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

Ichinose Honami murmured to herself.

With a thought, the familiar panel appeared before her eyes.

[Character: Ichinose Honami]

[Age: 16]

[Height: 159 cm]

[Measurements: B: 95 (F) W: 61 H: 91]

[Fated Partner: Nangong Cheng]

[Points held: 4,399 (details below)

Opening day: 100 + 100

Mother's Day: 2,000 + 1,000

Today's feeding, cooking, and Daily Task: 1,000 + 100 + 100]

[Items exchanged: 1,000 Private Points]

[Abilities exchanged: None]

Ichinose Honami surveyed the dazzling array of offerings in the System Shop, but her gaze remained fixed on one of its least conspicuous items.

[Cash Exchange (Family Edition): Spend Points to exchange for Japanese Yen for a blood relative at a rate of 1:1,000]

[Note: Cash obtained this way will be gifted through entirely legal means]

"No one ever taught me how to do something like this..."

As soon as she spoke, a prompt appeared in her field of vision—

[Please enter the amount to exchange]

[Please select the recipient]

Ichinose Honami promptly entered the four digits 4399. But when it came time to confirm the exchange, she hesitated.

Even if the money came from a perfectly legitimate source, what if someone with ulterior motives learned that a divorced woman had suddenly received millions of Japanese Yen...

[Please confirm: Spend 399 Points to exchange for 399,000 Japanese Yen for "mother Ichinose Soyo"?]

"Yes..."

Ichinose Honami let out a breath.

That should be all right, shouldn't it?

With that money, her mother's life should be a little easier. She wouldn't have to get up early and work late at several jobs every day.

From now on, Honami only needed to exchange a sum of money each week until she graduated...

"Graduation..."

Three years of completely closed-off high school life sounded grueling and long. Ichinose Honami had needed considerable resolve before enrolling.

Though growing up in a single-parent family had made her seem strong, she was still a schoolgirl. When the nights grew quiet, she missed home too.

She wondered whether the cash she had exchanged with Points had made her mother's life less exhausting.

She wondered whether her little sister was listening to their mother, eating properly, studying hard, and beginning to understand how much their mother struggled.

"Wait, the System Shop has so many amazing things. Could there be something that would let me go home for a visit?"

The seed of longing took root and sprouted in her mind.

Hopeful yet afraid, Ichinose Honami searched through the System Shop. At last, she found items that could grant her wish—

[Bamboo-Copter: Worn on the head, it enables flight by controlling an antigravity device with brainwaves. Points required: 5,000]

[Universal Pass: Allows its holder to go anywhere without paying, but is valid only for a limited time. Points required: 1,000]

Advanced Nurturing stood on an artificial island in the middle of a major city. There was only one road out of the school: the one their bus had taken on the way in.

If she tried to walk home, the round trip would take at least a day.

So, compared with the time-limited Universal Pass, Ichinose Honami thought the Bamboo-Copter, which could fly her home like an airplane, would be more practical.

But it had a drawback.

The school's cameras could easily catch her using it.

Nangong Cheng had mentioned this in the information he sold: the school had a positively lethal number of surveillance cameras. Only special places, such as dorm rooms and bathrooms, were completely private.

So if she wanted to fly home with the Bamboo-Copter, she would also have to figure out how to avoid the cameras.

The System Shop had a solution to that, too.

[Invisibility Potion: Grants invisibility for one hour after consumption. Points required: 500]

She had worked out how to get home.

All she needed to do now was wait.

From this point on, even if she did nothing but Daily Tasks, she could go home in just fifteen days.

And if she wanted, she could go home once every five days after that. She could schedule her visits for weekends, making her practically a commuter student.

"When I look at it that way, it really isn't a bad thing."

Lost in thought, Ichinose Honami rolled over, a complicated emotion flickering through her eyes.

So far, the most intimate task the system had given her was pretending to be a girlfriend in the cafeteria.

