Hooray!

[Note: During the suspension of classes, students are still required to participate in ongoing Special Exam.]

Tomorrow, April 30th, will be the day the Class Points rules and each Class Points are officially announced.

What's unusual is that all four class advisors in the office looked gloomy. Upon closer inspection, you could even sense that Mashima Tomonari, the advisor for Class D, was in the best mood.

"... That's really true."

Mashima Tomonari looked at the data in his hand, which showed the Class Points for each class after the first month.

A month ago, when he took over Class D, he guessed that Class D' s Class Points would be zero, but what he didn't expect was --

[Class 1-A, Grade 1: 450 points]

[Class 1-B: 424 points]

[Class 1-C: 190 points]

[Class 1-D: Midnight]

Chapter 57: Yay!

"Starting tomorrow, I'll be living a life of poverty with zero monthly income."

"I think Ryo is the only one in the entire First Year who has no right to say that."

Sakayanagi Arisu took a sip of her coffee, glanced sideways at Kitagawa Ryo, and shook her head, saying:

"The total remaining Private Points of all students in the entire grade probably don't even equal the number of points Liang has."

"It is indeed a lot, but it can't be used casually, so it's just a fixed number."

Kitagawa Ryo shrugged:

"Who knows how many more ridiculous and unfortunate things will happen to Class D? It's better to save your Private Points for when it really matters."

"But what I know now is that the biggest misfortune for Class D right now is all because of Liang, who directed it all by herself."

Sakayanagi Arisu, while Kitagawa Ryo leaned back and waved his hand, saying:

"Since they're all zeros anyway, no matter how much you deduct, it won't turn into a negative number."

"After all, if there are negative numbers, according to the exchange mechanism between Class Points and Private Points, the students would have to pay the school for the points out of their own pockets."

After a few casual jokes, Sakayanagi Arisu became serious again. She put down her coffee cup, leaned forward slightly, and asked in a low voice:

"I have two more questions about this incident."

What exactly did Hoshinomiya Chie from Class B?

"Although Horikita later told me about Ryo's plan, she overlooked a strange phenomenon that Ryo never explained from beginning to end—"

Why did Koenji choose to skip class and stay at the coffee shop all afternoon on the day the incident occurred, creating a perfect and impeccable alibi?

Kitagawa Ryo nodded slightly, and after thinking for a while, replied:

"Actually, these two issues are essentially the same issue."

"Arisu, as the daughter of Chairman Sakayanagi, you should know about this school, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School's hidden rule."

"Hidden rules?"

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head slightly, reached out to tuck a strand of silvery-white hair behind her ear, and repeated the word with a hint of doubt.

"The first month at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is Special Exam month for new students to explore the school's basic rules, such as Class Points, Private Points, and the fact that class assignments are not random, and other similar information."

"But there is one rule here that could potentially fail."

Sakayanagi Arisu realized what was happening after Kitagawa Ryo reminded her:

"Class assignment?"

"Yes, the class assignments at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School were finalized before the start of the school year, but in reality, each of the four classes (A, B, C, and D) will have the same Class Points on April 1st, the first day of school."

"However, in the more than ten years since its establishment, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School has consistently produced a clear Class Points A, B, C, and Class D after the first month."

"This is because the main focus of the assessment in the first month is classroom discipline, and the overall quality of students in the four classes (A, B, C, and D) can easily differentiate between them."

"Therefore, this method of assigning classes in advance has never gone wrong in the past ten years or so."

"This is the hidden rule of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School: the ABCD Class D at the start of the school year will definitely remain the same ABCD Class D a month later."

Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes flickered a few times. She lowered her head and pondered for a moment before speaking:

"What if Class B in a certain year has more Class Points remaining after the first month than Class A?"

"This means that the basic rules of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School have become paradoxical and have completely collapsed."

Kitagawa Ryo spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Classes A, B, C, and D are divided according to the students' initial ranking based on their overall qualities."

"But they are also ranked A, B, C, or D based on the number of Class Points."

