The Little Tyrannosaurus Is Gone, and Now We've Got a Loyal Dog! Kamuro, You've Been Staring for a While, Haven't You?

The student assignments had not been random; they had been determined through a comprehensive assessment across several areas.

Outstanding elites went to Class A, corporate drone-level students went to Class B, socially inclined types went to Class C, and as for Class D, it was probably a garbage dump.

Learning this put everyone in Class A at ease.

After all, their classmates had all been selected for their excellence, so there would be far fewer deadweights or useless teammates padding the roster.

Still, the school was fairly kind.

Even though the students' abilities differed, all four classes had initially been given 1,000 Points in class evaluation scores.

At the same time, during their three years at the school, the rankings of Classes ABCD were fluid. As long as a class had a higher class evaluation score, it could move up in rank.

So right now, all four freshman classes had evaluation scores of 1,000 Points.

And the Class A students had learned this in advance, which was reassuring.

Otherwise, if they were not careful, they might be in Class B or Class C next month. That would have been enough to make anyone lose it.

Since this information had cost half of the class's Private Points, Teacher Majima had also revealed two more pieces of intelligence.

1. The first month after enrollment was meant to assess whether students noticed the ways this school differed from the outside world.

The specific assessment was that students' usual conduct and behavior would be included in the evaluation.

In other words, things like kicking trash cans or fidgeting in class would result in point deductions.

And those deductions would come from the 1,000 Points the school had assigned to each of the four classes.

2. At the same time, the school encouraged students to save up Points, because here, as long as you had Points, you could buy anything.

You could even transfer to a higher-ranked class. For 20 million, you could choose to switch classes.

Even protection from expulsion could be bought.

The price for avoiding expulsion was also 20 million Points.

These two goals were basically impossible.

But it was always good to have ambitions.

At that moment, Oreki looked at the blue system window before him.

The Little Tyrannosaurus Was Gone, and a Loyal Dog Had Arrived! Kamuro, You've Been Watching for a While, Haven't You!

Oreki discovered that his mission window had updated after he obtained information about the school.

[Main Mission: Investigate and obtain information about this school (Completed), and earn 200,000 Points.]

[Mission Deadline: 23 hours 49 minutes]

[Mission Reward: Teleportation (Can travel to places you have visited three times per day)]

[Bonus Reward: Set home as a fixed base. Can teleport home once per day without consuming a use (requires first obtaining Teleportation)]

[Mission Progress: 50% + 0%]

Just as expected, the mission to investigate the school's information had already been completed.

However, he still had to fulfill the requirement of earning 200,000 Points.

Oreki lightly propped his chin up with one hand.

Then he put down his phone.

However, the school's official procedures were still underway.

After explaining the school rules to the students, Mashima, as their homeroom teacher, immediately arranged for textbooks to be brought in. Once they had been distributed and the schedule written on the board, the teacher chose to leave.

The students were now free.

"Oreki—"

Once free time began, the steady Katsuragi headed toward Oreki's desk.

He intended to recruit Oreki.

Or rather, if Oreki had not proactively raised the subject of whether they would put another 100,000 Points in next month, the class would not have immediately learned the school's rules.

As a result, Class A had taken fewer detours and seized the initiative earlier than the other classes.

So, in summary, Oreki was very sharp.

He possessed excellent insight.

If that insight could be used for Class A—

It would be extremely useful.

Katsuragi wanted to graduate from Class A, then obtain a good position or enter the university he wanted without taking entrance exams.

So he needed the support of capable people.

And he judged Oreki to be quite good.

At the same time, he already had a reliable plan.

This time, because they had learned the school rules first, Class A could widen the gap with the other classes after this month's Behavioral Standards Exam.

In other words, Class A had gained an advantage for free.

Then they only needed to maintain that advantage until graduation.

It was a stable plan.

However—

"He's not here," Hashimoto Masayoshi said.

"Come to think of it, Classmate Sakayanagi isn't here either~" another student said.

Naturally, no one assigned to Class A was an idiot.

They quickly realized that the school's promotional claims were misleading, and that only graduating from Class A in their third year would actually amount to anything.

Naturally... they all charged toward that goal.

But could they rely only on themselves?

That was a no-go.

Even if they had been assigned to Class A, could they remain first in class evaluation scores through at least thirty-six exams over three years?

So, they needed to find some big shots to cling to.

Katsuragi was one such person. He had Student Council experience, and the plan he proposed was also quite reliable.

But—

Some people also valued Oreki's insight, as well as Sakayanagi Arisu's suggestion to spend money buying information, which might have set a precedent.

So they might be able to obtain extra Points from the school.

In other words, Sakayanagi had also gathered some support.

But—

Neither Oreki nor Sakayanagi was in the classroom right now.

That was right.

Neither Oreki nor Sakayanagi was in the classroom.

After going downstairs, Oreki headed to the second-year building, then the third-year building.

Finally, he stopped on the first floor.

There were bulletin boards on the first floor of all three grade-level buildings.

However, the freshman bulletin board was empty.

But the second-year and third-year boards had information posted.

For example, the third-year bulletin board read:

Class A: 2645 Points

Class B: 1701 Points

Class C: 695 Points

Class D: 90 Points

If someone suddenly saw the classes and scores displayed on the bulletin board, they would feel confused.

But—

Having already spent 2 million Points to buy the school rules, they understood.

These were the class evaluation scores.

After more than two years and all sorts of exams, the third-year students' class evaluation scores had become clearly differentiated.

And the Student Council President should have been a student from Class 3-A.

"Come to think of it, Oreki, are you interested in the class rankings of the third-years too?"

"That makes sense. Class 3-B is 900 Points behind Class 3-A, so it looks like they've been left far behind."

"But if you helped Class 3-B climb upward, the rewards and sense of superiority you could gain would both feel quite satisfying."

The white-haired girl with a cane, who had followed behind Oreki, said this.

Hearing her voice, Oreki turned around.

All right.

Sakayanagi Arisu really was a Tyrannosaurus.

Oreki confirmed it.

Although she was still small, her sharp insight and aggressiveness already carried the ferocity she would have once grown up.

Yet despite already knowing the school's rules and how important it was to keep her class in Class A—

She was more interested in challenging the third-year students.

She was truly different.

It seemed that only challenges of that level of difficulty could interest her.

However, Oreki glanced at the cane Sakayanagi held.

He had already chosen the mission to investigate the school and earn 200,000 Points.

So he should not entertain thoughts of taking her cane.

"But what do you think, Oreki?" Sakayanagi lightly blinked, putting on a cute expression.

She was probably the type who knew she was cute.

So she assumed a pose that could be photographed at any moment.

"I don't have any grand ambitions," Houtarou Oreki said. "I just want to be an ordinary student. And then contribute to the class."

"Is that so? I think you seem rather driven, Oreki," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "I saw it. When Teacher Mashima announced the rules, you recorded it, didn't you?"

"..."

Indeed.

Oreki had made a recording.

He still had the mission to earn 200,000 Points within the day.

Since Points could be used to buy information, why could he not sell information as well?

Information that cost 2 million Points to obtain should be easy to sell for 200,000.

"You need money, don't you, Oreki? Then why not join me? We can team up and farm the third-years. I think the upperclassmen in Class 3-B would welcome juniors who could help them gain Points," Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to be extending an olive branch.

"I'll pass," Oreki did not like doing that sort of thing.

Besides—