Classroom of the Elite, Starting with a Zero, Knowing the Plot I Just Lay Flat!

As I was thinking this, Horikita Suzune said coldly, "I refuse."

Is that so.

In other words, Horikita-san is a person of high moral character who won't bow down for a few measly points.

"Fine, then I won't give them to you," Nakano Yuu said. He then snapped two photos in quick succession.

"..." Horikita.

"You're always angry, so I can't capture any other expressions," Nakano Yuu remarked.

"After all, I don't like to smile," Horikita replied stiffly.

"Kushida-san!"

Suddenly, Nakano Yuu raised his camera toward Kushida, who was chatting with Karuizawa in the seat behind her.

"Can I take a picture of you?" he asked.

"S-sure, go ahead," Kushida Kikyou said instinctively, flashing a cute smile.

Click.

Nakano Yuu successfully took the photo.

At that moment, Kushida realized exactly who had taken her picture.

I don't know if it was just my imagination.

Damn it.

Nakano Yuu noticed that Kushida's cute expression seemed to shift, her eyes seemingly conveying that exact sentiment.

"..."

I feel like I offended Kushida somewhere, but I have absolutely no clue why. I haven't even gone out of my way to provoke her lately.

"Weren't you taking a picture of Kushida?" After Nakano Yuu finished, Horikita walked over.

After all, this guy had just taken at least five or six photos of her, and as the subject, she wasn't exactly happy about it.

Only after walking over did she realize that while Nakano Yuu had said he was photographing Kushida, he had used a background blur effect.

Usually, background blur is used to make the subject stand out more clearly, but in the photo currently on Nakano Yuu's camera, it was Kushida who was blurred out.

Kushida's figure was hazy, but the student she was talking to was incredibly sharp and clear.

She had beautiful long blonde hair tied into a single ponytail, with refined, cute features and dimples when she smiled.

Her hands were slender and delicate, her legs were stunning, and she wore white socks, but her uniform was different from everyone else's.

She wore a blue shirt and had her red uniform jacket tied around her waist.

It was a very typical gyaru style.

This was a girl from Class D, Karuizawa Kei.

She was a member of the study group Horikita Suzune was in charge of, and her grades were poor.

Horikita also knew that the students she often hung out with—Shinohara Satsuki, Sato Maya, and Hasebe Haruka—also had poor grades.

These girls formed a little gyaru clique, fond of wearing uniforms that differed from the standard, such as those orange or blue shirts.

Horikita-san knew all of this.

However.

"..." Horikita.

Horikita-san's gaze became intense.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked.

Indeed.

As the leader of this study group, her own member had been secretly photographed, so naturally, she had to ask what his intentions were.

As the leader, she had to look into it.

"How is she performing in your group?" Nakano Yuu asked.

"Her grades are improving slowly, but you can tell she's putting in the effort to study," Horikita said. Then, as if to add more, "It seems she basically didn't learn anything from middle school."

In other words, she was a poor student, but Horikita judged that her current poor grades were due to missing middle school coursework. If she could make up for those gaps, perhaps her academic ability would improve.

Well, Horikita Suzune, you really are something; your sixth sense is always so accurate.

Because Karuizawa Kei had indeed missed out on her middle school education.

ps: Today's update is here, brothers, time to pay your dues!

Chapter 042 Nagumo Miyabi: A mere underclassman actually declaring war on the second years!

This year's freshmen are very different; to be precise, Nakano Yuu's grade is completely unlike previous ones.

After all, this is the protagonist's grade and class from the original story, and as the protagonist's class, it naturally contains the obvious "Three Idiots" like Yamauchi, Sudo, and Ike Kanji.

And then there are all-around monsters who pursue freedom, like Koenji.

Then there are Hirata and Kushida, who have certain flaws but possess stat panels that can rival students from Class A and Class B.

Matsushita Chiaki, who hides her true abilities and fancies herself capable of going toe-to-toe with the protagonist.

And the honor student types: Horikita Suzune, Yukimura Teruhiko, and Nakano Yuu.

These are all important combatants in the class competition.

However, this class also has quite a few problem children.

Take Sakura Airi, for example; although she acts as if she has no presence, she is actually a gravure idol.

And then there is Karuizawa Kei.

Although she acts like an overbearing gal, she is actually extremely timid at her core. The current gal persona is the type she hates the most, because during her middle school years, she was constantly bullied by people with that exact style.

