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

Katsuragi said.

In other words, it was no longer a problem even if information was leaked to Katsuragi, as he already knew.

Furthermore, Katsuragi had the second-year student who traded with Yahiko record the contents of the transaction and submit it to the Student Council.

The Student Council President was aware of this.

Therefore, Katsuragi no longer needed to avoid suspicion.

"Hmm."

Horikita Manabu nodded. Although Katsuragi had bought his way into his position, the meticulous way this underclassman thought was worthy of recognition.

So, he looked toward Nagumo.

"Then, since you know about this, Nakano Yuu, how did you find out the core of this exam?"

Horikita Manabu began to press Nakano Yuu.

"Before that."

However, the underclassman Nakano looked at Nagumo, seemingly answering a different question. "Speaking of which, Nagumo-senpai, what was the total amount of class points you received over the entire past year from special exams and monthly living expenses?"

"..."

Nagumo.

Nagumo didn't actually remember, because he had spent some points on exams along the way and had also collected points from students in other classes, so he only knew the total sum of all points combined.

However.

If he only calculated his personal points, excluding expenditures and only counting income, he did know that.

"The 1.5 million points mentioned earlier, plus several special exams and some expenses, and then the points just paid out to Katsuragi and you... there are about 1 million points left."

In reality, it wasn't just that; Nagumo had understated the number.

His sense of caution made him say only that much. As the ruler of the second years, he possessed the strength of someone who had completed the task of promoting his class in the very first year.

He didn't think it was a good thing for underclassman Nakano to be asking how many points he had left at this moment.

After all, wasn't the other party reporting him?

So.

Nagumo only stated 1 million points more than the 1.5 million mentioned earlier.

And he mostly knew why underclassman Nakano was asking this.

"Uh-huh."

Underclassman Nakano nodded, looking somewhat satisfied.

"..."

Nagumo.

Damn, so it really was that meaning?

Nagumo Miyabi felt a headache coming on instantly.

At this moment, Nakano Yuu answered Horikita Manabu earnestly.

"Naturally, by observing with my own eyes. We first-years are forming study groups, honestly helping each other study, and having to hit the library after class. Meanwhile, the second-years have to face the same written exams as us, yet the second-year students aren't worried about this written exam at all."

"Even though there are quite a few poor students in second-year Classes C and D, logically speaking, they should be very worried about this kind of exam."

"But they aren't. They're out shopping, playing around, and don't even come to the library. This is clearly a very abnormal behavior. Linking this to the school's special rule arrangements, I deduced that there must be some kind of solution to clear it."

Underclassman Nakano said.

"So, holding this thought, I met Nagumo-senpai at the milk tea shop. And before I could even ask, Nagumo-senpai proactively informed me of the solution to clear it."

"..."

Horikita Manabu.

Horikita Manabu's left hand rested on the table, tapping twice gently.

He could tell that Nakano Yuu had deliberately emphasized the word "second-year."

An ordinary student hearing Nakano Yuu's words might just think he was seriously thinking about how to deal with the school, but in Horikita Manabu's eyes, the other party's goal seemed already obvious.

The current explanation was not his true purpose.

The other party wanted to attack the second years.

The second years were currently at their peak under Nagumo, so Nakano Yuu's target was likely to attack the second years represented by Nagumo.

As Student Council President, he understood that he might have committed the error of "nurturing a tiger that will cause trouble." He had originally appreciated and recognized Nagumo's strength, bringing him into the Student Council, but he soon discovered that Nagumo's philosophy was completely different from his own. If Nagumo were to become the next Student Council President, it could very well bring disaster to the students.

Therefore, he had also considered checks and balances.

Thus, he chose Kiriyama from the second years and promoted him. Kiriyama was a student from the original second-year Class A, but his class had fallen, leaving him at a disadvantage.

However, although Horikita Manabu had done this, Kiriyama's role had yet to be realized, and yet here was Nakano Yuu from the first year—and first-year Class D at that—taking the initiative to launch an attack on Nagumo.

"Possessing a certain ability for conjecture and deduction, and thinking seriously about how to deal with every special exam, is exactly what the school hopes you will do in terms of studying and performing."

However, Horikita Manabu replied to Nakano Yuu with a rather official tone.

Nakano Yuu understood, though, that this older brother of Horikita was still sharp. Just as he had mentioned recording his conversation with Nagumo, the possibility that he was recording right now could not be ruled out. If Horikita Manabu were to admit that the school's midterm exam used old test questions, and Nakano Yuu then played that recording for students from other classes, it would pose a risk to Horikita Manabu as well.

