This Happened in the Very First Class?

Judgment: A+

Physical Strength: E

Teamwork: D-

Before the school year began, Sae Chabashira had carefully reviewed every student's file, and the name Keima Katsuragi had left a particularly deep impression on her.

His assessments in every area were exceptionally unusual. In a sense, his academic qualifications alone would have been enough to earn him a place in Class A.

So why was he in Class D?

Did he have some serious personality flaw, or was there another reason?

Sae Chabashira had wanted to investigate Keima Katsuragi's background, but she had found nothing. The same was true of his younger sister, Katsuragi Elsie.

Could it be... that Keima Katsuragi and the others, like Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, had unfathomable backgrounds?

If that was really the case, she might have another card up her sleeve.

Thinking this, Sae Chabashira couldn't help the slight smile that tugged at her lips.

"Let me see just what makes you so special."

Volume One: I Have Never Met Anyone So Utterly Unfathomable

The next morning.

After giving the students a day to get used to their new surroundings, the day of their first official classes had arrived.

"Good morning, Sakura."

Back in his seat, Keima Katsuragi greeted Airi Sakura, who sat beside him.

"G-good morning..."

Airi Sakura replied in a voice so quiet that she could barely hear herself. In her hands was a small red camera, the one she'd spent a long time choosing before buying it the night before.

Keima Katsuragi turned to the other side and noticed Suzune Horikita glancing at him from the corner of her eye. But she quickly shifted her attention elsewhere, seemingly intent on ignoring him.

"Good morning."

Keima Katsuragi offered a perfunctory greeting.

"Are you talking to me?"

Suzune Horikita didn't turn her head. She merely shifted her gaze slightly, looking down at Keima Katsuragi from the corner of her eye.

"I thought you didn't understand the meaning of manners."

Suzune Horikita was still holding a grudge over what Keima Katsuragi had done the day before.

"What was your name again?"

Keima Katsuragi seemed not to have heard her. He asked his question as if talking to himself.

He already knew Suzune Horikita's name from the cards Elsie had given him, but she hadn't introduced herself in person yet. Yesterday's introductions had been interrupted before it was her turn.

"I don't have to tell you my name, do I?"

"Oh, stingy. You won't even tell me your name."

"?"

For a moment, Suzune Horikita's facial muscles twitched beyond her control.

It was the first time anyone had ever called her that.

A wave of irritation surged through her.

While Suzune Horikita was thinking of how to snap back at him, Keima Katsuragi had already pulled out his handheld console and started playing.

"Suzune Horikita, that's your name, right? I don't need to ask you. The class seating chart and schedule are both available, so finding out your name isn't particularly difficult."

"..."

Countless retorts gathered at the tip of Suzune Horikita's tongue, but for a long moment, she couldn't get any of them out.

What was wrong with this guy?

"You seem fairly smart, but in the end, you're just a glasses-wearing geek."

After nearly a minute of deliberation, Suzune Horikita managed to come up with that much.

"And yesterday you said we should save our points, but in the end, you still bought a bunch of useless things that rot your brain?"

"These aren't things that rot my brain. On the contrary, they're extremely important to me."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Suzune Horikita gave a cold laugh and finally turned her face fully toward him. Even with a hint of disdain in her expression, there was no denying that her face was stunningly beautiful.

"And if you play games right in the classroom, aren't you worried the teacher will reprimand you?"

But Keima Katsuragi never once looked up at her. His eyes remained fixed on the screen of his handheld console as he replied:

"The teacher probably won't say anything. The school rules explicitly prohibit going off campus and fighting. So in a sense, as long as students don't break the rules, they can do whatever they want."

"But..."

"Still, there might be unwritten rules that haven't been announced. Haven't you noticed? There are far more surveillance cameras in this school than an ordinary school would need, and the school store carries almost every kind of device. You can even use the Student Terminal to order things on the campus network that you normally can't buy. Yesterday, I found the same model of camera there, and its resolution is far beyond what's necessary for everyday use. The school might even know what we're saying right now."

Keima Katsuragi remained absorbed in the screen of his handheld console, playing furiously as he spoke in an unhurried voice.

"I suspect that each student has some kind of rating, and the school uses those high-resolution cameras to observe their words and actions and adjust that rating. That's probably what the teacher meant by 'value' yesterday. The points we receive each month are likely related to it, too."

Hearing Keima Katsuragi's words, Suzune Horikita finally realized what he meant. She quickly looked around the classroom. There were surveillance cameras in all four corners, leaving almost no blind spots.

Was the school monitoring every move the students made?

Suzune Horikita hadn't noticed the cameras before, but Keima Katsuragi had.

Just how sharp were his powers of observation?

"How did you figure that out?"

"In games, you can't miss a single detail! The hidden details, like Easter eggs, are often what let me reach the perfect ending that was tucked away."

