Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Meanwhile...

After parting with Manabu, Houtarou walked toward a side path, having achieved his goal but not yet finished his tasks.

He opened his student ID to check his points.

『Houtarou Oreki』

『Student ID: 1008610010』

『Class: First Year, Class A』

『Personal Account: ¤ 21,090,900 Pts』

With this enormous sum, he had completed the main task of gathering 20 million Points.

Next, he checked his Side Task.

〖 Side Task: Teacher, Please, Be Professional! 〗

〖 Task Requirement: Destroy Sae Chabashira's ambitions! 〗

〖 Task Duration: Three Weeks 〗

〖 Task Reward: Teleportation Ability Enhancement (removes the restriction of only being able to teleport to places you've been, can now teleport to specific coordinates or locations seen in photos.) 〗

〖 Task Punishment: None! 〗

He still needed to defeat Sae's ambition. Being energy-efficient by nature, he saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone — the exam paper incident could be leveraged against both Nagumo and Chabashira.

He took out Suzune's phone from his pocket.

Beep Beep Beep!

He had switched off her phone earlier, and now was likely when Sae's patience had worn thin.

He turned it on.

Beep Beep!

As expected — 68 missed calls, all from one person: Sae Chabashira.

Her mental state must have been chaotic when she first thought the exam papers were leaked. Though she had calmed somewhat after discovering they weren't, the sheer number of calls spoke volumes.

Houtarou opened the messaging function.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| Chabashira-sensei, how are you feeling? |

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| ?? |

Beep Beep Beep!

The phone vibrated again as Sae called once more.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| I don't want to speak with you right now. |

| Please communicate via text message instead. |

After 3 seconds, the phone vibrated again.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| Horikita, you've grown quite bold. |

| I checked your location — you're at the physics lab. |

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| You seem well-versed in the school rules. However, I was merely taking out trash, not leaking exam answers. Catching me won't achieve anything. |

| More importantly, Chabashira-sensei, why did you deceive me? |

| Having only 100,000 Points on your Points Card — are you suggesting that's all I'm worth? Nothing could be more insulting. |

Houtarou continued typing.

Suzune alone could never handle Sae effectively. The teacher had previously led Class D toward Class A, and though she failed, she still managed to reach Class B.

She was experienced, while Suzune was merely a fledgling who hadn't yet learned to fly.

She stood no chance against Sae — her withdrawn demeanor made that clear.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| Are you really Suzune Horikita? |

Though Sae communicated only through text, one could imagine her frowning as she posed this question.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| You should know I'm the sister of this school's top student. He's my brother, and he's exceptional — as his sister, I must have some redeeming qualities. |

| Also, trying to threaten me using my brother won't work. Yes, I'm incompetent and cause him trouble, but he still shows his care by sending me 50,000 Points monthly for living expenses. |

| This only proves that my brother is watching over me. |

This shows your brother is watching over you? In other words...

"..." Sae fell silent.

Had Manabu discovered her attempt to use the sibling relationship to threaten Suzune?

She could see Manabu and other Student Council members cleaning up trash nearby. His presence was undeniable.

Manabu had earned his reputation as the most outstanding Student Council President in history. While kind-hearted, he was not someone to cross.

The Student Council system stood above the faculty system — even subject teachers and homeroom teachers had to defer to the Student Council President.

The Student Council wielded enough authority to give directions to teachers.

This meant Sae was powerless against Manabu and could even become his target.

Her rash decision to leverage the sibling relationship had been dangerous. While Suzune might be immature, her brother was another matter entirely.

Sae had made assumptions based on their similar appearance, shared surname, and Suzune's mysteriously increasing Points.

These details had piqued her interest.

Sae harbored an obsession with elevating Class D to Class A — a dream she failed to achieve in the past and desperately wanted to fulfill. Yet opportunity had always eluded her.

This year seemed no different.

Class D's Points had dropped to 0 on their very first day after receiving the school rules.

