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

Nangong Cheng felt Karuizawa Kei's grip on his back loosen. Afraid she would start imagining something strange, he immediately offered one final explanation.

"Because I didn't think you'd ever accept me wanting to date several girls at once, Karuizawa. If we'd only end up breaking up, I figured it was better to turn you down from the start."

Huh?

Karuizawa Kei froze.

What did he mean, date several girls at once?

She knew Nangong Cheng spent time with plenty of girls, but she had never thought he actually wanted a harem.

Now she couldn't tell whether she should feel sad, angry, or... secretly delighted.

Because at least she had a chance.

Nangong Cheng hadn't rejected her because he felt nothing for her. He had rejected her because he had this outrageous idea of dating multiple women at once.

And she was one of them.

"Nangong, why would you say something so mean? Dating lots of girls at once... You're only saying that on purpose, right?"

"And even if you could pull it off, could your body handle it?"

Japan was the sort of country where, well, those who knew, knew.

Elementary school might have been another matter, but by middle school, most students already knew plenty about sex.

Quite a few had firsthand experience, too.

Karuizawa Kei wasn't one of them. Given what her middle school years had been like... well, no boy had dared go near her for fear of getting caught up in her troubles.

Still, she had heard about what men were capable of in that department. Dating several women at once and satisfying them all...

Even with extraordinary gifts, the body had its limits. He could easily run himself into the ground.

"Hmm... Even if I promised you it'd be easy, Karuizawa, you'd probably doubt me until you experienced it for yourself."

Seeing that Karuizawa Kei had followed his lead, Nangong Cheng couldn't help a sly smile.

"So, would you like to find out? I'm quite confident on that front. I promise I didn't make it up just to turn you down."

"Wha?! I-I-I-I-I..."

Karuizawa Kei sprang out of Nangong Cheng's arms in fright and bumped straight into the light switch on the wall.

Light drove away the darkness.

"Ahhh! Don't look!"

After a startled shriek, Karuizawa Kei dropped into a crouch and covered her head.

Nangong Cheng shook his head with a helpless smile.

After a moment's hesitation, he took off his jacket and draped it over Karuizawa Kei, then picked up her school uniform from the floor and shook it out.

"Karuizawa, you were so bold with the lights off. Who knew you'd be so shy once they came on?"

"You really are delightful."

"Ugh..."

Karuizawa Kei almost wanted to bury her face in her chest, but she didn't have enough there to manage it.

Then she felt Nangong Cheng's jacket around her. His warmth and scent mingled in the air, reaching her nose and flooding her mind...

Oh no. I'm starting to feel weird...

"Nangong... You're bullying me!"

The girl's soft accusation sounded more like she was acting cute than scolding him, and it only stirred his interest.

With the mood as it was, Nangong Cheng would have called himself a eunuch if he claimed he wasn't tempted. Wasn't this what he had been working toward all these days?

But the timing was wrong now.

If he had accepted her confession outright, he could have ridden the momentum all the way to the finish line. Not after telling her he wanted a harem, though.

He wasn't satisfied with leaving empty-handed, either. That was when a bold idea came to him.

"Karuizawa, the floor's cold. Let me help you up."

"And I should warn you: you're still exposing yourself like that. More than when you were standing in front of me, actually."

Karuizawa Kei squirmed, then carefully rose with Nangong Cheng supporting her.

She crossed her arms to cover herself. Her blush and bashful glances made her all the more enticing.

Nangong Cheng chose to redeem the item without hesitation.

[Mosquito-Fly Camera: A new surveillance device created by combining optimized mosquito and fly biology with modern technology. Invisible to the naked eye and extremely difficult to detect. Can share the bound user's five senses. Points required: 500]

There was no risk. He installed it immediately.

"N-Nangong..."

"Don't worry, Karuizawa. I can't be your boyfriend, but that doesn't mean I won't protect you."

Nangong Cheng placed her uniform in her hands, then kissed her forehead, just as he had done with Ichinose Honami.

One kiss, and he pulled away to turn the door handle.

"It's getting late. Get some rest."

Bang!

Karuizawa Kei stared at the front door for a while, then slowly made her way back to her bedroom.

Thump.

She collapsed onto the soft bed.

