The scene at the school gate—two people who looked like a bickering couple flirting—stirred up quite a commotion.
After all, the two leads, even if you wouldn’t call them a golden couple, were both at a glance the sort of good-looking guy and pretty girl who belonged to the popular, socially fulfilled tier; just walking down the street, they drew no small amount of attention.
Axel End had only intended to take things so far and no further.
Assigning a task to Suzune Horikita, beyond wanting to knock her down a peg, was also a way for him to see just how harsh the system’s penalties actually were.
As far as the results went, he was quite satisfied.
“Keep making a scene and you’ll draw the student council over here.
You don’t want to become famous around school on your very first day, do you?”
That single sentence stopped Suzune Horikita cold.
The emotions about to erupt were forcibly stuffed back down.
Having swallowed the loss in silence, the beautiful girl shot him a vicious glare, then turned and strode quickly away from this hotbed of trouble.
Axel End stretched lazily.
Suzune Horikita’s figure might not be top-tier, but in the overall rankings she still placed near the front—it was just that at this stage her temper and her mouth were far too foul, and she’d need a good, hard breaking-in.
“Let me see which class I’m in.”
“Oh?
Class D?
That works, I guess.”
Setting everything else aside, Class D had the greatest number of pretty girls, and it was also the class the original story’s protagonist belonged to, occupying the bulk of the early plot—all of which favored his own performance.
Nothing more to say.
Full speed ahead.
Because he’d been delayed a bit at the school gate, by the time Axel End arrived at the first-year Class D classroom, pretty much everyone was already there.
But Kikyō Kushida’s reaction seemed a little odd…
Oh~ Could it be she’d seen, or heard, that Suzune Horikita had thrown herself into his arms?
Tsk, tsk.
Better give up early.
Suzune Horikita is a woman you’ll never have.
“What a truly dreadful bit of fate.”
Axel End’s seat was to the right of Suzune Horikita; as for the left—the back-row window seat—it had already been claimed by Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
With the seating laid out like this…
it looked like he’d have to think of a way to drive the guy off.
No man lets another sleep soundly beside his own bed.
After all, now that he’d arrived on the Classroom of the Elite set, wouldn’t it be a wasted trip if he didn’t openly and grandly show off and chase girls?
Before he had the system he really would’ve had to call you “Big Bro Ayano,” but now that he had the system, you’d have to call him “Big Bro End”—that seat, you’ll give it up whether you want to or not.
But he wasn’t in much of a hurry.
After all, there were no extra open seats right now; even if he really did steal Ayanokōji’s protagonist throne, he’d still end up seated at the desk to the right of Suzune Horikita in the end—essentially no different.
“Personally, I think this is a fate written in the stars.
Speaking of which, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I?
My name’s Axel End—please treat me well.”
“…”
Seeing himself ignored, Axel End didn’t get angry; he just sat there in his seat and waited for the homeroom session to begin.
But before that, there was still one classic ritual.
“Hello, everyone.
My name is Yōsuke Hirata.
I’m fairly good at sports, and if possible I’d like to join the soccer club.
I’m very glad to be classmates with all of you.”
A boy who looked like the very definition of a sunny, cheerful young man stood up, and after an enthusiastic self-introduction, suggested everyone introduce themselves too, to speed along the formation of little cliques.
The first to take the lead in responding was Kikyō Kushida.
“Hello, everyone.
My name is Kikyō Kushida.
I’m so happy to meet you all.
I hope I can become good friends with everyone and make lots of easygoing, happy memories together~”
Kushida, sis, can we not put on the fake act, please?
At your age, still playing the two-faced game is a little immature.
Axel End propped his chin on his hand and enjoyed this house-of-cards little farce, while at the same time checking out Class D’s two other fresh, tender stalks of leek.
Hm?
Why only two?
In his eyes both Mei-Yu Wang and Haruka Hasebe were also tender, appetizing little cabbages—hey, system, don’t go playing favorites based on popularity.
