Waterloo

As the school day neared its end, Zhuge Linghao's face suddenly turned utterly grim.

He did his best to control his stiff body, but still walked up to the podium with his arms and legs moving in sync.

Red-faced and stammering, Zhuge Linghao stood with his hands behind his back and called out to the class, "Um... everyone, could I have a moment?"

"With all due respect, every single one of you here is trash!"

The students seemed not to have processed what he'd said. A long silence followed.

"For this quiz, are you brave enough to make a huge bet with me?"

The class erupted, furious and unafraid to speak their minds.

"Huh? Who are you calling trash? You looking for a fight?"

"Get down, you idiot! Get lost, clown!"

"What are we betting? I'm in!"

"You're really pissing me off. I'll bet with you too!"

Zhuge Linghao wiped away a bead of cold sweat. "We'll bet on any one of the five subjects. I'll score so much higher than everyone else in that subject, I'll leave you all in the dust!"

"If I win, everyone who bet against me has to pay me 10,000 points!"

"If you win, I'll give you 10,000 points!"

"So? Anyone dare to take the bet?"

"Um, could Hirata and Kushida be our witnesses? Would that be okay?"

Hirata Yosuke looked tense, his brow furrowed. "I don't think that's a good idea."

His deepest fear was that his classmates would fall out and the class would split apart, while he was powerless to do anything about it!

Kushida Kikyo looked concerned too. "Right, gambling isn't good."

Zhuge Linghao rubbed his hands to get the blood flowing again. "Um, the teacher already said that at this school, a student's ability is what matters most!"

"Besides, the teacher's barely done anything this month. She's hardly going to start policing these bets on the sly."

Zhuge Linghao took a deep breath, then awkwardly shared his opinion.

"I think people who are capable deserve more points. The weak don't deserve to have so many."

The students pondered this for a moment. Was this survival of the fittest, then?

But Ken Sudō, Yamauchi Haruki, and Kanji Ike were simple-minded and had already lost their patience. They noisily made their way toward the podium.

Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo looked at the chaotic scene before them, then finally nodded, still hesitating, and agreed to be witnesses.

"Thanks, you two leaders. Just sit back and enjoy the show."

Five minutes earlier, the elegant melody of the final school bell had rung.

Yamauchi Haruki looked around furtively, his eyes darting about as he scanned nearly everyone in the class. At last, his gaze settled on Zhuge Linghao in the back row.

Zhuge Linghao was thinking about what to eat for dinner when Yamauchi Haruki came over with something in his hand and said sleazily, "Um, Zhuge, could you do me a favor? I'm a little short on cash lately. Would you buy this game console off me for 25,000?"

As he spoke, he pressed down hard on Zhuge Linghao's shoulder with his other hand.

Karuizawa Kei, who was sensitive to this sort of thing, noticed what was happening in the back. She seemed ready to stop another victim from being targeted.

[What's this? He looks around the whole class and only tries to sell the game console to me? Does he think I'm an easy target?]

[Beep. The host is being maliciously bullied. An option quest is being triggered!]

[Sorry, Yamauchi Haruki, you clown! The truth is, I'm invincible when I'm on the receiving end.]

[Option A: The bullied victim. Swallow your anger and let Yamauchi Haruki exploit you. Be too cowardly to fight back, avoid everyone's gaze, and tearfully take the 25,000-point loss! For the rest of the day, do whatever Yamauchi Haruki tells you to do: go east when he says east, west when he says west. Become his drudge and slave!]

[Option B: The gambling god. Go big! Use hair gel to style your hair like Chow Yun-fat's, pull out a piece of golden chocolate and hold it in your mouth, then take off your jacket and flip it over your right shoulder! Kick off a sure-win bet and lure Yamauchi Haruki into it, then utterly humiliate him.]

[Option C: The lunatic. Break free of Yamauchi Haruki's grip and run two and a half laps around the classroom and hallway, shouting over and over, "I'm the hottest, I'm the best, I'd eat shit—would you?" Then do a headstand and wash your hair on the podium, before lying dead at the classroom door...]

Back to the present. Sure enough, impulsive Yamauchi Haruki was the first to accept the bet.

Soon, a few more "gamblers" who didn't have many points joined in, one after another.

[Heh-heh, how's that for a clever move?]

[Not only am I dragging Yamauchi Haruki into this, I'm also finding out who has a problem with me!]

