Leader

Ryuuen's words quickly enraged many of the students present.

"Who the hell do you think you are, calling us idiots!"

"Yeah, yeah. What gives you the right to call us idiots?"

Others merely watched from the sidelines. The girl who had been interrupted stood there awkwardly as Ryuuen walked up to the podium under everyone's gaze. Sakagami Kazuma knowingly gave up his spot to him, curious about what Ryuuen intended to do.

"Sit down!" Ryuuen stood there with an imposing air, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet his words carried an unquestionable authority. The embarrassed girl's legs gave out, and she collapsed into her chair as though frightened by his voice. The other objections gradually died down as well.

"I will now ask Sakagami Kazuma-sensei several questions on behalf of the entire class. Sensei need only answer yes or no, or choose not to answer."

The students below were all somewhat bewildered, unable to understand what Ryuuen was trying to pull.

"No problem." Sakagami Kazuma answered readily. Answering students' questions was part of a teacher's duty.

"First question: Have we been under surveillance this entire time? I found quite a few cameras in the Teaching Building."

Sakagami Kazuma smiled helplessly but did not answer Ryuuen's question. Seeing their homeroom teacher's attitude, noisy discussions broke out below again. Some cared deeply about their privacy, while others were not particularly sensitive about the issue.

"Quiet! No one is allowed to interrupt while I'm speaking!" Ryuuen slammed his fist on the podium, and the tremendous sound once again earned him silence from the classroom. By now, some people in the class had begun to realize that something was wrong with this school. Though they were unhappy about it, they patiently waited to hear what Ryuuen would ask next.

"Second question: Are we in the middle of some kind of assessment?"

Sakagami Kazuma remained silent. This caused many students to panic. To a student, nothing was more significant than an exam. Although many did not strive for high scores, no one wanted to rank below others—let alone in an assessment they knew nothing about. That made it all the more frightening.

Regarding the second question, although the students below desperately wanted to complain and discuss it with those around them, most chose to keep quiet upon seeing Ryuuen's vicious gaze and the muscles barely concealed beneath his School Uniform. Still, a few students who did not know their place continued whispering among themselves. Though they had lowered their voices, they sounded especially harsh in the quiet classroom.

Ryuuen did not indulge them. He walked straight off the podium and put a boy whispering in the second-to-last row in a Chokehold. Though they were under surveillance, Ryuuen did not care about losing a few points if it meant unifying the class.

The scene terrified the surrounding students. The boy in the Chokehold was nearly suffocating, his face flushed red as he weakly pounded on Ryuuen's arm. Quite a few people wanted to stop Ryuuen, but they were afraid of becoming the next victim and did not dare act. Anyone with half a brain could tell Ryuuen was trying to make an example of him, so naturally they did not want to get involved. More importantly, Sakagami Kazuma said nothing. Their homeroom teacher was allowing Ryuuen's violence!

When Ryuuen released him, the boy bent over his desk and coughed violently.

"I'll say it again! No one is allowed to interrupt while I'm speaking!"

Ryuuen swept his gaze across the class. Everyone who had been whispering lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Third question: Do we receive one hundred thousand points every month?"

"No." At last, there was a question he could answer. Sakagami Kazuma breathed a sigh of relief. Even he had been startled by Ryuuen's pressure.

Everyone in the class now realized something was wrong. Sakagami Kazuma had indeed never said that one hundred thousand points would be deposited every month. Yen could not be used at school, so all their daily necessities had to be paid for with points. If the school stopped distributing points, that meant they would go hungry. The students who had been thinking about how to squander their points no longer had any desire to play around.

Those admitted to Class C varied in intelligence, but their baseline was still fairly high. Give them a few hints, and they would figure it out.

"Fourth question: Does the assessment result affect the distribution of points?"

Sakagami Kazuma fell silent again, but the students had already formed certain guesses.

"Fifth question: Can everyone graduate successfully and gain the right to freely choose their employment?"

