Classroom of the Elite, I Can Add Points Infinitely Chapter 30

"Just consider this an investment from your teacher. Once you all graduate from Class A and realize your dreams, remember little Chie's contribution, okay?"

"You mustn't fall behind halfway through, or I'll have wasted all my effort and a huge sum of money. If that happens, little Chie will definitely cry."

Seeing Chie Hoshinomiya put on this coquettish act again, the students in the class were speechless, yet a sense of deep warmth rose in their hearts.

Although their homeroom teacher Chie Hoshinomiya seemed unreliable on most days, it appeared she truly cared about her students.

Only Shun Aragaki, who had made a deal with her last month, remained outwardly calm while inwardly contemplating the compensation the school provided to each homeroom teacher.

He remembered that when he made Chie Hoshinomiya "cough up the gold" last month, the price she offered was only 300,000 private points per month.

This was, of course, not the total amount of private points she could afford, but rather the investment cost she deemed acceptable after weighing the pros and cons.

According to Chie Hoshinomiya, the bonuses, allowances, and various subsidies provided by the school were paid in external yen, while only the base salary was split equally between yen and private points to ensure they could live within Kodo Ikusei Senior High School.

Undoubtedly, if homeroom teachers wanted to sponsor students in their own classes, they could only use that half of their base salary.

But they also needed money for their own living expenses and consumption at school. Even if they could save extra private points, most would apply to the school to convert them into external yen to store in their bank cards.

Under normal circumstances, no homeroom teacher would deliberately scrimp and save just to hoard private points within the school.

At the very least, Chie Hoshinomiya indicated that before this, she preferred to spend her extra private points on alcohol and various cosmetics.

There was no need to worry about Tomoya Mashima, the homeroom teacher of the former Class A, or Kazuma Sakagami, the homeroom teacher of Class C. Based on Chie Hoshinomiya's past observations, they had no intention of hoarding large amounts of private points either.

Since these points could only be used at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, it was naturally more reassuring to convert them into external yen as soon as possible, just in case.

The only one who needed attention was Sae Chabashira, the homeroom teacher of Class D.

Chie Hoshinomiya stated bluntly that no one knew the other woman's obsession better than she did. Furthermore, she hadn't seen her buy any luxury goods in years; that frugal lifestyle must be a sign that she was secretly hoarding private points, waiting to give everyone a surprise the moment she discovered a chance for Class D to promote to Class A.

However, since she was only the homeroom teacher of Class D, which had the lowest base salary, the amount of private points she could save each month was limited, no matter how much she scrimped.

Therefore, her threat wasn't particularly significant.

With that settled, there was no need to worry about the teachers' support causing too much of an impact on future class competition.

After confirming this, Shun Aragaki glanced at his still-excited classmates with a smile, then took out his phone and began sending debt-collection messages to the leaders of the other three classes.

--800,000 from Class A, and 400,000 each from Class C and Class D.

The thought of having 1.6 million private points coming in every month filled him with joy.

He decided to keep up the momentum; next time, he would definitely tighten the noose around their necks even further.

For instance, he had only taken 200 points from the former Class A's 850 class points, which was far too merciful.

He should have just left them with around 200 points, just like he did with classes C and D.

That way, they wouldn't starve to death, but they wouldn't be full either, all while clinging to the pipe dream that since their class points were only 210 lower than his, they might be able to turn the tables in the next special exam.

65. The Reaction of the Former Class A and Debt Collection

Perhaps happiness in this world is conserved.

While everyone in the Aragaki class was immersed in the joy of promoting to Class A, the neighboring former Class A—now Class B—had to endure the bitterness of being defeated and plundered.

Tomoya Mashima, the homeroom teacher of the former Class A, was a rigorous man who appeared mature and steady, as if he would never panic regardless of the situation.

Therefore, even though his class had dropped in ranking in the very first month, he didn't complain to his students, but instead continued to perform his duties as diligently as ever.

