(Brain storage)
(Abah abah?)
(Advance warning: Some of the original settings have been changed a little to make things more reasonable.)
It was April. The year was... probably... 2015.
If the original story was accurate.
April in the human world: grass grew, birds flew, and cherry blossoms filled the sky. It was a fine time for flower viewing. The dozens of cherry trees lining the road had crowns as full as parasols in the hands of summer women, their branches bursting with blossoms, but...
They weren't as pretty as the ones in Sichuan.
I want to go home~
Dongfang Yi sat obediently in the front row of the bus, his eyes peacefully half-closed as he couldn't help recalling all the delicious food from his hometown.
He hadn't eaten breakfast, and his luggage was rather heavy, so his blood sugar was a little low.
To avoid overexerting himself, he could only pause for now.
There was no other reason. The last coin in his pocket had gone toward providing this bus with the power it needed.
That wasn't his fault.
Ever since he'd transmigrated here a month ago, his financial situation had been in serious trouble.
His bank account and cash combined amounted to no more than eight hundred thousand yen. In theory, it was enough to get by for more than half a year, and he could work part-time at a convenience store. It wasn't impossible to live a normal life for a few years...
But that amount of money clearly wasn't enough to pay for school. He'd have to take out a student loan. And these weren't the low- or zero-interest loans established in his previous life to help students from poor families get an education.
Applying for a student loan in Japan meant happily signing away half your life.
In the literal sense. If you couldn't pay it back, the likely outcome was that women went into prostitution, while men... he wasn't sure.
Maybe they went into prostitution too.
Besides, even if he got the money, it wouldn't help. How many years could he live on the yen he had? Surely he wouldn't have to work his way through college...
He wasn't going to work part-time. He'd never work part-time in this life.
Luckily, Heaven was merciful, and transmigrators had systems to help them.
Dongfang Yi wasn't quite so pathetic... yet.
The system might be an inanimate thing, but having one was better than not having one.
With that thought, Dongfang Yi silently opened his status panel.
[Name: Dongfang Yi]
[Precision: A+]
[Power: B]
[Range: ???]
[Growth Potential: MAX]
[Speed: B-]
[Stamina: B+]
[System Points: 835]
[System Achievements: Frail Flower · So Lovely One Can't Help but Feel for It, Helpless Weakling · The Day I Lost to a Chicken, Ordinary Boy · Maybe I Can Take on a Delinquent?, Merciless Plunderer · The Blond You Robbed Must Be Crying, Mighty Savior of the World · Strength Beyond What's Normal for His Age, Club Regular · How Many People Know You Now?, King of Mooching...]
[Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat MAX, Stealth S, Swimming A+, Marksmanship A, Freediving B+, Toolmaking C+, Guns and Staff Mastery B, Short Blade Mastery A, Danger Perception A, Malice Perception C, Cooking A+, Muscle Control S, Communication...]
[System Functions: Full Recovery, Recording, Shop, Training Area, Locked Areas]
His achievements and skills alone made it easy to tell what he'd been through over the past month.
After discovering the acceptance letter to Advanced Nurturing High School that he'd brought with him, he'd carefully calculated the value of every item in his room and sold everything of worth. Then, over the course of a month, he'd bought a bunch of club memberships and food, doing everything he could to improve his combat ability.
With the powerful recovery and learning abilities he'd gained by spending points, he'd transformed himself from the inside out in just one month.
He was terrifyingly strong now!
Dongfang Yi gently clenched his fist, feeling power gather in it from every part of his body.
He felt like he could lift a road roller without breaking a sweat.
Although his strength was rated B, he suspected the system's standards weren't based on ordinary people.
For now... it should be enough. He wondered how strong Brother Lu was... His thoughts drifted as he began considering the life ahead of him.
There was still some time before he officially entered the vocational school battle royale, where strength ruled above all. He should have enough time to raise his strength and stamina to S.
He just didn't know which class he'd be assigned to.
In his opinion, Class B was the best option. As for Class D...
Class D was full of freaks who'd burned through all their Class Points in the first month alone...
If he ended up there, he could forget about getting stronger and just lie low.
He'd have to spend half a year as a herbivore either way.
But judging by how weak he'd been when he first arrived...
There was a very high chance he'd be assigned to Class D...
This was going to be a problem.
As he pondered, a commotion suddenly broke out on the bus.
A beautiful city woman in an office-lady outfit was... giving a blond boy a condescending moral lecture.
