Conduct Points

Uesugi Hara turned his gaze toward Sakayanagi Arisu.

Was this little girl deliberately letting Katsuragi take the lead? Or did she think there was no need to get involved herself, and that she could simply sit back and reap the benefits?

A faint smile still rested on her face. Her violet eyes were calm, as if everything had gone exactly as she expected.

As he pondered this, the others' rambling analysis reached his ears. They were doing little more than guessing whether the exam would be a written test or a physical fitness assessment. Listening to them gradually bored Uesugi Hara.

He turned to Kamuro Masumi and nudged her arm with his elbow. "Kamuro, what do you think this exam will be?"

Kamuro Masumi was staring blankly at the Points balance on her Terminal. She frowned at his question. "How would I know? Aren't all those smart people having a grand time analyzing it?"

Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow and teased her deliberately. "So you admit you're stupid?"

"You're the stupid one! Your whole family's stupid!" Kamuro Masumi instantly bristled. "I just can't be bothered to waste brainpower on it. Whatever comes, we'll deal with it!"

"Look at you, getting worked up again." Uesugi Hara laughed and waved a hand, teasing her before his tone softened. He continued at an unhurried pace, "I've heard that some schools in China used a 'conduct points' system. Basically, students gained or lost points based on their daily behavior. Good conduct earned points, breaking the rules cost them, and the final score could affect things like awards."

Kamuro Masumi gave him a suspicious sidelong glance. "Why are you bringing that up? Does it have anything to do with our exam?"

"Hard to say." Uesugi Hara rested one hand against his chin, lightly tapping the desktop with the fingertips of the other. "But think about it. The school tied Class Points to Private Points, and said the exam would affect our Points. This so-called 'Special Exam' might not be a written test in the traditional sense."

He glanced over the people still discussing things excitedly and continued, "Maybe, like conduct points, it's hidden in our everyday actions. Classroom performance, student behavior, or even... that thing we just did, pooling our money to buy the rules. Could that count as a 'test'?"

Kamuro Masumi blinked. She clearly hadn't considered it. "You mean... the school is secretly watching us?"

"What else?" Uesugi Hara raised an eyebrow. "And didn't you see all the cameras on the way in? I spotted quite a few just along that stretch. Maybe the school is monitoring everything we do."

Following his gaze toward the front of the classroom, Kamuro Masumi spotted an inconspicuous camera in the corner, pointed at them. Her heart tightened. "Th-then doesn't that mean they saw everything we just said?"

"So what if they did?" Uesugi Hara shrugged indifferently. "It's not like we did anything against the rules. Besides, isn't 'observation' the whole point of installing so many cameras?"

Kamuro Masumi looked from the camera to Uesugi Hara, suddenly feeling a chill creep down her back. "This school... is seriously creepy."

Uesugi Hara chuckled under his breath. "Creepy? I think it's kind of interesting."

Kamuro Masumi frowned and muttered, "It's like a prison..."

Uesugi Hara thought for a moment. "It does remind me a little of prisons in China."

He suddenly stood up and patted Kamuro on the shoulder. "All right, Kamuro. Tell the others about the 'conduct points' idea later. Say you came up with it."

"Why me? You're the one who brought it up." Kamuro Masumi frowned, clearly unable to understand what he was getting at.

"Me?" Uesugi Hara stretched and glanced out the window. "This classroom's too stuffy. I'm going to take a walk." He started to leave, then added, "If you don't think it's worth mentioning, don't. It's only a guess, after all. But... it's better for everyone to consider one more possibility than to sit around waiting for instructions."

His figure had already disappeared down the corridor.

Left in the classroom, Kamuro Masumi watched the direction he'd gone, then glanced at the people still arguing. She felt conflicted.

If she spoke up, she was afraid she wouldn't explain herself well and would be dismissed as making things up. But if she stayed quiet, Uesugi Hara's analysis did make some sense—what if it really was the key to the exam?

She looked at the people in the classroom, each insisting on a different theory, and took a deep breath. Just as she was about to speak, Morishita Ai stopped her.

"Kamuro Masumi," Morishita Ai said coolly, a hint of confusion in her voice. "Why are you doing what Uesugi Hara says?"

Kamuro Masumi froze, then instinctively retorted, "But if I don't say anything, what if this really is the key to the exam?"

"Don't claim you thought of it yourself. Tell them you're passing along Uesugi Hara's idea." Morishita Ai's gaze rested on her face. Her tone was calm, but carried a subtle hint of guidance.

That's right! Why do I have to cover for him? I can just say he came up with it!

Kamuro Masumi's heart gave a start, and she immediately felt annoyed with herself. She wasn't stupid, so why had she followed Uesugi Hara's lead and gotten herself stuck in a rut? She'd nearly become his mouthpiece.

She shot Morishita Ai a quick, grateful and approving look, cleared her throat, and raised her voice in the now-quieting classroom.

"Um... Uesugi Hara just came up with an idea he wants to share with everyone."

When everyone turned to look at her, she steadied herself and deliberately raised her voice. "Uesugi Hara just went out. He asked me to tell everyone that he thinks this exam might be a little like the 'conduct points' system used by schools in China."

She paused, then relayed Uesugi Hara's ideas about the cameras and the possibility that daily behavior could affect their Points.

Katsuragi Kohei frowned at the podium, clearly considering what she'd said. Sakayanagi Arisu raised an eyebrow, and her gaze toward Kamuro Masumi grew more intrigued.

The discussion in the classroom was lively. No one paid much attention to Uesugi Hara's departure—perhaps he'd just gone to the restroom. No one gave it a second thought.

After leaving the classroom, Uesugi Hara wandered aimlessly around the campus. The opening ceremony was still an hour away, so he had plenty of time. There was no need to hurry back.

As he strolled along, taking his time to admire the campus scenery, his eyes stayed alert, casually sweeping over the corners along the way.

The school's facilities were certainly top-notch.

But he soon noticed an interesting detail.

Given the school's current density of cameras, covering every area without a single blind spot should have been easy. Yet he had deliberately checked a few relatively secluded places—the corners of stairwells, the path behind the classroom building, and the shadowy areas of a small grove—and found no cameras covering them at all. It was as if those gaps had been left on purpose.

Uesugi Hara stopped and lightly rubbed his chin with his fingertips.

Was it an oversight?

It didn't seem likely.

The school wasn't short of money. There was no reason for such a glaring mistake in its camera layout.

So it was deliberate?

Interesting.

It seemed that beyond the rules openly laid out, the school had other tricks it couldn't bring into the open.

Blind spots like these were clearly "private territory" deliberately left for the students.

Uesugi Hara took note of those places so he wouldn't get caught off guard later.

When it was nearly time, he started heading back.