Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

"Well then, contact me after Kushida-san gets the information." Houtarou said.

Suzune was undeniably beautiful, with her long black hair and ever-present knee-high black stockings. Yet beneath her striking appearance lay a cold, dignified demeanor — someone who had no time for romance amid her studies.

For Houtarou, though, she had begun appearing in his dreams. These dreams felt uncomfortably real — visions of marriage, of her giving him cups decorated with airplanes, always wearing those same black stockings but seeming somehow more... alluring.

These dreams had become so vivid that he now found it difficult to look her in the eye, preferring instead to avoid her entirely.

Beep Beep!

Suzune's phone vibrated, causing her to furrow her brows slightly.

"Chabashira-sensei wants me to meet her on the top floor of the teaching building." She said.

"At this time?"

Houtarou's curiosity was piqued, remembering the first task option from the night he met Manabu—the 20 Million Big Mission.

He had quickly dismissed the option where Sae Chabashira would discover his abilities and attempt to buy him into Class D with her savings, offering unlimited support in exchange for leading Class D to Class A.

This revealed much about Sae's character—she wasn't merely fierce, but ruthless, with an obsession for advancing Class D to Class A.

According to Manabu's information, she herself had been a Class D student who had managed to lead her class to Class B before ultimately failing to reach Class A. Now she had returned as a teacher, specifically for Class D.

Her fixation was evident. The system had even indicated she would spend her own money to recruit him for Class D — an alarming proposition.

'Women's obsessions are truly frightening…'

Houtarou mused, glancing at an unknown transfer notification on his phone:

『Note: You are mine. Please remain chaste for me during these three years of school.』

Between this mysterious million-Point transfer and his experience with Kikyō, he had learned that obsessive people were nothing but trouble. The last thing he wanted was to attract attention from someone so intensely focused.

"You can go see Chabashira-sensei."

Houtarou considered Suzune's position carefully. She wasn't merely a tool for his Point-collecting schemes — she was Manabu's sister, a connection that provided valuable information from the Student Council President without any monetary cost.

Additionally, he had accepted the responsibility of looking after her. Manabu had transferred 500,000 Points upfront and promised 50,000 Points monthly.

With Suzune being in Class D, their different class positions meant she could serve as his eyes and ears.

Considering everything, Houtarou wasn't about to let anyone take away his valuable connection.

"Remember what you heard that night about Chabashira-sensei being fierce. I suspect she's calling you over to have you lead Class D's advancement. Think carefully — you've been in Class D for a month now. Do you really believe they can climb up?" He said.

"..." Suzune remained silent, deep in thought.

Her tutoring proposal in class today had been rejected — a wasted effort that no one appreciated. True, Class D had started with 1,000 Class Points like everyone else, and they'd had the advantage of getting the school rules from Houtarou on day one.

The timing, situation, and people should have been perfect — it was the ideal opportunity for Class D to advance.

Yet they couldn't even handle an open-book exam. No one seized the chance.

Class Points: 0.

This outcome had shocked Suzune.

"Besides, I'm in Class A. Can you defeat me?" Houtarou continued, "And in Class A, there are others who match or exceed my intelligence. I've considered letting them take the lead. Could you withstand that level of competition?"

Oh. That made sense.

Suzune's tense posture softened.

Yes. Advancing to Class A meant defeating Houtarou. Could she do that?

It wasn't possible. Her current plan to gather 20 million Points depended on following his lead — an opportunity her brother had fought to secure.

She'd nearly been forced to withdraw from school by her brother, and only Houtarou's intervention had allowed her to stay.

How could she challenge Class A under these circumstances? It was impossible.

The better path was to save money and advance to Class A independently — that alone would earn her brother's recognition.

"I understand." Suzune said flatly, "I'll go tell Chabashira-sensei I refuse."

"Mm." Houtarou nodded.

He had his own matters to attend to. They parted ways — Suzune heading to meet Sae while Houtarou made for the Student Council.

He needed to investigate who had transferred money to him. In this school, anything could be bought with Points. Just as someone could spend Points to hide transfer information, he could spend Points to reveal it.

Though his Points were limited, Houtarou had his principles — he wasn't about to let someone treat him like a kept person.

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Student Council.

Houtarou checked the time on his phone. Like his last lunchtime visit, the Student Council office was nearly empty.

Only one familiar face was present — Miyabi Nagumo, with his short golden hair and typically cheerful countenance, though his eyes held their usual hint of disdain.

However, this wasn't the same composed Miyabi from their last meeting. Today, his face was long with obvious displeasure.

Without an audience, he saw no need to maintain his carefully crafted image. Yet this revealed another truth about him — he was someone who knew exactly how to modulate his voice and expressions to appear cool and charismatic in public.

