Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

"We'd better hurry and go challenge them now, or if the Chess Club seniors spread the news, our plan will be stillborn."

"Besides, during this time, you can think it over yourself—think about how I actually figured it out."

"The longer a puzzle lasts, the stronger the thrill when it's finally solved~"

With that, Hoshino En took Sakayanagi Arisu's left hand—the one not holding her cane—and led her step by step toward the Chinese Chess Club.

"Oh, right."

When they reached the door of the Chinese Chess Club, Hoshino En suddenly stopped.

He held out his phone to Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Let's add each other first."

Beep—

Then, Hoshino En transferred 1.83 million Private Points to her account, keeping only the 100,000 points every new student starts with.

"Aren't you afraid I'll just take these points and run? This much is pretty tempting to me, too."

"Of course not. From your demeanor, your family must be well-off. This amount isn't worth your notice."

"Besides, I don't think you'd do that."

He looked her straight in the eyes, without flinching.

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"That's some heavy trust."

She stared at the suddenly inflated points in her phone, unsure what to say.

Hoshino En: "..."

She actually seemed to believe it.

The real reason—that even if she wanted to take the points and run, he could catch her before she escaped, and that she wouldn't push him to the opposite side for such a small sum—he decided not to mention.

"Oh, right, one more thing."

Hoshino En grabbed Sakayanagi Arisu's hand holding the phone, switched her screen to the app interface right in front of her, opened her voice recorder, and started recording.

"Now there's no problem."

Sakayanagi Arisu: "..."

"Your thoughts are really easy to read."

Even if Hoshino En hadn't done that, she would have secretly done it herself.

With all the preparatory work done, next—

"Excuse me, seniors of the Chinese Chess Club, may I ask if you bet points here?"

"Huh? Which class? We're from Class 1-D."

"Yeah, I'm betting all my 100,000 points. All in. But as seniors, you can't bet less than me."

"Her? She's just here with me. If I lose it all, I'll just throw myself into her arms for comfort and live off her without shame."

"Alright, let's begin!"

Under the combined effects of multiple buffs—contempt for the new Class D student, the fool going all in, the shameless kept-man declaration, and the couple's public display of affection—the Chinese Chess Club seniors were fired up, each one itching to be the one to crush this arrogant freshman and take all his points.

But with pride, greed, and anger—three of the seven deadly sins weighing them down—how could they stay calm during the match? Especially when Hoshino En kept playing with Sakayanagi Arisu's hand while playing chess, clearly not taking them seriously. They lost their cool even more.

So, after a while—

"Thank you for the generous gifts, seniors of the Chinese Chess Club!"

Hoshino En, with Sakayanagi Arisu, bowed to the seniors whose Private Points had been completely wiped out.

The points on his phone had gone from 100,000 to 3 million.

These seniors were even kinder than the Chess Club leeks... seniors. When individuals couldn't scrape together enough points, they even pooled their points to bet against him. Truly reassuring juniors.

"So that was your plan?"

Sakayanagi Arisu finally understood why Hoshino En had brought her along to challenge them. The reasoning was surprisingly simple.

"Yeah, as long as you're polite enough that they can't find a flaw to criticize, and act just arrogant enough that they can't stand you but can't touch you—under that contradiction, they easily lose their heads and turn into stacks of valuable leeks ready for the harvest."

Making even more money, Hoshino En was delighted.

"And you should know this yourself: you're cute. Really cute. Walking with you, I look good in front of others, and I get a nice view too. It helps in the mental battles ahead."

"Your tone is so frivolous."

"But I'm telling the truth..."

As they chatted, they found their next victim.

"Sorry to bother you, seniors, do you allow point betting here?"

"Yeah, we're first-year Class D new students, wondering if we can bet points."

Go Club, OUT!

Shogi Club, OUT!

"No, no, you see, I have a girlfriend to support, so my expenses are higher."

Ludo Club, OUT!

"Look, my girlfriend is so beautiful, of course I have to give her the best. So, seniors, please."

Gomoku Club, OUT!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 7: A Coffee Shop, a Whirlpool Born from a Misunderstanding

One afternoon passed, and Hoshino En, with Sakayanagi Arisu in tow, had bulldozed through basically every chess-related club.

And because being utterly crushed by a junior from Class 1-D was deeply embarrassing, these seniors seemed to have kept the news from spreading. Hoshino En's [Exploiter Alliance] reaped a bountiful harvest.

According to their agreement with Sakayanagi Arisu, aside from the 1.83 million points Hoshino En earned from defeating the Chess Club, the rest was split eighty-twenty.

Including the Chinese Chess Club, Hoshino En's total point earnings from the other clubs came to: 8.75 million.

