Longyuan Shoko? You Want to Be the Boss? / So, What's Your Choice? The Overlord or the Tyrant? ...

Calculating Hearts in Classroom of the Elite? I Can Manage a Little of That Too — Author: Jiushi Jiu

What did it mean to leave no stone unturned? What did it mean to have a hundred plans ready?

The real estate agent was just a college graduate. Through a strange twist of fate, he had somehow ended up in the world of Classroom of the Elite.

How could a college graduate like me be worse than a bunch of high schoolers?

I could manage a little of scheming and reading people too!

But Ryuen Shoko, hear me out first. I really wasn't flirting with girls from other classes. It was all for the plan, for the plan!

Chapter 1: Ryuen Shoko? You Want to Be the Boss?

"All right, Mr. Sakagami. How about letting me say a few words?"

In a classroom, homeroom teacher Sakagami Kazuma was discussing various matters concerning the new students during the class meeting when a red-haired student suddenly interrupted his lengthy speech.

"Ah... Ryuen? Sure. Do you want to come up to the front?"

"Heh. No need."

After getting the homeroom teacher's approval, the red-haired student called Ryuen immediately stood up from her chair. She sat on top of her desk, planted one foot on the chair she had just been sitting in, and began explaining what she had in mind.

"Mr. Sakagami just said that each class would handle its own affairs, so I want to be the king of Class C. Anyone got a problem with that?"

The girl perched on the desk gave off an unmistakable delinquent vibe. That was only natural, considering her outfit and makeup looked more like a gyaru's than a model student's.

The real estate agent sitting behind Ryuen couldn't help glancing at her skirt. The girls at Advanced Nurturing High School generally didn't wear particularly long skirts, so with her sitting like that, most people probably couldn't see anything—but Hoya could see it all.

Mm-hmm. Red. She really was a passionate, domineering queen.

"Hey! What are you looking at?"

Ryuen Shoko caught him after just one glance. She pulled her other leg back and swung it hard toward Hoya's head.

Hoya watched the little shoe fly past his face. If he hadn't leaned back a little, he might have been knocked right onto the desk.

Ryuen Shoko looked furious. She was delivering her royal address, and one of her audience members wasn't even listening—instead, he was harassing her. How could she put up with that?

"Me? I wasn't looking at anything. I was just thinking about a question."

Hoya coughed twice. Even if he had been looking, there was no way he'd admit it now.

He lifted his head slightly and met Ryuen Shoko's gaze. "So, my queen, what kind of ruler do you plan to be?"

"What kind of ruler?"

Hoya's earlier behavior had annoyed her, but at least his calling her "my queen" had pleased her quite a bit. She pulled her leg back and straightened her skirt, making sure Hoya could no longer see beneath it. Then she decided to hear what this man who had been the first to submit to her had to say.

"Right. There are many kinds of rulers: mediocre rulers, foolish rulers, tyrants, benevolent rulers, kings, overlords... So I wanted to ask, which kind of ruler do you want to become?"

"Then tell me—which kind do you think I'm most like?"

Crossing her legs, Ryuen Shoko decided to see whether Hoya had something more specific to say. He had certainly piqued her interest.

Ryuen Shoko was a queen, and queens liked hearing what their followers had to say.

Whether they accepted those suggestions was another matter.

"From what Mr. Sakagami said, we can more or less tell that our four classes will be competing against one another, right? And it's winner takes all, loser gets nothing?"

Hoya didn't continue speaking to Ryuen Shoko. Instead, he asked Sakagami Kazuma, who had been leaning against the wall in silence and watching the show. The homeroom teacher hadn't stopped Ryuen Shoko's antics; instead, he seemed completely unconcerned.

But as her homeroom teacher, acting unconcerned was just another way of supporting Ryuen Shoko.

So that was how it was? Interesting.

Sakagami Kazuma wasn't a bad teacher like Chabashira Sae, so he had explained everything that needed to be covered during the class meeting. He'd concealed a few things, but he hadn't said anything misleading.

For instance, the S-Points system.

As for how Hoya knew about S-Points... well, he was a transmigrator.

Huh? Had I never mentioned that? All right, let me give you the short version.

The real estate agent's real name was... unimportant. He was in a new world now, so there was no point mentioning his old name. Let's stick to the important parts. He'd been a college graduate, scraping by with a bit of work from home. So after arriving in this world, he'd more or less figured out what kind of school he was attending.

Welcome to Classroom of the Elite—Classroom of the Elite for short. He hadn't read it, but he'd once been a fan of web novels and had read plenty of fanfiction based on the series. After learning from the fanfics that the story later shifted from mind games to fistfights, he'd given up on reading the original. It just didn't interest him enough.

Still, he had a general idea about some of the settings and characters in Classroom of the Elite. For example, Class A had a C student, Class B had Feibo, Class D had Ayanokoji and a whole bunch of problem children, and Class C had Ryuen Kakeru... Wait, why was Ryuen Shoko a girl in this world?

