The School's Deception, the Tip of the Iceberg of Hidden Rules

The next morning.

Dokuho Kouya packed his belongings and stepped out of his dormitory.

While waiting for the elevator, a classmate greeted him.

"Good morning." A boy with glasses and somewhat androgynous features walked over with a smile.

"Good morning to you too, Hamaguchi-kun." Dokuho Kouya returned the smile.

Tetsuya Hamaguchi paused, looking pleasantly surprised as he said, "You remembered my name?"

Yesterday, everyone in the class had introduced themselves.

However, with 40 people in the class, it was incredibly difficult to leave a lasting impression.

During self-introductions, you were lucky if people just recognized your face.

Getting others to actually remember your name was a much harder task.

That was why Tetsuya Hamaguchi was so surprised.

He hadn't expected anyone to remember his name after such a brief introduction, which was truly unexpected.

"I memorized the names and faces of everyone in the class," Dokuho Kouya said with a light chuckle.

"For real?" Tetsuya Hamaguchi's eyes widened slightly, a look of astonishment on his face. "There are 40 people in the whole class, you know?"

Even though he had tried to pay attention yesterday, he had only managed to remember a few names.

As for the others, he could at most vaguely recall what they looked like.

Now, this classmate standing next to him had actually managed to memorize the entire class's names in such a short amount of time?

It was hard to believe.

"It's nothing special." Dokuho Kouya's memory was quite good.

As long as he focused, it wouldn't be a problem to memorize an entire grade level in a short time, let alone a single class.

"By the way, you didn't come to karaoke yesterday," Tetsuya Hamaguchi said with a helpless shrug. "The girls in the class were quite disappointed."

Yesterday, the athletic girl had said something similar.

The girls in the class had taken a liking to Dokuho Kouya's face and wanted to invite him along.

However, Dokuho Kouya had only been thinking about earning points at the time, so he had turned them down directly.

"In that case, you must have gone along yesterday, right?" Dokuho Kouya guessed.

"Actually, you were the only one in the class who didn't attend, Kouya-kun." Tetsuya Hamaguchi looked at him with a hint of sympathy.

He was likely worried that the class's actions might feel like exclusion and was afraid it might hurt Dokuho Kouya's feelings.

"I had things to do yesterday, so I didn't go out with everyone," Dokuho Kouya said.

"That's good." Tetsuya Hamaguchi breathed a sigh of relief.

So Dokuho Kouya wasn't being ostracized.

That put his mind at ease.

The elevator arrived.

As the doors opened, a familiar girl was waiting inside.

"Good morning, Kouya-kun, Hamaguchi-kun." The tall girl, Sayo Ando, waved in greeting.

"Good morning, Sayo-san."

"Good morning, Ando-san."

After stepping into the elevator, Tetsuya Hamaguchi paused, then remarked, "Kouya seems to call everyone by their first name."

While waiting for the elevator earlier, he had called him by his name as well.

"Yeah, exactly!" Sayo Ando nodded quickly, placing a hand over her chest. "I was so startled when it first happened."

Being called by her first name by someone as handsome as a school idol.

Her heart was practically racing.

"I actually think it's quite friendly," Tetsuya Hamaguchi said with a gentle smile, offering his opinion. "Besides, since Kouya-kun managed to remember everyone's name in class, calling them by their names doesn't feel out of place at all."

Oh, not bad.

He actually managed to figure out my motive.

Dokuho Kouya's gaze swept lightly over Tetsuya Hamaguchi, a flicker of appreciation in his eyes.

He intentionally called everyone he met by their first name to cultivate a friendly image.

Even though this might cause some people to feel uncomfortable, he had no intention of changing his plan.

"You remembered everyone's name in the class?" Sayo Ando opened her mouth in surprise, exclaiming, "I only remember a few people even now."

It was normal to only remember a few people after a brief self-introduction.

It was just that Dokuho Kouya had a good memory; as long as he put his mind to it, he could remember anything.

"Are you not joking, Dokuho Kouya?" Sayo Ando asked, sounding somewhat skeptical.

"Once we get to the classroom, you'll be able to confirm whether it's a joke or not." Dokuho Kouya prepared to reveal the school's hidden rules to everyone in the class today.

By then, someone in the class would surely raise questions, and that would be the perfect opportunity to prove that he had memorized everyone's names.

"But before we get to the classroom, we should probably go grab some breakfast first." Tetsuya Hamaguchi smoothly joined their conversation. "Do you want to go to the cafeteria together?"

The school cafeteria had great food and very reasonable prices.

If one were alone, it would be more convenient to just buy something at a convenience store.

But when moving as a group, it was definitely better to go to a cafeteria where you could find a seat and sit down.

Dokuho thought about it for a moment and decided there was no need to act independently here, so he said, "I have no objections."

"Then I'll go too." Seeing that the two people around her wanted to go to the cafeteria, Sayo Ando followed the majority's opinion.

They arrived at the cafeteria.

After queuing up to receive their set meals, the three of them found an empty spot to sit down and began to chat.

"Some of the lines are exceptionally long." Sayo Ando looked toward a few of the windows with a hint of surprise.

Compared to the other windows, the ones that caught her attention had very long lines in front of them, which was truly quite curious.

Logically speaking, if a line was too long, one should just go to a different window to get food.

"Those windows provide the low-cost set meals."

Tetsuya Hamaguchi was also somewhat puzzled. "Didn't the teacher say that the school gives us 100,000 points every month? Why are there so many people lining up at the low-cost or even free windows?"

Clearly, they had been misled.

Perhaps it was a malicious requirement from the school administration.

When the teacher explained the school rules, they had intentionally guided the students to believe they would receive 100,000 points every month without technically telling a lie.

Even the students in Class B had fallen into the school's trap.

Perhaps in the coming school life, the first-year students would slowly discover that something was wrong.

But when it came to these kinds of things, the earlier you knew, the more of an advantage you had.

"The reason is simple." Dokuho Kouya said while eating his breakfast. "The school doesn't actually give us 100,000 points every month."

"Those seniors aren't eating the low-cost meals because they are thrifty or patient; they are simply out of money."

"What?" Tetsuya Hamaguchi's expression turned to one of shock. "That's not what the teacher said."

"The teacher only said that points are deposited on the 1st of every month, and that there are 100,000 points this month." Dokuho Kouya smiled slightly. "All of you have been misled by the school and the teachers."

Sayo Ando was equally incredulous, then, recalling what happened yesterday, she looked over with an uneasy expression. "Dokuho Kouya, is this what you meant by the hidden rules?"

"Hidden rules?" Tetsuya Hamaguchi was slightly stunned, not understanding what the two were talking about.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding the hidden rules." Dokuho Kouya folded his hands gently. "I know you have many questions right now, but please stay quiet for the time being."

"Once we get to the classroom, I will tell you everything I know and answer all of your questions."