Chaos in Classroom of the Elite: Class 1-C

Currently, the internet, especially the Yukata Contest forum, is filled with criticism directed at Takahashi Yukata, as if every competitor wishes it would collapse immediately, showing no tolerance at all.

This reaction is quite normal. After all, everyone else is competing fairly, building reputation and quality, and keeping prices low. But then here comes Takahashi Yukata, disregarding the rules with aggressive sales tactics, unwilling to join in the competition. Who can tolerate that? If this continues, it could make the hard-earned reputations and quality they've worked on for over a decade seem worthless.

Years of additional costs have made them intensely resistant to Takahashi Yukata's approach. As a result, the disapproval snowballed through word of mouth, and soon the industry's public opinion was full of harsh criticism of Takahashi Yukata.

On the Yukata Contest website, Takahashi Yukata's page still has competitors' criticisms, but suddenly, an odd comment pops up: "Still here complaining? Something's happened — you guys actually dared to commit arson. Bold move."

Another similar comment quickly follows: "Wow, is competition really this intense now? Setting fires for a bit of market share — that's truly criminal."

What's going on? What's this about? The other businesses are instantly baffled; they had only seen comments either criticizing or defending Takahashi before. Now, these unexpected comments have left them completely confused.

A helpful bystander posts a link, and the competitors finally learn what's happening.

Clicking the link reveals a video from Takahashi Yukata. If it were just a promotional video, it wouldn't get much attention; few internet users would bother watching. However, the title of this video grabs immediate attention: "Even in the face of malicious arson by competitors, we will still fulfill orders on time!"

The title alone is a powerful hook, and the competitors immediately click on the video, which opens with footage of Takahashi Yukata engulfed in flames, clearly filmed from nearby.

Next, after the fire was extinguished, standing before the charred wooden building, the owner, Mr. Takahashi, sobbed bitterly on camera: "Thankfully, our staff spotted it early and managed to extinguish the fire before it caused a greater disaster!"

"But we must get to the bottom of this and find out exactly which competitor is responsible!"

At this point, someone off-camera, invisible to viewers, begins to ask questions: "Mr. Takahashi, why are you so certain it was a competitor's malicious act and not just an accidental fire at your workshop?"

"Impossible," Takahashi, showing surprising skill in acting, wiped tears from his eyes yet spoke with conviction, holding up a fire safety schematic designed by Horikita. "This is our workshop's fire safety plan!"

"Our workshop is built of wood, so we've taken fire safety extremely seriously. Experts have reviewed this plan and confirmed that there's nothing wrong with the design. We even inspect all fire safety equipment every three days — there are absolutely no issues!"

"And besides, we're participating in the Yukata Contest. But on the contest's website, there's been endless defamation of our products by competitors! This is malicious competition — it's envy from others in the industry!"

At this point, the video shifts to the arriving firefighters. The interviewer conveys Takahashi's words and questions the firefighters.

The firefighters respond truthfully: "Yes, after our inspection, we confirmed that this was indeed an act of arson, and several fire extinguishing tools at Takahashi's workshop had been deliberately sabotaged, leading to this incident."

With these professional testimonies, Takahashi's suspicions are no longer just conjecture; they take on an air of legitimacy.

Upon seeing this, many competitors feel a chill down their spines, instinctively calling each other to ask who could have dared to do such a thing.

Even if they disapprove of Takahashi's aggressive marketing tactics, nobody would take it this far. If they're implicated in an investigation, it could ruin them.

"Hey, hey! No jokes — was it you guys from Aoi Workshop who set the fire? What? It wasn't? We've been friends for years, and you're hiding this from me? You don't trust me?"

"It's got nothing to do with us! Honestly, we wouldn't dare do something like that!"

"Right, did you see Takahashi's video? I suspect it was probably that workshop making the loudest noise that set the fire. What do you think?"

The industry competitors monitoring Takahashi's workshop were thrown into total disarray, calling each other repeatedly but failing to pinpoint who had done the deed.

However, none of them suspected Takahashi would set fire to his own business. Who would be that crazy? With that assumption in mind, they were all inclined to believe that one of their competitors had set the fire but was afraid to admit it.

It made sense—someone who did something like this wouldn't openly confess afterward, practically inviting trouble.

But now, they all realized that with Takahashi's tearful complaints all over the video, this would inevitably be investigated. They, the competitors, would be the prime suspects.

So they quickly ordered their staff to delete every critical review they'd previously left—leaving none behind! The last thing they wanted was to end up wrongfully accused. Even if cleared, it would waste a lot of time and effort. Better to keep a low profile for now.

Because of this, they remained suspicious that one "bold competitor" had orchestrated the fire, but none would investigate further—it would damage relationships and create friction among peers.

As a result, none of them ever discovered that the true instigator behind the fire was actually Takahashi himself.

Meanwhile, the video continued, shifting to scenes of Takahashi's workshop, with diligent employees and the hardworking AN High School students burning the midnight oil, working tirelessly to make yukatas.

Standing beside the camera, Takahashi, eyes glistening with tears, said, "Recently, we've received a lot of orders, and it may well be that this success provoked envy among competitors, leading to such a disaster."

"But no matter what, our clients have entrusted us with their orders, and despite all these challenges, we will deliver on time without causing any trouble for our customers!"

At this point, the video's comments were filled with thumbs-up emojis and expressions of praise for Takahashi: "This is what a trustworthy company looks like. Even in the face of a sudden fire, they're committed to delivering on time. Truly reliable."

"Look how dedicated they are! Even though this was clearly an act of sabotage by a competitor, they haven't given in to despair or anger. They're staying true to their promises. Honestly, if my girlfriend ever wants a yukata, I'm definitely taking her to buy one from Takahashi's."

"Wow, I shouldn't have blindly trusted online reviews. I was thinking of going to the Harvest Festival and saw that Takahashi's yukata designs looked great, but the reviews were so bad that I didn't buy one. Turns out it was all just malicious competition! From now on, I'm only buying yukatas from Takahashi!"

And so, the tide of public opinion had completely turned. Ordinary promotions might not stand out, but the video's gripping footage of the real flames at the start captured everyone's attention.

This maximized the impact of the message, and now Takahashi himself could hardly contain his joy—he was actually being called a "trustworthy company" by the public! It was the kind of success he wouldn't have dared to dream of.

...

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