"If, after the first month Class B's points exceed those of Class A, theoretically, Class B should be promoted to Class A. However, this would violate the first basic rule."

"Or rather, it would render the school's first stated rule completely unconvincing."

"The Class C and Class D can protest vehemently that their overall abilities should absolutely not be at the C or D level. After all, even the A you personally selected failed, didn't it?"

Kitagawa Ryo looked out the window, paused, and then spoke almost simultaneously with Sakayanagi Arisu:

"Therefore, the school absolutely will not allow this to happen."

"Therefore, the school will absolutely not allow this to happen."

Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but chuckle. He looked away and added:

"This is the first part of what I said to Hoshinomiya."

"These past few days, because of her resentment and hatred towards Chabashira Sae, she has almost forgotten this hidden rule."

"No matter how hard she tries to drag Class A down, even if she succeeds in the end, the school will definitely not want to see Class A overtaken by Class B after just one month."

"Only under this premise can I proceed with the next step of the transaction with her."

That is, to minimize the difference in Class Points between Class A and Class B, and --

"We guarantee that 100% of the students in Class A will drop out."

Who is that person?

Sakayanagi Arisu asked with some curiosity.

"It's Arisu, the second question you asked earlier."

Kitagawa Ryo rested his chin on his hands and answered with a smile:

"Regarding the question about Koenji Rokusuke."

"First of all, Arisu, how much do you know about Koenji?"

"The only son and sole heir of the Koenji Conglomerate family. To be honest, I don't know why my father approved his application for university admission, since from any perspective, he had no need to attend."

Sakayanagi Arisu asked with some doubt, "The help and resources that Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School can provide after graduation are incomparable to those of the Koenji Conglomerate. Moreover, Koenji himself is far superior to ordinary students in terms of academic ability and physical fitness. Even if he came here to study, he himself has never attended a class."

"He just came here to have fun. If he had been placed in Class D, Koenji might have been more interested in the school. But he just happened to be placed in Class A. After using money to find out the basic rules of the school from the upperclassmen, he realized that he had already passed the test."

"From the second day of school, Koenji Rokusuke intentionally started to approach the upperclassmen. He noticed the homeroom teacher's words, 'Points can buy everything here,' so he used money to exchange Private Points with the upperclassmen, and then used those Private Points to exchange for information."

"This kind of transaction lasted for about a week before it stopped because Koenji realized that he was already in Class A, so the significance of collecting Private Points suddenly diminished, and he no longer needed to spend 20 million points to transfer classes."

"During this period, Yagami Takuya from Class 1-B noticed Koenji's actions through his connections, and even bribed a senior student with points to secretly record an audio clip."

"That is, the recording he used to fake Koenji at the scene in this incident."

"As for why I know so much... cough cough, that's not important. Senior's name? She's just a helpful passerby, let's just leave it at that."

In short, Koenji Rokusuke couldn't find any fun anymore.

"In the class, there's Katsuragi Kohei who tirelessly tries to influence him and get him to contribute to the class. This is actually what Koenji finds most unbearable, because the guy doesn't care about this at all, and has never cared about it."

"Koenji Rokusuke truly cares about is his status as the heir to the Koenji Conglomerate."

Kitagawa Ryo began to imitate Koenji Rokusuke's tone:

"My name is Koenji Rokusuke. I am the only son of the Koenji Conglomerate and a man who will one day shoulder the responsibilities of Japan society."

Sakayanagi Arisu was amused by Kitagawa Ryo's deliberate performance and chuckled softly, covering her mouth.

"It sounds funny, but that's how he introduced himself to the whole class on his first day of school."

"Whether it's the school or the class, it doesn't matter."

"The root of his thinking lies in his family environment from childhood, which leads to a level of self-confidence bordering on arrogance. The official website of the Koenji Conglomerate even includes information about his vast personal assets."

"To put it another way, Koenji Rokusuke is an extremely self-centered man, and what constitutes his self-centeredness is the Koenji Conglomerate behind him."

