At the Entrance of the Shopping Mall

Advanced Nurturing High School believes in "meritocracy," a point Chabashira has emphasized to Hoshino repeatedly. Regarding this, Hoshino actually finds it hard to understand: what exactly defines "strong ability"?

Name: Hoshino Hoshiya

Class: Class 1-D

Points:

There is also a photo of Hoshino attached to the right.

Hoshino, feeling a bit bored by the teacher's lecture, pulls out his student ID and begins looking at the information on it, feeling a slight urge to complain: would it explode if they wrote a little more?

This school has a high degree of freedom; based on his recent observations, that is the only conclusion Hoshino has reached. No one cares if students play on their phones or read manga during class, and hardly anyone in the class listens seriously.

Hoshino does not believe the school is truly kind enough to let them slack off for three years like this. According to the handbook distributed by Chabashira, this school is not the "Spartan" type of institution.

However, given its unreliable reputation and title, it is almost certain that there must be significant penalties or the like. It is impossible for them to let students spend three years in total indulgence, and direct internal school arrangements would also violate the original intent of the school's establishment; it is just that the mechanism for how these penalties are triggered remains unknown for now.

"Sigh—how boring..." Hoshino sighs to himself.

After all, as long as one does what is required of them, whether here or elsewhere, there will actually be quite good development. It is just that most people cannot achieve self-discipline, nor can they maintain persistence.

Students who would slack off at other schools will not stop slacking off just because they have changed locations, unless there is some particularly compelling reason.

If that is the case, this school must have some sort of enticing reward mechanism! After all, self-interest is the fundamental reason that drives human action.

Combined with the points displayed on the student ID in his hand, Hoshino is basically certain that it involves monetary rewards and penalties. He just does not know the specific, detailed rules yet.

With 40 students in a class and four classes per grade, there are 480 students in the entire school. Counting them one by one is a rather troublesome approach; it might require more manpower than there are students. Although this school is wealthy and generous, judging by both the school rules and what he has seen on the road, Hoshino does not think the school would be bored enough to go to such lengths.

Then the final conclusion must be a mechanism where the class rises or falls together! If so, is it a "team competition"? This is a field Hoshino is not good at.

"Just rest easy!" After a moment of thought, Hoshino sets his course of action.

Those who are not skilled must cooperate with those who are; this is more efficient and will not cause discomfort for everyone. Do not think that your half-baked level is enough to rival someone who has mastered the field. After thinking it over repeatedly, truth is only held in the hands of those who delve into it.

Thinking of this, Hoshino suddenly has a bad premonition: Class D probably won't have many points left by next month.

After school, Hoshino leaves the classroom, intending to stroll around the nearby shopping mall to stock up on furniture and daily necessities, and perhaps buy some snacks while he is at it.

However, when Hoshino arrives at the furniture section, he is instantly discouraged by the exorbitant prices. Although there are some cheaper items, they do not catch his eye, and since he expects there won't be many points coming in next month anyway, Hoshino gives up.

After walking around the mall once and finding nothing that is both cheap and to his liking, Hoshino prepares to leave.

"Hey, you bastards..." A noisy sound comes from nearby.

Looking up toward the rest area by the entrance, a student who looks like a delinquent with red hair is grabbing another student by the collar, looking as if he is about to throw a punch. There are two other students nearby trying to intervene; judging by their positioning, they are likely on the side of the one being hit. Although there are many of them, it feels like they are only half-heartedly trying to stop the fight, muttering things but showing no intention of fighting back.

It is quite easy to distinguish between upperclassmen and freshmen; there is indeed a certain difference in their auras. The red-haired student is likely a freshman! But to think that a student who starts a fight right after enrollment could even get into this school? It seems the school's admission rules are somewhat unexpected.

"Wait, Sudo!" An expressionless student walks up and pulls the red-haired boy away. Hoshino finds him slightly familiar.

"Wait, it's them..." The red-haired boy is still impatient and wants to break free, but it is to no avail.

"Heh, just a bunch of morons from Class D, keep barking if you want. You'll see hell soon enough anyway!" Seeing someone intervening, the three upperclassmen straighten their clothes slightly and leave after throwing out a harsh threat.

"..." Hoshino did not expect them to be his classmates...

"Not simple at all!" Feeling a bit surprised internally, Hoshino looks at the two remaining students with interest.

Judging by his physique, the red-haired student named Sudo is clearly good at sports, but this plain-looking student pulled him away with such ease. Hoshino truly feels that this place is full of hidden talents.

There is another suspicious point: everyone is a freshman who just arrived here. Even if they are classmates, one would generally not get involved in such matters, yet that boy pulled the red-haired Sudo away. The aura emanating from this boy does not feel like a "good guy" at all; he must have discovered something.

It seems that fighting is also one of the factors for point deductions. However, the school likely wouldn't use witness testimony to monitor changes in class ratings; that would be too inefficient and carries the risk of bias or false accusations.

Hoshino looks up thoughtfully and glances at a nearby corner. A subtle security camera is installed in the corner of the wall above the checkout counter. Due to the decor and shelves, it is not very obvious. This thing is probably in every classroom, too!

Thinking this, Hoshino returns to his dormitory and pulls out his key card to open the door.

What meets his eyes is a small cabinet for shoes, next to a kitchen stove and a sink, with a small bathroom opposite. Walking a bit further in, there is a small living room with a small table and a few small blankets. The desk is placed by the window, and there is a modest single bed. The entire room is primarily white, with occasional brown accents on the cabinets and such, giving it a minimalist style. Overall, it looks quite good; it is about thirty or forty square meters, and the renovation is quite decent.

At first glance, Hoshino was indeed slightly amazed!

After tidying up a bit, Hoshino leans on the chair by the desk, chewing on the snacks he just bought, and organizes the information he just gathered in his mind.

Class D, hell? Then it is basically certain that the class ranking descends from A to D. The existence of a reward and penalty mechanism means there must be competition, so there must be a way for Class D to rise.

If that is the case, the distribution of students might not necessarily be based on grades; after all, if a class were full of underachievers, there would be no need for competition.

Combined with his previous conclusion, if an individual student's actions affect the class, then there should be something like a class rating. Personal point distribution is linked to it; achieving outstanding results might increase the class rating, which in turn could cause the class ranking to rise.

It is just that putting some excellent students into Class D right from the start seems absurd to Hoshino, no matter how he looks at it. He wonders if there is some hidden story behind it.

That expressionless student also makes Hoshino feel concerned. He doesn't know if he is just naturally strong or if he is truly hiding his abilities. Hoshino senses an ominous aura coming from him.