Houtarou Oreki Classroom of the Elite

Kakeru's cursing was vicious.

"Are you all pig-headed? I can't believe this. When I asked for 50,000 points, none of you would give them, but the moment someone else suggests it, you all jump in. And everyone who joined just happens to be everyone who hates me. Heh heh... Damn it! So... what do we do now?"

Daichi crouched on the ground, holding his head in his hands.

Kakeru showed mercy only to the girls, directing his fury at the boys while the girls remained in the classroom.

Daichi was punished because Kakeru believed using Points for investment was foolish. But the first disagreed. If Kakeru hadn't been so heavy-handed, he would say that the store could have been profitable once opened.

But with his current rage, Daichi kept quiet — especially since Kakeru was threatening to terminate the contract with Houtarou.

Hey hey hey. This was no joke. Terminating the contract meant losing their 50,000-Point investment plus a 10,000-Point penalty. That's 60,000 Points lost per person.

Could this bully even do math?

"... This is hopeless." Kakeru said, his anger giving way to exhaustion, "What do you think, Shiina?"

He turned to Hiyori, disappointment clear in his expression.

Of their class's 40 students, only he, Albert, Mio, and Hiyori hadn't joined. Initially, just 9 students were interested, but then Daichi — that pig-head — rallied the others out of spite, hoping to secure a backup plan despite Kakeru's iron rule.

So now all the other students had joined Class A's Houtarou's store plan.

That meant 50,000 Points per person — no, with contract termination adding another 10,000, the total would be 36×5=1.8 million Points paid to that damned demon.

The losses were staggering, but continuing was pointless.

Next month the class would be short on Points. And the month after that? Even worse. To keep hemorrhaging Points for 12 straight months, in this place where Points meant everything and strength was supreme — it was pure stupidity!

"There's no other choice." Hiyori, the bookish girl, lifted her gaze from her novel, "If we want to climb up, we probably have to sacrifice the pawns to protect the king."

"..." Kakeru fell silent.

He shared her thoughts, but his anger still burned. He'd invested tremendous effort, even swallowing his pride to subdue Albert and force everyone into line.

And yet... The fruits of his class's victory had been snatched away before they could ripen.

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Monday.

Houtarou returned to the school dormitory at his usual time using Teleportation.

Upon reaching the entrance, he discovered scattered notes and several text messages waiting on his dorm phone.

| XXX — Unknown Number |

| Houtarou Oreki, you punk ass bitch! |

| Got the guts to take money but not open the door, huh! |

| Open up! |

Like a fishwife's street cursing.

He knew without doubt that Class C's tyrant Kakeru had made his move.

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"Good morning, Oreki-kun—"

Arriving in class, Houtarou was greeted by his classmates.

It was now the third week after enrollment. The class had performed exceptionally well during these two weeks, with the steady Kōhei noting that they, if any, had lost fewer than 20 Class Points — an excellent achievement.

Adding to the good news, their homeroom teacher, Tomonari (Mashima), announced that the school had awarded them 200 Class Points for everyone obtaining the school rules on the first day.

However....

"You seem rather tired." Houtarou noticed Princess Sakayanagi greeting him.

Princess Sakayanagi — Arisu.

After two weeks, Class A had divided into three factions: The Kōhei faction, the Arisu faction, and Houtarou's energy-saving faction.

Houtarou hadn't taken much action, so supporters merely sent him messages.

Arisu, however, had been proactive. She began tutoring after apparently using Points to gather intelligence about next month's exam.

A written test, most likely.

This development had troubled Masumi for days. As an underachiever among academic stars, any improvement in the class's overall performance would raise the passing score she needed to reach.

Yet there was a silver lining: her continued studies with Arisu were showing results. Where she once struggled to memorize a few words at a time, she could now handle 20-30. The little girl clearly had a gift for teaching.

This was precisely why Houtarou had directed Masumi to Arisu — teaching was simply too troublesome and time-consuming.

"By the way, Sakayanagi-san, what's your view on love and marriage?" He asked.

"Love?" Arisu seemed surprised by the question but offered a sweet smile, "Well, marriage is probably love's grave."

'This was quite a unique perspective.' Houtarou thought to himself.

Bang!

At this moment, Class A's classroom door was suddenly kicked hard.

"Who's Houtarou Oreki?!"

A tall man with center-parted red hair appeared at the classroom door.

This person was Class C's representative, Kakeru Ryūen.

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