"..." Chabashira.
Stare!
Chabashira fixed her gaze on Horikita, then continued.
"The school gives every class a chance. So as long as your class's evaluation score rises, your class ranking can change. For example, First-Year Class C currently has an evaluation score of 735, higher than the original Class B's 560, so they've become the new First-Year Class B. The former Class B has dropped to Class C."
"The class signs will be switched."
As she spoke, Chabashira kept her eyes on Horikita.
She was making it clear that the class rankings were fluid. As long as a class earned enough evaluation points, it had a chance to challenge Class A.
This was information Horikita hadn't managed to uncover. But Shirogane, whom Chabashira had told her to approach, had known about it for a while—and had already led his class up the rankings.
After all, Class C's students were, as a whole, only somewhat stronger than Class D's. And Class C didn't have a boss like Koenji or Ayanokoji.
But...
Class C had still managed to require every student to hand in their phones, preventing them from fooling around in class. Neither that level of discipline nor the idea itself had ever been seen before.
So it wasn't surprising that the class was climbing the ranks.
By contrast, Horikita Suzune!
Chabashira's gaze burned. She had already leaked information to you, and now that your class had ended up like this, didn't you feel ashamed?
So, did Horikita feel ashamed?
A little, perhaps—but not much.
She'd hit a wall when she first tried asking the upperclassmen for information, and at the time, Horikita had questioned everything she knew. But that crisis of confidence hadn't lasted long. The next day, she decided to focus on Shirogane Miyuki.
Then she reached an agreement with him to investigate the classes.
So she had something to show for her efforts: she'd obtained student information for Classes A, B, and D. Having information on the other classes as well as her own gave her a real advantage in class-based Special Exams.
In a way, she'd lost something in one place but gained something in another.
The only thing she lacked was information on Class C. That made her realize how far behind she was, and she understood why Shirogane Miyuki had made the deal with her.
He really had already investigated the school's rules and learned that the Special Exams would be held by class.
She also understood what the numbers after A, B, C, and D on the blackboard in the upperclassmen's area meant.
They were the classes' evaluation scores.
"According to the school's rules, the notice for that month's Special Exam is given on the first day of every month."
"But today, I'm going to tell you what this school is really like, so the specific notice for this month's Special Exam has been delayed."
Chabashira continued.
"What I can tell you now is that, as usual, this month's Special Exam will be a written test."
"So if you want to receive your allowance, you'll have to do well. After all, you're currently at zero points, and that score will carry over into next month. If you don't earn any class evaluation points this month, you won't receive an allowance next month either," Chabashira said. "As your homeroom teacher, I've said all I can."
With that, Chabashira gave the students time to speak.
As soon as homeroom ended, she headed to the Chairman's Office.
She'd already been punished for leaking information to Horikita, losing half a year's salary. And now, for hinting that this month's written test would be "as usual," she'd have another two months' salary deducted.
She thought Class D had students with more potential than any previous Class D, but their current score of zero was still deeply troubling. At this rate, she felt she'd end up working to pay off a loan.
About seven or eight minutes later, Chabashira reached the Chairman's Office. In the corridor, she also saw the homeroom teachers from the other classes.
Class A's Mashima Tomoya.
Class B's Hoshinomiya Chie.
Class C's Sakagami Kazuma.
All four classes' homeroom teachers had graduated from Ikusei High School in the same year. Chabashira and Hoshinomiya had both once been in Class D. Their class had steadily climbed the rankings, coming within one step of Class A, but, unfortunately, they'd failed back then.
Mashima and Sakagami, meanwhile, had both been in Class A.
But Mashima had been assigned to Class A as a homeroom teacher, while Sakagami had been assigned to Class C.
"Come to think of it, why did they call us all here?" Hoshinomiya-sensei looked as carefree as ever, smiling sweetly. She was adorable.
Many male teachers saw her as an angel. Her one flaw was that she liked to drink, but on an important day like the first of the month, she was usually more cautious.
So Hoshinomiya hadn't been drinking yesterday, and she seemed in good spirits today.
"I don't know, but they must be here to praise our Class C," Sakagami Kazuma said, lifting his chin high. "After all, my class is Class B now."
"My class is Class B now."
That meant the former Class B's homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya, and the class she led would drop one place, becoming Class C.
Sakagami and Mashima had both come from Class A, but they'd been assigned to Class C and Class A, respectively. Hoshinomiya had come from Class D yet had managed to stand at the top of Class B, which had made him somewhat resentful. Now, he'd climbed up through his own efforts.
This was his chance to wipe away that humiliation.
"Ah, well, congratulations! I was surprised when I heard the results, too," Hoshinomiya said. But she didn't seem all that emotional.
Sakagami felt as if his punch had landed on cotton.
"So, was it Ryuen from your class who led everyone, or was it Classmate Shirogane?" Hoshinomiya asked next.
Sakagami immediately fell silent.
Hoshinomiya was trying to pry information out of him.
"Since they called us here..." Mashima, the homeroom teacher for Class A, had had enough. "Someone among us must have broken the rules."
"Someone broke the rules and caused problems. The Chairman is probably going to lecture us," Mashima said. "I didn't do anything like that."
