Classroom of the Elite: Houtarou Oreki

For one thing, she had not expected Oreki to choose to withdraw himself.

She had met him yesterday, and he had seen her at her weakest.

But.

Oreki was very different now. He was acting incredibly tough, actually choosing to drop out himself.

"Yes," Oreki said. "I can drop out, but the price is this."

"After you graduate and start working, you'll have to give me the first ten million you earn."

"Or rather, each of you can write me an IOU for ten million," Oreki said.

"Hey, hey, hey—" Hoshinomiya quickly said as Oreki spoke. "Oreki, your condition is too harsh."

"Because if every student gives you ten million, wouldn't that be four hundred million?"

"And."

"Ten million per person—if we don't graduate from Class A, do we still each owe you ten million?"

Graduating from Class A meant being able to pursue the path one wanted.

You could get a good job, and you could also enter the university you wanted for free, without taking entrance exams.

You could even attend the very best universities and add some prestige to your credentials.

Then your future would be smooth sailing, bright and promising.

With that kind of path laid out for you, earning ten million was not actually difficult.

But.

What if they failed to advance their class?

Would they still have to pay ten million?

That was impossible, wasn't it?

With an ordinary graduation followed by ordinary employment, their salaries would definitely only be at the average level. It would take at least five years to save up ten million.

So everyone would have to spend five years paying for Oreki, while Oreki could simply drop out now and receive ten million times thirty-nine—nearly four hundred million in assets?

What kind of shortcut through life was that?

"How