Knock Knock—

Houtarou gently knocked on the opened door.

"Come in... tch!" Miyabi's greeting turned sour the moment he spotted the green-eyed, black-haired boy in the doorway.

This was Houtarou Oreki, a first-year kōhai — and the cause of Miyabi's recent downfall.

During their last encounter over work privileges, Houtarou had exposed the school's true stance, shattering Miyabi's authority. His Vice President position had been stripped away, leaving him a mere accountant.

Earlier that day, the President had taken other council members on patrol, deliberately leaving Miyabi behind on office duty. The message was clear — an accountant's role was insignificant. His influence had been severely diminished.

Within the Student Council, almost everyone except Akane, who remained loyal to Manabu, had been under Miyabi's control. But with his position weakened, even Ikuto Kiriyama was showing signs of rebellion.

Ikuto, the Class 2-B representative, had fallen from Class A after Miyabi's class surpassed them. When Manabu discovered Miyabi was buying council members' loyalty, he'd appointed Ikuto as another Vice President to keep him in check.

Miyabi had quickly seen through this ploy and worked to control Ikuto as well. But now, with his authority diminished, that control was slipping. Ikuto's class still yearned to reclaim their Class A status, and without his iron grip, resistance was becoming possible.

While brooding over these troubles, Miyabi found Houtarou suddenly appearing before him.

"What are you doing here!" He snapped, his tone hostile.

"Vice President Nagumo, I'm curious about your current Point total." Houtarou said.

"..."

Vice President Nagumo? Was this first-year mocking him, pretending not to know about his demotion? Still, he wouldn't correct him.

"What are you planning — another bet? I refuse!" Miyabi shot back. He should have refused from the start.

As a second-year student, he rarely needed to compete with first-years. Cross-grade competitions were uncommon, so why engage with a first-year student at all?

Better to avoid Houtarou entirely and focus on his own year's affairs — this had been Miyabi's philosophy for the past two weeks.

Though the second-year girls might not match the beauty of the first-years, there were no plain girls at this school. Besides, he still had Nazuna, his childhood friend.

His priority now was claiming the Student Council President position. The school might disapprove of his methods, but once he secured that role, he'd have direct access to the administration and their most valuable proposals.

This was the greatest benefit.

Miyabi no longer wanted to fight with Houtarou.

Earlier, Manabu had invited this kōhai to join the Student Council, but he had declined. During today's break after second period, a first-year Class A student named Kōhei Katsuragi reported to the Student Council President that Houtarou had sold the position he didn't want for 1 million Points.

Though Manabu maintained a blank expression, his disappointment was evident — he had clearly hoped Houtarou would join the Student Council. But he wouldn't join.

So Miyabi questioned why they needed to be enemies at all.

He looked at Houtarou and said, "I only have about 2 million Points right now. But I won't give you a single one."

In reality, he was being strategic. Today was the first of the month, when the school distributed Points. As the ruler of the second years, each class had given him 400,000 Points in tribute, totaling 1.6 million today. Combined with his existing Points, he had about 5.2 million total.

But considering Houtarou dangerous, he deliberately showed weakness by stating an amount he could afford to lose if tricked. Even losing 2 million would be acceptable if it bought peace.

After all, his goal was the Student Council President position. If he could buy Houtarou off or prevent his interference until then, it would be worth the cost.

Miyabi steeled himself for this painful sacrifice.

"2 million, that's about what I expected." Houtarou nodded, "Thank you for your honesty, Vice President Nagumo."

"..."

Was Houtarou really after his Points? Did he actually want to take this 2 million?

An uneasy feeling crept over him.

As these thoughts swirled, Houtarou took out his phone.

"Actually, I came to the Student Council to look up an account. Someone transferred 1 million Points to my student ID account this morning, but they hid their information. I want to know who it was."

Oh. Such things happen?

Could it be a reward from the school? No, impossible — it had been over ten days since the work permits incident. The school wouldn't give more rewards now.

Which meant... someone had actually given Houtarou money? Was it some senior bitch? Had someone fallen for his looks? Could you really get by on appearances at this school?

Miyabi felt his ego take a hit.

"To look up that information, you'll need to pay 100,000 Points." He said sternly.

"Fine." The price hadn't exceeded Houtarou's expectations, so he agreed immediately.

"..."

Yes, this was the standard Student Council rate, but — 100,000! Not even a flinch?

This guy must have serious Points.

Miyabi walked to another work computer.

"Show me the transfer information." He said, "Every transfer has an amount, sender, recipient, and transaction code."

He would need to look up the transaction code.

"If it's a regular student hiding their transfer information, that's possible, but the transaction code can't be hidden. Through the Student Council computer, we can access the school's system and look up information through the transaction code."

