Classroom of the Elite: Surviving with the Intel System — Chapter 78

Chapter 78: Today’s Information: Shiina Hiyori Will Figure Out Shimizu Akira’s Identity

Friday morning arrived with a crisp, unforgiving chill.

Shimizu Akira finished his rigorous morning routine, his breathing steady as fine beads of sweat clung to his forehead. He grabbed a towel, wiping his face before picking up his phone. His thumb tapped across the screen, drafting a quick message to the Student Council President, Horikita Manabu.

【Before 7 PM tonight, the leaders of several classes should be arriving at the Student Council to sign the formal agreement. I’ll leave the rest in the President’s capable hands.】

He hit send. Staring at the screen, a faint pang of guilt actually surfaced. He had been tossing quite a bit of troublesome work Manabu’s way over the past few days. Even though the older Horikita had claimed he owed Akira a favor, making the guy work overtime on a Friday evening felt a bit ruthless.

The phone buzzed in his palm almost instantly. Manabu’s reply was characteristically brief and resolute: 【Understood.】

Akira stared at the glowing pixels, letting out a dry breath. “I made him work overtime again…”

‘How about… taking care of his sister as compensation?’

He narrowed his eyes, picturing the stern, unyielding face of the Student Council President suddenly breaking into a relieved, affectionate smile at the thought of his little sister being looked after.

A second later, Akira dismissed the thought. It was pure fantasy. Manabu smiling would be a genuinely terrifying sight. That man’s facial muscles were permanently locked into a state of absolute severity.

By the time Akira returned to his seat in the bustling classroom, the familiar, mechanical chime of his daily intel system rang out with perfect precision.

[Ding. Today’s information has been updated.]

[1. Kushida Kikyo’s blood type is A.]

[2. In May, the first person to deduce Shimizu Akira’s disguised identity was Shiina Hiyori from first-year Class C.]

[3. Advanced Nurturing High School’s point system, in order to simulate society, features a lending function linked to the social credit system. Outstanding debts will be automatically deducted when Private Points are issued at the beginning of each month.]

Akira rubbed his eyes, lingering on the second line. He half-suspected he had misread the text. His own name had appeared on the daily feed?

Well, who ever said his own secrets didn’t count as valid intel? That wasn’t the issue.

The real issue was that someone had actually seen through his disguise. Did this mean they had uncovered his alternate account?

First-year Class C. There was actually someone with that kind of intellect hiding in that viper’s nest? Akira drummed his fingers against his desk. It wasn’t that he looked down on Class C, but reviewing the surveillance footage yesterday had painted a very specific picture. His screen had been dominated by Ryuuen Kakeru, the man suppressing his entire class with the sheer gravity of a tyrant. Akira hadn’t paid much attention to the background extras.

‘Shiina Hiyori, huh? Deduction… Does that mean she operates like a detective? It seems Class C isn’t quite as weak as I imagined.’Filing that name away for future reference, Akira moved on to the third piece of data.’Hmm? You can even borrow money? Interesting.’

He had been wondering what would happen if the other classes completely failed to pay their Private Points, but he hadn’t expected the school to have an integrated loan policy.

Then again, this academy was designed to be a ruthless simulation of the real world. Thinking about it carefully, such predatory financial rules existed everywhere in society. Student loans and credit traps were entirely commonplace.

“Remember to come to tutoring on time after school today,” a cool, thoroughly unimpressed voice drifted over from the adjacent desk.

“Yes, I remember,” Akira replied softly, his gaze remaining fixed on the textbook resting in his hands.

They had already finalized their study schedule for the week.

“Your math and English scores are clearly excellent,” Horikita Suzune noted, her brow furrowing slightly as her slender fingertip tapped a rhythmic beat against the wood of her desk. “Why is your Japanese Language so abysmal?”

As his deskmate, she had been forced to witness this bizarre contradiction firsthand over the past few days. During English class, Akira’s pronunciation and grammar when answering the teacher were practically flawless, arguably more standard than the instructor’s. In math, the solutions he casually blurted out often took her more than ten seconds of intense calculation to verify.

