"..." Chabashira.
"..."
And so, for the students of Class D, tonight was destined to be a chaotic one.
As for the students of Class C—
"We'll see tomorrow." Ryuen could hardly wait. For the past half month, he'd forced the students to play at being well-behaved, model students. For someone like him, who'd always been a delinquent, having to play the good student was sheer torture.
And tomorrow, he'd finally be able to take his underlings and beat up Sudo from Class D.
And so—
The next day.
As all the students arrived in their classrooms for homeroom, the teachers of each class explained the true nature of the school before the tense gazes of their students.
They also revealed the remaining Class Points for each class.
There was a huge gap between them.
Here in First-Year Class A.
Every student had arrived before homeroom. Having learned what was coming in advance, they knew that today the teachers of all four classes would reveal the true nature of the school and announce the class competition.
It would also be the moment when their efforts over the past month were put to the test.
According to the information they'd received, at seven o'clock on the first of every month, the school deposited living expenses into each student's Student ID. The amount was calculated by multiplying the class's Class Points by 100.
In other words, Class A's students already knew how many Class Points their class had left.
The moment they saw the number, it seemed that all the students in Class A breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sakayanagi."
As the little princess Sakayanagi arrived in the classroom, Katsuragi approached with Yahiko from the opposing faction.
"Although the teachers will reveal the true nature of the school today, it will also mark the beginning of the class competition."
"Still, I believe the approach I've held to is the right one," Katsuragi said. "I'm not asking you to join my faction, but I hope you'll put the class first."
"Heh."
Sakayanagi was taking her math textbook out of the bag Kamuro had carried in for her.
At his words, she didn't even pause. Calmly, she opened the textbook and flipped to page 55. There were no notes on it, nor did she need any. She only had to read the material once to understand it.
"Do you think you're certain to win?"
Sakayanagi asked, "The conservative approach is all well and good, but you need to have the resources to back it up."
"And you have no idea how rapidly the lower-ranked classes are advancing."
"The lower-ranked classes?" Katsuragi furrowed his brow.
Class C had been fighting constantly since the start of the month. They'd probably lost around 300 points in the first week or so after enrolling, and now the month was nearly over. They clearly wouldn't have many points left.
As for Class D, they seemed completely unaware of the school's true nature. They hadn't even tried to investigate it.
Was a class like that really worth worrying about?
"A student from Class D said their class still hasn't received its living expenses today. They even asked us whether we'd received the school's payment," Yahiko said, holding up his phone.
Yahiko's full name was Totsuka Yahiko. He had pale green hair and good scores across the board. In middle school, he'd even served as vice president of the student council. After enrolling, he'd been won over by Katsuragi. A month later, he was already Katsuragi's devoted follower—and, of course, his right-hand man.
Now he'd taken out his phone, apparently to ask a student from Class D. He'd successfully gotten the information.
The students in Class D hadn't received their living expenses.
That meant there might have been a problem on the school's end, or... Class D's Class Points might have fallen to zero this month.
Zero points multiplied by 100 meant zero in living expenses, so naturally nothing would be deposited.
So Sakayanagi was saying they should watch out for a trash class like that?
"Sakayanagi, you're overestimating them," Yahiko said.
"Yahiko." Katsuragi raised a hand to silence him. He still respected Sakayanagi.
For one thing, Sakayanagi had worked a miracle for everyone when they first enrolled, and now they'd managed to preserve it. That was to her credit.
And on a personal level, the tiny Sakayanagi reminded him of the younger sister he'd raised alongside him.
That made him see her through a sisterly filter.
But Sakayanagi was different from his sister. There was something about her that made her seem dangerous, with a powerful edge to her.
"Heh." Sakayanagi only smiled.
When she'd received the school's living-expense deposit at seven that morning, she'd already contacted someone and learned how their class had done.
With less than ten minutes until homeroom, Katsuragi-kun's pride would probably last less than ten minutes more.
Finally, over in Class 1-C—
"We got our living expenses!" The students of Class C arrived in the classroom in good spirits. "But it's not 100,000 points anymore."
"Feels like we got shortchanged," one of the students said.
"Shut up, all of you. Sit down." Ryuen appeared at the classroom door, with Albert behind him like a bodyguard.
The pair exerted tremendous pressure on the class. The students had no choice but to obey him.
And so, the previous month, they'd followed him through the ordeal of maintaining the appearance of model students and well-behaved kids.
