A Classroom of the Elite: After the Intelligence Updates, They All Want to Win Me Over! Chapter 50

He carefully picked out a few basic textbooks, then pulled out An Introduction to Literature and checked its publication date on the title page.

"If you're really not very good at Japanese, I recommend Detailed Explanation of Modern Japanese Fundamentals." A gentle voice came from beside him.

A voice as clear as a mountain spring came from behind him. Shimizu Akira turned around and saw a silver-haired girl standing by the bookshelf.

She had an air of quiet intelligence about her and held a hardcover book in her arms. The gold-embossed title The Mystery of the Seven Black Cats stood out on the cover, with Ellery Queen's name printed beneath it.

Shimizu couldn't help smiling. What was with today? Why had he run into two girls reading mystery novels in a row?

"Thanks for the recommendation." He readily took her advice, returning An Introduction to Literature to the shelf and picking up the book she'd recommended, Detailed Explanation of Modern Japanese Fundamentals.

The girl's eyes suddenly lit up. "Ellery Queen's books are wonderful. Would you like to give one a try, too?"

"I've actually read them before," Shimizu replied politely. He noticed her eyes widen slightly at his answer, as if she'd found a kindred spirit.

"Really?" Her voice rose a little before she realized they were in the library and quickly lowered it again. "Do you like mystery novels, too?"

Shimizu's expression turned nostalgic. "I used to be really into them. These days, I prefer lighter mysteries in light novels."

"Light novel mysteries... Like Hyouka?" The silver-haired girl paused, then her eyes lit up. But soon, a faint trace of disappointment clouded them. "I'm sorry. I think I got a little too excited..."

She shook her head slightly. "Because of class duties, I probably won't be able to come to the library often for a while."

Then, as if she'd just remembered something, the girl looked up, a polite and gentle smile appearing on her face. "By the way, I'm Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C. And you are...?"

"Hello. I'm Shimizu Akira from Class 1-D." Shimizu paused, hesitating for half a second before beginning his introduction at an unhurried pace.

(Wait! Is she Shiina Hiyori? The girl who'll figure out who I really am in the future?)

Thanks to the reader Shiye Shang for the generous 10,000-cookie tip. Here's the promised extra chapter!

P.S. That wraps up the April storyline. The May storyline officially begins tomorrow.

087 May 1 — Class 1-D's Class Points Are XXX

Time flew by, and before he knew it, the first day of May had arrived.

Only then did Shimizu realize that he'd been in this world for an entire month.

It had also been exactly half a month since the day Horikita Suzune had met Shiina Hiyori during weekend tutoring.

Nothing particularly noteworthy had happened in class during that time.

After all, it was only the first month of the school year.

School was pretty much like work: a few classes, a meal, and suddenly it was Friday. Spend the weekend however you liked, and before you knew it, another week had passed.

At an ordinary school, students weren't working adults, and they didn't get paid to attend classes.

But here at Advanced Nurturing High School, students really did get paid.

As long as they performed well, they earned points.

Thinking of this, Shimizu instinctively took out his phone to check his balance.

The screen clearly showed: 8,690,000

He'd spent more than twenty thousand points in just two weeks. By Class 1-D's standards, that was a pretty extravagant rate of spending.

Most of his classmates were budgeting carefully. Some collected free ingredients and cooked for themselves, while others ate nothing but the free meals in the cafeteria.

The reason was simple.

Almost all the points belonging to the four classes had been turned into a cold, hard number in Shimizu's account.

His gaze shifted to the upper-right corner of his phone screen: 6:59.

According to Chabashira Sae, the points would be deposited promptly on the first of every month.

(Could it be... since our Class Points are zero, we won't get any points at all?)

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Shimizu shook his head.

That seemed unlikely.

Ever since he'd rented out the surveillance equipment two weeks ago, class discipline had improved markedly under Kushida Kikyou and Hirata Yosuke's guidance.

Even if the occasional violation occurred, all they had to do was delete the surveillance footage before the end of the month.

The only records they couldn't change were the footage from the first week and some violations that had taken place outside the classroom's field of view.

The instant the clock struck seven, the number on his phone screen suddenly changed.

8,690,000 → 10,498,000

It had increased by a full 1,803,000 points.

"So that's how it is..." Shimizu narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Class 1-D has 530 Class Points this month."

The calculation unfolded rapidly in his mind.

Class Points × 100 = each student's Private Points.

Under the rental contract, Class 1-D had borrowed three million points, so they had to pay him 1.8 million Private Points in the first month.

But as a member of Class 1-D, Shimizu was also charged the basic fee of 45,000 points.

The remaining 8,000 points, added to the 45,000-point deduction, then divided by 100, corresponded exactly to 530 Class Points.

"This result... is way better than I expected! Actually, the fact that Class 1-D still managed to get 530 Class Points is impressive."

After all, just three weeks ago, the Daily Intelligence he'd received had shown that Class 1-D had zero points.

Now they'd managed to score 530, which meant their total score was 53.

That worked out to 53,000 points per student this month. Even after the mandatory deduction of 45,000, they'd still have 8,000 points left for living expenses.

But on closer inspection... the first week's surveillance footage and the violations that happened outside the classroom had cost Class 1-D a whopping 470 points.

