Welcome to the Classroom of the Elite

The bell announcing the start of the first day of May rang, and Teacher Hoshinomiya held a poster in her hand, her usual smile replaced by a somewhat serious expression.

She unfurled the poster and stuck it on the blackboard.

First-Year Class Point Summary:

Class 1-A: 960pt

Class 1-B: 630pt

Class 1-C: 490pt

Class 1-D: 0pt

The atmosphere felt a bit oppressive; students who had wanted to ask questions hesitated to speak, sitting quietly instead, waiting for Teacher Hoshinomiya to address them.

Early this morning, the chat room had been filled with Tetsuya's wails of despair.

He had initially thought only his point statement was wrong, but Ryota and I had also received the same amount.

"You all must have some doubts, right? Why hasn't anyone stepped forward to ask?"

"Teacher Hoshinomiya, there seems to be an error with the Personal Points transferred this month."

After a moment of hesitation, Tetsuya Hamaguchi stood up and posed the question.

Looking somewhat surprised, Hoshinomiya narrowed her eyes and countered:

"Is that so? Where exactly is the error?"

"The amount is wrong, isn't it? It should be 100,000 Personal Points..."

Hoshinomiya didn't reply; she simply turned her body away from the seats and fixed her gaze on the poster.

Following her line of sight, the words "Class 1-B: 630pt" seemed to have their ink thickened at the base.

"Is it really wrong?"

Teacher Hoshinomiya asked back, her words carrying a pointed meaning.

Tetsuya fell silent, glanced again at the poster on the wall, and sat back down somewhat dejectedly.

I looked at Ichinose sitting beside me and noticed she was quietly staring at the poster.

"I have no objection to the distribution of Personal Points, but I do have questions about this thing called Class Points."

Sou Shibata took the initiative to ask.

Not just him, but all the students present were quite concerned about the so-called Class Points, shrouded in mystery.

Moreover, the Personal Points deposited seemed to be distributed based on them.

"Morning study time is limited, so I'll give a brief introduction first."

"First, welcome to this school of meritocracy."

"As you all know, this school is backed by government support, so both the treatment and facilities can be called top-tier."

"However, if you don't demonstrate abilities to match that, everything will be taken back."

"Of course, that includes the so-called 100% advancement rate."

Ryota, who had been doodling on paper, suddenly looked up and stared intently at Teacher Hoshinomiya.

"It would be too unfair for lower-ranked classes to just pray for graduation and ride this gravy train."

"To the students who are fighting tooth and nail for Class A."

"By lower-ranked classes, I mean all classes except Class A. Don't get complacent just because you're in Class B."

"I reminded you all at the start of the semester, right? Over this past month, Ichinose has been fulfilling her duties as class representative, hasn't she?"

"This year's Class B has lost the most Class Points at the start of the semester compared to any previous year."

"Of course, I'm not blaming Ichinose for any dereliction of duty. It's just that..."

She shifted her tone and glanced at me meaningfully.

"Some people have been far too lazy."

I quietly put away the novel on my desk.

"Regarding Class Points: First, this is a quantitative indicator reflecting each class's overall ability, the sole criterion for determining class ranking. The highest Class Points earn the title of Class A."

"Second, it's also a standard for distributing Personal Points to students. Multiply the Class Points by 100, and that's the student's Personal Points for the month."

Laughter came from a corner, and I vaguely heard someone say something like, "Then Class D is doomed."

"Any questions?"

Ichinose raised her hand.

"Teacher, you haven't explained how Class Points are deducted or increased. Even if we set graduating as Class A as our goal, we need to understand everything related to Class Points."

"Fluctuations in Class Points are closely tied to every individual in the class. Given that we lost this many Class Points in just one month, Class B students' performance in their duties can hardly be called excellent."

"You never told us that things like classroom discipline would deduct Class Points."

A complaining voice came from the back row.

"Even high school students still need to be reminded of this sort of thing?"

"Do I need to remind you, Teacher, that when using chopsticks to eat, you should remember to use the thin end to pick up food?"

"Alright, homeroom's over. Start your morning self-study or reading."

Leaving those words behind, Teacher Hoshinomiya exited the classroom.

"Seriously, what a weird school. Even during our student years, they have to set up some competition mechanism..."

"We're just students. Comparing back and forth, isn't it still the same boring stuff—classroom discipline, exam scores?"

Tetsuya grumbled as he spoke.

But he noticed Ryota sitting upright, silent all along.

"What do you think, Ryota?"

"No matter how much we complain, we still have to aim for graduation from Class A."

"We've already fallen this far behind..."

Ryota stared at the Class Points on the poster and let out a sigh.

"It's not like we absolutely have to graduate from Class A, even if..."

Before he could finish, I cut him off.

"That doesn't sound like the Tetsuya I know."

"It's not that I want to give up. We're all students at the same school—I don't think Class A is necessarily stronger than us. Maybe Class D, with zero Class Points, shouldn't be underestimated either."

"Even if there's no reason we have to graduate from Class A, I still can't stand being left behind."

Somehow, I could feel the fiery determination burning in Tetsuya. Even Ryota, sitting beside him, looked a little surprised.

The bell for first period rang.

Even though many were dissatisfied with having so many Class Points deducted, most students set aside their usual lazy attitudes.

Even I straightened my posture and opened a brand-new textbook.

Listening to Teacher Chabashira Sae lecture on history while matching it with the text and images in the book...

Ah, it's still so boring.

But I noticed that, as a book, the textbook was on the larger side.

It seemed just big enough to cover the novel I'd borrowed.

I was about to pull the novel out of my desk when I spotted a pink sticky note on my desk.

"Pay attention in class, don't read novels!"

I glanced sideways. Ichinose was diligently jotting down the key points Teacher Chabashira was explaining on her own sticky note.