The Classroom of the Mediocre's Supremacy of Strength Chapter 5

Hoshino En forcibly interrupted the other party's lecture.

Looking at this persistent underclassman who showed absolutely no respect for his seniors, this composed senior finally felt a flicker of anger.

"Fine, then let's go!"

Some time later—

"Thank you for your support, seniors of the Chess Club. I will definitely come again."

Hoshino En stood at the entrance of the Chess Club room, bowing a standard 90 degrees to the seniors inside.

In contrast, the balance of points on his phone was: 1.93 million points.

He had harvested 1.83 million points from the Chess Club in this single sweep.

Because he would bet everything he had won each time, keeping only the original 5,000 points, it was essentially an all-in strategy. This proved to be quite a temptation for the seniors.

On top of that, Hoshino En insisted that the opponent's bet must be higher than his, causing the final point total to snowball round after round.

The reason it ended now was twofold: first, they realized this underclassman was playing the "pig eating the tiger," and since they couldn't beat him, they quit; second, they simply couldn't scrape together enough points individually to match his bets.

Thus, they had to end it with tears in their eyes.

"You'd better never come back, you rude underclassman!"

The first senior to play against Hoshino En said with a sour expression.

He was actually lucky, as he hadn't bet too much. But some seniors had wagered their entire fortune and lost it all, leaving them to survive the month on borrowed points and the free Vegetable Set Meal from the school cafeteria. They were currently on the verge of a breakdown.

"This isn't my fault. I didn't hold a knife to your throats to force you to play; this was entirely voluntary on both sides."

"Besides, who told you to look down on me just because I'm from Class 1-D? If you lose because of arrogance and carelessness, who can you blame but yourselves?"

The seniors who had previously sneered and were now cleaned out: "..."

Is this underclassman's mouth poisonous? Why does he have to bring that up?!

"Also, also, this senior, you should thank me."

Hoshino En looked at that senior and opened his phone right in front of him, flipping to the background processes.

"My phone has been recording the whole time. You almost let something slip while you were trying to persuade me earlier. If I hadn't intentionally provoked you, you would have violated the rules. You're supposed to keep the truth about this school a secret from the freshmen, right?"

The group of seniors: "..."

No, is this year's Class 1-D cursed? They figured it out on the very first day?

Wait, why would someone like this be assigned to Class 1-D? This is clearly at least Class A level.

"In short, although I extorted... no, won a lot from you, I also helped you avoid a violation, so stop with the long faces and smile."

"I'll be back again!"

Hoshino En left in high spirits, leaving behind only the resentful seniors.

Opening the door to the Chess Club, Hoshino En, however, failed to walk out successfully.

Standing outside the door was a petite, adorable girl leaning on a cane, wearing a small beret and sporting beautiful short silver hair.

No, she was wearing the Advanced Nurturing uniform, so she must be a student of at least 16 years old—a young woman.

Looking closer, Hoshino En suddenly realized: wasn't this one of the Class A representatives he had caught a glimpse of from the corner of his eye while scouting Class A earlier?

"Good day. You were the student peeking into our classroom earlier, weren't you? I am Sakayanagi Arisu from Class 1-A."

Supporting herself with her cane, she performed a one-sided curtsy with her free hand.

Hmm, she certainly carried the air of a young lady from a prestigious family. However...

"So you saw me."

Since he had been discovered, Hoshino En had no reason to deny it; he hadn't done anything wrong, anyway.

"Hello, I am Hoshino En from Class 1-D."

"If I'm not mistaken, Classmate Sakayanagi came here to extract points and gather information, right? You must have already sensed the truth that this school hides from the freshmen."

Hoshino En launched a probing strike, but Sakayanagi Arisu dodged it.

Upon seeing Hoshino En appear here, she had guessed that he might have arrived at the same conclusion as her; his deduction did not exceed her judgment.

The smile on her face remained perfect, without a single flaw.

"Your guess is quite accurate. But you are wrong about one thing: we in Class A already know everything about this school. I only came here to top up my points—after all, a girl's expenses are quite high, especially for a sickly girl like me."

She tilted her head, looking past Hoshino En at the still-ajar door of the Chess Club, and pouted with genuine regret.

"But it seems the seniors of the Chess Club have already been drained dry by you. What a pity."

Looking at Sakayanagi Arisu, who seemed to be in such low spirits, Hoshino En suddenly felt an urge to satisfy her request and shower her with points.

Hoshino En: "..."

No, what is going on? Is it puberty? Is my body craving beauty?

Human consciousness relies on matter—that is, the physical body. Although Hoshino En's own consciousness had no such intention, his body was influencing his mind without permission, causing him to develop a desire for the opposite sex.

It had been the same today; even though he was scouting for information in each class, his gaze had lingered many times on the beautiful girls, such as the silver-haired fairy from Class C, the rose-gold girl from Class B, and this Sakayanagi Arisu from Class A.

Damn it, this useless influence only serves to interfere with his judgment; it's too troublesome.

Thinking this, Hoshino En's gaze fell upon Sakayanagi Arisu before him.

How about trying desensitization therapy?

There happens to be a perfect subject right here.

Besides, she is short on points, and he happens to have some.

