Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki Chapter 2

??

[More precisely, Sakayanagi Arisu had the attack power of a Tyrannosaurus.]

Oh.

I see, but...

You called such a tiny girl a Tyrannosaurus?

Was that polite?

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for activating this system. This is a superpower system. As long as the host completes the corresponding tasks, superpowers will be awarded as rewards.]

[Current task—]

The system's notification continued to sound. At the same time, a blue screen appeared before Oreki's eyes.

Oreki looked at Classmate Sakayanagi.

"Did you hear anything? Or see anything strange?"

"A sound? And something strange?" A trace of confusion seemed to pass through Classmate Sakayanagi's clear eyes.

So she had neither heard nor seen anything.

Then either he was broken, or he had stumbled upon some kind of opportunity.

So...

Considering that his class was still filing out of the Gymnasium, Oreki began following the group forward.

However, the system notifications in his mind had already fully appeared.

[Choose one of two tasks: 1. Take Sakayanagi Arisu's cane. While the Tyrannosaurus is still small, have some fun with it first.

2. Investigate and obtain information about this school, and earn 200,000 points.]

[Time limit: 1 day]

[Task reward: Teleportation (can teleport three times per day to places you have been)]

[Task punishment: Your older sister will drop out and return home to play with you for three days.]

"..."

Both the tasks and the punishment were downright demonic.

Chapter 2: I, Houtarou Oreki, Am Going Home!

Class 1-A.

After returning from the Gymnasium, the students headed to their classroom.

There was no particular seating arrangement. Everyone chose seats according to their own preferences.

Oreki chose a seat by the window.

From there, he could see the kapok tree outside.

A very tall but thin man, dressed in a blue suit and white shirt, stood at the podium.

"First, let me introduce myself. I'm Mashima, your Homeroom Teacher."

"For the next three years, I'll be your class advisor, and this classroom will not change either."

This was Teacher Mashima.

His eyes were sharp, giving him the air of a social elite.

And the information he announced was quite significant.

"Our school has a special system. Until you graduate, all students are required to live in the dormitories..."

"Now, open the Student ID Card issued by the school on your phones. Under Private Points, you'll find each of your starting points."

"100,000."

"These are Private Points."

"On the first of every month, the school deposits Private Points into your account. They can be used to buy anything at school, so you can think of them as money..."

"And remember this: at this school, anything can be bought with points, as long as you have enough of them."

The students promptly opened their phones.

Oreki opened his Student ID Card as well.

[Name: Houtarou Oreki

Student ID: 1008610010

Gender: Male

Class: Class 1-A

Private Account: 100,000 points.]

"In terms of purchasing power at school, points are equivalent to money outside. One hundred and fifty points can buy an item worth 150 yen," Teacher Mashima said.

In other words, although they had been informed of the dormitory system, the school also provided them with living expenses.

Free tuition and a living allowance were certainly reassuring.

However, Oreki focused a little more.

Because he did not think this was a good thing.

After all...

Nothing was more expensive than free.

Waiving tuition while also providing living expenses—what kind of charity was that?

The school's investors were the government, and the money came from taxpayers.

If this information were exposed, the school would shut down immediately.

Yet this school was not only prestigious but had also existed for more than fifteen years.

That meant it had its own system.

The feeling reminded Oreki of books he had read about experiments—paid experiments, everyone being lab rats, and things like that.

Then the facilities had to produce qualified products in order to secure investment, and so on.

But his class was Class A.

Someone would notice that soon enough.

After all, everyone here was exceptional, weren't they?

With that thought, Oreki looked at the silver-haired girl with a frail body, whom he had judged to possess extraordinary intelligence.

Sakayanagi Arisu.

A girl Oreki had judged to be a genius.

Her seat was in the middle.

Yet she had not said a word.

While everyone else checked their phones, she did not follow along, seemingly finding it meaningless to confirm the matter.

Yes.

They could not immediately go shopping with their points anyway. There was no point in checking the Student ID Card.

However, when Oreki looked at her, she suddenly turned her head.

She smiled.

It felt as though spring flowers had bloomed, pink petals falling over her shoulders and releasing a faint fragrance.

So cute.

"..." Oreki.

No.

Oreki quickly withdrew his gaze.

He began looking at the violet-blue virtual frame that had appeared before him.

If he was not broken, then he was in trouble.

Because this was a Supernatural Phenomenon.

It had followed him ever since it appeared during the entrance ceremony in the Gymnasium.

[Superpower System]

[Congratulations, host, for triggering a choose-one-of-two task.]

[Choose one of two tasks: 1. Take Sakayanagi Arisu's cane. While the Tyrannosaurus is still small, have some fun with it first. 2. Investigate and obtain information about this school, and earn 200,000 points.]

[Time limit: 1 day]

[Task reward: Teleportation (can teleport three times per day to places you have been)]

[Task punishment: Your older sister will drop out and return home to play with you for three days.]

Mm.

Judging from the punishment, it was terrifying.

Oreki was not the only child in his family. He had an older sister.

His parents were very busy, generally working overseas for the company, so they rarely returned home.

And since last year, his sister had been attending university, so she was hardly ever home either.

To her younger brother, this sister was a strange person who excelled in every way.

And her hobby was probably teasing her younger brother.

So Oreki shared the common concern of all younger brothers—my sister is incredibly beautiful, but she is a tiger.

Therefore...

If that sister dropped out and came home to play with him alone, the image was simply too terrifying to imagine.

Then he looked at the tasks.

Task 1: Take Sakayanagi Arisu's cane. While the Tyrannosaurus is still small, have some fun with it first.

So...

Oreki looked at the little Tyrannosaurus.

Oh, no, he looked at Classmate Sakayanagi—more precisely, at the black cane beside her desk.

Although Classmate Sakayanagi looked adorable and cute, and likely possessed a high IQ, unfortunately, her health was very poor.

So he was supposed to take away her cane?

She did not have many opportunities to leave home, and perhaps had rarely even had the chance to walk outside with a cane.

Coming to this school was therefore an opportunity for her to walk beneath the sunlight.

Perhaps she had come here full of anticipation.

And then he was supposed to take away her cane and make her feel the ugliness of people in the outside world?

That was something... he could not do.

It was not about being soft-hearted toward a beauty. Oreki simply believed that, as an ordinary person, he had a basic moral bottom line.

Looking at it that way, he could only choose Task 2.

[Do you choose Task 2—investigate and obtain information about this school, and earn 200,000 points?]

"Yes!"

Oreki answered inwardly.

And after making his choice, he discovered that the system notification before him had changed again.