Aragaki Shun marveled at the Yellow-haired Senior's generosity as he casually added another point each to Strength, Constitution, and Agility, happily accepting this gift from nature.
Unfortunately, there were only so many clubs at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School worth challenging. Those easy days of earning points soon came to an end. After making the rounds and beating every senior willing to bet against him, Aragaki Shun had no choice but to change his regular daily routine again, spending more of his time after school in the library to expand his knowledge base.
During this steady school life, Aragaki Shun rose to prominence by stepping on numerous clubs, spreading his name throughout the school as quickly as possible until every student and teacher knew of him.
Time quickly moved on to Tuesday evening of the second week of the school year.
That day, the boy had just returned from the library and spent a while on his phone. Just as he was getting ready to rest, a call he had been waiting for finally brought the news he wanted.
Aragaki Shun's lips curled up, and he promptly answered the call from the number saved as [Director Kanda].
"Good evening, Director Kanda. I wonder if you have good news for me today?"
"Hahaha, Shun-kun, you've certainly caused quite a stir around campus these past few days. Even us Board of Directors members have heard about it: someone earned nearly ten million Private Points through club challenges in the very first month of the school year."
"Not bad. As an ordinary student in Class B, I have to save up some Private Points for myself. Otherwise, it'll be hard to withstand the pressure Class A puts on me later."
"Ahem, ahem. I don't think anyone in this year's Class A is capable of putting pressure on you."
"Oh? Really?"
Aragaki Shun asked in reply. The person on the other end clearly understood what he meant, so he immediately gave his assurance—
"At least, there definitely won't be after tonight!"
"The Board of Directors is also dissatisfied with Chairman Sakayanagi's conduct, but the classes have already been assigned and can't be changed."
"After discussion, the Board of Directors has made the following decision..."
24. The Common Traits of Class B Students
Over the phone, Director Kanda relayed every detail of the Board of Directors' decision to Aragaki Shun.
There was quite a bit to it, but to sum it up: while Sakayanagi Arisu was enrolled at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, Chairman Sakayanagi would be barred from taking part in the creation of exam rules, the administration of exams, and the grading of exam results for first-year students.
In exchange, whenever a future exam involving first-year students resulted in a student failing or withdrawing directly because of their physical condition, the school would have to impose a more appropriate punishment rather than expelling them outright.
He was the Board Chairman, after all, and Kodo Ikusei Senior High School had been founded starting with his father. The school still had to show him a basic level of respect.
So Aragaki Shun could understand the latter part of the deal.
After all, that rule applied to all students. Getting the school to remove one type of exam that could lead to expulsion would be a good thing for Class B, too.
From his conversations with the upperclassmen over the past few days, he'd learned that at this school, failing certain exams meant getting expelled. He'd already planned to have Class B start working on their weaknesses as soon as the Board of Directors' decision came through.
Now that the Board Chairman had removed the risk of expulsion due to physical fitness, Class B could prioritize putting its resources into improving academic performance.
After all, according to the upperclassmen, at Kodo Ikusei, students would be forced to withdraw if they failed even one subject on a midterm or final exam.
"...Do you have any questions about this decision, Shun-kun?"
After he finished explaining the Board of Directors' discussion, Director Kanda's gentle voice came through the phone again.
The meaning was clear: if there was anything else he wanted to ask, now was the time. There wouldn't be another opportunity this suitable afterward.
However, Kodo Ikusei Senior High School monitored the phones and online communications on campus. Asking anything too sensitive outright could violate school rules.
So Aragaki Shun would have to judge for himself where to draw the line.
The boy thought it over, then asked out of curiosity what reason the school had officially given for placing him in Class B.
Aragaki Shun thought he had a decent personality and, thanks to his cheat, his abilities were excellent. He hadn't caused any trouble in the past, either. So why had Kodo Ikusei assigned him to Class B?
"Ahem. The reason Chairman Sakayanagi gave was actually the bullying incident you were involved in during middle school."
"That incident? I'd almost forgotten about it if you hadn't brought it up..."
Aragaki Shun was speechless.
School bullying wasn't uncommon in Sakurajima.
When Aragaki Shun was little, he couldn't get along with the other kids because of his personality. As a result, a group of elementary and middle school students inexplicably took a dislike to him.
They banded together to bully him, but they usually learned their lesson after he beat them up in return.
He thought the incident in middle school had been much the same. At most, those delinquents had been so obnoxious, and the teacher had been so negligent, that Aragaki Shun had hit them a little harder and made use of his family's connections. That had led to several students being expelled and one teacher being fired.
