In Classroom of the Elite, My Love Stock Market Only Wants a Full Position Chapter 7

First, I need to exchange for stamina potions. What else should I buy?

Just as Hashiba Hikaru couldn't help but let his imagination run wild about the future, he suddenly saw Ichinose Honami lean over and whisper to him, "Hashiba-kun, are you free this evening?"

"What's up?"

"Shiranami-san, Ando-san, and the others are planning to organize a Freshman Liaison Meeting, and they wanted me to invite you."

Hashiba Hikaru asked skeptically, "Is everyone from the class going?"

"Not exactly, this event was initiated by a few girls," Ichinose Honami said, noticing the boy seemed interested, so she immediately added, "There will probably only be seven or eight people, both boys and girls."

"Oh, I see."

Hashiba Hikaru had assumed it was a class-wide activity; since it was just a small group gathering, he planned to decline.

But upon second thought, he asked, "Will Ichinose-san be going too?"

"Yes, I received an invitation as well."

Expectation flickered in Ichinose Honami's bright blue eyes; she hoped to use this opportunity to better understand the Hashiba-kun standing before her.

Through the events of today, Ichinose had already determined that Hashiba Hikaru was someone willing to contribute to the class, so she hoped to close the distance between them—if they could become friends, that would be even better.

Moreover, the girl had many questions she wanted to ask, so she hoped he would agree.

"Then I'll join. What time are you meeting, and where?"

"At 5:30 PM, at the Family Restaurant in Keyaki Mall. Ando-san has already reserved a table." Seeing the boy nod, a hint of joy welled up in Ichinose Honami's heart.

Hashiba asked with some curiosity, "Isn't today the first day of school? How did she manage that?"

"By calling. The school's promotional brochure has the contact information for all the shops, probably to help everyone save time."

"I see. I'll be there on time."

"Great."

About half an hour later, the students of Class B finally dispersed.

Most students headed first to the supermarket near the school building to buy daily necessities, then returned to their single dormitories according to the room keys they had received. From today on, they would live on this isolated Artificial Island; everything was a brand-new beginning.

After leaving the school building, Hashiba Hikaru followed the crowd into the school supermarket. Although he only had 50,000 Private Points left, it was more than enough.

The boy was more concerned with the stock prices and the fluctuations in his system funds; as for food and clothing, he had never paid much attention to them.

Just as he was wandering through the supermarket with his shopping basket, his eyes were suddenly drawn to a separate shelf because it had the word "Free" posted on it.

"Free" meant exactly that—no cost.

Hashiba Hikaru immediately walked over and discovered it contained basic consumables like generic shampoo, body wash, and tissues, which seemed to be free for the taking.

"There are actually free items?"

He thought about it and quickly understood the school's intention. It was likely a safety net designed for students who had already spent all their Private Points, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to survive.

"But this just goes to show that future class competition will be truly fierce," Hashiba Hikaru mused. "The winner takes all, and the losers are left to use freebies?"

Just then, a girl with long black hair walked past him, carrying a small shopping basket with an incredibly indifferent expression.

[Ding! Horikita Suzune Stock has gone live!]

[Current Price: 100]

[Total Shares: 3000]

"?"

The initial stock price is this high?

Whose subordinate is this!!!

Hashiba Hikaru turned his head sharply, his gaze locked firmly on the girl ahead who was picking out shampoo.

Chapter 11: The Assembled Class B Students

The bustling student supermarket was filled with people coming and going. Students could be seen everywhere with their heads bowed, picking out items, their faces filled with longing for their future lives, their expressions relaxed and leisurely.

Hashiba Hikaru stood in front of a black shelf, pretending to browse for items, but his peripheral vision remained fixed on the girl who had just passed him.

This was the character stock that had just gone live: her name was Horikita Suzune.

She had delicate features and a slender build; once seen, she was hard to forget. She wore her long black hair down to her waist, with a strand on the left side braided and tied with a white hair ribbon.

A cold light shone in the girl's purple eyes, and combined with her expressionless face, she seemed to project an aura that told others, "Don't talk to me."

She didn't shop with others like the other girls; instead, she stood alone in front of the shelf picking out items, and she didn't seem to care much about the quality of the goods, as everything she put into her basket was very cheap.

The reason Hashiba Hikaru was so concerned about her was that Horikita Suzune was the girl with the highest initial stock price he had encountered so far—even higher than the other two combined.

The system's current Stock Interface had three different stocks listed: [Ichinose Honami Stock], [Chabashira Sae Stock], and the newly launched [Horikita Suzune Stock].