In the end, fourteen people angrily took the bet.

[Good. I've memorized all fourteen of your faces!]

[Just you wait. I'll get my revenge!]

[Hold on, why's there another familiar face?]

"Uh, I didn't expect you to join such a boring bet, Koenji."

"You can't put it like that. I go on dates all the time, so my expenses are a little high. I don't think I have many points left."

"By the way, what happens if it's a tie?"

"Then I lose."

"Okay! Black-haired boy, I'm looking forward to seeing how you do."

After school, at the school cafeteria, Horikita Suzune unexpectedly walked over and sat down hard across from Zhuge Linghao.

"Idiot, you have 140,000 points?"

"Huh? How do you know I'm definitely going to lose?"

"Hmph. Even I, with top marks in every subject, wouldn't dare make that claim!"

"Oh, that's just because you're not capable enough!"

"You... Forget it. I shouldn't have bothered."

After Horikita Suzune walked away, Ayanokoji also asked with concern, "Zhuge, are you really sure you can win?"

Confident, Zhuge Linghao bit into a delicious fried shrimp. "Don't worry. Just watch!"

Another day passed, and the quiz results were posted.

Their homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, said, "After school at noon, go to the center of the school plaza. The quiz results for every subject, for every student in every class, are posted there."

Chabashira sneered. "I'll warn you now: your average score on this quiz was the lowest in the school's history."

But Chabashira kept one thought to herself: Although, there was one student who was a little unusual!

At noon, groups of D Class students made their way toward the plaza with long faces. Many students had already gathered there.

After dragging his feet, Zhuge Linghao went to the bathroom first. Then, looking relaxed, he strolled over to the results board.

"Wow, Sakayanagi Arisu from Class 1-A is amazing! She got close to full marks in almost every subject!"

"Let me see. Japanese: 98, math: 99, English: 99, chemistry: 98, social studies: 97! Sakayanagi's incredible!"

"Wait, take a closer look. Everyone in Class A is talented. They all got high marks!"

"Class B has lots of high scores too, but not many are close to full marks!"

"Ichinose Honami from Class B did great. Her humanities scores are incredible—98 in Japanese, 98 in social studies, and 98 in English!"

"What about Class C? Uh, there are too many slackers in Class C... Let's skip them!"

"And Class D? Oh man, their scores are so polarized!"

"That Horikita Suzune is amazing. Japanese: 98, English: 99, chemistry: 99!"

"And Yukimura Teruhiko got 99 in social studies, 98 in Japanese, and 95 in math! A straight-A student!"

"Class D seems to have quite a few top students. But what's up with this Zhuge Linghao?"

"Haha, he's the best of the worst!"

"Japanese: 42, English: 31, chemistry: 43, social studies: 36!"

The news instantly cast Zhuge Linghao in a tragic light.

His face stiffened, and his fishlike eyes widened. [How is this possible? Even with my terrible academic skills, I've never scored this low—not even in my previous life!]

[As I thought, I don't recognize a lot of Japanese characters, so I couldn't understand the questions! I've forgotten a lot of English words too. You can't blame me for that!]

"Uh, Koenji got 99 in math too? Class D is full of hidden talents!"

"Wait, look at the math column! Someone got a perfect score!"

"No way! I'll be damned, they really did!"

"Incredible! The only perfect score in the whole school!"

"Impressive! The last question was so hard. How did they not lose any points?"

"Let me see. The student's name is... Zhuge Linghao!"

"Zhuge Linghao?"

The D Class students were stunned, especially the thirteen who had bet against Zhuge Linghao. Their faces darkened like the bottom of a pot.

You might be wondering if one person was missing.

Of course. One blond guy seemed completely unconcerned and was laughing his head off...

[Beep. Everyone in the plaza has generated a total of 119 emotion points!]

Zhuge Linghao's expression finally began to improve.

[Sorry, everyone. That's the advantage of being a math teacher who's been transported to another world!]

[System, open my profile.]

[Beep... Opening now!]

School: Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School

Class: Class 1-D

Name: Zhuge Linghao

Alignment: Evil (1%)

Emotion Points: 587

Academic Ability: C

Intelligence: C

Emotional Intelligence: C

Physical Ability: C

Judgment: C

Skill: Triple Slide-Kneel Kowtow (comes with the system; ability depends on chance.)

[Beep. The host has more than 500 emotion points. Upgrade the system?]

[Upgrade!]