Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki

"Then make me pay another 300,000 points."

"So, he wasn't a good person after all."

Yeah.

Nagumo now felt that his image was a complete mess, and there was no way to turn it around.

So he was dragging Houtarou Oreki down with him too?

"..." Ichinose.

However, Ichinose gently shook her head.

"Regarding that, Nagumo-senpai, I think you need to be more careful."

"If this bet is real."

"Then you've actually already lost."

With that, Ichinose excused herself and left.

Leaving Nagumo standing there in a daze.

Although Honami Ichinose had remained polite until the end.

He could tell that this stunningly beautiful junior did not want to have anything to do with him for even a minute.

In other words.

He had been added to Honami Ichinose's blacklist.

Damn it.

Was chasing girls really this troublesome?

And did rejection really come this quickly?

For the first time, Nagumo doubted his entire life.

Still, he took out his phone and started browsing the forum...

Yeah.

[Breaking News!]

[The freshmen of Class 1-C pooled their funds for a store-opening plan and overcame the restrictions, only to be forced to stop after the store-opening rights were bought out.]

[Nagumo Miyabi of Class 2-A, who holds the store-opening rights, has demanded an outrageous price of 5 million for permission to open a store!]

[Nagumo, don't be so greedy. Give the freshmen a way out!] by ID: Houtarou Oreki of Class 1-A.

This post became a trending topic.

It was bumped by a huge number of people.

Nagumo ignored it.

But.

The next post caught his attention.

Because.

This post had also been published by the verified ID, Houtarou Oreki.

[Special Report!]

[Although Vice President Nagumo stopped the store-opening plan, work permit rights have been bought from the school.]

[For 100,000 points per person, you can buy the right to work part-time for three years. If the three-year period has not expired, you may freely transfer the work permit rights to someone else.]

[Interested parties may contact numbers 134%￥￥, 135%YY, or 136%YY.]

[Below is the buyout contract for the work permit rights provided by the School Board.]

There was indeed a photograph of the contract beneath the post.

And it bore an official seal.

The contents roughly stated that, after deliberation, the School Board had decided to sell the work permit rights for 1 million.

And Houtarou Oreki had bought them out for 2 million.

The work permit rights were entirely at Houtarou Oreki's disposal.

That was the content of the post.

But Nagumo nearly crushed his phone screen in his grip.

Because.

Fuck you!

Nagumo Miyabi shot to his feet almost instantly.

Because.

He understood.

He understood why that bastard junior, Oreki, had actually thanked him when they spoke at noon.

So that was it!

Because.

He had broken through the restrictions by realizing that while the school did not allow part-time jobs, he could choose to open a store.

Then he had spent money to purchase the store-opening rights and buy them out.

That was already a breakthrough in thinking.

So could that way of thinking be applied further?

It could.

What Nagumo had pioneered was not merely opening stores, but a flexible application of the rule that points could directly buy the things one wanted.

In other words, if he had not opened his store and become the first to take the risk, Houtarou Oreki would not have immediately thought of using points to buy other things prohibited by the school.

And that thing prohibited by the school was something every student from across the country had experienced in middle school.

Part-time work.

Ordinary families would only give their children transportation money and a little spending money.

But nearly every student knew that if they wanted money, they had to earn it through part-time work.

And they had all basically hit a wall: High School of Advanced Education did not allow part-time jobs.

But now, Houtarou Oreki had turned the impossible into possible with points.

So one could imagine how many people would be tempted.

So... damn it.

Not only had the junior girl slipped away, even the second-years under his control would begin to waver?

Nagumo used the points squeezed out of the school to control the second-years.

But if the students could make money on their own now, why would they still care about his damn attitude?

So was he finished?

Meanwhile.

Inside the Student Council.

It was already after school, yet the lights in the Student Council office remained on.

However, only Manabu Horikita and Akane Tachibana were there.

The two had long grown accustomed to intense workloads.

As for everyone else, they generally left after completing their assigned tasks.

And.

There was also a slight sense of being isolated.

The other Student Council members had been bought over by Nagumo Miyabi, so they could not offer Manabu Horikita much meaningful help.

However.

His work efficiency was high.

So he still had some free time.

Like now.

"So it really was like that..."

"Houtarou Oreki."

"He's an interesting person," Manabu Horikita said.

"Hm?"

Akane Tachibana, the purple-haired senior with her hair tied in a bun, looked up from sorting documents.

"Akane Tachibana, tell me..."

"How perceptive can a person be?"

Manabu Horikita removed his glasses and wiped them with a glasses cloth as he spoke.

"Perceptiveness?"

But Akane Tachibana did not understand why the Student Council President would say that.

"Look at the school forum," Manabu Horikita said.

"The school forum?"

Akane Tachibana was somewhat confused.

Then, after opening it.

"Houtarou Oreki... this ID is verified."

"I know about Nagumo's store-opening rights... wait, the next post."

"Work permit rights?"

"He actually thought of using points to buy the right to work part-time, which had been prohibited." Akane Tachibana was somewhat astonished.

"Right?" Manabu Horikita continued wiping his glasses. "Houtarou Oreki is an interesting person."

"His perceptiveness is very strong."

"Nagumo saw the potential in opening stores."

"But what Oreki saw was something every student pursued."

As students in Japan, every student wanted to work part-time and earn living expenses.

That was indeed true.

After coming to this school, Manabu Horikita had also gone to the Shopping District to ask around, only to discover that the school prohibited such activities.

He had thought it was because the school wanted to ensure that every student devoted themselves to the special exams it used to guide students.

But looking at it now.

His understanding of this school's rules was still insufficient.

The Chairman's tolerance, fairness, and willingness to permit students had terrifyingly deep limits.

However.

"Oreki is going to get busy now."

As the Student Council President, Manabu Horikita knew more information than most.

He also knew that both Nagumo's actions and these work permit rights would be prohibited.

After all, if students could freely earn money through part-time jobs, who would still follow the school's lead and earn points through special exams?