"Horikita, are you trying to buy exam points with Personal Points?"
Sae Chabashira raised an eyebrow, a hint of anticipation appearing in her previously disdainful gaze.
"You said at the start of the school year that points could buy anything at this school. Surely that means they can buy exam points, too?"
Horikita Suzune's gaze was resolute.
As soon as she finished speaking, the students in Class D looked as if they'd been hit over the head with a hammer. For a moment, they couldn't react.
Points could buy anything... Was that what the statement meant?
"Seriously?"
Someone in the class blurted out their confusion without thinking.
"If we can really pull this off, does that mean it doesn't matter if we get zero?"
"No... The important thing is that if this works, nobody will get expelled."
"Who cares if they get expelled? We're not even friends with them."
"Come to think of it, weren't these guys the reason our Class Points dropped to zero last month?"
Putting on makeup in class, chatting, playing on their phones, skipping class, showing up late, leaving early...
The students with the most violations last month were, as it happened, the same ones who'd failed their exams.
The trio of idiots—Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi—were especially bad. Even people sitting at the front of the classroom could hear them chatting in the back row.
They'd been a little more restrained this month, but they still talked loudly during class.
If this was their chance to get rid of the deadweight, the rest of the class couldn't be happier.
"Teacher, what's your answer?"
Seeing that the woman at the lectern still hadn't replied, Horikita Suzune furrowed her brows, growing anxious inside.
She'd only acted on Ayanokouji's guess.
To be honest, she wasn't sure whether the claim that "points can buy anything" was true, either.
False advertising was everywhere these days.
Especially at the Advanced Nurturing High School they were attending.
The school advertised that graduating would guarantee students the best benefits, but after enrolling, they'd learned that only students who graduated from Class A had the freedom to choose their careers.
Although their teacher had said on the first day of school that points could buy anything on campus, who could say whether she'd been exaggerating?
"Horikita, it seems you're not so confident in your own claim, either."
Noticing the black-haired girl's uncertainty, Sae Chabashira rested one hand on her hip, a playful smile appearing on her face. Then she said, "But don't worry. Your guess is right. Personal Points can indeed buy points on the midterm exams."
Her words sent the already restless Class D into an uproar.
"We can really buy points?"
"Then what was all that studying I've been doing this month for? That's not fair!"
"Quiet down!"
Sae Chabashira loudly silenced the students, her lovely brows drawing tightly together.
Honestly, she couldn't believe these people.
They were still hung up on whether it was fair.
They couldn't even focus on what was right in front of them.
"Phew..."
Horikita Suzune let out a quiet breath, then looked at the teacher standing at the lectern. "Chabashira-sensei, since my guess was right, could you tell us how much the points cost?"
"Well," Sae Chabashira paused before continuing, "this is my first time selling points to students."
"Let's say it costs 100,000 Personal Points to buy one point."
Her offhand words landed on the broke students of Class D like a mountain crashing down on them.
"One point costs 100,000 Personal Points?"
"That's way too expensive!"
"Wait, exactly how many points did they lose?!"
Seeing that the students were confused, Sae Chabashira kindly wrote the passing score for each subject on the blackboard. Then she listed the students who'd failed and the number of points each was short in every subject, organizing it all into a table.
"Sato, Hondo, Shinohara, and Inogashira mainly failed history. They're short by ten points."
"Sudo, Ike, and Yamauchi failed every subject. Sudo's English score was ten points below the passing mark. Those three alone are short by 85 points."
"That comes to 95 points in total. If you pay me 9.5 million Personal Points before school ends this afternoon, nobody will be expelled."
Only 9.5 million?
The students hadn't expected their teacher to say something so cold.
They'd only received points from the school during their first month. The entire class had received just 4 million Personal Points.
Even if they hadn't spent a single point since the start of the school year, they still wouldn't have enough to pay to keep their classmates from being expelled.
"We're short by that much..."
Looking at the points they needed to make up on the blackboard, Horikita Suzune's brows trembled. She could hardly believe it.
She'd thought that if they could buy points with Personal Points, they'd be able to resolve the crisis without a problem.
She hadn't expected the points to cost so much.
The school might as well be robbing them.
"Teacher, isn't the number of Personal Points needed to buy points too high?"
Hirata Yosuke, the class's most beloved, sunny boy, stood up. "There's no way we can afford that."
"Too high?"
Hearing Hirata's question, Sae Chabashira seemed to find it amusing. "You're studying at one of the best high schools in the country and receiving the best education in the country. Not only is tuition free, but you don't have to pay for your dormitory, utilities, or water, either. If you behave well, the school even gives you tens of thousands—or over a hundred thousand—yen in spending money each month."
"If all it took to attend this school was 9.5 million yen, how many parents across the country do you think would sell everything they owned to get their children in?"
"Besides, that 9.5 million is meant to save seven students. Split among the class, it's less than 1.36 million per person."
"You're the ones getting a great deal."
After hearing Sae Chabashira put it that way, the students who'd thought the price was too high fell silent.
Too expensive?
What part of it was too expensive?
Instead of complaining that the school was charging too much, they ought to reflect on whether they'd studied hard enough.
After mocking the students in her class,
Sae Chabashira turned her gaze to the black-haired girl.
Horikita Suzune had her head slightly bowed and seemed a little discouraged and dejected.
It seemed even Horikita thought there was no way the class could use Personal Points to save the students facing expulsion.
"So this is where it ends?"
Sae Chabashira looked at the girl with a touch of disappointment.
As a teacher, she naturally knew more than the students did.
The price for buying exam points didn't have to be 100,000 Personal Points per point.
The 100,000 Personal Points was simply the standard price set by the school.
The price could actually be reduced to 10,000 Personal Points per point.
That was only valid for this midterm exam.
But it would be enough.
If Horikita Suzune and the others kept pushing, there was still hope of saving the students facing expulsion.
Even if they couldn't save everyone, they should at least be able to save some of them.
Due to school regulations, Sae Chabashira couldn't take the initiative and tell the students that the price could be lowered.
She could only wait for the students to act on their own.
Before you continue