The three exchanged glances.
They had to be first-years. If they were second- or third-years, the three of them would have recognized them.
"Hey, look at what he's holding."
One of them had sharp eyes and spotted that the video playing on the boy's phone showed the confrontation they'd just had with the red-haired student.
"Your performance just now was so good, I couldn't help recording it. I hope you don't mind, senpai."
A harmless-looking smile spread across Uesugi Gen's face.
The trio broke out in a cold sweat. How had this guy figured out the things they weren't supposed to reveal?
It couldn't be. It hadn't even been a full day, and he'd already seen through all that?
"You bastard! Delete that right now!"
The trio couldn't take it anymore and reached out to snatch his phone.
After all, it wasn't something they could be proud of. The school had issued a ban on revealing anything about the S-System to the new students.
If this first-year handed the video over to the school, the three of them would definitely be disciplined.
But Uesugi Gen wasn't going to let them get their way. He dodged with a sidestep.
Then Uesugi Gen offered them a friendly warning.
"I suggest you don't do that, senpai. You've spent a year longer at this school than I have, so you should know the camera locations better than I do."
"If you take my phone here and I report you to the school afterward, you won't just get disciplined."
Uesugi Gen pointed at the camera behind the trio, helping them regain their composure.
After hearing what Uesugi Gen said, the three second-years froze in place, standing at a loss a short distance away.
Damn it. He'd seen through not only the gag order, but also the purpose of the cameras. Who was this guy?
"What do you want? If this is about the Special Ex—"
One of the second-year trio tried to get the first word in and seize control of the conversation.
"If you mean the school's system of ranking students from A to D based on their value, I already know about it. No need to bother repeating it, senpai."
The trio had just started to speak when Uesugi Gen cut them off.
"Just answer what I ask, senpai. There's no need to rush. I have a lot of questions."
"Since you've already let information slip once, letting it slip again won't change the outcome, will it?"
"..."
The three second-years were speechless. They'd been completely overwhelmed, both in presence and with words.
Besides, it hadn't even been half a day since the start of school, and he'd already taken this Special Exam apart. They'd never heard of anything like it, and they couldn't even bring themselves to resist.
"Go ahead and ask. I'll do my best to answer whatever I can."
The trio had raised the white flag. Uesugi Gen had stripped the arrogance from their voices, leaving them like meek little lambs.
"So that's how it works. A Special Exam that uses Class Points to evaluate each class's worth, with the results announced on the first of next month."
As he listened to them talk about the school's S-System, Uesugi Gen recorded the information they gave him on his phone.
"And besides graduating from Class A, there's another way to clear the school: collecting Twenty Million Personal Points. Makes sense. Points can buy anything, so using them to buy a recommendation for employment isn't all that strange."
One of the trio heard Uesugi Gen muttering to himself and couldn't help speaking up.
"That method is impossible. The most Personal Points anyone at this school has ever had was twelve million, and they got them through fraud. I'd advise you to work hard and graduate from Class A instead."
This senpai's actually a pretty nice guy. He even went out of his way to warn me.
Faced with the senpai's well-intentioned advice, Uesugi Gen smiled and replied, "How can you know without trying? As I see it, the whole reason the school made this rule was to give talented students a chance to break the system someday."
The trio stiffened and stared quietly at the boy before them.
Clearly, they'd never considered that the rule might be interpreted that way.
Perhaps, just as he'd said, the school really did hope that a student capable of collecting two thousand points on their own would appear someday.
"That's everything we know. Please delete the video now."
Having said everything they could think of in one go, the trio asked Uesugi Gen in subdued voices.
"Don't worry, senpai. I'm a man of my word."
As he spoke, Uesugi Gen deleted the video right in front of them.
"Hey, don't rush off."
Uesugi Gen stopped the trio, who had just breathed a sigh of relief and were about to make a quick getaway. Then he gave them a simple, honest smile, like a kindly farmer.
"Now that the first deal is done, senpai, let's talk about a second one."
Seeing Uesugi Gen's friendly smile, the trio couldn't help feeling a sense of despair.
Had they been kicked in the head by a donkey to pick on a defective student from Class D? And now they couldn't turn back.
"I want all the valuable information you have about your year."