He posted the class evaluation scores for all first-year classes on the blackboard. After sighing inwardly at the commotion caused by the students below who couldn't accept the disparity, he silently watched as Arisu Sakayanagi and Kohei Katsuragi quickly pacified the members of their respective factions.

Undoubtedly, both of them had the caliber to be the leader of the former Class A, but the very fact that they both existed in the same class had led to a state of division, preventing the strength of the former Class A from being fully integrated.

To make matters worse, even if the former Class A was split into two leaders and three factions, their overall quality remained the highest.

Yet, the former Class B had produced a student who had surprised the school multiple times. Not only did he complete the integration of his class at the start of the school year, but he also attacked the former Class A without the slightest hesitation.

Under the dual blow of internal strife and external pressure, the class he led had become the fastest-dropping Class A in the history of Kodo Ikusei.

This situation was truly... not something that made anyone happy...

"Teacher Mashima, I would like to ask, why is Class B's score over 1000? Is there a special bonus category in the Behavioral Standards Exam?"

A tall, steady-looking, bald student who didn't look like a high schooler at all stood up.

He was Kohei Katsuragi, the leader of the moderate faction in the former Class A, who had a higher approval rating than Arisu Sakayanagi.

"..."

Upon hearing Kohei Katsuragi's question, even someone as calm as Tomoya Mashima struggled to maintain his composure. Nevertheless, he suppressed his inner conflict and announced the explanation provided by the school.

"Because of the new record set by the former Class B, the school added two new rules for this exam. Specifically, of the former Class B's 1060 points, 50 are a reward, 50 are compensation, and the remaining 960 are the class evaluation points they earned in the Behavioral Standards Exam..."

As expected, when the students of the former Class A heard that the school had granted compensation to the former Class B because they admitted the initial class ranking was incorrect—a mistake that caused them to drop in rank in the first month—the entire classroom fell into an unbearable silence.

A few seconds later, a sharp voice rang out, shattering the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! We are the strongest! Those guys in Class B just got lucky and managed to turn the tables by chance. Does the school really not..."

"Yahiko!"

Just as the green-haired man was spitting with excitement and about to accuse the school under surveillance, Kohei Katsuragi let out a sudden, thunderous roar, cutting off Yahiko Totsuka's words.

As if he had never heard such a stern tone from Kohei Katsuragi before, Yahiko Totsuka was visibly startled, waving his hands in a panic.

"Boss Katsuragi, b-but... this is a disgrace. It was that despicable guy who..."

"Enough, Yahiko!" Katsuragi Kohei interrupted him with a stern voice. "Regardless of the reason, the fact is that we lost this exam. In this situation, spouting nonsense will only make us look like sore losers."

"Katsuragi-kun is right. It's just one loss. With a mere 210-point gap, let's just leave the position of Class A in the hands of Aragaki-kun and his group for the time being."

On the other side of the classroom, Sakayanagi Arisu, despite her small stature, radiated an aura that was in no way inferior to Katsuragi Kohei.

In her words, the mere Class B sounded like nothing more than a ragtag group that could be crushed at will. It was an incredibly arrogant statement, yet coming from her, it felt as natural and matter-of-fact as stating the truth.

"Sakayanagi, Katsuragi," Mashima Tomoya looked at the two leaders of the class and finally gave a calm instruction. "I will leave the class decisions to you both. There are still three years ahead; a temporary setback is nothing."

Although he was worried about the division within the class, the Advanced Nurturing High School preferred for students to grow independently through class competition, and as their homeroom teacher, it wasn't appropriate for him to intervene too much in such matters.

"I understand, Mashima-sensei."

"Leave it to me."

After accepting the homeroom teacher's entrustment together, Katsuragi Kohei looked at Sakayanagi Arisu with a grave expression. "Sakayanagi, I believe we should stop the infighting within the class now. Our primary goal should be to find a way to improve everyone's strength and reclaim the position of Class A."

"Oh? Does Katsuragi-kun have any good suggestions?"

