"Just as I thought. Class D."
You En looked at the class sign, which read "First-Year Class D." He checked the seating chart posted by the door and found his seat.
It wasn't by the window or in the last row, but in the second-to-last row, second-to-last column.
In other words, diagonally behind Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and directly in front of Horikita Suzune.
"What a coincidence."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka greeted the two of them first.
But neither of them responded.
Had they not heard him?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought that was unlikely, so he greeted them again.
Horikita Suzune held her book without even turning her head.
"Hey, you in front. Someone's saying hello to you."
You En turned around, looking a little surprised.
"Isn't he trying to hit on you?"
Horikita Suzune raised an eyebrow.
"Then go turn him down for me."
"?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt like he'd become part of some kind of act between the two, with him as the only outsider.
But since he'd already started talking to them, he might as well establish at least a basic connection.
He moved his chair between them. "I'm Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. What about you two?"
You En glanced at Ayanokoji. He didn't actually dislike this "original protagonist." He didn't like him, either. He was just wary of trouble. Everyone knew protagonists were magnets for it.
"You En Tiandai. Just call me You En."
"Horikita Suzune."
Horikita Suzune looked at You En as she gave her name.
"Ooh, Suzune-chan. What a kawaii name."
"You?"
Horikita Suzune shuddered as if she'd been electrocuted.
"What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing. My weeb side just came out."
You En turned back around, slumped over his desk, and played dead. Ah, as a transmigrator and professional NEET, he hadn't gone to school in ages.
He had to admit... school was boring.
He should've stayed home to play games and sleep in.
Horikita Suzune looked at the motionless lump of a person in front of her. He didn't so much as turn over for a long while, so she finally turned to Ayanokoji.
She saw that he, too, was watching You En.
"Do you know him?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head. "No."
He'd never met anyone so weird. Right now, he seemed completely useless, as if he'd been pickled in salt.
It made Ayanokoji wonder whether this was really the same person who'd said all that on the train just moments ago.
"I'm going to read."
Horikita Suzune was clearly telling him to leave.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had no intention of lingering, either. He'd come over to talk to You En. Now that the conversation was over, there was no reason to keep shamelessly hanging around.
He returned to his seat and discreetly surveyed the classroom.
Before long, several little cliques had formed. The brown-haired girl from the train, for instance, had already gathered a crowd around her.
The blond guy was there too, fixing his hair in a mirror. He stood out just like You En did.
In this noisy classroom,
some people shone on their own, some played dead on their own, and some read on their own. Was this what education outside the White Room was like? It sure had its quirks.
Still, he had to keep a low profile.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood up and headed toward the guys he'd been watching for a while—the ones who were obviously the Three Idiots. He just wanted a peaceful life, so he might as well mix with these ordinary people.
"Here he comes, here he comes."
Horikita Suzune looked up. At some point, You En had sat upright, and now he wore an excited expression.
"What's gotten into you?"
"I'm watching someone pretend to be an idiot."
"Pretend?"
Horikita Suzune closed her book and looked toward Ayanokoji and the three boys who were pointing at the girls in class and making lewd jokes. She sounded a little disgusted.
"Do they really need to pretend?"
You En was just about to say something when the classroom door opened.
A teacher with long red hair walked in, her locks flowing like flames.
She stepped up to the podium and looked at the students, who had been chatting and making a racket. A faint smile appeared on her face. It wasn't irritation or mockery, but contempt and disdain, mixed with a trace of pity so subtle it was hard to notice.
"I'm your homeroom teacher and 'guide,' Chabashira Sae. Over the next three years... I hope you can stick it out for all three. That would make me happy, too."
She shook her head. "Never mind. I don't expect anything from you. The opening ceremony will be held in the gym in an hour. Take a look at these documents."
Chabashira Sae took a pile of papers and student IDs from a drawer and tossed them carelessly onto the desk.
"Sort them out yourselves. You can ask me questions if you have any, but it's best if you don't."
After that little performance, the class fell silent for a moment, then erupted into even louder chatter.
You En sensed something was off.
Chabashira Sae had red hair, but in the original, she'd had black hair. Had she dyed it?
Two student IDs were passed forward by a classmate. You En took them and handed Horikita Suzune's ID to her.
They called it a student ID, but it was really just a specially made phone.
You En tapped it, and the screen lit up. Was that fingerprint recognition?
[Student Number: S01T004753 Student Name: You En Tiandai S-Points: 100,000 Unlocked Functions: "Personal Panel" "School Store"]
Just as expected, there were one hundred thousand points.
You En felt a little more at ease.
But what was "Personal Panel" below that?
He tapped to expand it.
"Language Lv. 2 (Chinese Lv. 2, Japanese Lv. 2, English Lv. 1; two languages at professional level, one language at conversational level)"
"Creation Lv. 3 (light novels Lv. 3, master level)"
"Communication Lv. 2 (affinity Lv. 2, persuasion Lv. 2, teaching Lv. 0)"
"Test-Taking Lv. 2 (written exams Lv. 2, physical fitness tests Lv. 0)"
"Driving Lv. 0 (modern vehicles Lv. 0, beginner level)"
"Skills below beginner level are not displayed"
A bad feeling once again crept over him.
You En realized something was wrong. Most importantly, he'd barely ever revealed his Chinese ability in this life.