"No." Sakagami Kazuma still cared somewhat about his class, so he thoughtfully added, "Some students will be expelled, and only Class A students can receive the privilege of freely choosing their employment upon graduation."

Sakagami Kazuma's addition instantly extinguished the last trace of excitement the students had felt about enrolling. They had only just entered the school, yet they were already being told that expulsion was possible. The sudden disparity left the entire classroom atmosphere lifeless and oppressive.

Rather than asking a sixth question, Ryuuen wrote his name in the center of the blackboard: "Ryuuen Kakeru."

"From today onward, everyone in Class C will obey my orders. I will lead you into Class A. Starting now, each person will hand over half their monthly points to..." Ryuuen paused, then swept his eyes around the classroom before saying the girl's name. "Shiina Hiyori."

Many people in the class had no idea who Shiina Hiyori was, and Shiina Hiyori herself was equally confused. She did not want to help Ryuuen, nor was she afraid that he would use violence against her. At that moment, she was still thinking, How does he know my name? Or did he just pick a classmate at random, and I happened to be chosen? In that brief moment of distraction, Shiina Hiyori had already missed her chance to refuse.

"Why should we listen to you?" The crew-cut boy spoke up again. Even after Ryuuen had displayed his iron-fisted methods, idiots would still jump up when their own interests were threatened.

There were quite a few people like him in the class, and they were already growing restless. Having spent years in all kinds of social circles, Ryuuen could naturally see the undisguised anger and greed in their eyes.

If Class C had a defining trait, it was that it had especially many troublemakers. It would have been strange if no one opposed Ryuuen.

Ryuuen smiled, arrogant and utterly punchable. "There are still ten minutes before the entrance ceremony begins. I'll give every student who opposes me a chance. After school this afternoon, meet me on the rooftop. Come at me together. Whoever can knock me down, I'll willingly step aside!"

"By tomorrow morning, I expect Shiina Hiyori to have collected everyone's points. Don't make me take action. I don't know how to hold back." With that, Ryuuen walked out of the classroom, and control of the class returned to Sakagami Kazuma.

"Who does he think he is, acting so arrogant!"

"Just wait until I beat the crap out of him this afternoon!"

"I'll make sure he never sees tomorrow's sun!"

Threat after threat rang out, childish and laughable. When Ryuuen had been present, not one of them had dared utter a word.

At the same time, faint voices in the class said, "But Ryuuen-sensei was the only one who noticed the school's problems, and he promised to lead us into Class A."

"Ryuuen-sensei didn't ask us to do anything particularly excessive. Keeping fifty thousand points is actually enough for us to live on."

"For me, thirty thousand is enough." Yabu Nanami and the girls around her had different thoughts from the boys.

There would always be girls attracted to strength, and Yabu Nanami was one of them. This parasitic way of surviving was not uncommon at this school.

"Let's wait and see. You do make some sense, but I still think Ryuuen is annoying, and I don't want to hand over half my points. It would be great if one of the boys could defeat him this afternoon." After saying that, she looked toward the boys who had just been shouting about beating Ryuuen senseless. Unfortunately, there were no heroes there to save them.

Most of the class chose to wait and see. On one hand, they acknowledged some of Ryuuen's strength, but on the other, they did not approve of his methods. They were all waiting for some brave challenger to defeat Ryuuen that afternoon.

Among the students of Class C, aside from that Black student who could pose a slight threat, everyone else's fighting ability was no different from ants in Ryuuen's eyes.

In the Gymnasium, Ryuuen spotted an acquaintance: Kushida Kikyo. Karuizawa Kei sat behind her, her familiar yellow high ponytail visible. She had not yet been won over by Ayanokoji, and Ryuuen decided to strike first.

I wonder whether Ayanokoji's tool will be easy to use. No—Karuizawa Kei isn't Ayanokoji's yet, and she never will be. She'll be mine!

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