No tense calculations, no undercurrents of confrontation,
Life seemed to return to the calm rhythm expected of a school.
Students from Classes A, B, and C, under the invisible influence of their respective leaders or core figures, gradually adapted to the high-intensity studies and rules of Koudo Ikusei High School. Classroom discipline was orderly, with students either focusing intently or diligently taking notes, and an atmosphere of positive competition permeated the air.
However, in Class 1-D, time flowed with exceptional noisiness.
Whispers during class, blatant napping by students in the back rows, tardiness, and even occasional truancy were commonplace, punctuating a loose and disorderly routine.
Teachers also seemed to adhere to a laissez-faire approach, turning a blind eye to the commotion under their noses.
Amidst the almost extravagant indulgence and laziness supported by monetary points, time quietly slipped to May 1st.
On the morning of May 1st, the classroom of Class 1-D was as noisy as usual.
Students poured in in twos and threes, yawning, complaining about last night's games or waking up early, while others gathered, excitedly discussing something.
However, the clamor was interspersed with a rising tide of questions.
"Huh? What's going on? My points..."
"Hey, what about yours? Did any points come in?"
"No! What's happening? Didn't they say they'd be issued today?"
"Me too! Not a single point added!"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sat expressionless in his seat, as if the classroom's commotion had nothing to do with him.
He took out his phone, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and the screen lit up.
His gaze fell on the point display in the corner of the screen.
82235 points.
Not a single point different from the number at the end of yesterday.
This was clearly unreasonable.
During the first class meeting of the school year, the homeroom teacher, Chabashira, had clearly informed all students:
On the first day of each month, 100,000 personal points would be deposited into each student's personal account on time.
The surrounding clamor stemmed precisely from this—almost all Class D students discovered that the points, which should have arrived on time, were nowhere to be found.
Just as the wave of questions grew louder, a tall figure appeared at the classroom door.
She had a neat black high ponytail, wore a fitted black slim-fit jacket over a simple white shirt, with one button at the collar seemingly deliberately undone, subtly revealing a hint of a deep V-neckline.
She wore black stockings and black high-heeled leather shoes.
Her face was stern, carrying the capable air characteristic of a professional woman.
It was Class D's homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.
She held a rolled-up paper document in her hand, walked to the podium with a calm expression and steady steps.
"Return to your seats."
The students instinctively fell silent, returning to their places.
The classroom quickly became quiet, with only the sound of chairs being dragged.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's gaze fell on Chabashira Sae.
In his mind, his past assessment of her was like a cold label: complacent, lacking the guiding demeanor a teacher should possess.
Since the start of school, she had almost never substantively intervened in or guided such class chaos.
Chabashira Sae, standing at the podium now, still maintained a detached expression.
"We will begin the morning homeroom meeting."
She placed the paper roll in her hand on the podium and announced in a flat voice.
However, before she could formally begin the agenda, an impatient voice rang out.
"Teacher! I have a question!"
It was Yamauchi Haruki, sitting in the back row.
He raised his hand high, his face unable to hide his urgency and confusion.
He was probably one of the few students in the class who spent points most aggressively, most eagerly anticipating the arrival of new points, and most unable to accept any delay or absence.
Chabashira Sae's gaze coldly swept over Yamauchi Haruki's raised hand.
She didn't scold him for interrupting, nor did she motion for him to lower his hand; she merely lifted her chin slightly, her meaning clear: speak.
Given tacit permission, Yamauchi Haruki immediately asked loudly:
"Teacher, why haven't our personal points been transferred? Didn't you say 100,000 points would be issued on the 1st of every month?"
All eyes in the classroom instantly focused on Chabashira Sae.
Clearly, this was everyone's question.
The subtle hint of sarcasm on Chabashira Sae's face finally became clear.
She even tugged at the corner of her mouth slightly, revealing an almost disdainful smile.
"No,"
Her voice echoed clearly in the quiet classroom,
"This month's points have already been issued."
"Ah?!"
Yamauchi Haruki froze, his urgency turning to bewilderment on his face,
"But... but we didn't receive any!"
The atmosphere in the classroom stirred again.
"That's right!"
Ike Kanji also stood up, pointing at his phone screen,
"Teacher, look! They haven't been transferred at all!"
"Me too! My points are still the same number!"
Another student loudly chimed in.
Facing the students' questions, Chabashira Sae's sneer became even more pronounced.
"They have been issued. There's absolutely no mistake about that."
She repeated,
"Furthermore, it's impossible that only our class was forgotten. Point issuance is a unified operation."
