Classroom of the Elite: I can issue Master's Tasks

Kanji Ike had buried his head and played dead the moment Nangong Cheng kicked the door open. There was no way he would dare answer Haruki Yamauchi.

Better you than me.

You brought this on yourself. Don't drag me into it!

"Joking?"

Nangong Cheng flashed a sunny smile.

Had the atmosphere not been so oppressive, that smile probably would have sent quite a few girls swooning.

But facing it directly, Haruki Yamauchi felt his hair stand on end, as though a carnivorous beast had fixed its eyes on him.

"I..."

"Don't tell me you think you can get away with anything just by saying, 'I was only joking, bro.'"

Nangong Cheng gave Haruki Yamauchi no chance to keep making excuses. He grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off his feet.

Struggling was, of course, useless.

Even if this sleazy pervert who would peep on girls changing wasn't a kidney-deficient weakling like Wei Nan, his physique couldn't possibly compare to Nangong Cheng's, who had already reached the Second Stage of Gene Enhancement.

Hoisting him up was as easy as lifting a chick.

"I already told you to act like good students this month, even if you had to fake it. Are you deaf?"

"You've been bragging since the first day of school. If you're really that amazing, why are you in Class D? Huh?"

"And loudly discussing girls' looks and figures in the classroom, even making up little stories to keep stroking your own ego... If shamelessness were graded, you'd definitely belong in Class A."

"Ghh... aaagh..."

Nangong Cheng controlled his strength very precisely.

Naturally, he wasn't going to kill anyone. From the start, he had only intended to teach Haruki Yamauchi a lesson he wouldn't forget.

Still, the boy had made it onto his hit list. Sooner or later, he would find a chance to get him expelled.

Thud!

"Cough, cough, cough!!! Cough, cough, cough!!!"

Nangong Cheng released his grip.

Haruki Yamauchi slumped in his seat, coughing violently and gasping for air. He stared at Nangong Cheng with unmistakable terror and a deeply buried trace of resentment.

Bang!

It happened in a flash.

Nangong Cheng brought his palm down again, slamming Haruki Yamauchi's head against the desk.

"Nice look in your eyes, my friend."

"But remember to hide it better next time. And don't let me catch you talking about girls in class again, or... Well, you already know how strong I am and what I'll do."

Nangong Cheng let go once more.

Amid the oppressive atmosphere and the trembling gazes of his classmates, he turned toward Ken Sudō, who sat not far from Haruki Yamauchi.

Might as well sort you out while I'm at it.

"Sudo, basketball is great, but don't forget to pay attention in class. You can get expelled for failing your exams."

"You wouldn't want something like that to stop you from achieving your basketball dreams, would you?"

"..."

Ken Sudō didn't dare say anything.

In truth, though, he wasn't all that scared. Nangong Cheng just seemed relatively strong, and strength wasn't everything in a fight.

Still, what Nangong Cheng had said was fair, so there was no need to argue just to save face.

"Hirata, pick a few boys with good grades to tutor the others. Starting today, arrange remedial lessons for the ones whose grades are worrying."

"I'll have Horikita handle the girls. Kushida, Karuizawa, you two help her coordinate things."

With that, Nangong Cheng issued the same Daily Task to Karuizawa Kei and Kikyo Kushida.

[Daily Task issued]

[Task: Assist Horikita Suzune in completing the daily tutoring plan for the girls of Class D]

[Reward: 100 Points per day]

[Penalty for failure: Expose your own shameful past]

Then his gaze swept over several other boys.

It took two to tango.

Haruki Yamauchi couldn't have kept a discussion about girls' looks and figures going all by himself. Someone must have been egging him on.

"Although Haruki Yamauchi was the only one I caught this time, if any more girls tell me there are boys in class doing it anyway..."

He didn't need to finish. His actions had already made the consequences clear.

The atmosphere in the classroom was stifling.

As an indirect accomplice in this incident, Yosuke Hirata felt helpless and frustrated, but ultimately relieved.

After all, the problem really did lie with Haruki Yamauchi's character.

Some girls had already brought it up with him before. He had spoken to Haruki Yamauchi, but his warnings hadn't helped at all. Now, at least, someone could keep him in line.

And judging from what Nangong Cheng had just said, he seemed ready to take over leadership of Class D.

That's a good thing!

You'll just have to suffer a little for now, Yamauchi.

