Classroom of the Elite, Oh No, I've Become a Stand-in

"Don't you people have anything better to do?" Mikage Touji felt deeply aggrieved. "Are you really going to stare at my test paper like that?"

"Besides, is a nine in Japanese literature really that strange? I refuse to believe I'm the only one in the class who got a nine." Mikage Touji retorted loudly, turning his head toward Kito Hayato. "Kito-san, what did you get in Japanese literature? Tell me."

"15 points."

The usually reticent Kito Hayato actually revealed a faint smile on his face.

"Damn it, I don't believe it! There must be other students in this class with scores similar to mine." Mikage Touji gritted his teeth and slammed his desk with a thud-thud.

A purple-haired girl in the top right corner froze upon hearing Mikage Touji's words and silently shoved her own test paper into her drawer.

"Mikage-san, getting a nine in Japanese literature isn't strange. What's strange is that the person who got a nine is you," Hashimoto Masayoshi said, embodying the attitude of someone who loves to watch the chaos unfold.

Mikage Touji had sensed the existence of the school's S System on the very first day, warned his classmates to stay vigilant, and within the following few days, successfully uncovered key intelligence about the S System, helping Class A further solidify its position.

Although he was a bit of a chuunibyou, occasionally erratic, and prone to bouts of abstract behavior, he was talented, handsome, and gentle with others, making him a prominent figure among the students of Class A.

The above was how most students in Class A privately evaluated Mikage Touji.

And then, one day, that same Mikage Touji scored a nine in Japanese literature. It was like meeting a muscular, fierce-looking man on a train wearing headphones, only to pull them off and discover he was listening to magical girl anime songs...

"Um... Mikage-kun, do your best." The perpetually silent and invisible Yamamura Miki delivered the final blow.

Mikage Touji was beyond arguing; he lay slumped over his desk, gray and lifeless, like a fish washed up on the shore.

Chapter 28: The Heavy Atmosphere of Class A

May 1st, sunny.

The weather was beautiful, the sky a clear, washed blue. A few wisps of clouds drifted across the horizon, shimmering softly under the sunlight, while a gentle breeze brushed against everyone's faces.

Yet, the atmosphere in Class A was not as relaxed as usual. The students sat at their desks with solemn expressions, as if they were about to hear a royal decree.

"Hah~"

A mood-killing yawn broke the stifling silence of the classroom.

"Why are you all here so early, sitting in your seats without saying a word? Are you holding some kind of mysterious summoning ritual?"

"You're the same!" the whole class said in unison.

"I guess so. We've done everything we needed to do. Besides, we're Class A; logically speaking, we shouldn't be the ones worrying," a boy muttered.

"Exactly!" Tamiya Emi nodded in agreement, sounding indignant. "On the way here, I heard two girls from Class D discussing what clothes they were going to buy once they got their points today."

"I hope they can still laugh after today," Tanihara Mao said with a hint of schadenfreude.

"I doubt they have many points left. I often see them at Keyaki Mall, finishing their food and just tossing the trash on the ground before running off."

"You've seen them too? Those students from Class D?"

"I didn't know them at first, but it was them every single time. Eventually, I just learned who they were."

Gradually, the atmosphere in the class became lively again.

Mikage Touji opened his phone and clicked on his personal account.

[Personal Points: 67,900 pt]

The page that originally only displayed points had refreshed to show his personal total. Over thirty thousand points a month should be within the normal range.

He leaned back, tilting his chair, and rested his head on Morishita Ran's desk.

"How many points do you have left?"

"Forty-eight thousand."

"Did you buy something? Why is there such a big difference between us?" Mikage Touji's vision was mostly filled by Morishita Ran's snow-white neck and chin, which felt somewhat novel.

Except for the voice recorder at the very beginning, he and Morishita Ran spent most of their time together. The biggest drain on his points was eating at various restaurants and occasionally treating others. Morishita Ran should have been doing the same, so why was there a difference of nearly 20,000 points?

"I bought a fish tank," Morishita Ran said with a calm expression, though her hand quietly reached into her drawer.

"A fish tank? You?"

Mikage Touji's eyelid twitched, and he tentatively asked, "If you don't mind me asking, how many days did the fish in your tank live?"

"If you know it's rude, why are you asking..." Morishita Ran's expression turned cold.

"Five days?"

"..."

"Three days?"

"..."

"It wasn't even two days, was it?"

"You guessed it!" Morishita Ran pressed her hand against Mikage Touji's forehead with lightning speed, followed by a stamp. "I reward you with a Falling Devil Mark!"

Mikage Touji bounced back to his original position with a clatter, raising his hand to scrub at the red mark on his forehead. "A sneak attack! Morishita Ran, what kind of thing did you stamp on me?"

Morishita Ran acted as if nothing had happened. She retracted the stamp, rested her chin in her hand, and looked at the swaying leaves outside the window, sighing:

"I had already prepared their food exactly as the book said," her voice grew melancholy, "and I thought they looked too thin, so I was afraid they weren't getting enough to eat, so I specifically increased their portions."

"How did it turn into a floating fish by the second day?"

Mikage Touji, who was washing his forehead with Shimizu, paused his movements and spoke to Morishita Ran in a tone devoid of joy or sorrow:

"Fun fact: fish lack a satiety center, have short intestines, no stomachs, and cannot secrete digestive enzymes to break down excess food. In other words, they died from overeating."

Morishita Ran, you really are a living nightmare!

"..."

Three seconds later, Morishita Ran turned her head away. "Of course Lord Morishita knows things that even a child would know."

