Special Rules

The number of students in the class kept growing, and the noise of them chatting made Sawahara feel a little overwhelmed. The excitement of arriving at a new school had made these teenagers especially lively.

Must be nice, being those idiots. They didn't have to think about complicated things like he did.

From the moment he received his admission letter, Sawahara had known this school was definitely not a good place. But he hadn't had much choice.

Sawahara sat at his desk, thinking about his next move. He hadn't noticed that the classroom had fallen quiet at some point.

"Welcome, new students. I'm Kazuma Sakagami, your homeroom teacher for Class C. I teach mathematics.

"This school has no system for changing classes. In other words, I'll be your homeroom teacher for the next three years. I look forward to working with you. The opening ceremony will be held in the gymnasium in an hour. Before then, I'll hand out your student IDs and materials about this school's special rules."

The voice of a middle-aged man interrupted Sawahara's thoughts. He looked up and only then realized that the teacher had arrived at some point. No wonder everyone had gone quiet.

The materials about the special rules had been distributed when they were accepted. Unlike most high schools in the country, one unusual feature of this school was that all students were required to live in the dormitories on campus. During the school term, all outside contact was prohibited unless there were special circumstances.

Even contacting family members was forbidden without the school's permission.

Naturally, leaving school grounds without permission was also strictly prohibited.

On the other hand, to make sure the students didn't have too hard a time, the school had plenty of facilities. There were karaoke rooms, movie theaters, cafés, clothing stores, and more—enough to form a small shopping district. The school, located in the middle of a major city, supposedly covered more than six hundred thousand square meters.

There was one more important point.

"Your student ID, which I'm handing out now, can be used at all the facilities on campus and to buy things at stores. It's more or less like a credit card, but you'll spend points whenever you use it, so be careful. On campus, ahem, there's nothing you can't buy with points. If it's on school grounds, you can buy it, whatever it is."

For some reason, Sakagami suddenly coughed in the middle of his explanation, as if to remind them of something.

Sawahara examined the student ID he'd been handed with interest. It was called a student ID, but it was practically a smartphone, with a wide range of features. Naturally, it couldn't be used to contact the outside world.

"You can just tap it against the machines or show it at the facilities. It's very easy to use. Also, points will be deposited automatically on the first of every month. For now, everyone should have received the same amount: one hundred thousand points. Each point is worth one yen. That's about all you need to know."

As soon as Sakagami finished speaking, the students started excitedly whispering to one another.

"This is amazing! We get a hundred thousand points of spending money every month!"

"This school is incredible! No tuition, and we even get this much spending money every month!"

"Let's go shopping together after the opening ceremony! There's a clothing store on campus, isn't there? And cosmetics..."

In response to the students' lively discussion, Kazuma Sakagami said nothing. He simply watched quietly, as though he was letting them have their time.

Sawahara stared at the hundred thousand points on his phone, his eyes narrowing as he thought.

This month's allowance is one hundred thousand points. Could it change next month? Why would it change? What would determine that? Points can buy anything. Was Sakagami deliberately trying to remind us of something? Why?

Conditions that were too generous...

The school rules had been deliberately left vague.

The clues gradually connected, and Sawahara sorted through his thoughts.

Why were the school rules explained so briefly? Did they want the students to explore the school's rules for themselves? And what would be the reason for that? If they didn't know the rules, they'd inevitably make mistakes. Was this some kind of assessment?

Was Sakagami's reminder for the students' sake? No. Teachers wouldn't be this helpful under the teachers' code of conduct. So it must be for his own sake. That means the assessment results must be tied to the teachers' treatment. That would explain his behavior.

Would every student be assessed individually? Linking every student to a teacher's evaluation would make the amount of data involved unreasonable. And Sakagami had said he'd be their homeroom teacher for all three years. In that case, the assessment results must be tied to the class.

Points were deposited every month, but the exact amount wasn't specified. It was probably affected by the assessment results, which meant those results would affect the students' point income. This school... was pretty sneaky. They were using this method to reduce the school's expenses, while also getting a good look at what the students were really like under normal circumstances.

If points worked like this... then the right to choose a job freely probably wasn't available to everyone either. That wouldn't be strange. The government and the capitalists wouldn't waste so many resources taking in useless dead weight. So that was the meaning of "recommendation"...

As Sawahara formed his theories, he turned his head and saw his new deskmate frowning thoughtfully. He wasn't excited like the other students.

Sawahara glanced behind him and saw the red-haired guy who looked like a delinquent wearing a cold grin. It seemed the other guy wasn't all muscle after all.

Sawahara silently noted how everyone in the class was behaving. The class seemed like a bit of a mess. There were probably only a few smart people, but quite a lot of them looked physically capable, like the Black student and the group who clearly seemed like delinquents.

So there are problems with how the classes are formed, too?

"Everyone!" A girl suddenly stood up from her seat. "We're all going to be classmates from now on. Since we have some time before the opening ceremony, why don't we introduce ourselves in order, starting with our seats? That way, we can get to know one another faster and find friends who share our interests."

The girl said this in an attempt to liven up the class.

Sawahara had thought she might have some brilliant idea, but that was it? It seemed she was trying to show off in front of the teacher. Maybe afterward he'd casually make her a class officer, so she could secure her position in the class. Sawahara saw right through her intentions. He felt a little disappointed. Introductions might be useful, but couldn't they think about anything more important? This class really didn't look promising.

"Enough. That's it for this farce." Ryuen cut the girl off. He'd had enough of these boring, foolish people. It was better if they just did as they were told.