"I'd like to extend a warm welcome on behalf of the student body to all the new students joining our school this year. Our school is renowned for its high employment and university admission rates. I'm sure everyone here has heard about them..."
"Our school is supported and promoted by the government. The legendary 100% employment and university admission rates are no fabrication. No matter who you are, graduating from this school will open many doors for you—"
The opening ceremony had begun, and the person speaking from the stage was the Student Council President.
The Student Council President was a serious-looking boy with glasses and an imposing air.
Shirogane stood below, listening to the president's speech as a new student.
[Starting out in Class 1-C... This might be a little troublesome.]
The voice in his mind hadn't stopped.
As he listened to the Student Council President's speech, Shirogane began to seriously consider the narration in his head.
If it were just an auditory hallucination, he could blame it on being too tired and muddleheaded. But now he could even see a virtual electronic display. This was clearly something supernatural.
Two buttons appeared.
[Turn off narration]
[System version update: Note that the current system version is already up to date]
Unfortunately, both buttons were greyed out, meaning they couldn't be used.
So what was the point?
Still, it wasn't as if the narration was completely useless.
Shirogane had a good memory, and he quickly recalled the first time he'd heard the Narration System.
Back then, it had said, [But who could have guessed this school wasn't what it seemed? Free, free is the most expensive thing of all.]
Classmate Sakayanagi had also just said that getting anything for free at this school couldn't be normal.
That meant the narration knew at least a few things.
And from the way it put things, being assigned to Class C didn't seem like good news.
As he thought about it,
Shirogane suddenly noticed a very tall, muscular Black man standing in front of him.
The other student wore the same uniform and was clearly a new student, too.
He had on sunglasses.
He looked less like a student and more like some hulking bodyguard.
Being assigned to the same class as someone like him did seem a little troublesome. The students around them also seemed somewhat afraid of him, instinctively keeping their distance.
But...
Shirogane didn't sense the kind of oppressive menace that suggested he'd bully people. He seemed like someone Shirogane could get along with.
"Hello."
As Shirogane's mind wandered, a girl's voice came from beside him.
The students were lined up in separate boys' and girls' queues. Shirogane stood with the boys, and the girls' queue for Class 1-C was less than twenty centimeters away. The voice had come from that side.
Shirogane turned to look.
P.S. This is still a new book, so before it goes on sale, I'll generally post two chapters a day.
Updates are usually set for 8 a.m. and noon. I'll announce it in advance if there's a big update.
P.S. Of course, if the numbers are good, I'll post extra chapters. It's really hard to keep going when no one's reading.
Please add it to your bookshelf, please add it to your bookshelf, please add it to your bookshelf, please add it to your bookshelf, please add it to your bookshelf, please add it to your bookshelf.
Class 1-C's Students Seem to Be a Pretty Poor Lot!
She was a girl with beautiful, long silver hair.
She had a sweet face, silver hair and violet eyes, and an air about her that was soft and light.
Her legs were pretty, too, and she wore gray knee-high socks.
You rarely saw girls wearing gray socks, since they were hard to pull off, but they suited her perfectly. She was practically born to wear gray knee-high socks.
Shirogane didn't have much experience interacting with girls.
But he certainly knew how to be polite.
Besides, unlike the walking stick in front of them—no, Classmate Sakayanagi—this girl was his classmate.
He'd come to this unfamiliar place and would be spending the next three years here. Shirogane didn't want to end up without a single friend.
So he greeted her first.
"Hello. I'm Shirogane Miyuki."
"Oh? I'm Shiina Hiyori. Shiina, as in Shiina Mashiro." The girl in gray knee-high socks—no, Classmate Shiina—answered in turn.
Shiina Hiyori.
Hiyori.
It really was a lovely name.
But who was Shiina Mashiro? Some popular person he didn't know?
Shirogane also thought it was strange how his luck had been today. He'd only left home and his little sister, yet the two girls he'd met in a row both had silver hair like hers.
