After hearing Dokuho Kouya speak, his classmates fell into deep thought.
They had learned about the school's hidden rules on the second day of classes, including the details of the aptitude assessments.
As long as they managed themselves strictly from then on—avoiding tardiness, leaving early, and getting distracted in class—they wouldn't lose too many points over their conduct.
As Dokuho Kouya had said, now that they knew about this, there was no way they would fall 200 points behind like the second-years in the other grades.
On top of that, there was even more exciting news.
They had a chance to overtake the other classes in the very first month, rising from Class B to Class A.
There was no doubt that this would give everyone in the class plenty of motivation and boost their confidence.
Dokuho Kouya's actions had brought the class far too many benefits.
Even if he did nothing else from then on, he would still be one of the people who contributed the most to the class over the next three years.
"Kouya, I know you've done a lot for the class, but there's something I don't understand."
Ryuji Kanzaki narrowed his eyes. "From what you've said, we'll have plenty of Special Exams over the next three years. Even if we make it to Class A at the start, we could still drop to Class B or even lower along the way."
"If you're willing to contribute to the class, there's no doubt we'd have a much better chance of staying in Class A through graduation. That would benefit you, too."
People who chose to attend this school were attracted not only by the benefit of three years without tuition, but also by the freedom to choose their preferred university and job after graduating.
But to get the chance to choose their careers, they had to graduate as Class A students.
In Ryuji Kanzaki's view, if Dokuho Kouya wanted to enjoy the school's benefits, he shouldn't give up so early. He ought to work alongside the class and help them reach Class A by the end.
"But then it'd be far too easy."
Dokuho Kouya smiled faintly, carefully cultivating his image. "I learned the rules of this school, and that's exactly why I think leading the class to Class A would be easy."
"Even Ryuji thinks our class could make it to Class A in the first month. I feel the same way—in fact, I'm even more optimistic than you are."
Dokuho Kouya raised a finger. "If I led the class, I could get everyone into Class A without breaking a sweat. But that'd be no fun."
Talking big, huh?
Who couldn't do that?
At Advanced Nurturing, it didn't matter whether he actually did anything. He could talk himself up first and figure out the rest later.
As long as he never actually led the class, there was no risk of being proven wrong.
The most important thing was creating the impression that he was powerful in the eyes of the audience.
At that, Ryuji Kanzaki frowned. "If you don't think leading the class to Class A would be any fun, why stay here?"
At this school, graduating from somewhere other than Class A was meaningless.
If he had no intention of reaching Class A, why not just leave?
Surely he wasn't trying to get out of paying tuition for three years.
At the question, Dokuho Kouya's eyes lit up.
A good question.
Just what he needed to shape his image.
"Ryuji, didn't I just say that you could also get into Class A by paying 20 million?" Dokuho Kouya asked.
"Are you saying you want to..." The purple-haired boy's eyes widened slightly, his usually stern face filling with shock.
"That's right. I'm going to collect 20 million personal points and transfer to Class A on my own." Dokuho Kouya smiled confidently. "Now that would be a little more of a challenge."
At those words, his classmates grew tense, their breathing slowing.
"Can you really do that?" Sweat appeared on Ryuji Kanzaki's forehead. He could hardly believe it.
Even people with steady, respectable jobs would probably need several years to save up 20 million.
And that was without taking food, clothing, housing, and transportation into account.
If they included everyday expenses, even adults with stable jobs would need more than a decade to save 20 million.
And Dokuho Kouya was only a student. He might not even get 100,000 points a month.
The school would hold Special Exams over the next three years, but earning 20 million in that time was little more than a pipe dream.
"I can."
The lone wolf of Class B's declaration of victory!
Dokuho Kouya felt as if he had stumbled into a classic moment without even meaning to.
If the audience saw it, they might find it familiar and go wild with memes.
Damn... they say even hate is a kind of fame. Maybe even if he crashed and burned later, he'd end up more popular.
"I understand what you mean, but I still want to say a few more things."
Ryuji Kanzaki wasn't ready to give up.
He clearly understood that Dokuho Kouya was highly capable and would play a crucial role in the class competition to come.
If they let him sit back and make no contribution, the class would be losing a valuable asset.
"Kouya, you know a lot, but you haven't actually experienced a Special Exam. The exams may seem easy to you right now, but once you put things into practice, they might turn out to be unexpectedly difficult."
Kanzaki spoke in a low voice. "Even though I said earlier that we had a chance of reaching Class A in the first month because we knew the exam rules, I only said that in the heat of the moment. Now that I've calmed down, I still can't guarantee that we'll rise to Class A so smoothly."
What he meant was that class competition was difficult, too—not as easy as Dokuho Kouya thought. He should give up on collecting 20 million points and stand with the class instead.
"If that's really the case, then I'd be even less inclined to contribute my strength to the class," Dokuho Kouya said, shaking his head. "If we can't reach Class A even after getting a hint like this, then this class must be hopelessly incompetent."
"If that's true, why should I lead a class like this to Class A?"
His words were harsh, but they were true.
Class B might as well have been given the answers to an open-book exam.
If they couldn't beat Class A under these circumstances, then there was no point wasting too much effort on them.
"Still, don't worry. I'll continue to take part in the Special Exams as an ordinary member of Class B."
"But I won't be involved in things like class decisions."
The strategies Class B used in the original story had mostly been terrible.
Dokuho Kouya wanted to distance himself from these matters as soon as possible, so that the class's disastrous performance wouldn't drag him down.
With that, Dokuho Kouya stepped down from the podium and returned to his seat as everyone watched.
Even after he sat down, everyone's eyes remained on him.
The girl sitting beside him in particular kept blinking at him.
"Ando, class is about to start."
Dokuho Kouya reminded her.
"Oh..."
Sayo Ando nodded slightly, but her brown eyes still kept darting over to him.
"If you get distracted in class again, they'll deduct Class Points."
"If you want to look, wait until class is over."
Dokuho Kouya chuckled.
"N-no, I won't look anymore!"
Sayo Ando's cheeks reddened, and she hurriedly turned away.
Before you continue