The voice came from the right of the comic duo.
More precisely, it came from the second seat from the window in the last row of the classroom—the seat beside Bai Lan on his right.
The beautiful, long, straight-haired girl with the bearing of an ice flower, who had been quietly reading, cast them both a cold glance and continued, "As the saying goes: 'This is a humble dwelling, but my virtue makes it fragrant.' Only incompetent people blame their mediocrity on their surroundings. For capable people, even a shabby house will shine with splendor wherever they are. Besides, many great men hid away in remote mountain regions before becoming famous, cultivating themselves until the day they emerged and astonished the world."
Upon hearing this, Bai Lan immediately refused to take it lying down. He rolled up his sleeves and said:
"You want to refute my argument and pick a fight, huh? Wa-ha-ha~ State your name! This emperor never sprays insults at nobodies!"
Tsk~ A girl this beautiful is probably the class flower of this class, right?
Making the class flower cry on the very first day of school should earn him plenty of hatred from the simps. That counted as a satisfactory show of force.
Bai Lan was just about to compete with her in verbal sparring.
At that moment, the bell rang.
Immediately afterward, a woman in a skirt suit walked into the classroom.
The woman looked under thirty and had a very stern, serious air about her. Her long hair, which reached roughly to her waist, was tied into a high ponytail behind her head, making her look quite formidable.
The woman walked to the podium and began speaking:
"Welcome, new students. I'm Chazhu Sae, the homeroom teacher of Class D. I'm normally responsible for teaching Japanese History."
"Unlike other schools, this school doesn't reshuffle classes every year. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll be learning alongside all of you as your homeroom teacher for the next three years."
"The entrance ceremony will be held in the gymnasium one hour from now."
"Now I'm going to distribute some materials concerning this school's special rules. They were also given to you during the previous admission briefing. I believe you already have some understanding of what makes this school special, right?"
All the students nodded. This school was indeed unusual in every way.
Next, Teacher Chazhu explained some basic matters about the school. Things like "all tuition and miscellaneous fees are waived" and "unless there are special circumstances, all outside contact is prohibited for the next three years" had already been mentioned in the promotional booklet distributed after they passed the entrance examination.
Bai Lan had gone through it several times while researching ways to drop out. He could practically recite it by now.
Even so, a voice filled with "surprise" still came from inside the classroom.
"We can't leave for three years?"
Come on! Could they at least pay a little attention to information about the school that concerned their own futures?
Bai Lan shook his head, then lay down on his desk and casually flipped through the materials he had just received. He discovered that, compared with the copy he had read before, this one contained far more information.
Worth studying!
Next, a card and a smartphone were passed down from the front.
"What I just handed out were your student IDs and school-exclusive smartphones."
"The phones have all the functions of a smartphone, but their communication functions are limited to within the school. You can access and browse outside networks, but you can't send information externally."
"Your student ID can be used like a credit card, and you can use it to access all the facilities on campus. The method is simple: just present it to the machine's sensor..."
"What you need to pay attention to is that outside currency cannot be spent here. You can only rely on the points distributed by the school. Without points, you can't buy anything or pay for any service. Conversely, within this school, there's nothing you can't buy with points."
"The points will automatically be deposited on the first day of every month. At present, each of you should have been fairly distributed one hundred thousand points.
Each point is worth one Japanese Yen. I believe there's nothing else that needs explaining."
The students below began to murmur.
"One hundred thousand."
"One hundred thousand?"
"One hundred thousand!"
"Are you surprised? This school measures students according to their abilities.
"Your admission to this school proves that you possess the qualities required. These one hundred thousand points are a reward the school has granted you based on its evaluation of you.
"Don't be shy. Spend them however you like. Once you graduate, these points will be reclaimed, so there's no point saving them. You might as well spend them according to your preferences.
"If you don't want to spend them, you can transfer them to someone else. However, don't threaten others for their points. The school takes bullying very seriously."
"There shouldn't be anything else you want to ask, right? Then I wish you all—"
"Teacher! I have a question!"
Bai Lan suddenly raised his hand.
Chazhu looked toward Bai Lan's seat, then glanced at the seating chart.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka...
Had he been replaced?
Soon, she noticed the person sitting in front of Bai Lan and let out a sigh of relief.
He's still there, still there...
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was her hope of getting into Class A!
In truth, the gap between Classes A, B, C, and D had already opened up the moment the classes were assigned.
Class A consisted of outstanding talents with excellent overall performance in academics, physical ability, conduct, and speech.
Class B was slightly inferior, a mildly degraded version of Class A.
