Hirata not only remembered the other person's face, but also their name, and could match the two together.
"I'm heading back first. To be honest, I'm a little tired."
"Then I'll head back too."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Kanda and Miyake."
Shuichi Kanda and Miyake both said their goodbyes, leaving Hirata Yosuke and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji in the first-floor lobby.
After returning to his dorm, Shuichi Kanda shut the door, took off his shoes, and walked into the room. Then he picked up Value-Added Bank: One Day, which he had casually tossed onto his desk.
It looked like a tablet now, so it wouldn't matter if anyone else saw it. Besides, ordinary people couldn't get into his dorm room.
He immediately started up Value-Added Bank: One Day and selected "Deposit."
Deposit amount: 2090000 ppt Remaining deposit time: 24h Interest rate: 10%/h Projected earnings: 20585941 ppt
Looking at that long string of numbers, Shuichi Kanda couldn't help feeling excited.
He would earn more than twenty million points in just one day. How could he not feel nervous, even if it meant using a precious item?
But there was no point in being too greedy. He should quit while he was ahead.
Besides, he might get another economy-related item someday.
The instant he completed the transaction, the points on the phone in Kanda's hand dwindled to just 10,000 ppt. He'd kept that much as a precaution.
At the very least, he didn't want to eat that awful Wild Vegetable Set Meal. It was nutritionally balanced, but clearly not enough for him at the moment.
Shuichi Kanda gave it some thought. He'd start by improving his nutrition through food!
As it happened, tomorrow's 10,000 points would be just enough to buy a decent set of kitchenware. He could cook for himself and build up his strength over the next while.
And he wasn't sure he could stick to working out, either. Besides, he didn't plan to join a sports club. He'd just quietly accept being a weakling!
Chapter 16: Hirata Did It Without Hesitation, but Failed Spectacularly
The next day was the first official day of classes.
Early in the morning, Shuichi Kanda dragged himself out of bed with a sleep-deprived expression and walked over to his desk to turn off his ringing phone alarm.
He'd been so excited after depositing his points in Value-Added Bank the day before that he hadn't slept well at all. That was why he'd deliberately left his phone on the desk, far from the bed. That way, it could charge, too.
He yawned and opened the Value-Added Bank screen.
Deposit amount: 5963014 ppt Remaining deposit time: 13h Interest rate: 10%/h Projected earnings: 20585941 ppt
Just eleven hours of compound interest had already more than doubled his assets. He'd had a good idea of what to expect after reading the introduction, but seeing his points multiply before his eyes still made Shuichi Kanda feel a little wary.
If this thing really could be used without limit, it was only a matter of time before it caused an economic crisis. No wonder he'd only been given one day to use it. That made sense.
After a quick wash, Shuichi Kanda checked his timetable and gathered the textbooks he needed for the day.
He opened his door, and a familiar figure had just arrived in front of his room. The person in the doorway instinctively stopped when he saw Shuichi Kanda.
Uh...
They were classmates, after all. He should say hello.
"Good morning, Ayanokoji."
Shuichi Kanda's greeting caught Kiyotaka Ayanokoji off guard. He quickly replied.
"Good morning, Kanda."
"You're up early, Ayanokoji."
"I couldn't sleep."
"Really? I couldn't sleep either, since I'm still getting used to an unfamiliar bed..."
Shuichi Kanda locked his door, then headed for the elevator with Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.
It wasn't very late, so there weren't many students around. Kanda's pace, a little slower than most people's, didn't seem unusual. At least Ayanokoji didn't ask about it or leave him behind.
They weren't particularly close, and they didn't have much to talk about along the way. The two of them went to the school cafeteria together, then headed to the classroom.
Because Kanda's pace slowed them down, they arrived a little later than expected. Plenty of people were already seated.
Several cliques had already formed in the class. The boys had a group led by Hirata, while the girls had one led by Kushida Kikyo.
There were other smaller groups, too. For example, Kanji Ike and Yamauchi Haruki, whose seats were near the back door, were showing off the game console and tablet they'd bought the day before.
Were those things really allowed at school?
Having been educated in China in his previous life, Shuichi Kanda thought bringing a phone to school was already against the rules. Yet these guys had brought game consoles to school and were openly showing them off in class. It was just...
Even now, he was still a little envious! Though he'd always snuck his own phone into school, too.
A little while later, Miyake arrived in the classroom just in time.
As it happened, Miyake and Kanda sat one behind the other. Kanda was in the second-to-last row, with Miyake in front of him.
Thank goodness being reborn had fixed his nearsightedness. Sitting at the back would've been pretty uncomfortable otherwise.
After silently grumbling to himself, Kanda greeted Miyake and took out the textbook he'd need for the first class. There was a morning meeting before the first class, but that didn't matter.
Since it was the first morning meeting, Chabashira-sensei didn't say much. After exchanging a few formalities, she left the rest of the time to the students. Just before leaving, though, she glanced at Shuichi Kanda in the back row and Hirata in the front.
As soon as Chabashira-sensei left, the classroom buzzed with noise. It felt very familiar.
"Everyone, could I have your attention for a moment?"
Hirata seized the opportunity, stood up from his seat, and spoke.