[Earlier, you wouldn't even get close to the Rich Loli when I told you to, but now you're the one starting a conversation.]
[So this is your type, huh?]
The voice in his mind continued as Shirogane thought.
"..."
He didn't even know what his type was, and the narration was being incredibly rude.
Seriously, who went around encouraging you to get close to every girl you met?
He was here to study, not to fall in love.
Right?
"This school is a place where ability comes first—"
The Student Council President was still speaking.
"In any case, welcome to our school. You'll now be dismissed in order of Classes A, B, C, and D. Please return to your new classrooms. Your teachers will hold your first homeroom shortly—"
"That concludes my address."
The Student Council President finished speaking, and the students immediately began to stir.
An upperclassman standing by the door below the stage, keeping order, called out, "First, Class A will leave... Then Classes B, C, and finally D—"
As a result,
The two lines of students from Class A, farthest from the gymnasium's exit, started moving and filed out of the building.
Class B followed close behind.
The whole process took about three minutes.
The Student Council President, whose speech had ended earlier, wore a stern expression.
"This year's first-years are a troubling lot," he said.
"Mm," the purple-haired girl serving as his secretary replied with a nod.
The new students this year seemed rather lackadaisical. Some had even been chatting during the ceremony.
That wouldn't matter at an ordinary school, where many school administrators spouted nonsense. But the president had just explained the very essence of this school. In other words, his speech had contained important information.
If the first-years approached this school in such a manner, they'd probably learn the hard way soon enough.
As the secretary thought this, she looked toward the president and saw that he was gazing at the gymnasium.
Class 1-C's students were leaving now, while Class D's students were still in place. The president seemed to be looking in Class D's direction.
Was there something in Class D?
The secretary looked over and saw that the students in Class D were a mixed bunch, standing very casually. They were, by and large, the worst-behaved of the four classes.
That was the usual impression, anyway.
But...
"Huh?" the secretary couldn't help murmuring in puzzlement.
"What is it?" The Student Council President had already looked away.
"N-nothing," the secretary hurriedly replied, shaking her head.
She was only puzzled by how many cute and pretty girls there were in this year's Class D...
After leaving the gymnasium, Shirogane and the others broke formation.
But they were all headed to the same place: the school building.
Everyone had a phone with a school map built in, so it was easy to find the right way.
But...
"Shirogane?" Classmate Shiina noticed that he seemed a little listless.
"I stayed up too late reading last night. And now that the opening ceremony's over, I've relaxed, so I'm starting to feel sleepy," Shirogane said.
Hmm?
Reading?
Classmate Shiina seemed a little curious.
[Shiina Hiyori, who's walking beside you, has become curious about you. She seems to have a certain fondness for people who like reading.]
[You've met two silver-haired girls in a row today. Your luck seems to be through the roof.]
"..."
Shirogane simply ignored the narration this time.
There was something bothering him.
The students around him had seemed pretty laid-back, but he was different. Though he'd chatted with Classmate Shiina, he'd still paid attention to what the Student Council President said.
This school...
According to the Student Council President, "Our school is supported and promoted by the government. The legendary 100% employment and university admission rates are no fabrication. No matter who you are, graduating from this school will open many doors for you—"
That sounded like nonsense.
How could graduating from this school send absolutely anyone straight to the pinnacle of life?
So Classmate Sakayanagi had been right.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
But the Student Council President had said it, so there had to be some truth to it. Surely a student council president wouldn't lie.
The only question was how many people would ultimately enjoy those benefits.
Right.
Shirogane didn't believe everyone could enjoy such treatment. The benefits sounded too good, and if everyone got them, they'd be as common as cabbage.
Something didn't add up.
But for Shirogane, being able to attend the university he wanted for free would be wonderful. His family didn't have enough money to pay for university, and being assigned a job after graduation would be a pretty good option, too.
Still, he should first find out more about this school.
He thought the Student Council President's words—"This school is a place where ability comes first—"—were the key.
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