Classroom of the Elite: I Can Issue Master's Tasks

What the hell was going on?

"Ryuuen, do you understand?"

Ryuuen exchanged a glance with Kazuma Sakagami.

He wasn't stupid.

Both the words of the boy claiming to be Kiyotaka Ayanokoji and the pointed tone and look Kazuma Sakagami had given him suggested the same thing—

"So there is something wrong with this school." Ryuuen's grin turned almost frightening.

"Fine. Two million, right? Leave me your contact information. I'll transfer every last point to you today."

Personality Awakening Potion

After leaving his contact information, Nangong Cheng took Horikita Suzune and left Class C without looking back.

He wasn't in any rush to give Shiina Hiyori a task. As long as the library NPC was in the library, he could find her anytime.

More importantly, his ability had leveled up, and he wanted to see what had changed.

[Host: Nangong Cheng]

[Core ability: Master's Task (Lv. 2)]

[Experience: 0/100]

[Current number of eligible task targets: 7 (Horikita Suzune, Kikyo Kushida, Karuizawa Kei, Sakura Airi, Shiina Hiyori, Ichinose Honami, Sakayanagi Arisu)]

[Current task uses: 3/5 (resets daily at midnight; uncompleted tasks do not count toward the limit)]

[Points held: 200]

The biggest surprise was that his daily task limit had risen from three to five.

There wasn't much to say about the experience requirement. It had doubled, but he couldn't draw conclusions until he saw what leveling from Lv. 3 to Lv. 4 would cost.

Even if it doubled every time, that was fine. Three years gave him plenty of time to get the ball rolling.

His point balance was right, too.

He'd had 400 left yesterday. Sakayanagi Arisu had just contributed 100, Ichinose Honami another 200, and he'd spent 500 before going to Class C. That left 200.

"Giving out daily tasks face-to-face, one person at a time, is such a hassle. It'd be nice if a later upgrade let me issue them remotely—even weekly and monthly tasks."

Nangong Cheng went ahead and made his wish.

The two of them walked back to Class D.

Unlike Classes A and B, whose students had some self-discipline, quite a few students in Class D still hadn't arrived.

He and Horikita Suzune were late because they'd had business to take care of. What was everyone else's excuse?

He couldn't be bothered to judge.

"What are you planning to do next?"

After seeing the reactions of teachers and students in three classes firsthand, Horikita Suzune fully understood Nangong Cheng's intentions.

He was using the information for personal gain.

This one trip had earned Nangong Cheng six million points. If he made a few more like it...

Nangong Cheng paid no particular attention to Horikita Suzune's reaction. At her question, he simply took out his phone.

First, he glanced at his seven-digit balance—the proceeds from this operation.

Technically, Horikita Suzune had supplied the information, so by rights he ought to give her a share. But this was the first lesson he was teaching her.

Those six million points were the tuition.

Then he began typing.

[At lunch, find Sae Chabashira and pay her for a few anonymous accounts. Once Class C's points come in, use one account to expose the information, then post a few comments from the others to steer the conversation.]

Judging by how things played out in Classroom of the Elite, someone starting in Class D might seem to have plenty to do in the first month. In reality, doing nothing was also an option.

Even if they limited their early losses and kept their class points from falling all the way to zero, the end result might be worse than letting the class hit rock bottom and fight its way back.

After all, people with nothing to lose had nothing to fear.

Still, there was no need to take things that far if they could avoid it. There were always more solutions than problems.

Besides, Class D had plenty of little lambs to fleece. Letting the class fall apart would be troublesome.

[Once that's done, just wait until the first of next month.]

Nangong Cheng put down his phone.

There was only one thing he wanted to do at this school: win over the beautiful girls he liked.

Selling information was just something he did along the way. Many things at this school required points, whether he wanted to move up to Class A on his own or simply enjoy life. The more he had, the better.

He had already overturned the table ahead of schedule.

Once the girls in all four classes were caught up in the ensuing chaos, he could fish in troubled waters more easily. Then, little by little, he would use the system to make them unable to do without him.

"Clearly, that disreputable system has corrupted me. How else could someone as upright and innocent as me have such wicked thoughts?"

Nangong Cheng sighed and decided to take things further.

So far, the tasks he'd issued had been simple and perfectly respectable. That was mainly to bait the hook, but it was about time he tried something more exciting.

Who should he choose?

