Classroom of the Elite, It's Not About Meritocracy, It's About Me Ruling the World!

Classroom of the Elite? No, it's not about meritocracy, it's about me reigning supreme!

Author: Ye Dudu

Synopsis:

Kijima Tsukur arrives in the world of Classroom of the Elite as a new student at Advanced Nurturing High School.

Sakayanagi Arisu: "So, I was never the true genius after all..."

Ichinose Honami: "I have always longed to become someone like him."

Horikita Suzune: "Please, can you just turn around and look at me..."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji: "I... am truly weak..."

Kijima Tsukur: "Enemies will bow at my feet, women will fall for me. This isn't a fantasy; just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, everyone will graduate from Class A. This year will become a legend! All of this... is destiny!"

What meritocracy? It's about me reigning supreme!

Chapter 1: It's Over, Nothing But Weirdos

April.

Cherry blossoms danced in the air.

On the bus heading toward Advanced Nurturing High School.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji sat by the window, his face expressionless as he glanced at the person beside him.

Sitting next to him was a beautiful girl wearing the standard burgundy uniform of Advanced Nurturing High School, paired with a white pleated skirt.

Her expression was cold, her black hair reached her waist, and a thin braid hung from the left side, tied with a white ribbon into a bow.

Of course, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji wasn't looking at this girl, but rather observing the person across the aisle.

A boy, also wearing the school uniform, sat with his legs crossed, his left hand propping up his chin while his elbow rested on his knee, his gaze fixed intently ahead.

What was noteworthy was his right hand, which was single-handedly playing with a Rubik's cube.

His fingers moved with lightning speed; in less than two seconds, the cube was solved, only for him to scramble it again, then solve it once more, repeating the process over and over.

It was as if he had a structural blueprint in his mind; no matter how the cube was scrambled, he could restore it in the shortest possible time.

Aside from the girl reading a book next to him, and the blonde man nonchalantly fixing his makeup in the priority seat, everyone on the bus had their attention drawn to the boy playing with the cube.

"Have you seen enough?"

The girl reading the book beside him spoke in a cold tone:

"I know you're watching him play with that cube, but being sandwiched in the middle makes me feel like I'm being stared at, which is honestly disgusting. He's clearly just scrambling and solving it in a set order; there's nothing to be amazed about. If you want to keep watching, why don't you go over to his side?"

"Uh... I'm sorry... I got a bit lost in thought for a moment."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's tone was apologetic as he quickly withdrew his gaze.

The girl had a point; scrambling in a set order could indeed allow for a quick solve, which would be a way to show off.

However, he didn't agree with her assessment.

He had been watching for several minutes now, and according to his observations, the guy was solving the cube in an average of two to five seconds, with a different sequence every time.

If the guy had pre-determined the scrambling order to solve it, he would have had to memorize hundreds of sequences, which was highly unlikely.

The girl beside him must have failed to notice this, or perhaps she hadn't tracked the scrambling patterns, leading her to that conclusion.

Come to think of it, did that girl just say his gaze was disgusting?

How rude!

And to so brazenly expose someone else's shortcomings, accusing them of cheating to show off.

Wasn't she afraid of making the guy angry?

He took one more look.

The guy playing with the cube still had empty eyes, staring straight ahead as if he hadn't reacted to the words around him at all.

'Is this school really going to be okay?'

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.

Advanced Nurturing High School.

A top-tier, prestigious school in Japan with government backing.

It practiced a strictly closed-off management system.

Students were not allowed to leave the campus for three years, nor were they permitted to contact the outside world.

In exchange, the school was equipped with various facilities, including karaoke, movie theaters, shopping malls, and hospitals.

At the same time, tuition and room and board were completely free.

With a 100% rate of advancement to higher education and employment, graduates from this school are guaranteed to land highly lucrative jobs; naturally, ordinary people would have no complaints.

However.

A guy who only cares about playing with a Rubik's cube...

A girl with a recklessly sharp tongue...

A guy who looks completely intoxicated by his own reflection...

No matter how you look at them, they're a bunch of weirdos. Is this school really going to be okay?

Just then, The bus pulled over to the side of the road, The doors opened, An elderly woman with silver hair, leaning on a cane, stepped onto the bus.

She glanced at the crowded cabin and, looking somewhat helpless, walked toward the empty space in the middle. Her withered hand gripped the handrail nearby; the old woman's frail figure was enough to evoke pity.

However, everyone around her acted as if they hadn't seen a thing.

It wasn't until someone couldn't stand it anymore that a girl with short blonde hair stepped forward.

She had a superb figure, a round, pretty face, skin as fair as jade, and the peaks on her chest were remarkably full and upright.

