COTE :  Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

"One more thing."

Mashima Tomonari raised a hand to check the time, then efficiently pulled a sheet of paper from his folder. He lifted his arm, fully unfolding the paper, and held it out to face the entire class.

"This is an entry form. It contains detailed information on all the competition events. You will need to decide the order of participation and the roster yourselves. Once you've filled it out, remember to submit it."

"Additionally..." Mashima's tone grew weighty once more, his gaze sweeping across the class before finally settling on Katsuragi Kohei. "After the deadline, for any reason whatsoever, substitutions of participants will not be permitted."

With that, he handed the entry form directly to Katsuragi.

So that's how it is...

A tacit, knowing silence instantly spread through the classroom. Quite a few sharp-witted Class A students exchanged meaningful glances, their eyes flickering with understanding.

Such an obvious hint—many of the brighter students in Class A had caught on.

That entry form was probably the only thing aside from each class's actual physical ability that could be manipulated. If another class figured out the contents of the entry form in advance, they could target Class A's students with precision strikes.

For instance, if they learned that Kito—Class A's strongest in physical ability—was participating in a particular event, they could send a student with even greater physical prowess to compete in the same event.

Or they could simply concede that event and dispatch their next-best athletes to other events to secure victories there.

"Remember, the deadline is the day before the Sports Festival. If you submit past the deadline, the school will randomly assign participants."

"Understood."

Katsuragi accepted the entry form and nodded firmly.

"Those are the general rules for the Sports Festival. Various situations that may arise during the events can be looked up in the materials. If you truly cannot figure something out, you may also come to the office and ask me."

Mashima returned to the lectern, straightened his back, and looked out at the class. "Are there any questions?"

"Sensei..." As his voice faded, Hashimoto Masayoshi, who had been reading through the materials, raised his hand.

"Just speak directly." Mashima nodded in acknowledgment.

"What if a participating student is truly absent due to unavoidable circumstances?"

Hashimoto gave the papers in his hand a light shake, producing a soft rustle, and remarked with a teasing tone, "For example, in the recommended-event relay race, first place alone is worth 150 points, while first place in an individual all-participant event is only 15 points. With a point value that high, if you're missing even one person, it'd be pretty hard to make up the difference, no question."

Fuyuji Mikage: "..."

Hashimoto, are you subtly suggesting that I could take out the students in Ryuen's class and win the competition?!

"The school has taken that into consideration as well," Mashima said. "The four recommended events allow substitutes as a special exception. However, the prerequisite is a payment of 100,000 private points per person. Naturally, whether that is worth it is for you to judge yourselves."

"Got it. Thanks." Hashimoto withdrew his hand with satisfaction.

So that was it—events with higher point values allowed personnel substitutions?

Wait!

Fuyuji's train of thought instantly connected. He reached out and snatched back the materials he had already handed to Morishita Ai.

One hundred thousand private points per person—ten people would be one million. That sounded like a lot, but in reality, Fuyuji's account had just received a deposit of over three million points today, and by next month's Sports Festival, another three million or so would be coming in...

The corners of Fuyuji's mouth slowly split open. A dark, eerie light shone from his eyes, followed by a bizarre, low chuckle.

"Heh heh heh..."

Should he let the pauper Arisu broaden her horizons and witness the fighting style of a wealthy class?

After all, there was no way the school would let students exchange such a colossal amount of points into yen anyway. The Class A students' purpose in contributing their points was simply to raise their class points and graduate from Class A.

"The next period will be moved to Gymnasium No. 1, where you will meet with the classes from the other school years. The remaining time is yours to use as you see fit."

After asking the class once more whether there were any further questions and receiving a clear "no," Mashima organized his documents and strode out of the classroom.

The classroom door clicked shut with a soft sound. As Mashima's footsteps faded into the distance, the lower-left corner of Class A immediately began to buzz with noise.

"Fuyuji-kun, do you have any arrangements you'd like to make?"

Katsuragi was the first to stand. Leading a small group, he quickly made his way over and handed the entry form to Fuyuji.

Although this Sports Festival tested physical ability, Fuyuji's victories in the previous two special exams had been far too spectacular. So, compared to himself, the overwhelming majority of the class still leaned toward having Fuyuji issue the directives.

Katsuragi understood this perfectly well, and was more than happy to accept it. Inwardly, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

After all, with the futures of forty classmates weighing on his shoulders, no matter how composed and steady he usually was, it was never truly easy.