But according to the school's announcement, he'd been acting in self-defense the entire time. It was already kind of him not to demand compensation from the other side.
He'd never given the incident much thought, so he hadn't expected it to be the reason Kodo Ikusei assigned him to Class B.
"I'm curious. What did the Chairman think I should have done to handle that incident properly? Or has Kodo Ikusei already found a perfect way to deal with school bullying?"
"Hahaha, that's an excellent question. I suggest you ask that guy in person if you get the chance."
"I'll pass. I'm very satisfied with everyone in Class B. As long as I receive suitable compensation, let's put the class assignment behind us."
Aragaki Shun wasn't lying.
After a week together, he was genuinely very satisfied with his classmates.
Sometimes, when they ran into problems, they always went to him, Kanzaki, Ichinose, and the others, which made them seem a little lacking in initiative. But the important thing was that they listened!
As long as the tasks Aragaki Shun assigned were reasonable, the students of Class B would carry them out without a word of complaint.
Aragaki Shun could never get enough of such diligent, dependable subordinates. Even if those conceited people in Class A were generally more capable, their unity and willingness to follow orders still couldn't compare with Class B.
"Class B students are indeed the easiest to bring together. However, they often lack initiative and are easily swayed by their surroundings. They don't have many ideas of their own, and most of them are good, but not outstanding, in terms of ability. If their leader isn't exceptional, guiding such a group forward can be quite exhausting."
Director Kanda described the common traits of Class B students over the phone. Aragaki Shun compared his classmates one by one with that assessment and found that most of them fit the description.
It could only mean that the school had deliberately assigned this type of student to Class B.
"Isn't that great?" Aragaki Shun said with a smile. "I consider myself pretty capable, so it shouldn't be a bad thing for them to be influenced by me!"
Their strong willingness to follow orders, ability to work together, and diligence... In Aragaki Shun's eyes, those were all ideal qualities.
With that as a foundation, their other personality flaws weren't really flaws. As for their lack of standout abilities, they could improve over time.
"Looking at the past dozen or so classes, Class B has the widest range between its upper and lower limits of the four classes. With an excellent leader, it can easily overtake Class A. With an unfit leader, the class can fall all the way to Class D under that leader's influence."
"The school is also looking forward to seeing where Class B will go under your leadership, Shun-kun."
The class that was easiest to bring together was, in other words, the class whose strength and style depended entirely on its leader.
If the leader was a wolf, all of Class B would become a pack of wolves. If the leader was a sheep, the other classes would devour all of Class B.
The leader of third-year Class B wasn't ambitious enough, so the entire class was suppressed by Class A under Manabu Horikita.
But Miyabi Nagumo, the former leader of second-year Class B, was highly aggressive. In just one year, he'd managed to kick the former second-year Class A down from the top.
What kind of style would first-year Class B have over the coming year?
"Anyway, if we keep talking, Chairman Sakayanagi will turn around and accuse me of showing favoritism."
Whatever had happened on the other end, the conversation was finally coming to a close.
"Lastly, there's the matter of compensation. The things you and Kanzaki Ryuji bought were in line with school regulations, so the Board of Directors has approved them."
"As for Koenji Rokusuke's condition, the Board of Directors only agreed not to investigate his deals with upperclassmen unless a student reports them."
25. All Four Basic Attributes at 10
As long as no student reported it, they'd pretend not to notice.
That meant they'd step in and stop it if someone did report it.
But even if someone didn't agree to a deal with the heir to the Koenji Conglomerate, that didn't mean they'd go out of their way to report him.
Their time at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School would last three years at most, but they had a long life ahead of them afterward. What would they gain by deliberately offending the heir to a conglomerate?
After ending his call with Director Kanda, Aragaki Shun sent messages to Kanzaki Ryuji and Koenji Rokusuke, exchanging information they'd each learned through their own channels and confirming that they'd received roughly the same news.
Now that the threat from the Board Chairman had finally been dealt with, Aragaki Shun set his phone aside and opened the Personal Panel he'd made for himself, taking stock of his gains over the past few days—
[Name: Aragaki Shun Strength: 8→9 Constitution: 8→9 Agility: 9→10 Mentality: 9→10 Skills: Combat lv.4 (2/5), Writing lv.4 (2/5), Miscellaneous Talents: Danger Sense lv.5 (0/10), Immunity to Poison lv.5 (0/10), Immunity to Disease lv.5 (0/10) Awaiting Condensation: Erudition lv.0 (0/?), Turn Misfortune into Good Fortune lv.0 (0/?) Source Power: 14→11→23 (current rate: 3→4 units gained per month)]
First, in terms of his four attributes, he'd successfully raised two of them to "10," a value that was terrifying by ordinary standards.