In her desperation, she had nearly given up.

Then on May 1st, a phone call from outside the school revealed something unexpected — among her class of struggling and problematic students was someone extraordinary.

That person was Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.

His father had called, angrily demanding his son's withdrawal, claiming this "garbage school" was beneath his son's abilities.

This revealed that Kiyotaka possessed hidden talents — a dark horse Sae never knew existed in her class.

Upon confronting him about his father's call, Kiyotaka dropped his ordinary facade but refused to lead the class.

He questioned the point of leading a class that could lose 1000 Class Points in a single month.

This led Sae to focus on Suzune, devising a plan to manipulate her into leading the class.

Her goal was simple: have Suzune unite the class and reach Class B, or at least demonstrate to Kiyotaka that the class could be saved.

But before her scheme could bear fruit, Suzune — her first chess piece — had surrendered.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| If you're talking about Points, there's not much to say. I'm just Class D's teacher, and I was a homeroom teacher for three years in the previous batch. |

| The salary isn't high, and I have school expenses too. It's natural that my Points Card balance is low. |

| But if you help bring the class up, my salary will rise accordingly. Saving 5 million Points wouldn't take long at all. |

Her message arrived quickly.

Meanwhile, Houtarou found a place to sit.

Earlier, Sae had pushed for Suzune to lead Class D to Class B, but now that she'd been exposed, she was talking about saving money together — as if everyone would win.

So, this teacher had been trying to get something for nothing from the start.

But too bad, Sae. Your trump card is your savings account.

Houtarou already knew this from the previous mission choice.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| Chabashira-sensei, leading Class D upward is impossible. |

| Just now, when I threw out the trash, your heart rate increased, didn't it? You thought I leaked the exam. If exams were leaked and the school had to make new ones, half the class would likely fail and face expulsion. |

| Do you think Class D could handle such a situation? |

| I'm not looking down on anyone, but a class of struggling students simply can't withstand the various written exams that might come. |

"..." Sae was silent.

Who doesn't know?

Class D is like this — difficult students to teach, those with various flaws, poor athletes, struggling academics — they all gather here.

So... the foundation is indeed weak.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| But I don't want to continue this. So I'll offer you a free strategy for Class D. |

| Though most of Class D's students have weak foundations, removing these students would immediately raise Class D's overall quality. |

| So, while I was just throwing trash, you could arrange for someone to actually leak the exam. |

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| That's impossible. |

Sae replied without hesitation.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| Right, because then Class D wouldn't be Class D anymore. Most students would be expelled, leaving only a few. Class D would become a special class for those few students. |

| So let me give you another strategy. |

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| What is it? |

She quickly asked.

Houtarou typed.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| It's a strategy only the current Class D can use. Our Evaluation Score is 0, so as long as it can't go below 0, we can use any means to weaken other classes. |

| Like getting into fights and such, getting Points deducted together. Since Class D is at 0, deductions won't affect us, but other classes will be dragged down. |

| As long as Class D is shameless enough, we can bring everyone down to our level. |

| I call this the Four Classes Zero Points Campaign. |

| When all four classes reach zero Points, hasn't Class D essentially become Class A? |

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| Hahaha! |

Sae quickly sent another message.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| You're not Suzune Horikita — she's not this clever. |

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| Why do you say that? |

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| Because looking at her is like looking at my past self. |

Oh. So she thinks she was quite foolish in the past too? Her self-awareness is decent.

Being stuck in one failure for over a decade is irresponsible to both the past and the future.

Houtarou didn't think this was a good thing.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| However, I thank you for providing Class D with a decent strategy. |

Sae quickly typed back.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| Currently Class D has 0 points, and the gap with other classes is too large, so we can bring them down a bit first. |

Houtarou typed back.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| Would that really make you happy? This would only lead to the school abolishing Class D entirely. |

| The students would all have to withdraw. If we keep disrupting school rules, what's the point of class competition? Once or twice might slide, but other classes could simply bribe Class D to start fights with their rivals. | | We'd become nothing but a laughingstock. |

| The school would have no choice but to eliminate Class D altogether. I've thought about this all night. |

| Chabashira-sensei, I regret to say: Class D currently has no path upward. |

Houtarou finished typing and sent it.