Looks like the story's begun.
Sure enough, the blond pretty boy decisively refused the office lady's request to give up his seat for an old woman.
But... Dongfang Yi's expression darkened... Was I really in Class D?
The people on the bus, the soul of Class D.
In theory, everyone sitting on this bus would be among Class D's elite for the coming year.
That included the blond heir to a conglomerate, the pretty boy; the future leader of Class D, the beautiful girl Horikita Suzune; Horikita Suzune's loyal dog, and Horikita Suzune's...
But that clearly wasn't the point!
He couldn't stop himself from thinking about the miserable half-year ahead of him, and the sad, hopeless life without a single point coming in...
Yamete~
I'll starve to death!
While he pondered for that brief moment, the scene in front of him continued to unfold. Now making her entrance was a beautiful girl with orange bobbed hair and an exceptionally generous figure, one of the three great first-year succubi: Kushida Kikyo, pure on the outside and scheming within.
The real ceiling of Classroom of the Elite, right at the top of the food chain.
"Would some kind person please lend a hand?"
The gentle, kind-hearted beauty looked around, then around again, and again...
No one stepped forward...
If he remembered correctly, a kind woman would give up her seat next. Since Black-hearted Angel would then guide the old woman to an empty seat, it should be somewhere near the front of the bus.
She was only a minor character, but Dongfang Yi was still rather curious to see what this woman looked like.
He raised his stiff neck.
Come on, let me see what this kind woman looks like... Hmm?
Why weren't there any women in the front row?
Dongfang Yi narrowed his eyes, puzzled.
No way. No way, right?
Could it be that with all these background-character seats on the bus, I just had to take the one belonging to the kind woman who happened to be passing by?
Dongfang Yi glanced around, astonished by fate. At the same time, he felt a gaze brimming with expectation.
He looked over instinctively and met the eyes of Black-hearted Pear.
"I have a seat here. Please come over."
Dongfang Yi stood up helplessly and gave up his seat, letting Kushida Kikyo guide the old woman over to it.
He was rather tired, but with his current physique, standing for a while wasn't a problem.
It would just make him a little more tired.
He'd chosen to give up his seat because he figured he might be assigned to Class D later and didn't want to offend this girl who was popular with everyone.
Having thoroughly read the original story during this time, Dongfang Yi knew very well that Kushida Kikyo was obsessed with being the center of attention, but...
She didn't like the awkwardness of being the center of attention.
Nobody liked that sort of thing, though~
If no one gave up a seat, it would undoubtedly be a rejection of the appeal of the Black-hearted Little Angel.
And if someone saw her and ignored her...
Dongfang Yi wasn't sure whether that brief moment of eye contact would leave a bad impression on the girl with her terrifying network of connections...
If she wrote his name down in her little notebook... Brr~
It was best not to provoke her early on.
Dongfang Yi knew her true nature, so he wouldn't fall for her traps, but he didn't want to make an enemy of her either.
He just wanted to earn some points and make some money, so he could change his nationality later and live a peaceful life. He naturally wanted to avoid unnecessary conflicts whenever he could.
What's more, this was an opportunity. If he became friends with her, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he'd know practically everyone at the school.
Even if the entire school had fewer than five hundred students and staff.
After leaving his seat, Dongfang Yi naturally moved over beside Kushida Kikyo. With just a hint of deliberately displayed youthful elegance, he looked like an ordinary handsome boy who'd been charmed by her.
It was the sort of image that Black-hearted Pear would most readily judge harmless and let her guard down around.
He smoothly struck up a conversation. "Hi, classmate. I don't think I've seen you before. Are you a new student?"
"Eh? Could it be... you're a senior? Hello, senpai. I'm a new student this year, Kushida Kikyo. I look forward to getting along with you." Little Angel Kushida put on quite a performance, bowing slightly. Her youthful figure had a captivating silhouette.
It would be great if she weren't black-hearted when you cut her open.
['Mislead' experience +1]
Judging by the system's evaluation, she clearly hadn't yet developed all that scheming, since she hadn't even started school. She seemed to have an innocent, worldly-naive quality to her.
Nice!
It was great that she hadn't started school yet!
Just look at what this damn school had done!
Dongfang Yi gave a thumbs-up, though his expression didn't betray a thing. He gave a slight nod, his every movement carrying a senior's calm and refinement.
"It's nice to meet you, Kikyo. I look forward to getting along with you."
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