Sakura Airi, naturally.

In the original story, all Kiyotaka Ayanokoji had done was help her fill out her personal information and deal with an obsessive, creepy stalker fan. That had practically been enough to make her fall for him completely. Later, during an exam, she'd even chosen to withdraw at his request.

It was hard to believe, but considering some of what happened afterward, Nangong Cheng thought Sakura Airi leaving school early might actually have been a good thing.

None of that would happen now, though.

Because Cheng was here.

He loved girls like her, the kind whose eyes—and even thoughts—were full of the person they cared about. Girls like that were an endangered species in any era.

If Kiyotaka Ayanokoji wouldn't treasure her, he would.

[Target: Sakura Airi]

[Task issued: Exchange contact information with the student seated next to you, Nangong Cheng.]

[Task reward: 50 points]

Just then.

From where Nangong Cheng sat, he could see Sakura Airi, seated to his right, trembling ever so slightly. The task panel had clearly startled her.

Just as he'd expected.

With social anxiety on par with Hitori Gotoh's, Sakura Airi was unlikely to strike up a conversation with him herself. He would have to take the initiative.

"Sakura, you don't look well. Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

Sakura Airi jolted.

People had tried talking to her on the first day of school, but her personality had eventually made them give up.

It was happening again now. She wanted to answer this boy, but the words caught in her throat.

"Relax. Don't be nervous."

"Here, take a deep breath with me."

Different people called for different approaches.

Someone like Horikita Suzune needed a firm hand. As for a girl like Sakura Airi... Kiyotaka Ayanokoji had already shown him what worked.

With Nangong Cheng patiently guiding her, Sakura Airi finally managed to speak.

"S-sorry..."

"It's all right. I understand. Some people, like you, just aren't very comfortable talking to others."

Keeping his voice gentle, Nangong Cheng took out his phone and gave it a small wave. "This might be a little forward, but could we exchange contact information?"

"Y-yes!"

How could Sakura Airi refuse?

She wanted a friend so badly!

After a flurry of fumbling on her phone, she successfully exchanged contact information with Nangong Cheng.

"We're friends now."

"If you ever need help, just ask. Friends help each other. That's perfectly normal."

That wasn't entirely true, of course. But for Sakura Airi, who feared social interaction, suffered from loneliness, and desperately wanted to be loved, it was exactly what she needed to hear.

People tended to treasure things that were hard to come by.

To Sakura Airi, Nangong Cheng was a hard-won treasure. She took his words to heart.

"I-I understand. I'll ask."

But even as she said it, Sakura Airi was thinking the exact opposite.

It wasn't because she was being dishonest.

It was because of the thing that had suddenly appeared before her eyes, invisible to everyone else—

[Task complete]

[Task reward: Host received 50 points]

[System Exchange Shop unlocked]

In the System Exchange Shop, Sakura Airi saw something that might help her overcome her personality problems—

[Personality Awakening Potion: Upon consumption, creates an ideal personality. Exchange cost: 10,000 points]

[Note: The awakened personality will form a symbiotic relationship with the primary personality. Use with caution.]

Which Version of Me Do You Like?

An ideal personality?

Did that mean... she could become the person she had imagined in her dreams countless times?

Sakura Airi's breathing quickened. She could even hear her own heart pounding in her chest.

"Sakura? Your face is so red. You really aren't feeling well, are you? Should I go with you to the infirmary?"

Nangong Cheng knew exactly why Sakura Airi was reacting this way: she'd seen something she desperately wanted in the Exchange Shop.

Of course, that was another result of Nangong Cheng pulling strings behind the scenes.

Whatever these girls lacked or longed for, he used his access to the main system to put the right product in the most prominent spot in their subsystem shops.

A remedy tailored to each girl.

"I-I'm fine!"

"I-I just got too excited... B-because you're my first friend, Nangong..."

Sakura Airi stumbled through her explanation.

She wasn't lying. Nangong Cheng really was the first friend she had ever made.

And he was her most special friend.

Because he had given her hope.

[Perfect Life System bound]

[Hello, host Sakura Airi. I am the Perfect Life System's AI assistant. If you have any questions, simply ask them in your mind.]

The cold, mechanical voice in her head startled Sakura Airi, but this time she didn't stammer.

"Hello... Is that item in the System Shop real?"

[Products of the system are guaranteed to be exceptional.]