Opening Ceremony and Class Meeting

[System, open personal panel.]

[Ding, received.]

[Ding, opening personal panel for the host.]

School: Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School

Class: Class D, First Year

Name: Zhuge Linghao

Alignment: Neutral (Good or Evil?)

Emotion Points: 18

Academic Ability: C

Intelligence: C

Social Intelligence: C

Physical Ability: S (Temporary, one day)

Judgment: C

Skill: Fitness Athlete (System-granted, random ability.)

Personality: Weak but loves to troll, dense as a brick, rich inner monologue.

[Damn, my starting stats are really average across the board.]

[Well, whatever, people always need time to grow.]

[So that's it, Fitness Athlete boosts physical ability.]

Zhuge Linghao stood in the opening ceremony hall, listening idly to the speech by Student Council President Horikita Manabu. "Man, no matter which school it is, opening speeches are always this boring."

The somewhat sweltering air, accompanied by the faint scent of sweat, rushed into Zhuge Linghao's nose all at once.

Enduring the slight discomfort, Zhuge Linghao glanced around and noticed that Horikita Suzune's profile seemed to waver.

[As expected, you're still living in your brother's shadow. Instead of struggling to follow in his footsteps, you should focus on being yourself.]

[After all, everyone in this world is unique. Don't go dreaming of becoming Horikita Manabu 2.0; that is not the path you were meant to walk.]

After finally enduring until the opening ceremony ended, the moment the school leaders announced the dismissal, Zhuge Linghao activated his "Speedster" skill and was the first to rush back to the classroom.

[You ask why I'm in such a hurry? Obviously, it's to pick a good seat for myself in class!]

[As for where to sit? A high-profile person like me definitely needs a seat with presence, right?]

As expected, Zhuge Linghao sat in the back row, with Ayanokoji on his left and Horikita Suzune on his right.

But to his great surprise, the person sitting in front of Zhuge Linghao was actually a blonde-haired gal with a ponytail—Karuizawa Kei.

[Wait, that's not right. This is strange. I remember in the anime, Karuizawa Kei sat in the front row.]

Karuizawa Kei suddenly felt an uncomfortable gaze from behind, so she whipped her head around and said sharply, "What are you looking at? If you keep looking at me with those malicious eyes, I'm going to report you to the teacher!"

Zhuge Linghao nearly choked, [Did you eat a stick of dynamite? Why are you so sensitive?]

[I was just looking at your back, contemplating the ripple effects caused by the butterfly effect. Is it really necessary to react this strongly?]

Just as Zhuge Linghao was about to back down and apologize, the system suddenly chimed.

[Ding... Host detected being slandered and humiliated. Triggering choice mission...]

[Option A: Professional Troll. Put your hands on your hips, tilt your head back 180°, point your nostrils at Karuizawa Kei, and retort furiously: Looking at you? I'm looking at the sky, the ground, and the legs. Which eye saw me looking at you? Besides, if you weren't looking at me, how would you know I was looking at you? Why are you looking at me now? What are you looking at? I'm handsome, what does that have to do with you?]

[Option B: Gangster Boss. Exude the aura of a superior, point at Karuizawa Kei with a disdainful tone and say: Yo, beautiful Lady! You look pretty good, you're just my type. How about I take you as my subordinate? Come on, kneel for me right now, and I'll cover for you from now on.]

[Option C: Keyboard Warrior. You know about people who hide in the shadows? No one notices whatever bad things they do! Choose to spread rumors and slander Karuizawa Kei behind her back, exposing the full story of her being bullied in middle school on the school forum with added embellishments.]

[Here we go again. System, do you have to be this treacherous?]

[Every option is just pure suicide.]

[Are you sure you're called the High-Profile Life system? You're just a pure Suicide Life system.]

[Don't you know that the nail that sticks out gets hammered down? My strength is still so weak right now, it's easy for me to die young, you know?]

[Ding, countdown 28 seconds...]

[Sigh, although the Professional Troll option fits my personality, it's way too easy to attract hatred.]

[And this Keyboard Warrior option, it's practically inciting crime!]

[Looks like I have no choice but to pick B...]

[Well, at least I can harvest some emotional value...]

[Come on, all eyes on me.]

"Ahem, well... yo, beautiful lady! I think you look pretty good, you're just my type. How about you become my subordinate? Come on, kowtow to me right here, and I'll look after you from now on."

Amidst the many confused and bewildered gazes, Karuizawa Kei's face flushed bright red, and she slapped him directly across the face.

With the enhancement of the Fitness Hercules trait, Zhuge Linghao's reflexes had been greatly strengthened.

Watching that slow-as-a-turtle little palm, Zhuge Linghao stubbornly didn't even dodge.

[Hehe, just for fun.]

With a crisp "smack," the entire class fell deathly silent.

[Ding... detected 40 people nearby generating 40 points of emotional value.]

[Heh, objective achieved.]

The sharp-eyed Zhuge Linghao happened to see their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, wearing a black-stockinged professional outfit and stepping into the classroom in high heels.

Zhuge Linghao immediately tattled in a cheeky tone: "Teacher, this girl is hitting people!"

Karuizawa Kei, her face flustered, subconsciously waved her hands to deny it.

"Alright, everyone return to your seats."

There was a hint of mockery in the eyes of their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, her voice low yet pleasant to the ear.

She said in a husky tone: "I am the homeroom teacher for Class D—Chabashira Sae, and I will be leading and accompanying you through these three years."

"I'll pass out the school materials first; please pass them to the back."

"This school is a boarding facility. Leaving campus and contacting the outside world are restricted, but the school has complete facilities for your daily life, and of course, that includes entertainment options."

"You can use points on your student terminal to buy things."

"It is worth mentioning that everything in this school can be purchased with points."

"Points are automatically deposited on the 1st of every month. This month, you have 100,000 points, which is equivalent to 100,000 yen."

Many students were ecstatic!

"Is this for real? That's a huge sum of money, right?"

"Ha, that's great, I can use this to buy a game console."

"100,000, my god, is the school this rich?"

Chabashira Sae looked at the overjoyed crowd and poured a bucket of cold water on them without mercy: "This school prioritizes merit above all else. Being able to enter this school only means you have value. However..."

Looking at the foolish and naive expressions of a few troublemakers, Chabashira Sae seemed unwilling to say anything more.