Popularity Character System, Activate!

(Brain Storage)

(Poison Resistance Enhancement)

The bus heading to Advanced Nurturing High School was packed with students wearing red uniforms.

Dokuho Kouya followed the other new students onto the bus, and upon seeing the blonde man sitting in the priority seat, he let out a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, I'm in the same batch as the protagonist.

Dokuho Kouya was a transmigrator who had arrived in this world over a decade ago.

Back in elementary school, he learned of the existence of Advanced Nurturing High School from others, and thus realized he had transmigrated into the world of Classroom of the Elite.

Although Advanced Nurturing was mocked as a vocational school brawl in the real world, in this reality, it was a top-tier national high school backed by the government.

The fact that tuition was free during enrollment was enough for parents across the country to send their children to study at Advanced Nurturing.

Not to mention, the school's promotional materials claimed that graduates could freely choose any university they wished to attend or any job they wanted to pursue.

In the eyes of those who didn't know the truth, getting into Advanced Nurturing meant half of one's life was already a success.

Dokuho Kouya had read the original work and knew the school's propaganda was nothing but a lie.

But for the sake of three years of free tuition, he, coming from a family that wasn't exactly wealthy, still chose to enroll at Advanced Nurturing.

And, incidentally, to activate his system.

[Host detected participating in the plot]

[Popularity Character System successfully activated]

A cold voice rang out in his mind, but to Dokuho Kouya, it sounded incredibly pleasant.

As a transmigrator, having a cheat code was a common occurrence.

However, some people activated theirs the moment they arrived, while others, like him, had to wait over a decade.

Dokuho Kouya belonged to the latter.

According to the requirements, he had to participate in the plot of the original work for the system to activate.

It's a relief to be in the same year as the protagonist, Ayanokouji. Dokuho Kouya thought to himself, feeling fortunate.

If he had been a year ahead of Ayanokouji, he might have had to attend school for a year before the system could even unlock.

Fortunately, his luck was good; not only was he in the same year as the protagonist, but he was even on the same bus.

What was happening now was likely the classic scene from the original work.

The refusal to give up a seat to an elderly woman.

"First!"

"Woohoo! New anime series, here we go!"

White subtitles appeared before Dokuho Kouya's eyes.

According to the system, the world he was in had been turned into an anime and projected into another world.

In that world, Classroom of the Elite was an original anime.

This meant that for the netizens, the events unfolding right now had no original source material to reference, and they were completely in the dark about how the anime would develop.

"A stoic protagonist is quite rare."

"The girl with the long black hair sitting down is so cute."

"That's my wife, don't you guys even think about it."

"Nonsense, she's clearly my wife!"

The stoic protagonist and the girl with long black hair mentioned in the comments were surely Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune.

According to the Popularity Character System's description, the protagonist of this anime remained Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, and the camera's perspective would focus on him most of the time.

Dokuho Kouya, however, needed to seize the opportunity whenever the camera was nearby to showcase himself to the audience as much as possible, thereby gaining popularity points.

The accumulated popularity points could be exchanged through the system for abilities and skills to enhance his own strength.

Dokuho Kouya's academic and athletic abilities were considered excellent at a normal school.

But in Advanced Nurturing, where monsters were as common as clouds, he might only be able to rank in the upper-middle tier.

With the help of the Popularity Character System, his strength might soon surpass the White Room's greatest masterpiece, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

My popularity points are currently at 0; I must take this opportunity to stir up some trouble.

Just as Dokuho Kouya was contemplating his next move, a dispute broke out on the bus.

"Is this blonde guy sick? He won't give up his seat to an old person and is still running his mouth."

"The protagonist is also a piece of work. With young people like you around, this country is definitely doomed."

"Our values don't align, dropping the show."

The comments before his eyes became dense.

Dokuho Kouya hurriedly reined in his thoughts and enabled the comment filter, ensuring only a few key messages flowed across his screen.

"The audience is actually trashing Ayanokouji? It seems they've caught onto his internal monologue from the original light novel."

The anime adaptation of Classroom of the Elite had altered quite a bit of content from the source material.

In the opening bus scene, the anime didn't depict Ayanokouji's inner thoughts, whereas the original novel provided a detailed description.

Simply put, the protagonist Ayanokouji believed that even though the elderly had contributed much to the country in the past, young people were more useful now, and therefore more deserving of the seat on the bus.

Without knowing that Ayanokouji was a heartless egoist, anyone learning of his thoughts would surely find him twisted and deranged; it was no wonder the audience was getting worked up.

"The protagonist just glanced at the black-haired girl beside him."

"My waifu is definitely going to give up her seat to the old lady next, right?"

The audience's comments poured in, seemingly pinning all their hopes on Horikita Suzune.

But unfortunately, this girl had no intention of giving up her seat either.

Faced with Ayanokouji's gaze, she merely glared at him with dissatisfaction and did nothing more.

"I'm done, are all the characters in this show twisted?"

"The original anime plot really is trash. The character designs are so good, yet it manages to drive away a wave of viewers just minutes into the broadcast."

Seeing that Horikita Suzune also made no move, the audience's mood turned quite disgruntled.

Dokuho Kouya watched the comments and felt it was time for him to act.

Although the chance of success was slim, he still needed to give it a try.

Perhaps this very attempt would be what made the audience notice him?

Dokuho Kouya walked forward and arrived in front of Ayanokouji.

"Classmate, could you please give up your seat to the old lady?" Dokuho Kouya asked with a smile.

"Why ask me?" Ayanokouji Kiyotaka replied with an expressionless face and a flat tone.

"I'm willing to pay one thousand yen." Dokuho Kouya didn't answer the question, instead pulling out a banknote.

"Sorry, I don't want to do that." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka shook his head.

Just standing up to give up a seat could earn one thousand yen; many people would surely be happy to do it.

But as an escapist, he didn't want to do something that would draw this much attention.

"In that case..." Seeing Ayanokouji refuse, Dokuho Kouya wasn't disappointed, instead turning his gaze to a random male student sitting nearby. "This classmate, would you be willing to accept two thousand yen and give up your seat for the old lady?"

As he spoke, Dokuho Kouya pulled out another banknote.

At Advanced Nurturing High School, paper currency couldn't be used.

Even if he kept it, it wouldn't be of much use.

It was better spent leaving a good impression on the audience.

"Rich guy, send me 50!"

"What rich guy, that's my husband!"

"This guy is so handsome, he must be an important character!"

"Could he actually be the protagonist?"

"Not only is he handsome, he's willing to spend money to get others to do good deeds. Someone like this should be the protagonist!"