Classroom of the Elite, Starting with a Zero, I'm Just Going to Lay Flat Since I Know the Plot

For the students of this school, no one has ever managed to collect 20 million points, so even the current 2 million points is a record to be proud of.

However, Nakano Yuu feels that there are actually people who have collected 20 million points, such as Horikita Manabu from Class A of the third year.

The claim he made during his conversation with Ryuuen, that he had observed the number of students in the upper years, was true.

In the second year, all classes have fewer than 40 students, while in the third year, only Class A has maintained a full roster of 40.

This achievement can be interpreted as the overall strength of Class A being very high, or as Horikita Manabu, the class leader of Class A, being very strong. Of course, it can also be interpreted as Class A having used their points in situations where they had to sacrifice their companions.

Using 20 million points to protect a companion.

Therefore, as the class leader, Horikita Manabu might have already collected 20 million points in his hands.

It is just that those are the class's assets, and for an individual, collecting 2 million is indeed a quite excellent record, especially since these 2 million points can be used freely.

Of course, even so, there is still a significant gap to the goal of 20 million for a class transfer.

However, none of this prevents Nakano Yuu from being in a good mood.

So.

That very evening, Nakano Yuu dragged Horikita Suzune to the shopping district and went on a spending spree.

In the end, after the two finished their shopping, they stopped at a bubble tea shop. Nakano Yuu ordered bubble tea for Horikita Suzune and also brought along some refreshments.

"..." Horikita.

Horikita Suzune seemed somewhat puzzled.

Looking at the four different types of refreshments on the table—a blueberry cube cake, a rich red velvet cake, a chocolate cheese mousse cake, and a tiramisu cup cake—all of which were tempting flavors.

She, however, appeared somewhat uneasy.

This feeling is not hard to understand; it is simply that... "if someone is being overly courteous for no reason, they are either a thief or a swindler."

So she probably thinks that Nakano Yuu finding her today must be for some important matter or... something he needs her to do that is also very difficult.

"Don't worry." Nakano Yuu took a sip of his osmanthus fermented rice bubble tea. "It's not that I want you to do anything; it's just that I'm in a good mood today. I got 780,000 points from Ryuuen, and I also picked up 20,000 points from a student in Class A."

In other words, he brought in 800,000 points and is having a small celebration?

However.

Horikita Suzune held the refreshing green grape fruit tea that Nakano Yuu had ordered for her in her left hand. She didn't particularly like this kind of drink, but the taste was decent, so she took two consecutive sips.

She could feel the excitement of the boy across from her, but she had nothing to celebrate here.

Because.

She had no income whatsoever.

The happiness is yours, and it has nothing to do with her.

Oh no, actually, there was some. Today, Nakano Yuu invited her out and even took her to buy some daily necessities, paying the bill himself, so she did receive something.

"Our goal is to collect 20 million points, and now, although we have only taken the first step, there is already a good sign."

"The point of this time is to let you see that as long as you follow me, we can achieve our goal." Nakano Yuu said. "And as a collaborator, I will give you a share of the points based on your level of participation."

"For example, this time, we got past exam papers from the third-year seniors to create review materials, and you also participated in filling out the answers, so you worked hard too."

"So I decided to give you ten percent of the income." Nakano Yuu said.

Oh.

There was actually such a gain?

However, Horikita Suzune shook her head. "I didn't do anything valuable this time; you don't need to give me so much."

"Then let's call it the cost for buying the [Review Materials]." Nakano Yuu said. "You can also distribute the [Review Materials] to the students in the class. However, since we are students of Class D, it would certainly be safer if we could get the [Review Materials], after all, everyone's academic ability isn't very high."

"But if we can successfully pass this exam, the meager class evaluation points might also recover. Although we can get a little income from organizing the [Review Materials] for Class C this time, the students in our class are still living in great hardship." Nakano Yuu said. "I hope the class can improve because of this."

Like this.

Nakano Yuu was actually talking to Horikita Suzune seriously about Class D at a time like this.

And this kind of behavior, thinking for the sake of the class, made Horikita Suzune feel somewhat... strange.

Twelve out of ten parts strange.

Because this person clearly said things like "what does the class have to do with me" and "even if I give the students the test papers, they won't be able to get high scores."

But now, he is acting as if he is thinking for the sake of the class.

And what was that about "I hope the class can improve because of this"? Are you sure you aren't sick or that your brain isn't broken today? Hurry up and recover; you are acting all wrong.

Like this.

Something is fishy.

These three words were almost instantly imprinted in Horikita Suzune's mind.

Furthermore.

His previous statement also had a problem. They clearly bought the test papers from a senior in Class D of the second year, but he spoke as if it were a senior from the third year.

Is he intentionally hiding some information?

It was also strange that even though he had bought test papers, he used the term "study materials" as a substitute.

It was even more certain that his claim of wanting to do something for the class and hoping to help his classmates escape hardship was a lie.

Or perhaps.

Was this said intentionally for others to hear?

As she thought this.

"Your coffee."

Suddenly, a voice came from the side; a waiter had walked over with a tray. On the tray were two cups of aromatic coffee, with patterns on the foam.

However.

"No, we didn't order any," Nakano Yuu said with a surprised expression.

"That gentleman over there treated you to them." The waiter tilted his body slightly, and the blonde boy who had been sitting by the window before Nakano Yuu and Horikita Suzune arrived stood up and walked directly toward them.

