Hoshinomiya-sensei spoke as she handed out the materials.
Special rules, huh?
Uesugi Gen hadn't forgotten all the strange things he'd noticed since arriving at the school.
He'd been so focused on them that Ichinose had found an opening and taken him by surprise.
Uesugi clenched his fists in frustration as he sat at his desk.
He took the materials passed back from the student in front of him, thanked him, and quietly began to read.
It was a handbook outlining the general rules and information about the school.
Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School: 99.9% of its students found employment in their desired fields. Its educational resources surpassed those of any comparable school, and it had a wide variety of state-of-the-art teaching facilities.
From the outside, it was more accurate to call it an artificial island city than a school. Besides the school itself, the campus also included facilities such as karaoke bars, movie theaters, cafés, and clothing stores. It was no exaggeration to call it a small shopping district. According to the brochure, the grounds covered at least six hundred thousand square meters.
Most of the booklet was just a general introduction to the school. There was no need to linger over it; a quick scan was enough to get the gist.
Suddenly, Uesugi's fingers stopped as he turned a page. He halted his reading.
There was only a short section, titled "S-System," with just a few sentences beneath it.
[The school's "student evaluation system based on competition"?]
Uesugi studied the brief passage thoughtfully.
"The student ID cards we're handing out now also function as phones. Here at school, we call them terminals. You'll use them to buy things, pay for meals, and cover entertainment expenses. Just show or tap them at the appropriate spot. It's very simple. I'm sure everyone in this class is smart, so you'll get the hang of it once you try it out."
Hoshinomiya handed out compliments as if they cost her nothing, and a few students bashfully lowered their heads.
"But remember, using them costs points, so be careful not to spend too much when you're shopping."
Hoshinomiya-sensei changed her tone and warned them, her expression serious.
"At this school, there's nothing you can't buy with points. Anything available on school grounds can be bought, no matter what it is."
That last sentence seemed a little unnecessary. Or was there something the teacher couldn't tell them, and she was deliberately trying to give them a hint this way?
Uesugi rested his chin on his hand and watched the somewhat childish teacher at the front of the room.
Could you really buy anything? If she simply meant that money could buy anything, then the school had no reason to go to all this trouble creating points to replace yen. It could just use yen directly.
Like how a game only let you buy certain items with its in-game currency, points probably served a similar purpose. Most likely, they could be used to purchase things that yen couldn't buy.
Since the teacher had specifically said that they could buy anything, that suggested they could also purchase things more abstract than physical goods. Things like... rules.
The more Uesugi thought about it, the more confused he became. The school had spent an enormous amount of money and manpower setting all this up. What was it trying to achieve?
"If you accidentally lose your terminal, you'll have to spend extra points to get a replacement."
"At this school, the school will cover your daily living expenses. Points will be deposited into your account on the first of every month."
Uesugi took his phone and opened the points page. He had one hundred thousand.
"Now, everyone, please check your accounts. Each of you should have received one hundred thousand points. One point is equivalent to one yen. Check that the amount is correct, and let me know if there's a mistake."
"O-One hundred thousand?!"
"H-How much?!"
"Seriously? A hundred thousand?"
The students in Class B grew excited. A hundred thousand yen was no small amount for a student. Most office workers in Tokyo earned somewhere between four and six million yen a year.
Class B's students eagerly let out their excitement among themselves. Even then, they were considerate enough not to shout, only whispering to each other.
Uesugi flipped through the booklet, leaned back in his chair with its front legs raised, and asked Shibata, who sat behind him,
"Shibata, I'm not very familiar with this stuff, so let me ask you: about how much pocket money do you usually get each month?"
Shibata scratched his head, puzzled by Uesugi's question, but answered anyway.
"About five thousand yen a month. Sometimes my family gives me a bit more, but it's usually around that amount. Do you think there's something strange about it, Uesugi?"
Uesugi didn't answer. Instead, he asked Shibata another question.
"Shibata, do you play video games?"
"Hmm, games? I used to play stuff like Pokémon when I was little. Then I had to train for soccer all the time, so I didn't play much anymore."
"When you play games, you usually see this, right? The protagonist starts the game, and a guide character like the village chief gives them some starting money so they can get established in the game world."
"Are you saying these hundred thousand points are the school's starting funds for us to develop with, and that we might not get any more later—or only a small amount?"
"Yeah. Hoshinomiya-sensei never said they'd give us a hundred thousand points every month, right? She only said points would be deposited at the start of each month."
Uesugi glanced at Hoshinomiya-sensei, who was smiling in the distance, and reminded him,
"That's true. It is the most reasonable explanation."
A cool, clipped voice interrupted Uesugi and Shibata's conversation.
The speaker was the handsome boy seated next to Uesugi. He had neat purple hair, a handsome face, and a tall, well-built physique.
"By the way, who are you? It's rude to eavesdrop on other people's conversations."
Uesugi glanced at the purple-haired boy with displeasure.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kanzaki Ryuji."
Kanzaki Ryuji reached across the aisle and held out a hand to Uesugi.
"Uesugi Gen."
Seeing that Kanzaki Ryuji had made the first move, Uesugi readily let the matter go.
"As for how to test the theory, we can just ask the person involved. Leave it to me."
Kanzaki Ryuji raised his hand to signal that he had a question for Hoshinomiya-sensei.
At almost the same time, Ichinose, seated diagonally in front of Uesugi on the right, raised both hands.