"..."

The other side fell into a long silence.

Meanwhile, he was about to open the Side Task interface to check the System prompts about Sae's current mood.

But—

Ding Ding!

She quickly sent another message.

| Sae Chabashira — Homeroom Teacher |

| Then, what if we were to buy you for Class D? |

This message from Sae was truly frightening.

This was the System Task triggered the night Manabu demanded Suzune's withdrawal.

In other words, she had been keeping her trump card — the capital needed to transfer students — and was now willing to use any means necessary.

And now, was she trying to buy him?

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| That would be meaningless. |

Houtarou confirmed that the girls he'd met at this school were indeed... mostly unusual.

| Suzune Horikita — Me |

| Because even if I could carry Class D to success, would that really be Class D flying on its own? |

| No, it would only be because of me. |

| So... |

He paused while typing.

But Sae already understood.

Buying someone to join Class D — even if they would technically belong to the class — went against her original wish. Class D students were sorted there by the school's standards and labeled as worthless. They wanted to prove their own worth by climbing up on their own merit, showing the school it was wrong about them.

And now, to simply buy the person behind Suzune?

Sure, they could see this person was capable, and poaching them might give Class D a real chance. But they would still be someone from another class, evaluated differently.

It would just be an unreasonable solution born from desperation.

Class D had to save themselves — there was no other way.

But Suzune had already given up, and Kiyotaka wouldn't lead until the class showed they could be led. Sae's plan to pressure him by offering protection from his father was flawed too.

If he truly had the ability to lead, he could just follow Suzune's path — gather 20 million Points and leave.

It would all be pointless.

So Sae found herself trapped in an impossible situation, one that would likely keep her awake for many nights to come.

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

Houtarou returned the phone to Suzune.

He transferred 509,200 Points to her right there.

Her task had been simple: throwing trash — long-distance trash throwing, to be precise.

The job involved some acting too. Though she had only thrown trash rather than actual exam papers, if anyone discovered her implied threat to leak the exam, she would have become the enemy of the entire first year.

When asked about this risk, Suzune had simply said, "Being disliked by an entire year? I'm not liked anyway. Other people are just people to me — why should I care what they think?"

That was her response.

Quite the loner.

This made Houtarou doubt the authenticity of the Suzune he often dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

For this operation, he had spent 100,000 Points having Kikyō purchase the exam papers.

He had also acquired second and third year exam papers through other channels, though he only bought one subject each — a mere 8,000 Points, practically negligible.

From Miyabi, he had obtained 5.2 million Points.

After deductions, Suzune's share came to (5,200,000 - 8,000 - 100,000) × 10% = 509,200. Kikyō received a 5% commission — a bargain, really.

"Eh?" Kikyō arrived just then.

Suzune took the phone and left.

Houtarou transferred 254,600 Points to the little angel.

"An extra 54,600?" Kikyō asked.

"We got more points than expected." He said, "So your commission increased too."

For her, this was excellent news. Getting 200,000 Points would have been great already, and now she had even more.

She had already visited the shopping district and obtained a points card. Though sociable by nature, she was careful with Points and money, always keeping them secure. The timing was perfect to scan her new Points onto the card.

Yet even after Suzune and Houtarou departed, Kikyō remained puzzled.

He had moved so quickly — appearing and vanishing in an instant, leaving right after the payment.

She wondered what role she had really played, and what changes she had helped bring about.

Kikyō had no idea what was really going on.

She'd heard about someone throwing test papers from the physics building during lunch break. The class should have been in an uproar — but wasn't.

The ordinary Class D students probably didn't grasp that leaked test papers would require creating new questions. Since the papers weren't actually leaked, they remained oblivious.