"That includes the details about deductions I mentioned earlier, information about the key figures in your year, and information about your exams. If I decide something is valuable, I'll pay you points for it."
"Life can't be easy for you senpai, either."
"Just tell me what you know and you'll earn some extra money. What's not to like?"
The trio swallowed. In Uesugi Gen's voice, they heard the devil's temptation from the depths of hell.
They lowered their heads and stood where they were, weighing the pros and cons of the offer.
It was true. As students in one of the bottom classes in their year, they didn't get many points each month, and people kept squeezing them for more. Sometimes they didn't even have enough points to buy food. If that was the case, they had to find a way out for themselves. After all, it didn't matter who you were a dog for.
One of them gritted his teeth, shut his eyes, took two quick steps forward, and grabbed Uesugi Gen's hand.
"Deal."
"Then here's to two pleasant years of working together, senpai."
After exchanging contact information, Uesugi Gen looked at the second-year senpai who'd become such a generous source of free information and gave him a radiant smile. Then he casually said goodbye.
The trio watched Uesugi Gen's retreating figure. One of them couldn't help asking the one in charge, who stood in the middle, "Hey, is this really a good idea? If Nagumo finds out..."
"Shut up. If the three of us keep quiet, no one will find out. Besides, he saw through the S-System to this extent in less than half a day."
"Someone like him is unheard of. Compared to Nagumo, he might be the better choice."
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A Speedrun Guide to Advanced Nurturing High School
If Advanced Nurturing High School were a game, graduating from Class A would be the normal route to beating it.
Then Twenty Million Personal Points would be a shortcut that let you skip every obstacle and go straight to the final boss.
Points could buy anything, and two thousand points could get you promoted to Class A at any time. The setup was practically made for big spenders.
But Advanced Nurturing High School had no way to buy points, which made the Twenty Million Personal Points option seem like a pie in the sky, a carrot the school dangled to keep the students motivated.
Assuming each student received one hundred thousand points per month, that would be 1.2 million a year. Even if they spent absolutely nothing, they'd have only a little over three million after three years—nowhere near twenty million.
The senpai had just said that the highest number of Personal Points anyone had ever possessed was twelve million, obtained through fraud.
So the vast majority of students could only take the other route: keep competing and improving over the course of three years.
In the end, they'd use Class Points to get promoted to Class A, then graduate from there.
Would you really want to play a game for three years? It felt a little long.
Uesugi Gen gazed up at the brilliant blue sky.
Never mind. I'll beat it today.
For Sakayanagi Narimori, an educator, Advanced Nurturing High School was undoubtedly the work of his heart, like a son to him.
Now his other pride and joy, his beloved daughter Sakayanagi Arisu, had also come to Advanced Nurturing High School, leaving Sakayanagi Narimori feeling a little unsettled.
After all, his daughter had never spent a day away from her family's care.
He wondered whether Arisu could adapt to the school environment.
With that thought in mind, Sakayanagi Narumori left his office, planning to go and quietly check on his daughter after lunch.
"Are you Chairman Sakayanagi?"
Just as Sakayanagi Narumori stepped out of his office, he ran into a handsome boy wearing a bright smile.
Although the visitor was a student, the refined man still invited him into his office, conscientiously carrying out his duties.
"Have you run into some kind of problem?"
Uesugi Gen looked slightly puzzled by the question.
"That's strange. Wasn't the school asking us to demonstrate our value?"
Then Uesugi Gen changed the subject.
"After all, the best way to demonstrate your value is to show it directly to the other party's boss, isn't it?"
Sakayanagi Narimori's pupils contracted as he immediately understood the boy's true purpose.
"I see. You've already figured out what this exam is really about."
Sakayanagi Narimori was both surprised and a little resigned.
From the boy's words alone, he could tell this conversation wasn't going to be short.
It seemed his plan to go see his daughter would have to wait. He'd have to find time that afternoon instead.
Then Sakayanagi Narimori stood up, took out some tea leaves, and poured a cup of tea for himself and Uesugi Gen.
Uesugi Gen placed his phone on the desk and pushed it toward Sakayanagi Narimori with one hand. It contained the information he'd just obtained from the second-year senpai.
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