"Ugh, this is so boring!" Mu Tianchen had thought that a school like this would have something interesting planned for the opening ceremony, but once again, he was disappointed.
First came the principal's opening address, followed by one leader after another giving speeches... It didn't seem any different from the elementary and middle schools back home.
Still, the white-haired chairman who had just taken the stage looked a little familiar to Mu Tianchen.
"It really is Uncle Itagaki!" Mu Tianchen took a closer look and recognized him at once. When Mu Tianchen was little, he had often visited Uncle Itagaki's house with his father.
"Could Dad have gone to see Uncle Itagaki before?"
Mu Tianchen couldn't help wondering. After all, his performance on the entrance exam had been, at best, average.
If his father had gone to ask Uncle Itagaki to pull some strings, that would explain it. But if he'd pulled strings, what was the point of taking the entrance exam?
Mu Tianchen couldn't quite figure it out. Could they still assign classes based on actual performance? Even if someone had pulled strings? Or had his father and Uncle Itagaki arranged it on purpose?...
A whole host of questions surged through Mu Tianchen's mind. There wasn't enough information to prove anything yet, so he waved the thoughts away and decided not to dwell on them for now.
But if Uncle Itagaki worked here, then maybe Arisu had come to this school too?
If Arisu really was here, she'd probably be a formidable opponent if the classes ever competed against each other...
After all, Mu Tianchen knew Arisu well. She was not someone you could easily deal with. Even as a child, she had been far brighter than her peers and had a natural talent for leadership. She could only be even stronger now...
After the long ceremony finally ended, it was almost time to go home.
Some of the new students had already formed little groups and headed out together to eat, go to karaoke, or shop at the mall. Most of the rest had returned to their dorms.
Mu Tianchen had planned to spend some time reading in the library, but then he remembered he still hadn't bought all his daily necessities. Changing his plans, he went to the convenience store to pick up what he needed.
He wandered around the store. The prices seemed reasonable, and it didn't take him long to choose what he needed.
Mu Tianchen was fairly frugal. He picked items in the middle price range. There was no point in being too cheap; he knew that cheap things were often poor quality.
As he was about to pay, he noticed an area where the items seemed different from the rest.
Every so often, a few students who looked like upperclassmen would simply take things from there and leave without even checking the prices. Curious, he went over.
When he got closer, he saw that all the items were marked "Free." No wonder the upperclassmen hadn't checked the prices.
But this also proved the contradiction in what Teacher Chazhu had said earlier—that points were issued every month.
Daily necessities weren't that expensive. Unless they received very few points, the upperclassmen shouldn't have been unable to afford decent ones, should they?
As Mu Tianchen pondered this, he heard what sounded like an argument by the store entrance.
"Just what you'd expect from the idiots in Class D! Hahahaha!"
Mu Tianchen followed the sound and saw three students who looked like upperclassmen laughing at a red-haired boy.
The boy looked familiar. He seemed to be the one who'd kicked open the door during the introductions earlier. He looked like a hothead.
"What do you mean by that? You want to fight or something?"
The red-haired boy shouted as he stood up and swung at the upperclassman who was laughing the hardest.
"Calm down, Sudo." A stone-faced boy caught his fist just before it could hit the upperclassman. He looked thin, but he seemed surprisingly strong.
Mu Tianchen recognized him. He was Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, the boy who'd stolen his template during the introductions. A girl with long black hair and a uniform stood beside him. Mu Tianchen remembered that she was Ayanokoji's deskmate.
She was quite pretty, but she gave off the same cold, unapproachable feeling as Teacher Chazhu.
"But they started it! How am I supposed to stay calm? They need to be taught a lesson!"
Sudo still seemed dissatisfied at being stopped. He glared at them and issued a threat.
"Will fighting solve anything? It's only the first day of school, and you're already picking a fight with upperclassmen. You really are an idiot."
The black-haired girl tried to talk him down too, though she sounded more like she was mocking him.
Sure enough, when Sudo heard her, he immediately turned on her. "Who are you calling an idiot?!"
"Who else? You, obviously."
Mu Tianchen couldn't bear to watch. Good thing he'd stayed back instead of stepping in to help. He couldn't stand to be associated with this.
But the real reason he didn't want to get involved was that he'd spotted a camera in the corner of the wall nearby, pointed at them.
Its color was almost identical to the wall, making it difficult to spot unless you looked closely.
If Ayanokoji really was the person from that room, then he'd probably stepped in because he'd spotted the camera, too.
There would definitely be consequences for fighting, but then again, even if Sudo did start a fight, it didn't have much to do with him. Or had he noticed something else...
"Hahaha, you're even fighting among yourselves! Just what you'd expect from Class D. We're in a good mood today, so we'll let you have this place. If we run into you again, you'll be in for it!"
The upperclassmen had had their fun, but they were still worried Sudo might lose control and attack them, so they began to retreat.
"Get back here!"
Seeing them run, Sudo glared and shouted after them. He didn't want to let things go so easily, but Ayanokoji was holding him back, and he couldn't break free. All he could do was call after them.