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

Only Miyabi was grimly monitoring the school forum.

| Someone without manners threw garbage during lunch break. Fortunately those weren't test papers, just practice problems — otherwise, having exam questions leaked before the test would've been terrible, right? |

| @Miyabi Nagumo. Someone saw you passing by the school building during lunch. Did you see who was being so inconsiderate? |

| by — ID First-year Class A Houtarou Oreki |

"..." Miyabi.

Since getting work permissions, Houtarou's verified account had gained quite a following on the forum. His posts automatically attracted upvotes.

And now he opened the forum to find this bastard tagging him, specifically pointing out his presence near the building when the papers were thrown.

Houtarou, you've gone too far!

This move had sealed off another way for him to recover his Points. Yes.

Miyabi's savings were completely emptied, leaving him furious. Still, he devised a plan.

While nothing could be done about Houtarou's side throwing garbage...

With his savings depleted, he considered staging a scenario: having a second-year student pretend to leak exam questions so he could collect Points from second-years to replenish his funds.

But now, with this post, everyone would be watching him closely.

Even if someone actually pretended to leak questions, he couldn't collect Points by claiming to protect second-years anymore.

'Houtarou Oreki and I are mortal enemies!' Miyabi thought to himself.

"Hey Nagumo, you've been eating very little lately." A second-year student remarked upon seeing his meal.

"..."

Eat, eat, eat — how the hell could he eat?

He had no Points left!

With two weeks until next month's Points deposit and only 16,000 Points remaining, he had no choice but to pinch every penny.

The thought of borrowing from others was unbearable — his pride wouldn't allow it.

If word got around that he'd been scammed out of his Points, especially among the girls, his reputation would be ruined.

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

The next afternoon.

"That concludes today's lesson."

In Class 1-D, the last two periods on Mondays and Wednesdays were Ms. Chabashira's history class.

As always, her lessons were monotonous, but today everyone could tell she wasn't in her usual form.

"Horikita!" Sae called out as they were about to leave the classroom.

Suzune rose wordlessly and followed her into the hallway.

She felt a twinge of unease. Though Sae had previously used her brother's connection to threaten her, Houtarou had resolved that situation. Just yesterday, he'd assured her the matter was settled.

Surely she didn't need to worry about this teacher exposing her sibling relationship and causing trouble anymore, right?

She followed Sae to the roof.

This place was familiar now.

But the Sae standing before her seemed entirely different from before.

"Ms... Chabashira?" Suzune watched as she chain-smoked two ladies' cigarettes.

Sae stared vacantly at the sky, as if lost in memories or self-mockery.

"It's nothing." She said, turning around, "Just someone suddenly losing their lifelong wish, making them a bit mentally unstable, I suppose. So it's nothing."

Oh… Nothing.

Wait, isn't this quite serious?

Suzune's brows furrowed.

"If it's a psychological issue, you can visit the infirmary — the doctor there handles psychological treatment too." She said.

She'd seen the school's promotional materials — besides the excellent benefits reserved for graduating A Class students, the school also boasted exceptional teaching resources.

The infirmary doctor, for instance, held multiple professional qualifications, which prompted her straightforward suggestion.

I should consider seeing the doctor or psychologist at the infirmary?

"..." Sae gazed at Suzune with an unreadable expression.

She'd always sensed something of herself in this girl, though perhaps not quite as direct as her.

So, Sae said, "Horikita, you probably don't have any friends, do you?"

"..." Suzune.

??

Suzune stared at Sae, her expression asking: you called me here just to say that?

"Hah—" Sae took a deep breath, "Horikita, who is the man behind you? I want to know."

Ah. At first Suzune thought she understood this statement... but then realized she didn't understand it at all.

She looked behind her. There was nothing there.

So it was about some man.

But which man?

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

And after school, the man behind Suzune went to the Student Council.

Though he wasn't going there to make any requests of the Student Council — he specifically wanted to speak with Manabu.

⍟⍟⍟

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