Classroom of the Elite: The Strength-Based Classroom of Kageya Shinjitsu

There was a slight unexpected issue, and her answer was quite direct.

The upperclassman with orange hair gave a flat refusal.

Kageya Shinjitsu didn't feel any regret at being rejected; he simply continued to voice his deductions, his gaze fixed intently on the upperclassman's face.

"Since you won't say, let me guess. You guys must be getting twenty thousand, right? Twenty thousand a month—that's a bit of a tight budget, so whenever you have any major expenses, you have to go grab the free items the school provides, don't you? Especially for the girls, that's a really difficult number to live on."

"100 points gets you ten thousand. The school probably wouldn't bother with some convoluted conversion rate since it wouldn't make much sense, and I suspect the school intends for freshmen to figure it out themselves, which is why they left the scores for each grade on the small blackboard."

"Based on the scores of all the classes in the second and third years, as well as the points we freshmen received, using a base-100 conversion seems the most logical. By that calculation, we freshmen just entering have 1,000 points, which is why we got one hundred thousand. Whether we can continue to receive one hundred thousand points every month depends on where our scores end up, right?"

"Tell me, am I right?"

When he mentioned the twenty thousand, her expression had already turned unnatural, carrying the feeling of someone whose secrets had been laid bare.

Yet, she still maintained her upperclassman demeanor.

"You're really something, but I can't tell you anything. You'll have to figure it out yourself."

"Is this underclassman from Class A of the first year?"

As expected, there are monsters in every grade. Having one's intelligence crushed like this every time is just too frustrating. The orange-haired upperclassman sighed.

Although she didn't admit it, her attitude made it perfectly clear.

She even glanced at the surveillance camera on the podium above; it must have recorded everything they had done.

This wasn't her leaking information.

"So I can't be told. Thanks for the hint, upperclassman. Since it's kept secret from first-year students, the situation must be tied to exams for each grade. Whether it's teachers or upperclassmen, if they leak it, they'll face punishment, or even their entire class will."

"Is that how it works?"

Kageya Shinjitsu muttered to himself.

"Stop, stop, stop, underclassman, don't say another word."

"I didn't tell you anything; this is all just you guessing."

"Don't go around saying things, and don't thank me."

It wasn't just the orange-haired upperclassman who couldn't take it; she waved her hands repeatedly.

The other members of Class D nearby were also getting annoyed.

So what if you're smart and good at deducing things?

"It looks like the punishment is directed at the class."

"If I mess around, our class will be punished too."

"That's why they don't allow class transfers, right? And you guys are the same—it's a punishment mechanism."

Kageya Shinjitsu's words made the upperclassman cover her face, completely past the point of caring.

Having everything seen through like this was just too uncomfortable; if he kept talking, it felt like even her underwear would be exposed.

"If you don't have anything else, just leave. We don't know anything."

"Of course I have things to do here. I still have plenty of questions, so why don't you just tell me everything, upperclassman?"

It was hard to find someone this easy to push around, so he wasn't about to stop until he'd squeezed every bit of information out of her. But the students of Class D in the third year had already made it clear they weren't welcome, quickly closing in to block him.

Then, they started shooing him away.

"Underclassman, if there's nothing else, please leave. Our class still has things to do."

"This isn't your class, don't just wander in. Get going, underclassman."

Even though the other students of Class D crowded around to keep him from making contact, Kageya Shinjitsu had already managed to glean some signals.

By talking a bit here and there, he had made these unfriendly upperclassmen listen to him.

In the end, realizing there was no more to be gained, he chose to leave.

"Many thanks for the pointers, everyone."

"I hope you all earn even more points in the next exam."

"If there's a chance for us to cooperate in the future, I'll be sure to look for you."

Gradually refining his 'hundred thousand whys,' Kageya Shinjitsu waved goodbye and left under the watchful eyes of the third-year Class D students.

If you ignored the unwelcoming glares from the group behind him, he looked just like a cute underclassman who had come over to visit another class.

"You brat, don't you come back."

"Don't come back, you jerk from the first year."

"Who would want to cooperate with you? Annoying little kid."

In just that short interaction, the students of third-year Class D had grown to thoroughly dislike this underclassman. No one likes the feeling of being seen through, especially when they've made it clear they don't want to talk, yet the other person keeps pushing and guessing.

Most importantly, he actually guessed right, damn it.

The students of third-year Class D felt nothing but rejection and resistance toward their dear underclassman. If he came back next time, they probably wouldn't even let him through the door; they'd see him coming from a distance and weld the door shut.

But for Kageya Shinjitsu, he had already reaped a full harvest, so it didn't matter.

Having determined the direction of the student council, he headed toward the student council room.

[New author, new book, 10th update. 10 chapters released on the first day, over 20,000 words. If you feel it's decent, please show your support. Comments are welcome too. If the stats are good, I will continue writing. Please support this niche genre if you can. "Seeking subscriptions," "Seeking flowers," "Seeking tips," "Seeking collections," "Seeking monthly tickets."]

