"Otherwise, why do you think the school gave us terminals and computers with internet access? If they really wanted to cut us off completely, they could've just used an intranet system. But the fact is, we can access some external sites—'they' are the ones the school allows."
Suzune Horikita fell silent.
She truly hadn't thought about it.
When she enrolled, she'd simply accepted the idea of "closed-campus management" as a matter of course, without ever considering where the boundaries of the rules lay.
Once again, Suzune Horikita had to acknowledge Keima Katsuragi's ability to think things through.
"You're really good at exploiting loopholes in the rules."
"Don't you think..."
Keima Katsuragi suddenly leaned a little closer and lowered his voice.
"There are too many loopholes in our school's rules? Or maybe those loopholes were deliberately built in for us to exploit?"
His gaze fell on the security camera in the corner of the classroom. The little black dome rotated silently.
"What?"
"Like in a game. Some things look like bugs, but they're actually mechanics. You have to use them if you want to beat the game."
After saying that, Keima Katsuragi sat up straight again and turned his attention back to his terminal.
On the screen, a few new comments had appeared on the guide he'd posted last night:
[User Anonymous] This guide is incredible! I spent three days trying to trigger the hidden ending in Chapter 7, and it turns out you have to visit the library three times on a rainy day... I'm on my knees!
[User Walking in the Rain] You listed every change to the affection stats?! Is that even humanly possible?!
[User Passerby A] Someone made a complete guide for such an obscure game? The author must be a god! I've tipped you 500 points. Please accept my humble admiration!
Keima Katsuragi nodded with satisfaction, then opened the article he'd just finished editing and clicked the publish button.
The new guide's title appeared on the forum homepage. Almost instantly, the view count began climbing—10, 50, 100...
The follower count on his newly created account was also rising fast enough to watch with the naked eye.
In his original world, Keima Katsuragi had been revered like a god in the galge gaming scene.
Although he had to start from scratch in this world, Keima Katsuragi was confident he could create the same kind of legend.
The only downside was that, although the school had internet access, the number of sites they could visit was limited. Keima Katsuragi couldn't find a site specifically for game-related posts, so he had to publish his article on the most commonly used social media platform instead. It had sections for beauty, food, travel, news, and just about everything else.
Keima Katsuragi was curious about who had the most followers on the platform, so he opened the blogger rankings, which were sorted by a combination of follower count and popularity.
"Not a single gaming blogger in the rankings? Looks like the strategy god himself will have to step in."
Keima Katsuragi's lips curled slightly. Just then, he noticed one blogger's profile picture.
Username: Shizuku.
Her follower count was astonishing.
Keima Katsuragi clicked on her profile, and a string of photos of a beautiful girl appeared before him.
Keima Katsuragi wasn't particularly interested in beautiful women in real life, but at that moment, his brows lifted slightly.
He knew those photos very well—they were almost identical to one of the "card illustrations" on the cards Elsie had given him.
Airi Sakura.
Was this person Airi Sakura?!
Keima Katsuragi studied the date of her latest post. It had been uploaded the day before the school term started, and there hadn't been any new posts over the past two days.
Thinking back to Airi Sakura's claim that she enjoyed taking photos...
It all fit. Every bit of it!
Airi Sakura was a social media influencer, then?
And a very popular one, at that...
Still, both the card illustration and the online photos looked very different from the Airi Sakura he usually saw.
So she was one of those girls who were completely different on the inside and out.
Whatever. The most important thing was to get back to gaming.
Keima Katsuragi picked up his handheld console again, returning to his usual self.
Just then, heavy footsteps sounded in the doorway.
A tall man walked into the classroom.
"My name is Tomoya Mashima. I'm the homeroom teacher of Class A, and I'll also be your English teacher."
His deep, resonant voice rang through the classroom.
Volume One: Chapter Twenty—"I Want to Buy the Right to Play Games in Class"
The students weren't surprised to see the Class A homeroom teacher. After all, it was perfectly normal for one teacher to handle classes in different grades.
"That teacher looks really strict..."
"With that build, is he a wrestler?"
"He doesn't seem like the approachable type."
A few students whispered among themselves.
Tomoya Mashima's gaze passed over the other students and fixed firmly on Keima Katsuragi.
From beginning to end, Keima Katsuragi didn't look up once.
Tomoya Mashima had previously heard that Class D had an unusual student, someone with academic ability that even the students in Class A couldn't match, but with an almost pathological obsession with games.
This had to be the guy.
Tomoya Mashima said nothing and began the day's lesson.
His only job was to teach the class. Class D wasn't his homeroom, so he wouldn't interfere with its students.
As the lesson went on, however, the students at their desks gradually began to get a little "bolder."
At first, they only closed their eyes to rest, whispered to each other, or secretly played on their phones. But once they realized the teacher wasn't enforcing classroom discipline, they became increasingly brazen. Some even put their phones on their desks and started playing openly.
Tomoya Mashima saw all of it, of course. He only shook his head slightly.
He considered himself a conscientious teacher. If this had been his own class, Tomoya Mashima would never have allowed this kind of behavior.
