In Classroom of the Elite, My Romance Stock Market Only Wants a Full Position

[Exercise Booster in effect, exercise goal 30/30 completed.]

[Stamina: 3→4.]

[Exercise Booster (30 days) has expired.]

After seeing the message pop up on the System Panel, Hashiba Hikaru reached up to wipe the sweat from his face and then stretched out his arms. However, after swinging them forcefully a few times, he didn't feel any particularly significant change.

After a month of continuous training, the boy did feel that his physical fitness had improved quite a bit, but seeing the numerical growth in his stamina, the actual physical sensation wasn't that dramatic.

"I'll try running one more lap to see."

Hashiba Hikaru refocused his attention on his body. Just as he started running again, a completely different sensation suddenly washed over every organ in his body. The initial feeling of weakness and lethargy had long since vanished, replaced by a steady, endless stream of strength surging from within.

"Is this the change from increasing my stamina by just one point?"

After quickly finishing a lap, a smile finally appeared on Hashiba Hikaru's face. All those early mornings over the past month hadn't been in vain. If his stamina continued to increase, his body would likely undergo a earth-shattering transformation.

Hashiba Hikaru reopened the System Panel. The items refreshed in the Trading Shop yesterday were quite good; he had managed to get an Exercise Booster for two consecutive months.

Just as the boy focused his attention on the Exercise Booster entry, although the price remained the same, the text description below had updated with new information.

[Exercise Booster (x30 days)]

[Improve your stamina cap through continuous exercise. When the host purchases this for the second time, the intensity of the training will double based on the original requirements. The methods are divided into running and swimming, and each requires completing a one-hour exercise goal daily.]

"Swimming?"

Hashiba Hikaru touched his hair. He hadn't expected the training goals for the Exercise Booster to level up. He had already grown accustomed to the rhythm of running; he just needed to keep waking up early.

But if swimming were added to the mix, he would have to set aside separate time to keep up with it.

Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School certainly had a swimming pool, but it wasn't open to students around the clock.

"Looks like I'll have to ask the teacher. Regardless, I can't break my plan to improve my stamina; I have to keep at it."

Hashiba Hikaru wiped his face and turned to head toward his dormitory.

After showering and changing into his school uniform, he walked onto the first-year floor and immediately saw his classmates gathered at the entrance, their attention fixed on the new class sign posted on the wall.

Since they had successfully promoted, the metal number plate at the entrance of each classroom naturally needed to be replaced. At this moment, it had been changed to read Class 1-A. The men and women gathered around were craning their necks to look, and every face was filled with pride.

"Hashiba-kun, good morning!"

Someone noticed the boy approaching and immediately greeted him.

"Morning, everyone." Hashiba Hikaru smiled and nodded at the classmates gathered in front of the sign.

"Hashiba-kun, come take a look! Our class sign has been changed to Class 1-A. It's really great." Shibata walked over and pulled him toward it.

"How about it? Don't you feel a sense of honor? This is all thanks to the 100 Class Evaluation Points you earned."

"Indeed. I hope our class can keep this up. Everyone, please don't slack off."

After walking into the classroom, Hashiba Hikaru immediately saw Ichinose Honami sitting at her desk, surrounded by many girls chatting as they did every day.

"Morning, Hashiba-kun." The pink-haired girl greeted him with a smile.

"Yeah, morning, Ichinose-san."

By noon yesterday, Ichinose Honami had already completed the plan to collect class points. Each student had contributed half of their newly received Private Points, which amounted to 50,500 points.

Therefore, the girl now held over five million Private Points—a staggering figure, already a quarter of the twenty million needed.

"Does Hashiba-kun have any plans this afternoon? I found a brand-new recipe yesterday. It seems to be Chinese cuisine. Don't you like that?" The girl looked earnestly at Hashiba Hikaru's profile, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"Is that so? But I have some things to do today, so I might not be able to head straight back to the dorms."

"What kind of things? Going to see a friend again?"

Hearing the emphasis Ichinose placed on the word "friend," Hashiba Hikaru smiled slightly and explained gently, "It's just some personal business."

"I've been quite interested in swimming lately, so I want to ask Hoshinomiya-sensei if there's a suitable swimming pool at school. It would be great if I could get permission to use it."

"Swimming?"

After hearing the boy's answer, a flash of surprise crossed Ichinose Honami's beautiful eyes. She quickly said, "Does Hashiba-kun want to join the swimming club? I remember a classmate of ours is in that club. Do you want me to ask for you?"

"I just want to swim. Joining a club requires attending regular activities; that's too much trouble."

Hashiba Hikaru shook his head. He had no desire to join any clubs. The competition between classes was already troublesome enough; he didn't have time to experience club life.

