Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

At that moment, the elevator reached the first floor. The doors opened, and Hoshino En quickly pulled Ayanokoji Kiyotaka out.

"Let's go, let's go eat at the cafeteria."

"Mm."

Still, despite the little incident, thanks to Ichinose Honami and Kushida Kikyo, Hoshino En remembered: yesterday's matters absolutely couldn't be leaked by them, or trouble would come knocking one after another.

So he hurriedly sent a message to Karuizawa Kei, and soon received her [ok] reply.

As for Sakayanagi Arisu, sending her a message would only give her leverage to boss him around. Better to do nothing and just ignore her.

"By the way, about points, you'd better not spend too much this month. Ten man per person per month is way too much; next month might not have that much."

On the way to the cafeteria, Hoshino En warned Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

This kid had no common sense; it was better to remind him.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka: "..."

Actually, I do have that much common sense.

# Currently Available Information:

[Name: Hoshino En]

[Class: Class 1-D]

[Birthday: July 20th]

[Academic Ability: B+]

[Intelligence: A]

[Judgment: A]

[Physical Ability: A]

[Teamwork Ability: E+]

[Appearance: Purple-black hair, purple eyes, gloomy, starry eyes, bangs long enough to cover his eyebrows, but apparently if he changes his hairstyle and unleashes his seal, he's a total handsome guy.]

[Family Situation: Has a thieving, jealous, abusive mother, and a seemingly airheaded but actually sharp-witted twin sister. His and his sister's guardian is now the Kubo... couple. Anyway, because he was adopted, he gained an older sister and a younger sister.]

[Past Experience 1: Grew up in an environment without love, only had books for company. Later learned the [siscon] trope from books and put it into practice, treating his sister as the most important, playing the role of a good brother, but actually having no real feelings for her (self-proclaimed).]

[Past Experience 2: At age 12, framed his mother, who was jealous of his sister's beauty, and the man who tried to assault his sister, sending them both to prison. Then lived alone with his sister. That same year, the siblings were picked up by their current parents. Under the cute attack of [We're adorable, please adopt us], the kind-hearted couple was completely won over and became their guardians, thus gaining two more unrelated sisters.]

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 16: Exchange Authority, Lunch Invitation

After breakfast, Hoshino En and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka arrived at the classroom.

Because of yesterday's news, everyone else in the class was excited. Some were sharing desserts from a certain shop in the shopping mall, some were showing off newly purchased latest-gen game consoles, some were arguing about the latest seasonal fashion, and some were discussing girls' chest sizes...

Mm, seems like something not quite right got mixed in there. But whatever. ·￠〇"｜"

Sitting in the back corner of the classroom, Hoshino En watched the chaos of his classmates indifferently.

Whatever these people in class were discussing, it had nothing to do with him.

Besides, when homeroom started, Kushida Kikyo would probably announce the conclusions she'd [analyzed]. Compared to the current noise, Hoshino En was more interested in seeing what kind of reactions they'd have then.

Ah~ just thinking about it got him excited. He couldn't wait to see them panic and break down from the shock!!

Noticing black stuff seeping out of him, Hoshino En quickly composed himself.

Come to think of it, someone had been staring at him from a while ago.

Scanning the whole class from this corner, he quickly found the [culprit]—Karuizawa Kei.

She was chatting with her gal group right now, but her gaze kept drifting toward him.

Did she have something to say? But she hadn't messaged him after they added each other as friends yesterday.

He was pretty busy today too; he couldn't afford to get held up on the spot.

Hoshino En: [If you have something to say, just message me. Don't keep glancing over here; you're pretty noticeable, you know?]

Hoshino En: [Or find a time and we can talk privately.]

Karuizawa Kei: [Okay (????????)??????]

Her reply was far more straightforward than her actions.

Very hedgehog-like. ∩¤4 off ↑ generation ∩' purchase?: two[... just ≯ die san ∧※- kill si fast, the class bell rang. Chabashira Sae walked in, and the daily homeroom began.

Just as Hoshino En had predicted, Kushida Kikyo asked the teacher for the right to speak during homeroom, then explained the conclusions and reasoning about the [Behavioral Norms Exam] that Hoshino En had laid out yesterday.

Hearing her words, Chabashira Sae was visibly surprised; she didn't seem to expect Kushida Kikyo to say something like that. But the vast majority of the class ignored her reaction and started voicing their objections.

"Kushida-san, this is all just your speculation, right? You don't have any solid proof."

"Yeah, yeah, what if you're wrong? Then our class, having tightened our belts, would become the laughingstock of the whole grade."

"And besides, future stuff should be dealt with later. At least this month, we should enjoy ourselves properly."

"..."

Everyone had their own opinions, and the scene quickly descended into chaos. Even Kushida Kikyo was caught off guard by the unexpected turn of events.

Even if she had no evidence, starting to prepare now couldn't hurt—after all, it involved personal interests. Why oppose this?

But Hoshino En figured they'd probably already spent a lot of their points. Now, suddenly hit with this news, they were full of regret but had no way out, so they could only escape reality by opposing the guess.

Seeing things about to spiral out of control, Hirata Yosuke quickly stepped in to mediate.

"Alright, alright, everyone, aren't we all classmates in the same class? Let's not fight." ~∪

"And besides, this matter does have its doubts. Kushida's guess isn't unreasonable. Everyone should keep an eye out—it won't hurt."

After calming the students, he turned to Chabashira Sae, who had yielded the podium and stood off to the side.

