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

Realizing the strength of his opponent, Mikage Touji stopped holding back. He let out a roar toward the heavens and unleashed a Heavenly Emperor Fist, piercing through his opponent's domain and striking directly at the face of Morishita Ran.

"Surveillance? No wonder..." Morishita Ran muttered under her breath.

Mikage Touji's technique seemed to exceed Morishita Ran's expectations. Could it be that Morishita Ran was going to stop here?

"The school is currently holding a one-month behavioral conduct exam for first-year students, deducting points for any student violations."

No!

At the critical moment, Morishita Ran summoned the Antimatter Mirror Knight to take the blow head-on, then immediately unleashed a Dimensional Refraction at Mikage Touji, completely reversing the scales of victory!

"W-what!" Mikage Touji panicked slightly. "How could you possibly know about this? You shouldn't have been able to find out such a thing."

Mikage Touji shook his head violently, quickly calming himself down: "Points can buy anything. That is the ultimate rule for clearing this school; you only need 20 million to graduate directly from Class A."

Facing such a dangerous situation, Mikage Touji had nowhere to hide. He took the attack head-on and exhausted all his power to unleash his ultimate technique, Shining Supernova Burst: Limit Flash, swearing to eliminate this enemy right here.

"Class points are a system used by the school to evaluate the entire class. The school deposits points into student accounts every month at a 1:100 ratio. In other words, our class's initial class points were 1000." Mikage Touji's embarrassment was captured by Morishita Ran's eyes; she had already secured the victory.

Morishita Ran also unleashed her ultimate technique, Dimensional Quake: Rainbow Big Bang, to meet him head-on. This time, there was no surging energy, only a suffocating, deathly silence. Space emitted a crisp, shattering sound like glass, and pitch-black dimensional rifts tore open throughout the classroom.

"..."

Mikage Touji opened his mouth, standing frozen in place as if he were a giant who had lost his light and turned into a stone statue.

"It seems I've won, Mikage Touji~"

Morishita Ran's voice revealed her delight, and she immediately unleashed her final strike: "Students in Class D all have certain flaws; they are called defective products by the school."

Facing the giant who had lost his power, Morishita Ran showed no mercy as her technique, Great Severance: Cosmic Annihilation, instantly extended, cutting off Mikage Touji's hope along with his very existence.

Mikage

--

Touji

Perished!

What a truly exhilarating battle!

"I won."

Morishita Ran put one hand on her hip and made a victory sign with the other, striking a victory pose. "Mikage Touji, who stole my seat."

"Impossible!"

Mikage Touji pounded the floor like a low-quality villain struggling in vain after a defeat.

"Refusing to admit defeat? As expected of you, Mikage Touji."

"Wait!"

Mikage Touji's thoughts suddenly connected, and he looked up at Morishita Ran, who was immersed in her victory.

"Did you cheat?"

"With the upperclassmen under a gag order, there's no way you could even know that the thing used to measure class value is called class points. At most, you should only know that such a thing exists, just like me."

The more Mikage Touji spoke, the more excited he became: "Tell me! Did you go to the school administration to buy information?!"

"Na-na, Mikage Touji," a rare smile appeared on Morishita Ran's face. "Do you know what the biggest difference between boys and girls is?"

"Don't change the subject, please answer my question directly, classmate Morishita!"

"I knew you were smart back when we were on the bus."

Morishita Ran had avenged her grudge and was in a great mood. With her hands behind her back, she began to pace around Mikage Touji.

"Even if I used the same methods as you, I would at best only be on par with you. From the very beginning, I never intended to beat you at this."

"Later, when I was eavesdropping on others in the cafe, I discovered one thing..."

A faint sense of foreboding welled up in Mikage Touji's heart.

Morishita Ran circled to the front of Mikage Touji, pulled out a digital voice recorder, and dangled it lightly in front of him, her voice brimming with irrepressible joy: "Girls take... longer than you boys when going to the bathroom~"

The moment he saw the recorder, Mikage Touji lost his color, the person turning into a pale stone sculpture.

"Say it quickly, Mikage Touji, Morishita-sama won!"