What a coincidence!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 6: The First-Year Student Sweeping Through Major Chess Clubs

The "information already known to everyone in Class A" that Sakayanagi Arisu mentioned earlier was likely a bluff to raise the stakes and pressure Hoshino En into revealing a flaw, but Hoshino En could not deny the truth of the matter.

Moreover, based on his assessment of the students in Class A, they might truly be capable of "collectively using points to acquire information." Therefore—

"Classmate Sakayanagi, the information your Class A obtained must have been purchased collectively from your homeroom teacher, right?"

Hoshino En launched a probing strike.

For once, Sakayanagi Arisu was caught slightly off guard, but the smile on her face remained, revealing no flaws.

However, even if it was only for a split second, Hoshino En had already detected an abnormality in her expression.

"Your guess is quite interesting, but unfortunately, it is incorrect..."

"No, my deduction is not wrong."

Seeing that she seemed to want to brush it off in her usual way, Hoshino En immediately denied her denial.

"Your Class A must have collectively spent an equal amount of points—for instance, 50,000 times 40, totaling 2 million points—to purchase the truth about this school from your homeroom teacher. After all, according to the teacher's introduction, points can buy anything in this school, and that naturally includes information about the school itself."

"And based on my understanding of the students in your Class A, you have a high probability of making such a choice."

"You coming to the Chess Club to challenge them wasn't just because you ran out of points after buying that information; the bigger reason is that you realized the fact that 'points are supreme' here, so you wanted to rake in wealth while everyone else was still caught off guard. Am I right?"

Hoshino En used an additional attack, hitting the vital point.

The smile on Sakayanagi Arisu's face shattered.

"You really are smart. You guessed it all, even the amount of points spent... but now that the Chess Club has been bled dry by you, I have no means to collect points for the time being."

A look of regret appeared on her face, and this time, she was genuinely regretful.

"Although I could challenge other clubs, I have more confidence in chess; I can't guarantee I'll keep winning in others."

"No, there are still ways."

Hoshino En once again denied her denial.

Sakayanagi Arisu: ...??

"I have roughly deduced the essence of this school, but I am currently missing a step to verify my conclusion."

"So, Classmate Sakayanagi, let's make a deal."

"You accompany me to challenge clubs this afternoon, and after we finish today, we'll find a place where I will state my deduction, and you will confirm whether it is correct."

"In exchange, I will give you twenty percent of the rewards I earn from challenging clubs after this point. How about it?"

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

Such a generous deal actually made Sakayanagi Arisu perk up.

"This deal seems to be to my advantage; as long as I follow you, I can get twenty percent of the rewards without doing anything..."

"What do you want?"

She revealed a brilliant smile once again, though there was no warmth in her eyes, which were narrowed into slits, and the pressure she exerted was immense.

As the saying goes, the free things are the most expensive. Now that Hoshino En had suddenly conceded so much profit, it was hard for her not to suspect he had ulterior motives.

"Can't it just be that I want to build a good relationship with you and make a friend?"

Regarding her reaction, where she bristled like a hedgehog, Hoshino En expressed his utter speechlessness.

"This place is at most a simulated society, not a truly treacherous one. Even if there is competition between classes, it hasn't reached the point of life-or-death, has it?"

Of course, Hoshino En would never mention his desire to desensitize himself to women by getting close to her; that kind of explanation would make it sound like he was using Sakayanagi Arisu as a tool.

"Is that so?"

Perhaps because the speechlessness on Hoshino En's face felt very genuine, Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly felt a trace of guilt for her previous suspicion.

Seeing that she seemed a bit withdrawn, Hoshino En added.

"Actually, there is one more thing."

"What is it?"

She asked with keen interest, as if she would win as long as she confirmed Hoshino En had an ulterior motive.

"I hope that if I encounter a crisis I cannot solve alone in the future and ask you for help, you will be able to reach out and pull me up."

"The strength of a single person always has its limits, and I also need a partner I can rely on."

"I see."

Sakayanagi Arisu lost interest upon hearing his answer.

How was this any different from the previous request to perform seven good deeds? It made her get excited for nothing.

Although Hoshino En's explanation was absurd, Sakayanagi Arisu would not deny the future where he would eventually need her help; after all, she was a true genius.

And so, the [Exploiter Alliance] was officially established.

However, just as they were about to head toward the Chinese Chess Club nearest to the Chess Club, Hoshino En suddenly reached out his right hand toward her.

"What is it? Do you want to hold hands?"

Sakayanagi Arisu tilted her head in confusion.

"No, don't you have Congenital Heart Disease? I noticed you were having a hard time walking, so I thought I'd offer some support. Don't get the wrong idea."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the way Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Hoshino En changed entirely.

"How did you know I have Congenital Heart Disease? Did you know me from before?"

Sakayanagi Arisu felt that Hoshino En must have obtained information about her from somewhere, rather than having deduced it purely as she had suspected.

"How could that be! What channels would I have to know a wealthy young lady like you? I deduced it."

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

Fine. Deduction, it was deduction again.

She was already becoming accustomed to it.

"Then, regarding the process of this deduction, you..."

"Let's save that for later and talk about it all at once."

Hoshino En interrupted Sakayanagi Arisu's inquiry.