COTE: Hikigaya's Classroom of the Supreme Being

After school that day, Hikigaya bypassed his usual library visit and headed to a room in the club building.

Hikigaya entered the shogi club's activity room after knocking and receiving permission.

The room was about the size of a standard classroom, furnished with several shogi boards. While a few members were engrossed in reading in one corner, the rest were either deep in their games or standing by to watch.

A boy not participating in the game addressed Hikigaya.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Hello, I'm Hikigaya Hachiman from the first year," Hikigaya introduced himself with a bow. "I heard you can bet points here. Is that true?"

The room's atmosphere shifted instantly. Most of the members stopped their activities and cast curious glances at Hikigaya. He observed their reactions, silently noting each one.

"Where did you hear that?" the boy inquired.

"I saw a post on the school forum last night saying some clubs allow point betting, so I wanted to check."

"Which post?"

"It disappeared quickly, and I couldn't find it again when I refreshed," Hikigaya said with a shrug. "If I'm mistaken, I apologize."

"You're right, it is possible," the boy confirmed, a smirk forming on his face.

"By the way, I don't know which class you're in. I'm from Class C, Grade 3."

"I'm from Class D."

"Oh, in that case, let's play," the senior said, his attitude shifting to one of slight disdain. The other members, unimpressed, returned to their games.

This reaction was predictable to Hikigaya, who thought, I must have caught a group of unsuspecting fools.

Suppressing a smirk, he followed the senior to an empty table. They both sat down.

"So, how much do you want to bet?" the senior asked.

"Hmm… 50,000 points," Hikigaya replied.

"Are you sure? Betting that much all at once?" the senior asked with a hint of disbelief.

"It's fine. I'll get more next month, and I don't have much to spend on anyway," Hikigaya said, which elicited another round of contempt from the senior. The senior, however, was eager to accept the bet.

"Then it's set. 50,000 points."

Hikigaya took his turn and, after half an hour—

"Damn it, I was careless!" The senior exclaimed, frustration evident in his voice.

In reality, Hikigaya had been holding back. He could have won in fifteen minutes but chose not to, aiming to keep the other seniors engaged and unaware.

"Ah, it was just luck. Here's my number," Hikigaya said, presenting his phone with a polite smile.

Reluctantly, the senior transferred the points. Hikigaya knew he could not back out, given the presence of surveillance cameras and witnesses.

"Lucky for you this time. Care for another round?" the senior asked, clearly irked.

"Sure," Hikigaya agreed. "But do you have enough points? If it's too little, I won't be interested."

The senior's face fell as he realized he had lost everything.

"Step aside, Fujii. Let me play with him instead," another senior, a confident girl, announced.

"Be careful, he's no novice," warned the senior.

"I know. Watch me get revenge for you," the girl said confidently.

Hikigaya, hiding his amusement, assumed a cautious demeanor and started a new game.

Twenty minutes later—

"Ahhh! I shouldn't have made that move!" the girl cried out, yielding another 50,000 points to Hikigaya.

Having won twice in a row, Hikigaya now drew more attention from the other members. The realization that Hikigaya was not an ordinary opponent began to sink in.

Eventually, the vice president of the shogi club, who had been observing, approached with a skeptical look.

"Hey, are you pretending?" He asked.

Hikigaya smiled. "Isn't it the seniors' fault for underestimating me just because I'm from Class D?"

"…Huh?"

After a moment of confusion, the room erupted in disbelief.

"You're a first-year student, and you've figured this out?"

"It's only been a week since school started."

"How did someone like you end up in Class D?"

Despite the gag orders placed on the second and third-year seniors, they were openly expressing their shock. The vice president shook his head with a rueful smile.

"I admit defeat. You've outplayed us."

"Sorry," Hikigaya said, slightly embarrassed. "I'm from Class D, so I'm trying to earn as many points as I can for our future."