Well, even with the genders reversed, she was still just as much trouble as ever.

In other web novels, the protagonist either became the class's leader or stayed in the background, quietly watching the show as the mastermind. Hoya had no such ambitions. Being the boss? No thanks. It was exhausting, man. He hadn't even wanted to be a committee member in college, and now someone expected him to be class president?

He'd slacked off so much that he'd given up working and stayed home as a freelancer. What made anyone think he was ambitious?

Lacking ambition didn't mean Hoya wanted a boring life. Maybe he'd been placed in Class C because of his laid-back attitude: he had ability, but not the right mindset. Still, he might not have been lazy enough for Class D, and that was probably a good thing.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to slack off in Class D. At least Ryuen might have been a tyrant, but she wasn't bad to her classmates. Hoya hadn't read the original, but he'd learned enough from the general consensus to understand the situation.

Maybe... she was a tsundere?

Well, he didn't know whether she was a tsundere. But the moment Hoya saw Ryuen Shoko trying to become the class's big shot during the meeting, he knew what role he wanted to play.

What about being the brains behind the operation?

He refused to believe that a college graduate like him couldn't outsmart a bunch of first-year high school students. In the original, they'd gone from mind games to fistfights. He refused to believe he couldn't at least serve as a strategist! He had half the advantage of seeing the future, man!

So he'd decided to prove himself. At least, as far as Ryuen Shoko was concerned, he had what it took to be her strategist.

Chapter 2: So, What's Your Choice? Overlord or Tyrant?

"That's right. So, Hoya, have you come up with a solution?"

Sakagami Kazuma watched with an amused expression. He was quite satisfied with the state of affairs in his class.

He was only a Class C homeroom teacher. He'd never expected to make his class Class A—that was too difficult. Looking at the school's history, it had never happened before. So when he learned that he'd be teaching Class C, the choice was simple: let things run their course.

Of course, that didn't mean he'd be letting things run their course like Chabashira Sae, leaving students to die. He just planned to be an ordinary homeroom teacher and give his students the green light to do whatever they wanted.

After all, this school... was already disgusting enough. He just wanted to sit back and enjoy the show. If his students were obedient boys and girls, he'd teach them diligently. But if they were the sort who wanted to stir up trouble... then they could go wild. Their homeroom teacher would be there to bail them out. He wanted to see blood running through the streets!

So when Ryuen Shoko declared that she wanted to be queen, he hadn't stopped what looked like a farce. He genuinely wanted to see whether she could pull it off. These experiences would be valuable for the students. If they wanted to survive at this school, these little hardships were nothing.

"A solution... Of course not. But I've got a rough plan."

Once things had more or less gone as he'd expected, Hoya clasped his hands behind his head and lounged back as he looked up at Ryuen Shoko. "I think Classes A and B should be choosing their class representatives too. To be honest, I doubt Class D can pick a class representative today. Their attitude when we were listening to those bigshots on stage earlier... It worries me."

Hoya knew all about Class D, so he didn't need to say much. Did that even need to be said? It was obvious. Could they even pick a class representative? By the time the second month started, they'd probably be slacking off and doing whatever they felt like. There was no way they'd be studying hard.

In that kind of environment, what difference did having a class representative make?

It wasn't like Ayanokoji would personally step up and become class representative, right? No way. He wasn't that kind of person.

"Honestly, every class needs a class representative. So I think we're definitely going to choose one today. But, my queen, if you really want to be the queen of Class C, how will you convince everyone to follow you? Different rulers have different ways of winning people over. As I see it, there are only two kinds of rulers who can bring everyone together quickly."

He held up two fingers. "An overlord or a tyrant. Which one do you want to be?"

There were many kinds of rulers who could win people's hearts, but Hoya had only mentioned overlords and tyrants. The others didn't suit Ryuen Shoko, so there was no point bringing them up. As a persuader, he could either focus on the positives or the negatives; there was no point talking about everything under the sun. His words were meant to guide her, so naturally he had to play along with her.

After all, starting today, she was going to become the queen of Class C.

As for how she'd manage it, neither the fanfics nor the original explained it. But from the little details that came later, it wasn't hard to tell that she'd fought her way to the top. Otherwise, there was no way she'd have been called a tyrant.

"An overlord? A tyrant? What's the difference?"

"The difference is huge. What's an overlord? Tough on the outside, kind on the inside. If someone from another class dares to bully one of our classmates, we'll hunt them down no matter how far away they are. That's an overlord. What's a tyrant? Greedy, cruel, and constantly picking fights with their own people. They're domineering toward their own class, but when it comes to other classes, they're like leashed dogs whimpering and barking. That's a tyrant. So, my queen, which kind do you want to be?"

Hoya's words made Ryuen Shoko laugh out loud. She even clapped her hands. "Good one! You're trying to trap me here, aren't you? Kind to my own people? Are you saying I've gone too far?"

"Have you not gone too far? This whole overlord-and-tyrant act—can you two stop the farce already?"