But this wasn't his class. To these students, Tomoya Mashima was just an ordinary subject teacher, and he wouldn't interfere too much with their choices.
Besides, none of the teachers at the school would ever bring up the S-System, which affected how many points students received.
Every move a student made would affect the points earned by the class as a whole, and in turn influence each student's personal points.
The school didn't deliberately conceal this, but neither would it tell the students outright. It wanted to see if they could figure out the rules of the school for themselves.
It was meant to teach them that, at this school, strength came first.
This year's Class D seems no different.
Tomoya Mashima thought to himself.
The class labels A, B, C, and D were, in reality, the school's initial assessment of its new students. Class D was made up of those with the weakest overall abilities.
He himself had once been a student at this school, and he'd been classmates with Sae Chabashira and the others. Back then, the gap between Class D and Class A hadn't been nearly so wide.
But now, that gap had grown larger and larger. Since becoming a teacher, he'd seen many Class D students end up on the path to ruin.
This Class D didn't seem much different—in fact, it might be the worst of all the Class D classes he'd seen.
They haven't noticed anything about the S-System. Meanwhile, a student in our Class A has already begun to piece together how it works, in just a few days. What a shame. There are clearly some promising students in this class, but every student is placed in the same environment and subject to the same rules. When fairness is the premise, differences in how much they develop are only to be expected.
Tomoya Mashima's gaze settled on Keima Katsuragi.
A+ academic ability, judgment, and intelligence—such a combination was rare throughout the school's entire history.
Perhaps Keima Katsuragi had severe shortcomings in other areas, which was why he'd been assigned to Class D. People were influenced by those around them; if he'd been in Class A, perhaps he would have taken a different path.
But even teachers had no authority to transfer students between classes.
A student had to spend 20 million points to transfer.
There was no way a Class D student could manage that.
A vicious cycle.
"Answer this question."
Tomoya Mashima walked over to Keima Katsuragi and lightly tapped on his desk.
Suzune Horikita turned slightly to look at Keima Katsuragi.
The teacher had come right up to his desk this time. Maybe he'd finally rein it in.
Keima Katsuragi didn't stand up. He kept playing his game with complete focus, but gave the answer aloud all the same.
Tomoya Mashima's brows lifted slightly.
He'd been keeping his attention on Keima Katsuragi. The boy had clearly been playing the whole time, yet he'd given the correct answer.
Tomoya Mashima grew curious and asked him a harder question.
Keima Katsuragi gave the right answer again.
"Teacher, is there anything else? Please wait until I save my game..."
Keima Katsuragi kept his eyes on the screen as he spoke to Tomoya Mashima, as if he found the man a bit of a nuisance.
Tomoya Mashima sighed slightly. He was certainly a promising student, but that was all.
"You clearly have talent, but I hope you'll give some serious thought to the choices you make."
That was the extent of the advice Tomoya Mashima could offer.
"Teacher Mashima, when you say 'choices,' do you mean playing games during class? If so, I won't regret it. The world of games is the more important one to me."
Keima Katsuragi's expression didn't change, but his tone was firm.
Tomoya Mashima looked at the boy in front of him. He really didn't understand how serious the situation was. Playing games in class wouldn't just affect—
"If you mean that this behavior might affect the points we earn later, then I have a question for you, too."
"What?"
Tomoya Mashima froze. For a moment, he thought he'd heard wrong.
The boy in front of him had just mentioned the rules of the S-System as casually as if they were common knowledge.
He glanced around the room. Most of the Class D students were completely absorbed in their own worlds, and hardly anyone had even noticed what Keima Katsuragi had said.
Tomoya Mashima turned his attention back to Keima Katsuragi and swallowed. He was even more puzzled by this student now.
If he knew the rules, why would he keep doing something that would affect him?
"Go ahead."
Tomoya Mashima was curious about what kind of question Keima Katsuragi would ask.
"Teacher Chabashira said that at this school, you can buy anything with points. So, can I use points to buy the right to play games during class?"
Keima Katsuragi put down his handheld console and looked at Tomoya Mashima.
Tomoya Mashima narrowed his eyes slightly and looked back at the boy, his gaze utterly serious behind his glasses.
Suzune Horikita, who had been listening to their conversation, wore an expression of utter shock.
What on earth was this guy talking about?
Volume One: Chapter Twenty-One—Yosuke Hirata's Shock
In all his years of teaching, Tomoya Mashima had never had a student ask him a question like that.
The student knew the school's rules, yet still made that choice?
He was even willing to spend points just to play games during class?
Tomoya Mashima didn't hesitate for long. After thinking it over briefly, he said:
"20,000 points a month."
"So a student's behavior really does affect the points they receive. But 20,000 points is far too expensive. And we don't just have English class—we have math, physics, chemistry... If we had to spend the same number of points for every subject, then even earning 100,000 points a month wouldn't be enough."
Keima Katsuragi said. Tomoya Mashima's words had indirectly confirmed that his guess was correct.
Before you continue