Heh, do you think I believe that?

"I've decided!"

Morishita Ran quickly pulled herself together and said with high spirits, "I'll buy a few more fish once this month's points are issued. This time I'll buy guppies, and then I'll buy a turtle to keep them company!"

Mikage Touji sighed: "I beg you, please spare them. A fish's life is a life, too."

"Mikage Touji, you actually don't believe in me?"

"When have I ever believed in you?" Mikage Touji replied with his eyes half-closed.

"Heartless wretch--"

Just as Morishita Ran was about to retort, the terminals of every student rang simultaneously, and the previously noisy Class A instantly fell silent.

It's here!

Everyone took out their phones to check in unison.

[Private Points: 164,900 pt]

If converted into class points, that would be...

"970 points!" The surprise was laced with a hint of disbelief.

The quick-witted students in the class were the first to calculate Class A's current class points.

"Ohhh!"

The entire class cheered.

"1,000 points is the maximum, we only lost 30 points. No problem, we are definitely still in first place this time."

"We can't let our guard down. We don't know how many points Class B got yet."

"Should we send a message and ask now?"

"Forget it, we'll know sooner or later. After today, we'll be rivals."

"Hey, hey, let's go to karaoke this weekend to celebrate? It feels like our class has never done anything as a group, while Class B has already hung out several times."

"Good idea, I agree."

After the proposal was met with approval from most of the students, they all looked toward Katsuragi Kōhei, who had been standing with his arms crossed and a silent, solemn expression since a moment ago.

Katsuragi Kōhei handled the vast majority of class affairs, so at times like this, they relied on him to negotiate and make preparations.

Katsuragi Kōhei put away his phone, let out a long sigh of relief, and nodded in agreement: "That's right, let's go relax together this weekend."

"Ohhh!" All the students cheered again.

?

The heavy air seemed to ignite; deafening cheers erupted in the classroom as the students' long-suppressed tension and anticipation instantly transformed into pure ecstasy and excitement.

The boys slapped each other on the shoulders hard, some jumping up in excitement, causing desks and chairs to clatter; the girls were even more excited, hugging each other with radiant smiles on their faces.

A rhythmic knocking sounded at the door.

Looking toward the sound, Class A's homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomoya, appeared at the classroom entrance.

"It seems I've arrived at the perfect time."

For once, Mashima Tomoya had arrived at the classroom early without the bell ringing. He held several posters in his hand, and a faint smile appeared on his usually stoic face.

"Mashima-sensei, you knew about the S System all along, yet you didn't tell us privately?" the girls in the class were the first to challenge him.

"Exactly, shouldn't a homeroom teacher give their own class preferential treatment?" the boys chimed in.

"This is a strict school regulation, there was nothing I could do," Mashima Tomoya said as he posted the posters on the blackboard. "Besides, didn't you all do a great job uncovering the truth about the school?"

Just then, the school bell rang, its crisp sound echoing throughout the classroom.

"Alright, enough idle chatter."

Mashima Tomoya's expression returned to seriousness as he rested his hands on the podium and looked at the entire class.

"Although you already know a part of the truth regarding the S System, I will now supplement your knowledge about the reality of this Classroom of the Elite."

Chapter 29: Welcome to the Classroom of the Elite

Mashima Tomoya slapped his palm against the poster on the blackboard, gazing at the class.

Class A: 970 cl

Class B: 790 cl

Class C: 220 cp

Class D: 0 cp

"What is displayed here are the current class points for each class. As I believe you are already aware, the school ranks classes based on these points. Multiply this number by 100, and that is the amount of private points you will receive. From now on, this will be posted on the grade-level bulletin board, so feel free to check it yourself if you wish to know."

Mm-hmm...

The entire class nodded confidently in their seats; they were already well aware of this.

"Still, isn't this gap a bit too wide?"

Satonaka Satoshi looked at the ranking of the classes on the blackboard and muttered under his breath.

"Pfft, hahaha! Are these scores for Class C and Class D actually a joke?" Totsuka Yahiko let out a loud, mocking laugh.

Some students couldn't help but chuckle as well. Indeed, the combined total of Class C and Class D didn't even reach half of Class B's score, let alone the 970 points held by Class A.

"Have some sympathy for them. After all, considering Class C is a class that fights every single day, it's actually quite impressive that they managed to get this score," Hashimoto Masayoshi said with a chuckle, defending Class C.

Mikage Touji leaned back in his chair, looking like an old man squinting at a smartphone.

What exactly is going on with Class D?

He had already carried them so hard, even helping them break Ryuen from Class C to the point where he was suspended for a week and still fighting in his own classroom, yet Class D was somehow still lower than Class C?

And their score was zero!

One had to realize that zero points and ten points were completely different situations; zero points meant there was absolutely nothing left to deduct.

Ryuen Kakeru, who was capable of pulling off a bathroom ambush, was already nine or even ten parts outrageous, but Class D was even more formidable than him.

What kind of species are these people?

"The situation with Class C and Class D is a rare occurrence in the history of Kouiku," Mashima Tomoya said, his expression unchanging. "Do not let your guard down. There have been instances in the past where Class A was overtaken by other classes; the second-year students are a recent example."

"Furthermore, you must firmly keep one thing in mind: the promise that 99.9% of graduates will be employed in their desired jobs is only guaranteed to students who graduate from this school as Class A."

Mashima Tomoya's voice gradually became mechanical and cold, vaguely making people feel the cruelty of the rules in this school.