Therefore, Horikita Manabu knew very well how to protect his own interests.

What a meticulous senior.

Nakano Yuu still felt a degree of admiration for him.

"And as for senior Nagumo..."

Nakano Yuu said.

"I recorded my chat with Suzune at the cafe, as well as the process of my conversation with him."

"Although I felt there was a shortcut to take for this special exam, senior Nagumo told me directly that the key to clearing it was to purchase old test questions."

Nakano Yuu said.

"I believe this is something the school would not allow. It is equivalent to upperclassmen directly interfering with the exams of lowerclassmen. The school's painstaking efforts would be in vain. Senior Nagumo is disrupting the exam."

"..."

Nagumo.

Nagumo was thinking rapidly.

During that conversation, didn't the junior Nakano already know the meaning of this exam? They had clearly already bought the old test questions.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Nagumo Miyabi suddenly realized that in the conversation with him, the other party had never used the term "old test questions," but rather "academic study materials."

It was clearly a purchase of test papers, so why call them academic study materials?

Damn it, so it really was intentional! Nagumo confirmed once again that he had truly fallen into a honey trap, and it was the same pit with the same group of people, twice!

"And this recording..."

At this moment, junior Nakano took out his phone right in front of him.

"..."

Nagumo.

"And this recording."

Junior Nakano said. His tone began to slow down.

"Please, make it public."

At this moment, another vice president of the student council who had been sitting quietly in his seat, Kiriyama Ikuto from Class B of the second year, suddenly stood up, appearing quite agitated.

Although he was a vice president of the student council, he knew that Horikita Manabu had invited him in to serve as a weapon to keep Nagumo in check.

He also knew that his own class had suffered a defeat.

Although he had now obtained the same vice president position as Nagumo, the failure of his class was already set in stone. At the same time, there was already a 400-point gap between his Class B and the class Nagumo belonged to.

And that 400-point gap was not something that could be easily closed.

However, if what this junior from Class D of the first year, Nakano Yuu, said was correct, and Nagumo Miyabi had truly violated the rules, then Nagumo—and even the second-year Class A that Nagumo belonged to—would be implicated and have their class evaluation points deducted.

Therefore.

His class might still have a chance.

And if Nagumo lost his position as vice president, then his own position as vice president would become even more important.

Whatever Nagumo could achieve using the position of vice president, why couldn't he, Kiriyama, do the same?

Thus, senior Kiriyama performed his first function since joining the student council.

He began to keep Nagumo in check.

How could Nagumo not know what Kiriyama was thinking? He had even begun to corrupt Kiriyama before this, instilling in him that continuing to guard his pathetic class was useless, and that it would be better to work with him, promising to grant Kiriyama a spot to graduate from Class A, and so on.

But now, wasn't Kiriyama still trying to make a desperate move for his Class B?

And this was understandable; Kiriyama was the current leader of the second-year Class B, and as the head, he had the responsibility to lead and take his class to new heights.

"I might have misunderstood."

However, junior Nakano looked at his phone and shook his head at this moment.

"I wanted to record it when I used my phone back then, but I'm not very good at this operation. So, I messed it up."

Saying this, he played the recording file.

The result was a static sound; clearly, nothing had been recorded at all.

"So that's how it is."

Senior Kiriyama of the second year sat down in disappointment.

"Reporting to the student council based on nothing but hearsay is hardly the right thing to do, junior Nakano. But then again, students from Class D are all basically like that. You're beyond saving."

Nagumo Miyabi's voice rang out at that very moment.

A look of proud confidence had reappeared on his face.

"I suppose that's true. It's a shame that despite senior Nagumo thinking so highly of us, we ended up failing to live up to your goodwill."

As he said this, junior Nakano also put on an apologetic expression.

"..."

Nagumo.

Nagumo truly wanted to give Nakano Yuu's acting a score of 6 out of 6 right now.

Because this wicked junior kept glancing at him while talking about the recording earlier, which conveyed only one meaning.

This guy was just here to extort money.

He wouldn't report him as long as he paid up.

And just when Kiriyama was about to speak, he had acted quickly, transferring 1 million points directly to Nakano Yuu.

The bratty junior had indeed stopped immediately. He had even released a corrupted audio file. A file like that couldn't have been prepared on the spot.

Clearly, the other party had been prepared for this all along; his report was a sham, and his true goal was to fleece him of his points.

"Well, I've finished everything I came here to do today."

"Thank you for your support, President."

Having said that, junior Nakano turned around and left quickly. It was very efficient—he had arrived in a rush, but he left even faster.

However.

"..."×N.

Everyone in the office fell silent.