"Ryuen, aren't you afraid you'll lose points with that attitude?"
Although Ryuen had used force to keep the class in line, there was still some resistance. Their bodies might have been obedient, but their mouths were still defiant.
"You idiots. There's no conduct assessment starting in the second month," Ryuen said. "So who's going to keep playing the well-behaved kid or model student? Heh."
"Then—" The boy who'd just been mouthing off seemed to ponder that.
Last month, Ryuen had threatened them, saying that if they didn't follow his rules, they wouldn't get any living expenses the next month.
So maybe that meant they could oppose Ryuen now? It wouldn't affect the class's points, and it wouldn't cut everyone's living expenses.
He was tempted.
After all, a month of forced oppression had to have left others as dissatisfied with Ryuen as he was. Maybe he could get everyone to rally behind him.
But Ryuen immediately slapped him across the face. The crack rang out.
"So you think you can take me on now?"
"Albert, hang him up," Ryuen said.
"Yes, boss!"
The tall, dark-skinned giant behind Ryuen quickly snatched the boy up like a chicken.
The surrounding students of Class C began to look at Ryuen Kakeru with fear.
Because Ryuen really was a despicable bastard.
Last month, everyone had been forced to play the model student. Now that they no longer had to, Ryuen was the most terrifying of all.
The students instantly fell silent, angry but afraid to speak.
"Classmate Ryuen is as scary as ever," Classmate Shiina said, turning around from the seat in front.
She noticed Classmate Shirogane looking at his phone.
"But this is still a pretty good result," she said. Classmate Shiina was in a good mood.
Because—
The results were good this time.
A deposit notification appeared on Shirogane's phone screen.
[Your private account has received 73,500 Private Points from XF01100. Balance: 99,999 points.]
The 73,500-point deposit meant that, according to the exam rules he'd learned from the upperclassmen, each month's living expenses were based on the class's Class Points multiplied by 100.
The higher the Class Points, the more living expenses each student received.
In other words, Class C had 735 Class Points left.
That was probably unprecedented in Class C's history.
And—
Their homeroom teacher, Sakagami, walked in, beaming.
"There are a few minutes before homeroom starts. Take a moment to relax."
"I'll tell you what this school is really like in a bit."
Sakagami was in excellent spirits. He even seemed unable to contain his joy.
Clearly, they'd broken the school's record, as well as the record for the Class C he taught.
And so, everyone obediently took their seats.
Sakagami placed both hands on the lectern and began to explain.
The basics were what Shirogane and the others had already learned.
The school provided excellent teachers, waived tuition, and gave students living expenses—but those living expenses depended on the students' own performance.
"In this school, the performance and conduct of the entire class are reflected in its Class Points.
"The school gives every class a fair chance, so each class starts with 1,000 points. The living expenses you receive are based on your class's Class Points as well.
"On the first of every month, your accounts receive Private Points equal to your Class Points multiplied by 100. The points keep accumulating, and the same thing happens the following month. However, a Special Exam is held every month. It affects these points and may result in points being added or deducted, or even in students being expelled."
"The school's advertised benefits are also subject to one condition: only students who graduate from Class A will receive the extensive resources the school provides."
Although they'd already heard this from Ryuen, the students were still surprised.
When they'd first enrolled, they'd thought they'd landed in the best class. But now they were being told that only Class A students would receive the promised rewards.
"Shut up."
Ryuen stepped in at that moment. "Only Class A graduates get those rewards? Then we'll just graduate from Class A."
We'll just do that?
But the students still didn't seem reassured.
It wasn't that simple.
Shirogane knew it was time to say something.
Class C had been united under Ryuen's brutal rule, but most students didn't accept him. They were simply afraid to speak up. And only graduates of Class 3-A would receive the school's rewards. The class competition would be a long one, and if Ryuen didn't change the situation, sooner or later someone would rise up against him.
A lone act of defiance against Ryuen wouldn't be much of a problem. But if it led to someone betraying the class, that would be serious.
So now, they needed someone to play the good cop and win the students over.
And so—
"I think there's another way to look at this," Shirogane said.
The students around him looked over.
For the past month, Ryuen had kept everyone on a tight leash and used violence to force them to obey.
But there were two people who hadn't been part of that group.
One was Shirogane, and the other was Shiina.
Shiina was the class beauty—well, no one would dare bully her, that much was obvious. But Shirogane was different. He clearly had a strong presence, yet Ryuen tolerated him. That was strange.
Before you continue