Classroom of the Elite, After the Intel Refreshed, They Always Want to Conquer Me! Chapter 25

Kushida Kikyou had already made her way to the podium at some point, gently smoothing out her skirt as she flashed her signature sweet smile.

"Of course I can!"

"What is it you want to tell us, Kushida-san?"

The girls responded with immediate enthusiasm, clearly demonstrating her immense popularity within that group—this natural affinity was the very capital she used to navigate the social circles of the girls with such ease.

"Actually..." Kushida paused deliberately, waiting until the entire class had turned their attention toward her before lowering her voice. "I accidentally learned of a shocking secret from someone else yesterday."

She took a deep breath, her expression suddenly turning incredibly serious: "Aside from our personal points, there is something else in this school called 'Class Points.' And—"

"If our Class Points drop to zero, none of us will receive any personal points next month!"

"Ah... that thing..."

"Kushida-san, we already knew about that."

However, the sensation she had anticipated did not materialize—on the contrary, a wave of indifferent responses echoed throughout the classroom.

Hirata Yosuke stood up, looking a bit awkward as he scratched his cheek apologetically: "Sorry, Kushida-san. Actually, after I learned of this news through other channels yesterday, I already discussed it with some of the other students..."

(Damn it...)

Kushida couldn't help but curse under her breath.

The "bombshell" she had meticulously prepared had turned into old news that Hirata had already disclosed.

What bothered her even more was—who exactly had Hirata received the information from?

044 We can win! Next month, we'll be Class A!

Shimizu Akira withdrew his gaze from the podium without a change in expression.

(Just as I thought... Kushida-san is still too naive.)

He had long anticipated this outcome—because last night, he had deliberately used the same anonymous account to send that hidden information to both Hirata and Kushida separately.

Chabashira Sae wanted him to pick a side?

Rather than being used as a pawn by the homeroom teacher, it was better to let these two "key figures" fight it out themselves.

Looking at it now:

Hirata Yosuke had chosen the most pragmatic approach—sharing the information with a portion of the class overnight; such candor had instead solidified the trust others had in him.

As for Kushida Kikyou... she had clearly treated the information as a prop for a performance, calculating how to stage a "savior" act in front of the entire class.

Shimizu Akira glanced at the girl on the podium who was forcing a smile; those eyes, which were always filled with warmth, were now flickering with an imperceptible panic.

What a pity—this carefully orchestrated "press conference" had ultimately become a stepping stone for Hirata.

Horikita Suzune, who had been watching the podium in silence for a long time, spoke up: "Shimizu-kun... was this your doing?"

She had witnessed the entire transaction between Chabashira Sae and Shimizu Akira yesterday.

She had assumed he would just pick a side to get it over with, but she hadn't expected him to send the information to both parties simultaneously.

"Yes." Shimizu Akira replied while flipping through his textbook: "I would appreciate it if you kept that a secret, Horikita-san."

"...I have no interest in being a gossip." Horikita snorted and turned her head away, though she couldn't help but use her peripheral vision to size up the inscrutable seatmate beside her.

This method of deliberately creating an information equilibrium was less of a prank and more of a sophisticated political experiment—it avoided the risks of picking a side while allowing him to observe how the two "key figures" would respond.

Horikita Suzune's gaze lingered on Shimizu Akira's profile for a moment.

(All the information came from Shimizu Akira.)

(And Hirata and Kushida were nothing more than messengers... The gap between these two and him is simply too vast.)

Even if she wasn't clear on the capabilities of the so-called geniuses in Class A, the level of intellect Shimizu Akira displayed was clearly far beyond what one would expect from Class D.

"Since you have this kind of ability..." Horikita lowered her voice, showing a rare look of curiosity, "why don't you step forward and reveal the information yourself?"

Chabashira Sae had actually given him three methods, one of which was the option to step out and announce the information himself.

Shimizu Akira tilted his head slightly: "Horikita-san, I've already said it once; I don't want to be anyone's 'blood bag.' By the way! Now that you know the whole truth, is there nothing you want to say?"

Horikita Suzune was silent for a moment: "...I have nothing to say. This isn't the class I belong in at all."

"Is that so." Shimizu Akira raised an eyebrow.

