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

The next second, I was discovered by the owner of those black stockings and dragged here by force.

And this Senior is surprisingly strong...

Mikage Touji rubbed his reddened neck.

"Could it not be that I was simply captivated by your aura, Senior?" At this point, Mikage Touji threw shame to the wind and desperately tried to talk his way out of it.

Hearing this, Kiryūin Fūka rested her chin on her hand, thought about it seriously, and nodded as if it were a valid point.

"That is indeed a possibility..."

"..." Mikage Touji was at a loss for words.

"If it were me, it wouldn't be strange to attract a wandering underclassman." As she spoke, Kiryūin Fūka seemed to have already convinced herself of her own explanation.

"Forget it, forget it." Mikage Touji gave up on resisting. "I really was here to scout for information."

Facing this eccentric Senior, Mikage Touji didn't dare to play games anymore; if he was caught, he was caught, it wasn't a big deal anyway.

"What a pity, I thought I was about to have an underclassman who admired me."

"Do you even believe that yourself, Senior?"

"Of course, I am quite confident in my own charm." Kiryūin Fūka brushed back her long hair, and a faint, refreshing fragrance wafted toward him.

"Ahem, back to the point." Mikage Touji sat up straight, pulling the topic back to the beginning. "Senior, is there a reason you dragged me over here?"

Generally speaking, with 160 students in the first year, even if someone were 100% certain that a person wasn't from their own grade, they wouldn't go out of their way to ask.

This was the confidence Mikage Touji had while strutting around the various classes.

He hadn't expected that a girl would actually drag him away in full view of everyone.

"No, there's no reason." Kiryūin Fūka said lightly. "I was just bored, and then I ran into an interesting underclassman, so I dragged him over."

Mikage Touji couldn't help but twitch. "You think I'm interesting without us even saying a word to each other? Just because I glanced at your black stockings?"

"Oh... so that's what you're into."

Kiryūin Fūka flashed a mischievous smile, crossing her long legs to make them look even more slender.

"Ahem." Mikage Touji felt his face heat up and quickly looked away.

"Because from the moment I first saw you, my intuition told me you were interesting. It has always been very accurate."

"Intuition..." Mikage Touji said faintly. "Senior, do you happen to know a girl named Morishita Ran?"

"Morishita Ran? Who? Is she similar to me?"

"My troublesome desk-mate behind me. Both of you are people I can't handle."

"Then I'd like to meet her."

After chatting for a while, Mikage Touji felt that time was running out and spoke nonchalantly.

"Someone like you, Senior, should understand the purpose of my scouting for information."

"An investigation into the school rules?" Kiryūin Fūka said with interest. "You could try to butter up your Senior, you know. Maybe if you play the part of my admirer, I might leak some information to you."

Watching Kiryūin Fūka's indifferent expression, Mikage Touji took another sip of his coffee, the bitter taste spreading through his mouth.

Given the strong observational skills and physical fitness this Senior had displayed so far, she must be one of the top students in the second year; theoretically, it was indeed possible that she knew a lot of information.

The problem is...

"Can you really say it, Senior?"

"Hahaha!"

"You really are interesting..." Kiryūin Fūka laughed unreservedly in the cafe. "That is indeed a topic I cannot discuss."

I knew you were lying! The corner of Mikage Touji's eye twitched.

As her laughter gradually subsided, Kiryūin Fūka continued to explain: "We second and third years have been placed under a gag order. We cannot disclose information voluntarily; if it's serious, we might even be expelled."

Expelled, huh... No wonder the number of second and third-year students had dropped so much.

Mikage Touji looked at the smiling Senior across from him, his thoughts drifting.

Generally speaking, the dropout rate for Japanese high schools is about 1% to 1.5%, which would be about two to three people per grade at Advanced Nurturing.

But the reality is that at Advanced Nurturing, which claims that all students must be recommended by their middle schools, the number of dropouts is several times that figure.

There is only one possibility—the school's system is flawed, and there is a penalty of expulsion.

"So, do you want to continue the investigation? I can give you some directions to look into, Senior."

Mikage Touji put down his coffee cup. "No, I think that's enough. Given the current situation, our class can rest easy for the time being with our points."

"Which class are you in?" Kiryūin Fūka asked casually.

"Class A."

"I see—"

Kiryūin Fūka paused, narrowing her eyes. "You brat, you actually dared to fish for information from me."

Mikage Touji silently pushed the menu toward her and said with a sheepish grin: "Just confirming a theory, after all, I didn't have any evidence."

As expected! Just like private points, classes also have corresponding points used to rank them; otherwise, they would just be called points.

Kiryūin Fūka showed no mercy to the wallet of Mikage Touji, waving her hand to order a large strawberry cake.

"Oh well." Kiryūin Fūka stirred her coffee cup with a spoon. "Since you earned them yourself, and since you're so capable, Senior will give you another hint. This shouldn't be a problem; your teacher probably mentioned it too..."

After saying that, she tapped the tabletop with her slender fingers. "Points can buy everything—that is meant literally."

Literally...

The pupils of Mikage Touji constricted sharply.

So that's it. No wonder the way Mashima spoke at the time was so strange.

"Then..." Mikage Touji looked up. "Can I trade for relevant information with you, Senior?"

"You learn fast, don't you." Kiryūin Fūka spread her hands. "Unfortunately, no. Otherwise, upperclassmen could completely bypass school scrutiny using this rule—for example, telling information to underclassmen they know, teaching them to trade with points, and then having the points returned to them. If you want it, you can only go buy it from the school administration."