She tossed her own uniform from her hands onto the floor again, then pulled Nangong Cheng's jacket closer around herself—

Sniff...

After a deep breath, her body felt even stranger.

Breathing in Nangong Cheng's scent, Karuizawa Kei touched the spot on her forehead where he had kissed her. Then she remembered the video he had sent her last night.

And what she had done afterward.

"Nangong... Cheng..."

"That's so unfair..."

"What do you mean, you want to date several girls at once? And then you asked if I wanted to experience it for myself..."

"Aaaaaah!"

She rolled back and forth across the bed like a wriggling grub, muttering to herself as though she were whining to her boyfriend.

Eventually, she wore herself out.

Or rather, she remembered what she needed to do.

The moment the thought arose, the familiar panel appeared before her.

[Character: Karuizawa Kei]

[Age: High school girl]

[Height: 154 cm]

[Measurements: B: 76 (C) W: 54 H: 77]

[Fated Partners: Nangong Cheng]

[Points held: 1,300]

[Items redeemed: 100,000 points]

[Abilities redeemed: None]

Karuizawa Kei touched the scar along the side of her lower abdomen again. Her gaze fell on [Flawless Skin Cream].

There was no reason to hesitate.

Wasn't this what she had wanted from the start?

But—

"Have you never thought about protecting yourself?"

"Do you still have that kind of courage?"

Nangong Cheng's words suddenly echoed in her mind.

Her gaze slowly shifted to [Gene-Enhancement Potion]. Gritting her teeth, she redeemed it.

In a flash—

A test tube filled with pale blue liquid appeared in her hand.

She drank it all in one gulp, without hesitation.

Warmth flowed through her stomach. Then strength surged through her, as though it had always been part of her.

Crack!

She hadn't lost control of her strength. Overcome with emotion, Karuizawa Kei had crushed the test tube in her hand.

Shards pierced her palm, and blood began to flow.

But Karuizawa Kei barely felt the pain. It was nothing compared to what she had endured before.

"So this is it... This is what I needed... If I'd had this back then..." Karuizawa Kei murmured, her eyes unfocused.

Once she came to her senses, she cleaned up the glass shards. Then her gaze drifted to [Basic Combat].

Unfortunately, she was short on Points and couldn't redeem another reward just yet.

At least she now had a Daily Task. Before the month ended, she could earn enough Points for both [Flawless Skin Cream] and [Basic Combat].

Her heart was racing too much for her to sleep.

Then she remembered the little video Nangong Cheng had sent her that day, and the long message she had sent him afterward.

"Sorry, Nangong..."

"This is the last time..."

Meanwhile...

Kikyo Kushida had returned to her dorm room and was chatting with her small group on her phone, as usual.

But her thoughts were in turmoil.

Especially when the girls in the group started talking about Nangong Cheng.

"Didn't Karuizawa make it pretty obvious tonight that she likes Nangong?"

"Seriously. She couldn't take her eyes off him. During the duet, she looked like she wanted to press herself right up against him."

"I mean, I get it. Nangong's amazing, and he's handsome enough to be the top host in Ginza. His voice is gorgeous, too. If he stared at me, I'd probably melt."

"Get your mind out of the gutter... But honestly, yeah. If Nangong would be my boyfriend, I'd give up graduating from Class A."

"Now that you mention it, Nangong barely spends any time with boys, but he knows plenty of girls."

"Even just in our class, there's Sakura, Horikita, Karuizawa, and Kikyo. Oh, right, and Xiaomei, who's from the same country as him."

"There's Ichinose in Class B, too, and Sakayanagi from Class A approached Nangong in the cafeteria before... Wow, that's a lot of competition."

"Maybe not. Sakura's so quiet she barely registers, Sakayanagi's too frail to keep up with Nangong, and Horikita's a bit better off but still a boring ice queen. Ichinose is all the way over in Class B, so it really comes down to us."

"Karuizawa only has her flirting to rely on. If we're talking real competition, Kikyo's our best bet. Even Xiaomei has the advantage of being from Nangong's home country!"

The group chat was lively.

Girls did love gossip, after all.

Especially romantic gossip.

Kikyo Kushida stared at the genius in her group who had used the process of elimination to put her on the list. Her feelings grew strangely complicated.

"We're accomplices."