It seemed that even at this point, she still hadn't given up.

Perhaps only by being reprimanded to her face by her brother, the Student Council President, would she finally abandon her delusions.

From the perspective of an older brother, having such a stubborn younger sister was indeed quite a headache.

However, he took another look at the information and felt speechless once again.

But it shouldn't have reached the point of physical violence!

Seriously! What on earth did Horikita Suzune say to get beaten up by her brother like that!

I'll go take a look tonight if I have time.

"I still can't understand..." Horikita Suzune, sitting beside him, had an incomprehensible sense of agitation in her eyes: "You... why are you able to remain so calm?"

Over the past few days, aside from her dissatisfaction with the class placement results, what puzzled her most was this detached attitude of Shimizu Akira's.

Clearly—his ability far exceeded his own, yet he had been tossed into the "garbage heap" of Class D just like her.

He always wore a calm expression, and had never even uttered a single word of complaint about the class assignments.

"I think it's fair," Shimizu Akira replied. "Given my entrance performance, Class D is just right."

His entrance exam scores could be described as useless in every aspect except for his physical fitness, so being assigned to Class D was only natural.

In the eyes of Horikita Suzune, Shimizu Akira's tone seemed incredibly indifferent; this person before her was a high school student in the same grade as her, yet he was unexpectedly open-minded.

For some reason, this extinguished a bit of the nameless fire burning within her.

On the other side, Shimizu Akira didn't pay much attention to Horikita Suzune's gaze, instead keeping his eyes fixed on the podium.

Hirata Yosuke did not take this opportunity to step up and show off as expected; instead, he took the initiative to step back, leaving the opportunity to explain the relevant information to the entire class to Kushida Kikyou.

Kushida Kikyou naturally did not decline, and under the gaze of the entire class, she clearly and logically explained the hidden school rules and the operating mechanism of the S System one by one.

Some students had already figured this out, While others could not hide their shock.

The classroom suddenly became restless, but under the gentle guidance of Hirata Yosuke and the patient reassurance of Kushida Kikyou, the students quickly regained their spirits.

Fortunately, only ten days had passed since the start of school, which meant everyone still had plenty of time to recover their class points.

Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyou were also far smarter than they appeared on the surface.

The two reached a tacit understanding, deliberately hiding the cruel truth of the class assignment system from their classmates.

These Class D students did not yet know they were considered defective goods, assuming that those initially assigned to Class A were simply lucky.

The two only revealed the most superficial parts—as long as they followed the daily code of conduct, class points would not be deducted.

They even used the excuse that "other classes might not know these rules yet" to motivate everyone, creating three major illusions: "We have the upper hand," "We can win!" and "We will be Class A next month."

However, such short-lived harmony in the class was destined not to last.

The classroom door was pushed open violently, and Chabashira Sae walked in with heavy footsteps.

"You two." Chabashira Sae's sharp gaze swept back and forth between Hirata and Kushida, her fingertips tapping impatiently on her arm. "Come out with me."

Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyou were both startled, but since she was their homeroom teacher, they had no choice but to silently follow Chabashira toward the shadows at the end of the hallway.

Chabashira suddenly turned around, leaning against the windowsill. "Tell me, how did you discover those hidden rules?"

Hirata paused for a few seconds before speaking: "Actually... a person named Yueqing suddenly added me as a friend..."

"Me too... after adding that person named Yueqing, he suddenly sent a lot of key information." Kushida chimed in, and after stealing a glance at Hirata, a subtle expression appeared on her face involuntarily.

Chabashira Sae's tone carried obvious disappointment, like the expression of a gambler flipping over the final card. "It seems... he didn't choose either of you, but sent the message to everyone?"

"Enough!" She suddenly slapped the windowsill. "I am now appointing you as vice class representatives. Your first task is to collect 25,000 points from every student in the class as class fees."

Hirata's brow furrowed tightly: "Teacher, what do you mean by this?"

Chabashira Sae swept a cold glance at him. "1,000,000 points—that is the price for purchasing the information from him. You two couldn't possibly be naive enough to think there is such a thing as a free lunch in this world, right? Why would anyone give you information for nothing?"

