Classroom of the Elite, I Can Add Points Infinitely Chapter 34

As he spoke, Aragaki Shun directly opened the personal interface on his phone, which displayed a number far exceeding the class fund: 5,201,314.

Kanzaki Ryuji: "..."

"Just how much blood have you drained from the other three classes to have saved up this many Private Points by the beginning of the second month of school? I recall that most of the points you extorted from the seniors in the second and third years were used to exchange for Transfer Tickets, weren't they?"

Aragaki Shun thought for a moment. "Class B pays me 800,000 every month, Class C and Class D pay 400,000 each, plus the 100,000 monthly salary I get from Class A, and the 560,000 in monthly royalties I get from club exchanges. It all adds up to an income of 2.26 million per month."

After buying the Transfer Tickets with the points he plundered from the second and third years last month, he had about 1 million Private Points left. Subtracting some miscellaneous expenses—like hiring Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji to go to Sakayanagi's class and Ryuen's class, as well as his monthly living expenses and contributions to the class fund—the final figure was the 5.2 million-plus shown on his personal interface.

Kanzaki Ryuji: "..."

The Class A class fund manager rubbed his temples with a headache. "In other words, the Private Points you bring in from the four classes and the school total 2.26 million per month, which is more than the total class fees collected from everyone in the entire class?"

What on earth is this?

The Emperor's private treasury is wealthier than the national treasury? Doesn't this just make him, the class fund manager, look completely useless!

"It seems that way, so Kanzaki, you need to step up."

Aragaki Shun looked at Kanzaki Ryuji with an expression that said, My child, why are you so incompetent? This caused the heir to a famous enterprise, who came from an extraordinary background, to experience a spike in blood pressure for the first time due to money.

However, Aragaki Shun noted that since Class A's class fund was so low, if they needed a massive amount of Private Points for a special exam in the future, he couldn't possibly be expected to subsidize it out of his own pocket as the class leader, could he?

Although he didn't really care about these Private Points, if such a day truly came and he felt it was necessary, he would indeed pay.

But business is business, and personal matters are personal. If that situation really occurred, he would make the entire class sign IOUs.

After all, since everyone in Class B, Class C, and Class D was already bound by debt contracts to him, it wouldn't hurt to add the forty people of Class A to the list.

Becoming the creditor for everyone in the first year—just thinking about it felt quite interesting!

73. Reporting the Past Exam Papers? A Patch from the School

"The school won't be arranging a special exam this month, but rather the midterm exam that occurs every semester. Do you have any arrangements for that?"

Kanzaki finally decided to ignore Aragaki Shun's teasing gaze and, pretending not to care, shifted the topic to the midterm exam three weeks away.

"A midterm exam where you can get a maximum of 100 class evaluation points and face expulsion if you fail? I don't feel like there's much to arrange. The others should just do what they normally do, and the students ranking at the bottom can just attend tutoring sessions as usual."

Most students in Class A had grades above average, meaning that on a 100-point test, the class average would be at least 70.

The few students whose grades were in the danger zone were also hovering between 50 and 60.

For an exam where the passing line was only half the class average, Class A didn't need to use any strategies; as long as they performed normally, everyone would pass without exception.

The only thing that needed consideration was how to obtain the maximum 100 class points and whether they could extract more benefits from this exam.

"Why, do you have any thoughts on this?"

Aragaki Shun looked at Kanzaki Ryuji with some confusion.

Based on the results of the quiz at the end of April, Class A had already re-ranked the 10 students with the weakest academic performance, and after school that afternoon, they had conducted physical tests to identify the 10 students with the weakest physical fitness.

Afterward, they just needed to let them go to tutoring sessions to improve their foundations, while the other students would seek academic guidance and career support in tutoring sessions based on their chosen paths.

His philosophy had always been this: rather than trying to be clever during special exams, it was better to raise their hard power to the point where they could crush any opponent before the competition even began.

Regarding this, he could use Source Power to add points, so he was naturally full of confidence.