"No!" Mikage Touji suddenly realized. "There's still a problem!" His gaze shifted from Morishita Ran's black stockings to that face, which hadn't looked this happy since he first met her. "I can interpret everything else you said as good luck, that someone just happened to mention these rules."

"But—"

"How did you know the 1:100 ratio between class points and personal points? Even if the upperclassmen were chatterboxes, they wouldn't recite such common knowledge like an instruction manual."

Discussions require relevance. Information about a conduct exam might come up in casual chat, but the class point ratio is something everyone already knows; it wouldn't be brought up specifically.

"Did you buy information from the school? That's cheating! You said yourself that treasures are only fun if you find them yourself." Mikage Touji rose up again, exposing the conspiracy that attempted to extinguish the light.

"..." Morishita Ran fell silent.

"Please answer my question directly, classmate Morishita. Don't let your eyes wander, don't stand in front of me with your hands on your hips, and keep your legs together. Have a proper attitude."

"A mere Mikage Touji..."

Morishita Ran expressed her disdain for Mikage Touji's death-throes. She turned her head and shouted toward the door:

"Then, I can say it, right?"

"Y-yes, it's fine, as long as Morishita-san is willing." A timid voice came from behind the door.

There was a third person there?

"You are..." Mikage Touji looked toward the source of the voice, "Yamamura-san?"

"Yes, Mikage-kun." Yamamura Miki lowered her head and replied.

"My secret weapon for victory." Morishita Ran circled behind Yamamura Miki, clapped her hands on her shoulders, and pushed her forward. "When we were at the Student Cafeteria, those upperclassmen didn't seem to notice her at all. They opened their phones right in front of her, and she ended up seeing quite a lot."

"..."

Mikage Touji's lips twitched. He wanted to loudly condemn such unfair behavior, but that would just make him look like a sore loser who couldn't handle defeat.

Is this even allowed?

He stared blankly at the dim ceiling. Then what was the point of all the suffering he had endured over the past two days?

"Um..." Yamamura Miki walked up to Mikage Touji. "Are you okay, Mikage-kun?"

"Don't mind him, he's already fallen into hell..."

"Wrong!"

Mikage Touji still managed to find a flaw in her logic. "You said yourself that the treasure belongs to the first person who discovers it. In this case, the first one to discover it was clearly Yamamura."

"Did I say that?" Morishita Ran blinked.

"You really flip your stance faster than turning a page."

Morishita Ran didn't feel ashamed; instead, she said quite proudly, "My mother told me that a girl needs to learn how to lie when she's out in the world."

"In any case..."

Their eyes met, and they spoke in unison: "I won! Ultraman (Kamen Rider) is fake!"

Chapter 9: Who is that person?

By the time Mikage Touji and Morishita Ran reached a temporary ceasefire agreement for the first stage, the sun had mostly set, and the moon was climbing above the treetops.

After checking the doors and windows, the three of them left the classroom.

Morishita Ran walked in the lead, Mikage Touji followed behind, and Yamamura Miki trailed far in the back. As the streetlights flickered on, their three shadows stretched out unevenly along the school path.

As they walked, Mikage Touji noticed something was off. "Morishita, this isn't the way to the Student Cafeteria, is it?"

Morishita Ran paused for a moment, then continued walking forward as if nothing had happened.

She's definitely pretending not to hear me, right?

Mikage Touji watched Morishita Ran, whose pace had clearly quickened, with a gloomy expression before continuing to follow her.

It didn't take long for Morishita Ran to reach her destination.

Mikage Touji looked up at the sign above. "A ramen shop? No wonder you dragged me all the way here."

As far as Mikage Touji knew, places like ramen shops and beef bowl joints were tacitly considered male-only territory; for a girl to go alone would go against the "atmosphere" of Japan.

Morishita Ran tapped her chin with her fingertip, looking thoughtful. "To be honest, I'm quite curious about this place."

"You've never been?" Mikage Touji felt surprised.

Morishita Ran wasn't the type to care about what others thought. Logically, she should have been able to walk into the shop alone and tell the owner "One ramen, please" without changing her expression.