The girl scanned her surroundings and finally set her sights on the blonde man sitting in the priority seat, saying with a face full of concern:

"Excuse me, this grandmother looks like she's in a lot of pain. Could you please give up your seat for her?"

"Why should I have to give up my seat? There's absolutely no reason for me to do that, is there?"

The blonde man snapped his hand mirror shut, looking indifferent and completely disregarding her words.

"I see. Perhaps I was meddling."

Sensing the other party's stubbornness, the girl glanced at the frail grandmother. She seemed hesitant for a moment, but finally gathered her courage to continue pushing:

"Um... although the law doesn't explicitly state that people in priority seats must give up their seats, I feel that doing so could be considered a contribution to society."

"I see."

The boy snapped his fingers and chuckled lightly:

"A contribution to society? Giving up a seat to an elderly person is indeed a part of social contribution, but unfortunately, I have no interest in society."

"Besides, while I may have become the target of public criticism for sitting in the priority seat, is it really okay to ignore those people who are pretending to be indifferent and just staying in their seats?"

"If one truly respects the elderly, I think it shouldn't matter whether it's a priority seat or not, right?"

The boy didn't care at all about the opinions of those around him, and his words struck a nerve with many. Such an attitude immediately made the surrounding people look at him with disgust.

The few people sitting next to the grandmother looked even more annoyed and awkward.

It wasn't right to keep sitting, but standing up now would seem hypocritical—what would it mean to give up the seat now after not doing so earlier?

"Everyone, could you please listen to me for a moment? Is there anyone willing to give up their seat for this grandmother? Please!"

The girl didn't press the issue further, turning instead to look at everyone on the bus with an earnest expression.

In the end, a female office worker sitting next to the grandmother couldn't bear the awkward atmosphere any longer and chose to give up her seat.

"Thank you so much!"

The girl smiled brightly as she expressed her gratitude, helping the grandmother sit down.

She held onto the handrail, exchanged a few simple pleasantries, and waited for the next stop. Suddenly, she noticed the boy in the back seat who had been playing with the Rubik's cube staring straight at her.

That intense, unblinking gaze made the girl feel somewhat uncomfortable.

She felt a bit awkward as she forced a smile at the Rubik's cube boy:

"Um... excuse me, is there something you need?"

"Name!"

"Huh?"

"Your name?"

"Oh, nice to meet you. I'm Kikyo Kushida."

Kikyo Kushida said with some hesitation: "Excuse me, you've been staring at me this whole time. Did I do something that upset you?"

"..."

The boy didn't respond.

He remained in his seat, his left hand cupping his chin while his right hand toyed with the Rubik's cube. His pitch-black eyes were fixed on the girl before him, scrutinizing her.

"Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a virtue."

"Generally speaking, if an ordinary person wanted to secure a seat for that grandmother, they would start by asking the group for their opinion. This not only avoids being rejected by a single target but also prevents conflict."

"By asking the group, the probability of someone giving up their seat is much higher."

"But you chose that student in the priority seat as your target from the very beginning, applying moral pressure on him. If it hadn't been him, most people would likely have felt ashamed enough to give up their seats and quickly get off the bus."

"Wait..."

The girl wanted to explain something, but the boy didn't care and continued on his own:

"Admittedly, perhaps you didn't think that much about it, and simply saw the person in the priority seat and hoped he would give it up."

"If that's the case, you must be a very gentle and kind person!"

"..."

The girl maintained her smile, secretly breathing a sigh of relief inside.

Damn it, what kind of person is this standing in front of me? We don't even know each other, yet he just started analyzing her like this; it's simply disgusting.

However, no sooner had she breathed a sigh of relief than her heart jumped back into her throat.

"However, being able to do that requires a prerequisite: you must be a person with a strong sense of justice!"

The boy continued to analyze the possibilities in his mind:

"After all, the other party might get angry out of shame, or even be rude to you directly. Only by possessing an extremely strong sense of justice could a person possibly fearlessly face these risks, challenge the hidden danger, and make that person who is thirty centimeters taller than you back down..."

"Yet, after he firmly expressed his refusal, you quickly shifted your target to everyone else in the carriage, without even a hint of annoyance or resistance."

"Usually, the person with the greatest obligation to give up their seat in the carriage is the one sitting in the priority seat, yet you chose to give up so quickly. This suggests that your motive was not born from simple moral values, or rather, that your sense of justice is not firm."

"My judgment might be wrong, but your current behavior contradicts the persona you've established."

The boy had already reached his conclusion.

His pitch-black gaze stared straight at Kikyo Kushida.

"Everything you just did was for the sake of 'putting on a show,' right? Only that can explain the irrationality of your series of actions just now."

As soon as these words were spoken.