As for the students of Class A, for the time being, they would just have to work hard and put in the sweat.

"No, I was just curious. Don't we need to bring out the Past Exam Papers we obtained from the seniors?"

Kanzaki Ryuji also had sufficient confidence in the people of Class A. Even without using other strategies, just by passing the midterm exam through real ability, there would definitely not be any students in Class A who failed.

But since the school said that a maximum of 100 class points could be obtained in this midterm exam, wouldn't they be able to get more class points if they raised the scores of everyone in the class?

Class A didn't need to rely on Past Exam Papers to ensure everyone passed, but with them, he could guarantee that everyone in Class A would get scores close to perfect.

In this way, they would definitely be able to obtain the maximum number of class points in this midterm exam.

"Past Exam Papers, huh..." Aragaki Shun pondered for a moment, looking somewhat indecisive. "I'm wondering if I should just report the Past Exam Papers and have the school reset the test questions."

"But thinking about it, that seems a bit like harming others without benefiting myself. I might as well take them to Class C and Class D to trade for some Private Points."

The midterm exam papers for the first semester of the first year hadn't been changed in several years. As long as one traded with the second and third-year seniors for the Past Exam Papers they had specifically kept, anyone could easily pass this exam.

When he first learned of this common knowledge among the upperclassmen, Aragaki Shun was initially somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected the school to pull a stunt like this.

According to his experience studying in middle and high school in his previous life, wasn't it normal for lower-grade students to borrow used test papers, textbooks, and workbooks from higher-grade students?

Just like this time, he had simply asked the third-year seniors about the various exams they had experienced, and he had easily obtained information about the past papers.

The fact that the school had buried such a shortcut to passing in the midterm exam felt like a bit of a joke.

However, upon second thought, he guessed that these past papers were a benefit specifically left by the school for Class C and Class D.

After all, only those two classes needed to rely on this stuff to ensure that everyone in their class could pass.

"Take the past papers to Class C and Class D to trade for Private Points?"

Kanzaki Ryuji hadn't expected that to be Aragaki Shun's first thought, but he quickly spotted the loophole. "The existence of the past papers is basically common knowledge among the upperclassmen. As long as the people in Class C and Class D have one or two friends in the upper years, they could easily get their hands on them just by asking around, right?"

Hoshinomiya-sensei had already said that the midterm and final exams were fixed exams that existed every semester at Kodo Ikusei Senior High School.

In this situation, as long as those people in Class C and Class D were even slightly clever, they would definitely think to ask the seniors for their experience in passing the exams.

In this regard, Kanzaki Ryuji did not dare to underestimate Class C and Class D.

After all, setting aside Class C, the social skills of Kushida Kikyo and Hirata Yosuke in Class D were not much weaker than those of Ichinose Honami; it would be easy for them to gather information from the upperclassmen.

"If they really aren't willing to pay the Private Points, then just report the past exam papers. Besides, I also want to see what methods the people in Class C and Class D will use to pass the Midterm Exam once they lose their cheating tools."

Aragaki Shun responded to Kanzaki without any pressure.

This exam only involved 100 Class Points, and since only Class C and Class D needed the past papers, even if he squeezed them, it would be hard to extract much profit from these two destitute classes.

Therefore, if the deal fell through, he would not hesitate to force the school to scrap the past papers and let everyone engage in a head-to-head academic competition.

Regardless, things like past exam papers were essentially leaked questions; while private transactions among students were fine, they absolutely could not be brought into the open where everyone would know.

Once everyone knew that the Midterm Exam had been leaked, the school, under pressure from Class A, would no longer be able to play deaf and dumb and would inevitably choose to replace the exam papers.

Even if, to maintain a competitive environment, they couldn't let too many people from Class C and Class D drop out in the first semester, the school could still choose to replace them with a simpler set of papers to minimize the number of failing students in those two classes.

"I just don't know if Sakayanagi and Katsuragi from Class B will intervene."

The variable that was Class B was the reason he was hesitant.