Fuyuji, on the other hand—though he usually seemed so unreliable, slouching around with a careless, lackadaisical air—had twice stepped in and genuinely led Class A to open up a gap as vast as a chasm between them and the other classes, relieving most of Katsuragi's burden.

Sometimes, Katsuragi even wondered whether he should find a time to hand the position of Class A leader over to Fuyuji. That way, Class A's cohesion would rise to an even higher level.

"Nah."

Fuyuji leaned lazily back against his chair, waved a hand with zero motivation, and pushed the entry form back toward Katsuragi.

"This exam doesn't have nearly as much room for maneuvering as the last two. It'd be better if you handled it, Katsuragi-san. You usually deal with this kind of class business anyway. If I did it, I might just mess things up trying to be clever."

He yawned, and even the faint glisten of tears appeared at the corners of his eyes.

Please. This kind of work was clearly meant for corporate drones.

Wanting Fuyuji to do actual work? Absolutely out of the question.

"As for the Sports Festival, just go with your own ideas, Katsuragi-san. You're more thorough with things." Fuyuji smoothly and imperceptibly gave Katsuragi another bit of mental CPU-handling.

"Very well." Katsuragi nodded and said in a deep voice, "In that case, there's no rush to fill out this portion. We'll use PE class to uniformly test the whole class's various indices, then select the optimal choices."

This was where the advantage of Class A's high average academic ability came into play. Even if some students might fall into the bottom ten and have points deducted on the midterm, they hardly needed to worry about being expelled.

They could quickly consolidate the class's opinions without having to bicker endlessly over these matters.

"What about me, Fuyuji-san?"

Just then, Hashimoto, as slick as a greased fish, nimbly squeezed his way through from behind Katsuragi. Wearing an ingratiating smile, he leaned forward slightly and drew close to Fuyuji. "Any orders for me? This time, Kito's pretty much guaranteed to be our class's ace for the Sports Festival. Need me to do anything?"

He'd made a hefty profit off the cruise ship last time.

Standing silently off to the side, Kito Hayato's facial muscles twitched ever so faintly. He quietly turned his face toward the window, unable to bear watching Hashimoto's shameless bootlicking.

Fuyuji pondered for a moment, then turned his head. "There actually is a job that only you can do."

"What is it?" Hashimoto's professional smile instantly froze, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"Go make up with your old flame."

Hashimoto's businesslike smile gradually vanished. He slowly let out a single word: "Hah?"

After a few seconds of silence, he probed tentatively, "Ryuen?"

"Yes, Ryuen." Fuyuji confirmed. "Deploy your flamboyant bat diplomacy and go swindle him one more time."

Hashimoto's expression instantly twisted as if he'd swallowed a dead fly, ultimately dissolving into utter, hopeless despair.

Ten minutes later.

Hashimoto pulled out his phone and, with immense difficulty, typed out a line on the screen.

[Hashimoto Masayoshi: Ryuen, the truth is... I had my reasons... Actually, I've been dissatisfied with Katsuragi for a long time now!]

[Ryuen Kakeru: Piss off!!!]

...

Thirty minutes later, Advanced Nurturing High School Gymnasium No. 1.

The vast space roared with noise, the high-hanging dome lights illuminating the venue as bright as day. The air was thick with the restless energy of youth and the faint scent of sweat.

Over four hundred students and faculty from the entire school had assembled here, then been divided into Red and White groups. With the center line as the boundary, the enormous gymnasium was split in two—like two armies facing off against one another. The atmosphere was both fervent and faintly charged with the gunpowder of competition.

Walking at the head of the class column, Katsuragi wore a stern expression as he led the students straight toward the core of the Red group's gathering.

"Ho~"

Blending into the corner of Class A's crowd, Fuyuji raised a hand to his forehead and gazed out over the surroundings.

"Apart from the school opening ceremony, this is the first time I've seen this many people."

Soon after, once all the students had arrived, a powerfully built man with a crew cut and an overwhelming presence stepped out from the crowd. His voice boomed with authority:

"I am Fujimaki from Class 3-A, serving as the Red group's overall commander for this event."

"Hm?"

Fuyuji rubbed his chin, a look of mild surprise surfacing on his face. He muttered, "It's not that glasses-wearing siscon?"

A cool, indifferent voice drifted in from behind him, picking up his thread.

