COTE: Popularity System

It turned out that shortly after the start of the Sudō fighting incident, Sakayanagi Arisu brought people to Class 1-C and showed Ryūen Kakeru the video.

The content of that video showed inconsistencies in the severity of the Class 1-C students' injuries after the fight, indicating that Class 1-C had lied and deceived the school.

At the same time, the Class 1-C students were also guilty of framing Sudo.

Committing a serious violent incident, framing a classmate, and deceiving the school.

These three things combined were enough to get the Class 1-C students involved in the incident expelled.

And in the event of expulsion, Ryūen Kakeru, as the instigator, would likely be exposed. At that point, all four people would be packed up to go home.

To prevent the story from developing into the worst-case scenario, Ryūen Kakeru signed a contract with Sakayanagi Arisu, agreeing to pay her 800,000 Private Points every month.

Class 1-C became Sakayanagi Arisu's ATM, so it was necessary for Sakayanagi Arisu to refine Ryūen Kakeru's imperfect plan.

She commanded her subordinates to join the incident, utilizing factors like surveillance in the cafeteria and Sudō Ken's short temper to once again lure him into striking, getting him expelled.

Sakayanagi Arisu's decisive action—expelling a student from another class without hesitation for profit—led to the following thoughts among the viewers.

[I thought Sakayanagi was an onee-san type, but she's a loli!]

[White Stockings Loli! Step on me!]

[Such a trashy loli, I love it!]

[Sakayanagi is so strong! She earned 800,000 Private Points monthly right after her debut and got Sudō from Class D expelled. She must be the second highest-status character, second only to Money-Giving Guy, who started with 20 million.]

[Speaking of which, did Money-Giving Guy really not intervene in this operation? I feel like that's unusual.]

[Didn't Money-Giving Guy lend money to Kushida?]

[Haha, Money-Giving Guy is performing consistently.]

Just when some viewers thought Takada Hikaru truly hadn't participated in the operation, in the screen, Sakayanagi Arisu was making a phone call.

"Takada-san, I have transferred 400,000 points to your account. Have you received them?"

"I have received them." The satisfied voice of a boy came from the other end of the line. "I didn't expect Arisu-san to get involved too."

"It can't be helped that Ryūen-san's plan had too many flaws. If I hadn't helped, he might not have been able to pay us." Sakayanagi Arisu squinted slightly, her eyes radiating a cold smile.

"Arisu-san's style is indeed different from Kōhei-san's." Takada Hikaru's voice came through. "If it were Kōhei-san, he would likely be afraid of getting implicated and wouldn't bother with this."

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled slightly and said, "Katsuragi is indeed that kind of person. Takada-san, didn't you deliberately send the video separately to the two of us precisely to gauge my strength and operational style compared to Katsuragi?"

Takada Hikaru didn't deny it, then said admiringly, "That's right. With your ability, Kōhei-san will probably lose miserably."

"That's for sure."

As a confident smile appeared on Sakayanagi Arisu's face, the episode drew to a close.

[I knew it, Money-Giving Guy definitely participated.]

[What exactly did Money-Giving Guy do?]

[I rewatched the plot. It seems Money-Giving Guy gave the video proving Class 1-C's framing to both leaders of Class B simultaneously. Then Katsuragi didn't use it to threaten Ryūen Kakeru, but Sakayanagi did, and she earned 800,000 points every month.]

[Why did Money-Giving Guy do that? Wouldn't it be better to threaten Ryūen Kakeru himself?]

[Sakayanagi said it. Money-Giving Guy wanted to use this incident to observe the abilities and operational styles of Class B's two leaders, which is why he didn't intervene himself.]

[Haha, Money-Giving Guy earned 20 million in the first month, so he certainly wouldn't care about a contract for 800,000 points per month.]

[In the Sudo fighting incident, Suzune was on the first floor, Ryūen was on the second floor, Ayanokoji and Sakayanagi were on the third floor, and Money-Giving Guy was the mastermind on the final floor.]

[What about Sudo?]

[He's in the basement.]

[Sudo, how can I live without you? You must learn how to elbow strike properly!]

[Classroom of Sudo has officially concluded!]

— — —

The next morning.

Class 1-A.

Hoshinomiya Chie arrived in the classroom and wrote down the first-year class points situation.

Class A: 1030

Class B: 1004

Class C: 400

Class D: 0

A student who didn't know what had happened raised their hand curiously, "Sensei, why did Class D's class points become 0?"

Hoshinomiya Chie said, patting her chest with relief, "That's because someone in Class D was expelled by the school. It's a good thing all the students in my class are well-behaved and don't fight. Everyone should take this as a warning and absolutely not fight."

Hearing her words, the Class A students couldn't help but start discussing.

"Class D? That must be Sudō."

"He apparently beat Ishizaki from Class C pretty badly. I didn't expect the school to expel him directly."

"The school's oversight on violence is indeed very strict."

As early as the first day of school, Hoshinomiya Chie, as their homeroom teacher, had told everyone that the school prohibited violence and bullying, and severe cases would result in direct expulsion.

Such things are emphasized even in regular schools, so the Class A students didn't pay too much attention. But upon seeing a student from their own year truly being expelled, they couldn't help but be amazed by the school's swift action.

"Sudō-kun was expelled by the school, his friends must be very sad, right?" Andō Sayo sitting next to Takada Hikaru said sympathetically.

Hearing this, Takada Hikaru chuckled and said, "I think only Yōsuke and Kikyo from Class D would be sad."

"Huh?" Andō Sayo was slightly stunned.

"Are you saying Sudō-kun has no other friends besides Kushida-san and Hirata-kun? That's really pitiful."

Kushida Kikyo and Hirata Yōsuke were everyone's good friends. If he had no other friends besides the two of them, it was equivalent to having no friends at all.

However, Andō Sayo's idea was wrong. Sudō Ken had friends, and quite a few of them.

"Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, are actually all his friends." Takada Hikaru said, listing them off like a menu.

"But after Sudō Ken's expulsion, they are no longer friends."

Takada Hikaru knew, even without watching the anime, that the people in Class D were cheering for Sudō's departure. Of course, there should also be anger.