So I'd leave that path for now.
Since earning Class Points seemed so difficult, I might as well go straight for Private Points. As for how to get them, I'd have to think it over and come up with a plan.
After returning to the dorm, Kamio Tatsuya stopped thinking about it and turned his attention to his cheat ability.
He had one chance to reach into System Space, but he had no idea what was inside, so he was full of anticipation.
After he used the chance, a black vortex appeared in the space before him.
[Please reach into the vortex and retrieve a random item.]
Though he was a little worried, he followed the system's instructions and reached in with his right hand.
The instant his hand went in, Kamio Tatsuya was horrified to discover he couldn't feel it. In a panic, he immediately pulled it back out.
There was nothing there, but his right hand was no longer numb, and the vortex in front of him quickly faded before disappearing completely.
[Congratulations! You drew a roll of toilet paper.]
Kamio Tatsuya looked at his right hand and the toilet paper in it, with a thousand curses on the tip of his tongue and no idea which one to say.
"Wait, system, this is what you give me?"
Kamio Tatsuya couldn't believe it. The Body Repair Potion the system had given him earlier proved it had good stuff, so why was he getting toilet paper from a draw?
[This is your first draw, so you can only draw a Tier 1 Item. If you're dissatisfied, you may give up this reward. After doing so, your next draw will have a chance to produce a higher-tier item.]
[Draw rules: Each time you give up a reward, the maximum item tier available increases by one.]
So if I gave up this Tier 1 Item, I could draw a Tier 2 Item next time?
He had no idea what Tier 2 Items were, but surely they'd be better than toilet paper.
"By the way, system, what tier was the Body Repair Potion you gave me earlier?"
[The Body Repair Potion is a Tier 8+ Item. It can repair any physical defect. After you have given up eight rewards in total, you will have a chance to draw it.]
[Would you like to accumulate your reward?]
Accumulate!
Without a moment's hesitation, Kamio Tatsuya made his decision!
The Eleventh Chapter: Nothing Is Impossible If You're Willing to Give Up
Although he hadn't received any tangible reward from the draw, Kamio Tatsuya wasn't disappointed at all.
The biggest gain from completing Miyabi Nagumo's task was actually the information Nagumo had given him. As for the system's reward, he'd let it wait for a while.
The next day, Kamio Tatsuya got up early. It was the first day of school, after all, and being late wasn't a good idea.
Thank goodness for alarm clocks.
And although he had no hopes for the students in Class D, he didn't want to cost the class points by being late himself.
The school had provided such good living conditions, and all he had to do was study. Kamio Tatsuya had no complaints about that.
But reality still dealt him a harsh slap.
He hadn't been late, but someone really had shown up late on the very first day. That must have cost them points.
Since it was the first day of class, the teachers didn't get into the actual course material. They only gave a general explanation of how classes would work from then on.
The relaxed atmosphere quickly brought out the students' true colors.
The students in Class D, who had at least been pretending to behave, immediately let loose.
Some slept, some whispered, some played on their phones, and others read manga.
The teacher at the front of the classroom completely ignored their behavior and simply carried on with the lesson.
Kamio Tatsuya glanced at the security camera in the corner of the classroom and fell silent. If every violation of the rules cost them one point, they must have already lost more than ten points in just half a day.
There were still more than twenty days left in the month.
Looking on the bright side, maybe they'd still have two or three hundred Class Points left by the start of next month.
But he was obviously getting ahead of himself.
Slack behavior was contagious, after all.
In no time at all, by the final class of the morning, almost no one in Class D was paying attention.
It was over. All over.
He'd known the overall quality of the students in Class D wasn't great, but this was ridiculous.
He'd been wondering if he could save some Class Points to keep a little spending money for himself, but at this rate, whether he'd have any spending money next month was another question entirely.
Kamio Tatsuya was glad he hadn't wasted money yesterday.
As for stopping them from breaking the rules, Kamio Tatsuya dismissed the idea outright.
If even the teacher didn't care, was one student telling them to study hard really going to work?
Besides, he had no proof that the information he'd learned was true. Without proof, they'd only mock him sarcastically.
He couldn't do it. There was simply no way.
Kamio Tatsuya wasn't exactly the sunny, cheerful type, either.
So the conclusion was simple: Class D was beyond saving.
Since the Class Points route was a dead end, he'd have to consider going after Private Points instead. He couldn't let himself suffer, no matter what.
He still had three years at this school. Assuming fifty thousand Private Points a month would let him live comfortably, he'd need 5 × 12 × 3—or 1.8 million Private Points.
Round that up, and it was two million Private Points.
But how on earth was he supposed to scrape together that much?
Kamio Tatsuya was at a bit of a loss.
So after lunch, as he sat in the classroom resting, he took the opportunity to think about what he currently had at his disposal.
There was only one answer: his information advantage.
He'd been the first to figure out the true nature of the competition at this school, and he'd also gotten some information from Miyabi Nagumo: during the first month of school, the school would secretly review the students' conduct.