Otherwise, he would have gone straight to Class C and Class D to extort Private Points.

He was worried that the moment he signed a contract with the two lower classes, Class B would report it directly to the school to have the past papers scrapped, rendering the contract void.

As for playing word games with the contract terms—guaranteeing only that he wouldn't report it himself and then leaking the news to Class B... that likely wouldn't work.

After all, there were still a few smart people in Class C and Class D, and given that they were dirt poor, they couldn't possibly be stupid enough not to fight for the contract terms.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter if they intervene or not. I wasn't counting on earning many Private Points this time anyway. Kanzaki, find some time later to go and haggle over the terms with those two classes."

Kanzaki Ryuji looked at Aragaki Shun with some surprise. "You're actually letting me negotiate such a profitable business?"

"I'm too lazy to waste time with those people from Class C and Class D for a few thousand Private Points per person per month."

"Besides, unlike the Transfer Ticket which is purchased entirely by me, the condition for reaching an agreement with other classes this time is that no one in Class A reports it. This is a collective decision for the class, so the proceeds naturally have to be funneled into the class fund."

"So you're just making me run errands because you're lazy?" Kanzaki Ryuji said, half-laughing and half-crying. "And you even think these Private Points are too few; it feels like you're asking me to pick up the trash you don't want."

"The capable should do more!"

Aragaki Shun patted Kanzaki on the shoulder. "According to the reward clauses in the class rules, the higher the price you can negotiate, the higher the percentage you can extract as a reward. Good luck!"

"But if this decision actually succeeds, you, as the proposer and final decision-maker, will receive a significant reward even if you do nothing—it will be higher than what I get as the errand boy and negotiator."

Kanzaki Ryuji swatted Aragaki Shun's hand away, completely uninspired by the pie-in-the-sky promise from his bad friend; he only knew he was being used as cheap labor by an unscrupulous boss again.

"By the way, isn't this kind of external communication work supposed to be Ichinose's responsibility?"

"She is responsible for building good relationships with other classes to facilitate future cooperation. Do you think, given her personality, it's appropriate to hand her a negotiation that involves plundering Private Points from other classes?"

"Although I also think she's not suitable, are you implying that I'm the one suited for this kind of work that offends people?"

Kanzaki Ryuji squinted at the person beside him, and Aragaki Shun responded with a smile, saying nothing.

"Eh~ I knew it." Kanzaki's suspended heart finally died, and he stopped dwelling on this heartbreaking topic. "You mentioned the Transfer Ticket earlier. After Sakayanagi Arisu proposed the repatriation of transfer students to the school, are the remaining Transfer Tickets in your hands still useful?"

"Naturally, they can still be used."

Seeing Kanzaki's worried expression, Aragaki Shun narrowed his eyes, recalling the school notice sent by Hoshinomiya earlier.

"After the school accepted the repatriation rule proposed by Sakayanagi Arisu, because this rule could significantly diminish the value of the Transfer Tickets, they added a small patch to them."

"From now on, anyone who uses a Transfer Ticket can make the one-month transfer permanent by paying an additional 20 million Private Points."

In other words, to get a permanent transfer now, one only needed a Transfer Ticket plus 18 million Private Points.

However, this was on the condition that they weren't repatriated; if they were sent back to their original class before paying the remaining points, the effect of the Transfer Ticket would be voided, and the cost for a permanent transfer would revert to 20 million.

One could only say that the effect of this patch was negligible.

But with Aragaki Shun holding so many Transfer Tickets, it was certainly an anomaly in the eyes of the school.

If other classes couldn't think of countermeasures, that would be one thing, but now that Sakayanagi Arisu had proposed a feasible response, the school was naturally willing to go along with it and add a repatriation rule.

The 1 million repatriation rule was, in reality, a half-price repatriation rule.

It applied not only to Transfer Tickets but also to Auditing Tickets, Employment Tickets, and even permanent transfers.