After this explanation, he noticed Houtarou's silent stare.

His look clearly said, "Don't just talk, hurry up and do it."

"..."

Since when had he become customer service?

Miyabi took a deep breath and began typing at the keyboard.

| Unknown Error |

"??"

| Unknown Error |

"??"

| You don't have permission |

"..."

"Vice President Nagumo, are you having trouble with a single transaction code?" Houtarou asked, eyeing him with skepticism.

"..." Miyabi frowned. "I'm not making mistakes. There's only one explanation — the Student Council lacks sufficient permissions to access this information. The sender must have paid extra to hide their identity."

As he spoke, his eyes drifted to the transfer screen on the phone.

There was a note.

『Note: You are mine. Please remain chaste for me during these three years of school.』

What kind of tsundere girl would write such a message? There definitely wasn't anyone like that in the second year.

Could it be a third-year senior?

Damn it. He wished he had an upperclassman who would casually send him 1 million Points.

"However, you could approach the Board of Directors — they have higher permissions." Miyabi suggested.

"That won't be necessary." Houtarou replied, "If we can't look it up here, then forget it. It already costs 100,000 points to check at the Student Council. Going to the Chairman would probably cost 500,000 or a million. That wouldn't be worth it. I'll just save the points, and if the sender makes demands I don't want to fulfill, I can return them to her/him."

Oh. That was a sensible decision.

Getting a 1 million Point transfer and then spending half of it to investigate wouldn't make sense.

Besides, Houtarou had said "her/him" when referring to the sender. This meant it might not be a cute upperclassman at all, but perhaps someone with different intentions.

Since the sender had hidden their information so thoroughly, there was no way to confirm their identity.

Perhaps this wonderful transfer wasn't so wonderful after all.

Miyabi felt somewhat better thinking about it that way.

"Then I'll take my leave." Houtarou quickly scanned the Student Council's QR code, transferred 100,000 Points, and headed for the door.

"Whatever." Miyabi had no desire to serve him.

As Houtarou reached the doorway, he suddenly turned back.

"I've always felt the Vice President position didn't suit you, Nagumo-senpai. Now, being an accountant is more than enough."

"Heh..." Miyabi finally understood.

Houtarou's earlier politeness had been an act. He had been mocking him all along!

Damn!

Crash—

Miyabi swept all the files off his desk.

At that moment, he heard Houtarou's voice in the hallway outside.

"I had some business at the Student Council, but Nagumo-senpai helped me take care of it."

"Oh really — you actually had a normal conversation with him."

It was Houtarou's voice, followed by Manabu's. Their voices were close now, and the door was already opening.

Manabu appeared in the doorway and immediately noticed the files scattered across the floor — both completed and incomplete ones.

"Nagumo, are you that unhappy about being demoted to accountant? Is that why you're taking it out on the files?" He asked.

"..." Nagumo stammered, "No, Horikita-senpai, you've got it wrong — it was the wind from the open window — I would never do something like that—"

And so, Miyabi found himself working overtime that evening.

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Meanwhile, Houtarou left the Student Council hallway with his usual composure.

Though he disliked trouble, his seemingly provocative actions toward Miyabi had been calculated — he had noticed Manabu's return.

The fact that Student Council members had left him alone was no coincidence. Even after his demotion to accountant, Manabu clearly didn't trust him.

By acting as he did, Houtarou had deliberately signaled his siding to Manabu. This meant the President would likely tolerate any extreme moves he might make next.

After all, targeting Miyabi aligned perfectly with Manabu's interests.

Moreover...

〖 Main Task: 20 Million Points Big Mission! 〗

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

〖 Task Duration: 59/90 Days 〗

〖 Task Reward: Superhuman Physique — Major Physical Enhancement 〗

〖 Task Progress: 16,080,900 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! 〗

With 80.4% progress toward a Superhuman Physique reward, Houtarou needed 4 million more Points to complete the main quest. Taking all 4 million from Miyabi would be the most efficient solution — if he actually had that much.

Since Miyabi claimed to have only 2 million Points, Houtarou would need another source. He decided to set his sights on the second-year students instead.

After all, surely a second-year student could accumulate four or five million Points.

Knowing his next moves might be drastic, he had deliberately established his position with Manabu first.

As he walked against the May breeze winds, Houtarou pulled out his phone and opened his messages. He navigated to Kei Karuizawa's number.

Her previous message remained on the screen.

| Kei Karuizawa — Class D Student |

| I only learned about the school rules this morning. Kushida-san and Hirata-san explained during the class meeting. Then I thought, since you came to sell information, does that mean you're short on money? I spent some yesterday, but I scraped together 80,000 points. If you need points, I'll transfer them to you first. |

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