045 Horikita Suzune: A bunch of idiots. Wait, I have to pay 25,000 points too?

"...I understand."

In the end, Hirata took a deep breath and looked up, his eyes having shifted from initial shock to understanding. "I will explain it clearly to the classmates and take responsibility for collecting the 25,000 points in class fees from everyone."

Although the figure of "1,000,000 points" had hit him like a lightning bolt at first, his brain was now racing—if they hadn't learned these hidden rules in advance, Class D's class points would likely have fallen to two or three hundred by next month.

And now, having grasped such critical information in only the second week of school...

A glimmer of light flashed in Hirata's eyes.

This was not just an opportunity to stop the losses, but a chance to turn defeat into victory.

If this information could be utilized properly, even surpassing Class C was not a fantasy.

Therefore, one million points to buy this information was not expensive at all!

On average, each student only needed to pay a quarter of their points.

It was only the second week of school; he didn't believe that the other students in the class couldn't even come up with 25,000 points.

"Me too!" Kushida Kikyou quickly glanced at Hirata, then bloomed with her signature sweet smile. "As a vice class representative, I will definitely not lose to Hirata-kun, and I will also excellently complete the task of collecting class fees!"

As she turned to Chabashira Sae, a trace of imperceptible inquiry flashed in her eyes: "Chabashira-sensei, thank you so much for helping us contact the trading partner. Please rest assured, we will keep our stories consistent and say it was a normal transaction with a stranger."

Kushida lowered her head slightly.

To be honest, 1,000,000 points was indeed shocking, but what surprised her more was that this usually cold homeroom teacher would go to such lengths for Class D—actually acting as a personal intermediary.

Chabashira Sae coldly interrupted her thoughts. "You two are overthinking it! I didn't do this for your sake."

"However—" she suddenly turned around, "if you two really want to be class representatives... then you had better suck up to that mysterious person who sent you the anonymous messages."

Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyou froze once again.

This homeroom teacher was openly implying that the power to appoint class officials was in the hands of a "mysterious person" of unknown origin?

So, was Chabashira Sae even a qualified homeroom teacher?!

Subsequently, the homeroom teacher led the two back into the classroom. She stood in front of the podium, her gaze sweeping across the entire class before finally settling on Hirata and Kushida.

"I have an announcement to make." Her voice carried no warmth. "From today, Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyou will serve as the vice representatives of Class D."

A smattering of applause broke out in the classroom.

This result was not surprising—Hirata's reliability and Kushida's approachability truly made them the most suitable candidates.

"I'll leave the class meeting to the two of you." Without looking back, she tossed those words over her shoulder and turned to leave the scene.

Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyou stood on either side of the podium, exchanging a hesitant glance.

Ultimately, Hirata took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"Everyone," his voice was a few shades lower than usual, "I hope each of you can transfer 25,000 points to either me or Kushida."

This sentence exploded in the classroom like a bomb.

"Are you kidding me?!" Yamauchi Haruki was the first to jump up, his chair screeching harshly against the floor. "25,000? Have you lost your mind?"

Ike Kanji immediately slammed his hands on his desk and stood up. "Even if it's you, Hirata, you can't just do whatever you want!"

Whispers broke out among the girls. "This is just too ridiculous..."

"We aren't ATMs..."

Kushida Kikyou hurriedly stepped forward. "Everyone, please calm down! Actually... the information that Hirata and I mentioned just now was purchased."

"Purchased?" Shinohara widened her eyes in surprise. "Didn't you get it from the upperclassmen?"

Hirata said with a bitter smile, "Last night, an anonymous account contacted me, saying... there was a piece of information worth one million points. After Kushida and I previewed the content... and discussed it with each other, we decided to buy it."

The classroom fell into an eerie silence for a moment, followed by an even more intense wave of uproar.

"One million?!" Sudo Ken jumped straight out of his seat. "Are you two crazy?"

"Ha? That's hilarious!" Karuizawa Kei crossed her arms and sneered. "Why would you spend the entire class's monthly points without even asking us?! If it's 1 million, then you should pay for it yourselves!"

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Hirata's forehead, while Kushida's smile had completely frozen on her face.

The entire Class D was now like a volcano on the verge of erupting, suppressed anger dancing in everyone's eyes.