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

The members of the brass band were standing in rows along the shore with their instruments, playing toward the sea. Was this some kind of miraculous training method?

Three minutes later, Katsuragi Kōhei had processed all the information, let out a long sigh, and looked at Mikage Touji with a newfound sense of respect.

"Could you tell me how you obtained this information? To be honest, I only suspected a few of these things myself." Katsuragi Kōhei handed the phone back.

This was exactly the response he had been waiting for!

Mikage Touji turned around, facing the distance, and lowered his voice, feigning a look of "financial pain": "To be honest, Katsuragi-san, I didn't discover these myself. I just found out that points can buy anything, so I asked the school if I could purchase information... The answer was yes, but the price for the complete intelligence was ridiculously high. Because this information is so critical, I had no choice but to... consult with a few well-off classmates and some upperclassmen I know to pool our resources and buy this key portion first."

Katsuragi Kōhei praised Mikage Touji's actions without hesitation and pressed for more.

"A correct judgment. How much did this information cost? How many points are needed for the rest? I will immediately organize the funds from our classmates."

"300,000 points, and the rest will cost 700,000."

"One million in total? I understand."

Katsuragi Kōhei immediately took out his phone and sent the information to the class group chat.

Mikage Touji also looked at the group chat, his mouth curling upward in a way that Katsuragi Kōhei couldn't see.

As expected, Katsuragi-san, you truly have everyone's trust...

Because the news that only Class A could enjoy the graduation benefits was so explosive, the group chat was soon flooded with frantic screenshots of transfers and urgent messages. The notification sounds of incoming transfers rang out densely on Mikage Touji's phone. In just 20 minutes, the full one million points had been transferred into his account.

"Good!"

Mikage Touji's fingers trembled as he turned off the screen and safely tucked the phone into his pocket, his expression turning serious. "I'll go buy the remaining information in a moment; I should be able to hand it over to you by tonight."

"Do you need me to accompany you?"

"No!" Mikage Touji refused sternly, speaking with righteous indignation, "The classmates have just learned about the S System and their heads must be in a total mess. What you need to do now is quickly stabilize their emotions. You must prevent anyone from doing something reckless and leaking the information about the S System, otherwise, our class will be in big trouble."

"That is indeed the top priority. I will notify them immediately."

Katsuragi Kōhei felt enlightened and immediately took out his phone, his fingers tapping rapidly on the screen.

"Then, I'll leave that to you. I'm going to go buy the rest of the information."

"I'm counting on you!" Katsuragi Kōhei pleaded in a low, heavy voice.

Mikage Touji, his plan a success, felt his back molars nearly cracking as he fought to keep from laughing. He turned the handle of the rooftop door, preparing to leave.

"Wait!"

Finally, Katsuragi Kōhei couldn't help but voice his own question, "Does Mikage-kun have no intention of leading the class? If it were you, I believe the classmates would agree."

The abilities Mikage Touji had displayed were more than enough to conquer the students of Class A. Although his behavior was sometimes baffling, it wasn't a major issue.

At least based on the information Katsuragi Kōhei currently possessed, the students in the class favored Mikage Touji more than they did him. Even he had to admit that in this entrance test, he had been completely defeated by Mikage Touji.

"No, I have no motivation for such a thankless job."

Mikage Touji turned back, using all his strength to tighten his facial muscles, trying to make his face look stern in the shadows rather than like someone about to burst.

"Since you have the desire, Katsuragi-san, and are prepared to take on this responsibility, it couldn't be better for you to do it. After all, you are a very 'reliable' man."

Katsuragi Kōhei stared at Mikage Touji for a long time, momentarily speechless.

"I understand!" He nodded heavily and said in a low voice, "Leave it to me."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

"Right, take care."

Katsuragi Kōhei's eyes were firm, a faint glimmer visible in them. He stood straight on the rooftop, watching Mikage Touji depart as if he were seeing off a like-minded comrade-in-arms!

Mikage Touji pulled the door open, stepped over the threshold, and until he was completely swallowed by the shadows, he slowly and silently closed the rooftop door. A curve slowly formed on his lips.

Don't laugh... you can't laugh yet, you have to get further away...

Biting his lip and pinching his thigh, his nails digging into his inner thigh, Mikage Touji walked quickly toward the stairwell until he reached the shadowed corner of the landing, ensuring that Katsuragi Kōhei wouldn't follow him.

A sound of triumph, of a plan executed perfectly, of a scheme fulfilled, echoed through the stairwell.