As he spoke, Keima Katsuragi pushed up his glasses and glanced sideways at Suzune Horikita, then turned his attention back to the screen of his handheld console.

"Someone like you probably wouldn't know that."

For a moment, Suzune Horikita was stunned.

Could it be that Keima Katsuragi played games to train his mind? Maybe these games weren't just a way to pass the time—

No. Absolutely not!

Why was I even thinking about something so pointless?

Suzune Horikita took a deep breath, then frowned as if she'd just thought of something and looked at Keima Katsuragi.

"If you know the school is watching us, isn't playing games in this situation a bad idea?"

"Classes haven't officially started yet, so it doesn't matter. It might have some effect once the lesson begins, but for Xiao Hua-chan, it's all worth it."

"Xiao Hua-chan? Who's that?"

"Xiao Hua-chan is the female character in the sixth route of the game I'm playing. I've already seen the ending—"

"Enough. I don't want to hear about it."

Suzune Horikita sighed helplessly.

It was the first time in her life she'd ever felt helpless about someone.

"Besides, even if our rating goes down, there'll definitely be ways to raise it later. We can make up for it then."

"That's easy for you to say. And everything you've said so far is still just speculation."

Suzune Horikita shifted her gaze to the textbooks on her desk.

Although she said that, after hearing Keima Katsuragi's explanation, she had already been convinced for the most part.

As the two spoke, Kushida Kikyo's meaningful gaze remained fixed on them from the other side of the classroom.

Volume One: Playing Games in Class? You're Not Even Trying to Hide It!

A few minutes later, Sae Chabashira walked into the classroom. She would be teaching the first lesson of the new school year.

"I'll be teaching your class this morning."

The noisy classroom fell silent as soon as she entered. Sae Chabashira walked straight to the podium, her gaze sweeping over the students below.

They may all be Class D's defective products, but it's the first day. It looks like they haven't completely shown their true colors yet.

Sae Chabashira thought to herself.

In her eyes, nearly everyone assigned to Class D was beyond help.

Even if they seemed to be behaving today, Sae Chabashira knew that as time passed, as long as she didn't interfere, the Class D students would gradually reveal their true natures.

Arriving late, leaving early, skipping class.

Eventually, the points they received each month would be wiped out as well.

That was the fate of Class D students.

They were only putting on an act for now... Wait a second?

Sae Chabashira narrowed her eyes slightly, fixing her gaze on one of the students in the classroom.

Keima Katsuragi.

At that very moment, Keima Katsuragi was completely absorbed in his handheld game. He hadn't even looked up at Sae Chabashira.

This guy...

Was he not even trying to hide it?

"Hey..."

Suzune Horikita turned slightly and tried to remind Keima Katsuragi in a quiet voice, but he didn't budge. He kept playing his game as if nothing had happened.

Quite a few other students in the class had noticed what Keima Katsuragi was doing, too.

"Hey, hey, isn't that guy being a little too outrageous...?"

"Playing games so openly in the first lesson?"

"Couldn't he at least pretend to pay attention?"

The other students expected the teacher to get angry and confiscate his game console.

But Sae Chabashira merely frowned slightly as she glanced at Keima Katsuragi. She said nothing and began teaching.

Sae Chabashira's lessons weren't particularly interesting. Or rather, she couldn't be bothered to put any more effort into preparing them. The passion she'd once had had long since been worn away.

Now she only had to explain what was in the textbook. Whether the students understood it—or even wanted to understand it—was their own problem.

The long lesson, combined with the rather difficult material, soon left some of the students in the class drowsy. Their eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and their heads bobbed up and down like metronomes.

Sae Chabashira noticed them, but from beginning to end, she gave no indication that she'd seen a thing.

That only made some of the students gradually reveal their lazy natures.

As the lesson continued, some students daydreamed, some whispered or passed notes, and others hid their phones in their desks to play with them. One boy named Haruki Yamauchi even lay facedown on his desk and fell asleep.

Keima Katsuragi was also playing his game with remarkable "seriousness." His eyes didn't land on the blackboard for even a single second.

Suzune Horikita listened very attentively, but every so often, she glanced at Keima Katsuragi out of the corner of her eye. Each time, she found that he really had been playing from beginning to end.

So he really was just a guy who let games rot his brain.

With thirty minutes left in the lesson, Sae Chabashira set down her lesson notes and took a stack of test papers from beside her.

"Now, you'll take a short test on what we just covered."

"What?!"

Sae Chabashira's words exploded through the classroom like a bomb.

A pop quiz?

On the very first lesson?

"Surprised? At this school, unannounced tests will be fairly common. But don't worry. This test wasn't assigned by the school; I decided to give it on the spot as your homeroom teacher."

Seeing the bewildered expressions on so many students' faces, Sae Chabashira smiled.