"Never." A hint of excitement flashed in Morishita Ran's eyes. "My family wouldn't let me go to places like this."

It seems this girl is planning to let loose now that she's at school.

Mikage Touji turned his head to look at Yamamura Miki. "What about you, Yamamura-san?"

"Eh? Me? I've never been either."

"Let's go!" Morishita Ran pointed with her slender hand, flames igniting in her eyes. "From here on out, you will lead us in exploring this unknown new world."

"I haven't been either," Mikage Touji replied calmly.

"..."

A gust of wind blew by, swirling the fallen leaves from the street trees on the ground.

"Morishita Ran, the plan is a total failure..." Morishita Ran covered her forehead and muttered to herself.

Just kidding. As a transmigrator, it was already a miracle that I could speak Japanese; I still write my own name like a chicken scratch.

A minor setback clearly couldn't stop Morishita Ran. She quickly regained her spirit and launched another charge toward the ramen shop.

"We're already here, we can't back down now!"

"Then could you please stop pushing me?" Feeling the pair of hands shoving him from behind, Mikage Touji said speechlessly.

"As the Hikari, one cannot retreat."

"You're finally admitting I'm the Hikari now?"

The two of them pushed and shoved their way into the ramen shop together. Yamamura Miki, still outside, clutched the hem of her skirt. After a moment of hesitation, she gathered her courage and followed them inside.

The interior decor was nothing special—just the style of a traditional ramen shop with counter seating. There weren't many customers, but there was one person present whom everyone recognized.

Mashima Tomoya, the homeroom teacher for Class A of the first year.

"Yo! Teacher Mashima, are you here for ramen too?" Mikage Touji was the first to greet him.

"Good evening, Teacher Mashima." Morishita Ran poked her head out from behind, speaking quite politely.

Mashima Tomoya also noticed this strange trio that had barged in. He set down his chopsticks, picked up a tissue from the table to wipe his mouth, and only then nodded toward the three of them.

"Good evening, Mikage, Morishita, Yamamura."

"G-good evening to you too." Yamamura Miki, who had entered last, seemed startled and lowered her head as she spoke.

Mikage Touji took the opportunity to sit down next to Mashima Tomoya and picked up the menu. "This is our first time here. Do you have any recommendations, Teacher Mashima?"

Mashima Tomoya crossed his arms and thought quite seriously for a moment before enthusiastically recommending, "The soy sauce ramen here is quite good. If you have a big appetite, the chashu is a must-have at this shop; you can order an extra portion." After saying that, he turned toward Morishita Ran and Yamamura Miki and continued, "For you girls, the tonkotsu ramen should be suitable, though remember to ask the owner to make the broth a bit lighter."

Morishita Ran seemed to have completely ignored Mashima Tomoya's advice. She stared intently at the menu in Mikage Touji's hands, pointed at a ramen with a very vibrant color, and said, "Mikage Touji, I want this one!"

"Are you serious? You can tell just by looking at it that it's incredibly spicy."

"The Morishita Family fears no challenge!"

This girl wasn't just childish; she was practically asking for trouble!

In the end, Mikage Touji didn't stop Morishita Ran's suicidal charge, while he and Yamamura Miki ordered the soy sauce ramen and tonkotsu ramen recommended by Mashima Tomoya.

When the ramen was served, Morishita Ran looked at the bright red broth bubbling like magma, fell silent for a moment, and turned her head. "Mikage Touji, switch with me."

"Don't even think about it!" Mikage Touji shielded his bowl of ramen.

When the ramen chef had flashed that kindly smile earlier, Mikage Touji had already realized this was a battle to the death concerning the chef's pride.

Morishita Ran looked at the ramen emitting billows of steam and decided to let it cool down for a bit, striking up a conversation with Mikage Touji instead.

"Are you going to tell the people in class about the school rules?"

Mashima Tomoya, who was eating his ramen to the side, silently pricked up his ears.

"I think either way is fine; the current situation in class is pretty good." Mikage Touji ate his ramen, scratched his forehead with his thumb, and looked somewhat hesitant. "But if this kind of thing leaks out, it's our Class A that will be in trouble."