After deducting Sakayanagi's twenty percent share, which was 1.75 million, Hoshino En ended up with 7 million points.

Adding his original 1.93 million, his Private Points had now reached a staggering 8.93 million.

Mm, almost into eight digits.

Looks like these seniors were pretty well-off. I'll come back and harvest them again in a while.

After splitting the spoils, Hoshino En supported Sakayanagi Arisu as they walked out of the Special Building.

"I helped you earn the points, so as promised, now it's our private time together."

Sakayanagi Arisu wore a mischievous smile as her left fingers threaded through the gaps between Hoshino En's right fingers, locking tightly with his.

"So, boyfriend-kun, will you satisfy Arisu's curiosity?"

Hoshino En: "..."

We're out now, so no need to keep up the act, right? If classmates from Class A or Class D see us, it'll be troublesome for both of us.

Ah, but tossing her aside right after using her feels a bit wrong—might risk evolving into a scumbag.

"Worried about classmates seeing us? Arisu will openly admit it, so it's fine."

You're one of the class representatives, so no one would say anything to you. But Class D is full of troublesome people—I'd be in serious trouble!

Looking at the frail Sakayanagi Arisu before him, Hoshino En felt like he was seeing a little fox who had just pulled off a scheme and turned the tables.

Ah, so that's it. This is a counterattack.

In that case—

"Fine, I promise I'll fill you up good. You just look forward to it."

Hoshino En tightened his grip on Sakayanagi Arisu's left hand and led her toward the Shopping Mall.

After their figures completely vanished from around the Special Building—

Thump—

The sound of files dropping to the floor came from behind the Special Building's main door.

A petite senior with a purple bun hairstyle leaned back against the door, her body trembling slightly from the shocking news she'd overheard.

"They... these freshmen actually... exposed... shameless...!!!"

The senior, who had only caught the latter half of the conversation, had clearly misunderstood.

Though it was afternoon, there was still some time before dinner.

And after hours of **ing with the seniors in prize board games, Hoshino En was also feeling a bit drained, his head fuzzy.

So he led Sakayanagi Arisu to a coffee shop in the Shopping Mall, planning to fulfill their earlier promise there while grabbing a cup of coffee to wake himself up.

But the moment he pushed open the coffee shop door, Hoshino En regretted it: looking around, all he could see were girls, not a single other male, and even the staff were women.

"Why are you standing at the door? Not going in?"

A soft voice came from beside him, but her tone carried undisguised teasing—she had clearly seen the coffee shop's situation too and knew exactly what was up, but she deliberately asked, wanting to see the boy who had pushed her back on her heels flustered.

"Mm, well... I don't think I fit the vibe here. How about we switch shops?"

"Da~me~ You've worn me out all afternoon, I'm hungry now and want sweets."

She was obviously determined to one-up him here.

Hoshino En: "..."

"Fine, whatever you say. You really did work hard today."

To be fair, without Sakayanagi Arisu's help in stirring things up, those sharp seniors wouldn't have coughed up so many points to support their juniors' future lives.

She deserved the credit for today's big haul.

Hoshino En led the girl to a seat in the middle, vacated by the previous group that had just left. With one hand, he pulled out the chair for her, and as she sat down, he pushed it back in so she settled perfectly at the table, guiding her to her seat like a gentleman.

Then he sat down across from Sakayanagi Arisu and slid the menu over to her.

"You order—this round's on me."

Though it was a café, this shop sold more than just coffee.

Coffee, milk tea, cake, and all kinds of desserts... exactly the sort of things irresistible to young girls.

No wonder most of the customers here were female.

"But I feel like the place suddenly got quiet..."

"Hey, let me tell you..."

"I just saw a..."

"You know, in our class..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the chatter around them abruptly picked up again, the café returning to the lively atmosphere it had before they arrived.

Yet this phenomenon, no different from plugging one's ears while stealing a bell, instead roused Hoshino En's weary spirit.

Hoshino En: "..."

He reviewed the conversation he'd had with Sakayanagi Arisu at the entrance.

[Worn out from the afternoon]? [You've worked hard]? Hmm~~?!!!

No way—had these high school girls jumped to some strange conclusion?

He glanced around, only to find the girls at other tables all chatting animatedly with their accompanying friends, not a single one paying attention to them.

Oh, not entirely none—a few met his gaze, but immediately looked away the next second, inexplicable blushes drifting across their cheeks.

Wait, no, something felt off...

"Ahem, where are you looking?"

Just as Hoshino En was about to stand up and clarify, he was interrupted by Sakayanagi Arisu's voice from across the table.