In other words.

She was bullied, so she couldn't even attend classes properly.

This is the main reason for the gaps in her middle school education.

So why does she present herself to others in a gal style now? It's simple: the dragon-slaying hero eventually becomes the dragon.

Terrified of being bullied, she chose to don the mantle of her tormentors.

Thus, she entered this new school using the image she hated most, hoping to never be bullied again.

However.

The ideal is beautiful, but reality is cruel.

Since she has chosen to play this role, it is difficult to back out halfway; she must keep persisting, turning into a version of herself she hates.

In the original story, she found the popular Hirata, confessed her past to him, and sought his help, leading them to pretend to be a couple.

She relied on Hirata's popularity to stabilize her position, eventually even becoming the leader of the gals.

But this was useless.

Because Hirata wants to help everyone, she was just a name on a list; when things went wrong, Hirata wouldn't necessarily stand by her side.

And in the end, it resulted in a breakup.

Of course.

For the current Nakano, these are all just plot points from the original story, and he can utilize some of them for his own gain.

The primary goal is to accumulate 20 million points.

The idea to photograph Karuizawa came to him suddenly while he was thinking about photographing Kushida.

He suddenly recalled that in the first-year special exams of the original story, there was an uninhabited island exam and a VIP exam.

The uninhabited island exam could earn them a sum.

And if the entire class chose result 1 for the VIP exam, they could also make a fortune.

However.

A key point in the VIP exam is seeing which class can guess the identities of all the VIPs. Since the assignment of VIPs follows a pattern, obtaining the list of VIPs from one's own class and one or two from other classes would allow one to deduce the pattern.

Karuizawa is one of the VIPs for Class D, and another is Kushida. As for the third person, he has no idea; who remembers the names of the boys when watching an anime?

There is a rule in the VIP exam that forbids coercion or forcing others to hand over their phones, so it must be voluntary.

If he were to approach Karuizawa at that time, she might not necessarily show him the VIP information, so perhaps he should start laying the groundwork now.

Therefore.

"Has she started dating Hirata yet?" Nakano Yuu asked.

"Dating? What are you talking about?" Horikita looked at him strangely.

Hmm.

If Karuizawa were truly in a fake relationship with Hirata, it would have been announced to the class. Since it hasn't been announced yet, it means she hasn't done it yet.

"Then pass a message to her for me," Nakano Yuu said.

"What do you want to say?" Horikita stared at him with a guarded gaze.

Hey, hey, hey, what are you thinking? Do you think he's some kind of bad guy? That he needs to target a member of your group?

But this also shows that Horikita might be unexpectedly reliable.

If you become someone to her, she will protect you.

Of course, Nakano is a man, and he has no desire to be a kept man.

Especially... his family wouldn't allow it anyway. His father wants him to be the wallet for his five foolish older sisters, not a deadbeat looking for someone to support him.

At the very least, in this school, aside from Classmate Sakayanagi, only the second-year senior Kiryuin could fit that criteria.

"It's just a piece of advice for her," Nakano Yuu said. "You also know that if we want to make money, we have to go through the school's special exams, and for some exams, just the two of us isn't enough, so we need some help."

Oh.

Horikita's hedgehog-like demeanor immediately softened.

Horikita Suzune knew this, as Nakano Yuu had mentioned it to her, and he had also gained something from this exam.

For instance, in this written exam, he had sold the old test papers he bought for tens of thousands of points to Ryuen Kakeru, earning 800,000 points, and although he had provided her with the points to purchase the papers, he still made enough to cover his living expenses.

However, because of this, the joy was his, while she still only had assets of over 500,000, 500,000 of which had been given to her by her brother.

Thus, the younger Horikita remained poor.

"Understood, I will send you a message," she said.

Right.

Even though she had just been acting opposed to it, she was now willing to do the work.

This goes to show that Horikita-san is a very easy person to control; as long as you grasp what she is interested in, you can quickly assign her tasks.

She is very easy to handle.

So, why couldn't such an easy-to-handle person have a more impressive family background, or why couldn't she be just a bit more capable, enough to support six people on her own?

"..."

No.

Perhaps because he suddenly thought of something strange, Nakano-kun was becoming a bit scatterbrained today as well.

However.

"There are 8 days left until the midterm exam," Horikita said during lunch.