Sakayanagi Arisu looked playfully at her opponent, whom everyone in the class regarded as the leader of the moderate faction. Now that their class ranking had dropped, was he finally unable to maintain his composure?

"The next exam is the midterm. It involves 100 class points. I think our classmates should follow Class B's example and sign up for cram school to strengthen everyone's foundation."

It must be said that although he was unwilling to accept being defeated by Class B, after Katsuragi Kohei learned of the series of actions taken by Aragaki Shun, he found the result completely acceptable.

Setting aside the other party's exaggerated record of defeating a large number of clubs and the act of dumping Class D's trash on them, he felt that the move to sign everyone in the class up for cram school was absolutely necessary.

After all, in the outside world, any high school student with intentions of further education or employment would choose to enroll in specialized cram schools.

In these schools, students could not only complete academic, home economics, and art courses according to their own wishes, but they could also receive professional guidance for higher education and career support.

Whether for the upcoming midterm exam or for future schooling and employment, he felt it was necessary for Class A to spend the money.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu did not think so.

The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes and looked Katsuragi Kohei up and down, making him feel quite uncomfortable, forcing him to cast a questioning look back at her.

"I thought Katsuragi-kun would have learned something after suffering a loss, but it turns out you are still just as boring."

"Sakayanagi, what exactly do you mean?"

"Hehe, does Katsuragi-kun think that by following in that man's footsteps, you can defeat him?"

Sakayanagi Arisu revealed a rather arrogant smile. "It's a pity that I never pick up things others have used. If I am truly interested in something, taking the initiative to seize it is the only way."

Before Katsuragi could frown and retort, both of their phones received a notification at the same time.

They instinctively looked over, only to find it was a debt collection notice from a certain former Class B leader—

"Please transfer the 800,000 personal points for this month."

66. The Experience of Former Class A Being Reduced to a Blood Bag

"...It seems the dispute between you and me can be put on hold for now, Katsuragi-kun."

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at the debt collection text on her phone with annoyance, her brows slightly furrowed.

As the daughter of the chairman, she was a young lady who had never experienced a lack of money since childhood, so she didn't care about giving up 20,000 personal points per month.

If it could make her happy, let alone 20,000, she would bestow 100,000 or 200,000 without blinking an eye.

However, the current situation was not like that; this debt collection text was essentially proof that a competitor had snatched the spoils of war from her hands.

The feeling of having something in one's own possession forcibly snatched away by someone else was truly unpleasant.

"Because of Katsuragi-kun's persistence last month, our class had to sign that unpleasant contract."

"Now that Class A only has 850 class points, everyone still has to pay Aragaki-kun 20,000 personal points per month. That means the personal points everyone can keep each month are only 65,000."

"In this situation, is Katsuragi-kun still thinking about having everyone waste their personal points to learn from Class B and sign up for so-called cram school?"

Ceding five cities today, ten cities tomorrow, only to gain a night's sleep.

Last month, when she saw Aragaki Shun present that contract, Sakayanagi Arisu understood his sinister intention to gradually swallow up Class A's cash flow and turn them into a blood bag for Class B.

But some schemes cannot be broken just by understanding them.

The opponent held too many chips. The Class A she was in was still in a state of division; the other leader in the class did not agree with her choice of mutual destruction, and the other ordinary classmates, who were merely mediocre, had even less of the resolve to fight to the death.

In this situation, even though she absolutely did not want to sign Aragaki Shun's unfair contract, she could not stop the collective will of everyone in the class besides herself.

"Signing that contract last month was something everyone else in the class agreed to."

"Sakayanagi, your ideas are too radical. Even those who follow you wouldn't be able to accept them."

Katsuragi's brow furrowed. The demand for 800,000 personal points on the text message was so glaring, but at the time, their entire class had no other choice.

In the middle of last month, Aragaki Shun used a Transfer Ticket to send Yamauchi Haruki from Class D of the first year to their Class A.

At first, they didn't understand the significance of this move.

