Take Away the Thing He Wants Most-There's No Hope, Just Wait to Die

It was the future, so why did they have nothing? Their prospects looked bleak.

They had thought that if they could just make it through these three years, they'd be able to get into Tokyo University or join a major corporation.

They could go wherever they wanted and become someone important.

They could even get introductions to all kinds of specialized jobs.

Chabashira Sae's words had shattered many people's dreams.

Their score was now zero, while Class A's was nearly a thousand.

Even if they earned rewards from every exam, surely Class A would get rewards too.

By that logic, as long as Class A didn't make any mistakes, they'd never make it into Class A. They might not even get into Class B or C.

Thinking about it, many people felt even more resentment toward Kageya Shinjitsu.

Fine, he sold information. But why hadn't he sold it to their own class?

"Just as I'd expect from Class D. What an ugly sight. Is that what it feels like when your dreams are shattered?"

"Not beautiful at all."

The beautiful Koenji provoked the class.

"What? Why are you so relaxed?"

That drew everyone's attention to him.

If Kageya Shinjitsu was the person in the class most people were hostile toward and disliked,

Koenji was probably second.

His haughty, unconventional attitude wasn't something anyone liked.

And now his relaxed manner rubbed them the wrong way, too.

But soon, he provoked them even more.

"I never expected the school to help me with further education or employment. I'm going to inherit the Koenji Conglomerate, so whether I'm in Class A or D is a trivial matter."

"Of course, I don't agree with the school arbitrarily assigning me to Class D. But as the scheming boy said, a person must rely on themselves. If you're good enough, you can choose wherever you want to go."

Koenji's attitude made it sound like he was asking why the poor didn't simply eat meat.

But that was often how things were.

"The Koenji Conglomerate?"

"..."

"Why is someone like him in Class D, too?"

"Is Class D really just a bunch of defective products?"

The students probably hadn't expected to find a major capitalist right beside them.

Some of them probably wanted to find a lamppost or something and hang Koenji from it.

At the same time, they began to doubt themselves. Why were there so many amazing people in their class?

And with so many amazing people, how had they still managed to bring their class score down to zero?

What kind of talented people could make this class turn out like this?

With thoughts like that, they couldn't help looking toward those who might have caused the most deductions.

Kanji Ike, Yamauchi Haruki, Ken Sudō, and the girls who played with their phones during class—none of them could escape their glares.

Those people were the root of all evil.

Thanks to Koenji's interruption, those who were reasonably capable themselves managed to stay a little calmer.

But the people who thought they could rely on the school to get into all kinds of places, despite having only average abilities, looked miserable.

Everything felt so bleak, as if they'd entered hell.

"Heh heh heh..."

Kageya Shinjitsu's face was practically beaming with delight at the sight.

His classmates' reactions, especially those of the idiots in the back—

Watching them look so disappointed and despairing—

He couldn't help laughing.

"Koenji's words may have been blunt, but that's more or less how things are."

"These are the school's rules. The opportunities are there for all of you to seize. If you can't seize them, then you have only yourselves to blame."

"Didn't someone say it? A person must rely on themselves. So work hard."

"If you can't accept it, I'll say it again: just fill out a withdrawal application, and I'll send you off that very day."

His words made some of the class want to drop out. They could already picture the miserable years ahead.

But if they dropped out, their whole lives might be miserable.

And then there was their family situation. Many of them thought their parents would beat them to death if they went home.

Maybe their parents would pretend not to know them, refuse to let them through the door, and send them straight to work in a factory.

Watching these people steal his lines one by one, Kageya Shinjitsu looked at them in speechless disbelief.

Here, here. You can have the microphone from now on.

Didn't they have anything of their own to say?

"Everyone, don't worry."

"Actually, we still have a chance. If we study hard, we'll earn Class Points and have a chance to compete. Didn't the teacher say we'd have an opportunity to earn points in the next exam?"

"For now, we just need to avoid losing more points and prepare for the exam."

With gloom hanging over the class, Hirata the class mom finally stepped forward to save the day.

"That's right. It's only been a month since the school year began. We still have a chance."

"We worked so hard to become friends. I hope we can all graduate together."

"No matter what the future holds, we should treasure the present~~"

Kushida Kikyo stepped forward.

This was a perfect opportunity to win people over, after all.

Until now, the focus had been on the class points and exams. There hadn't been much for her to do.

The adorable girl stood up and looked around at her classmates expectantly.

After all, if they dropped out, where would they get to see little Kikyo?

But only a few—

"That's right! I won't let them look down on us!"

"Just watch, Chabashira-sensei. It's only a few hundred points!"

"Class A came from middle school too, didn't they? They're just like us. I bet they don't have three legs!"

The boy sitting behind Kushida-chan was fired up, especially when he saw Kushida Kikyo turn around and gaze at him in admiration.

Chabashira Sae looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Just a few hundred Class Points?

They'd find out how big the difference was soon enough.

Then they'd understand that people simply couldn't be treated as equals.

Sometimes, the gap between people was even wider than the gap between people and pigs.

A couple of glances from a girl, and he was already getting carried away.

At the same time, Chabashira Sae wondered if there was a way to make Kageya Shinjitsu lose his composure, too.

She was beginning to wonder if provoking him like this was the wrong approach.

"Then do your best."

"That's about all I have to say at this morning meeting. Does anyone have any questions?"

"If not, we're done."

Hearing the bell that marked the end of the morning meeting, Chabashira Sae surprisingly didn't leave right away.

Normally, she was the type to bolt the moment the bell rang.

The students looked at each other, but no one spoke up.

They mainly didn't know what to ask. Besides, it was all so awkward that no one said anything. If they had questions, they'd probably ask her privately later.

She closed the door gently, leaving the classroom sealed off.

"The points haven't been deposited. What are we supposed to do now?"

"Can anyone lend me some points?"

"I used up all my remaining points yesterday."

"This is such a pain. The teacher seems to hate us, too."

"Everyone, let's calm down first."

"Calm down? They called us dead last and defective products. Doesn't that make you angry?"

"So what if we're angry? Can't we work together and prove them wrong?"

"Prove them wrong? I couldn't accept it from the moment they sorted us into classes!"

"I should've been in Class A!"

"I wanted to be in Class A too!"

The moment the teacher left, the classroom erupted. Students complained to their friends nearby about how unfair the school was.

Today's news had really opened their eyes.

They'd never imagined the school was like this.

Their heads were splitting.

Everyone wanted to get into Class A. They were all jealous of the more than nine hundred Class Points Class A had a month after starting school.

That meant more than ninety thousand personal points.

Compared to them, Class A was in a completely different world.

Hirata, worried by the hostile atmosphere in the classroom, stood up to calm everyone down, but it didn't help much.

Even Kushida Kikyo couldn't stop them from grumbling.

Many people had already turned their attention to the problem students who liked to act recklessly.

Of course, some were looking at Kageya Shinjitsu, too.

The class felt as if it had been torn apart.

Kageya Shinjitsu watched it all unfold.

But he didn't care much. Let them vent their anger.

That was the effect of this so-called class community and its collective punishment.

It turned the conflict between students and teachers, or the school, into conflict within the class and between students.

It was all supposedly for the sake of unity.

But in reality, it was just a way to make them easier to manage.