Classroom of the Elite: Standing Firm in Class A — Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Repairing the Camera

Tetsu was in no rush to return to his dormitory. He strolled along the shopping center’s pedestrian street at a leisurely pace, the weight of Airi’s damaged camera resting casually in his hand. His expression remained an unreadable mask, but within the confines of his mind, a semi-transparent interface had already unfurled.

It was a store directory, displaying a long list of purchasable skills.

[Electronic Repair (Master Level): 100 points]

[Electronic Repair (Proficient Level): 50 points]

[Electronic Repair (Entry Level): 10 points]

His gaze lingered on the Master Level line for a fleeting moment before sliding past it to settle on the Proficient Level option. Spending one hundred points to repair a standard digital camera would be an extravagant waste of resources.

[Electronic Repair (Proficient Level)]

[Purchase]

As he confirmed the transaction with a mere thought, the option turned gray. He could clearly feel a complex stream of information pouring directly into his consciousness. In just a few seconds, his brain had completely absorbed the complex schematics and techniques, transforming raw data into something that felt like ingrained muscle memory.

handling through the evening crowd, he located a shop specializing in electronic components and repair tools. Tetsu selected a set of precision screwdrivers from the shelf, along with several general consumables required for replacing internal circuitry. The cashier deducted thousands of Personal Points at checkout, but he did not care in the slightest.

These were all just necessary investments for the board he was setting up.

Returning to his dormitory, he locked the door behind him with a quiet click. He arranged the newly purchased tools and the damaged camera on his desk. Pulling out his chair, he sat down and flicked on the desk lamp, bathing the workspace in a harsh, focused light. He reached out and picked up the device.

Using the smallest screwdriver, he carefully removed the screws binding the camera’s casing. The outer shell peeled away, exposing the complex green circuit board and the fragile ribbon cables hidden within. Time slipped away as he worked in absolute silence. He did not keep track of the minutes, but when he finally tightened the last screw and firmly seated the brand-new lens into place, he slowly exhaled a long breath.

He pressed the power button.

The screen flickered for a fraction of a second before the clear, bright startup logo illuminated his eyes.

Success.

But this was only the preliminary step. He lifted the camera, aimed the lens at the sprawling night view outside his window, and gently pressed the shutter.

Click.

A crisp, pleasant mechanical sound rang out. A sharp, colorful photograph of the city lights was captured on the screen.

It was repaired. His true work, however, was just beginning.

He did not set the device down. Instead, his thumb skillfully handled the buttons, entering the camera’s internal album mode. Thumbnails immediately populated the screen. His fingers moved rhythmically, sending photo after photo flashing rapidly past his eyes.

Soon enough, he found exactly what he was looking for.

The image was slightly shaky, betraying the photographer’s nerves, but it was still clear enough to serve its purpose. It depicted a red-haired boy violently pinning a Class C student against a wall, while two other Class C students lay sprawled on the ground nearby. The obvious proof of the altercation between Sudo and Class C. The tricky angle made it obvious that the shot had been taken secretly from a hidden vantage point.

There was no shift in Tetsu’s cold expression. His finger pressed down firmly on the delete button.

[Confirm deletion of selected items?]

With a second press, the digital evidence recording the violence and conflict vanished into the ether.

Having accomplished his primary objective, he did not stop. He continued to scroll through the album, and soon, a series of photographs featuring a completely different aesthetic filled the small screen.

It was a girl who usually appeared painfully introverted, taking selfies in the privacy of her own room, secretly aiming the lens at her mirror. She tried various poses, a slightly shy but genuine smile gracing her features. This was the internet idol known as Shizuku. Completely shedding the timid persona of Airi, she was confidently displaying her charm in front of the lens.

Tetsu’s gaze lingered on the vibrant images for a few silent seconds. He had to admit that without those thick, obscuring glasses and the slouched posture, the girl truly possessed the physical assets necessary to drive a fanbase crazy.

His finger moved back to the delete button.

This time, he selected only a small, random fraction of the selfies—about a dozen photos in total—and erased them. A memory card that only miraculously lost the exact photos of a specific violent incident would be highly suspicious. A memory card that randomly lost a handful of corrupted data files due to physical trauma was simply an unfortunate accident. He needed the entire scenario to look flawlessly natural.

