Katsuragi Kohei stood up below the stage. His mature, uncle-like voice and trademark bald head drew everyone's attention. "Hello, everyone. My name is Katsuragi Kohei. We'll be living together for the next three years of school, so I'd like to suggest that anyone who wants to get to know everyone sooner stand up and introduce themselves. That way, we can all become more familiar with one another."
Perhaps inspired by Katsuragi Kohei, everyone introduced themselves one by one. At last, it was Long Aotian's turn.
Long Aotian stood up and introduced himself. "Hello, everyone. My name is Long Aotian. I'm glad to spend the next three years with you all. I look forward to getting along with everyone."
After introducing himself, Long Aotian paid no further attention to what was happening in class.
Once the introductions were over, the school loudspeakers announced that it was time to head to the opening ceremony.
They arrived at the gymnasium, where everyone stood in four rows, one for each of classes A, B, C, and D.
Time slowly passed, and the ceremony reached its final moments. A young man with neat black hair and black-framed glasses slowly walked up to the stage.
"I am the Student Council President of this school, Horikita Manabu."
"On behalf of the students, I warmly welcome this year's incoming students..."
After a long string of speeches, the opening ceremony finally came to an end.
Everyone slowly filed out. Long Aotian was also preparing to visit some clubs and earn points.
That's right! Earning points through clubs. In his previous life, he'd liked anime about people with extraordinary abilities and read some fanfiction, too. In a few of those stories, the protagonists went to clubs to gamble and win points.
There was no helping it. This was the only way to earn points quickly.
First stop: the Combat Club. With his strength and speed both rated S or higher, starting there was the obvious choice.
He arrived at the Combat Club's entrance.
A student from the club asked, "Are you here to join the Combat Club?"
Long Aotian didn't waste words. He took out his Student Terminal and showed them the 100,000 points he hadn't spent yet. "I'd like to put up 100,000 points as a stake and compete against the upperclassmen."
"Are you sure you want to bet 100,000 points against us, junior?"
"That's right."
Just then, a muscular-looking student walked over.
"Interesting. Class 1-A really is full of talent."
"If you lose to us, you won't have any money to spend for the next month."
Long Aotian didn't waste words. "There's no need for any of you to worry about that. I don't think I'll lose."
"Big talk!"
One of the Combat Club members said, "To make sure our junior doesn't welsh on the bet, we'll need to get a teacher and sign a contract backed by the school first. Is that okay?"
"Sure."
The instructor soon arrived, and with him acting as guarantor, Long Aotian and the Combat Club students signed a competition contract worth 100,000 points.
The terms of the contract were simple:
If Long Aotian won, his opponent would transfer 100,000 points to him.
If Long Aotian lost, he would transfer 100,000 points to his opponent.
After they signed, one of the members said, "You might not know how strong the Combat Club is, junior. Don't regret your decision if you lose."
Once they stepped onto the platform, the match officially began.
Before long, Long Aotian won by a hair, thanks to his extremely high attributes and his skills.
That's right, he won by a hair. He could have ended the match quickly or taken his opponent out in one move, but he didn't. He still had more point bets to make, and he couldn't reveal his full strength so soon.
"Thanks for the points, senior." The remark might have sounded a little too provocative.
The defeated senior's temper flared. "Damn it! You only barely beat me. I let my guard down and didn't dodge!"
But there was nothing he could do. He reluctantly transferred the points to Long Aotian, then said, "Junior, how about another match? We'll bet 100,000 points again."
"No. I like things exciting, and I like going all in. I want to bet 200,000 points." Long Aotian held up two fingers in a V sign.
"200,000 points?"
The senior looked uneasy. After all, 200,000 points was no small sum.
"Let's do it!" Perhaps he thought Long Aotian had only barely beaten him, or that he'd lost because he'd let his guard down and failed to dodge. Convinced he could pay better attention this time, he decided to go for it.
"Let's do it!"
With the instructor acting as guarantor, the second contract was signed in no time.
It wasn't long before...
The senior lost again.
"How did you only barely beat me again?!"
Everyone could see that something was off. The first match might have been a fluke, but if the second one went the same way, something was definitely wrong.
He had 400,000 points now, but it still wasn't enough. He needed at least 2.5 million.
Long Aotian looked at the points on his phone and shook his head.
Just then, a senior wearing glasses and a school uniform walked out. His clothes hid the muscles beneath them. "Hello, junior. I'm the president of the Combat Club. I'd like to have a match with you."
