Classroom of the Elite: Standing Firm in Class A — Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Class 1-AYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

When Kaedehara Tetsu pushed open the heavy wooden door marked with a crisp “1-A,” he was met with a distinct lack of the usual high school clamor.

The air inside was already thick with an unspoken hierarchy. Even the few students who were engaged in casual conversation kept their voices pitched low, instinctively avoiding any disruption to the quiet dignity of the room.

Kaedehara’s assigned seat was situated in the middle-to-back section of the classroom, right beside the window. It was an excellent vantage point. He was far enough back to avoid becoming the immediate center of attention, yet perfectly positioned to monitor the entire room. He pulled out his chair, the faint scrape of metal against the floor barely registering, and sat down. Leaning back against the rigid support, he crossed his arms over his chest and officially began his observation.

His gaze naturally gravitated toward a highly conspicuous figure seated in the central area at the very front of the room. A gleaming bald head caught the morning light.

Katsuragi Kohei.

The boy sat perfectly upright, his back rigidly straight, exuding the composed, unyielding demeanor of a veteran military cadre. His bulky, muscular frame made the standard-issue school chair appear almost comically small beneath him, and his heavy brows were drawn together in a perpetual state of seriousness.

Beside him, a small cluster of students were already attempting to curry favor, including his inevitable future hanger-on, Totsuka Yahiko. Throughout their eager chatter, Katsuragi merely offered the occasional slight nod, his lips pressed into a tight line as he said almost nothing at all.

Dismissing the bald stoic for the moment, Kaedehara let his gaze drift toward the opposite side of the classroom.

There, sitting in serene isolation, was a girl who looked as delicate as a porcelain doll.

Sakayanagi Arisu.

She sat quietly, her slender fingers delicately supporting a thick hardcover book, though the distance made it impossible to read the title on the spine. Her long, silvery-white hair cascaded gracefully over her slender shoulders like moonlight woven into fine silk. Her skin possessed an almost translucent pallor, and the delicate lines of her profile were flawlessly, almost unnervingly perfect.

As if sensing the weight of his scrutiny, Sakayanagi paused. She slightly averted her head, her gaze sweeping toward the window, but then she quickly turned back to her pages. The subtle shift in her posture suggested she had instantly recognized exactly who was looking at her.

Kaedehara allowed his eyes to continue their slow wander, cataloging the faces of his new classmates one by one. He noted those who held a modicum of relevance in the grand scheme of the original plot, and dismissed those who were destined to remain pure background fodder.

Just as he finished his mental inventory, the sharp, authoritative chime of the school bell echoed throughout the sprawling campus.

The classroom door creaked open once more. A stern-looking man dressed in a sharp black suit strode in, his presence instantly commanding the room. He dropped a thick folder onto the wooden podium with a soft, deliberate thud, snapping everyone’s attention to the front.

Mashima Tomoya. The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A.

Without a word, he picked up a piece of chalk and skillfully slashed his name across the blackboard in sharp, precise strokes.

“First, congratulations to all of you for earning your place at this institution,” Mashima began, his voice a deep, resonant baritone that left no room for interruption. “Your presence in this specific classroom proves that you all possess unique, exceptional talents. This is an achievement you should rightfully take pride in.”

A suppressed, almost inaudible stir of satisfaction rippled through the class. Many of the students puffed out their chests, their faces lighting up with expressions of well-deserved arrogance. It was an entirely understandable reaction. For these young elites, receiving such blatant affirmation of their superiority from an authority figure was undoubtedly an intoxicating rush.

Mashima seemed completely blind to their swelling egos and continued his address. “However, this does not mean you can afford to relax. Although Kouiku boasts a one hundred percent graduation and employment rate, this is not an absolute guarantee for anyone sitting here. For the foreseeable future, until the day you graduate, I will be your homeroom teacher.”

He paced slowly behind the podium.

“To better assess the abilities of the student body, our school has specially developed the S-System. This program has already been pre-installed on your personal smartphone terminals. This school is fundamentally different from any other educational institution you have ever known. Here, all your daily necessities will be purchased using points. All facilities within the school grounds, from your meals in the cafeteria to the entertainment equipment in your dormitories, and even any personal luxury you might desire, can be bought with points. Provided the school can supply it, it is yours for a price. One point is exactly equivalent to one yen. And for this inaugural month, the school has already pre-paid each and every one of you…”

He paused, allowing the silence to stretch, before turning back to the blackboard. He wrote a single number in large, unmistakable digits.

“…one hundred thousand points.”

