School's Hints

After returning to the dorm and putting his things away, Shiraishi Makoto headed to the cafeteria. He casually ordered a set meal, then sat near the free meal section and observed the students passing by.

Distinguishing upperclassmen from freshmen was even easier than he had expected. When freshmen saw the free section, their faces more or less showed surprise or confusion, while the upperclassmen displayed none of those little reactions. As expected, not a single freshman who had just received the "fortune" of one hundred thousand points was willing to touch those free set meals that looked far from appetizing.

After finishing this round of reconnaissance, Shiraishi Makoto returned to the academic building. When he reached the classrooms for the second-years, he unexpectedly found a bulletin board in the hallway, with each class's Class Points prominently posted on it.

In Shiraishi Makoto's memories, the points in the anime had been handwritten on the blackboard by the homeroom teacher after every exam, while students could also check them on their terminals. He had originally planned to probe some upperclassmen for information, but the points had been displayed so openly instead.

"Did the school arrange this on purpose?"

After checking the second-year classes, Shiraishi Makoto went up to the third floor to look at the third-years. Their Class Points were posted as well.

Perhaps it was simply the beginning of the month, when the upperclassmen's points had just been updated and were therefore announced together. He silently memorized every class's points before leaving the academic building.

"What else am I missing..."

On the way back to the dorm, Shiraishi Makoto sorted through the "currently public information."

First, the free goods at the convenience store and cafeteria indicated that Private Points were not simply distributed at one hundred thousand points per month, as everyone imagined.

Second, the Class Points and class rankings of the upperclassmen corresponded perfectly. This was especially true for the second-years: under Nagumo Miyabi's control, the points of Classes A through D formed something close to an arithmetic sequence.

As for connecting those two clues and deducing such core rules as Class Points determining class rankings, Class Points affecting Private Points, and only Class A receiving the graduation benefits... there was no need to force himself to reason it all out.

The school only prohibited teachers from explaining things proactively. It did not prevent students from taking the initiative to ask questions.

More importantly, even if teachers could not directly answer questions about specific rules, language was an art. Different answers to the same question were themselves suggestive. Not to mention that repeatedly questioning them to eliminate wrong answers could easily bring one closer to the truth.

After washing up, Shiraishi Makoto lay on his small bed and considered what to do next.

At this school, there were two paths to graduating from Class A. The first was the conventional route of class advancement. The second was obtaining twenty million Private Points and spending them to transfer classes.

First of all, accumulating twenty million Private Points through his own efforts was practically unrealistic for Shiraishi Makoto. Although his mental age was a few years older than these people's, he was an ordinary student raised in an exam-oriented education system. Outside of academics, Shiraishi Makoto's abilities could only be described as "worrying."

Having undergone no special training and probably possessing no talent for social interaction, Shiraishi Makoto doubted whether he could take the initiative in negotiations with others. His sudden encounter with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka today was a perfect example—he still could not completely keep his emotions from showing on his face.

With that in mind, the safest approach was still to stick close to his class and take the collective advancement route. But Class B had one major problem, and it had been obvious in the original work.

The entire class was far too full of "little angels."

There was no question that the class was a "model class" in terms of unity and friendship. But in an environment where classes had to compete by any means necessary, excessive kindness would instead become a burden.

And all of this was inseparable from Ichinose Honami, the class leader. That was not to say she was unsuited to lead the class. She was the best possible leader for Class B; it was simply that, like the leaders of every other class, she had her own problems.

Therefore, he needed to correct Ichinose Honami as soon as possible.

"Mm, I'll bring her along tomorrow. Maybe Kanzaki Ryuji too." After thinking it over, Shiraishi Makoto settled on the two people he needed to win over tomorrow.

In the original work, Kanzaki Ryuji had been Ichinose Honami's right-hand man, assisting her with the class's internal affairs. Of course, other classmates had also offered strategies in the major exams, but this was only the second day. He could not manage that many people at once, so he could only start by guiding these two leaders.

Now that he had figured out what his own class needed to do tomorrow, it was time to think about the other classes.

In Shiraishi Makoto's memories, Advanced Nurturing High School had seemingly never seen a lower-ranked class overtake a higher-ranked one in the very first month since its founding. According to the school's usual pattern, each year's Class A would retain eight to nine hundred Class Points after the first month, Class B would have six to seven hundred, Class C four to five hundred, and Class D even fewer. This showed that class assignments followed at least one basic principle: overall ability, especially in terms of "self-discipline."

Students in Class A were generally more self-disciplined. In an atmosphere of discipline, they would subconsciously remain disciplined, encourage and supervise one another, and thus continue scoring the highest in the comprehensive ability tests even without being told the rules. Overall, however, comprehensive ability offered only a limited advantage in class competition, and self-discipline did not mean greater capability. Class A, for instance, had characters like Totsuka Yahiko, who clearly possessed no outstanding abilities, while Classes B, C, and D all had hidden talents among them.

Still, this year's Class A ranked among the best in the school's history. If he remembered correctly, this Class A had only lost sixty points in the first month? They had reached the impressive score of nine hundred and forty points. The good news was that Katsuragi and Sakayanagi in Class A would likely remain locked in internal conflict throughout the first year. The Sakayanagi Faction, in particular, would even sacrifice its own class's interests to strike at its opponents. Katsuragi, who led the class in the early stages, was also a leader who prioritized defense, making him comparatively easier to deal with.

As for Class C, Ryuen Kakeru would probably use violence to consolidate the class during the first month, so there was no need to worry too much about attacks from Class C in the short term. However, for the most "honest" Class B, Class C, which liked to play dirty tricks, was the most dangerous and would require greater vigilance later on.

As for Class D... that class, which had the most freaks, could be completely ignored before Ayanokoji Kiyotaka made his move. With The Three Idiots of Class D causing trouble, they would implode from within on their own. As for how to keep an eye on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Shiraishi Makoto already had a rough plan, but the time was not right yet.

What else was there...

"The Student Council."

Tomorrow should bring the club recruitment event and Horikita Manabu's show-off moment, followed by... Nagumo Miyabi.

At the thought of Nagumo Miyabi, Shiraishi Makoto, lying in bed, laughed angrily.

For the moment, Shiraishi Makoto could not think of any way to deal with Nagumo Miyabi. That idiot, who acted without considering whether he might end up sunk in Tokyo Bay after leaving school, had basically secured his position as the next Student Council president. He also ruled the entire second year, with both power and money. Shiraishi Makoto truly had no way to deal with him right now.

Still, there did not seem to be any scenes of directly confronting him during the first school year. Nagumo's attention was still on Horikita Manabu, so it was not much of a problem.

"That should be it." Feeling that he had not overlooked anything else, Shiraishi Makoto cast aside all other thoughts and closed his eyes.