But the three upperclassmen weren't stupid. They headed behind the convenience store without looking back.
Mu Tianchen stopped to think, then followed the upperclassmen who had just left.
From what Sudo had said, Mu Tianchen didn't think this was just a normal conflict between students.
After following them for a while, he saw the three upperclassmen stop in a secluded corner.
One of them cautiously checked the area. Once he saw no one was around, he told the others and they started talking.
A wall separated Mu Tianchen from them, blocking their view of him, so the upperclassmen didn't notice him.
The wall was thin, though, and he could hear their conversation.
"These new students are so easy to get points from. Put on a little act, and the points roll right in."
"Yeah. I'm almost out of points to buy food with. I don't want to eat that mountain vegetable set every day. It tastes awful."
"But that redhead from Class D was really hot-tempered. He almost hit me."
One of the smaller students thought back to how the red-haired boy had acted. He was still a little shaken. Getting beaten would hardly be worth it.
"What are you scared of? If he hits you, just get that guy from Class 1-C to reimburse you. Besides, from what they said, you get an even bigger payoff if you get beaten up."
"True..."
"Class C?" Mu Tianchen thought he'd heard something interesting.
From their conversation, he could tell that someone from Class C had paid them in points. He could use the same approach in reverse. It wasn't the way he'd originally planned to earn points, but a little extra money wouldn't hurt.
After thinking it over, Mu Tianchen walked out, deliberately making his footsteps louder.
One of the upperclassmen had sharp ears. He heard the footsteps and immediately stopped his companions from talking.
They turned toward the sound and saw a good-looking, slender boy standing there.
When they looked his way, Mu Tianchen spoke up. "I heard everything you just said. Do you want me to report it to the school?"
The three froze briefly when they realized someone had overheard them. One of them was tall and broad-shouldered. Seeing that Mu Tianchen looked small and weak, like an easy target, he charged straight at him.
"What the hell are you talking about, kid? Get lost!"
The burly student meant to teach him a lesson. As soon as he finished speaking, he swung at Mu Tianchen's stomach.
They'd carefully chosen this spot because there were no cameras around, so they felt safe using force.
Just as the punch was about to land, Mu Tianchen easily dodged to the right, grabbed the student's punching arm, twisted, and flung him hard to the ground.
"Damn it, you look so skinny, but you're strong. What are you two standing around for? Help me beat this kid down!"
The burly student struggled to his feet through the pain and called on his two "comrades," who had been watching from the side.
"Uh?... Forget it... Let's go."
The two onlookers hesitated. Their strongest guy hadn't lasted a single round. If they went in, they'd probably just get beaten too.
But after considering what would happen if the school found out, they gritted their teeth and charged together.
A short while later...
"Big brother, please spare us! We had no choice. We were out of points for food, and we can't stand eating that mountain vegetable set every day. Please let us go just this once. We won't do it again."
The three men knelt, battered and bruised, begging Mu Tianchen to forgive them.
When Mu Tianchen was little, he'd practiced martial arts with his father. His father had also brought in many famous martial arts masters from the Island Nation to train him, and Mu Tianchen had won a number of competitions. Taking on three high school students was child's play to him.
"Tell me! Who from Class C sent you to start trouble?" Mu Tianchen's voice carried a hint of menace.
"Uh... We don't know. We just take points to do jobs. All we know is that someone from Class C told us to do it."
The three still held out a sliver of hope. If they betrayed the person behind it, they might not get any more work in the future.
"I see. How many points did they pay you? I'll give you double!"
Mu Tianchen could have threatened them outright, but he thought it would be safer to buy them off, just in case they resented him and told someone what had happened.
"It was Ryuen from Class C."
The three had thought Mu Tianchen would use the information to threaten them into handing over all their points. But he was actually willing to pay them double. What was there to lose?
If they lost this client, they could find someone else next time. There was no reason to pass up points right in front of them.
Mu Tianchen sneered. Sure enough, people would betray others for a little profit. He'd been betrayed and framed before, but he wouldn't let that happen again.
"Ryuen? Do you have proof?"
"I've got his transfer records, and we're friends with him, too. But the person who came to hire us earlier was called Ishizaki, I think."
The burly student who'd taken the worst beating hurriedly pulled out his phone and showed Mu Tianchen the transfer records.
"Okay. Send me the evidence, and I'll give you the points. Also send me Ryuen's account."
"Okay."
The records showed that Ryuen had indeed paid them 30,000 private points.
After verifying it, Mu Tianchen transferred 60,000 points to them. Once the transfer was done, he watched as they completely deleted the records and made a recording confirming that someone from Class C had hired them. Then he left.
Carrying the daily necessities he'd bought at the convenience store, Mu Tianchen walked back to the dorms and checked the information on his student card:
Name: Mu Tianchen
Class: Class 1-D
Points balance: 35000
It looked like he'd spent quite a few points, but he'd soon earn them back.
Mu Tianchen used the account the upperclassman had given him and sent a friend request.
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