And he'd barely gone to school, either. He could count the number of days he'd spent there on his fingers and toes. He'd also just scribbled whatever came to mind on the written portion of the school's entrance exam without studying at all.
How had the school learned about his test-taking ability?
If this really was a panel reflecting a person's true abilities, then this school couldn't be the same Classroom of the Elite from the novel he knew.
"Hey, have any of you seen this Personal Panel?!"
Kanji Ike shouted. He was one of the three idiots.
"I've only got one language at Lv. 1,"
Yamauchi Haruki said loudly. "Besides Japanese, I've got rumor-spreading at Lv. 1. Seriously, since when do I spread rumors?"
A girl who looked like she came from a comfortable middle-class family said,
"I'm already at amateur grade ten in piano. Why am I only at beginner level? Could this thing be randomly assigning ratings?"
Kushida Kikyo opened her Personal Panel, then immediately shut her phone off and gripped it tightly as she took a deep breath.
"Communication Lv. 1 (deception Lv. 1, affinity Lv. 1)"
Those glaring words kept needling her mind.
She absolutely couldn't let anyone see them. Absolutely not.
You En looked away from Kushida Kikyo's face. It seemed the panel really did reflect a person's true abilities. He turned to the black-haired girl.
"Hey, Suzune, can I see your panel?"
"Boring."
Horikita Suzune hadn't planned to look, but since he'd asked, she tapped it and set her phone on the desk. Ayanokoji leaned over curiously, but she shot him a fierce glare, making him pull back.
"Language Lv. 1 (Japanese Lv. 1, Chinese Lv. 1, English Lv. 1, German Lv. 1, Russian Lv. 1, Portuguese Lv. 0, Spanish Lv. 0)"
"Yoga Lv. 2 (professional level)"
"Test-Taking Lv. 1 (written exams Lv. 1, physical fitness tests Lv. 1, proficient level)"
"Tea Ceremony Lv. 1 (proficient level)"
"Jujutsu Lv. 1 (proficient level)"
"Karate Lv. 0 (beginner level)"
"Brother Complex Lv. 0 (beginner level)"
You En looked up and met Horikita Suzune's gaze.
Damn, it even counted having a brother complex as a skill. Just how bad was hers?
Horikita Suzune looked confused at first, then lowered her eyes and gave her Personal Panel a closer look. When she spotted the last skill, she froze solid.
"T-This thing has to be broken! There's no way it's right!"
The black-haired girl denied it in a panic. Anyone could see how guilty she looked.
Horikita Suzune glanced at You En's ridiculous, meme-like expression, snatched her phone back, swallowed her embarrassment, and said coldly,
"What kind of lousy school is this?!"
He shouldn't tease her any further.
You En held out his hand to Ayanokoji.
"Ayanokoji, let me see your panel too."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka exited the Personal Panel and turned off his phone.
"No... I... I have a really bad skill."
As he spoke, he even glanced at Horikita Suzune.
"A skill you don't want a girl to know about, huh? I get it, I get it."
You En knew perfectly well that the guy was making up a skill like that just to hide how capable he really was. He was committed.
But would the White Room train people in that kind of skill?
He was curious. He still wanted to see.
"How about you show me in private later?"
"Ahem."
Horikita Suzune glared at him.
"Don't worry, I'll show you my panel."
You En didn't have anything to hide at the moment, anyway.
"Lv. 3... Master level?!"
Horikita Suzune couldn't help exclaiming. She didn't know exactly what master level meant, but she knew she didn't have a single skill at that level. Even the subject she was proudest of—exams—was only rated "Test-Taking Lv. 1," and You En had that skill too, at a higher level than she did. Aside from that, only her yoga, which she'd practiced for a long time, was at professional level.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't say much, only echoing her reaction. But inside, he was stirred. His own skills were only at professional level; he didn't have a single one at master level.
But that was strange. In certain fields, he'd already beaten "so-called masters." He was more than qualified to be called a professional.
So why did the panel show him as only "professional level"?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought about it for a moment, then came back to himself and echoed her reaction. "That's impressive. With a skill like that, you should be able to find a decent job or position without even coming to this school."
You En looked at him. In the whole class, aside from him, the only ones who probably had Lv. 3 skills were Ayanokoji and Handsome Brother.
Some others were still lagging behind for now.
But that was fine. If this school really was as he suspected, and not the Classroom of the Elite from the novel in his previous life,
but rather the
True Classroom of the Elite,
then catching up to or surpassing them
wasn't impossible.
Lv. 0 Beginner level: You have officially begun learning one branch of a skill in that field. Anyone can reach this level with consistent practice, and those with talent can shorten the time it takes.
Lv. 1 Proficient level: You have become proficient in one branch of a skill in that field. Depending on the skill, this requires months to years of study and practice. Those with talent can shorten the time needed.
Lv. 2 Professional level: You have achieved professional-level success in one branch of a skill in that field. You can make a living from it and competently perform a related job. This requires some talent and diligent practice. Those with limited talent may spend their whole lives without reaching professional level.
Lv. 3 Master level: You have created an entirely new school in that field and become its undisputed leader. Those without talent can never reach this level. Those with the necessary talent need not only hard work, but also a bit of luck.
Lv. 4 Locked.
Lv. 5 Locked.
Before you continue