Classroom of the Elite, I Can Add Points Infinitely Chapter 26

Although Shiina Hiyori was not fond of this phenomenon, she could not say she was surprised by it.

Because of her striking appearance, she had never lacked experiences of becoming the center of attention since she was a child.

On the contrary, during these past few days spent reading in a corner with Aragaki Shun, she had unexpectedly stopped feeling those gazes that would drift over from time to time. This was likely because his presence within the school far eclipsed her own—a wallflower who only drew attention for her looks.

This was also one of the reasons why, even though Aragaki Shun was mostly uninterested in discussing mystery novels with her, the young girl still silently chose to sit across from him.

For Shiina, if she could make a friend with whom she could talk about anything, that would naturally be best. But if not, simply staying in a corner to feel the beauty of literature without being affected by the noise of the outside world was also a high-class enjoyment.

However, after Aragaki Shun left, those vague, lingering gazes seemed to reappear, making it difficult for the girl to focus on her own world without distraction.

Shiina Hiyori took a deep breath and cast these unpleasant feelings to the back of her mind.

The girl picked up her book and held it upright on the desk, pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary, while the corner of her eye attempted to catch those who were secretly watching her.

Yet, after several minutes passed, Shiina Hiyori could not find the source of the discomfort that had made her feel so uneasy this time, as if everything before had been an illusion.

She easily spotted the boys who would occasionally look at her with expressions of amazement, but their reactions were still within a normal range. Having self-awareness regarding her own appearance, the girl had long since cultivated a calm state of mind and would not let the attention of passersby disturb her reading.

Shiina sighed softly and continued to turn the pages, trying to bring her focus back to the text in the book.

Just then, that inexplicable sense of discomfort returned, and her peripheral vision suddenly caught a strange figure.

She turned her head subconsciously, her gaze landing on the side of a bookshelf not far away.

Standing there was a girl holding a stack of books; she had long, deep blue hair tied into twin tails, and her eyes held a hint of complex emotion that was difficult to interpret.

She was looking up, browsing the books on the shelf, seemingly trying to hide her gaze, but Shiina Hiyori still caught the peek she cast in her direction.

Shiina Hiyori was slightly stunned; she had never imagined that the person watching her from the shadows would be a girl she did not know at all.

The girl seemed to notice Shiina Hiyori's gaze, and she stiffened as she turned her eyes away, their gazes meeting unexpectedly.

The other girl's expression shifted slightly, a flash of panic crossing her eyes.

Under Shiina Hiyori's gaze, which was filled with confusion and scrutiny, the girl's face instantly flushed red. After hurriedly using the books in her hands to cover her face, she grabbed her school bag and rushed toward the library exit.

Shiina Hiyori watched the strange girl's figure disappear without a trace, her heart filled with confusion, wondering what this person had actually come here for.

After thinking for a moment, Shiina Hiyori walked to the spot where the other girl had been standing and carefully browsed the books on the shelf in front of her.

She picked one up at random, pulled it out, and opened it to find that it actually contained content about plants.

She checked the other books on this shelf in succession, and sure enough, they were all books of that nature.

The girl's expression suddenly became subtle. To verify the guess in her heart, she spent a little effort and, to her surprise, actually managed to collect the exact books Aragaki Shun had been reading today from this very shelf.

Good news: she hadn't been targeted by some pervert.

Bad news: she seemed to have been marked by one of her book-friend's pursuers!

What on earth is this supposed to mean...

Aragaki Shun was naturally unaware of the disturbances that had occurred after he left the library.

After finishing a hearty dinner at the cafeteria, he received a call on his phone from Director Kanda, telling him to head to the principal's office, saying that the matter he had requested had been handled.

Aragaki Shun realized that the Transfer Ticket had been compensation for Kanzaki Ryuji, and now his own share of the compensation had finally arrived.

In other words, was there now an opportunity to see an acquaintance from outside the school?

55. Kagurazaka Ayame from Outside the School

"Yo, isn't this Aurora-sensei, who vanished without a trace after our second book finished?"

