Swimming class.
Dokuho Kouya stood in the shower room, rinsing off in his swim trunks.
"It's pretty unusual to have swimming class at this time of year."
Norihito Watanabe, showering in the next stall, sounded surprised. "Normally, wouldn't it be later, during the summer?"
Spring was warm, but it could still get a little chilly.
If swimming class were held in summer, students would feel hot just standing under the sun and would be eager to jump straight into the pool.
In terms of enthusiasm, summer really was a better time for swimming class.
"If this were an ordinary school, we could probably just take it at face value."
Just then, Ryuji Kanzaki's serious, composed voice came from another shower stall. "But at Advanced Nurturing, it's hard not to read into it."
After hearing Dokuho Kouya talk about the school's hidden rules, Ryuji Kanzaki had started paying attention to what happened around campus.
He soon realized the school was full of hints.
The school provided students with free meals and daily necessities. Class A students were generally confident and capable, while Class D was full of trash...
After learning the truth about the school, Ryuji Kanzaki began to feel that it was dropping hints in all sorts of ways.
But if Dokuho Kouya hadn't told them beforehand, he never would have made those connections.
Now, seeing the school schedule swimming class for this time of year, Ryuji Kanzaki instinctively thought there must be some deeper meaning behind it.
"Kouya, what do you think the school is trying to tell us?" Ryuji Kanzaki asked.
"Ryuji, I think I've told you I'm not interested in this sort of thing," Dokuho Kouya replied.
There was a good chance the school had scheduled swimming class now because of the Uninhabited Island Exam during summer vacation.
As far as Kouya remembered, there was a river on the uninhabited island they'd be using for the exam, but it wasn't very deep. It might not even come up to an adult's knees.
As long as you stood up, you wouldn't drown.
Still, just in case, the school had scheduled swimming class in advance to make sure the students could swim before summer vacation, so they wouldn't drown in that little river.
"I didn't expect you to be serious about pursuing the individual class-transfer route."
Hearing that Dokuho Kouya didn't want to join in the class discussion, Ryuji Kanzaki grew a little frustrated. He then asked, "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. How's your progress?"
He'd also been thinking about how to increase his personal points lately.
But after looking into it, all he'd learned was that he could earn personal points by performing well in a club.
There was no way he'd be able to save up 20 million before graduation with the points clubs offered.
"If things go well, I'll have enough to reach 20 million next month," Dokuho Kouya said with a smile.
With help from the Class C leader in the third year, students in that year had gradually begun transferring points to his personal account.
So far, sixteen people had sent him personal points: thirteen from Class C and three from Class B.
Not a single student from Class D in the third year had participated.
That was hardly surprising. The monthly allowance students in Class D received might barely cover their expenses, or even fall short, leaving them dependent on the free goods the school provided.
If they couldn't even afford their usual expenses, there was no way they could save points to enter the lottery.
The three students from Class B in the third year were easy enough to understand, too. The new school year had just begun, so they probably thought they still had a chance to compete for Class A and weren't in a hurry. Only three had entered the lottery.
However, after Class A beat them badly again in the next Special Exam, plenty of them would probably start transferring their points.
Class C had the most students participating in the plan.
That wasn't only because Dokuho Kouya had gone through the Class C leader in the third year to explain the plan. Part of the reason was that Class C was in an awkward position.
They had almost no chance of competing for Class A, but they did have money.
Twenty-five thousand personal points was a lot, but only by student standards.
Once they entered the workforce, even an ordinary job would bring in more than 250,000 a month.
For Class C students, risking less than a month's wages on a gamble was acceptable.
It was possible that eventually every student in Class C's third year would join the plan.
Hearing Dokuho Kouya, Ryuji Kanzaki froze for a moment, then asked, "Can you tell us exactly how many points?"
"5.94 million."
On the first day of school, Dokuho Kouya had received 100,000 points from the school and earned 1.5 million from the Shogi Club and Sakayanagi Arisu. He'd then collected 350,000 in coaching fees from the Shogi Club and the chess club.
After that came the points transferred by third-year students entering the lottery. Sixteen people had participated so far, each sending 250,000 points, for a total of four million.
Dokuho Kouya's income for the month had reached 5.95 million points so far. He'd spent a few thousand on food and shopping, leaving him with 5.94 million.
"That much?!"
A boy's shocked voice rang out from the shower stall next door.
It wasn't Ryuji Kanzaki. It was Sota Shibata, the cheerful, outgoing boy in their class.
He was on the school's soccer team and had decent athletic ability, though his academic performance was a little worrying.
But he was lively and outgoing, and popular with the class. He was the classic extrovert.
"Kouya, did you really collect that many points?"
Sota Shibata came running out of the shower room, his face full of surprise.
"If you don't believe me, I can show you my points after swimming class," Dokuho Kouya said.
He needed someone to spread the word throughout the first year anyway.
The lottery had to remain a secret, but there was no need to hide the fact that he'd acquired a huge number of points.
"Uh... no, you don't have to." Sota Shibata scratched his head. "I wasn't doubting you. I was just really surprised."
Everyone else was still spending the 100,000 points the school had initially given them, while one of their classmates was already close to having six million.
Anyone would be shocked by that.
"Kouya, I'm not doubting you either," Ryuji Kanzaki said as he walked out of the shower room. "Ever since you told us about the school's hidden rules, everyone in the class has known you're capable."
"Even if we don't know how you did it, it's believable that you could collect nearly six million personal points in less than half a month."
"You have no reason to lie to us."
After a brief silence, Ryuji Kanzaki spoke slowly. "...Also, just call me Ryuji from now on."
It felt strange to call him by his given name and then add "classmate."
It was better to just call him by name.
"Got it, Ryuji."
Dokuho Kouya gave a small nod.
Class B's reaction was much the same as Ryuji Kanzaki's. They all thought Dokuho Kouya's old way of addressing him sounded awkward, so they decided to just call him Kouya.
It was probably like the compromise effect. If you first suggested opening a window, no one would agree. But if you suggested tearing off the roof, they'd agree to open the window instead.
After showering, the Class B students headed to the pool, chatting and laughing.
But as Dokuho Kouya listened to them, something felt off.
Strange.
They were about to swim with the girls.
Why wasn't anyone talking about the girls?
Class D had been completely different.
Before you continue