Classes C and D, meanwhile, were defective products meant to enrich "social diversity." The people in them either had some enormous deficiency in one area or were simply useless, trash, or scumbags. The difference was that Class D was generally even worse.
Chazhu had once been a student at this school, so she knew its true nature very well.
The 99% advancement and employment rate, along with the freedom to choose the school or job they wanted, was actually enjoyed only by Class A.
During the three years of high school, the four classes would constantly compete in academics and various other areas, after which they would be ranked again as Classes A, B, C, and D according to their results.
In the end, so long as Class A graduated as students of Advanced Nurturing High School, the other three classes would all be expelled. They would be transferred to other high schools and graduate as students of those schools instead.
Chazhu had been in Class D back then as well.
But that year's Class D had been surprisingly strong. Near graduation, they had nearly climbed into Class A and graduated as Class A students.
They had fallen just short...
And that "shortfall" had been closely connected to the "choice" she had made at the time.
It had become Chazhu's greatest regret.
How could class discipline possibly improve when I have to work with these vermin?
To make up for that regret, Chazhu had resolutely returned to this school after graduating from university. She became the homeroom teacher of Class D again and again, trying to successfully lead a Class D all the way up into Class A.
However, all these years later, she had never succeeded. Forget Class A—she had never even reached Class B.
Just as Chazhu was nearing despair, she accidentally learned something. She learned that a super-genius would be assigned to this year's Class D. Apparently, he had some flaws in his personality, but that wasn't a major problem...
With him, Class A was within reach!
And that super-genius was—Ayanokoji Kiyotaka!
However, this super-genius didn't seem intent on displaying himself proactively. Even after someone stole his seat, he hadn't said a word.
This wouldn't do...
In that instant, Chazhu thought of many things.
Coming back to herself, she answered Bai Lan, who had raised his hand, "Go ahead."
Bai Lan stood up and said with an obedient expression, "Based on what you just said, let me summarize. This 'one hundred thousand per month' reward is given according to the school's 'evaluation' of 'us.'"
Chazhu said, "That's right."
Bai Lan said, "Then here's the question..."
"First, regarding this matter of 'evaluation': if the school's evaluation of us rises or falls, will the amount of money distributed each month change accordingly?"
"..." Chazhu didn't answer immediately, apparently choosing her words.
But sometimes, silence was the best answer.
Bai Lan nodded. "I understand. Second question: does 'us' mean that everyone is evaluated separately, with those who perform well receiving more points, or is the entire class's evaluation calculated collectively?"
Chazhu said, "..."
"Hmm, then I'll assume it's both. In other words..." Bai Lan nodded again before summarizing. "Our individual and collective performance this month will determine the living expenses we receive next month."
At this, everyone below erupted once more.
"Are you kidding me? The money can actually decrease in the future?"
"We're doomed, we're doomed! I can't buy a game console anymore. I have to spend carefully."
Seeing this, Ayanokoji began choosing his words, preparing to join his classmates in "lamenting" by relying on his "dangerous grades on the verge of passing."
At that moment, Bai Lan couldn't help rolling his eyes and commenting, "Good grief, so many people have already decided their money is going to be deducted, without even considering the possibility of improving their evaluations."
"Seriously, isn't studying hard and following the school's rules and regulations a student's basic duty? They can't even manage that when they'll be rewarded simply for doing their duty?" the beautiful, straight-haired girl added despite herself.
Upon hearing this, Ayanokoji stopped choosing his words and began to ponder: Which side is actually made up of 'ordinary people'?
After thinking it over, he decided to follow the supposedly "ordinary teacher" who was said to be extremely "skilled at being ordinary." But when he remembered his entrance-exam results, he seemed not to have fulfilled his duty as a student, so he had no standing to criticize others.
Seeing this chaotic scene, Chazhu's expression remained stern, but inwardly she was cheering wildly...
According to the old rules, on the first day after the new students began school, the first covert examination would be held. The students wouldn't be informed in advance. It was called "Disciplinary Inspection Month."
At the beginning, every class had 1,000 points, with each point corresponding to 100 Japanese Yen in monthly living expenses.
Within one month, as long as students didn't go too far or seriously affect the school's operation, the school and teachers wouldn't interfere with their violations of school rules.
At the same time, the school would deduct points directly from a class based on the violations it discovered through cameras installed throughout the campus.
Under conditions with almost no restrictions,
after one month, the class with the strongest self-discipline and the greatest ability to uphold its basic duties as students would have the highest score, while the others would score lower.
The gap between the four classes would be widened in an instant over this short month!
Before you continue