It wasn't until they watched Yamauchi Haruki do all sorts of bizarre things in the Class A classroom, such as littering, sleeping in class, and harassing classmates, that they felt uneasy and went to ask Mashima Tomoya about the situation.

As a result, they learned that for this month, he was a student of Class A, and all the mistakes he made would be reflected one by one in Class A's class evaluation score.

Upon receiving this response, the entire Class A exploded.

Ever since they were told the truth about the school by Sakayanagi Arisu, they had been strictly demanding of themselves to maintain the status of Class A, never daring to slack off for even a moment during or after class, fearing that some oversight on their part would cause Class A's precious class points to be deducted.

As a result, the school was now telling everyone in Class A that all their previous patience had been in vain. As long as that piece of trash from Class D remained, not only would they struggle to stay in Class A next month, but there was even a possibility that their class points would drop straight to zero.

How could they possibly accept such an absurd situation?!

But there was no way around it; the school stated that the opponent's offensive complied with the competitive rules of Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, and whether they could handle it was their own problem.

Consequently, Katsuragi Kohei had no choice but to gather his classmates and keep a close watch on Yamauchi Haruki after class, attempting to pressure him into realizing the consequences of continuing his reckless behavior.

Initially, this approach was almost effective; after all, that piece of trash from Class D didn't look like a person of firm will or fearlessness, and a little intimidation was enough to make him panic and lose his bearings.

However, the leader of Class B—the mastermind who sent Yamauchi Haruki to cause trouble in Class A—Aragaki Shun, suddenly showed up to audit a class in Class A. Seeing how frightened and pathetic Yamauchi Haruki looked, he "kindly" offered him a suggestion:

"If you're not comfortable staying here, why not go back to Class D? You could just stay in the dorms and play games with Ike Kanji, or go to the shopping mall and kick a few trash cans. As long as you aren't in Class A, could they really chase you down and bully you?"

Under such an unscrupulous suggestion, Yamauchi Haruki actually skipped class right then and there and took off running.

This infuriated everyone in Class A, as the class points deducted for such blatant truancy would ultimately come out of Class A's total.

In the end, Sakayanagi Arisu provided a solution. After learning all the details about the Transfer Ticket from Mashima, she had everyone in the class pool their private points to reach one million, using the class's collective name to repatriate Yamauchi Haruki back to Class D.

Just as everyone in Class A breathed a sigh of relief after all that trouble, that unscrupulous guy Aragaki Shun opened his phone's personal interface, displayed the count of seven Transfer Tickets to everyone, and "helpfully" gave the members of Class A a reminder:

"One Transfer Ticket costs 2 million private points, and applying to the school for repatriation costs 1 million. To offset the rest of my Transfer Tickets, you'll need to scrape together another 7 million private points."

"Oh, wait, my Class B should be able to raise another 2 million this month to buy one more, so the funds you actually need to spend will be 8 million."

Under this blatant threat, everyone in Class A had to hold their noses and sign a contract to transfer 800,000 private points to Aragaki Shun every month until graduation, in exchange for his promise not to use any more Transfer Tickets to send people into Class A for one year.

In reality, Sakayanagi Arisu had proposed another suggestion at the time: simply let Aragaki Shun use the Transfer Tickets, and have everyone in Class A block the doors of the other three classes every day, finding ways to drag the evaluation scores of all four classes down to zero so that everyone could start over on the same starting line.

However, this extreme strategy was rejected outright by the rest of the class, including members of the Sakayanagi Faction.

Not everyone was a relative of the Chairman, capable of having medical staff arranged by the Chairman to take care of them even if their private points hit zero.

The others had no desire to experience months of only being able to use free goods and eating free meals.

Although the remaining class evaluation points for Class A were indeed preserved after signing that contract, they were forced to face the predicament of having only 65,000 private points of disposable income per month.

Under this predicament, if they wanted to follow Class B's lead and apply for tutoring classes, each person would have to pay a fixed 10,000 private points per month. Subtracting the roughly 30,000 points each student needed for monthly living expenses, in the end, a Class A student could save at most 25,000 private points per month.