One of the boys in the class couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his hand on his desk and stood up, but the next second, a shadow flew toward him. With an "Oof," he dropped back into his seat.

A pencil case was sitting on his face. There was no doubt that Ryuen Shoko had thrown it. The force of it made Hoya's eyelids twitch.

Good grief. What did she eat to get that strong?

"Hey, hey, if you've got nothing to offer, then don't butt in. First of all, if Shoko doesn't have what it takes to be queen, what's wrong with me fooling around with a pretty girl for a bit? And if she does have what it takes, then what exactly did I say that was wrong? Besides, even the homeroom teacher hasn't said anything. Why are you the first to speak up?"

Hoya didn't look frightened, but his posture was no longer as relaxed as before. It was clear that Ryuen Shoko's show of force had intimidated him.

He might have been a college graduate, but that only meant he was good with his head. In a fight, ten of him couldn't beat Ryuen Shoko.

"My queen, it looks like if we want to keep talking... we'll have to win everyone over first. If you want to be queen, the whole class has to accept you, right?"

Hoya shifted gears and tossed the question back to Ryuen Shoko. Maybe this was his way of testing her. If she could win everyone over, they could continue their conversation properly.

If she couldn't... well, that would be even more interesting. If Ryuen didn't take control of Class C, then Classroom of the Elite would get a whole lot more entertaining.

"Maybe. At least compared to those annoying people, you've got a little sense."

Ryuen Shoko didn't keep sitting. She jumped straight down from the desk. "All right, tell me. Who's got a problem? Come take me on."

The first to step forward was Yamada Albert, a tall, broad-shouldered mixed-race student with dark hair and dark skin. He looked like he could handle himself.

At least compared to Ryuen Shoko, who looked like a delicate delinquent girl, he certainly seemed like a tough opponent. Plenty of people thought he could knock her silly in two punches.

But the result was beyond everyone's expectations.

"No way..."

Ibuki Mio stared in shock. What had she just seen?

Ryuen Shoko had knocked Albert, a huge guy, to the floor in just three punches?

"Anyone else? Let's see who else has a problem with me. If there is someone, step up right now. At least then I can call you a man. Otherwise... if I find out you're secretly resisting me later, I'll smash your goddamn—"

Ryuen Shoko spoke brutally as she wiped her knuckles, while Hoya stood nearby, silently watching everything.

She called herself "I, the boss"? It looked like deep down, she leaned more toward being a man... Interesting.

Chapter 3: You're an Overlord, Not a Tyrant

Ryuen Shoko was a girl with a story, and it was definitely more involved than in the original.

But Hoya didn't give it much thought. It was just a way of referring to herself, after all. It didn't mean much. He'd learn more by spending time around her.

When it came to wheeling and dealing, Hoya was second to none. He couldn't accomplish anything major, but he had a decent instinct for avoiding risks.

He'd studied finance in college. At the very least, his ability to spot risks was much better than that of his classmates. Back then, the stock market simulation had coincided with a bear market. He'd noticed the danger and cut his losses in time, earning third place in the simulation. His losses had been the smallest, so apart from the two students who actually knew how to trade stocks, everyone else had lost far more than he had.

That didn't mean much, but at least he wasn't sensing any serious danger now. It seemed like this matter might just blow over.

At least for the time being, it seemed to be over.

"So, anyone else?"

Ryuen Shoko had already beaten up six boys. Maybe it hadn't happened that way in the original, but this time she was a girl. In Japan, a girl becoming the boss was bound to get under some men's skin. It was only natural that more people had challenged her.

"I'm in." "Me too." "There's no need to play fair against someone like that. Let's all jump her."

This time, they didn't fight one-on-one. Instead, they swarmed her. But when faced with a group of attackers, Ryuen Shoko pressed forward instead of backing away, and soon the fight was underway again.

She took hits. Someone punched her in the face. But her counterpunch sent that classmate flying. One pair of fists couldn't hold off four, and she gradually struggled to block their attacks. Still, she fought back like a raging tigress.

Every punch her classmates landed only made her hurt. Every punch she threw back made them pay the price.

A price of unbearable pain.

The price of blood.

"Anyone else?"

Standing atop a group of people sprawled on the floor, Ryuen Shoko challenged them again.

But this time, no one got back up.

One against five, and she'd won. Even though she was covered in bruises, even though her right cheek was swollen, even though her beauty was now impossible to see, she'd beaten the whole class into submission.

"Here. Put some of this on."

Hoya handed her a bottle of ointment. When Ryuen Shoko saw it, she raised an eyebrow. "What, are you making fun of me?"

"Not at all. A queen should carry herself like one. You don't look great right now. Put some on."

How could Hoya not know how to deal with someone like her? She was probably the type who just needed a bit of praise.

Besides, now that she'd won, she needed to be a little more humble. She needed to make it even clearer that she was the queen of this class.

Hoya's words made Ryuen Shoko's frown ease. She returned to her seat. Hoya obediently wiped the chair down with his sleeve, and only then did she sit. "You put it on for me."