Ike, I'm really sorry for thinking you were an idiot.

Just a few days ago, Kikyo's strength in Tai Chi had already surpassed Ju Ji. She had, quite literally, rubbed Ju Ji's face in the dirt.

Feeling his own inadequacy, Ju Ji chose to rely on his talent—or rather, his 2,000 Friendship Points—to exchange for Tai Chi (Grandmaster) from the system. It was twice as expensive as the Mastery level skill, but it was worth every point.

However, the profound meaning of Tai Chi within the system differed from the traditional version, focusing primarily on two aspects: Yin-Yang Harmony and Borrowing Force to Strike, pushing them to the absolute limit. Ju Ji could now even leverage gravity itself. Simply put, in close-quarters combat, Ju Ji no longer feared anyone in this school. Even Ayanokoji was no exception.

Even in a group fight, as long as it didn't exceed ten people, Ju Ji had the confidence to barely scrape a win. Any more than that, and he'd likely be exhausted to death.

Thanks to this, the Friendship Points Ju Ji had worked so hard to earn were now down to less than 500. However, if nothing went wrong today, his Friendship Points would see a massive increase once again.

If you're wondering why, today is the first day of May, the day the results of yesterday's monthly exam and the class points earned for the first month would be announced.

"Have your points for this month been deposited yet?"

"They've been deposited, but it's a lot less than last month. But Shinomiya-kun was right, it's a good thing we followed his advice at the time."

"If Yosuke and Kikyo hadn't persuaded me, I wouldn't have chosen to believe it either. Regardless, Teacher Chabashira should provide an explanation today."

By the time Ju Ji entered the classroom, the students were already discussing the issues regarding the point deposits.

"Good morning, Ayanokoji. Good morning, Suzune."

"Good morning, Ju Ji."

"Good morning, Shinomiya."

When Ju Ji arrived at his seat, Suzune and Ayanokoji were already there. Of course, Ju Ji wasn't late; he arrived at the same time he usually did. It was just that the students in the class had arrived exceptionally early today.

Soon, the bell rang, signaling the start of the first class in May. Shortly after, Teacher Chabashira walked into the classroom carrying a poster tube. Her expression was even more serious than usual. She looked like a patient suffering from severe PMS.

But this time, Class D's results should be better than in the original story. Or was Teacher Chabashira always like this, and Ju Ji's preconceived notions had just created a misunderstanding?

"Teacher, don't tell me you're on your period?"

Well, Ju Ji had always thought Ike was an idiot, but he hadn't expected him to dare say something like that to her face. Was this really the reason he couldn't get a girlfriend?

"We will now begin the morning assembly. However, before we start, are there any questions you want to ask? If there is anything you are concerned about, it is best to ask now."

As expected, Teacher Chabashira was magnanimous enough to ignore such sexual harassment from Ike. It seemed he could be more casual when speaking in front of her from now on. Unlike someone else, who would resort to violence against Ju Ji the moment a sentence didn't please her.

"Um... Teacher, our points for this month seem to have decreased a lot. Weren't we told that 100,000 points would be deposited on the first of every month? Is there something wrong with the system?"

"Hondo-kun, while I did say that points would be deposited every month, I never said 100,000 would be deposited every month. You are only first-years; do you really think you can spend 100,000 points every month without restriction? Just think about it—it's impossible. There is nothing wrong with the system, do you understand?"

It was only natural for Hondo to ask this question, as he was one of those who didn't believe Ju Ji's words at the time. After hearing Teacher Chabashira's answer, he should now realize the importance of Ju Ji's advice back then.

"...Teacher, may I ask a question? There is something I cannot understand. Please tell us the reason for the decrease in points. Otherwise, we cannot accept this."

Hirata raised his hand to ask, just as he did in the original story. The information obtained from Hondo's question alone was not enough to convince everyone in the class.

"Tardiness, absenteeism, private conversations during class, or using mobile phones. In this school, the class's performance is reflected in the points. I already stated this clearly during the entrance ceremony: this school measures students by their ability. As long as the school judges that a student's quality has declined, it is only natural that the points received will decrease. According to school regulations, I cannot disclose the details."

Teacher Chabashira answered Hirata's question with the practiced, fluent, and seemingly prepared rhetoric of a machine. This completely eliminated the doubts in the minds of some students.

"It seems you have no more questions, so let's get to the point."

The teacher took a thick sheet of white paper out of the poster tube she was holding, unfolded it, and used magnets to fix it to the board.

"Are these the results for each class?"

It listed the names from Class A to Class D, with numbers indicated next to them. It was similar to what Ju Ji and the others had shown before.

At the bottom was Class D (Ryuen) with 490 points, Class C (Ju Ji) with 600 points, Class B with 650 points, and the highest was Class A with 940. Assuming the ratio between these class points and the points they received was ten to one.

Then the points shown for Class D were clearly different from what they knew.

"Teacher, as far as I know, the points deposited into our Class D this month were 60,000, but this says 490. Even if it were a 100-to-1 ratio, this is clearly wrong."

Suzune was right; the points they received didn't seem to match what was written there.

"You observe very carefully, Horikita. That's right, the points you received indeed don't match what is written here. That's because those aren't the points you earned at all. I must say, you really surprised me. Congratulations on successfully breaking the school's evaluation of you. From now on, you have been promoted from Class D to Class C. In the history of this school, you are the first class to be promoted from the very first month. You can be proud of yourselves."

For the first time, a smile appeared on Teacher Chabashira's face. Ju Ji understood; it was a genuine, heartfelt smile without any falsehood. It seemed Teacher Chabashira was also happy that their class had been promoted.

"However, don't get too happy just yet. Let's talk about the reason you were assigned to Class D in the first place. This school assigns classes based on the excellence of the students. The most excellent students go to Class A, and the useless students go to Class D. This system is very common in large corporations. But you don't seem to be that bad. However, your results in the last monthly exam disappointed me a little... I really wonder what you all learned in middle school?"

Giving a stick and then a carrot was an old trick, but Teacher Chabashira had reversed it.

Another sheet of paper was posted on the blackboard. It listed everyone's names, and next to each name was a score.

"These are the results of the last quiz. If this had been an official test, three of you would have been expelled as soon as school started."

"Expelled?"

"Did I not mention it? In this school, if you fail even one subject in the midterms or finals, you will be expelled. For this instance, all students who scored below forty are subject to expulsion."

"What?!"

The first to scream was Ike, who was one of those three students. I'm sorry for always mistaking him for an idiot; he is a bona fide super-idiot.

Beyond all expectations, Sudo actually passed this time. You have to realize that in the original story, he was the only one who failed...