Kitagawa Ryo's lips curled into a smile:

"For Koenji Rokusuke, everything about Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is nothing compared to even a fraction of the wealth of the Zaibatsu."

"Therefore, getting him to choose to leave is both a simple and difficult thing, as long as you can make him truly care."

"However, I happen to meet that requirement."

Kitagawa Ryo examined the talent panel on his personal interface in his mind, focusing his gaze on the last golden talent.

[Heir of the Wealthy Family]

[Class 1-A: Initial Class Points: 1000. 200 points deducted for classroom discipline throughout the month. 50 points deducted due to Katsuragi Kohei's disciplinary action. 300 points deducted due to Koenji Rokusuke's expulsion. Total remaining points: 450.]

Chabashira Sae read through all the deduction rules three more times. Her right hand, holding a cigarette, trembled slightly. She had almost finished a whole pack of women's cigarettes that afternoon, and the ashtray on the table was already full of cigarette butts.

Koenji Rokusuke is a student who, judging by his stats alone, is more than qualified to be in Class A.

However, Chabashira Sae, who had been teaching Class A for a month, naturally knew how difficult Koenji Rokusuke was to manage. It could be said that more than half of the 200 Private Points deducted from Class 1-A were due to him.

She also saw Katsuragi Kohei in her class trying hard to persuade the other person to change their mind, but the fact was that Koenji Rokusuke still went his own way without any scruples.

If Chabashira Sae were still the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D, she wouldn't have bothered with such a problem student. But now that she's the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, Koenji Rokusuke's presence is incredibly conspicuous.

Just as Hoshinomiya Chie hoped that Class A would fall, Chabashira Sae was also afraid of Class A's downfall. In fact, since the start of the school year, she sometimes felt like she was in an unexpected dream, and the goal she had pursued for ten years had fallen into her lap like a pie falling from the sky.

While feeling joy, one also feels anxious and fearful; what comes easily is even more easily lost.

So when she saw that Koenji Rokusuke had voluntarily submitted his withdrawal application, Chabashira Sae even felt a slight sense of smug satisfaction.

She certainly understood that this would deduct a full 300 Class Points Class A, but Chabashira Sae knew even better that if Koenji Rokusuke had stayed in Class A, the points he would have lost for Class A over the next three years could have been far more than 300.

So Chabashira Sae didn't even bother to find out the reason, nor did she speak to Koenji Rokusuke alone, nor did she discuss it with other students in the class, such as Katsuragi Kohei. She stubbornly believed that this was the right thing to do, and then resolutely approved the withdrawal application.

She and Koenji Rokusuke were beings who could not understand each other, like two parallel lines on a plane that would never intersect.

Koenji Rokusuke never cared about this school, or the so-called Class A.

However, Chabashira Sae cannot do that.

She will stay here until she realizes the dream she herself shattered.

The dice have been thrown and cannot be retrieved, for the game has already begun.

[Class 1-B: Initial Class Points: 1000. 196 points were deducted for classroom discipline throughout the month. 100 points were deducted due to Yagami Takuya's disciplinary action, and 300 points were deducted due to Yagami Takuya's expulsion. Total remaining points: 404.]

Hoshinomiya Chie gripped the documents tightly in her hand; Yagami Takuya's dropping out of school was an outcome she had never anticipated.

Unlike Chabashira Sae, she contacted Yagami Takuya not only didn't answer the phone, but in fact, Yagami Takuya Hoshinomiya Chie never saw him again until he dropped out.

It was as if someone else had intervened, which was unusual.

However, the only good news is that Kitagawa Ryo has fulfilled their agreement, Koenji Rokusuke from Class A has dropped out, leaving the Class Points difference between Class A and Class B to only 46 points.

This is a situation that has never occurred in more than a decade.

This was also Class B's best chance.

"It's just a six-month suspension from school. Special Exam, I... I can still be useful!"

In a secluded, empty classroom, Yagami Takuya was trying his best to defend himself, his forehead beaded with sweat, a far cry from his initial cheerful demeanor.