"How many points exactly are needed?"

"Hmm... at least a million, I'd say."

Mikage Touji was speechless. Even adding his points together with those of Morishita Ran wouldn't even reach a fifth of that.

Although he could tell the people in his class about this, they could probably scrape together that many points, but that would be equivalent to cheating.

Morishita Ran would probably declare the competition won immediately.

Taking the strawberry cake handed over by the waiter, Kiryūin Fūka watched the deep-in-thought Mikage Touji with interest.

"Well, do you want to take it? But personally, I don't suggest you make this deal. You'll find out about this sooner or later anyway."

"Senior..."

"Hmm?"

"How many points does it take to buy that Graduation Privilege?" Mikage Touji asked again.

Hitting the nail on the head!

"Not bad, underclassman. Senior is starting to look at you in a new light. How did you think of that?"

Mikage Touji deliberated and said, "If there isn't enough bait, the fish in the pond will only swim around leisurely; that's not what the school wants. The only thing in here that can make students compete with their lives is that privilege of a one-hundred-percent advancement and employment rate."

"20 million points." Kiryūin Fūka blurted out a terrifying number.

"..."

Does the school think it's being humorous? Would anyone capable of legally earning these 20 million points in this school of about a thousand people even care about that one job opportunity?

If a business genius like that appears, the school would be lucky if they didn't have to beg them to come back and give a speech.

"Haa—"

Exhaling a long breath, Mikage Touji rubbed his throbbing temples.

With this much information, added to his own deductions, the true face of the school had been pieced together for the most part. It should be enough to beat Morishita Ran.

That guy is probably still lurking in some corner right now.

With this...

Mikage Touji raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile of certain victory.

Morishita Ran, I've won!

Chapter 8: Giving It Your All, Unable to Win

An hour after the melodious bell for the end of the school day rang through the academic building, the students in the Class A classroom left one after another.

The dim, golden evening sunlight hit the classroom, dyeing it in a shade of yellow-white.

Mikage Touji stood by the window, hands behind his back, watching the various clubs sweating and pouring their youth onto the field in the distance with a calm expression.

The sound of indoor shoes hitting the floor drifted from afar, approaching slowly and steadily, but it seemed a bit... excited?

A standard villainous cold smirk appeared on the corner of Mikage Touji's mouth.

Little Morishita, today I will completely shatter that fantasy of selling toys in your heart!

The classroom door was "swished" open, and the sunlight fell on the calm face of Morishita Ran, casting a long shadow behind her.

"You shouldn't have come."

Mikage Touji pretended not to turn around, his voice drifting over leisurely, like Ximen Chuixue waiting for Ye Gucheng to duel.

Morishita Ran glanced at Mikage Touji, who was struggling to strike a pose, and turned to leave. "Then I'm leaving. Mikage Touji admits defeat; Ultraman is fake."

Mikage Touji broke character in a second and hurriedly raised his hand to call Morishita Ran back.

"Hey, hey, don't! Who knew you wouldn't be able to catch my reference."

"Who would know such an old, stale reference?" Morishita Ran muttered softly.

Mikage Touji pulled himself together and said sternly, "Then, Morishita Ran, are you ready to face defeat?"

"The one who should be facing defeat is you!" Morishita Ran did not show weakness.

The air in the Class A classroom froze in an instant, and several sparks of electricity swirled and collided between their eyes.

Once eyes meet, the duel begins!

A crow in the distance flapped its wings and flew away, leaving behind a trail of caws.

The moment the sound arrived, Mikage Touji struck first, slamming his hands onto the table and staring straight at Morishita Ran: "The rules are simple. Whoever reveals more information wins. We'll use rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first."

"Just what I wanted, bring it on!" Morishita Ran said, full of confidence.

"Three—"

"Two—"

"One—"

"Rock, paper, scissors!"

Mikage Touji: Rock

Morishita Ran: Scissors

Mikage Touji burst into laughter, struck a battle pose, and shouted: "My turn, I go first! Advanced Nurturing divides students into four classes, A through D, based on their value. Class A has the highest value, and Class D the lowest."

Mikage Touji formed a hand seal with one hand, opening with Domain Expansion: Plasma Spark to strike directly at Morishita Ran. This move was unremarkable, yet it was the core of every battle; without a countermeasure of equal caliber, one could only stand still and be slaughtered by the opponent.

"Too naive, Mikage Touji. Information of this level was something Lady Morishita knew on the very first day." Morishita Ran's face remained devoid of emotion, and she commented with absolute certainty.

"Furthermore, your information seems incomplete..."

Her eyes narrowed, and she also slammed her hands onto the table: "Only by graduating from Class A can one obtain everything promised by the school—that is, a one-hundred-percent advancement and employment rate!"

Facing the aggressive attack, Morishita Ran did not show weakness. She formed hand seals and countered with Domain Expansion: Dimensional Card Storm.

Two domains unfolded within the classroom, colliding, compressing, and grinding against each other, emitting a teeth-gritting roar. Powerful energy surged through the room, causing the desks to be pushed outward from the center, shattering and disintegrating! (Merely the delusions inside the minds of two chuunibyou high schoolers.)

"Not bad, Morishita Ran. To think you could reach this level."

Mikage Touji had anticipated this; the move was a deliberate opening. If she couldn't even reach this level, she wouldn't be worthy of being his opponent!

"Points are the school's evaluation of a student's worth, and the school tests a student's value through surveillance cameras placed all over the campus. Academic ability, morality, physical prowess, social skills, and critical thinking are all possibilities."