COTE: Popularity System

The bus heading to Advanced Nurturing High School was full of students wearing red uniforms.

Takada Hikaru boarded the bus with other new students. After seeing the blond man sitting in the priority seat, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he's in the same batch as the protagonist.

Takada Hikaru had transmigrated to this world over a decade ago. In elementary school, he learned about Advanced Nurturing High School from others, thus realizing he had transmigrated into the Classroom of the Elite world.

Although Advanced Nurturing High School was mocked as a vocational school free-for-all in his original world, in this world, it is a top high school backed by the government.

Just the fact that tuition isn't required during enrollment is enough for parents in Japan to send their children to ANHS.

Not to mention, the school also advertised that after graduation, students could freely choose their desired university or job.

In the eyes of the uninformed, getting into ANHS means half of one's life is already a success.

Takada Hikaru had read the original series and knew that the school's propaganda was nothing but lies. But considering three years of free tuition, he, whose family wasn't wealthy, still chose to study at ANHS and... activate his system.

[Host detected participating in the plot.]

[Popularity System activated successfully.]

A cold voice echoed in his mind, but to Takada Hikaru, it sounded incredibly melodious and pleasant.

As a transmigrator, having a system is a common occurrence. However, some activate it as soon as they transmigrate, while others activate it only after more than ten years. Takada Hikaru belonged to the latter.

According to the requirements, he had to participate in the original plot for the system to activate.

'Good thing I'm in the same year as the protagonist.'Takada Hikaru thought to himself, feeling fortunate.

If he were a year older than Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he might have had to study for a year before being able to activate the system. Fortunately, his luck was good. Not only was he in the same year as the protagonist, but he was even on the same bus.

What was happening now should be the classic scene from the original series—not giving up a seat to an old lady.

[First!]

[Woohoo! New series starting!]

Comments appeared before Takada Hikaru's eyes.

According to the system, the world he was in had turned into an anime, projected into another world. In that world, Classroom of the Elite was an original anime. This meant that for the viewers, what was happening at the moment had no original work for reference, and they were completely unaware of the anime's future development.

[A protagonist with no emotions, no desires, and no words is really rare.]

[The girl with long black hair sitting there is so cute.]

[This is my waifu, don't even think about it.]

[Nonsense, she's clearly my waifu!]

The emotionless protagonist and the long black-haired girl mentioned in the comments were likely Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune.

According to the Popularity System's description, the protagonist of this anime was still Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and the camera's perspective would mostly focus on him.

Takada Hikaru, on the other hand, had to seize opportunities when the camera was nearby to showcase himself to the audience as much as possible, thereby gaining popularity points. The accumulated popularity points could be exchanged for abilities and skills through the system, enhancing his strength.

Takada Hikaru's academic and athletic abilities were considered excellent in a normal school. But in ANHS, a school full of monsters, he might only be able to rank in the upper-middle.

With the help of the Popularity System, his strength might soon surpass Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the White Room's masterpiece.

'Currently, my Popularity Points is 0. I must seize this opportunity to stir up some trouble.'

Just as Takada Hikaru was pondering his next move, a dispute broke out on the bus.

[Is this blond guy sick? Not giving up his seat to an old person and still complaining.]

[The protagonist is also a monster. With young people like you, the nation is definitely doomed.]

[Our values don't align, I'm dropping this.]

The comments in front of him became denser.

Takada Hikaru quickly retracted his thoughts and enabled comment shielding, ensuring that only a few key comments flowed before his eyes.

'The audience is actually criticizing Ayanokoji? It seems his inner thoughts from the original novel have been revealed to the audience.'

The anime adaptation of Classroom of the Elite changed a lot of the original content. In the first bus incident, the anime did not depict Ayanokoji's inner thoughts at the time, whereas the original novel had a detailed description of them.

In short, the protagonist believed that although the elderly had contributed a lot to the country in the past, young people were now more useful than the elderly, so young people were more entitled to a seat on the bus.

Without knowing that Ayanokoji was an emotionless egoist, after learning his thoughts, people would definitely find him monstrous and sick, so it's no wonder the audience got agitated.

[The protagonist looked at the black-haired girl next to him.]

[My wife will definitely give up her seat to the old lady next, right?]

The audience's comments came in, seemingly placing all their hopes on Horikita Suzune. But unfortunately, she also had no intention of giving up her seat.

Facing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's gaze, she merely glared at him in dissatisfaction, then did nothing more.

[I'm done, are all the characters in this anime heartless?]

[Original anime plots really aren't good. The characters are drawn so well, yet after only a few minutes of airing, it can already deter a wave of viewers.]

Seeing that Horikita Suzune also made no move, the audience's emotions became quite dissatisfied.

Takada Hikaru looked at the comments and felt it was time to act. Even though the chances of success were slim, he still needed to try.

Perhaps this attempt would make the audience notice him?

Takada Hikaru walked forward, coming before Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and asked with a smile, "Classmate, could I ask you to give up your seat to the old lady?"

"Why me?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said expressionlessly, his voice flat.

"I'm willing to pay 1,000 yen." Takada Hikaru didn't answer the question but pulled out a banknote.

"Sorry, I don't want to do something like that." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head.

Just standing up and giving up a seat to get one thousand yen, many people would be happy to do it. But as an isolationist, he didn't want to do anything conspicuous.

"Then..."

Seeing him refuse, Takada Hikaru wasn't disappointed. Instead, he looked at the male student sitting next to him, a passerby. "Excuse me, are you willing to take 2,000 yen and give up your seat to the old lady?"

Saying that, Takada Hikaru pulled out another banknote.

At Advanced Nurturing High School, paper money cannot be used. Even if kept, it wouldn't be of much use. Might as well use it to leave a good impression on the audience.

[Rich guy, Venmo me 50!]

[What rich guy, this is my husband!]

[This guy is so handsome, he must be an important character!]

[Could it be that he's the protagonist?]

[Not only is he handsome, but he's also willing to spend money to tell people to do good deeds. This kind of talent should be the protagonist.]