A Story Starting from Classroom of the Elite

Tachibana Akane returned to her seat, feeling pleased.

Having spent two years together, she understood Horikita Manabu very well.

Not explicitly refusing meant he would go tomorrow.

But this clearly didn't fit his personality.

So, was it the club?

Or was it the new student?

She had vaguely found a breakthrough path.

Humming a tune, she began to think about what kind of excuse she could use to justify a "date" after the club orientation tomorrow.

Knock, knock.

At that moment, a knock came at the door.

Horikita Manabu closed the file in his hand and placed it on his right side.

He adjusted his appearance before speaking.

"Please, come in."

With a creak, the door opened and two people entered.

Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji greeted them politely.

Then, they introduced themselves.

"I am Ichinose Honami from Class 1-B."

"Kanzaki Ryuji."

Tachibana Akane guided the two to the seats in front of the desk.

Pouring them each a glass of water, Tachibana Akane asked with curiosity.

"What brings the two of you to the Student Council?"

Ichinose Honami explained the reason for their visit.

After hearing it, Tachibana Akane felt a slight fondness for Ichinose Honami, stemming from her love for Horikita Manabu.

After all, the person she liked was extremely similar to Ichinose Honami, and Ichinose Honami was also very beautiful.

Horikita Manabu felt much the same.

Out of curiosity, he even asked a question.

"You have a younger sister?"

"How did you know, Senpai?"

This child is as capable as I am.

Both possessed outstanding ability, and both had a younger sister.

Both relied on their personal charisma and capability to become leaders of their class.

If it weren't for the fact that Ichinose Honami was a girl, he would have almost thought he had met his doppelgänger.

But this was clearly a misunderstanding caused by an information gap.

It was true that Ichinose Honami relied on her personal charisma and approachability to become a leader.

But her ability?

That was something she had realized herself, having been warned to avoid the information provided by Tanaka Yukishin, leading her to understand the true meaning behind the phrase "In this school, points can buy anything."

"So, Junior, do you need us to provide a rough valuation of the information?"

"That's right."

Horikita Manabu turned the words Ichinose Honami had just spoken over in his mind several times.

Four pieces of advice.

The first, to give up on Class A or the entire student body.

There was no doubt that this advice held great value.

But in terms of actual assessment, it was difficult to price.

The potential fluctuations were far too extreme.

In the end, he set a price of 1,000,000 points for this advice.

The second piece of advice, to establish a database and categorize the students.

Valuing it at 2,000,000 points was not excessive.

On the contrary, for Class B, if done well, it could even be worth 20,000,000.

The third piece of advice, to increase income and reduce expenditure, was indisputable.

3,000,000 points was a solid valuation.

Article 4...

The risk of monetizing this suggestion is relatively high.

If done poorly, at worst, classmates would simply be restrained and reserved in their feedback out of consideration for Ichinose Honami's feelings.

This would lead to information distortion, thereby reducing the effectiveness.

But if done well, two serious problems would emerge.

I truly don't know if Tanaka Yukishin is acting out of kindness or malice.

Problem one.

A high-EQ response would make her a sounding board for her peers to vent their troubles.

A low-EQ response would make her a trash can.

Of course, Ichinose Honami, who is deeply loved and trusted by her classmates, wouldn't end up in the same situation as Kushida Kikyo.

However, it is inevitable that Ichinose Honami would bear immense psychological pressure.

If she couldn't hold up and ended up crushed, it would be a joke.

Problem two.

After receiving feedback, she would have to eliminate hidden dangers and conflicts.

The actual purpose of this suggestion is to highly refine the cohesion of Class B.

But even if Ichinose Honami's personal charisma and approachability are maxed out.

If her methods are insufficient, it could lead to mishandling and trigger an intensification of internal conflicts.

In that case, it would be better not to intervene at all.

This piece of information, like the first one, belongs to the type with overly extreme fluctuations in potential outcomes.