"But they haven't actually been transferred!"
"What exactly is going on? Is there a problem with the school?"
Ike Kanji pressed on.
"You all..."
Chabashira scanned the classroom, her gaze sweeping over the faces filled with confusion, anger, and unease,
"Are truly too foolish."
This sudden assessment was like a bucket of cold water poured over all the Class D students.
Everyone froze, staring blankly at their homeroom teacher.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, Chabashira Sae slowly picked up a piece of chalk from the podium, turned, and quickly wrote a shocking series of numbers on the blackboard:
"Do you know?"
"In just one month."
"Absences: 98 times."
"Violations such as unauthorized talking during class, using mobile phones, and other electronic devices: 391 times."
After writing these two numbers, she turned, tossed the chalk back into the chalk box, propped her hands on the edge of the podium, leaned slightly forward, and looked down at the entire class, which had instantly fallen silent:
"Truly astonishing 'results.' In just one month, I'm amazed you managed to achieve such a level."
"In this school, your class performance, your 'results,' will directly affect the amount of personal points issued each month."
"The final review result is that,"
"Each of you, the initial points you received on the first day of school, which was 100,000 points, have already been—completely deducted."
"So, this month, the points issued to your class are—"
She picked up the chalk and, below the two shocking violation data points, drew a large, glaring circle, then heavily wrote inside the circle:
0
"Zero."
Dead silence.
The classroom fell into a deathly silence.
"Zero...?"
A girl's trembling voice broke the silence.
"You're... joking, right...?"
"Does that mean... we have to live penniless?"
Sudo Ken murmured blankly.
Immediately, a louder wave of noise erupted.
"What a joke! What kind of ridiculous rule is this?!"
Yamauchi Haruki was the first to shout, his face flushed red.
"We didn't even know there was such a rule!"
Ike Kanji also shouted excitedly.
"That's right! Never heard of it!"
"This is unfair! It's absurd!"
Facing the furious crowd, Chabashira Sae merely watched coldly, without the slightest change in her expression.
She let the students vent for a moment before speaking again, her voice raised, full of mockery and disdain:
"Hmph, naive."
"Do you really think that for ordinary high school students like you, the government would provide 100,000 yen every month, without any conditions, for you to spend as you please?"
"You don't actually believe in such a windfall, do you?"
"Anyone with normal social common sense knows this is impossible."
"This is Koudo Ikusei High School!"
"This school only recognizes 'ability.' And all of you"
Her finger mercilessly swept across the entire class.
"You are all worthless trash with zero points."
The word "trash" pierced every Class 1-D student's heart like an ice pick.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained calmly seated in his spot, holding his phone, the 82,235 points on the screen glowing faintly under his fingertips.
He looked up at the sharp-tongued woman on the podium, then lowered his head to look at his points balance on the screen, understanding dawning on him.
As he had expected...
He had made some small but detailed observations earlier due to a slight interest in Sakamoto.
The overall behavior patterns of Class 1-A, and Sakamoto's seemingly peculiar yet information-laden actions,
all subtly pointed towards a complex evaluation system.
He had deduced the framework of this s system: individual points were not given out of thin air; their origin lay in the class's overall evaluation.
The better a class performed, the higher its overall evaluation, and thus the larger the base individual points each member would receive monthly.
Conversely, points would be deducted until they reached zero.
However, what surprised him slightly was the enormous gap between Class 1-D and the other classes... it had been directly cleared to zero.
This class was indeed thoroughly useless.
He moved his phone away, his gaze falling on the blackboard.
At this moment, Chabashira Sae seemed to feel that the blow wasn't thorough enough.
She picked up the chalk again and quickly listed a few more lines of data:
"As of May 1st"
"class points Ranking"
"Class 1-A: 1000 points"
"Class 1-C: 910 points"
"Class 1-B: 820 points"
"Class 1-D: 0 points"
Looking at these four lines of perfectly clear comparative data, the last trace of color drained from many Class 1-D students' faces.
Absolute zero.
Bottom of the barrel.
Even Class 1-C was far above them.
"Do you see clearly?"
Chabashira Sae tapped the blackboard heavily with the chalk, producing a harsh clacking sound.
"Class ranking is determined by the class points. This means that starting this month, Class 1-C will directly become Class 1-B."
Her gaze swept over the faces below the podium:
"You might as well think hard,"
"why, starting from the same point,"
"after only one month,"
"they were able to establish such an 'advantage'?"
"And you..."
Her gaze finally settled back on the large "0",
"only have this left, don't you?"