COTE: Popularity System

Lunch break.

Yamauchi Haruki, who had just come out of the cafeteria, walked with an arrogant swagger.

Who would have thought?

A guy like him, at the very bottom of the class, would actually be favored by a student from another class?

And it was Sakayanagi Arisu from Class 1-B!

Yamauchi Haruki felt his future was infinitely bright, as if after graduation he could marry a beautiful, rich woman and reach the pinnacle of life.

"Hehe, although Sakayanagi is clumsy, I'll take good care of her for the rest of her life, seeing as she's so cute."

Yamauchi Haruki was about to return to the classroom to show off to his cronies that another beautiful girl from the next class had invited him to eat.

Just then, an unfamiliar boy's voice sounded beside him. "Excuse me, are you Yamauchi-san?"

Hearing someone call him, Yamauchi Haruki was slightly startled, looking around blankly. "Who called me?"

He looked all around but found no one nearby, so he said loudly, "Don't hide, I've seen you! If you don't want to be dragged out by me, come out yourself!"

He was, of course, lying, just trying to scare the other party. However, the stranger showed no intention of coming out.

The unfamiliar voice sounded again. "Yamauchi-san, don't be nervous. I am a student from Class 1-B."

"Class 1-B?"

Yamauchi Haruki paused. "Sakayanagi's class?"

"That's right."

The hidden stranger paused, then continued, "You've been very close with Sakayanagi-san recently, and I couldn't help but want to talk to you."

"Are you jealous of me?"

Yamauchi Haruki realized, then put his hands on his hips and proudly raised his chin. "I get it, you're a class B student, and you really like Sakayanagi. But now that you see Sakayanagi likes me, you feel envious, jealous, and hateful, right?"

"...You're right, I am jealous of Yamauchi-san."

Takada Hikaru, hiding in the dark and deliberately speaking in a different voice, almost burst out laughing, but managed to hold it in.

He was currently using the [Voice Actor] skill he had recently exchanged from the System Mall, speaking to Yamauchi Haruki in a voice imitating Hiroshi Sugio.

"I knew it!"

Hearing that his deduction was affirmed by the other party, Yamauchi Haruki's pride and arrogance reached their peak.

Seeing this, Takada Hikaru knew it was time to move on to the next topic, so he suppressed his laughter and said, "Although I do like Sakayanagi-san, I hope even more that Sakayanagi-san can find happiness."

"When she interacts with Yamauchi-san, I see her truly smile, so I know that Yamauchi-san is definitely the one who can give her happiness."

Yamauchi Haruki's face lit up upon hearing this, and his voice involuntarily became a few shades louder. "That's right, I can definitely give Sakayanagi happiness!"

"I also believe Yamauchi-san can do it, but..."

Takada Hikaru changed the subject, "Yamauchi-san is currently troubled by the class vote and is very likely to be expelled by his classmates, right?"

Under Sakayanagi Arisu's guidance, the candidates for expulsion from Class 1-C were basically locked on Yamauchi Haruki and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

As things stood, Yamauchi Haruki had the highest chance of being expelled.

Yamauchi Haruki's expression turned strange. "What's there to worry about? Didn't Sakayanagi say that your Class 1-B would give all external praise votes to me?"

At that time, even if the entire Class 1-C cast Criticism votes against him, once offset by the external Praise votes from Class 1-B, he would not be expelled.

"Yamauchi-san certainly won't be expelled, but if you receive too many Criticism votes, Yamauchi-san won't be able to become the person with the most praise votes in the class." Takada Hikaru said.

"Most praise votes?" Yamauchi's face looked bewildered at the words.

"In the Class Poll, the person in each class who receives the most praise votes will receive a protection point, which can be used to cancel one expulsion penalty."

Takada Hikaru's lips curled slightly. "Yamauchi-san is the one who will give Sakayanagi-san happiness, so you should receive a protection point from Class 1-C to continue protecting Sakayanagi-san, right?"

"That's right!"

Yamauchi Haruki reacted, then his expression became strange. "But people from other classes will vote for Hirata and Kushida, so they'll definitely be the ones with the most praise votes, right?"

"Not quite, Yamauchi-san."

Takada Hikaru continued, "You can now receive praise votes from an entire Class 1-B. If you try harder in Class 1-C's internal vote, you might surpass Hirata and Kushida and become the most popular person in Class 1-C."

"Just follow my instructions next..."

— — —

The next morning.

Class 1-C.

Seeing that everyone in the class had arrived, Horikita Suzune stood up from her seat and said to the whole class, "May I have a moment of your attention? Regarding the Class Poll to be held tomorrow, I have a new idea."

After listening to her words, the Class 1-C students felt strange.

"Horikita, didn't we agree to choose one person to expel from Yamauchi and Ayanokoji? Are you still looking for other candidates for expulsion?"

Horikita Suzune shook her head. "No, the scope of expulsion still remains within those two. During this time, I have been thinking about the strategy for passing this exam, analyzing who should be expelled, and finally found the answer. Now, I will inform everyone of my answer."

Her sharp eyes looked towards the corner of the classroom. "Yamauchi-san, you have been colluding with Sakayanagi-san from another class during this time, carrying out a plan to expel Ayanokoji, haven't you?"

Following Horikita Suzune's gaze, the rest of the class also looked towards Yamauchi Haruki.

"Colluding with Sakayanagi from another class?"

"Yamauchi, have you betrayed us?!"

Feeling the angry glares from the entire class, Yamauchi Haruki's face stiffened.

He hadn't expected his plan with Sakayanagi to be discovered by the class. Fortunately, Sakayanagi's secret admirer had already told him how to deal with it.

"Horikita, I've indeed been close to Sakayanagi recently, but that's because she likes me."

Yamauchi said without batting an eyelid, "If that's all it takes to say I'm colluding with Sakayanagi, then you're going too far."

"Are you jealous that Sakayanagi can go on dates with me?"

What the heck!

What kind of logic is that?!

Horikita jealous that Sakayanagi can date him?

Wouldn't that imply that Horikita likes him?

The class was instantly stunned.

Although Yamauchi Haruki was usually bold, he was unexpectedly so bold as to even spread rumors about Horikita Suzune.

Horikita Suzune naturally understood Yamauchi Haruki's implied meaning, and her expression immediately turned even colder.

But right now, expressing her thoughts was the most important thing.

"Yamauchi, since you say you didn't collude with Sakayanagi-san from another class to frame a classmate, could you please let us check your phone?"

"If you truly didn't collude with Sakayanagi-san, then you shouldn't mind our inspection, right?" Horikita Suzune continued her offensive.

"Uh..."

Hearing her words, Yamauchi Haruki broke out in a cold sweat, his heart tightening.

On his phone, there were naturally records of his collusion with Sakayanagi Arisu. Even deleting them now would be useless.

In this school, by spending points, deleted chat records could be recovered. If Horikita Suzune were to inspect it, his cooperation with students from another class to frame his own class would definitely be known to everyone in the class.

Normally, Yamauchi Haruki would be helpless and unable to resist. Fortunately, that unknown admirer of Sakayanagi Arisu from Class 1-B had provided a countermeasure.

"I, Yamauchi-sama, am magnanimous, so of course I'm not afraid of inspection!"

Yamauchi mustered his courage and said in a loud voice, "Horikita suspects me of colluding with outsiders, that's why she wants to check my phone."

"However, besides me, others in the class cannot be excluded from suspicion of colluding with outsiders, right?"

"If we're going to check, then let's check everyone in the class."