Not only had he done nothing wrong, he also hadn't forced the issue and cost his class the 50-point evaluation bonus.
He was referring to the incident on the second day of school, when Shirogane Miyuki from Class C reported a Shopping District store employee for breaking the rules. The school had ultimately decided to reward him.
As a result, Shirogane Miyuki from Class C and Kamuro Masumi from Class A, who had helped him at the time, would each receive 30,000 Private Points, and both their classes would earn 50 class evaluation points.
But when the Student Council came to gather evidence, Kamuro Masumi refused to cooperate.
So Class A didn't receive the reward.
In other words, they missed out on 50 points.
But even without those 50 points, Class A was still Class A. And Mashima, as its homeroom teacher, had too much integrity to play games like that.
So Class A hadn't broken the rules. Then who had?
Mashima looked around.
"I didn't either," Sakagami, who had just succeeded in moving up a class, said at once.
"If I had, then Class B wouldn't have dropped, would it?" Hoshinomiya quickly protested.
"My class is already at zero points," Chabashira said.
So none of them had broken the rules?
Yeah, right. I don't believe a word of it.
As a teacher in Class A, Mashima had more authority. The Chairman had informed him that those three—Classes B, C, and D—had all broken the rules.
[Author's note: I couldn't find a good place to split the chapter, so I combined two parts. This chapter is 4,500 characters, more than the daily 4,000-character limit.]
[Author's note: Guys, think it's time to show some support?]
[Shameless plug]
[Synopsis: The good news is that Qin Zhaoxue has been reborn and can cultivate immortality. The bad news is that the pre-collapse civilization is doomed to face annihilation.]
[The worse news is that in her previous life, she cared only about combat strength and her waifus, and never paid attention to the plot.]
[Fortunately, she has a cultivation technique in her head.]
[Qin Zhaoxue knows that the only way she can change her predetermined fate is to cultivate immortality!]
[But everything has to follow the rules of science, and cultivation is no exception.]
[Induction Cooker Alchemy]
[Dr. Mei's Formula Lightning Conductor Cultivation Method]
[Ice Element Hydrogen Analysis]
[Faraday Cage Lightning Tribulation Crossing]
[As the Finality descended, Qin Zhaoxue—her body brimming with cultivation and her hand holding the sun and moon, plucking the stars—fell into deep thought. "Wasn't the Collapse supposed to grow stronger as civilization advanced? Does cultivation not count?"]
[Not a harem novel]
[Guys, tonight's update is delayed until midnight. Let's take the rankings again!]
[Guys, tonight's update is delayed until midnight. Let's take the rankings again!]
[Guys, tonight's update is delayed until midnight. Let's take the rankings again!]
[It seems clicks are counted by chapter, so each chapter may be a little shorter—only about 1,000–1,500 characters. Please bear with me.]
[I've prepared 10,000 characters of updates.]
[Author's note: Aww.]
"First, the new students have successfully passed the first hurdle of enrollment."
"This year's students also seem different from previous years, which makes them even more exciting to watch."
"But there are a few rules you still need to follow."
"Especially when it comes to rule-breaking. Don't do it again."
"The first month has already ended, and the school won't pursue the matter. But to prevent you from breaking the rules again, we'll announce the penalties you've received."
The school posted the rule-breaking records of the homeroom teachers for the first-year Classes B, C, and D on the notice board.
Former First-Year Class B, Hoshinomiya Chie: 100,000 Private Points deducted.
Former First-Year Class C, Kazuma Sakagami: 500,000 Private Points deducted.
First-Year Class D, Chabashira Sae: 1,500,000 Private Points deducted, plus three months' salary for May, June, and July.
The Student Council President was highly capable, and the school's penalties were soon announced by members of the Student Council.
So when Mashima and the others reached the notice board, they saw the deduction records for the homeroom teachers of Classes B, C, and D.
"..." Mashima.
Mashima wasn't the only one there. All four teachers had left the Chairman's Office together and now stood in front of the notice board.
The Chairman hadn't said who had lost how many Private Points, so they'd come to check.
And what they saw was shocking.
"You said none of you had broken the rules?" Mashima said.
Hoshinomiya's 100,000-point deduction wasn't too bad, but Sakagami had lost 500,000, while Chabashira had taken the worst hit: 1,500,000 points, plus the next three months' salary.
So what exactly had the three of them done wrong?
"Looks like the three of us weren't the only ones who lost points," Hoshinomiya said, drawing attention to the penalty column. "Take a look."
Two students had also lost Private Points.
Second-Year Class A's Miyabi Nagumo: 300,000 Private Points deducted.
Third-Year Class C's Yukinoshita Hachiman: 1,200,000 Private Points confiscated.
It was a little strange to see upperclassmen losing points at a time like this. As veterans, they should have known what they could and couldn't do.
So Miyabi Nagumo from Second-Year Class A—the popular star who'd led Class B up the rankings last year and been invited to join the Student Council by Student Council President Horikita Manabu—had broken the rules too?
But there were some clues. For example, the penalty listed for Yukinoshita Hachiman from Third-Year Class C said his points had been confiscated.
Before you continue