Classroom of the Elite: Surviving with the Intel System — Chapter 50

Chapter 50: If I Punched Her, She’d Probably Cry for a Long TimeYou'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.

Wednesday, during lunchtime, the school cafeteria was a bustling hub of noise and the rich aroma of freshly prepared meals, but at one particular table, the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.

A male student from Class 2-D rubbed his sweaty palms together, his eyes darting nervously. “Um… Ryuuen, thank you very much for treating me to this meal… But…” He swallowed hard, his voice dropping to a pathetic whisper. “I really don’t have anything to tell you…”

Ryuuen Kakeru leaned back in his plastic chair. His long fingers drummed a slow, rhythmic beat against the tabletop. He simply watched the older student with a dark, unreadable expression.

Before Ryuuen even needed to open his mouth, the burly Ishizaki Daichi slammed his palm onto the table with a loud bang.

“Hey!” Ishizaki lunged forward, grabbing the second-year by the collar. Thick veins bulged along his muscular forearms. “Are you planning to just eat for free, you bastard?!”

The sudden roar drew the nervous glances of nearby students, but Ishizaki ignored them. “Now you’re telling me you don’t have any information?”

“I… I didn’t ask for this! You guys cornered me!” The second-year stammered, desperately trying to maintain a shred of dignity. His panicked eyes flicked upward, locking onto the surveillance camera mounted in the corner of the ceiling. “Let go of me! There are cameras right there! Do you really have the guts to lay a hand on me in broad daylight?”

Ishizaki’s knuckles popped as he pulled his fist back, fully prepared to swing.

“Ishizaki, calm down.” Ryuuen’s lazy, drawling voice cut through the tension at the perfect moment. He slowly rose to his feet and placed a gentle, restraining hand on his classmate’s shoulder. “After all… this is our senpai.”

He deliberately dragged out the honorific, a chilling, serpentine smile playing on his lips.

“But…” Ryuuen suddenly leaned in, closing the distance until he was right beside the trembling upperclassman’s ear. His voice dropped to a dangerous murmur. “I can stop him once, but that doesn’t mean I can hold his leash every time. It’s true there are cameras in the cafeteria…” Ryuuen’s dark eyes drifted toward the deserted, shadowed corridor just outside the dining hall. “But there are always blind spots in this school, aren’t there?”

“Exactly!” Ishizaki violently shoved the senior back into his seat, grinning like a feral dog. “Did you really think a free meal comes without a price? Even if it means taking a demerit, I’ll drag you out of here and beat you half to death!”

All the color drained from the second-year’s face. “Are you guys really from Class C? You act like thugs… even worse than Class D… Or is it just because your class points have already been deducted to zero that you have nothing left to lose?!”

His voice shook violently as he muttered his next words. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you… It’s just that if that person finds out I talked… my recommendation for higher education will be completely ruined!”

“You little shit—” Ishizaki flared up again, raising his fist.

“I said stop, Ishizaki.” This time, Ryuuen clamped his hand around Ishizaki’s wrist, squeezing with enough crushing force that the larger boy actually winced.

Releasing his subordinate, Ryuuen turned his attention back to the terrified senior, his smile returning—gentle, yet entirely devoid of warmth. “How about this? Let’s both take a step back. I understand you’re in a difficult position, senpai…”

His tone shifted, becoming smooth and seductive, like a devil offering a contract. “Just give me the name of the man you’re so terrified of, along with a few key pieces of information. In exchange, I’ll transfer fifty thousand Private Points into your account right now. A fair trade, wouldn’t you agree?”

The senior’s eyes wavered, torn between fear and greed.

After a grueling half-minute of agonizing silence, his resolve finally broke. “…It’s Vice President Nagumo. Listen, Class A gets all the privileges and the best teachers, while the other classes are left to either transfer out or graduate in absolute disgrace! All four classes are locked in a ruthless competition!” Realizing he had just spilled the core secret of the school’s hierarchy, he slapped a hand over his mouth. “U-Uh, that’s all I can say! Now, what about my fifty thousand points?!”

Ryuuen’s lips curled into a cruel, mocking smirk. He slowly adjusted his cuffs, brushing off imaginary dust. “Who said anything about giving you fifty thousand points?”