On Aragaki Shun's Personal Panel, any basic attribute from 1 to 10 fell within the range of a normal person.
"5" was the average level of an ordinary adult man. Depending on the circumstances, anyone below 5 might be a baby, a child, infirm, or disabled. Anyone above 5 might be a strong laborer, a well-read person skilled in various arts, or an athlete who'd undergone professional training in their field.
The value "10" was special. In Aragaki Shun's eyes, anyone who reached 10 in a basic attribute had entered the limits of normal humanity in that field.
These so-called "limits of normal humanity" essentially referred to the ultimate achievement an ordinary person without congenital disabilities or chronic illness could reach by digging into their potential, day after day, for decades, under professional guidance from childhood.
As for values above 10, those were no longer attainable by ordinary people through sweat and hard work alone.
Aragaki Shun had once watched several international sporting events as a spectator and observed the top athletes competing there.
Even among those who could contend for world championships in their respective sports, only a few of the very best had a value above 10 in any attribute. Most of the others had merely reached the limits of normal humanity.
These were elites selected from a global population of billions. Every one of them had remarkable talent and perseverance, and had received the full support of their country. Even so, not all of them could break through their limits.
So, as far as Aragaki Shun knew, surpassing 10 in any of the four basic attributes definitely wasn't something that could be achieved through ordinary, strenuous training.
Only those who were naturally gifted, with that one percent of inspiration, could take that step in their prime after following the right path of growth and putting in the other ninety-nine percent of effort.
Anyone who reached 10 in a basic attribute could be considered a top competitor in their respective field, capable of participating in international-level events.
And anyone who exceeded 10 in even one basic attribute had a chance to pursue the title of world's best and set new world and historical records.
Until he figured out how to solve the energy supply problem, Aragaki Shun didn't want to raise his four basic attributes too high for the time being.
Still, he had a fair amount of Source Power now. For someone with a mild obsessive streak, bringing all four attributes up to 10 might make the panel look better.
With that in mind, Aragaki Shun looked at the Source Power gains and expenditures listed on the panel.
First, he'd added one point each to Strength, Constitution, and Agility, which had cost him three units of Source Power.
But he'd later completed four achievements, and the rewards far outweighed the expense—
[Achievement completed: Defeated all competitive clubs at Kodo Ikusei on your own; Source Power +3.] [Achievement completed: Made a stir at the Kodo Ikusei Board of Directors and successfully curbed the Board Chairman's authority; Source Power +5.] [Achievement completed: Became known to all students and teachers at Kodo Ikusei within one month; Source Power +2.] [Achievement completed: Successfully earned over ten million Private Points within one month; Source Power +2.]
The twelve units of Source Power he'd gained had caused Aragaki Shun's current reserves to swell to twenty-three.
More importantly, his influence had finally undergone another qualitative change after all his long-term efforts.
From now on, even if he did nothing at all, he would still gain four units of Source Power each month through some mysterious force. It was practically guaranteed income, rain or shine.
With that confidence, Aragaki Shun decided to be generous and spend two units of Source Power to add one point each to Strength and Constitution.
Now all four of his attributes were at 10. Apart from hidden attributes that were difficult to observe, he'd reached the limits of normal humanity in every respect.
[Source Power: 23→21 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
Seeing that he still had plenty of Source Power left, Aragaki Shun decided to continue adding points. He only needed to keep ten units in reserve in case of an emergency; there was no need to save more than that.
His skills and talents seemed sufficient for now, so Aragaki Shun focused his attention on the Awaiting Condensation section. He tried to solidify [Erudition] onto his Personal Panel. This time, it worked, though the Source Power cost was rather steep—
[Erudition lv.0 (0/?) → Erudition lv.3 (0/4)] [Source Power: 21→11 (current rate: 4 units gained per month)]
Good grief. Just solidifying the skill onto his Personal Panel had cost him ten units of Source Power.
Previously, he'd only needed to invest three units each to solidify Combat and Writing, which were also skills.
Keep in mind, simply solidifying a skill or talent onto the Personal Panel couldn't make those attributes stronger.
The reason [Erudition] was already at level 3 when it was solidified was that he'd already accumulated a broad range of knowledge and had a strong memory.
In fact, with both Combat and Writing, he'd trained on his own first. Only after he noticed that his progress had slowed did he solidify them onto his Personal Panel and start leveling them up with points.
Likewise, he had a whole host of skills under Miscellaneous that he hadn't solidified onto the panel or strengthened, but that didn't stop each one from already being at a decent level.
Before you continue