For those who have bookmarked chapters 29 and 30, please give some votes and post comments; I want to see how many people are following along so I can decide on signing a contract.

Once the footsteps of Ichinose Honami and Kanzaki Ryuji disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Horikita Manabu pressed his knuckles against his brow with even greater force.

The metal frames of his glasses glinted coldly under the overhead lights as he suddenly threw his back into the leather swivel chair, his fountain pen spinning in a blur between his fingers.

"You should drink some water."

Tachibana Akane pushed a thermos toward him.

The fountain pen clicked onto the sandalwood desk, and the glass window reflected Horikita Manabu's hesitant face.

Outside the window, the wind at this dozen-story height was tearing clouds into shreds.

"Tachibana, add Ichinose Honami of Class 1-B to the temporary priority watch list."

Tachibana Akane pulled her student ID terminal from her suit pocket, her thumb sliding rapidly across the screen.

When a new page popped up on the notes interface, she suddenly stopped, her hair swaying as she looked up:

"Reason for monitoring? I recall you saying, President, that you didn't intend to recruit any first-years into the Student Council this year."

"Since you remember that, you shouldn't have forgotten there was a prerequisite."

The rhythm of Tachibana Akane's fingers tapping the virtual keyboard on the terminal quickened, the nails striking the screen with a faint, crisp sound.

"Oh, so the President thinks highly of Ichinose. Then why is it temporary? You..."

Her words cut off abruptly; Horikita Manabu's action of taking off his glasses to wipe them carried a rare hesitation.

Tachibana Akane noticed his right pinky finger twitching slightly—a physiological reaction that only appeared when the President encountered uncertain events.

"Because her words and actions are not consistent."

Through the Sender incident, she learned part of the truth about the school.

Then she gathered information and reflected on it.

This is the behavior of an ordinary person.

The reason Ichinose Honami could be valued by Horikita Manabu.

Beyond their similarities, it was purely because the ability revealed in her words was sufficient.

But after Horikita Manabu analyzed one of the suggestions.

If Ichinose Honami truly relied on her own keen observation, divergent thinking, discernment, decisiveness, and courage.

And confirmed the true meaning of the phrase "points can buy everything in this school."

And found a capable upperclassman to conduct a transaction.

And then came to the Student Council to have the value of the information evaluated to wrap things up.

She should have been able to draw inferences about other cases, conduct additional extended thinking on other suggestions, and gain new insights.

And then agree with his assessment.

But what about Ichinose Honami?

Her attitude, along with that of Kanzaki Ryuji, made it hard not to be suspicious.

What she said was not one hundred percent the truth.

"Tell me, President, could it be that you're unconsciously setting the bar too high because she's too much like you?"

The timing was the first day of school.

Through the Sender incident, Ichinose Honami had developed a perception of the school that was far too shallow and one-sided.

Under these circumstances, she shouldn't be judged with the eyes of a veteran.

She was still just a freshman in the adjustment period.

Tachibana Akane believed Ichinose's performance was perfectly normal.

Horikita Manabu shook his head.

How could he not have thought of such a question?

"That is why she has been placed on the temporary watch list, rather than being ignored or put on the long-term watch list."

"Wait a month and see how Ichinose performs. If she isn't in Class A, it will prove that there were falsehoods in what she just said."

Tachibana Akane nodded, then shifted the conversation to Nagumo Miyabi.

"It's all Nagumo Miyabi's fault. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have to expend extra effort, President."

"Isn't it said that you are the most outstanding student council president since the school's founding? Given the philosophy of meritocracy, why does he have the support of other school leaders behind him?"

Tachibana Akane did not deny that Nagumo Miyabi was a capable person.

But he was no match for Horikita Manabu.

Moreover, one was in Class A of the third year, and the other was in Class A of the second year.

What right did a student council president-in-waiting have to struggle against the incumbent student council president?

"Naturally, being the most outstanding is not universally acknowledged. Some leaders feel that the current competition is far too gentle."