He tilted his head, looking at Ishizaki with a mask of exaggerated confusion. “Ishizaki, did you hear me say something like that?”

Catching on instantly, Ishizaki let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Hahaha! Senpai, you must be hearing things!”

“You… you bastards!” The second-year trembled with pure rage, pointing a shaking finger at Ryuuen.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.

In a flash, Ryuuen’s amusement vanished. His eyes darkened into a predatory glare. “While I’m still in a forgiving mood, get the hell out of my sight. With those pathetic, disjointed scraps of information… you should be grateful I’m not making you vomit up the food you just ate.”

The senior opened his mouth to protest, but the sheer malice radiating from Ryuuen’s gaze made him shudder violently. Swallowing his pride, he scrambled out of his chair and fled the cafeteria in utter disgrace.

Ishizaki watched the pathetic retreat, scratching the back of his head. “Ryuuen, didn’t we already know that? A kind person tipped us off about the class competition on the second day of school.”

Ryuuen scoffed, his eyes filled with disdain. “He’s just a piece of trash from the second-year Class D. That was the absolute limit of what we could squeeze out of him.” He tapped his index finger against the table, his mind already shifting gears. “What about the other matter? Any progress on Vice President Nagumo?”

Ishizaki’s thuggish demeanor instantly shifted into serious apprehension. “I only managed to find out his full name: Nagumo Miyabi. But…” He lowered his voice, leaning in closer. “Every time I try to ask a second-year student about him, the moment that name leaves my mouth, they look like they’ve seen a ghost. They clam up completely. Aside from his name, I can’t dig up a single thing.”

Ryuuen narrowed his eyes, staring thoughtfully out the large cafeteria windows. “To terrify an entire academic year into absolute silence… he sounds like a rather entertaining opponent. Still, it’s far too early to pick a fight with the second-years. First, we need to unravel the rest of the rules and crush the other first-year classes.”

‘What kind of twisted game is this school really running?’

From the very moment he had stepped through the gates of the Advanced Nurturing High School, Ryuuen’s instincts had screamed that something was fundamentally wrong.

Whether it was the absurd rule that points could buy anything or the cryptic, condescending hints dropped by their homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, everything pointed to one absolute fact: the School Administration was deliberately hiding the true nature of their existence here.

Yet, despite days of relentless probing and intimidation, he had only managed to pry loose a few fragmented truths from the cowardly upperclassmen. He knew the school segregated classes strictly by merit, and that the four classes were pitted against each other in a zero-sum war. That was it.

The second-year students were entirely suppressed under the iron fist of Vice President Nagumo, forming an impenetrable wall of silence. And when Ryuuen had attempted to corner a third-year Class D student, a member of the Student Council had materialized out of nowhere to issue a stern warning before a single word could be exchanged.

The entire upper echelon of the school was shrouded in an invisible, suffocating net.

Ryuuen and Ishizaki finally turned to leave, striding through the crowded cafeteria aisles. Just as they neared the exit, a striking flash of silver-white caught Ryuuen’s peripheral vision.

Seated alone at a table by the window was a girl with ethereal silver hair. A beautifully crafted cane rested against her chair as she elegantly portioned the food on her plate, her movements refined and aristocratic.

As if sensing the weight of his stare, the girl slowly raised her eyelashes. Through the chaotic, noisy sea of students, her eyes locked flawlessly onto his.

Their gazes clashed in mid-air.

The corners of the girl’s lips curved upward into a faint, serene smile. It was the look of a grandmaster examining a particularly unruly, yet ultimately insignificant, chess piece.

“Ryuuen? What’s wrong?” Ishizaki asked, following his leader’s halted gaze in confusion.

“…Nothing.” Ryuuen tore his eyes away, his voice dropping to a dangerously quiet register.

That condescending, analytical look—that was supposed to be his exclusive right. It was his weapon, used to dissect and belittle his prey.

And yet, this crippled girl had just turned it back on him, executing it with an effortless, innate arrogance that far surpassed his own.

‘Are these the arrogant elites of Class A? Heh. If I punched such a delicate girl, she would probably cry for a long time.’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.