He looked refined and scholarly, and most people might have been fooled. But Long Aotian had gone through death-defying training, and he had a cheat—mainly the cheat—so he could tell at a glance that this man was no ordinary opponent.
"I want to bet 400,000 points. How about it?" Long Aotian held up four fingers.
"No problem." The senior readily agreed.
Once again, with the instructor acting as guarantor, the third contract was signed in no time.
Then a senior's voice rang out. "Hahaha! The club president placed second in the national combat tournament!"
They stepped onto the platform, and the match was about to begin. The senior stood with his left foot forward. This guy was no simple opponent.
The match began!
The senior threw a straight punch at his face. Long Aotian raised both hands to guard and blocked it.
The senior feinted, then ducked in to grab him and go for a takedown.
He went for both legs, setting it up with a well-executed feint.
Long Aotian slid both legs back and quickly lowered his weight to defend against the takedown. He controlled his opponent with both hands, forcing his upper body forward and down.
Long Aotian kept his weight low to defend the takedown, switched steps, and drove a knee straight toward the senior's face.
The senior released his legs and switched to a high guard, blocking his face as he quickly backed away.
Long Aotian didn't let up. He closed in and immediately swept at his opponent's legs.
The senior lifted his leg to block, then stepped back and quickly opened up the distance again.
The senior shifted into a classic American boxing stance, fists raised, and swayed from side to side.
A straight right came in. Long Aotian parried it with his right hand and leaned back, then followed up with a straight left.
The senior leaned back to avoid the left, then quickly retreated to open up the distance.
Long Aotian surged forward, lowered his body, and sent his right leg straight toward the senior's face. The senior blocked with his face guard and stepped back to evade. Long Aotian planted a hand on the ground and spun into a kick with his left leg.
The senior couldn't retreat in time. He met the kick with his arm, then tilted his body down to the right.
The senior planted his right hand on the ground and pushed himself up.
Maybe his reaction was too slow, or maybe he wasn't strong enough, but he couldn't push himself up. He fell straight to the ground.
As his backward lean ended, Long Aotian took advantage of the senior being down and rushed forward, leaning over him and throwing straight punches with both hands.
The senior had no choice but to cover his face with both hands and block. He bent his legs and braced his feet against the ground, preparing to push Long Aotian away.
Long Aotian leaned back, then threw another flurry of punches with both hands.
The senior kept guarding his face, waiting for a chance.
But Long Aotian used his weight and kept him pinned down, preventing him from getting back up. He continued to pummel him.
"I give up, junior. You win." The senior raised his reddened arms to shield his face and surrendered.
"Are you okay, senior?" Long Aotian stood up, stepped back, and helped him to his feet.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." The senior stood up with his help.
As if. He'd nearly been knocked out. Long Aotian was incredibly strong.
"Long Aotian wins," the instructor announced.
Long Aotian looked at his phone and saw that the senior had transferred him 400,000 points.
After paying the 400,000 points, the senior asked, "You're skilled, junior. How come I've never heard of you before?"
"Uh, I'm not that interested in competitions."
I couldn't exactly tell him I'd only arrived in this world a year ago and hadn't had time to compete. I was lucky I hadn't starved to death.
"I see. If you entered the national combat tournament, junior, you'd probably take first place."
"You're giving me too much credit, senior. I only barely won."
"..."
The senior fell silent. Had the junior been holding back, too?
"Thanks for the points, senior. I have other things to take care of, so I'll be going."
"Sure. See you, junior."
He had 800,000 points now, but he still needed to keep gambling at other clubs.
Before leaving the Combat Club, Long Aotian called the instructor over to accompany him.
The instructor was rather surprised. Surely this student wasn't planning to keep going to other clubs, too?
The instructor had guessed right.
Long Aotian used the same routine to compete against students from other clubs.
Combat Club: 800,000 points (including the original 100,000 points).
Chess Club: 500,000 points.
Table Tennis Club: 600,000 points.
Badminton Club: 800,000 points.
Total: 2.7 million points.
Those club members really did have a lot of points. The Badminton Club had nearly gotten so angry they'd lost it. If the instructor hadn't been there, Long Aotian might not have made it out.
P.S. The school had more clubs than these. Long Aotian wasn't good at everything, so he'd chosen the clubs he was best at.
The last club was the Chess Club...
Before you continue