Chapter 11: Horikita Manabu, Approaching the Truth

The office sign read "Student Council."

A knock sounded at the door.

"Please, come in."

Only after hearing the invitation from inside did Kageya Shinjitsu open the office door and step inside.

What came into view was the student council president he had seen earlier in the gymnasium.

The name seems to be Horikita Manabu.

I wonder if he has any relation to that classmate, Horikita Shizune.

Kageya Shinjitsu didn't care at all that he was misremembering people's names again, lost in his own thoughts.

"You are a freshman, aren't you?"

"Is there something you need at the student council?"

Sitting at the desk, Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

It was rare for a freshman to come to the student council on the very first day of school.

Most people, having received such a massive fortune, should be out squandering it.

"Student Council President-senpai, I have a few questions to ask. And, of course, I also want to report some students for their conduct."

A strange honorific spilled from Kageya Shinjitsu's mouth as he stated his purpose.

"What?"

"Reporting classmates?"

Asking questions was normal enough.

But to backstab his own classmates on the very first day? Or were these issues with other grade levels?

Horikita Manabu was somewhat surprised.

"It's like this, I'd like to ask you, Student Council President-senpai."

"The points we freshmen receive each month shouldn't just be 100,000 points, right? It must be related to our daily performance."

"For example, if our performance is poor, points are deducted. Say we start with 1,000 points, which grants us 100,000 points. If we drop below 1,000, the subsequent points decrease accordingly. Is the ratio of our evaluation points to the points we receive something like one to one hundred?"

Without caring whether Horikita Manabu minded or not, Kageya Shinjitsu laid out all his conjectures.

"..."

Hearing so much information, Horikita Manabu paused, carefully observing this new student.

He hadn't expected a freshman to figure out so much on the first day.

However, he had no intention of answering the other party in detail.

What could be said would be said; what couldn't be said, he wouldn't.

"You should ask your homeroom teacher these questions. The student council is not responsible for such matters."

"Regarding the school's rules and regulations, you can ask your homeroom teacher about anything you don't understand."

He pushed the questions away directly.

But with words like that, the implication was already quite clear.

"It looks like I guessed right. I already asked other upperclassmen earlier, and none of them were willing to say anything. Plus, the awkward way my homeroom teacher acted... so, the school has blocked the information, right?"

"This is an assessment aimed at us freshmen, isn't it? Have the freshmen of every grade level gone through this?"

"Is the school hoping that students will spend their points to buy information? Or are they hoping students will figure it out on their own?"

"If I recall correctly, the school's points can be used to purchase anything the school possesses?"

"Information like this counts as something the school possesses, right? How many points would I need to buy it?"

Kageya Shinjitsu stood in front of Horikita Manabu's desk, speaking face-to-face.

"For these matters, you need to ask your homeroom teacher. But I can tell you one thing: the school's points can indeed purchase anything the school possesses, whether it be items or information. Even if you want to change classes or waive school penalties, or even avoid expulsion, as long as you have enough points, it is possible."

Being pressed by his underclassman, Horikita Manabu did not disappoint.

In this student council office, there was also a cute girl about 155 centimeters tall, with short light-purple hair styled into two buns on top of her head. She had been watching this exchange with surprise while Kageya Shinjitsu and Horikita Manabu were talking.

It looks like points are even more useful than I thought.

Kageya Shinjitsu calculated.

Deep down, he started to consider the idea of collecting points.

At the very least, he couldn't afford to get expelled.

And things like eliminating expulsion penalties sounded like they would be very expensive.

"May I ask how many points the expulsion penalty costs?"

"And the price for transferring classes."

"20 million points, for both class transfers and expulsion penalties."

Horikita Manabu spoke directly.

"20 million, that's a troublesome goal. It's not a small amount, is it? Is it really just for the sake of so-called class unity? A single person wouldn't be able to scrape that together."

Kageya Shinjitsu looked disgusted.

He truly loathed the concepts of class honor and groups.

"Indeed, no student has ever gathered that much so far. Even when students have resorted to methods like fraud, they still haven't succeeded. Those who have achieved it basically did so by pooling their class's resources."

Horikita Manabu explained.

"That's interesting. The points in this school should be universal, right? Whether they belong to seniors, us, or the school staff."

"They can be transferred freely, right?"

Kageya Shinjitsu asked.

"Correct, the points are universal. And you really don't hold back, underclassman. You have too many questions."

Being asked questions with such familiarity was a first for Horikita Manabu.

Even third-year students were often too intimidated to interact with him much.

A freshman like this—he was practically a social terrorist.

"That's just how people are. The more you know, the more questions you have. You have to find a way to solve them, so I'll have to trouble you, Student Council President."

"I have one more question. Is the school's punishment mechanism based on the individual or the class? If I do something bad, will our class be punished along with me?"

"There are all kinds of punishments. You should ask your homeroom teacher for the specifics."