Apart from that, she had practically gotten everything for free.

The task that had appeared just before Nangong Cheng left today had even given her a theory she couldn't shake—one that sounded absurd, yet might actually be true.

"Nangong..."

"Could it be you?"

Hope, anxiety, confusion.

The girl eventually fell asleep with those tangled feelings.

Nangong Cheng had a relaxed weekend.

He chose to stay in.

With five Daily Tasks available each day, all he had to do was use up his remaining task slots when Ichinose Honami came over to provide three meals a day. There was no need to go out of his way.

Feeding him, letting him rest his head on her lap, cleaning his ears, sweeping and mopping, doing laundry...

The tasks paid as little as 100 Points and no more than 500, but after he issued them, Ichinose Honami ended up acting less like a mother and more like a housekeeper.

She didn't seem to mind, though. Nangong Cheng saw no reason to do anything else and simply enjoyed it.

Two days later.

[Host: Nangong Cheng]

[Core ability: Master's Task (Lv. 4)]

[Additional abilities: Intermediate Acting Mastery, Kato Taka's Hand, Gene Enhancement (Second Stage)]

[Experience: 30/400]

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

[Remaining tasks today: 4/9 (refreshes daily at midnight; uncompleted tasks do not count toward the limit)]

[Available task types: One-Time Task, Daily Task]

[Items held: People-Finding Cane]

His ability had reached level four, but the only change was two additional task slots. That was more or less what he had expected.

Daily Tasks had appeared at level three. Perhaps the next change would come at level five, or even level six.

After breakfast, he headed to the classroom.

Before Nangong Cheng had even stepped inside, he heard a voice that made his skin crawl.

"I'm telling you, yesterday, Sakura—"

Bang!

Black Room's Greatest Masterpiece

Haruki Yamauchi.

Known in certain circles as "Black Room's Greatest Masterpiece."

He and his good-for-nothing friend Kanji Ike were the two most conspicuous attention seekers in Class D.

But if Class D had to choose one student to expel, surely no one would object to picking Haruki Yamauchi.

No, wait. Someone would.

That bleeding heart Yosuke Hirata had even thrown away his own reputation over it in the original story, breaking the heart of Wang Meiyu, the girl from his hometown, in the process.

Now I've got another reason to go after you.

"Hirata, give me a hand."

Nangong Cheng ignored the looks the students in the classroom gave him and beckoned Yosuke Hirata over.

Hirata came straight over, his face tense.

"Nangong, what do you need me to do?"

"Get a few taller boys, then grab some cloth or books. Cover the two surveillance cameras at the front and back of the classroom."

"Huh?"

Yosuke Hirata froze.

He was a nice guy, not an idiot.

The moment Nangong Cheng made that request, Hirata guessed he was about to do something that would cost them Class Points. And considering what had happened just before Nangong Cheng entered the classroom...

"Um..."

"Cut the crap. If you won't do it, someone else will."

Nangong Cheng shot him a hard look.

"I just want to make him understand what he can say and when he can say it. Some things shouldn't be said anywhere."

"If you try to stop me, go ahead. I don't mind dealing with you too."

"And don't think I can't."

Yosuke Hirata fell silent. Then he turned, called over three boys, and had them cover the cameras at the front and back of the classroom as Nangong Cheng had asked.

The others realized something was wrong when they saw that, but none dared interrupt Nangong Cheng for fear of getting caught up in it.

"Haruki Yamauchi, right?"

"Sorry to cut you off. What were you about to say? If you don't mind, go on."

Hands in his pockets, Nangong Cheng walked up to Haruki Yamauchi's seat and leaned down.

"Let me hear what you were saying about Sakura."

"..."

Haruki Yamauchi didn't dare speak.

Even he wasn't stupid enough to miss what Nangong Cheng might do to him now that the cameras were covered.

"I—I was joking..."

"Ask Ike if you don't believe me! Ike, that's how we always talk, right? It was just a joke..."