None of My Business

"Do you really think that once you enter society, someone will write down every social rule and unspoken workplace convention in a manual and hand it to you, teaching you how to survive step by step?

Refusing to explore or think for yourselves, and blindly waiting for others to spoon-feed you—this is one of the reasons why you are called 'defective products'."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over the faces below—some angry, some ashamed, others still blank—and her tone grew even more mocking:

"However, I must say I 'admire' you. To actually manage to burn through all 1000 of your initial Class Points in just one month, hitting zero right out of the gate.

(Zero is the limit of the school, not the limit of Class D; if it were possible, you could even have a negative score...)

This situation is an 'unprecedented feat' among all the previous Class Ds in the history of Advanced Nurturing High School."

These words were like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the anger that had just begun to rise in some, replacing it with a deeper sense of shame and embarrassment.

Many lowered their heads, not daring to meet her eyes.

Sae Chabashira continued to explain in her emotionless voice: "What is displayed on the whiteboard are the current Class Points held by each class, abbreviated as CP.

For every 1 point accumulated, every student in the class receives 100 private points each month.

Upon enrollment, the school grants every class an initial 1000 points. Everyone starts on the same playing field."

Her gaze swept over the students of Class D once more, "Why is it that you, of all people, managed to take a decent starting position and drive it into such a disastrous, point-less state?"

An atmosphere of despair and regret began to permeate the classroom.

Just as everyone was dejected, as if they had fallen into an abyss, Yosuke Hirata stood up.

This boy, who had always tried to unite his classmates and remained relatively clear-headed in Class D, now had a face full of urgency and pleading.

He bowed to Sae Chabashira, his voice trembling slightly from nervousness:

"Ms. Chabashira! May I ask... is there any way to earn Class Points now?

We... we will definitely work hard, no matter what, we have to earn the points back! Please, tell us!"

Hirata's words were like a glimmer of light in the darkness, causing many students who had fallen into despair to look up again.

Hope, however humble, ignited in their eyes as they stared in unison at Sae Chabashira, as if she were their only lifeline.

"There is," Sae Chabashira replied concisely, "In general, as long as the total Class Points you earn in the future are higher than those of other classes, you can replace them and move up.

Class D can become Class C, and if you are excellent enough, it is not impossible to leap directly to Class A."

The flame of hope seemed to brighten a little.

"But for now," she shifted her tone, and the cold reality crashed down again, "with the gap between 0 and 490, you can't even reach the tail end of Class C."

The flame of hope flickered, on the verge of extinguishing.

But Sae Chabashira didn't seem to intend to snuff it out completely; or rather, she needed this flame to drive these "defective products."

She continued: "The midterm exam is your next opportunity.

Depending on the overall average score of the exam, the class can earn up to 100 Class Points."

100 points! Although it wasn't much, it at least meant there might be private points coming in next month, instead of hitting absolute zero!

The atmosphere in the classroom loosened significantly, whispers broke out, and determination began to coalesce in the eyes of many.

However, this newly ignited hope was completely trampled and crushed by Sae Chabashira in the next second, in an even colder manner.

She produced a printed table from somewhere and used a magnet to stick it next to the glaring "Class D: 0 CP" on the whiteboard.

"This is the ranking table for the class results of last month's pop quizzes. Take a look for yourselves."

Her voice rose sharply, carrying undisguised severity, "In the entire class, only a mere... 10 people passed."

Her gaze, like a cold blade, slowly sliced across every pale face in the room as she announced, word by word, with the finality of an indisputable judgment:

"From the next exam onwards, including the upcoming midterm and the final exam that follows, any student who fails a single subject—"

She deliberately paused, letting the suffocating fear swell to its limit in the classroom.

"Will be immediately ordered to—expelled."

The word "expulsion" exploded in the Class D classroom like two thunderclaps!

All the noise, all the wishful thinking, and all the confusion were replaced in that instant by bone-chilling fear.

Many students in Class D shivered instinctively, their faces turning as pale as paper.

They finally realized with absolute clarity that this Advanced Nurturing High School, with its seemingly glorious benefits, was never a comfortable ivory tower.

It was a naked, cruel arena of survival of the fittest.

And they, Class D, were currently standing on the very edge of a cliff, with the abyss of "expulsion" beneath their feet.

Panic spread through the classroom like a plague.

Only Lin Mu remained sitting quietly in his seat.

He had long since lowered his hand and put the grape-flavored lollipop back in his mouth, watching the clamor and panic before him with a calm expression. The threat of expulsion?

To him, it was nothing more than a trivial matter.

With his superpowers, let alone passing exams, even getting a perfect score in every subject would be nothing more than a flick of his thoughts.

He didn't even need to "see through" or "alter" anything; he could easily handle it just by using telekinesis to quickly flip through books to memorize them, or by precognitively sensing the scope of the exam.

He looked at his classmates—some panicked and frantic, some ashen-faced, others gritting their teeth to hold on—and felt nothing, even wanting to yawn.

The show was over.

He thought silently, the corners of his mouth twitching imperceptibly: from now on, Class D would likely find it impossible to coast along as "comfortably" as they had before.

The real chaos was about to begin.

And for him, it was enough to remain a quiet bystander, ensuring his own comfort zone remained undisturbed whenever necessary.

As for the struggles, efforts, or downfalls of others?

Those were lives they had chosen or were forced to face.

What did that have to do with him, Linmu Fujimiya?

The class break arrived quickly, and the moment the bell rang, it was like a drop of water hitting boiling oil; the panic, anxiety, and confusion that had been suppressed throughout the entire period exploded, and a buzzing clamor of discussion erupted.

However, one figure had already risen quickly from his seat and strode toward the podium: Yosuke Hirata.

This was the boy who usually wore a gentle smile and treated everyone with sincerity and courtesy.

At this moment, there was obvious urgency gathered between his brows, yet his steps remained steady and his posture upright.

It was clear that the moment Sae Chabashira announced the cruel reality, he had already made up his mind.

He was determined to shoulder the banner and take on the responsibility of leading this crumbling Class D out of the mire, deciding to become the leader who would unite everyone.