"Then... can I go with you?" The pink-haired girl's thoughts shifted, and she immediately proposed going with him.

"Hmm, I suppose that's fine, but won't it be a bother for you, Ichinose-san?" Hashiba Hikaru didn't have any objections to Ichinose's suggestion; he just wanted to find a place as soon as possible.

"It's fine! I don't have any plans today, so I can go with Hashiba-kun."

"Alright, let's do that then."

After school, Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose Honami left the classroom together. He had already communicated with Hoshinomiya-sensei at noon. The school gymnasium currently had two swimming pools, but one belonged to the swimming club and was usually off-limits to regular students.

The other was the pool used for physical education classes, but it was locked whenever the gymnasium was closed.

However, this was Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, where the S System superseded all school rules.

Therefore, Hashiba Hikaru had contacted the school administration directly through Hoshinomiya-sensei and paid 100,000 Private Points to purchase access to the pool at night—from eight to ten, for a total of two hours.

After completing this step, he still needed to find the gymnasium manager to communicate and obtain the key.

After walking for about ten minutes, Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose Honami arrived at the faculty office in the gymnasium. A young woman was sitting inside; she had naturally received notification from the school after the boy completed his transaction, and the spare key was already on hand.

"Are you Sonoda-sensei? Hello, I am Hashiba Hikaru from Class 1-A." The boy greeted her very politely, and Ichinose followed suit with her own greeting.

"I am Ichinose Honami from Class 1-A."

After the young Sonoda-sensei stood up, her gaze swept over the two of them twice before she asked with some confusion: "Why did two people come together? Wasn't the purchase of access rights made by only one person?"

"I am the one who purchased the access rights; Ichinose-san is just accompanying me," Hashiba Hikaru explained to the teacher with a smile.

"I see. You two are very close, aren't you?"

After the teacher named Sonoda Rina sighed slightly, she couldn't help but size up the boy standing before her a few more times. He possessed a striking face, an upright posture, and a calm demeanor; such a boy would certainly be the center of conversation among girls wherever he went.

To have a girl accompany him just to pick up a key—what a popular little guy.

"Hashiba-kun, here, this is your spare key."

The young female teacher handed a spare key engraved with a number to Hashiba Hikaru. After he took it, she solemnly instructed: "Although you have purchased the access rights to the swimming pool, there are a few points I need to emphasize to you."

"First, your access is from eight to ten in the evening, so you must leave the gymnasium before ten o'clock. The surveillance at the entrance will track your usage time in real-time. Do not delay. If you are found to be in violation, your usage qualifications will be revoked immediately."

"Second, this access is for your personal use only. You are not allowed to bring companions. Once discovered, your qualifications will also be revoked."

"Third, you are not the only person using the swimming pool, so if you encounter other students while using it, you don't need to pay them any mind."

"I understand. I will not violate the rules, so please rest assured, Sonoda-sensei." Hashiba Hikaru nodded earnestly.

The eight-to-ten time slot was one the boy had chosen himself. Therefore, when he saw Hoshinomiya-sensei take out the swimming pool's time-allocation chart, he immediately realized that using the pool during extracurricular hours must have had precedents; otherwise, it would be unlikely to have such detailed rules.

And now, hearing the third point of caution, this guess was naturally confirmed.

But it didn't matter. It didn't matter who he ran into; the priority was to get in some swimming exercise to better improve his physical stats.

"Then we will be going now. Goodbye, Sonoda-sensei."

"Goodbye, sensei."

After putting the key away, Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose Honami left together.

The young female teacher watched the boy's retreating figure and spoke as if to herself: "This is the second person to apply for extracurricular swimming pool access besides that child Fuuka. If they happen to run into each other, I wonder if something interesting will happen? It's truly something to look forward to."

Chapter 75: Ryuen, Returns!

After settling the matter of the swimming pool, Hashiba Hikaru spent another 100,000 in funds that evening to purchase a new [Exercise Booster], leaving his remaining funds completely bottomed out at only 7,000.

Of the two stocks he currently held, besides the high-priced [Ichinose Honami Stock], there was also the [Kushida Kikyo Stock], which he had been trying to raise the price of; its share price was already at 40.

He only needed to push it a little higher; a share price of 50 would be enough to purchase the [Combat Technique (Master)] skill. Hashiba Hikaru was quite confident, as he had already tested it twice—as long as he leaned toward Horikita, Kushida Kikyo would become very proactive.

Then there was the situation with [Ichinose Honami Stock]. Although it hadn't risen for a long time, the price had remained very high.

Hashiba Hikaru didn't want to cash it out just yet. The special exams hadn't even begun, and perhaps more important skills would refresh in the future; it wouldn't be too late to cash out then.

He then opened his Stock Interface.

