Value-Added Bank: One Day / Do Weak Characters Have Good Luck?

Facing Shuichi Kanda's aggressive questioning, Chabashira Sae wasn't angry at all. Instead, she seemed to be subtly guiding him toward something.

Most of the students in the class were stunned that Shuichi Kanda dared to challenge his homeroom teacher on the very first day of school. Even Ike, who'd been so furious just moments ago, seemed to have forgotten his displeasure and was staring blankly at Chabashira-sensei at the front of the classroom.

"You mean I can use points to buy the answers?"

Kanda's response pleased Chabashira. A sharp student like him had turned up in this year's Class D. Was it a blessing from above, or had he simply been placed in the wrong class?

"That's right. As I said earlier, there's nothing you can't buy with points at this school. As your teacher, I'll teach you anything you want to learn, without condition.

"But for anything beyond that, you'll have to pay points if you want the answers."

So that was how it worked. The teachers at this school really were just teachers. From Chabashira's position as an instructor, there was nothing wrong with what she was doing.

Chapter 5: Value-Added Bank: One Day

If it was within her power, Chabashira would of course want to discreetly pass along some of the rules to her students.

Take Kanda's question, for instance. Chabashira couldn't answer yes or no, but she'd said she couldn't answer. In this situation, how was that any different from saying no?

With just a few words, Chabashira had grown a little interested in this student named Shuichi Kanda. Such keen insight, and yet he'd been placed in Class D. Interesting.

In reality, if the school's standards had been applied fairly, Kanda would've had the makings of a Class A student. His years of social experience hadn't been gained for nothing. But there was no helping it. He'd gotten in through a back door.

By then, the classes had already been assigned. To squeeze him in, someone else had to be kicked out. Even though the Kanda Family was one of the school's sponsors, getting him in at all had been pushing their luck.

Of course, that also showed just how unusual this school was.

As for who he'd replaced, that wasn't something they could decide. The school's board would make the arrangements.

"So, how many points would I need to pay you to get the answers?"

At that, Chabashira seemed to flash a sly smile.

"It's not much. Just pay me two million Private Points, and I'll tell you the rules here."

Given that Class D had forty students, and each student received 100,000 Private Points upon enrollment, what percentage of the class's total assets did two million make up?

50%!

For the answer to a single question, she'd asked for 50% of the class's total assets. If there were forty students like Kanda in the class, he'd have handed over those points without hesitation to get the answer.

But the instant the figure of two million was mentioned, the class erupted. Clearly, there was no way they could scrape together that many points.

Seeing Chabashira's smile, Kanda felt a surge of annoyance. What the hell are you smiling for? You know this bunch of idiots can't pay up. He made his decision at once.

"Looks like I won't be getting an answer to that question today. Excuse me."

Kanda's sudden retreat left Chabashira a little stunned. She'd thought that if he kept pressing her, she might make an exception and place a few bets on behalf of the class in advance. Hell, she might even have agreed if he'd asked her to lend them the two million points.

But Kanda had suddenly stopped pressing her, catching her completely off guard.

In fact, getting Chabashira to willingly help them pay the two million points would've been easy. He only had to ask a few more questions.

However, Kanda refused to play by the rules. To put it plainly, he'd asked all those questions because he wanted to earn some Private Points. He didn't care what happened to this class, at least not for now.

If things had gone as they had before, he might have chosen to follow the original script. But the instant Chabashira said "two million points," he'd ended the conversation without hesitation.

The reason was that the system, silent for a long time, had finally come through again.

Value-Added Bank: One Day.

Once currency was deposited, it earned 10% interest every hour. It could only be used for one day, but a single day meant 100,000 × (1.1^24) = 984,973.

Almost ten times the original amount!

Since points at this school could be used as currency within the school grounds, they naturally fell within the Value-Added Bank's service range.

If he handled things right, Kanda wouldn't have to worry about points for the next three years.

System Dad, you're awesome! His voice cracked.

Since that was the case, there was no point in asking any more questions. That was why he'd decisively sat down and ended the conversation.

Besides, items produced by the system would never seem out of place, no matter what they were used for. So even if Kanda suddenly obtained a huge amount of points beyond his expectations, the system would automatically adjust their origins, and the school wouldn't suspect a thing.

Can't help it—we're not even in the same dimension anymore. Please understand.

Seeing that Kanda had stopped asking questions and had even begun to rest with his eyes closed, Chabashira sighed helplessly to herself.

Did she really not want to lead Class D to the next level?

No!

She wanted to fulfill the long-held wish she'd had ever since she was a student. But since becoming Class D's homeroom teacher, she hadn't met a single student with the ability to make it happen.

She'd tried to help Class D before, but had never once succeeded.

As time went by, she'd still clung to a glimmer of hope, but she'd lost the courage to take the initiative.

She'd thought this was her chance, but...

Best not to bring it up.

[The entrance ceremony will begin shortly. All new students, please proceed to the Auditorium.]

[The entrance ceremony...]

The speakers in the classroom played the announcement three times in a row before falling silent.

Kanda, seated by the window, joined the stream of students heading for the Auditorium. But at his pace, he was naturally the last to leave the classroom.

He'd barely stepped outside when a girl blocked his way.

"Kanda, I'm so sorry!"

A pretty girl with short blonde hair and a white headband immediately bowed to him at a ninety-degree angle. She was extremely cute, with a pair of little white rabbits hanging prominently from her chest.

Kanda was a little bewildered. What was this about? Had someone done something behind his back that they needed to apologize for?

