Classroom of the Elite: After the Intel Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me! 13

"Look forward to it! Shimizu-kun, hahahahaha!"

Before the words had even faded, the tall, slender figure of Kouenji Rokusuke had already vanished from the classroom, leaving behind a room filled with stunned silence.

Kouenji Rokusuke had always been flamboyant in his actions, and his words—delivered in an intentionally loud voice, followed by that hearty, infectious laughter—had unsurprisingly reached the ears of all the surrounding students.

"What is that guy babbling about?"

"What 'favor'? What a mess."

"But, he's surprisingly popular with the upperclassmen girls! Maybe he'll introduce us to some girlfriends!"

Shimizu Akira hadn't expected that someone with a personality as narcissistic as Kouenji Rokusuke would actually be liked by senior girls from other classes.

However, whether it was giving up his seat or reporting the incident, those were just things he had done on a whim; he hadn't expected the other party to interpret them as some sort of special favor.

In the words of the other party, it was a beautiful misunderstanding.

(Being "repaid" by a man... no matter how I think about it, it's nothing to be happy about.)

The gymnasium was currently bustling with people, with about a hundred students gathered in small groups all over the venue.

Judging by their uniforms, most were first-year freshmen who hadn't joined any clubs yet.

Shimizu Akira spotted a long table at the entrance covered in promotional materials.

He walked up and pulled a booklet from the neatly arranged stack.

Flipping through the pages, introductions for various clubs came into view:

[Judo Club] - Top eight in the national tournament for three consecutive years

[Baseball Club] - Top four in last year's Koshien qualifiers

[Archery Club] - Home to current national youth team members

Each page featured photos of club activities, and the upperclassmen wearing professional gear were all adorned with shiny medals on their chests.

(The level of these clubs... they're practically at the national reserve team standard.)

His original plan to join a club and earn school points through his performance was completely shattered after seeing the profiles of these athletes.

The groundwork demonstrations in Judo, the batting stances in Baseball, the perfect form in Archery—every photo showcased a professional level of skill.

(As a complete amateur, it's unlikely I could keep up with training at this level...)

The upperclassmen began taking turns on stage to introduce their clubs, and basically every club was spouting lines about welcoming beginners.

However, Shimizu Akira felt that these seniors were likely just eyeing the budget; generally speaking, the more members a club had, the more funding it should receive.

Freshmen without relevant experience, even if they joined a club, would likely just be treated as errand boys.

"Hey! You, the student over there!" a booming voice called out from the stage, "Want to come up and try some boxing?"

Shimizu Akira snapped back to reality, noticing a muscular upperclassman on stage waving at him.

Come to think of it, did a Japanese high school actually have a Boxing Club? Weren't they worried about students getting injured and being unable to attend class?

The gazes of the freshmen below turned toward him in unison, instantly making him the center of attention.

"Me...?" Shimizu Akira pointed at himself, and after receiving an affirmative nod, he stepped forward. "Alright, but I've never touched boxing before."

"Hahaha! Everyone has a first time!" the senior's hearty laughter echoed through the gymnasium.

Under the other's enthusiastic invitation, Shimizu Akira slowly climbed onto the stage.

The senior tossed over a pair of red boxing gloves, the leather surface still showing signs of wear.

"Just try throwing a punch like this?" The senior assumed a defensive stance, his sturdy arms crossed in front of his chest, showing no intention of wearing protective gear.

Shimizu Akira fumbled with the straps of the gloves as he asked, "Is this really okay? If you don't wear protective gear..."

"Don't worry, don't worry!" The senior waved his hand dismissively. "Consider it a special service for a freshman! Come on! Don't hold back!"

Shimizu Akira took a deep breath, his eyes suddenly becoming focused.

He lowered his shoulders slightly, stepped forward with his left foot, and lashed out with his right fist like an arrow released from a bow—

"Bang!"

Shimizu Akira's straight punch slammed into the senior's crossed, blocking arms, and the sturdy upperclassman was actually sent stumbling back several steps by the force of the blow.

"Ugh...!" The senior let out a muffled groan, and a deep red bruise appeared on his bronze-colored arm at a speed visible to the naked eye.

He widened his eyes in disbelief, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "This power... are you kidding me... is this year's freshman a monster?"

Before he could finish, his right arm, which he had used to block, suddenly began to tremble uncontrollably.

Acting on muscle memory, he made an instinctive reaction typical of a professional boxer in pain—quickly pulling his arm back to his waist.

This subtle, professional movement caused a stir among the few students in the crowd who knew their stuff, though most of the students below were just jeering.

Laughter erupted from the crowd, and several students whistled and heckled: "How much did the senior get paid for this performance?"

"They're really going all out for recruitment!"

"Didn't the other guy say he'd never practiced boxing before?"

The senior scratched his head, revealing a slightly awkward but hearty smile: "Hahaha, did you see through me?"

But as he turned to Shimizu Akira, his gaze became exceptionally serious: "However, junior, the weight of your punch is no joke."

The senior flexed his arm, which was still tingling: "You exercise often, right?"

Just as Shimizu Akira was about to answer, the senior had already warmly draped an arm over his shoulder: "Have you considered joining the Boxing Club? You'll have full access to our imported gym equipment."

"Right! I forgot to ask, freshman, which class are you in? What's your name? You haven't joined any other clubs yet, have you?"

"I'm Shimizu Akira from Class D, first year. I haven't joined any clubs yet."

"Ah... a freshman from Class D... I'll give you... 5,000 points every month... no, let's make it 10,000 points as a subsidy!"

"There's a subsidy? But starting boxing practice now... isn't it a bit too late?"

