The real world.
Watching the final few minutes of the anime,
Fan Gege stared wide-eyed, his face full of surprise.
That last twist... awesome!
Learning that Money Brother was actually the culprit behind Class D's points dropping to zero had caught even Fan Gege, who had watched plenty of anime, off guard.
By the very end, even seeing that Money Brother had amassed over twenty million personal points didn't surprise him nearly as much.
The livestream of the first episode of Classroom of the Elite had ended. The screen before him had gone dark, with only the fans' comments scrolling by.
"Shouting (Fan Gege version)"
"Money Brother: Bet you didn't see that coming? I, Dokuho Kouya, am the villain!"
"Ayanokouji: Horikita, are you sure you can make it to Class A?"
"Horikita: I can."
Apart from a handful of people making memes, most of the viewers were stunned by Dokuho Kouya's appearance at the very end.
Fan Gege rubbed his face a few times, then began sharing his thoughts. "That last twist... really was unexpected."
"Most people's impression of Money Brother was that he was a good guy. He'd paid someone to give an old lady a seat, subtly hinted to Horikita about the convenience store, and stood up for a friend at the club orientation. He'd left a great impression."
"Money Brother didn't just make a deep impression on everyone; it was the impression of a good guy. That's why the final twist took everyone by surprise."
Fan Gege paused. "The anime already told us that this is a school where strength is everything, and the classes compete with one another. Only those who graduate as Class A can be considered winners."
"Money Brother learned the truth about the school on the first day, so from then on, he took part in the class competition in his own way."
"If that's the case, then Money Brother's actions make sense."
Fan Gege continued analyzing the situation.
That was simply how the school worked. To get the benefits it offered, you had to beat the other three classes.
It was a fresh, exciting premise, and Fan Gege wanted to keep watching.
"But why did Money Brother go after Class D?"
"Wouldn't it make more sense to beat the strongest rival, Class A?"
"Hey, Money Brother already beat Class A. He just took the chance to hit Class D while he was at it."
"I bet Class D didn't have many Class Points to begin with. Money Brother's attack must've been enough to drop them straight to zero."
"Did nobody notice the female teacher who appeared at the end? From what she said, it seems like she was the one who ordered Money Brother to target Class D."
Right!
Seeing the fans' comments reminded Fan Gege of the cute, beautiful teacher who had appeared at the very end.
"Based on my experience, there are only a few reasons that teacher would do something like that."
"One possibility is that she has a grudge against someone in Class D. It could be a student or a teacher, though the latter seems more likely."
"Another possibility is that she realized there's someone especially capable in Class D, someone who could pose a threat to their Class B, so she ordered Money Brother to go after them."
"The last possibility is that she simply wanted to test Money Brother's abilities. But considering how much money he's already made, I doubt he needs any more testing."
In Fan Gege's opinion, the first two possibilities were the most likely. They might even both be true.
But then again, how had Money Brother managed to earn twenty million points?
Could the school have some other hidden rules?
The Classroom of the Elite World.
Seeing his popularity reach 500,000 points, Dokuho Kouya was in an excellent mood.
He'd worked hard to collect points from the third-year students. Wasn't the whole point to amaze the audience once he'd succeeded?
Now that his popularity had reached 500,000, it proved that his efforts had paid off.
Of course, that popularity was partly thanks to his leading Class B into Class A and reducing Class D's Class Points to zero.
But his achievement of collecting twenty million personal points in the first month had to account for a large part of it.
"Open the System Store."
Dokuho Kouya gave the command silently.
After a month, he opened the System Store again.
As before, there was only one item available this month.
[Makoto Kyogoku Body]
[Price: 250,000 popularity]
[Description: The strongest fighter in the Detective Conan world. After purchasing, you will become an expert at the level of a rifle. But be careful not to overexert yourself. Otherwise, you'll end up on an operating table, followed by a dissection.]
Dokuho Kouya's eyes lit up as he looked at the new item.
Great.
Finally, might could make right.
At Advanced Nurturing High School, academic performance wasn't entirely useless, but you could at least say it wasn't much use.
Physical strength, on the other hand, could solve most problems.
Back in the first-year arc, people had joked that the characters used violence to solve problems too often.
But by the second-year arc, they were using violence to solve problems even more.
As a result, netizens had started calling the series a vocational-school brawl.
Dokuho Kouya wasn't the kind of violent person who wanted to solve problems with force.
But at this school, not being strong was a real pain.
At the very least, he needed to be able to protect himself.
"Still... with Makoto Kyogoku's strength, wouldn't I be unstoppable in this world?"
Thinking about how he'd soon be able to run along rooftops and tear apart a plane with his bare hands made Dokuho Kouya feel pretty excited.
"Redeem the Makoto Kyogoku Body."
[250,000 popularity consumed]
[Makoto Kyogoku Body successfully redeemed]
As the system's cold, emotionless voice faded away, Dokuho Kouya felt as if a mysterious and powerful force had enveloped his body. An astonishing transformation began!
The body he'd known for so long suddenly felt completely unfamiliar.
His muscles were sharply defined and hard as iron, as if they held boundless strength.
At the same time, knowledge of how to control his strength and the skills needed for combat flowed into Dokuho Kouya's body.
"So this is Makoto Kyogoku's strength?"
Dokuho Kouya lowered his head and stared at his palm, quietly sensing the surging power in his hand.
It was so powerful that he felt more confident than ever before.
Even if a bear appeared in front of him, he could knock it down with a single punch, then raise it as a pet.
Just as he was wondering whether to try out his new skills in the clubroom hallway or at the karate club, the Student Terminal in his pocket buzzed softly.
Someone had sent him a message.
"Dokuho, we agreed to have dinner at the Spear Restaurant tonight, then go to karaoke and hang out until nine."
"We'll be waiting for you."
The message was from Sayo Ando.
While he'd been out, the rest of the class had already decided where to go.
Before you continue