The True Consumer Trap

Although this school is unique, many things are no different from a normal school.

For instance, the boring and long opening ceremony.

It was nothing more than the principal, teachers, and student representatives taking the stage to give various speeches, while the students below listened until they were drowsy.

The detailed rules of the school were clearly recorded in the enrollment handbook, and coupled with the stimulation of a new environment, few people cared about what the leaders on stage were saying.

Therefore, after the opening ceremony ended, the students began their one-day free time.

Watching his classmates gather in groups of three or five to go shopping or grab coffee, Shintō Katsuya felt his own interest piqued.

Since points could buy anything, it would be unreasonable not to reward himself properly.

'Gurgle~'

'Good grief, do you think we should treat ourselves first too, Mr. Stomach?'

Thinking this, Shintō chuckled and walked toward the cafeteria.

Perhaps because the student body, while small, was unexpectedly wealthy, the variety of food in the cafeteria was quite extensive.

Stir-fried, deep-fried, boiled, steamed, roasted, braised, or stewed—domestic or foreign, things that fly in the sky, run on the ground, hop in the grass, or swim in the water—everything was available.

However, an inconspicuous area in the corner of the menu caught his attention.

"Free... wild vegetable set meal. That's really strange..."

The prices at Advanced Nurturing High School were actually no different from the outside world; if anything, they might even be slightly lower.

But for students who received 100,000 points every month, no matter how extravagant they were, they shouldn't be unable to afford the simplest bento.

So why would the school prepare a free set meal?

Something's wrong... it's ten to one that something is fishy!

Shintō Katsuya's eyes darted around in their sockets, and a bizarre hypothesis appeared in his mind.

Thinking of this, he ordered two burger sets and walked straight toward a senior student who was eating the wild vegetable set meal with a bitter, numb expression.

"Yo, senior, can I sit here?"

"How did you know I was a senior? Everyone's uniform is exactly the same."

"Well, let's just call it a bit of a talent. I can tell from your eyes and demeanor that you aren't a freshman."

The boy, who had been looking down at his food, glanced up at Shintō and nodded without saying much, though his eyes held a trace of longing when he looked at the burger.

Once upon a time, he had also lived a very luxurious life, and mere burgers wouldn't have even caught his eye.

But later, sigh...

Shintō naturally noticed the other's unnatural gaze, and after saying thanks, he pushed one of the sets toward him.

"What is the meaning of this?"

There were plenty of empty seats in the cafeteria; there was no need for this freshman to squeeze at his table. It was impossible not to be suspicious.

But could a mere freshman really be that calculating?

Shintō Katsuya smiled upon hearing this:

"Well, I'm a freshman, so there's a lot I don't understand. It's normal to accidentally order an extra set when using the machine, right?"

The senior curled his lip. How could he not hear that Shintō was lying?

Unless this guy across from him was a caveman, how could he not know how to use a meal ticket?

He glanced at the pushed-over burger again, then acted as if he hadn't heard anything and continued eating the wild vegetables on his plate.

"Are these things good?"

Shintō's incessant questioning made him somewhat annoyed, so his tone became a bit impatient:

"If you want to know, why don't you go buy one yourself? It doesn't cost money!"

"Don't get excited. Actually, I just can't understand how there are people in this world who really like eating these wild vegetables that taste like tree roots. It's a good thing they're free, otherwise, they wouldn't sell many in a year, right?"

Shintō's glib talk made the senior suddenly agitated:

"Like them? If they charged for this stuff, would they even leave us poor people a way to survive?! I..."

Seeming to realize he had said something he shouldn't have, he stopped mid-sentence, quickly finished the last bit of food on his plate, and prepared to leave.

However, Shintō stood up and left the cafeteria before him, leaving behind one last remark:

"Thanks, senior. That set meal is all yours. If you don't like it, it's fine to throw it away~"

The senior was left standing there in a daze. After a long while, he let out a long sigh, looked at the burger and fries on the table, and packed them into a bag.

To verify his hypothesis, Shintō went to the convenience store again. When he saw that there was also a free section for daily necessities, including toiletries, his thoughts were immediately confirmed.

Just as he was checking out, he ran into the person he least wanted to meet.

But what he didn't expect was that this boy was chatting away with a cold, beautiful girl with long black hair.

Although the girl clearly seemed to find him annoying.

'I'd better go... I don't want to get involved with this guy at all...'

Before he could even activate his latent talent to slip away, the other party took the initiative to greet him.

"Ah, I remember you. You're Shintō, right?"

As the saying goes, you don't hit a person who is smiling, though neither of the two people in front of him had anything to do with smiles.

However, out of politeness and professional habit, Shintō still braced himself and walked over to greet them:

"Hello. I didn't expect you to remember my name. If I recall correctly, you are Ayanokōji... Kiyotaka."

The girl with long, straight black hair standing to the side frowned. It was clear she had no intention of talking to Shintō, as she went to queue for checkout without saying a word.

Perhaps to smooth things over, Ayanokōji took the initiative to speak on her behalf:

"Don't mind her. Horikita just has that kind of personality."

"I certainly don't mind... though, are you and Horikita quite close, Ayanokōji? I noticed you two are neighbors in class."

More than that, even! They were neighbors on the bus, too!

But at the time, Shintō clearly hadn't paid any attention to a character like Horikita.

"No, we only just met."

Being with someone with a personality like Ayanokōji's always led to this situation; no matter how good the other party was at socializing, the conversation would eventually hit a dead end.

Because it is impossible for a normal person to talk to a block of wood all day long. Unless, of course, they were abnormal themselves.

Just then, Shintō noticed that Ayanokōji's shopping basket was filled with free items, so he asked:

"I couldn't tell, Ayanokōji, you're quite frugal."

"Ah, that. Well, they all work just the same."

"Well, I just remembered I have something to do. See you tomorrow!"

Making up a random excuse, Shintō left the convenience store—where the awkwardness was enough to make his toes cramp—without looking back, and set off on the road back to the dormitory alone.

He must have been out of his mind to try and strike up a conversation with that guy!

On the other side, based on the information he had, he could conclude:

Whether it was the "poor" comment from that upperclassman or these free items that could barely sustain vital signs, when combined with what Chabashira Sae had said earlier:

"Points will be automatically deposited on the first of every month. Points are the school's measure of ability. This month, it is a fair one hundred thousand points per person."

In other words... one hundred thousand points was not a fixed value. It could be more, or it could be less. And the first of every month was when that increase or decrease would be determined.

"If that's really the case, and the school didn't explicitly tell us, wouldn't it be easy for freshmen to spend all one hundred thousand points in the first month? If it's only a little less next month, that's fine, but what if it's a lot less... hey, hey, hey..."

Shintō Katsuya suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. He wasn't someone obsessed with money—after all, you can't take it with you when you die, so as long as he had enough to spend, it was fine.

But with things turning out this way, he had no choice but to consider his livelihood for the next three years.

And so...

"Sigh, it is what it is. Time to sleep..."

Back in his dorm, Shintō Katsuya stretched, took out the headphones and portable music player he had just spent fifty thousand points on, and hummed a little tune as he drifted off to sleep:

"Save where you can, spend where you must. The money hasn't disappeared; it's just staying by my side in a different form."