"I am Nagumo Miyabi from Class A of the second year. You two are first-year freshmen, right?" the blonde boy said.

"A senior from the second year?" Nakano Yuu wore a look of surprise.

"That's right, Nagumo Miyabi from Class A of the second year. At the end of last year, my class promoted from Class B, and now we are students of Class A," Nagumo Miyabi seemed very proud of his class's promotion. "I am also the vice president of the Student Council."

"The Student Council!"

This time, it was Horikita Suzune who was surprised. As the younger sister of Horikita Manabu, she naturally paid close attention to information related to him.

"Heh."

Seemingly pleased to be noticed by a beautiful girl, a smile remained on Nagumo's face.

But Nakano Yuu understood that Horikita wasn't interested in him at all; she only reacted to the words "Student Council" because her brother was the Student Council President.

"Then, why did you suddenly decide to... talk to us, Nagumo-senpai?" Nakano Yuu sensed something unusual.

"Excuse me, I overheard your conversation. You are from Class D of the first year, and you actually bought 'study materials' from the third-year students?" Nagumo Miyabi said. "And you did it for the sake of the class, too."

Oh.

Listening to Nagumo Miyabi's seemingly gentle words, Horikita Suzune, the younger sister, already understood.

Nakano Yuu's words just now were indeed fake.

They were likely meant for this person to hear.

And based on her experience, this person was about to become the sucker Nakano Yuu had chosen.

Chapter 033: Alright, the next target is you, Nagumo-senpai!

Thus, under Horikita's gaze, Nakano began to act harmless.

"Is there something wrong with getting some study materials from our seniors?"

"Or is it not allowed to talk to upperclassmen?"

"If that's the case, then I will go to the Student Council and, under the witness of the Student Council President, return the study materials." The first-year student Nakano seemed unskilled at handling such topics.

At a glance, one could tell he was a novice.

Hmm.

And the gaze of the second-year senior, Nagumo Miyabi, was now completely fixed on them.

He had entered the cafe before these two, intending to buy milk tea for the girls in his class. As it turned out, he had accidentally overheard the conversation between these two first-year freshmen.

Calculating the time, the freshmen had likely encountered their first written exam.

During the same period last year, Nagumo Miyabi had discovered that something was off about the written exams, so he sought advice from upperclassmen and quickly learned that the exams were actually based on old questions.

At the same time, he learned from the seniors that the school allowed transactions between upperclassmen and underclassmen regarding old questions, though the seniors were under a gag order and required the underclassmen to realize it and take the initiative themselves.

In other words, the school actually tacitly approved of this.

Then, unsurprisingly, after Nagumo bought the test papers, his class passed successfully, which also led him to realize that this school was indeed different from schools in the outside world.

This philosophy of guiding students to think and respond flexibly also caught his attention.

Driven by this philosophy, he soon led his class to victory in one special exam after another, eventually pulling his class from the position of Class B to Class A.

They became the first class in the school's history to successfully pull off an upset promotion.

Because of this, he caught the eye of the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu, and was invited by him to join the Student Council.

He had then reached what he considered his current peak.

As it turned out, were this year's freshmen also this talented?

There were actually freshmen who had discovered this point during this period.

"How did you think to look for upperclassmen to find test papers?" Nagumo Miyabi said. "Which class are you from?"

"Class D of the first year," Nakano Yuu said. "Because our academic performance is very poor, we were thinking if there were any shortcuts we could take."

"..." Nagumo Miyabi.

Nagumo Miyabi was momentarily speechless.

It seemed he had misunderstood; these two students were just a coincidence.

As for Class D, it was indeed filled with academic underachievers, and facing a written exam naturally caused them stress, which was why they were looking for alternative paths.

"So, senior, is it really okay for me to take the midterm exam like this?"

The first-year junior asked with a look of great humility. He also seemed somewhat uneasy, nervously placing his left hand into his trouser pocket as he spoke. It appeared to move twice.

This action drew Nagumo's attention; as second-year students at this school, they were quite sensitive to matters involving intelligence gathering, espionage, and recording devices.

In Nagumo's eyes, Nakano Yuu's recent movement was sufficient to have pressed the record button on a voice recorder.

The reason he didn't assume it was the phone's built-in recording function was that an ordinary person couldn't keep a phone in their pocket and precisely locate the recording feature to start it.

Just as Nagumo was focusing on him, Nakano Yuu pulled his left hand out of his pocket the very next second, and because of his speed, the inner lining of the pocket was turned inside out—the pocket was empty.

"..." Nagumo.

This contrast almost left him speechless, feeling as though he had scared himself for nothing. Since this junior wasn't recording anything, he was likely just adjusting his "ballistics."

He seemed like a novice experiencing this kind of special exam for the first time, leading to a clash with his existing worldview.

Indeed.

Hearing that the exam would consist of old questions would certainly strike most people as absurd.

But given that this was a characteristic of the school, they would likely get used to it soon enough.

And now.

"You are very lucky," Nagumo Miyabi said. "This exam is indeed based on old questions, and this is a very clever aspect of the school's design. The school holds high expectations for its students, and they do not wish to cultivate them into stubborn bookworms; therefore, a certain degree of flexibility is necessary to better survive in society."

"And that is the key point of this exam: by testing on old questions, it directly shatters the students' preconceived notions."