Choice

The second to be expelled—Yamauchi Haruki, the first student from Class D to be expelled in the original story—was the dark room's greatest masterpiece (an idiot). Qian Jihui didn't care much about Yamauchi. Skip.

Hirata Yosuke. His friend was bullied, and he instinctively chose to ignore it. In the end, his friend couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide.

When Hirata learned what had happened, he was devastated. He'd also thought the bullying had finally stopped, but it hadn't. The bullies had simply found someone else to pick on. So Hirata turned dark.

In the end, Hirata used force to take control of the entire year group, ensuring no one would be bullied again. No one dared disobey him. Netizens called him a ruthless guy who'd bullied an entire year group into line.

But in the anime and novels, aside from the times he turned grim when one of his classmates was expelled, he was almost always a cheerful, sunny boy.

Even when a classmate hit him for no reason, he didn't blame anyone. He was a saint.

That was reason enough. At long last, someone had come along who was a "saint" rather than a "fake saint," and could help him.

Qian Jihui thought to himself, then chose the third character.

Horikita Suzune. He'd liked her when watching the anime, but when he read the novels, he felt she was someone best admired from afar. From a distance, she was an ice-cold beauty.

Up close, Qian Jihui had never met anyone so shameless.

In her world, only two people mattered: her and her older brother. She was the ultimate self-centered person, always putting her own interests above everything else.

Then she was out.

Kushida Kikyo. A two-faced person, an angel on one side and a devil on the other.

You could call her bad, but she wasn't all that dangerous.

If I've talked bad about you, then obviously I don't consider you a friend. So what if you find out?

If you get someone expelled for hitting people, or lose Class Points for insulting someone in public, and someone you hate finds out you badmouthed them but can't retaliate, then no matter how you look at it, you come out ahead.

If you tell everyone who you have a crush on, you can see whether they like you back. Maybe that's a low-risk way to let someone know how you feel. Either way, you come out ahead again.

You could say Kushida was a good person, but she was also a ruthless character—though her intelligence was only at a normal level in the novels, and she kept getting trounced.

If anyone seemed likely to seriously damage her social image, she wanted them expelled. But wasn't that how all the top players in Classroom of the Elite thought? Anyone who harms my interests can get lost!

In short, Kushida was actually a normal person in Classroom of the Elite.

But Qian Jihui felt it would be hard for him to help her. He couldn't think of much he could do that would truly help Kushida.

Because she was too strong mentally.

In middle school, she'd become a place for others to vent their negative emotions. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and complained online. When her classmates found out, the entire class turned against her. In her fury, she brought the class to the brink of collapse by revealing her friends' secrets.

Even then, Kushida managed to get ahold of herself quickly and make a fresh start in high school.

Then, after her confrontation with Ayanokoji and Horikita, she was exposed again. Heartbroken, she started revealing other people's secrets, destroying her own relationships with her own hands. And yet she still managed to pull herself together and stay.

All Qian Jihui could say was that she was one tough person. Someone as mentally weak as him wasn't fit to help her.

He'd better not fail to help Kushida Kikyo and end up dragging himself down too. (Kushida moved on, but I didn't? Wouldn't that make me a complete joke?) Qian Jihui thought, then moved on.

Karuizawa Kei had been bullied in middle school, leaving her with deep psychological scars and a wound on her abdomen that had nearly cost her her life.

In high school, she started attaching herself to strong people to avoid being bullied, relying on them to give her the courage to keep going.

But she was prone to changing from a victim into a bully, and in the end, she became a tool for the protagonist, Ayanokoji.

Qian Jihui hesitated, then finally decided to help her.

Karuizawa was a victim of bullying. That was enough, wasn't it?

If even someone like Qian Jihui, who'd been given a task to help people, didn't want to help her, wouldn't the world be far too cruel to Karuizawa Kei? That made four characters chosen.

There was one last person to pick. He definitely couldn't choose Ken Sudō, who beat people up because he was insecure.

There weren't many candidates left, so he'd choose the protagonist, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

The reward was special; he just didn't know how good it would be.

Qian Jihui figured that if he'd transmigrated into Classroom of the Elite and had a system, but didn't even have the courage to face Ayanokoji, was he fit to be a transmigrator?

Besides, this wasn't about making things harder for himself. Qian Jihui had left himself a way out. He hadn't boasted that he could beat Ayanokoji with absolute certainty.

Ayanokoji didn't understand emotions, did he? And he couldn't imagine himself failing, either. Qian Jihui figured that beating him might be the most straightforward way to help him. But it wasn't the only way.

There was no need to rush the character introduction. First, he'd look at the fourth option.

[4.] Qian Jihui didn't think he'd lose too badly. He was an ordinary person, after all, which meant he could get through all three years without much trouble.

Qian Jihui looked over the system's new-user package options again and decided not to keep his memories of Classroom of the Elite.

The character introduction... would be provided later. Skipped for now.

[5. Choose again in four years.]

[6.] Background: Orphanage. When Qian Jihui entered Advanced Nurturing High School, the orphanage director passed away. The orphanage was divided up and merged with several others, and was eventually shut down.

Qian Jihui had set it up this way because he didn't want any unexplained attachments in the world of Classroom of the Elite.

As for his name, he needed a Japanese one, but he barely knew any Japanese names.

Then Qian Jihui immediately thought of Chinese compound surnames. Maybe he could give one a try. For example, Dongfang from Dongfang Yuechu, or Wangquan from Wangquan Fugui.

But Qian Jihui thought the first names that came to mind were too chūnibyō, so he decided to think it over.

And so he came up with a name: Shangguan Che. Qian Jihui thought it was a great name.

Gender: Male. Reason: Born that way.

[7. Useless. Skip.]

[8.] Most of Shangguan Che's targets who needed help were in Class D, so to make his tasks easier, he chose Class D.

[9.] Keep the viewpoint.

[10.] The new-user package had two options.

One was to increase all attributes by one, and it could be used at any time.

The other was a ten-pull skill draw, with the bonus that it was guaranteed to produce one gold skill.

Shangguan Che had already made up his mind. He chose the ten-pull.

He figured that even if the worst happened and he died in an accident on a bus, he could still go back with a powerful gold skill that surpassed human limits.

In other words, choosing this option raised Shangguan Che's floor.

[Message: You have to trust me. I'm the one who chose this character.

As for what you should do? (Choose to forget the story; the system restricts the output.)

The answer's simple: study, have a rosy romance, and make true friends.

Do your best. You have to believe in yourself. If you fail, I'll share the responsibility.

One last thing: all you have to experience is high school life in Japan. As for whether it's pure love or a harem, I'll only say this: your choice is my choice.]

Shangguan Che read it over once more, then finally tapped the button marked "Confirm and Begin."