"Hehehehe... Gahaha... Oh, yeah—"

Mikage Touji clutched his stomach with one hand and pounded the wall with the other, laughing until tears streamed down his face.

After finally calming his laughter, Mikage Touji took out his phone and made a call.

"Hey, hey, hey, Morishita, if we had a huge sum of one million, how should we spend it?"

"Give me 800,000!"

"...What kind of division is that? Even in a divorce settlement, they don't split assets like that?!"

"You actually want to marry me? No! Please, I refuse!"

"What are you thinking? You think it's all for you? Yamamura has a share in it too."

"What? You actually want to marry Yamamura Miki too? Mikage Touji, you really are a super pervert!!"

The phone carried Morishita Ran's serious scolding, mixed with the panicked cries of Yamamura Miki.

Chapter 12: On the Strange Social Circle of Mikage Touji

After bickering with Morishita Ran, Mikage Touji walked slowly down the stairwell.

Passing by Class C, he saw a delinquent-looking student with dyed red hair and a center part fighting with others, spewing profanities as he threw punches.

Then, the student was knocked out cold by a single punch from a burly, sunglass-wearing Black man.

Mikage Touji's eye twitched; was this guy really supposed to be a high school student?

He quickened his pace to get away from the scene, lest he be caught in the crossfire.

The cherry blossoms in Tokyo had passed their peak and were falling in droves, mixing with the dirt on the ground to turn a grayish-white, with some petals drifting past the soil to scatter sporadically across the school paths.

Wiping a cherry blossom petal off his face, Mikage Touji wandered along in a lazy, listless manner.

Now that the school's true intent had been uncovered and he was no longer at risk of immediate expulsion, all he had to do was ruthlessly KFC Katsuragi to enjoy a pleasant school life.

Approaching lunchtime, he walked into a restaurant at random and picked up the menu on the table.

"..."

He had never been able to understand how his predecessors who transmigrated here managed to get used to the Japanese diet—the cold, glistening sashimi, the icy raw seafood, and lunches consisting of nothing but a sandwich or a rice ball.

Every time this happened, Mikage Touji felt his stomach wailing in agony!

In the end, Mikage Touji ordered a pork cutlet bowl set, one of the few dishes he found acceptable.

Just as Mikage Touji was rubbing his hands together, preparing to eat, a boy with yellow hair and a confident smile walked over and sat down directly across from him.

Mikage Touji: "?"

"Um... do we know each other?"

"No, we don't."

The boy ran a hand through his yellow hair, an air of confidence radiating from his words.

"That's why I came over today to get to know you, underclassman. I'm the vice president of the Student Council, Nagumo Miyabi."

"..."

This guy is so greasy!

After a moment of thought, Mikage Touji figured out the issue and asked in surprise, "Did you notice me when I went to scout the second-year floor a couple of days ago, or does this Student Council have so much power that you even have access to the surveillance footage?"

Mikage Touji prided himself on not having done anything eye-catching over the last two days; the only possibility was that time he was dragged away by the upperclassman in the second-year building.

Other than that, only the school's surveillance would know what he had been up to, and since this yellow-haired upperclassman had just said he was the vice president of the Student Council...

Nagumo Miyabi's eyes lit up suddenly, and he clapped in admiration. "As expected of a student who figured out the existence of the 'S System' just days after enrolling. You're completely different from the incompetent fools in the Student Council."

"I'd say it's a bit of both. Two days ago, someone in my class told me a strange student had appeared near the classroom. I wanted to meet you then, but I didn't expect Kiryuin to beat me to it."

"Um, is it really okay for you to tell me this, upperclassman?" Mikage Touji hinted.

"Oh, this? Since you've already found the answer, a gag order naturally wouldn't apply to you."

Mikage Touji lowered his gaze. It wasn't strange that Nagumo Miyabi knew he had uncovered the truth about the S System; after all, he hadn't tried to avoid the school's cameras from the very beginning.

Nagumo Miyabi leaned back, shifting into a more comfortable position. "Did you not attend the club presentations two days ago? The Student Council does indeed have significant privileges at this school; we assist the administration in managing the campus."

At that time, he had been busy playing mind games with Morishita Ran; he hadn't paid any attention to club presentations or whatever else.

"Is there something you need, upperclassman?"

Mikage Touji had no intention of continuing the conversation, so he picked up his chopsticks and began to eat in large mouthfuls. Anyone with a shred of intelligence would take the hint and leave... right?