"It's fine. Losing is losing. But if you can see through us this well… How about joining the shogi club? Performing well in official competitions could earn you a lot of points," the deputy minister offered.

"I'd prefer to decline," Hikigaya replied politely.

"That's understandable," the vice president said, not pressing further but inviting Hikigaya to play anytime.

Hikigaya, having earned a total of 300,000 points, decided not to return soon.

He knew continuing might mean facing more formidable opponents.

Although he nearly lost to the vice president, he wasn't eager to refine his shogi skills further.

Hikigaya reflected on his strategy: winning points was about more than skill. He avoided becoming overconfident, knowing that excessive betting could lead to losses masked as mere bad luck, eventually trapping players in a cycle of endless defeat.

His goal was to secure points before Sakayanagi could surpass him. The true challenge lay in being faster and more strategic than her.

...

Over the next two weeks, Hikigaya explored various clubs.

Thanks to his work with club funding tables in the student council, he was able to target clubs worth his time, steadily increasing his points.

The variety of clubs at this school was astounding. From sports and cultural clubs to niche interests like board games and ghost stories, there seemed to be no end to the options.

Hikigaya even began to suspect that some clubs might be exploiting event funds.

Most clubs welcomed freshmen eager to gamble, seeking points. However, smaller clubs typically offered lower stakes and stranger games.

For instance, the Ghost Story Research Club bet on who could last the longest in a ghost story game—a bet Hikigaya declined, unwilling to tempt fate.

Interestingly, while the chess club had been drained of points by Sakayanagi, other clubs didn't appear to have suffered the same fate.

Hikigaya surmised that squeezing 600,000 to 700,000 points from a club was likely the limit, and Sakayanagi couldn't be relying solely on this strategy to defeat him.

One day, while contemplating which clubs to visit next, Hikigaya found himself face-to-face with someone he wished to avoid.

"Huh? What a coincidence, Hikigaya-kun," Sakayanagi Arisu greeted him with a smile, flanked by her three loyal followers.

Hikigaya sighed inwardly. So, my stealth mode has failed.

"Haha, if you look so displeased, even I might be hurt," Sakayanagi said, her elegance unchanged. Kamuro, one of her followers, seemed distressed.

A bad feeling settled in Hikigaya's chest. He responded nonchalantly,

"You're not being honest. You look quite pleased. And what kind of coincidence is this? You've been having Kamuro follow me every day, so you must have figured out my routine by now."

"Huh?!"

Before Sakayanagi could respond, Kamuro let out a distressed cry.

"Wait, Hikigaya! When did you notice me following you?!"

"Uh, the day after the bet was made, on my way to the shogi club."

"That was just the start!"

Kamuro sounded on the brink of collapse. In reality, he was deeply frustrated.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through the past two weeks?"

Kamuro exclaimed, clutching his head.

"Every day after school, I had to rush to Class D as quickly as possible, then stand in the cold wind for hours like a statue. Do you know how dull that is? At least you could have acknowledged me!"

"Um… Sorry?"

Hikigaya, unsure of how to respond, offered an apology.

"If you had told me earlier, I could have reported it to Sakayanagi and been free. Why on earth did you ignore me?"

"Isn't your complaint getting a bit odd? Just calm down," Hikigaya said, trying to soothe the visibly shaken Kamuro.

"Hehe, as expected from Hikigaya-kun, you never fail to amuse me," Sakayanagi remarked, her demeanor as indifferent as ever. Even with Kamuro's evident distress, she showed no sign of sympathy.

"Anyway, if everything's settled, I'll be on my way," Hikigaya said, preparing to leave.

However, one of Sakayanagi's followers, a menacing-looking boy with long hair, blocked his path.

"Really? Don't be in such a hurry. We haven't finished our conversation yet, have we?" Sakayanagi said with a smile.

"…The bet still has a week left, doesn't it? Or do you think you might lose and are trying to use your followers to interfere?" Hikigaya provocatively suggested.