Classroom of the Elite, Keima Katsuragi's Love Brain Battle

I remember him. He's the one who gave up his seat on the bus earlier.

Is he one of those pushovers? After giving up his seat, he had a conversation with Kushida Kikyo. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it felt like he was deliberately steering the conversation.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.

"Well, Keima Katsuragi, that was quite a unique self-introduction."

Yosuke Hirata said with a smile, tactfully interrupting Keima Katsuragi's speech as a ripple of applause broke out around them.

Keima Katsuragi pushed up his glasses, sat down, and let out a sigh.

The 3D world really is impossible to understand compared to the 2D world.

Suddenly, Keima Katsuragi seemed to catch something and whipped his head toward Suzune Horikita, who was sitting next to him. The corners of her mouth were curled slightly upward.

"Hey, were you just laughing at me?"

"I was just thinking that for someone to actually say something so remarkable, you're quite brave in your own way."

Suzune Horikita mocked him without any attempt to hide it.

Just as the self-introductions were halfway through, a crisp sound echoed from the doorway—the sharp click of high heels striking the floor.

A woman in a suit with a refined face walked into the classroom.

There wasn't a hint of a smile on her face as her gaze swept over everyone, as if she were appraising the value of items.

The homeroom teacher for Class D, first year, Sae Chabashira.

After briefly stating her identity, she began to introduce the school in a cold tone.

Once enrolled, no student is allowed to leave the school or make contact with the outside world. However, the academy is fully equipped to meet every living need, including entertainment; basically, anything can be purchased here.

Students use the points on their Student ID Terminal to buy items, and on the first of every month, the school deposits 100,000 points into each student's account, with a 1:1 exchange rate to cash.

For an average student, this is a very substantial amount.

"You didn't expect this, did you? Our school measures students by their ability. In other words, you who have successfully enrolled possess corresponding value."

As Sae Chabashira spoke, Keima Katsuragi took out the Student ID Terminal issued upon entry, and it indeed showed that he possessed 100,000 points.

After Sae Chabashira finished explaining some of the school's rules, she left the classroom directly. Since it was the first day of school, no classes were scheduled, and students were free to do as they pleased.

Keima Katsuragi rushed out of the classroom almost immediately.

"God of Conquest... Big Brother, wait up! Where are you going in such a hurry!"

Elsie hurriedly chased after Keima Katsuragi to ask.

"I'm going to verify something Teacher Chabashira said just now."

"Something the teacher said? You mean the part about 'points can be used as cash in this school'?"

"No, Elsie, didn't you notice the important information hidden in her words?"

Keima Katsuragi pushed up his glasses.

"What?"

Elsie's face was full of confusion; she completely failed to understand what Keima Katsuragi meant.

"Ability. That word was repeated several times after we entered the school, especially in the teacher's final sentence. These 100,000 points are the value assigned to us for our enrollment. It's possible that in the future, our points might fluctuate, and it will definitely be tied to that so-called ability."

"As expected of Big Brother!"

Elsie's eyes widened in surprise.

"Then, Big Brother, are you planning to find a way to prove your ability right now?!"

"What are you talking about? The teacher just said that you can buy anything at the school's convenience store, so I want to see if I can buy handheld consoles and games exclusive to this world!"

"Huh?"

Volume 1: Chapter 6: Suzune Horikita: I Have Never Been So Speechless

One hour later, school convenience store.

"This is great! I really can buy handheld consoles that didn't exist in my world!"

Keima Katsuragi's face was filled with a blissful smile as he held a shopping basket filled to the brim.

"And there are even games here that I've never seen before!"

Aside from a few necessary daily items, the remaining space in the basket was stuffed with game cartridges.

Keima Katsuragi, who had previously been thinking about finishing his mission and leaving this world as soon as possible, had changed his mind at this very moment.

At the very least, he had to clear every gal game in this world!

"I'm telling you, Big Brother, you bought way too much!"

Elsie, standing to the side, looked at the game consoles and cartridges in Keima Katsuragi's basket and couldn't help but sigh.

"That's fine, but as for the daily necessities, you actually bought the cheapest ones available!"

"That's because items at this price point have the best cost-performance ratio. Besides, points should be saved for non-essential situations."

Keima Katsuragi's expression turned incredibly serious as he reached out a hand to point toward a spot not far away.

"Elsie, look over there."

Elsie followed the direction of Keima Katsuragi's finger. On the front row of shelves, there were free daily necessities on display, and in quite a large quantity.

"What about them?"

"If students aren't short on points, why would they prepare goods that clearly look like relief supplies?"

Keima Katsuragi used his free left hand to push up his glasses.

"This proves one thing—in this school, there are students whose points cannot support their daily lives, and there are quite a few of them. Do you think this situation could happen if the points distributed every month were always one hundred thousand?"

"What an unfortunate coincidence."

Just then, a familiar voice rang out beside Keima Katsuragi.

Keima Katsuragi turned his head to look. Suzune Horikita was standing not far away, holding a shopping basket. She had also come to buy daily necessities, and the cheap brands she had picked out were basically the same as those Keima Katsuragi had chosen.

At this moment, Suzune Horikita faced the shelves, only slightly turning her head to size up Keima Katsuragi from the corner of her eye.

She had inadvertently overheard Keima Katsuragi's words just now, which was the only reason she had noticed the existence of the free relief supplies.