[Character: Kei Karuizawa]
[Age: High school girl]
[Height: 154cm]
[Measurements: B:76(C) W:54 H:77]
[Current Relationship: Classmate]
[Special Attribute: McDonald’s]
What a fine McDonald’s.
Practically an innate—no, rather I should say an acquired…
holy vessel.
Isn’t she truly worthy of being the premium little fat sheep he had the highest hopes for?
But admiration aside, Axel End held the same zero-tolerance attitude toward that whole “NTR” business; once the timing was ripe, he planned to have Kei Karuizawa take her revenge with her own hands.
The main theme being a mind set free—shattered, then rebuilt anew.
OK, next.
[Character: Airi Sakura]
[Age: Mommy-tier]
[Height: 153cm]
[Measurements: B:96(F) W:60 H:90]
[Current Relationship: Classmate]
[Special Attribute: Hidden Heroine]
My goodness, a hidden heroine.
Truly, each one is more heavyweight than the last.
But going by how the original story develops, if Kiyotaka Ayanokōji hadn’t intervened…
Ahem, ahem!
Then again, for a national-level school like Advanced Nurturing High School to let a dank, creepy fat-otaku pervert stalker into its halls really is a miracle—what on earth is the personnel department even doing?
So much for the ranting.
Just then it happened to be his turn to introduce himself.
“Axel End, ordinary high school student.
My dream is world peace.
I hope everyone can live easy and happy—that’s all.”
No need to come off too flashy.
In any case, some of the things he’d do later on wouldn’t leave any good impression on this bunch of Class D students anyway.
After him, Suzune Horikita simply stated her name, giving off a “don’t come bother me” aura—reverse-farming affection points right out of the gate.
“Bang!”
Accompanied by Ken Sudo—looking every bit the delinquent thug—kicking a desk, the atmosphere in the class froze for a moment.
Fortunately, Sae Chabashira entered the room right on time.
“Quiet.
The homeroom session begins now.”
An office-lady uniform plus black stockings really is a textbook classic, and paired with the teacher’s status, it’s hard for her not to make the must-eat list.
A shame she’s a failure as a teacher—she can’t hold a candle to the adorable Shizuku next door.
While letting his mind wander like this, Axel End took the student handbook and the all-in-one-style student ID being passed from the front to the back.
“Sae Chabashira.
I’m in charge of the first-year Japanese History course, and I’ll also be your homeroom teacher for the next three years.”
“I’ll now go over some things you need to know.
Please listen carefully and don’t interrupt me at will.”
Axel End yawned.
Nothing worth listening to.
It was nothing more than the same old song and dance: three years of closed-campus management, but with well-equipped internal facilities that provide a rich array of entertainment; then on the first of every month points would be issued as living expenses, and everything in the school could be bought with points.
That said, right now was actually a decent moment to issue a task.
Without any change in his expression, Axel End glanced over at Suzune Horikita.
The girl, who took everything seriously, was taking notes and didn’t seem to notice this little movement of his.
Whatever.
Go!
[Target: Suzune Horikita]
[Issue Task: Ask Sae Chabashira, “Will the points loaded onto our student IDs on the first of next month still be 100,000?”]
[Task Reward: 50 Points]
Surely no one could fail a pure freebie of a task like this?
No way, right?
No way?
On her end, Suzune Horikita did indeed receive the task notification, but for a moment she couldn’t quite make up her mind.
It wasn’t that the task was hard—this time it really was a very simple task, and it didn’t go against her own wishes either—but of all things, she just didn’t much want to play into Axel End’s hands.
Still, she didn’t hesitate for long.
Because—
[Penalty upon task failure: Deliver a heartfelt love confession to Axel End in front of the entire class and Sae Chabashira.]
Are you kidding me?!
Right now she’d love nothing more than to stab Axel End to death with a compass; if she were really made to do something so socially suicidal again, there’d be absolutely no way to show her face at school anymore.
Bang—and just like that, fast as anything.
With an unprecedentedly resolute expression, Suzune Horikita stood up, and under the watchful gaze of the entire class and Sae Chabashira, she said:
“Teacher, will the points loaded onto our student IDs on the first of next month still be 100,000?”