"Are you finally willing to take pity on your editor and provide a notification to prove you're still alive in this world?"

Aragaki Shun arrived at the principal's office and, after politely dismissing the Kodo Ikusei principal who was trying to curry favor, sat on the sofa and waited for about two or three minutes before the crisp "tap-tap" sound of high heels hitting the floor reached his ears.

A figure dressed like a career woman walked in. Her short hair swayed gently with her stride, and her black eyes held a sharp gaze that scanned the office like a beast scouting its territory, easily capturing the unscrupulous author on the sofa.

Her brisk pace suddenly became heavy. The career woman walked up to the boy in a few steps, twisted the corners of her mouth in a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and revealed a mocking expression.

The light novel author under her wing who could serve as a pillar of the company had suddenly lost contact after his current work concluded, and she had nearly been worried sick.

If she hadn't been able to find any news, she would have started wondering if something had happened to him, or if he had simply been poached by a rival publishing house.

Fortunately, it was all just her worrying for nothing; it turned out he had come to such a closed-off school to attend high school. No wonder it had taken over half a month for him to find a chance to send word.

Thinking of this, Kagurazaka Ayame suddenly realized that this school had only been open for a little over a week, right?

The editor's gaze suddenly turned resentful.

"Aurora-sensei, you clearly had over a week of free time before enrolling at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School."

"May I ask if I can know what urgent matter you were dealing with that prevented you from replying to my messages for so long?"

Aragaki Shun smiled without answering. He couldn't very well tell her directly that because he didn't want to be bothered by his editor and the publishing house for a while, he had simply tossed the phone he used to contact them aside.

Kagurazaka Ayame—the editor he had met when he first started submitting light novels—was usually quite attentive to his work, so there was no need to tease her with such brutal honesty.

"...Forget it, our publishing house can't really control you anyway."

Looking at Aragaki Shun's indifferent attitude with a headache, the editor sighed and rubbed her forehead before simply taking a stack of documents out of her briefcase and returning to the sharp, efficient state of her work mode.

"Let's get down to business first. I don't have much time to stay at this school, and I heard this office is being monitored. I don't know if saying too much will cause you trouble with the school authorities, so please, Aurora-sensei, just give me the manuscript for the new book, and let's get the contract signed as soon as possible."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Editor Kagurazaka."

Aragaki Shun first sent over the electronic manuscript he had already saved on his phone, then took the contract. After confirming that it still contained the top-tier terms negotiated during his second book release, he signed his name without hesitation.

"This school is a bit unique, and applying for leave is quite troublesome, so I've sent over the majority of the new book's content. If you manage it reasonably, Editor Kagurazaka, there shouldn't be any need to rush me for manuscripts for the next year or two."

"However, if the publishing house has any events that require my presence, feel free to discuss them with me. If I have the time, I can apply to the school to go out under the name of a club."

Naturally, Aragaki Shun could not simply sit still and be confined within this school.

He wasn't worried about his parents from the Aragaki Family or Ayase; given his family's status, it was quite simple for them to meet him by using the excuse of visiting one of the directors or even the chairman of Kodo Ikusei Senior High School.

What he worried about was that the influence he had accumulated outside would fade away after three years of absence.

When Aragaki Shun first enrolled at Kodo Ikusei, only the [Combat] and [Writing] skills were separated from the miscellaneous category and fixed onto his personal panel.

[Combat] was, of course, for the sake of enhancing his self-preservation capabilities, while the [Writing] skill was a path he chose to reasonably increase his influence in modern society, thereby obtaining more Source Power.

After all, he was only a thirteen-year-old child who had just entered his first year of middle school, and there were not many paths available for him to choose from.

If he had chosen to climb the technology tree, bringing out various high-tech inventions or drugs that could cure terminal illnesses, it would have seemed easy to gain world-renowned influence.

But Aragaki Shun did not want to be targeted by the upper echelons of various countries without being able to guarantee his own safety.