"Chabashira-sensei, is Kushida's guess true?"

"No comment."

Chabashira Sae's reply was four cold, icy words.

Though it was the [OR] option in [YES OR NO], it spoke volumes.

"Classmates, since Chabashira-sensei didn't deny it, let's take this as true. From now on, everyone should attend class seriously, spend cautiously, and wait until the start of next month to see."

Chabashira Sae: "..."

She'd misjudged him. She didn't expect Hirata Yosuke to be this capable.

However, while Hirata Yosuke's words won approval from most of the girls, they met with opposition from most of the boys.

It wasn't that they didn't see the logic in what he said—they simply resented this handsome guy who was favored by most of the girls. They opposed him just for the sake of opposing.

And if they let him have his way, wouldn't he steal all the spotlight? What would that make them? Background extras?

The situation suddenly became both simple and complicated.

Hoshino En, watching coldly from the corner: "..."

Tch, Kushida didn't spill the whole truth.

He'd been hoping to see how these Class D students would react to the terms [Defective Product] and [Flawed Product], but Kushida held back, ruining his expectations.

Still, the pressure from being ganged up on must be weighing on her. So—

Hoshino En: [Kushida, free tonight at 10? Come to my room 404. That compensation I promised you earlier—let's do it tonight.]

After sending the message, Hoshino En slipped out through the back door of the classroom.

Since he didn't get to see what he wanted, there was no point staying.

He had quite a few things on his schedule today. Maybe he'd move that matter to the morning instead.

All classes were holding homeroom right now, so the school was unusually quiet.

Aside from the surveillance cameras everywhere, no one else could share in Hoshino En's enjoyment of this free atmosphere.

Leaving the teaching building, he walked to the Special Building near the sports field. Climbing the stairs, he arrived at his destination—the Chairman's Office.

After hearing yesterday that [1 point equals 1 yen] and discovering that these points indeed had the same purchasing power as yen within the school, Hoshino En had thought of something: what happened to the leftover points third-year students had when they graduated?

Would the school just reclaim them? Would they be allowed to spend them all before leaving? Or... would they be permitted to exchange them for yen and take them away?

This matter had been indirectly confirmed during his challenge yesterday—he noticed that the third-year seniors and juniors were much more aggressive than the second-years, and their desire for Private Points was intense.

If it were Class 3-B students, who weren't far off from Class 3-A, that would make sense—more points meant more tools to climb. But even CD-class seniors, who had basically no hope of advancing, were still desperate for them. That was strange.

People like him, going door-to-door to challenge others, were rare. Relying on that to gather the twenty million needed to go solo was basically impossible. Yet they still craved points so badly, which meant the points had another use for them—not for class competition, not for climbing ranks, but for something after... for their future paths.

Private Points were only useful within the school; outside, you needed yen. But they still considered points important, so his third guess was almost certainly valid.

Though it was possible they just wanted to make a final profit and splurge, that explanation wasn't very likely. It wouldn't hurt to come and try.

Before entering the Chairman's Office, Hoshino En glanced at his phone. Kushida Kikyo had replied with agreement, but both she and Karuizawa Kei had noticed he was gone and were now pressing him for answers.

Hoshino En brushed them off with the excuse of [stomachache, went to the bathroom], then switched his phone to silent mode and stuffed it into his pocket.

After all, he was about to meet the big boss of this school. A little nervousness was only natural.

He took a deep breath, then knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

A steady male voice came from inside.

"Excuse me."

Hoshino En pushed the door open, stepped in, and closed it behind him.

He looked at the man sitting behind the desk: silver short hair, a square face, black-rimmed rectangular glasses, giving off an air of calm authority, with a gentle, refined smile on his lips.

This guy was really Sakayanagi Arisu's father? His vibe was completely different from hers.

Glancing at the nameplate on the desk that read [Sakayanagi], Hoshino En silently complained to himself.

"This student, shouldn't you be in homeroom right now? May I ask what brings you here?"

Chairman—Sakayanagi Arisu's father—Sakayanagi Narimori's voice was full of warmth, making it hard to feel any ill will toward him.

"The classmates were all too excited and noisy to manage, so the teacher turned homeroom into self-study."

"As for why I'm here, of course I have a question I'd like to ask you, Chairman."

"Ah, right. I'm Hoshino En from Class 1-D."

Class 1-D?

Sakayanagi Narimori clearly thought of something and froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered.

He gestured for Hoshino En to sit on the sofa reserved for guests in front of the desk, then walked around from behind it and sat across from him.

"So, Hoshino-kun, what question do you want to ask?"

"Though even I might not know the answer to some questions, so you'd best be mentally prepared."

His words carried a hidden meaning, but what he was implying wasn't what Hoshino En was after.

"Don't worry, Chairman. My question is simple—it won't trouble you. How many Private Points does it cost to unlock the privilege of exchanging them for yen in advance?"

"...Why do you ask?"

"Because I want it."

Sakayanagi Narimori: "..."

No, what I meant was... well, that answer works too.

"300,000 points. And the exchange rate between yen and Private Points is only 0.8. That holds true even for third-years at graduation."

"Then how many points would it take to make that privilege exclusive to me alone?"

"You..."

Staring at the confident young man before him, Chairman Sakayanagi suddenly felt a flicker of doubt.

To think of that—this student's insight was sharp. Why was someone like him placed in Class D?

Even if his past record had stains, Class C or Class B would suit him better, wouldn't they?

"To monopolize that privilege, it would cost 1,000,000 points."