And why were you suddenly bowing at a ninety-degree angle? Weren't you worried about flashing everyone, with a skirt that short? He couldn't see anything from the front, but Ike behind her was practically bug-eyed.

Judging by the way Ike was looking around and even seemed to be bending over, he was probably getting close to seeing something, but still couldn't quite manage it.

"You..."

Hearing Kanda speak, Kushida Kikyo lifted her head without changing her posture. A puzzled look spread across her face.

"Won't you flash everyone like that?"

"Eek!"

Kanda's words made Kushida immediately stand up straight. She tugged her skirt down with one small hand in front and the other behind, while her fair cheeks quickly turned red.

Seeing her face, Kanda understood why she'd apologized.

"If you're apologizing for what happened on the bus, there's no need. I didn't take it to heart." As he spoke, Kanda started to go around her.

"But you were right, Kanda. I really didn't take into account that you weren't feeling well. It was my fault. When you've done something wrong, you should apologize."

Looking into her sincere eyes, Kanda felt a little helpless. Could she not say all this right now? He was going to be late for the entrance ceremony, damn it!

"I already told you, I'm not upset about it. I forgive you."

"Then, Kanda, will you be my friend?"

As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed his hand.

Kanda was caught off guard, and she got him.

Whoa, why are you getting handsy? If your hand weren't so soft, I'd report you to the teacher for harassing me!

"Are you trying to make me late for the entrance ceremony?"

Kanda looked at her helplessly.

The slightly flirtatious atmosphere vanished in an instant. Kushida felt as though a herd of horses was stampeding through her heart!

A beautiful girl was holding your hand!

Shouldn't your heart be pounding right now, before you blushed and accepted her offer of friendship? Why were you talking about the entrance ceremony?

The approach that never failed against ordinary boys seemed to have finally met its match.

Chapter 6: Do Weak Characters Have Good Luck?

What was with this guy?

Did he have no manners at all?

Shouldn't he be flustered right now, then blush and forgive the beautiful girl in front of him?

Kushida was used to messing with boys her age, but she wasn't used to striking out twice in a row against Kanda in a single day.

To be honest, Kushida was definitely pretty, and she had a great figure too. Though she was only a high school student, she had more curves than most grown women.

She was also very good at showing off her cute side. It was only natural that ordinary boys her age would find it hard to resist a pretty girl like her.

Unfortunately, Kanda could tell at a glance that there was something abnormal about her. Who made it their wish to become friends with everyone?

To be friends with everyone, you either had to be able to like everyone while being liked by everyone, or you had to make everyone like you while putting up with the people you disliked.

Everyone knew that people had likes and dislikes. Almost no one could escape that. Anyone who could manage either of those two things had to be an angel or a devil. Kanda didn't want to risk a fifty-percent chance of finding out which Kushida was. If he guessed wrong, the price would be too high.

"If there's nothing else, I'm going to the Auditorium for the entrance ceremony."

Kanda went around Kushida and slowly headed for the stairs.

"Then, please allow me to come with you."

"Do as you like."

Kanda couldn't stop Kushida. If he flatly refused and failed, he'd only embarrass himself.

So, as he went down the stairs, Kanda took out his phone, opened GPS, checked the map, and then slowly headed toward the Auditorium.

There were still more than ten minutes left, and it wasn't far. Even at his current pace, he could get there within ten minutes.

But his slow pace seemed to catch Kushida's attention. Before long, she noticed that Kanda had been moving for only a few minutes, yet his forehead was already beaded with sweat.

It was only April, and the weather was still pretty cool...

Kushida figured out the reason...

Kanda, meanwhile, felt helpless. This body must have already been incredibly weak before he'd fallen unconscious. Otherwise, there was no way half a year in bed could've turned him into such a wreck.

Kanda had thought he'd be the last one to arrive at the Auditorium. But along the way, he spotted a white-haired girl leaning on a cane, moving even more slowly than he was.

Still, he didn't give it much thought. At that moment, just getting to the Auditorium had already taken almost all of his strength.

And so, Kanda continued on, following the white-haired girl's back. A little later, the two groups arrived at the Auditorium entrance almost simultaneously.

"Oh my, I didn't expect not to be the last one here. I'm a little happy."

Kanda stopped, breathing slightly hard. Before he could decide what to do next, he heard a pleasant, teasing voice beside him.

"Are you making fun of me while dragging yourself down too? I have to admire that 'kill a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of your own' approach."

Kanda had been about to head straight inside, but he stopped and fired back without hesitation, preparing eight hundred comebacks in his mind and ready to unleash them at full force if necessary.

But what happened next took a different turn.

"You're quite an interesting person." The white-haired girl in a white beret lifted her left hand and covered her face with the back of it as she laughed. "I'm Sakayanagi Arisu, from Class 1-A. Pleased to meet you."

As she spoke, she extended her free right hand, smiling warmly and looking quite amiable.

That left Kanda a little dumbfounded. What was this? Shouldn't she have smiled and mocked him right back?

So you're not playing by the rules, huh? Damn white-haired loli!

But there was nothing he could do about it now.

He glanced at her hand, which looked extremely soft, then decided against shaking it. With an indifferent expression, he replied, "Shuichi Kanda, Class 1-D."

Without waiting for Sakayanagi's reaction, he headed toward his class's group.

Watching Kanda walk away, Sakayanagi narrowed her eyes again.

Since he'd arrived late, Kanda didn't plan to squeeze his way to the front. He didn't have the strength for it, either. Kushida had disappeared somewhere long ago.

The lively crowd seemed to suit her perfectly.