Currently, the system had listed five stocks: [Ichinose Honami Stock], [Chabashira Sae Stock], [Horikita Suzune Stock], [Kushida Kikyo Stock], and [Shiina Hiyori Stock].

Hashiba Hikaru still held two stocks: [Ichinose Honami Stock] and [Kushida Kikyo Stock]. The initial price for both was 10, so he had bought into them without hesitation.

[Ichinose Honami Stock]

[Current Share Price: 150, Quantity Held: 3000]

[Kushida Kikyo Stock]

[Current Share Price: 40, Quantity Held: 5000]

The initial share prices of the other stocks were higher, and he needed sufficient reserves on hand to buy into them to avoid issues with his capital chain.

"Funds are still a bit tight. After I cash out the Kushida Kikyo stock, I must immediately decide on the next target for investment."

Just like that, two days passed quickly, and it was soon May 4th. This was the day Ryuen was to return to class. The atmosphere inside the classroom, which had been demoted to Class 1-D, was inexplicably tense.

Although everyone had basically accepted Ibuki Mio's status as the class leader after spending this time together, the man who had once preached violence to everyone was returning today. The students were uncertain about what would happen next.

At ten past eight, a figure finally appeared at the classroom door. It was a boy with long red hair. He didn't enter immediately, but instead stared at the metal plate that read "Class 1-D" for several moments.

"Class 1-D, heh. In just one month, you've become the bottom-ranked class. It seems you've all done quite well under Ibuki's leadership."

Ryuen Kakeru walked into the classroom with a swagger and immediately opened fire on Ibuki Mio.

Ibuki wouldn't let him push her around; she stood up and glared at him, saying, "Who do you think it was that caused the Class Evaluation Points to drop?"

"If I recall correctly, that person should be you," Ryuen replied with a cold sneer. "Colluding with other classes, causing your own classmates to be suspended, and leading to the deduction of Class Evaluation Points."

"To have done such a thing and still be accepted by everyone as the class leader—how laughable!"

"You..."

Ibuki's eyes widened in anger, and a look of extreme frustration appeared on her small face.

Seeing her expression, Shiina Hiyori, who was nearby, immediately advised: "Wait, Ibuki-san, there's no need to be so angry. We all supported your decision at the time anyway. No matter what Ryuen-kun says, that won't change."

"You, you started a fight at the beginning of the school year. Did you think that wouldn't cause Class Evaluation Points to be deducted?"

"That was just a price that had to be paid. If I am in control of everyone in the class, I can lead everyone to Class A," Ryuen grinned, his tone filled with an inexplicable confidence.

Upon hearing his words, a look of disdain appeared on Ibuki's small face as she mocked, "Ryuen, are you still dreaming? You're starting to daydream in broad daylight now."

"No, I'm serious. Though, there's no point in telling you this now; I'm here to issue a challenge."

The long-haired man took a step toward Ibuki Mio. Just as he neared the girl's desk, the burly Yamada Albert immediately stepped forward, blocking Ryuen's path like an iron tower.

"Yo, it's been a month. It seems Yamada has evolved into your loyal dog, Ibuki. That's truly impressive."

"If you're looking to provoke me, I don't mind letting Yamada fight you. We're already in last place anyway." Ibuki signaled for Yamada to step back and stared directly at Ryuen. "What do you mean by issuing a challenge?"

"It's simple. I want to be the class leader, but unfortunately, you stole that position from me, so I have to find a way to take it back."

"Do you think you can do it? The class leader is decided by everyone's vote."

"Don't worry. Did you think I spent this whole month sleeping in my dorm? I've been busy formulating plenty of plans."

A dangerous smile curled the corners of Ryuen's mouth as he turned to the students in the classroom and declared loudly, "Since we've already fallen to last place, we'll just have to climb our way up one by one until we become Class A of the first year!"

"A plan?"

After listening to Ryuen's wild claims, Ibuki Mio followed up by asking, "What are you trying to do?"

"This is the challenge I was talking about. It's very simple to explain."

Ryuen Kakeru stood in the center of the podium and addressed everyone in the classroom, "Since you've all voted for Ibuki, I have nothing to say, but from now on, I will be executing several plans that will benefit the class."

"Once these plans succeed, it will cause the Class Evaluation Points of the other classes to drop. When that happens, you will naturally believe that I am the one most suited to be the class leader."

"Is that so?" Ibuki Mio stared coldly at the man before her, saying each word with deliberate precision, "What is your plan?"

"I can't tell you that, of course. Otherwise, wouldn't that be leaking secrets?"

Ryuen shook his head and added, "Regardless, I will make you see my capabilities—something that this person could never compare to. Let's just wait and see."

After saying this, he glanced at Ishizaki Daichi and Komiya Yogo, who were sitting at their desks, and signaled for them to follow him out.