Akira was clearly not stupid. On the contrary, his intellect was razor-sharp.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, his Japanese Language scores were consistently terrible. This extreme academic imbalance was entirely perplexing to her logical mind.

“Hmm… I guess I’m just naturally bad at it,” Akira replied with a dismissive shrug. His attention shifted, landing on the item currently resting in her hands. It was a rice ball, but it lacked the glossy, branded packaging of the campus convenience store. It was simply wrapped in a plain plastic bag.

“Could that be a handmade rice ball?”

“…!” Suzune stiffened slightly. “After all, all my points went to you.” She brought the rice ball to her lips and took a slow, deliberate bite.

Akira thought about it for a moment. She probably couldn’t even scrape together five thousand Private Points right now.

How pitiful.

For the sake of her brother—and considering she was acting as his future tutor—perhaps he should show a little mercy and treat her to a decent meal.

“I’ll take you out for a big dinner tonight,” he offered casually.

“…Reason?” Suzune blinked, clearly startled. Her immediate instinct was to refuse, but she recalled her recent resolve to soften her abrasive personality. So, she asked for clarification instead.

“To flatter you, my ‘teacher.’ After all, I don’t want to fail the upcoming exam, and this way I’ll feel much more at ease. Ultimately, it’s for my own sake,” Akira lied smoothly, leaning back in his chair.

“…Flatter me? Then let’s see exactly how much you are willing to spend.” Hearing his transactional logic, Suzune considered it for a moment and agreed.

Some people did feel uncomfortable asking for academic favors without offering a meal in return. She suspected Akira was lying about his motives, but she quickly reminded herself that this man had already extorted 105,000 points from her. A single dinner was a drop in the bucket.

‘Making sure you’re full shouldn’t be a problem,’ Akira calculated silently. He was on the verge of receiving a massive influx of points anyway; there was no need to be stingy with his current funds.

While they were talking, Kushida Kikyo suddenly stepped up to the front podium, clearing her throat to draw the room’s attention.

“Um, everyone, starting today, I will be acting as the class representative for first-year Class D.”

Hirata Yosuke stepped forward to join her, offering a warm, supportive smile. “This time, I’ve completely lost to Kushida. For this month, I will serve as her assistant and help manage her workload.”

The classroom immediately erupted into cheers.

“Congratulations, Kushida!”

“Damn it, Shimizu Akira got there first!”

“I want to go on a date with Kushida too…”

As the applause washed over the room, several male students shot venomous, envious glares in Akira’s direction.

“A date? Did you campaign for her?” Suzune’s voice cut through the noise, her sharp gaze piercing Akira.

This wasn’t born of jealousy. It was purely an instinctive, calculating alertness to his abnormal behavior. From what she had gathered about the man sitting next to her, he was absolutely not the type to engage in a losing transaction.

“She paid points,” Akira explained, keeping his answer brief.

“…How much?”

“Eighty thousand…”

“Eighty thousand?” Suzune’s eyes narrowed as the gears turned in her head. “I will pay that amount. Campaign for me in next month’s class representative election.”

Her tone was absolute. She had clearly weighed the value of the transaction and found it acceptable.

“…You want to run for class representative too?” Akira raised an eyebrow, genuine surprise coloring his voice.

“Of course.” Suzune straightened her posture, her chin lifting with haughty determination. “I told you, didn’t I? Since I have been placed in Class D, I will lead this class—all the way to the top of Class A.”

“Pfft—” Akira looked at her dead-serious expression and immediately burst into laughter.

Sure, he had previously entertained the thought that the future Horikita Suzune might evolve into one of the true leaders of Class D.

But the current her? She was leagues away from that level.

Was she completely delusional? What kind of cheap liquor had she been drinking to spout something so ridiculous?

“What are you laughing at?!” Suzune snapped, her composure cracking.

“Nothing,” Akira replied, wiping a tear from his eye. “I’m just laughing at you.”