For a kid who hadn't even finished middle school to suddenly produce things that top scholars from various countries hadn't even researched—that was just too miraculous no matter how you looked at it.

He had no confidence in how things would develop at that point; what if he lost his freedom or even died young instead of reaping the rewards?

As for becoming a celebrity like a singer or an actor, constantly being in the public eye, that didn't fit his personality at all.

Aragaki Shun had no desire to make life difficult for himself.

So, after much deliberation, he ultimately chose the path of writing light novels.

In any case, in this world, it was not uncommon for middle school students to become nationally famous figures through writing light novels.

Not to mention others, just take another writer under Kagurazaka Ayame, who went by the pen name "Senju Muramasa." Her true identity was a kimono-wearing middle school girl who had just entered her second year.

Not only was she young, but she was also the author of the super-popular work Fantasy Demon Blade Legend, which had been adapted into an anime twice, and she was a mega-bestselling author with over fourteen million copies of her works in circulation.

If such an achievement were placed in Aragaki Shun's previous life, it would definitely be the kind of dream-like nonsense that would make a whole crowd of light novel authors shout, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

But in this world, while the publishing house might not call it commonplace, they certainly wouldn't find it surprising for students of elementary or middle school age to become light novel authors or illustrators.

Under these circumstances, Aragaki Shun naturally didn't mind getting involved and spending some of his spare time earning more Source Power for himself.

The fact that he was able to fix talents and skills like [Danger Sense], [Immunity to Poison], and [Combat] onto his personal panel and raise them to a considerably high level before enrolling at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, while also obtaining 3 units of Source Power monthly from his social influence, was all thanks to his hard work in the light novel field during those three years of middle school.

Even now that he had entered Kodo Ikusei, he still hadn't given up on this long-term channel for obtaining Source Power, so he naturally had to find a way to contact his editor outside within the school's rules and reasonably publish his new book.

Thus, he used his compensation on this aspect, while also seeing if he could use this channel to acquire some Private Points.

56. Monthly exchange quota of 560,000 Private Points.

In principle, Kodo Ikusei Senior High School does not allow students to contact the outside world.

However, things like principles, as long as they aren't rigid, can often be accommodated under certain special circumstances.

So, during this time, Aragaki Shun investigated various areas of the school and discovered that the school was actually quite lenient in this regard.

First of all, one could freely browse various news from the outside world on the internet and access various external websites.

Although Kodo Ikusei had established an internal local area network, it did not completely cut off the students' channels for understanding external information.

This was normal; after all, this was a rapidly developing modern society. If students were really left to study in isolation for three years without knowing anything, let alone becoming talented, even reintegrating into society after graduation would be a problem.

Therefore, the school only restricted and monitored the students' online speech; simply searching for information and keeping up with current events was not prohibited.

Aragaki Shun even tried uploading pictures to his personal homepage and eventually found that as long as there were no special text descriptions or photos involving the school's specialized facilities, they could pass, though the review process might take a bit longer.

But don't even think about direct text communication, and uploading videos was strictly prohibited.

Besides the external channels on the internet, the school's various shops also needed to restock their goods. Every so often, specialized transport personnel would enter Kodo Ikusei to supply the various stores in the shopping mall.

If students couldn't find what they wanted to buy in the shopping mall, the school even allowed them to use Private Points for online shopping.

However, the two methods above were only indirect ways of communicating with the outside world; students still had to stay at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School and could not step out of the school gate.

As for wanting to walk out of the campus openly, that was not something an ordinary student could achieve.

According to the information Aragaki Shun gathered, currently, only the elite in various clubs could be taken out of the school by teachers under the pretext of participating in various off-campus competitions.

It could only be said that no matter how special Kodo Ikusei Senior High School was, it was still just a school, and it still needed to compete with other schools to prove itself.

Therefore, the school not only supported club members in participating in various off-campus competitions, but once they won a good ranking and brought honor to the school, it would also generously provide substantial Private Points as a reward.