Hoshinomiya-sensei put one hand on her hip and casually pointed with the other.
"Just ask whatever you want. My class is very relaxed, as long as everyone remembers to follow the rules."
Ichinose stood up and got straight to the point.
"Sensei, although our school has government backing, a class of forty students and a grade of only one hundred and sixty would mean sixteen million yen a month. That's a huge amount of money. The school is giving it directly to students without asking for anything in return. I hate to admit it, but I don't think we can offer the school that kind of value."
Listening to Ichinose's spirited remarks, Uesugi pursed his lips. I thought she was the big-breasted, empty-headed type. Turns out she's not just well-endowed—she's sharp, too.
After Ichinose finished, Kanzaki stood up and added,
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, will these hundred thousand points be given out every month, or is this month an exception? If we're only receiving a hundred thousand points in the first month, I can understand that the school is giving students money for their living expenses. But if we're getting a hundred thousand points every month, then, as Ichinose said, I don't think we're worth that much to the school."
After hearing their questions, Hoshinomiya-sensei smiled with satisfaction and nodded.
"Just as Kanzaki said, these hundred thousand points won't be deposited every month. The amount the school gives you is based on your individual value."
Value?
Uesugi's pupils narrowed slightly. He'd caught the key point in Hoshinomiya's answer.
"Then what criteria does the school use to evaluate our points?"
Ichinose pressed Hoshinomiya-sensei for an answer.
"That's classified information."
Hoshinomiya crossed her arms in front of her chest, forming a big X with them.
After hearing her explanation, Kanzaki and Ichinose both lowered their heads, deep in thought.
Seeing that Ichinose and the others had fallen silent, Hoshinomiya-sensei reassured them,
"Come on, come on. You'll gradually figure these things out once you get used to the school."
Everyone took the hint and didn't press her any further.
After a moment of silence, Kanzaki turned around.
"What do you think, Uesugi?"
"Me? I think I'll sit here and think about it. There's too little information to draw any conclusions. We can only wait for the school to reveal more."
"True. Looks like that's all we can do for now."
Uesugi watched the exchange in silence, with no intention of getting involved.
It seemed Hoshinomiya-sensei had been told by the school not to reveal the details. There was no point in asking again, and even if they managed to get something out of her, she might get into trouble.
Uesugi could tell that Hoshinomiya wanted to tell her students the truth, but the school had tied her hands, so she could only offer hints. Otherwise, the students wouldn't have been given so much information right from the start. Uesugi didn't want to make things difficult for the new homeroom teacher he'd just met.
As for information, there were plenty of ways to get it if he wanted.
The simplest would be to send Shibata to hang around the second- and third-year students' bathrooms for a day and eavesdrop. First-years might not know anything, but the upperclassmen definitely would. And men were especially fond of sharing secrets while relieving themselves. He was bound to hear something after a full day.
But that would be practically cheating. Better to follow the school's rules and see what sort of tricks it had up its sleeve.
"Remember to go to Gymnasium One in an hour for the opening ceremony. I have some meetings about the new school year, so I won't be going with you. You can spend the time however you like."
Hoshinomiya-sensei gave the whole class a sweet smile, then left the classroom.
"In that case, let's make some simple introductions so we can enjoy these three years together."
Ichinose stood at the front of the classroom and spoke with boundless enthusiasm.
When did she get up there?
Watching Ichinose, who had somehow appeared at the podium, Uesugi no longer had the strength to complain.
This woman had maxed out her social skills. Terrifying. There was no way to resist her.
Chapter 3: The Boring Truth
So it wasn't just my imagination?
Inside the gymnasium, Uesugi watched as students from the various classes arrived one after another and thought to himself.
The vast gymnasium was divided into four clearly demarcated sections.
It wasn't obvious, but to Uesugi,
the students' overall qualities differed from Class A to Class D.
Class A didn't need a teacher to guide them. They'd already lined up on their own and were waiting quietly for the opening ceremony to begin.
Class B had lined up on its own, too, but its students still whispered to the new friends around them.
By the time it came to Class C, lining up was out of the question. The students stood wherever they pleased, chatting with their new classmates.
Uesugi even noticed bruises from fights on a few students.
Class D was stranger still. Its students loudly discussed what they'd do with their hundred thousand points, bragged, lied, and told dirty jokes without any regard for the setting.
Some even laughed loudly, as if they were proud of it.
A handful of students tried their hardest to stop this, but it was clearly hopeless.
There was no way this neat arrangement could be a coincidence.
Classes A through D must have been divided up according to some sort of ranking when the school assigned students to classes.
He didn't know exactly how they'd been sorted, but it was clear that the students' character and conduct played a significant part.
In that case, being assigned to Class B was pretty lucky. Class A was too serious and stuffy; it didn't suit him.
Class C was far too lively, with students already fighting on the first day. He didn't want anyone getting hurt.
As for Class D, some of its students couldn't even be called students, in Uesugi's opinion. They didn't have the qualities a student should have.
So Class B was the best. Even though the wicked Ichinose had put a spell on him, the class was still quite nice overall. The students got along well, were willing to help him, and weren't too lacking in character.
The opening ceremony was no different from one at any other school.
After Uesugi drowsily listened to the principal's speech, it ended without incident.
In the morning, after going over the basic information about the school, the class was dismissed, and the students were given free time.
Before you continue