[Ichinose Honami Stock] had been raised to a price of 70 by Hashiba Hikaru, while [Chabashira Sae Stock] had an initial price of 50. This Horikita Suzune, however, had doubled that, with an initial price of 100.

This was simply too expensive.

Hashiba Hikaru couldn't help but click his tongue. After buying [Ichinose Honami Stock], he only had 49,000 in funds left. Although he wanted to develop more stocks, he didn't want to approach that troublesome-looking teacher, Chabashira.

Now that a new stock had gone live, it just happened to be a black-haired girl who was difficult to approach, a far cry from Ichinose, who could chat with anyone.

"Forget it, I'll put her aside for now and focus on raising Ichinose Honami Stock."

Hashiba Hikaru studied Horikita Suzune's retreating back. After weighing his options, he decided to deprioritize her. Setting aside the fact that she was a student from another class, her initial stock price alone was enough to make him hesitate.

He would deal with that once he had more capital. Besides, this school was a completely closed environment; there would surely be opportunities to meet again later.

With that decided, Hashiba Hikaru picked out the various daily necessities he needed, quickly checked out, and left. He still had to see what his future dormitory looked like.

Upon arriving at the dormitory, Hashiba Hikaru was not disappointed. Although the room wasn't particularly large, it was more than enough for one person.

Hashiba Hikaru's room number was 301. It looked to be about twenty square meters—a classic studio apartment layout. Entering from the entryway, a row of vertical cabinets lined the wall on the right, with a simple stove, sink, and gas range placed underneath.

The essential washing machine and refrigerator were placed close by, and with a separate bathroom and shower stall, it had everything one could need.

Beyond the entryway was the bedroom. A single bed was pushed against the wall, accompanied by a desk and a television. Everything appeared to be brand new.

"Seriously, rent for a place like this in Tokyo would definitely not be cheap. The school is really extravagant."

Hashiba Hikaru threw all his purchases onto the floor and flopped onto his bed. Feeling the comfort of the soft mattress, the young man couldn't help but feel a bit dazed.

"Am I going to spend three years here? It still doesn't feel real."

Recalling everything he had seen and heard on this first day, it felt more exhausting than any other first day of school he had ever experienced.

"Class competition, Private Points, and special exams that every class has to participate in—these things will probably become the things students care about most from now on."

"However..."

Hashiba Hikaru silently studied the System Panel in front of him, where text flowed across the pale blue light screen.

After a long while, he whispered, "The future might be even more interesting, don't you think?"

The only stock he currently held was Ichinose Honami. As his desk mate and a future companion to walk alongside, as long as he made the right moves, it would be easy to farm the girl's favorability. The prompt in the system bar was proof of that.

[Ichinose Honami Stock]

[Current Price: 70]

[Current Holdings: 5000]

Hashiba Hikaru had already made up his mind: as soon as he raised the price of [Ichinose Honami Stock] to 100, he would cash out a portion to purchase items. After all, improving his physical fitness was a top priority; the sooner he raised his stamina, the more confident he would be in future class competitions.

"By the way, what time did Ichinose and the others say? 4 o'clock? Or 5 o'clock?"

After playing on his phone in the dorm for a while, Hashiba Hikaru checked the time and decided it was about time to head out. Since it was their first group gathering, it wouldn't be good for a guy to be late, so arriving early was the safer bet.

The entire dormitory building was massive. The floors for boys and girls were separate, and the only place they could meet was at the elevator lobby, where students would gather.

After leaving the dorm, Hashiba Hikaru took the school-issued flyer and quickly found the place Ichinose had mentioned: the Family Restaurant in Keyaki Mall.

To better accommodate student dining, the school had opened many restaurants in the shopping street in addition to the massive cafeteria. The Family Restaurant was the most popular spot among students.

Because its interior design was tailored for family gatherings, it featured many row-style seats. When there were many people in a group, this was the only place where everyone could sit together.

When he reached the restaurant, Hashiba Hikaru noticed there were quite a few people there. Students stood in groups of three or five, chatting while waiting in line for their turn.

"No wonder this place requires a reservation. It's really popular."

But then he thought about it—even counting all the students across three grade levels, there were only three or four hundred people in the entire school. It was nothing compared to the streets behind the schools he had visited in his past life, which were truly packed with people.

Just as Hashiba Hikaru was standing at the entrance, bored and playing on his phone, a familiar voice finally came from behind him.

"Hashiba-kun, you're already here!"