Even Suzune Horikita hadn't thought much about the school rules at first, merely lamenting the school's generosity, but after hearing Keima Katsuragi's words, she finally noticed the incongruity.

In her heart, she had to admit, however slightly, that Keima Katsuragi possessed excellent powers of observation and analysis.

"Although he doesn't look very smart, especially after making such outrageous remarks during his self-introduction, his brain is surprisingly good. I'll give you a little praise... huh???"

Suzune Horikita turned her head completely, only to find that Keima Katsuragi had already ignored her and walked several steps away. Even Elsie, who was by his side, hadn't reacted in time and hurriedly chased after him, left looking completely bewildered:

"Hey, hey, wait a second, Big Brother! We're just leaving?"

"That's right."

"But that was a rare chance to be alone with Horikita-san, shouldn't you have taken the opportunity to get closer to her?"

"For a character—a person—with her personality, the more proactively you interact with her, the worse the effect might be. Conversely, giving her a sense of distance and indifference can actually leave a deeper impression in her heart!"

"That doesn't sound like a good impression..."

"It doesn't matter. I said before, in games, there is a barrier in the relationship with female characters. You only need a certain trigger, a certain event, to break through that barrier, and all impressions and influences will turn positive."

Keima Katsuragi said with a smile, "Besides, that just now with Suzune Horikita wasn't a coincidence. She was bound to come here to buy daily necessities, and I only needed to wait for her here, then say something that might attract her attention."

"I see! Big Brother was acting conflicted over the games just now, but he was actually stalling for time, waiting for Horikita-san to come over! Now that I think about it, the electronics section really does have the best view to observe other areas!"

The look in Elsie's eyes as she gazed at Keima Katsuragi grew even more worshipful.

When the Skeleton Chief told her that Keima Katsuragi was the God of Conquest, Elsie had been a bit skeptical upon meeting him, but after spending the day together, she had gradually come to realize Keima Katsuragi's uniqueness.

"So, the handheld console and game discs you bought were just a disguise too?"

"What are you talking about? I actually wanted to buy those."

"But didn't you say you wanted to save money?"

"But I also said that some things are 'necessary expenses'! The female characters inside are trapped in the 2D world, waiting for me to save them! How could I stand by and watch! Come to think of it, I feel like I should buy a few more. I only had to leave early because I saw Horikita appear, let's go check over there!"

"???"

Keima Katsuragi ran back to the electronics section without a moment's delay.

In the distance, watching the back of Keima Katsuragi as he moved further away and even started to sprint, the corners of Suzune Horikita's usually expressionless face twitched uncontrollably, and her breathing became somewhat rapid.

She had never met anyone like Keima Katsuragi.

Suzune Horikita did not like socializing and usually kept people at arm's length, but she had never seen anyone so indifferent toward her.

What on earth is this guy thinking?

No, there is no need to get worked up over a guy like this.

Suzune Horikita took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and then, carrying the items she had just bought, hurried out of the supermarket.

And further away, a pair of eyes that looked slightly lazy cast a sharp gaze, landing on Keima Katsuragi, who was busy picking out game cartridges.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

He had been quietly observing Keima Katsuragi from the edge of the supermarket the entire time.

He had seen Keima Katsuragi browsing the electronics section earlier, then following the path to the daily necessities area, where he encountered Suzune Horikita.

This was no coincidence; it was a calculated encounter.

Theoretically, they had only enrolled today, so this should have been their first meeting.

What was Keima Katsuragi's goal? Why would he go to such lengths to do this?

Or could it be—

On the very first day of school, he had already begun to lay out his plans?

Could it be...

A conjecture surfaced in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind.

Volume 1: Chapter 7: Airi Sakura's Little Hobby

"Phew, this should be about enough. Realistic slice-of-life, fantasy world magic, sci-fi... every genre is covered! And they're all titles I've never seen before! The girls inside are waiting for me! I absolutely cannot let them down!"

Keima Katsuragi looked at the overflowing shopping cart full of game cartridges with deep satisfaction.

"God of Conquest... you really are something..."

Elsie sighed.

One shopping cart had already been packed to the brim, and for the sake of Keima Katsuragi, she had no choice but to push a second one.

"God of Conquest, even though 100,000 points is quite a lot, buying this many games must cost a significant amount of points, right?"

"The total cost will be 39,412 points."

Just then, Keima Katsuragi adjusted his glasses and answered with a serious expression.

"Eh?! You've already calculated the price?!"

Elsie looked at Keima Katsuragi in surprise, then glanced at the items between the two shopping carts, her gaze darting back and forth.

The total number of items here was quite large, and the prices were all completely different; Elsie only felt that the points spent would be substantial, but she had no concept of the exact figure.

Although they hadn't checked out yet, Keima Katsuragi had been noting the price of each item and calculating the sum while he was picking them out.

"Even though it looks like a lot of stuff, I bought the cheapest versions of some of the daily necessities, and the prices inside the school should be slightly lower than outside, so the points spent aren't as high as you'd imagine."

"But this is definitely not a small number! You've spent nearly forty percent of the points in one go!"

"It's only twenty percent!"

"Twenty percent?... Wait a minute, you didn't include my points in that calculation, did you!"

"I'm helping you retrieve the loose souls, so it's only fair I get some kind of salary, right! Or are you saying you just wanted to get my labor for free!"

"When you put it that way, I suppose that actually makes some sense!"