and you do not need to register in advance to go in and audit."
Satsuki looked up.
Naoki noticed that when the topic involved whether to go and visit, the other two girls did not rush to make a decision but instead looked at her simultaneously.
This made him even more certain of his judgment.
Among the three, she was indeed the leader.
Satsuki closed the brochure in her hand and gave Naoki a gentle smile.
"Sure."
"Then we will go and take a look."
She nodded slightly.
"Sorry to trouble you for leading the way, senior."
"Of course it is no trouble."
Naoki's smile immediately became even brighter.
"Please follow me; I believe you will find it interesting."
He turned around and led the three away from the recruitment street toward the small lecture hall where the seminar was being held.
On the way, there were still many club members coming up to hand out flyers, but seeing the Economics Research Club badge hanging on Naoki's chest and noticing that the three were already following behind him, they retreated with some regret.
Naoki walked in front, feeling that this was the perfect time to continue introducing the club.
"The person in charge of the presentation today is Takahashi, a third-year in the Faculty of Economics; most of the materials for this topic were compiled by him."
"He has always had a lot of research on external economies and spatial economics, and in recent months, he has focused on the development of Odaiba."
Naoki looked back.
All three were listening.
So he spoke with even more enthusiasm.
"The government, Seibu, and Saionji have all invested a lot of resources in Odaiba now. Typical news will only write that both sides have reached a cooperation, or that Seibu has bowed to Saionji, but Takahashi has investigated the railways, hotels, stadiums, and Odaiba projects separately."
"Which of Seibu's stations were included in the cooperation, how many years the management rights are, which regions the Prince Hotel's procurement agreements cover, and when Saionji's logistics will truly enter these places—he has organized it all very clearly."
"The relationship chart on the display board outside was drawn by Takahashi. He even went to several stations himself, and he has also run to Odaiba more than once."
Ayako, walking beside Satsuki, suddenly twitched the corner of her mouth slightly upon hearing this.
Naoki did not notice.
He was still immersed in his introduction of the senior.
"At first, we also thought this matter was very simple: Seibu lost, and Saionji won."
"But after Takahashi's research, he believes the actual situation is not as obvious as the news writes."
"Seibu handed over a lot of management rights, but in order to complete the Odaiba development, Saionji also shouldered significant financial and operational risks. The more Saionji invests in Odaiba, the easier it is for Seibu's remaining hotels, land, and transportation assets to benefit from it."
Naoki slowed his pace slightly here.
"I cannot explain the specific content in a few words; you will know once you hear Takahashi explain it in a moment."
"He makes corporate case studies very easy to understand. When I first joined the club last year, I was not even familiar with reading financial statements, but in the end, I could understand it all."
Naoki was firmly convinced of this.
As long as these three junior students heard Takahashi's complete analysis, they would more or less become interested in the Economics Research Club.
After the open seminar ended, he would take them to visit the activity room, introduce the club magazine and the weekly regular meetings, and the possibility of them joining would be much higher.
Naoki thought silently to himself.
Ayako, walking behind, pursed her lips tightly, and her shoulders trembled slightly, as if she had been holding back something.
Naoki looked back suspiciously.
Ayako immediately raised her hand, pretending to fix her hair, and the expression on her face returned to normal.
"She kept looking like she wanted to laugh."
Naoki thought for a while but still could not find the answer.
"Probably because she was looking forward to today's speech."
"Never mind."
"As long as he brought them inside, his mission would be accomplished."