Class B's Strategy

The smile on Hoshinomiya Chie's face paused slightly, then blossomed even more brightly, carrying a hint of appreciation that seemed to say, "Just as I expected, you'd ask that."

She took a few light steps forward, the sound of her heels exceptionally clear in the pin-drop-silent classroom.

"Oh my, Kitagawa-kun, you always manage to ask the most crucial—and most difficult for a teacher to answer—questions."

"But," Hoshinomiya Chie's tone suddenly turned cheerful, "teachers can't lie to their students, you know. Since you asked, and since this is part of the rules..."

She leaned forward slightly and clearly announced to Kitagawa Kai, as well as the entire class:

"Twenty million Personal Points."

"As long as you pay twenty million Personal Points, you can offset the expulsion penalty."

"Twenty... million?"

Dead silence.

That was an astronomical figure—an astronomical figure that inspired despair!

Then came sharp intakes of breath.

The faint glimmer that had just appeared on Ichinose Honami's face after receiving a clear answer instantly turned into deeper confusion and helplessness.

Even optimistically assuming that each person could reliably receive one hundred thousand points a month, even if all forty students in a class saved every last point and pooled them together, it would still take a full five months to gather twenty million!

And that was assuming they would even receive one hundred thousand every month.

"Kitagawa-kun," Kanzaki Ryūji raised his hand. He was one of the few whose expression had not fluctuated dramatically, his gaze rational and focused as he looked directly at Kitagawa Kai beside the podium.

"Given our current situation, do you have any further thoughts?"

Everyone's eyes focused on Kitagawa Kai once more.

"Kanzaki-kun's question is crucial. Simply put, while doing everything we can to preserve and increase our Class Points, we must find a way to obtain Personal Points from students in other classes."

"How exactly do we do that?" Ichinose Honami had already recovered from the initial shock. Her eyes became focused again as she asked the question everyone cared about most.

"I'll get to that in a moment, but for now, I have reason to suspect that we may already be in the middle of a special exam."

"An exam?" Quite a few students were stunned. Hadn't school only just started? Weren't they currently in a class meeting?

Kitagawa Kai went on to describe the scene in Class D during lessons.

The teacher at the podium followed the textbook step by step, while the Class D students below...

Some had their heads down, playing on their phones. Some chatted with their deskmates as if no one else existed. Some ate snacks. There were even ridiculous students holding mirrors and fixing their hair.

Several empty seats were scattered throughout the classroom. Some students were late, or had not come at all.

The scene he described stood in stark contrast to Class B at that very moment.

"And that teacher," Kitagawa Kai lowered his voice, his tone probing, "didn't verbally stop any of those violations. All his attention seemed to be on what he had to teach, as if the state of the students below had nothing to do with him."

"Is that normal? A school that emphasized meritocracy at the entrance ceremony allowed a class to fall into such disorder in the very first week."

"Unless," he abruptly changed direction, his tone becoming utterly certain, "that disorder itself was permitted, perhaps even part of what was being observed."

"Classroom conduct, daily discipline, and so on may all be recorded by the cameras above us, affecting our Class Points."

"So our top priority is to follow classroom rules and not lose points over that."

As soon as he finished speaking, the students fell into thought.

Then Kitagawa Kai's voice rang out again.

"Second, I propose that starting this month, Class B should build up a shared reserve of points to deal with future risks."

"Specifically, after each student receives their Personal Points, they can voluntarily transfer a certain percentage—say, half, or fifty thousand points—into a shared account."

"Personally, I think Ichinose is the most suitable choice."

The nomination caught Ichinose slightly off guard, and the entire class's attention gathered on her.

The classroom fell silent for a moment, then—

"I believe in Ichinose!" Shiranami Chihiro was the first to voice her support.

"If it's Ichinose, there's no problem!" another boy chimed in.

"Yeah, Ichinose has always been reliable!"

"I agree with the proposal..."

"Me too!"

Surrounded by her classmates' enthusiasm, Ichinose hurriedly waved her hands, trying to calm everyone down. "Thank you for trusting me. I'll do my best!"

Then she turned her gaze toward the boy at the podium.

Kitagawa Kai nodded slightly.

"Finally, we need to turn the information we've discovered into actual points."

"How do we turn information into points?" a student quietly repeated, confusion flashing in their eyes.

Kitagawa Kai laid out his reasoning clearly. "Take Class A. I've observed them, and their discipline and self-awareness are most likely the strongest."

"Therefore, they won't lose many points because of classroom discipline."

He put forward an idea that made many people's eyelids twitch. "What if we proactively sell this information to Class A?"

A faint commotion arose in the classroom. Sell it to a competitor?

"But... wouldn't it be bad to sell such important intelligence to Class A?" Ichinose Honami voiced her doubts weakly.

"Class A wouldn't lose many points over this anyway. Instead, we could earn points from them."

So that was it.

At that moment, another quick-witted boy raised his hand, pointing out another key risk. "Kitagawa-kun, I understand the idea. But if we sell the information to Class A, and they turn around and sell it to Classes C and D, wouldn't we lose our information advantage for nothing?"

The question struck at the heart of the matter. The classroom fell silent again, waiting for Kitagawa Kai's answer.

"Our school has an item specifically for transactions: the Contract. We can sign an agreement forbidding resale, otherwise it will be treated as a breach of contract."

"Right, Hoshinomiya-sensei?"

"Little Kitagawa is right~" She drew out her tone as she confirmed Kitagawa Kai's statement.

The students in the classroom breathed a sigh of relief at her confirmation—at least this path was viable.

At that moment, Ichinose Honami stood up again.

Her earlier confusion and pressure seemed to have been replaced by a clearer determination. She turned toward Kitagawa Kai, her tone serious and sincere.

"Kitagawa-kun, regarding the information deal with Class A," she paused, "after school, please let me join you. I... I also want to do my part for this, for the class's future."

"Alright." Kitagawa Kai's answer was concise and firm. "It would indeed be better if Ichinose joined us. Kanzaki-kun, come with us too."

"Mm!" Ichinose nodded vigorously, radiance returning to her face. "I'll be ready!"

"Sure," Kanzaki replied with a nod.

[Ding!]

[Ichinose Honami's Affection Level +10, current Affection Level: 48 (Friends)]

"Then it's settled."

He looked toward Hoshinomiya Chie beside the podium. She was resting her chin on her hand, smiling at him.

"It seems Class B's first class meeting has been quite fruitful." Hoshinomiya-sensei straightened up and lightly clapped her hands.