After Ichinose Honami finished presenting her plan, her gaze swept across the class. Soon, responses came from all directions.
"I agree!"
"This plan is excellent. There are pros and cons, and we can all fully dedicate ourselves to the class."
"Yes, this rule seems fair and understandable to everyone."
Once Class B grasped the ins and outs of the reward system, everyone immediately rallied behind the idea. No one wanted to be at a disadvantage. To use the dismissal insurance accumulated by the class with a clear conscience, one had to either contribute financially or actively help the class.
"Very well, thank you for your support."
Ichinose Honami bowed to Class B, then walked over to Hashima.
"Thank you, Hashima. With these two plans, I'm sure no one in Class B will be dismissed!"
Seeing the relief on the girl's face, Hashima nodded.
"I think so too. Good work, Ichinose."
"It was Hashima who came up with the idea; I'm just implementing it." A dreamy look appeared on Ichinose's pretty face. She murmured, "If only it could always be like this..."
"What?"
Hashima hadn't heard her clearly, but as he was about to question Ichinose, a new notification appeared on his system interface, capturing his full attention.
[The two plans you designed to help Class B have been approved by your classmates. Ichinose Honami's trust in you has increased. Ichinose Honami's stock price has risen by 10 points. Current price: 120.]
Across from him, when Ichinose heard the young man's question, her heart skipped a beat. She realized she had almost voiced her wish for Hashima to always stay by her side. She quickly recovered and explained, "It's nothing, you didn't miss anything important."
"Hashima, you can announce the end of the meeting now. Everyone needs to start taking action, right?"
"Indeed."
Hashima didn't dwell on what he might have missed. Seeing the stock price rise satisfied him greatly. He stepped back onto the stage with a smile and announced loudly,
"Today's class meeting is over. You can start acting freely according to the plan I presented."
"Remember, don't disclose our plan to anyone."
"Understood, don't worry, Hashima!"
After Hashima announced the end of the meeting, the students in Class B began leaving the room in small groups. They formed teams with their friends and discussed the locations they had chosen.
These tasks, coordinated freely by the students, didn't need to be rigorously assigned by Hashima. He had no intention of planning every detail.
He wasn't the father of Class B, and the students in this class weren't children. They were all capable enough.
Once almost everyone had left, Hashima glanced at Ichinose, who was still in the classroom surrounded by a few girls. They seemed to be discussing the best shampoo to use.
This topic didn't interest Hashima at all. He simply nodded to them before leaving Class 1-B.
"Ha-Hashima-kun..." Ando gathered her courage.
Hashima looked at her with a neutral expression, then smiled slightly.
"Let's do as usual, Ando-san~"
"Huh? What do you mean..."
Hashima still knew too little about the school. He decided to take a walk around the campus and gather some information, brushing aside Ando's feelings—it really wasn't his problem.
The day passed quickly. When Hashima returned exhausted to his dorm, notifications on his phone continued to flood in.
He opened them and saw that most were from the Class B group chat. Everyone was actively sharing information, including their observations from the day.
"It's going pretty well, isn't it?"
After this remark, the young man peacefully lay down on his single bed. The intense mental activity of the past two days had left him exhausted. He hoped he wouldn't lose his hair because of it.
Thinking about this, Hashima opened the system's [Exchange Shop]. Lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Stock Analyzer: 1000]
[Bow and Arrows: 2000]
[Piano (Beginner): 150,000]
[Basketball (Expert): 200,000]
[Intelligence: 500,000]
According to the system's rules, the items in the [Exchange Shop] were updated once a month. Except for the [Stock Analyzer], which could be purchased multiple times, the other items could only be bought once.
"Apart from the Sports Booster, the other items can wait a bit. Intelligence is important, but 500,000 is a bit expensive!"
After purchasing the Sports Booster yesterday, Hashima still had 169,000 system funds. He could only buy a few items from the shop. He quickly closed the system page.
"Anyway, I need to speed up the development of new stocks."
Hashima thought silently. Ichinose Honami's stock price was steadily rising. As long as he didn't deviate from the overall strategy of elevating Class B, the stock price wouldn't be a problem for now.
After solving his endurance issue with the Sports Booster, he wanted to use the system's [Exchange Shop] to acquire more skills or attributes, to better position himself in the upcoming class competition.
"I'll try my luck tomorrow. Maybe I'll encounter new stocks."
Filled with hope for new stocks, Hashima quickly fell asleep. He had to get up early the next morning to run.
The next day, after his workout, Hashima entered the 1-B classroom with his breakfast. He noticed that, like the day before, the students quickly turned to look at him as soon as he entered the door.
What was going on now?
"Hashima, it's terrible!"
A student, Beppu Ryota—the boy he had tasked with gathering information about Class C—called out anxiously as soon as he saw him.
"Beppu, what's wrong?"
Once seated, Hashima listened attentively to what the boy had discovered.
"Yesterday, I followed your plan and went to talk to Oda Takumi at the volleyball club. I learned something important."
"What is it?"
"Oda said that Class C's leader hasn't been chosen yet, but a dangerous person is gathering the class and is about to succeed."
"Dangerous?"
Hashima's expression changed. He immediately asked, "What do you mean by dangerous?"
"Oda said there's a student in their class named Ryuen Kakeru who, to become Class C's leader, is using violence to force others to vote for him. He's already gained a certain number of votes."
"?"
Violence?
Upon hearing this word, a realization flashed through Hashima's mind. He suddenly understood that he had made a serious mistake.
When devising his plans, he always started with assumptions. He thought all students admitted to Tokyo Advanced High School respected the rules.
But if someone didn't respect the rules, or even crossed the line, all plans had to be immediately adjusted, or problems would arise.
"I see. If that's the case, it's indeed problematic."
Hashima's expression turned serious. If Class C's future leader was a violent individual, the situation needed to be reassessed.
"Beppu, don't worry for now. This information is important. I think we need to reconsider our approach to Class C."
"Let's wait until everyone's here."
"Got it."