Class D's Situation

"Sensei, may I ask a question? I still don't quite understand." Hirata Yosuke raised his hand. He was not concerned about his own Private Points, but was speaking up for his uneasy classmates.

"Please tell us why no points were distributed to us. Otherwise, we can't accept this."

"Tardiness and absences: ninety-eight incidents in total. Private conversations during class or mobile phone use: three hundred and ninety-one incidents. Those were the foolish things you did in just one month."

"At this school, class performance is reflected in points. The result is that you spat out all one hundred thousand points you should have received. It's that simple." Chabashira Sae explained with mechanical indifference. "I should have made it clear on the day you enrolled: this school evaluates students by ability. Given your performance this month, receiving an evaluation of '0' is hardly surprising."

Below the podium, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his head toward Horikita Suzune. Horikita held a pen and recorded everything Chabashira had said in her notebook.

"Chabashira-sensei, I don't recall receiving an explanation about something like this..." Before Hirata could finish, Chabashira mercilessly cut him off.

"If no one explains it to you, then you can't understand it at all?"

"Th-this... We were never told that the points deposited into our accounts could decrease. If we had been told from the beginning, everyone wouldn't have been late or whispered during class like this." Hirata continued to argue his case. Although even he felt his argument was weak, thirty-nine Class D students stood behind him.

"Hirata, what you're saying is truly strange. I certainly never explained these things, but don't be late for class, and don't chat privately during lessons. Didn't you learn that in elementary and middle school?"

"You've only just entered your first year of high school. Did you really think you could spend one hundred thousand every month without any restrictions? Especially at a school established by the government to educate outstanding talent? Don't you have any common sense?"

"Th-this..." Faced with such indisputably correct words, Hirata could find no angle from which to argue. Still unwilling to give up, he met Chabashira's eyes. "Then please at least tell us the specific criteria for point increases and decreases... so we can use them as reference in the future."

"That can't be done. Just like a personnel evaluation, whether a company tells you the contents of its assessment is up to the company. According to school regulations, these criteria for increases and decreases cannot be disclosed." A faint smile appeared on Chabashira's face. "I'm not doing this because I hate you. Seeing you all so miserable, I'll tell you some good news."

"Even if you improve your school attendance, or rather, even if you are never late and never lose focus, your points will not increase or decrease. In other words, the points deposited next month will still be zero. Conversely, it doesn't matter if you continue being late or absent."

Hirata's expression darkened further.

That explanation had completely backfired. Any classmates who might have intended to improve their behavior would probably have their resolve greatly weakened after hearing that.

"Chatting time is over." As the bell signaling the end of homeroom rang, Chabashira took out a poster tube and displayed the results of each class.

"These are... the results for each class." Horikita hesitated as she looked at the row of numbers on the blackboard.

"They're too neat." Ayanokoji spoke softly. Based on the Class Points of the other three classes, the two of them quickly deduced that the initial number of Class Points had been one thousand.

After displaying the data, Chabashira continued, "You spent your first month doing whatever you pleased, and the school has no intention of denying you that. But in the end, the punishment will return to you in the form of reduced points. Look at the other classes. They all received enough points to live on for a month."

"How could this happen..." Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and the others wailed. "How are we supposed to live without points?"

"Why are the Class Points so far apart?" Hirata asked in confusion. Not to mention Class A's 980 or Class B's 950, even the nearest class, Class C, still had 490 Class Points.

"Do you understand why you were placed in Class D now?"

"What? Weren't we assigned to Class D at random?" A student below voiced his confusion.

"This school assigns classes according to the students' level of excellence. The best students go to Class A, and the useless ones go to Class D. This is common in schools outside as well, the difference between advanced classes and regular classes." Chabashira paused before continuing. "Simply put, Class D is where the bottom-ranked students gather. In short, all of you are the worst defective products."

At those words, Horikita, Yukimura Teruhiko, and the other students with excellent grades froze. Such a reason for class assignment must have dealt them a severe blow.

"Even so, you are the first Class D in the school's history to squander all your Class Points in the very first month. I'm almost impressed that you managed to do it." Chabashira deliberately clapped her hands, the sound echoing through the deathly silent classroom.

"So, as long as our Class Points are zero, we'll keep receiving no points?"

"Yes. But the dormitories are free, and there are free items in the cafeteria and convenience store as well. You don't have to worry about dying at school."

Those words were hardly comforting to the students of Class D. After enjoying an extravagantly luxurious life during their first month, making them endure the next three years would be quite difficult.

"So that means Class D is going to be looked down on by everyone else from now on?" Sudo Ken kicked the leg of a desk with a bang. He finally understood why the upperclassmen had worn those expressions when they heard he was from Class D on the first day of school.

"What? So you're someone who cares about pride, Sudo."

"You..." Veins bulged on Sudo's forehead, and he looked as though he were about to rush forward and punch the teacher.

"Class Points are not only related to the points deposited into each person's account every month. These points directly affect the class rankings." Chabashira pointed at Class A's 980 points. "For example, the current Class A with 980 points was originally Class B. During the first month, they lost fewer points than the original Class A, so they achieved the feat of overtaking the higher-ranked class in their first month and made school history."

"What is worth noting here is that a student in the original Class B had figured out all the rules of the school by the second day after enrollment. That was why they were able to overtake Class A." Chabashira left it at that and put up another poster.

"Next, I have something unfortunate to tell everyone."

"This is a class with plenty of idiots, but as high school students, you should be able to understand what these numbers mean."