"Not at all, not at all. The essence of combat sports is a test of physical fitness. Your foundation is incredibly solid; even without technique, you can throw a heavy punch that would bring an opponent to their knees."

"Trust me!" The senior leaned in suddenly, his voice dropping to a whisper: "Freshmen don't understand the way things work at this school yet." He paused meaningfully, "This is a school that believes in the supremacy of force..."

Shimizu Akira was stunned upon hearing this.

He clearly remembered that the Student Council President had declared "meritocracy" with great resonance during the entrance ceremony.

023 Shimizu Akira: I'm going to start boxing

Just as the senior was about to speak again.

"My turn."

The man who had been standing quietly on the stage suddenly spoke.

Upon seeing who it was, the senior's expression visibly stiffened.

"President Horikita."

He immediately bowed in greeting, his tone filled with awe.

"Freshman, follow me down. It is time for the Student Council President's speech."

Hearing this, Shimizu Akira followed the Boxing Club president as he walked slowly off the stage.

He looked back suddenly and realized—the person before him was none other than Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President who had given the address at yesterday's entrance ceremony.

He was also the older brother of his seatmate, Horikita Suzune.

"Senior, you seem quite afraid of that Student Council President."

"Junior Shimizu, you don't understand! In this school, the power of the student council is limitless. If you offend President Horikita..."

"Whew—" The senior let out a long sigh, wiping the cold sweat from his temple with lingering fear: "Luckily the President was lenient, otherwise I would have nearly crossed the red line just now."

"Anyway, I have high hopes for you, junior." The Boxing Club senior patted Shimizu Akira on the shoulder, his eyes gleaming with appreciation: "This point subsidy is a unique privilege, something absolutely no one else gets." He lowered his voice and added mysteriously: "If it weren't for your special situation and your innate talent..."

Afterward, the senior headed toward the Boxing Club recruitment booth, but before turning away, he threw back one last remark: "If you're interested, you're welcome to sign up for the Boxing Club at any time, even next month."

Before the words had even faded, he was already seated firmly at the recruitment desk, his confident demeanor suggesting he was certain Shimizu Akira would eventually join.

Shimizu Akira gave him a slight nod.

This senior was quite interesting, offering a monthly subsidy of 10,000 points just because he was a student from Class D.

With that look of victory on his face, could it be that he had calculated that Shimizu Akira would inevitably fall into a point crisis by next month?

On stage, the Student Council President began to introduce the general overview of the student council and announced the recruitment plan.

"We are currently opening recruitment for reserve members," his voice was steady and unhurried, "Subsequent, more rigorous official selections will follow."

The President's gaze swept across the audience from behind his lenses, emphasizing: "We do not welcome those with naive fantasies, nor will we tolerate the existence of any flaws."

Hearing this, the subtext was clear to Shimizu Akira: it was likely that only the elites from Class A and Class B were qualified to step through the doors of the student council.

As he left the venue, a familiar figure caught his eye—Horikita Suzune was staring motionlessly at her brother.

However, the Student Council President merely glanced at her indifferently before quickly looking away.

Between these two siblings, it was as if there was a tragic, thick barrier.

In the blink of an eye, it was Friday.

The information refreshed over the past few days consisted entirely of worthless, trivial details. For example:

[Miyake Akito has joined the Archery Club]

[Ike Kanji is desperately longing to find romance during his high school years]

It was all irrelevant personal privacy, of no help to his current situation.

Information is, after all, just information.

Shimizu Akira saw this very clearly—he never expected the daily updated intelligence to have an immediate effect.

After all, this was just the beginning; there were still three full years of high school ahead.

Information was merely an auxiliary tool to add to the splendor.

It is worth mentioning that he officially joined the Boxing Club on Wednesday.

Every day after school, Shimizu Akira would train at the Boxing Club for two hours without fail.

The club president truly kept his promise, transferring ten thousand points as agreed upon the very day he joined.

The first week of training was somewhat unexpected—there were no sparring matches as he had anticipated, he didn't even get to touch a punching bag, and he didn't even wrap his hands.

Instead, it was all tedious basic training:

Jump rope, jumping jacks, and other fundamental physical conditioning exercises.

Footwork drills involving forward and backward slides.

According to the coach, Shimizu Akira was progressing quickly, and if he maintained this state of training, he could be scheduled for a real match next month.

As the after-school bell rang, Shimizu Akira was stuffing his textbooks into his bag when he suddenly heard light, brisk footsteps behind him.

"Shimizu-kun!" Kushida Kikyou leaned over, her eyes shining with curiosity, "Have you bought your boxing gloves yet?"

"Not yet," Shimizu Akira zipped up his bag and turned to answer, "I'm planning to buy them next month."

"Then, when Shimizu-kun gets on stage to compete next month, can I go watch?" Kushida Kikyou pressed her hands together, her eyes sparkling, "I've never seen a boy box in person before!"

"Of course you can," Shimizu Akira nodded, "though I heard you have to spend points to buy a ticket."

According to the Boxing Club president, although boxing was relatively niche in other high schools, it was a popular club at this school. It was not only equipped with a professional-grade ring but also occasionally held exhibition matches, with the spectator stands often packed to capacity.

The school administration took a tacitly approving attitude toward these activities held by the Boxing Club.

The president had once told him that this was because a former Boxing Club president had spent a large amount of points to specifically apply for this exclusive privilege from the school.

(Of course, all match attendance required the payment of points.)

As for the specific mechanism of point distribution, Shimizu Akira was not entirely clear.

He only knew that boxers who stepped into the ring received a base appearance fee, and could earn additional bonus personal points after winning.

It was precisely because of this dual benefit that Shimizu Akira decided to join—it allowed him to strengthen his body while earning points, which could be described as killing two birds with one stone.