"I am not proficient in all things. Fujimaki has extensive experience serving as the head of related clubs. Entrusting this matter to him is more appropriate."

At some unknown point, Horikita Manabu had soundlessly positioned himself in another corner not far behind Fuyuji. He pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting the light and obscuring his eyes.

"That's not quite it."

Almost simultaneously, another voice—slightly frivolous, tinged with amusement—cut in from diagonally ahead of Fuyuji.

Nagumo Miyabi, one hand stuffed in his trouser pocket and the other casually tousling his trademark blond hair, strolled unhurriedly over. A flippant smile hung on his face as he spoke in Horikita Manabu's defense:

"Actually, Horikita-senpai is very adept at handling these matters. It's just that the Student Council has been undergoing renovations lately, and with the new semester just starting, he's been temporarily unable to get away."

The core students of all three A-classes across the school years had, by chance, gathered here.

"Are you two that bored?" Fuyuji tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Two A-class leaders, not organizing your class discipline but standing back here chatting."

"Leaving it to them is enough. I place absolute trust in the classmates I've worked alongside for three years."

Horikita Manabu folded his arms, his gaze still calmly fixed on Fujimaki speaking up ahead. His tone carried not a single ripple, as if he were stating something perfectly obvious.

"As for me..." Nagumo closed his eyes and spread his palms helplessly. "Things over there are just too boring. It's a bit more interesting here."

With that, Nagumo suddenly turned his head, his burning gaze locking onto Horikita Manabu. The flippant smile on his face was instantly replaced by an aggressive, almost predatory excitement. "How about it, Horikita-senpai? Let's settle this once and for all—right here at this Sports Festival!"

"Since you have kept to our agreement, I have no reason to refuse."

"Then I hope you'll bring your full strength to bear." Nagumo pressed further. "This additional event will comprehensively test each student's overall capabilities. A method of relying on a single physical attribute to claim victory is absolutely unworkable."

"That stands to reason."

Horikita Manabu nodded lightly, his tone as steady as ever. Then, his gaze shifted to Fuyuji, who had been watching the drama unfold from the sidelines.

"And you? Do you intend to step up this time?"

"Of course..." Fuyuji shrugged and said with a relaxed air, "Nagumo-senpai specially put up five million, didn't he? Winning a prize like that in a single competition—that's more profitable than the vast majority of special exams."

"How interesting~"

Nagumo dragged out his syllables, his grin growing more and more unrestrained, his eyes darting back and forth between Fuyuji and Horikita Manabu.

"The leaders of all three A-classes competing together—this should've happened ages ago. These five million points really were well spent."

"Um... just a reminder," Fuyuji took half a step back, his eyes narrowing. "I'm not one. Don't drag me into this."

Horikita Manabu and Nagumo's name recognition at this school was anything but ordinary. In just the few short minutes they'd been chatting, Fuyuji had already detected numerous gazes discreetly flicking in their direction.

Skipping over Fuyuji's meaningless protests, the two continued their idle talk.

"I'll state this in advance: although I provided the funding, I did not specially set up any checkpoint options advantageous to myself. The competition was entrusted entirely to the school." Nagumo said.

"On that subject, I merely offered suggestions to the school administration as well."

"Of course. Knowing Horikita-senpai's character, I trust you completely."

"Since I agreed to your contest, it naturally means I acknowledge the fairness of the competition."

...

"Well then, Senpai, I'll be waiting with great anticipation for that day to come." Nagumo inclined his head slightly, his voice brimming with unwavering confidence.

"My fighting spirit has been somewhat ignited by you as well."

Faced with the two of them brimming with motivation, Fuyuji appeared rather laid-back. He stuffed his hands back into his pockets, his body relaxing slightly as he said in a lazy, spectator's tone, "Well, you two do your best then."

In the midst of their chatting, Fujimaki had, without anyone noticing, swiftly finished going over the relevant points of attention.

"The only event that involves all school years is the final 1200-meter relay. Aside from that, all events are divided by school year. From now on, the students of each school year in the same group will gather and begin their own discussions."

As Fujimaki's voice fell, the atmosphere in the gymnasium instantly came alive. Students from each grade began moving and clustering together according to their instructions.

At the same time, the trio that had been standing in the corner exchanged a tacit glance, then naturally dispersed, each striding back toward the area where their own class was located.

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50 [Power Stones] = Bonus Chapter!