If that was the case...
Kamio Tatsuya came up with the outline of a plan, and a smile tugged at his lips.
Just then, the school loudspeakers crackled to life.
[The Club Information Session will be held at the First Gymnasium at five o'clock this afternoon. Students interested in joining a club, please gather at the First Gymnasium. I repeat. Today...]
Clubs, huh? Right, they had those here.
Now that he'd thought of a way to make money, Kamio Tatsuya was in a good mood. He decided to go check out the so-called Club Information Session at five that afternoon.
Just then, the girl seated to Kamio Tatsuya's left suddenly chopped the boy to her left on the side of the head.
That girl was Horikita Suzune, right? And the victim on her left was Ayanokoji Kiyonaka, whom he'd seen outside the Supermarket yesterday.
He had no idea what had happened between them, but he'd definitely seen Ayanokoji Kiyonaka take a chop from Horikita.
At that moment, Ayanokoji Kiyonaka, who was looking in their direction, noticed Kamio Tatsuya watching him.
Then he seemed to send a sort of distress signal.
You've got to be kidding. You're asking me for help?
All I could do was quietly turn my head away and pretend I was thinking about something.
It had nothing to do with him, and he didn't want to get involved.
Besides, what if they were flirting?
Did he want me to become part of their play?
He was dreaming!
The afternoon classes ended soon, and just like in the morning, the teacher didn't care what the students were doing.
But Kamio Tatsuya was in a completely different mood from that morning.
As expected, nothing was impossible if you were willing to give up.
As long as I didn't put pressure on myself, nobody could pressure me!
Trying to save Class Points for Class D? I'd have to be crazy to do that.
After school, Kamio Tatsuya first went back to the dorm, then set off again for the First Gymnasium.
When he got there, he found that quite a crowd had already gathered—well over a hundred people, by his estimate.
He also noticed that most people had come in groups. Kamio Tatsuya was the only one standing there all alone.
After a while, he noticed the two from lunch—Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyonaka—arriving together and stopping not far away.
So you really did want me to be part of your play at lunchtime, huh?
I've done nothing to you. Why mess with me like this?
I'll remember this grudge!
This was too much. He was going to condemn that shameless couple.
Then Kamio Tatsuya opened the booklet the upperclassmen had handed out as he entered the gymnasium and looked over the detailed information about the clubs.
It gave a basic introduction to each club, along with the rankings they'd achieved in competitions and so on.
"Wow, they're all so good. Every club seems to be at a really high level, and it looks like there are a lot of nationally ranked clubs and competitors."
Whoa, they were that impressive?
Kamio Tatsuya didn't understand much about this, but the admiration in the voice beside him made him join in.
He turned his head. What a coincidence.
The person who'd just spoken was also from Class D. Aside from the two Fledgling Phoenixes, Yamauchi and Ike, there was also a red-haired delinquent who looked intimidating.
Wasn't his name Ken Sudō?
Noticing Kamio Tatsuya looking at him, he looked over too.
"Uh, hello."
Their eyes had met, so Kamio Tatsuya greeted them first.
It was better to keep a low profile when he'd just started school. The little devils were harder to handle than the big ones.
The Twelfth Chapter: A Commotion at the Club Information Session
When Kamio Tatsuya greeted him, Ken Sudō scratched his head, seeming unsure who he was.
Their seats were separated by only one student, and he still didn't recognize me? There had to be a limit to how oblivious a guy could be.
Kamio Tatsuya was a little speechless. Ike and Yamauchi, on the other hand, recognized him and casually returned his greeting.
Just then, a woman's voice rang out over the loudspeakers.
"First-year students, sorry for the wait. Next, representatives from each club will take turns introducing the clubs at this school. I'm Tachibana, the Student Council secretary, and I'll be hosting today's session. It's nice to meet you."
The girl who introduced herself as Tachibana Akane had a cute face, purple hair tied in a bun, and a friendly air about her. The noisy gymnasium gradually quieted down.
Tachibana Akane then moved to one side of the stage, while the club representatives lined up across it.
There were all sorts of people, from a muscular upperclassman in a judo uniform to an upperclasswoman in a beautiful kimono. Kamio Tatsuya even spotted Miyabi Nagumo at the edge of the stage.
Soon, an upperclasswoman stepped forward to introduce her club. The first to speak was a senpai from the school's Archery Club.
"My name is Hashigaki, and I'm the captain of the Archery Club..."
But Kamio Tatsuya's attention wasn't on the upperclassmen introducing their clubs or waiting to speak. His gaze had landed on the people behind them.
There stood an upperclassman over 170 centimeters tall, wearing a uniform and glasses, with a poker face that never changed. Though he stood at the very back, Kamio Tatsuya felt he was different from the others.
He didn't seem to be at the back because he'd been left out. Instead, it felt as if he were being saved for the grand finale.
What caught Kamio Tatsuya's attention wasn't his air, though. It was the fact that Miyabi Nagumo kept looking at him.
Before you continue