“One hundred thousand?!”

“Wait, that means one hundred thousand yen! Do we seriously get this much every single month?”

“This is amazing! This school is absolute heaven!”

The previous quiet dignity of Class 1-A shattered in an instant. Everyone scrambled to unlock their school terminal screens, their eyes widening as they stared at the digital balance Mashima had just promised. The students’ faces beamed with the ecstatic, unrestrained joy of lottery winners. For a high school student, one hundred thousand yen a month was an astronomical, staggering sum of disposable income.and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

Amidst the cheering, only a select few maintained their composure. Katsuragi remained deadpan, though his heavy brows furrowed slightly deeper, his sharp mind clearly detecting the hidden, poisonous hook buried beneath Mashima’s generous words.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the room, Sakayanagi simply closed her hardcover book. She rested her chin on her hand, watching the unfolding human drama with deep interest. A faint, elegant smile graced her lips, as if she were enjoying a particularly amusing theatrical performance from the royal box.

“Excuse me, sensei,” Katsuragi spoke up, his deep voice cutting through the celebratory chatter. “Can Personal Points truly be used to buy absolutely anything?”

Mashima met the boy’s gaze evenly. “Of course. Within the confines of this school, no matter how you choose to spend your points, as long as your purchases do not violate existing laws or school regulations, the administration will not interfere in the slightest.”

“Sensei…” Katsuragi began again, but Mashima held up a hand.

“If there are no further pressing questions, we will conclude here for now. In exactly two hours, the school will hold the official entrance ceremony in the Gymnasium. Do not be late.”

Having answered the bare minimum, Mashima turned on his heel and strode out of the classroom, leaving the heavy door open in his wake.

No sooner had the homeroom teacher’s footsteps faded down the corridor than the room erupted like a boiling pot left unattended.

“Wow, a hundred thousand yen! This is unbelievable!”

“Haha, getting accepted into Kouiku is the best thing that ever happened to me. I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot for life!”

“Not only are we guaranteed a top-tier future, but they just hand us cash! They treat us way too well!”

As the students eagerly discussed their newfound wealth, Katsuragi suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up, his imposing frame casting a shadow over the front row.

“Before we disperse for the entrance ceremony, why don’t we all take a moment to introduce ourselves? After all, from this day forward, we will be fighting alongside each other as classmates.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, several students nodded eagerly, their eyes lighting up at the suggestion. It made perfect sense. They were all strangers in a strange environment, and a round of self-introductions would help them memorize names and build a sense of early camaraderie.

Katsuragi’s proposal clearly appealed to the majority of the room, and a round of enthusiastic, polite applause immediately broke out.

He surveyed his peers, his gaze brimming with absolute sincerity and a heavy sense of responsibility. “I propose that, starting from the very first row, everyone come up to the podium. State your name, the middle school you graduated from, and your special skills. This is not merely a formality. It is our crucial first step toward true unity as Class A. What do you all think?”

It was a highly logical, efficient proposal. In a situation where everyone was completely unfamiliar with one another, it was the fastest way to gather actionable intelligence on the class’s overall capabilities. Most of the students murmured their agreement, preparing to stand.

However, before the first student could even move, a leisurely, crystal-clear female voice drifted across the room, carrying a distinct, musical hint of amusement.

“Hehe… Self-introductions? What an adorably naive suggestion. You sound just like a little elementary schooler.”

The entire room froze.

Every gaze simultaneously snapped toward the source of the voice, zeroing in on Sakayanagi Arisu in the corner.

She had set her book aside at some point, her delicate hands resting gracefully upon her knees. She tilted her head, locking her beautiful, piercing violet eyes directly onto Katsuragi. Her smile was sickeningly sweet, but the sheer condescension and biting mockery laced into her elegant tone acted like poisoned thorns, mercilessly piercing through Katsuragi’s serious facade.

“These so-called special skills of yours… if they are not unique, overwhelming trump cards capable of deciding absolute victory or defeat, what possible point is there in speaking of them aloud? You would merely be exposing your own boring, mundane quirks to the public. And if they are just irrelevant little hobbies, then why on earth should we waste everyone’s precious time listening to them?”

She let out a soft, airy laugh that chilled the room.

“We are Class A. We are not a neighborhood hobby club gathered here to make little friends, are we?”

The two future potential leaders of Class A had just engaged in their first public, head-on collision on the very first morning of their high school lives.

A heavy, suffocating tension instantly permeated the air, choking out the previous joy and leaving only the cold reality of the battlefield behind.You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.