Analysis

"Phew—I'm full, I'm full! I wish I could just lie here forever and not move..."

Chisato Nishikigi let out a long, satisfied sigh, flopping backward onto the living room tatami without a shred of dignity, one hand lightly patting her slightly rounded belly.

The warmth of the hotpot still seemed to linger in the air, leaving her feeling cozy from stomach to heart, brimming with the bliss of a full meal.

"Lying down right after eating is bad for digestion, and it'll make you gain weight."

Runa Inoue deftly cleared the empty plates and leftovers from the table, habitually "reminding" her as she worked. Her violet eyes swept over Chisato's lazy posture, her tone flat but carrying a faint trace of concern.

"Hehe, it's fine~"

Chisato rolled over a little on the tatami in contentment, propping her head up on one side as she lay there, her amber eyes glinting with mischief.

"My Life Ability isn't just for show, you know. Adjusting my metabolism, keeping a perfect figure—easy peasy!"

"Rather than wasting a precious ability on maintaining your looks, I'd prefer you put more energy into 'real business.'"

Walnut had already pulled her laptop back into her arms, fingers gliding over the touchpad as she fired off a jab without looking up.

"For me, keeping my body and mind in top condition is the most important business!"

Chisato retorted with utter confidence.

"That's just 'your' definition of business."

Runa stacked the last few dishes neatly, calmly delivering the finishing blow.

Watching the three young women's familiar, natural banter, listening to their seamless teasing, Mazumi Mami sat to the side, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth without him even realizing it.

Moments like this—relaxed, warm, and full of mutual trust—were especially precious in the gaps between tense missions.

After a short rest, once the post-meal laziness had faded a little, the atmosphere naturally shifted toward the main topic.

Tonight's hotpot gathering wasn't just for unwinding; its more important purpose was to pool the intelligence each of them had gathered.

"Alright, I'll start with what I found today."

Walnut pushed up her blue-light-blocking glasses, her blue eyes behind the lenses turning focused and sharp. "I'll send the key info and preliminary analysis to our encrypted group chat. You can check it on your phones."

"First, the investigation into Kiyotaka Ayanokouji."

Her fingers tapped a few keys, and several encrypted messages with images and text popped up in the group chat.

"Progress is limited so far. His background info is buried extremely deep—conventional methods can barely trace anything. But there's one key finding: his enrollment file was personally signed off by the board chairman, Narumori Sakayanagi, and processed through a special procedure."

"That means his admission bypassed standard review and got direct intervention from the highest authority. If he were just an ordinary student, there'd be no need for that level of 'special treatment.'"

"This strongly suggests that Kiyotaka Ayanokouji has some unknown, deep connection to the Sakayanagi family, or to the top management of this school. I'll keep digging along the chairman's trail."

Mazumi Mami quickly scanned the info in the group chat and nodded. "Mm, that direction is important. Anything else?"

"Yes."

Walnut switched screens and continued. "Second point: the school's biggest selling point—its claim of 'guaranteeing 100% graduation placement and employment for all students.'"

She sent a few more screenshots, showing bold promises from the school's official website and brochures.

"In theory, even the world's top institutions can't guarantee that every student will get into any ideal university or land their dream job, especially when students' interests and majors are so scattered."

"But this place claims that no matter whether a student excels in sports, arts, academics, or technical skills, they can 'fulfill their wishes.' There are even rumors that top performers can get direct admission to the highest institution under the Chongying Protectorate—Yingtai University."

"That sounds too unbelievable," Runa Inoue said, frowning slightly as she voiced her guess. "Could it really be, like I suspected before, that they weed out 'unqualified' or 'underperforming' students before graduation, leaving only the ones who meet the '100%' standard?"

"Close."

Walnut affirmed Runa's intuition and pulled up a data analysis chart. "I carefully checked the career paths of past graduates and fragments of internal documents. I found that the so-called '100% guarantee' has huge tier-based differences."

"Students who graduate as 'Class A' do indeed have nearly 'free choice'—they can pick any university or company within the claimed range, and the other party 'cannot refuse.'"

"The school uses its powerful influence to pave the way for them and provides some form of 'protection' to ensure they aren't easily pushed out or fired early on after enrollment or hiring."

She shifted her tone, a hint of coldness creeping in.

"But graduates from other classes—B, C, D—don't get that treatment. They're 'forcibly assigned' by the school to designated schools or jobs, often not their first choice, and sometimes completely mismatched with their abilities."

"Once the assignment is done, the school's 'guarantee' obligation ends. Whether the student adapts to the new environment, gets expelled, or faces exclusion—the school takes no responsibility."

"Although all graduates are required to sign strict confidentiality agreements, you can still find scattered complaints and grievances from past graduates online. Piecing those fragments together reveals the true face of this brutal 'tiered guarantee' system," Walnut said.

"I see..."