Nagumo Miyabi didn't seem to get the message and continued speaking on his own, "I came to observe whether you have the qualifications to become my opponent in the future."

Mikage Touji couldn't help but cringe; this wasn't just confidence anymore—it was pure, inexplicable narcissism.

As he spoke, Nagumo Miyabi wore an excited smile. "To be honest, there are no opponents worth noting in my second-year grade, and Horikita-senpai always avoids fighting me, so I've had to set my sights on the incoming first-years."

"And as expected, Mikage Touji, from the very first moment I saw you, I felt that you were an opponent worthy of a battle with me!"

The more Nagumo Miyabi spoke, the more excited he became; his voice began to tremble as he started praising Mikage Touji's actions over the last two days.

"But you're still too green right now, and your class isn't unified yet. It would be boring to challenge you now. Wait until you're a second-year; I'll likely be the Student Council president by then, and you can keep me company to pass the boring time ahead!" Nagumo Miyabi ran a hand through his hair and pointed confidently at Mikage Touji.

Mikage Touji leaned back, feeling like he was about to lose it. What kind of person was this? Why did he feel like a combination of a domineering CEO and a generic overpowered protagonist from an old-school novel?

And he was even being weirdly kind, knowing he hadn't integrated his class yet and specifically leaving him a year of time so they could have a "real man's duel" a year later.

Silently swallowing a mouthful of rice, Mikage Touji scooted to the side.

"Ahaha," Mikage Touji gave a dry laugh. "So, is that the only reason you came over today, upperclassman?"

He basically treated Nagumo Miyabi's challenge as background noise. Just because you want a duel doesn't mean I'm going to give you one; there's no benefit in it for me.

"While that is indeed part of it, my purpose in coming here today was to invite you to join the Student Council." Nagumo Miyabi ordered a drink, looking as if he intended to keep chatting indefinitely.

"May I ask why?"

"Underclassman, do you think the class point system at this school is fair to students who possess great ability but are placed in lower-tier classes?"

The school deliberately placed students who had potential but lacked in certain areas into lower classes during the sorting process. Mikage Touji keenly sensed the hidden information within those words.

"Fairness is only relative, I suppose..." Mikage Touji silently sped up his eating. If the enemy won't leave, I will!

Nagumo Miyabi took the iced drink the waiter brought, took a sip, and continued, "You aren't wrong to say that, but I don't think the current system reflects the school's meritocracy, which is why I want to change it."

"What a pity," Nagumo Miyabi said with a hint of regret, "the current student council president, Horikita-senpai, does not approve of my philosophy and has been trying every possible way to stop me."

Although he said that, it was still hard to hide Nagumo Miyabi's admiration for that student council president.

Mikage Touji breathed a sigh of relief inwardly; it seemed his target was indeed that Horikita-senpai, so he offered him a three-minute moment of silence.

"Do you admire Horikita-senpai very much, Nagumo-senpai?" Mikage Touji decided to further confirm his deduction and tried to steer the conversation.

"Haha, did you see through me?"

Nagumo Miyabi's smile froze for an instant, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the rim of his cup, before he turned annoyed.

"I have always wanted to challenge Horikita-senpai to a duel, but he keeps refusing me!"

With that tone full of resentment, was this some kind of jilted housewife complaining about a heartless lover?!

Mikage Touji had never believed in things like intuition, but today, his intuition told him that this person might have some serious issues.

"After I graduate, the reforms of the student council need someone to carry them on. If the next student council president is one of Horikita-senpai's people and doesn't approve of my philosophy, then all my efforts will have been in vain."

"So, junior, join the student council."

Nagumo Miyabi braced his hands on the table, staring intensely at Mikage Touji.

"You will be the next student council president after me. To a certain extent, the student council can influence the school's decision-making, has the right to recommend students for exams, and is also responsible for approving club budgets—"

"I refuse." Mikage Touji said decisively.

"May I know the reason?" Nagumo Miyabi was not surprised. "I personally think you are really suitable, junior."

The fact that you think I'm suitable is the problem, okay?! If you had sent a pretty girl instead, I might have actually agreed!

Mikage Touji wailed internally; was this guy completely oblivious?

Yet his attitude was surprisingly good. For some reason, he had laid out all the information about the student council right from the start and proactively invited him to join, making it difficult to leave now.

"I'm not interested in student council work. Furthermore, I believe that whether it's your philosophy or Horikita-senpai's, it makes no difference as long as one has enough strength."

"That is true, but if—"