Finally, he held the camera up and began taking a rapid succession of meaningless shots around his room. The pristine desk, the blank ceiling, the distant night view outside the window.

The camera’s flash flickered constantly, casting sharp shadows against the walls, while the continuous sound of the shutter echoed crisply in the quiet room. Each mechanical click was a fresh write of new data. This useless information would permanently overwrite the sectors where the deleted files had been stored, rendering any potential data recovery virtually impossible.

Afterward, he only needed to tell her that he took these shots to verify the repair. Even if Airi somehow noticed the discrepancy later and wanted to seek out a professional for data recovery, the technical difficulty would have increased exponentially., given her extremely avoidant personality and the secret nature of her idol persona, she would never dare to hand her memory card over to a stranger again.

Having secured all loose ends, Tetsu finally set the camera down. He looked at the device, now appearing brand new, and a faint, satisfied expression crossed his face. He pulled out his phone, handled to the contact newly saved as Sakura Airi, and drafted a brief message.

[After school tomorrow, meet at yesterday’s place.]

The following day after classes ended.

The setting was the same pedestrian street in front of the electronic goods store. Airi had arrived fifteen minutes early. She stood frozen in the exact spot as the day before, her hands nervously twisting together. She occasionally lifted her head to dart anxious glances at the passing crowd before quickly lowering her gaze back to the pavement.

For the entire day, her heart had been trapped in a state of extreme torment and anxiety. She had no idea if handing her precious camera over to a boy she barely knew was a grave mistake. She had spent hours mentally preparing herself for the worst-case scenarios—that the camera was completely destroyed, or worse, that the other party had discovered her secret and was planning to use the contents for blackmail.

When Tetsu’s calm figure appeared in her line of sight right on schedule, her heart leaped into her throat.

“…Good afternoon, Kaedehara… Classmate.” She closed the distance between them, her voice barely rising above a whisper.

Tetsu maintained the same detached, cold expression as yesterday. He held the familiar camera in his hand. Walking straight up to her, he skipped any unnecessary pleasantries and held the device out.

“It’s repaired.”

Airi looked up. When she saw her beloved camera fully restored to its original, pristine condition, her eyes widened abruptly behind her thick lenses. She reached out with trembling hands and cradled the device. She carefully pressed the power button. The familiar startup screen lit up instantly, indicating that all internal functions were operating normally.

“Re-really… it’s repaired.”

“Yeah. It was just a loose ribbon cable and a cracked lens. It wasn’t a major problem.” He paused, allowing the silence to stretch for a brief second before his tone shifted. “However…”

Airi’s heart, which had just begun to settle, instantly seized up again. She looked up at him with wide, nervous eyes.

“The memory card took some impact when it fell, and some data inside became corrupted. Also, to test if the camera’s functions were fully restored, I took a large number of photos last night. So… some of your previous photos might be unrecoverable because the sectors were overwritten.” He recited the plausible excuse he had carefully prepared the night before.

“Eh? Pho-photos…”

Hearing this, panic flared in her chest. She hurriedly operated the buttons to open the internal album. She flipped through the thumbnails rapidly, the tight, terrified expression on her face gradually melting into deep relief.

Most of the photos were still there. The vast majority of the secret life she cherished so deeply remained perfectly intact. It did seem that a few random shots were missing, but in her flustered state, she could not even remember exactly which ones were gone. Compared to the overwhelming surprise of having her expensive camera repaired for free, losing a handful of corrupted selfies was an incredibly trivial matter.

“It-it’s okay! This… this is already great! Thank you… thank you so much, Kaedehara-san!”

“Thank you… really… thank you so much…” She repeated her words of gratitude in a breathless, incoherent loop, bowing her head repeatedly.

Tetsu quietly observed the girl, who was practically crying tears of joy over recovering what she thought was lost forever—completely unaware of what had actually been taken from her. She lifted her head, looking at the calm young man before her through her thick lenses, her eyes shining with absolute gratitude.

“Kaedehara-san… how much is the… repair fee? I might not have enough points right now, but… I will definitely pay you back!”

“No need.”

“Eh? Bu-but…”

“If you really want to repay me, could you answer a question for me?”