Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

"Well then, Oreki-kun, now that this shop project is over, we've become friends, right~?" Kikyō's demeanor turned cute again.

"Of course." Houtarou nodded.

He didn't have a specific definition for friendship, but he knew that disagreeing now would be troublesome. A week had passed, and Suzune's feedback revealed that Kikyō was still waiting at her door every morning before school.

Persistent. If he refused her offer of friendship, she might direct that persistence towards him. Though the possibility was only 10%, Houtarou disliked troublesome situations.

After transferring Points to Kikyō, he also sent 306,000 Points to Suzune, remembering her 10% commission. Simultaneously, he returned the 2 million he had pretended to borrow from Kikyō earlier.

Now, only his own Points remained in his student ID private account.

"Let's call it a day." Houtarou said.

He deliberately pulled up the system.

〖 Main Task: 20 Million Points Big Mission! 〗

〖 Task Requirement: Gather 20 million Points within three months! 〗

〖 Task Duration: 78/90 Days 〗

〖 Task Reward: Superhuman Physique — Major Physical Enhancement 〗

〖 Task Progress: 3,877,500 Pts / 20,000,000 Pts 〗

〖 Note: All Points earned by the host can be entrusted to Manabu Horikita, who is about to graduate from the third year, and can be guaranteed to be exchanged for cash! 〗

The main quest was progressing well. Nearly 1/4 of the 20 million Points had been collected — a promising start.

Moreover, thanks to Miyabi, he'd conceived another method to amass a large number of Points: his shop opening rights.

The school adhered to the principle of strength above all, Points above all, and anything could be bought with Points. Even permissions prohibited by the school were purchasable.

That method of obtaining pocket money, familiar to all Japanese high school students, could also be bought. The return rate was potentially high — around 5 million points at a fixed price.

For now, he'd wait for this shop task to conclude. He only had the first installment of Points from Class B and C students, and the 510,000 Points from the 51 people who terminated the contract hadn't arrived yet.

Houtarou disliked trouble and multi-tasking. So he waited... for the students of Class B and C to discover the issue.

And today, being the weekend, he could test out the Precognitive Dream ability he'd obtained a few days ago.

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Meanwhile, in First-year Class C.

It was Saturday, and school was out. Students were free to do as they please, yet the first-year Class C students had all gathered in their classroom. After a week of tension and duels, a class representative had finally emerged.

It wasn't Daichi Ishizaki. His face bore marks of being beaten up — he had lost the duel.

After subduing Albert, Kakeru Ryūen had fully expanded his control over his classmates. He spoke with his fists, and regardless of gender, anyone who opposed him faced violence.

He was, in short, a tyrant.

Today, he had gathered the last person who resisted him. Kakeru had become the voice of Class C — its undisputed ruler.

"Yesterday, I got some news from a second-year senpai." He said, "That's why I ensured there's only one voice in our class. After entering this school, I discovered it's very special. There are cameras everywhere — to an extreme degree. Not only is tuition free, but we're also given living expenses, and the 100,000 points on the student ID can be used as money. Yesterday's events verified this: this school values strength above all else. The school's propaganda is false — only those who graduate from Class A will have the school fulfill its promises. As for other students, they'll be expelled through various exams, or... at graduation, be assigned to other high schools."

"Eh?" The students of Class C looked shocked.

"Surprised?" Kakeru, a tall man with red hair and a middle-parted hairstyle, looked fierce as he spoke, "Looks like you're all idiots. Didn't you think about how the school is government-funded? How could they possibly raise useless trash like you for free? To put it bluntly, we've all been chosen to be lab rats. In the end, only Class A students will be promoted as excellent products."

"So if you can't climb up to Class A, you're just trash — nothing but trash. But there are benefits too. If our Class Points can surpass Class A, and we graduate as Class A, we can become elites. Even if you're a poor student, you can enter the university you want without exams and for free. Even if you don't go to college and just start working, you can get a good position."

Noticing that the students were frightened and starting to take him seriously, he softened his tone.

"Over the years, Class C has never managed to climb up. But that was in the past, and now I'm here. So!" He paused for effect, "Obey me. Under my rule, I will lead you to the top. Now that we know this school values strength above all, here's what we'll do: Everyone give me 50,000 points as class fees first. For the rest of your time in school, give me half of the points you receive from the school every month. 20,000 is the payment for leading you to climb up, and the rest will be used as class fees—some actions require points."

Then he walked towards Daichi.

"Starting with you, transfer 50,000 points to me!"