"Such a beautiful man~"

Just as Yosuke Hirata was about to break the tension, a voice rang out in an odd lilt.

It was another problem student, Rokusuke Koenji.

The blond man lowered the mirror in his hand and turned to meet Nangong Cheng's gaze—

"This school is far too boring. I hope you can provide me with more entertainment."

"Beautiful Nangong boy~"

Volume One: 49. Karuizawa Kei: I'll win!

Nangong Cheng merely nodded in response to Rokusuke Koenji's beautiful declaration.

What else was he supposed to say?

Anything he said would feel strange.

He might as well stay silent and play the unfathomable expert.

"Hello. If I remember correctly, your name is Hasebe Haruka, right?"

Adjusting his expression to look as gentle as possible, Nangong Cheng walked over to a blue-haired girl's desk.

"Yes."

"Can I help you?"

Hasebe Haruka's impression of Nangong Cheng was actually rather complicated.

Nangong Cheng's introduction on the first day had made him seem a little odd but probably normal enough. The uproar over collecting fees on the third day, however, had turned him into a "demon king" in many people's eyes.

She wasn't one of those people, of course.

She simply thought Nangong Cheng was a very capable boy. Taking Class D's situation into account, her final impression on the third day had been that he was highly capable, but probably had some serious issues in other areas.

Then another two days had passed.

She had discovered numerous photos of Nangong Cheng with different girls on the Campus Forum and tentatively concluded that he might be a playboy.

And then came today.

She had discovered yet another side to him.

"There's something I'd like your help with."

Nangong Cheng got straight to the point.

He pointed toward Sakura Airi. "If you've been paying attention to our classmates, you probably know Sakura's situation... So I'd like you to be her friend. After all, there are some things that aren't really convenient for a boy like me to do."

"I won't ask you to help for free, either. I can pay you 100,000 points a month."

"There's no need."

Hasebe Haruka shook her head.

She glanced at Sakura Airi in the back of the classroom, thinking what a lucky Cinderella she was.

His request wasn't absolute proof that Nangong Cheng had feelings for Sakura Airi, but they certainly weren't just ordinary classmates or friends.

"Even without you asking, I was planning to make friends with Sakura. Paying me would change the nature of it."

"That was rude of me. If you ever need help with anything, please feel free to ask."

Nangong Cheng wasn't surprised by Hasebe Haruka's answer. After all, she and Sakura Airi had been best friends in the original story.

She had a proven track record.

Nangong Cheng felt perfectly comfortable leaving this to her.

"How about this? To make things easier, I'd like you and Sakura to sit one in front of the other... Would that be okay?"

"...Sure. I don't really mind things like that."

Nangong Cheng nodded.

He glanced at the girl he had asked to switch seats, then took out his phone and transferred her 50,000 points.

The seat swap went smoothly.

Nangong Cheng glanced at Yosuke Hirata.

"Hirata, you've really disappointed me this time."

"You're perfectly capable of handling these things. But because you're such a people pleaser, always trying to resolve everything without upsetting anyone, people like Yamauchi get to keep harassing the girls in our class without a care."

Yosuke Hirata lowered his head in shame.

Nangong Cheng wasn't deliberately trying to manipulate him. He still wanted Hirata to manage the boys, so he needed him to understand that using violence wasn't necessarily such a terrible thing.

What did you do when a brat wouldn't listen?

Hit him!

If you didn't, you could just wait until the day he committed some catastrophic, irreversible mistake.

As the saying went, spare the rod and spoil the child.

That saying certainly wasn't entirely right by modern standards, but it at least showed that violence could correct a person's bad habits and mindset.

"I don't know how things work here in Japan, but where I'm from, someone like him making it to adulthood like this would mean his parents had failed to raise him properly."

"He's just been spoiled rotten. Once he's been hit hard enough to hurt and scare him, he'll behave."

Nangong Cheng clapped his hands.

It was time to bring this farce to an end.

"Hurting one person's interests versus hurting a whole group's interests—you've heard of the Trolley Problem, right?"

"You hurt him alone, but benefit twenty girls in our class. Do you really need me to teach you elementary arithmetic?"

"Go think it over. I have high hopes for you."

Nangong Cheng returned to his seat.

Although the atmosphere was still somewhat oppressive, some students had already begun whispering among themselves.

Karuizawa Kei's little clique, for example.

They weren't actually speaking aloud, though. Instead, they were frantically typing away in their group chat.