He turned around and spotted the main group standing behind him. Aside from Ichinose, there were three girls he didn't recognize, as well as two other boys.

Coincidentally, Hashiba Hikaru recognized both of these boys. During the point-harvesting planning session that morning, both of them had spoken up. The one with short hair and the look of a sporty youth was Shibata Sou, and the other, with purple hair, was named Kanzaki Ryuji. Both looked quite capable.

Heh, it seems the star players of Class B have all arrived. What an honor.

Hashiba Hikaru chuckled inwardly and said, "I just got here. There are really a lot of people here."

"That's why Ando-san made a reservation in advance. Isn't that quite farsighted of her?"

Ichinose Honami walked up to Hashiba Hikaru with a smile, patted him on the shoulder, and then, acting like a leader, headed into the shop.

"Let's go! The first Class B student liaison meeting, officially starting now!"

Chapter 12: The 20 Million Point Plan

After the group marched into the Family Restaurant under Ichinose Honami's lead, the Ando-san she had mentioned earlier immediately walked to the front desk to explain their reservation. A staff member soon came over to greet them.

"I'll take you over," the young staff member wearing a headscarf scanned the boys and girls, confirmed the number of people, and smiled. "That's seven in total, right?"

Ichinose, the three girls, Hashiba Hikaru, Shibata Sou, and Kanzaki Ryuji—exactly seven people.

"Yes, thank you."

The girl named Ando seemed very experienced. After all, she was someone who could call and book a restaurant on the very first day; it looked like she had done this sort of thing plenty of times in middle school.

When the group was led by the staff member to a very spacious long table, everyone hesitated on how to choose their seats.

At this moment, Ichinose Honami immediately exerted her leadership aura, waving her hand to instruct everyone: "Um, the girls will sit on the inside, and Hashiba-kun, you sit next to me."

"Kanzaki-kun and Shibata-kun, you sit across from us. How about that?"

"Let's go with Ichinose-san's arrangement," Shibata, being a sports-track student with an outgoing personality, quickly nudged Kanzaki Ryuji beside him to sit on the outer side, while the girls followed Ichinose to sit on the inside.

Hashiba Hikaru looked at the girls sitting in a row and hesitated, but when he met the pink-haired girl's expectant gaze, he followed instructions and sat on the outside of the girls.

"Hehehe, I have so many questions for you, Hashiba-kun, so I'm going to trouble you to sit right next to me." Seeing the boy take his seat, Ichinose Honami immediately shifted over and moved a little closer to him.

Feeling the faint fragrance lingering at the tip of his nose, Hashiba Hikaru felt somewhat uncomfortable; after all, he had spent the first dozen years of his life focused on studying and had truly never had the chance to be this close to girls.

"You can just ask whatever you want. Aren't we desk-mates?"

Hashiba Hikaru decided to distract himself by changing the subject, turning his head to say this to Ichinose Honami beside him.

"I promise to tell you everything I know, and besides, I came to this gathering today specifically because I had some thoughts I wanted to share."

"Really?"

At this moment, Shibata Sou, who was sitting across from them, immediately wore an excited expression: "Does Hashiba-kun have a new plan? Can I join in?"

"It's just a few thoughts..." Hashiba Hikaru sighed helplessly. The morning's thinking had already left him exhausted, so he didn't want to come up with any more plans today.

"That's fine too! As long as Hashiba-kun says it, we will definitely participate."

The one who spoke this time was Ando, who had reserved the spot today. She was a delicate-looking girl who appeared to have put on makeup before coming out, making her look exceptionally charming.

"That's right, after we dismissed today, many students in the class were talking about Hashiba-kun. Everyone is so happy to have a classmate like you."

"Plus, Hashiba-kun is so handsome. I'm so lucky to have been assigned to Class B! Lucky! Lucky!"

Seeing three female classmates suddenly start discussing him to his face, with Ichinose on the side wearing an expression that suggested she was enjoying the spectacle, Hashiba Hikaru couldn't help but rub his temples. This was exactly why he disliked socializing; he would always end up wasting time on trivial matters without realizing it.

"The boys are talking about you too," Kanzaki Ryuji, sitting opposite, said with a hint of teasing after seeing Hashiba's helpless expression, adding fuel to the fire. "It's truly impressive that Hashiba-kun managed to garner so much attention in just one morning."

"If you all could focus your attention on Ichinose instead, I would be very happy. She is the leader of our class, after all."

"No, no, although I am indeed the class leader, I also trust Hashiba-kun very much."

"Um, how about we order some food first?"