Chisato dropped her playful expression, nodding thoughtfully. "That matches what I heard from a senior."

"Oh? What did you find, Chisato?"

Mazumi Mami turned to her.

Chisato sat up, her expression unusually serious. "I found out that in this school, the A, B, C, D class rankings for each grade aren't fixed! There's a special 'Class Points' system that scores and ranks classes based on their performance. The class with the highest points is Class A, and it goes down from there."

"Class Points?"

Mazumi Mami immediately recalled the blackboard he'd seen on the upper-grade floor that afternoon. He quickly pulled out his phone, opened his photo album, and sent the picture he'd taken to the group chat. "Is this it?"

The photo clearly displayed the class point rankings for the second-year and third-year students, the numerical disparity stark.

"Yes! That's it!"

Chisato Nishikigi confirmed.

"And more importantly—the 'Personal Points' we receive every month are directly tied to these 'Class Points'! The ratio is 1 to 100!"

"In other words, if a class has 1,000 Class Points, every student in that class gets 1,000 x 100 = 100,000 Personal Points that month!"

Chisato Nishikigi said.

"That means..."

Mazumi Mami calculated quickly in his head, "Class A of the second year gets 140,000 points a month, while Class D of the second year... only 25,000 points?"

The gap was even larger than he'd imagined.

"Exactly!"

Chisato Nishikigi nodded firmly. "The upperclassmen said points are the 'lifeblood' of this school. With lots of points, you can enjoy the best food, the latest electronics, the trendiest clothes, and even buy certain privileges and services. With few points... you just have to scrape by."

Chisato Nishikigi said.

"I see..."

Runa Inoue's violet eyes lit up with understanding. "That explains everything from my investigation this afternoon."

"Runa, what did you find?"

Mazumi Mami asked.

"Yes."

Runa Inoue pulled up the photos and notes she'd taken and shared them to the group.

"As you instructed, sir, I systematically surveyed all the places on campus that require points today. I found that, aside from obvious 'luxury goods' or 'premium services,' the school has set up 'Free Supply Points' for many basic necessities."

She showed several photos.

An inconspicuous window in the corner of the cafeteria, labeled "Basic Meal (Free)," with food that looked simple and even bland.

A shelf in the convenience store stocked with plain-packaged bottled water, basic shampoo and body wash, hygiene products, all marked "Free Pickup (Limit One)."

And a few old washing machines in the laundry room, labeled "Free Laundry (Limited Time)."

"At first, I thought this was just a 'relief measure' for students who might fall into temporary 'financial crisis' due to poor management or overspending—a sign of human care."

Runa Inoue's tone turned calm and analytical.

"But I observed that the number of upperclassmen frequently visiting these free points far exceeded what 'poor money management' could explain."

"This was especially noticeable among second-year students. If a few individuals were bad with money, that'd be one thing, but a large group all struggling at once points to a systemic cause."

She looked at Mazumi Mami and concluded, "Now, with Chisato's intel, everything is clear. It's not that those students 'spent all' their points—it's that the points they 'received' were pitifully low to begin with."

"If a class's points are low, or worse... if they hit zero, then every student in that class gets nothing next month. At that point, these 'Free Supply Points' might be their only lifeline for basic survival."

A brief silence fell over the room.

The lingering warmth of the charcoal fire seemed to fade, the air cooling by a degree.

"Then all the pieces fit together."

Walnut's voice broke the silence, carrying the calm of a technical analyst, yet tinged with an undercurrent of gravity.

"This school, which claims to be 'merit-based,' is nothing but a raw, brutally competitive selection system. It uses 'Class Points' as a leash on every student, forcing them to compete and climb for the sake of both personal and collective 'survival resources.'"

Walnut said.

"Points are the Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head, and the whip driving everyone forward."

Mazumi Mami picked up slowly, his amber-gold eyes deep as a pool. "Only by constantly earning more points can you 'live with dignity' here, and get that 'Class A Ticket' to the future you want."

"And those without enough points... can only become fuel for this system's engine, stepping stones for others to climb, and at graduation, accept a 'placement' they never chose, full of uncertainty."

"No wonder they were so 'generous' with 100,000 points as 'starting funds' for every new student."

Runa Inoue murmured, her fingers unconsciously tracing the rim of her teacup.

"Every gift of generosity already has its price secretly attached. No—this isn't even a gift. It's bait. Let you taste 'wealth' first, then tell you that to keep living like this, you have to fight tooth and nail for those limited 'Class Points.'"

Runa Inoue said.

"Survival of the fittest... implanting society's cruelest competitive rules so plainly and systematically into a campus."

Mazumi Mami stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the night that had already fallen, at the scattered lights in the dormitory buildings.

Beneath each of those lights, there might be a student worrying about points, or plotting how to get more.

The night deepened. The intelligence gathering was done for now, but the real game might have only just begun.