Obtaining the Hidden Rules

"Seriously!? That's exactly what the text message said!"

"Looks like there really is something we need to buy."

"That's 20,000 personal points!"

"But what if he also heard from a teacher that it costs 2 million points, but doesn't know about the hidden rules himself and is just trying to trick us?"

"That's possible."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Huh? What? What are they talking about? Hey, Yamauchi, do you know?"

"Don't ask me. I'm just as confused as you are. Go ask Sudo."

Ike scratched his head and looked back.

"I don't know either..."

The poor trio still had no idea what was going on.

At the podium, the smile on Teacher Chabashira's face gradually faded. Her eyes grew colder as she looked at the students.

As expected, Class D students were still...

Smack—

A loud sound rang out as Horikita slapped the desk and stood up. She spoke loudly,

"Do you still not understand? Now isn't the time to cling to our points. We need this information. Would you rather spend 2 million personal points buying it from a teacher?"

"Well said, Horikita girl."

Koenji spoke with his feet propped up on a chair, hands behind his head. The chair leaned back as he wore a relaxed expression.

Teacher Chabashira thought, Oh? Someone's selling them the hidden rules? Is it Class A or Class B? Either way, it won't hurt Class D. Now it's just a matter of whether they can seize the opportunity.

The classroom fell silent. Hirata stood up and tried to mediate.

"...Horikita, don't get worked up. Then let's buy it for 800,000 personal points—20,000 per person. After class..."

Before he could finish, Yamauchi, one of the trio, cut him off.

"20,000 personal points per person? Never heard of that! When did this happen? Do we have to buy it? I don't have any anyway, so do whatever you want."

"Exactly. I've never heard of it either. I'm not even sure I have enough points to get through this month. I'm not paying either."

Ike chimed in.

Seeing this, Sudo decided to follow his two good buddies.

"I'm with them. I'm not paying either."

Watching the three from his seat in front of them, Qiuyue thought, Kid, you're invincible.

The rest of the class began venting their dissatisfaction with the trio, criticizing them for refusing to pay.

With tensions in the classroom rising, Horikita stepped forward.

"It's fine. I'll cover their share. What matters right now is getting the information. I happen to have 80,000 personal points."

"Horikita, thank you. But I can't let you shoulder it alone. I'll help cover half."

"Why? Why should Hirata pay for those three?"

"Exactly."

"..."

In the end, the class decided to split the trio's share. After class, they transferred the points.

Once Qiuyue saw that the points had been transferred, he took the message he'd prepared in advance from his pocket and sent it.

The message read as follows.

As you know, this school has four classes.

A, B, C, and D.

Students are assigned to classes according to their merit.

The best students are placed in Class A, followed by Class B, then the less capable students in Class C, and the most useless students in Class D.

The Advanced Nurturing School is famous for its 100% employment and university acceptance rates. Students can choose whatever job or university they want.

In reality, however, only Class A enjoys this treatment. Classes B, C, and D are simply cast aside when they graduate.

That's how the school achieves its 100% employment and acceptance rates.

During their first month, all four classes—A, B, C, and D—receive 1,000 Class Points. Classes are ranked by their Class Points, with the highest-ranked class becoming Class A, and the others following in order.

One Class Point is worth 100 personal points. So 1,000 Class Points are worth 100,000 personal points—just like the 100,000 personal points you received at the start of school.

The first month is a period of attendance.

You must not be late to class, be absent, use your phones, or zone out. Absences, skipping class, failing to do homework, and any other misconduct in the classroom will be recorded and result in point deductions. The many cameras in the classrooms are proof of this.

At the end of the first month, the Class Points will be revealed and personal points will be distributed.

"Are you kidding!? We're the worst? This has to be fake information, right?"

The students couldn't accept how bad they were and began arguing back.

Class was over, but Teacher Chabashira was still by the doorway. Hearing Class D's protests, she gave an angry laugh.

"...You really are beyond saving. You're the most foolish class I've ever taught."

With that, she left.

Well, that's why they're Class D. Hm!? Ayanokoji went out? What's he doing? I want to follow him, but I can't. He'll notice. Did he figure something out? I hope I'm just overthinking it.

Qiuyue grumbled to himself.

The protests continued, and some students were still hurling insults at Teacher Chabashira.

"...But even though I don't want to admit it, if it's true, then this past week..."

The student didn't finish the sentence, but everyone in the classroom understood.

They knew better than anyone how rowdy they'd been during class that week.

If it was true, they might have hardly any Class Points left. They didn't want to face that reality, so they wanted to get someone to confirm the information was fake.

Before Teacher Chabashira said anything, the students had loudly challenged the information's authenticity.

After she left, the number of students arguing hadn't decreased, but they sounded less and less certain.

Qiuyue sighed and shook his head.

This was Class D for you. When something went wrong, they didn't first look for the problem within themselves. People who couldn't recognize their own faults were the biggest problem of all.

Hm? Did Horikita just run out too? Why did she leave?

Was she going to look for Ayanokoji? Or was she going to ask Teacher Chabashira, like in the original story, why she'd been placed in Class D?

The Class D students were feeling all sorts of things. No one would be happy to be called the worst.

With their emotions on the verge of boiling over, one hero still chose to step forward.

That hero was Hirata.

"Everyone! Let's pull ourselves together! We may be Class D, but if we work together, we can rise to Class A! First, let's try not to zone out or use our phones in class, and let's avoid being late or absent so we don't lose points."