The class quickly fell quiet at Hirata's words. A few people still chatted among themselves, but it was much better than the roomful of buzzing it had been before.
It was easy to see just how much prestige Hirata had built up in a single day.
"We're all new to this school, so I understand how excited everyone is to make new friends. Even so, I hope we can all focus on our studies..."
"Isn't this school supposed to have a 100% employment and college acceptance rate? We can just study whenever!"
Before Hirata could finish, Kanji Ike—the class clown—cut him off.
Kanda still clearly remembered what Ike had said during introductions the day before: he liked beautiful girls and hated handsome guys.
Hirata was undoubtedly the kind of cheerful, handsome guy Ike disliked, so he immediately jumped in to contradict him when Hirata made his suggestion.
"I understand what you mean, Ike. But think about it. Even if we're all guaranteed admission to Tokyo University, we still might not graduate if we don't work hard."
It was a realistic example and a reasonable argument, but Ike wasn't having it.
"We can worry about that later! If we have money and free time now, we should enjoy ourselves!"
Kanji Ike's attitude actually reflected how most students in the class felt. They wanted to live for the moment and didn't care if disaster struck later.
Hirata's attempt to encourage them to study had hit a wall right from the start. Almost nobody was willing to listen. The ones who wanted to study would do so anyway, and his words wouldn't make a difference to those who didn't.
"But I think we should at least do our part as students. At the very least, we should pay attention in class and not be late or skip school."
"Cut it out! Are you my mom? What business is it of yours?" This time, it wasn't just Kanji Ike. Ken Sudo, the red-haired guy with the delinquent look, chimed in irritably, too.
He thought Hirata was taking a dig at him because he'd been late that morning.
"Huh? Students are supposed to show up on time and not skip class, aren't they?"
"Exactly! Do you even have any sense of what it means to be a student?"
Before Hirata could respond, someone stood up for him. Shuichi Kanda couldn't help marveling at Hirata's charisma again. After just one day, people were already willing to stand up to Ken Sudo on his behalf. It was true that they might have disliked Sudo anyway, but even so, it showed how capable Hirata was.
Kanda knew he couldn't do the same.
The class was now in an uproar, with Sudo's supporters arguing against Hirata's.
A few others just watched from the sidelines.
Chapter 17: The Result Was Still No Good
Seeing the argument on the verge of escalating, Hirata hurriedly spoke up to stop it.
"Everyone, please don't argue! Please calm down!"
At Hirata's loud appeal, his supporters quieted down first. Sudo's side didn't continue, either.
Seeing how much harder this was than he'd expected, Hirata smiled wryly to himself.
"I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to push you all."
To keep the conflict from worsening, Hirata chose to apologize.
When Kanji Ike and the others saw Hirata back down, they immediately looked smug, as if they were the ones in the right.
Meanwhile, Hirata's supporters felt even worse for him. It wasn't Hirata's fault at all! Hirata was so kind and considerate!
"What a boring farce."
A disdainful voice came from behind Kanda, though it wasn't very loud.
Hearing that, Kanda turned around without thinking. A beautiful, cool-looking girl with long black hair was reading a book. It clearly wasn't a textbook.
Horikita Suzune, was that her name?
All right. I'll remember you.
Shuichi Kanda's glance didn't make Horikita Suzune react. It was more like she was already used to other people looking at her differently.
She didn't care, though. She'd always lived that way and didn't need other people's attention, nor did she care about it.
After the commotion died down, it was soon time for class to officially begin. But since it was the first day, the teachers only explained their plans for future classes. They didn't rush into teaching any material.
And so, the morning passed quickly. The students enjoyed the first half of their first day at the school in a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere.
How could they not be relaxed?
The teachers didn't care if students whispered to each other, played on their phones, read manga, or even slept during class. It seemed their only job was to teach the material.
The relaxed classroom made the idle Shuichi Kanda feel like taking a nap, too.
But that easygoing atmosphere only strengthened his suspicions. Maybe only the top-ranked classes got the 100% college acceptance and employment rate.
He really couldn't understand what qualified these people to enjoy that kind of privilege.
Had they just been admitted to this school because their ancestors' graves had good feng shui?
Come on. If that were enough, the world would've been in chaos long ago.
It definitely wasn't because he was afraid of ghosts! Definitely not!
And so, in this relaxed atmosphere, lunchtime arrived. Since class had just ended and the halls would be crowded, Shuichi Kanda didn't plan to head to the cafeteria right away.
Akito Miyake had already tidied up his desk. Then he turned around to face Kanda.
"Kanda, are you planning to drag me off to eat that free Wild Vegetable Set Meal again today?"
"One time was enough. If you like it, I can watch you eat it." Shuichi Kanda smiled. "I want something nutritious today."
Miyake nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. You really do need to eat properly."
While they were talking, quite a few classmates had already gotten up and left. In just over a minute, the class had emptied out by more than half.
"Uh... I'm heading to the Student Cafeteria. Does anyone want to come with me?"
Hirata, who'd been sitting in front, stood up and asked the students who were still in the classroom. But his eyes were definitely looking toward Kanda's side.
Before you continue