In a way, Class 1-D had done pretty well.

(Who was it in class last month who said we'd get at least eight or nine hundred points?)

Shimizu couldn't remember.

Whoever it was would probably be sorely disappointed this time.

Even if the School Administration hadn't deliberately taken away the surveillance footage from the first week, there were cameras outside the classrooms, too.

The class's own surveillance system had probably prevented more than eighty percent of the deductions, that was all.

Shimizu felt that, for Class 1-D, 530 Class Points were perfectly acceptable.

Student Council President Horikita Manabu had once said that Class D averaged around 350 Class Points in past years.

That was nearly 200 points above average.

"What about the other classes? They should have scored higher than they did on the original timeline, right?" he murmured, remembering a piece of intelligence he'd received last month.

Class Points revealed after the first month of school: Class A 940 | Class B 650 | Class C 490 | Class D 0

Now, Class D had 530 points. There was no reason for the other classes' Class Points to remain exactly the same.

Of course, Class A was unlikely to have changed much.

As for Classes C and B, they should have gained at least a hundred points or so.

(Come to think of it... does this scoring system have a cap? Is the maximum really just 1,000 points? Or is there no upper limit?)

The question suddenly occurred to him.

If a higher score was possible, then 940 points didn't seem like much.

Incidentally, the surveillance access for all four classes should have expired today, and the School Administration had officially taken it back.

Just then, Shimizu remembered the alternate account he hadn't logged into for almost two weeks.

He'd take a quick look.

Ryuen Kakeru: You! Why did the surveillance access suddenly disappear today?

Ichinose Honami: So you only rented it to us for three weeks?

Sakayanagi Arisu: Hehe... Just as I expected, it expired at the end of the month. You really are so "short."

Kushida Kikyou: ? Hey, classmate?

"Well, I knew this would happen."

Shimizu couldn't help laughing helplessly.

(What a flood of bad reviews!)

Still, he couldn't really be blamed.

The School Administration had only given him access for three weeks in the first place.

He'd wanted the surveillance period to be longer, too.

Ryuen Kakeru in particular had been sending him threat after threat, insisting that he'd uncover Shimizu's identity and use force if necessary to make him hand over the three million points that supposedly belonged to Class C.

Shimizu didn't take him seriously. His hidden identity shouldn't be that easy to expose.

But then he remembered what he'd learned last month: Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C would figure out who he was in the future.

"This could be a bit of a problem."

When future intelligence was left alone and no action was taken, it often became an established fact.

In other words, if things continued this way, Ryuen Kakeru of Class 1-C would inevitably discover Shimizu Akira's real identity through Shiina Hiyori.

He just couldn't figure out how Shiina Hiyori would deduce his identity.

He wasn't afraid of Ryuen Kakeru's physical strength, but the other boy's underhanded methods were a problem.

He had no regard for the rules whatsoever.

Shimizu's instincts told him that having Ryuen Kakeru on his case would be a huge headache.

"Looks like I'll have to approach Shiina Hiyori first—or find a way to mislead her reasoning."

088 Today's Intelligence: 20 Million Points Can Buy a Class Transfer or Cancel an Expulsion

Chabashira Sae suddenly posted an announcement in the class group chat: everyone was to assemble in the classroom at 8:30 for a class meeting.

It was worth noting that this was only the second time Chabashira Sae had held a morning class meeting.

The first had been on the very first day of school.

She was probably going to announce something important.

Shimizu put away his phone, changed into his uniform, hurried through breakfast, and headed to the Class 1-D classroom.

The moment he opened the door, he sensed something was off. The classroom was nearly full, but his classmates showed no delight at receiving their points. Instead, their faces were filled with confusion and unease.

"Did your points come in?"

"They did, but I only got eight thousand! That loan contract we signed last month took way too much..."

"But that doesn't make sense! Our class should have more than 800 Class Points. Even after deducting the 45,000 for renting the surveillance equipment, we should have at least thirty thousand left!"

"Only 530 Class Points?" Horikita Suzune approached with her shoulder bag in hand, her brow furrowed. "That's not even a passing score. It looks like we lost quite a few points for violations outside the classroom, too."

But Shimizu didn't have time to focus on her analysis. The familiar mechanical voice rang in his mind:

[Ping~ Today's intelligence has been updated]

[1. 20 million Private Points can buy a class transfer or cancel one student's expulsion once.]

[2. Sakagami Kazuma of Class 1-C has turned a blind eye to Ryuen Kakeru's violent behavior in class.]

[3. Hasebe Haruka is the most well-endowed girl in Class 1-D.]

(Wait... I can transfer classes for 20 million points?)

Shimizu blinked.

This piece of intelligence hit like a hammer, confirming most of his suspicions from the past few days.

After all, the School Administration's original slogan had been, "As long as you have points, you can buy anything."

Ever since he'd rented the surveillance equipment from the Student Council President last month, the School Administration had gradually announced that a number of things were "not for sale." The surveillance system, classroom seats, class affiliation... all these vital resources had been marked as off-limits for trade.

The School Administration was probably worried that another student might simply rent out an entire classroom. How would they handle that? So they'd just banned all such transactions.

Shimizu didn't have much to say about it.

He'd already made a fortune from the surveillance system. There was no need to keep trying to milk the School Administration's equipment.