However, since the founding of Kodo Ikusei Senior High School, no one had ever successfully ascended alone. If someone with such strength were to appear in the future, would any generation of Class A specifically collect 10 million Private Points just to send back a person who could strengthen their own class?

If such a thing were to happen, Aragaki Shun would be curious: what kind of insane thing did the other person do to be so universally despised?

"So the school's intention is that they hope you will use the Transfer Tickets for permanent transfers?"

Kanzaki Ryuji frowned, feeling that the school's bias with this patch was a bit too obvious. "You still have seven Transfer Tickets in your hands, plus the 5.2 million Private Points you've accumulated. If you combine these two, you only need to make up the remaining 800,000 to allow a student to transfer permanently."

"That should be the school's thinking." Aragaki Shun nodded. "After all, they can't let us lock in the outcome of a competition that should take three years to decide right at the start of the school year."

After the school accepted the repatriation rule proposed by Sakayanagi Arisu, the utility of the Transfer Tickets remained high, as they could be used to invite excellent students from other classes to join Class A temporarily as powerful assets for certain special exams.

But beyond that, one shouldn't think about using Transfer Tickets to drag other classes down.

This strategy, which was originally quite effective, suddenly lost most of its room for maneuver.

After all, for a Transfer Ticket purchased for 2 million, the opponent only needed to spend 1 million to offset it; no matter how you calculate it, it's a loss.

Of course, if the gap in funds between the two sides was too obvious, as long as the wealthy side possessed enough Private Points to crush the impoverished side, they could still rely on their strong foundation to bury their competitors with money.

If such a situation were to truly occur, it would only prove that the gap in strength between the two sides was insurmountable, rendering any further intervention unnecessary.

After all, in modern society, personal and corporate assets are themselves a vital component of strength; if one cannot win even with the school's rules tilted in their favor—requiring only half the funds of the opponent—then on what grounds should the school recognize the strength of the side lacking funds?

Not to mention that there is only one spot for Class A, and if it really came down to a head-to-head clash of Private Points reserves, the lower-ranked classes could simply team up three-on-one.

In short, by adding the expulsion condition as a patch, the school has essentially maximized the restriction on the abuse of Transfer Tickets within the competitive rules of Advanced Nurturing.

If, even with these measures in place, the three lower-ranked classes combined still cannot scrape together half of Class A's Private Points, the school would feel there is no need to intervene further, leaving them to find other countermeasures on their own.

Regardless, whether it is notarizing class rules like Class A or using violence to restrict transfer students like Class C, these are all low-cost solutions that do not require shelling out 1,000,000 points.

If other classes can come up with additional measures that comply with school regulations, the school is also willing to act according to the rules and provide a certain degree of support at its discretion.

"Why does it feel like the classes the school is truly supporting are the lower-ranked ones like Class C and Class D?"

Kanzaki said with a strange expression: "This expulsion patch is one example, and the Past Exam Papers are another."

"Supporting the weak and suppressing the strong, that is. The school wants to see more intense competition, so naturally, they would choose to do this."

Aragaki Shun, however, was unconcerned; if the school could agree to him purchasing a Transfer Ticket, they would naturally agree to others purchasing an expulsion.

In any case, as long as it is a product available for everyone to purchase, it cannot be considered specifically targeting any one class.

"Whoever is in Class A gets tempered; if the school holds this attitude, we aren't the ones who should be worried."

The only ones who should be worried are the lower-ranked classes with unstable foundations, like Class C and Class D.

Because this means that even if they were lucky enough to be promoted to Class A under the leadership of a big shot, they would very likely be kicked back down in the next special exam.

74. Further Strengthening; Sakura Airi Trembles

Midnight.

The celebration for Class A had ended, and Aragaki Shun had returned to his dormitory.

With nothing to disturb him now, he could finally open his personal panel to check the newly acquired Source Power and see if he could proceed to the next stage of strengthening.

[Achievement Unlocked: Signed Private Point transfer contracts with three classes of the first year simultaneously, Source Power +3.]