Since such a channel existed, Aragaki Shun naturally had to make use of it.

So, he simply used the compensation provided by the school board to apply for the creation of a new club.

The difficulty in this regard was not very high; after all, the requirements for establishing a club were nothing more than the number of members and the club's achievements.

In terms of members, Aragaki Shun had the support of the entire Class B, and regarding club achievements, the school was aware of the results achieved by the two light novels he had published outside.

As for whether using light novels as a club theme was inappropriate or not... there was no shortage of clubs focused on light novel research in the various universities of Sakurajima; at most, they would just call themselves a Mystery Novel Research Society to the outside world.

Therefore, every step was reasonable and compliant, so it was naturally possible to get the application approved, and even going out to participate in publishing house events under the name of club activities was not a big problem.

The school's only concern was probably whether the royalties Aragaki Shun earned during his time at school would be allowed to be converted into Private Points.

Aragaki Shun simulated the school's line of thinking, then turned his gaze toward Kagurazaka Ayame, who was carefully reviewing the digital manuscript he had sent over. "Since you entered Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, did the school tell you how my royalties should be handled?"

"About that," Kagurazaka Ayame replied without looking up, "the principal reached an agreement with our publishing house. Per your request, the publishing house can transfer 560,000 yen into the school's account every month. At that time, they will convert it into Kodo Ikusei Senior High School's private points at a 1:1 ratio to serve as your living expenses within this school."

"560,000 yen a month, huh..."

Aragaki Shun clicked his tongue slightly. Although he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, this result was within his initial expectations, so it was still acceptable.

In Sakurajima, the status of top light novel authors is quite respectable. Although they are often questioned in the field of traditional literature, this does not change the reality that this group has widespread influence and considerable economic returns.

And since Aragaki Shun is, at the very least, an industry top-tier figure on the same level as Senju Muramasa, the school naturally supports such a small matter as his application to start a club on campus to continue his writing.

After all, the school's purpose is to cultivate talent; how could they not provide support and instead create obstacles when a student has already proven their ability?

A top light novel author can already be considered a well-known public figure. If he can transition to writing popular novels in the future, his social status could be further elevated.

Even without considering the face of the Aragaki Family behind Aragaki Shun, the school is still willing to grant some preferential treatment given the achievements he has attained at his age.

When it comes down to it, since Kodo Ikusei Senior High School is a political achievement specifically crafted by the upper echelons, it naturally needs to provide more high-quality graduates to the outside world to meet social expectations. For a student like Aragaki Shun, who could bring glory to the school just by being promoted, what is a little bit of preferential treatment?

Approving the establishment of a club is easy, but after the club is established, whether or not to agree to let Aragaki Shun exchange his royalties for private points? And if they agree, should they limit the amount?

These two questions stumped the school's top management, who were handling this matter.

One must know that in this world, the income a top light novel author can earn is far more exaggerated than in his previous life.

For a super-bestselling author like Senju Muramasa, whose works have a circulation of over 14 million copies, calculating based on a royalty of 70 yen per book, the total royalty income is close to 1 billion yen.

This is the pure royalty income the other party earned within two or three years, and that doesn't even include additional income sources like anime adaptations and merchandise. As a light novel author on the same level as her who debuted two years earlier, Aragaki Shun's annual income is absolutely not inferior to hers.

In other words, if the channel for exchanging royalties for private points were completely opened to him, Aragaki Shun could easily exchange for 1 billion private points in three years based solely on his royalties.

With such a massive sum of money, he could buy a 20-million-point transfer-class treatment for everyone in Class B, and still have enough left over for ten more.

Then there would be no point in playing this so-called class competition!

However, completely rejecting Aragaki Shun's application for royalty exchange wouldn't be appropriate either. After all, this is indeed funds that the other party can earn within three years in a way that complies with school rules, which perfectly aligns with the school's principle of meritocracy.

In the end, after much debate among the school's top management, they simply set the exchange limit at 560,000 per month.