The School Year Begins

"So this is the Advanced Nurturing High School? It truly lives up to its reputation; it's quite grand."

Kengo Tendo stood before the imposing school gate, tilting his head to take in the institution that carried the aspirations of so many, unable to help but sigh in quiet admiration. He quickly pulled out his phone, aimed it at the panoramic view of the teaching building and the gate, and pressed the shutter to freeze this memorable moment in time.

As his gaze swept across the nearby area, a beautiful figure instantly caught his attention—a sweet-tempered young girl was looking down, adjusting the hem of her school skirt. Kengo's eyes darted slightly as an idea formed in his mind, and he immediately walked over.

"Hello, sorry to bother you, but could you do me a small favor?" He stopped, his tone polite and gentle, while he held up his phone and gave it a little shake. "I'm a new student today, and I wanted to take a picture with the school as a memento of the start of the term."

"Of course!" The girl looked up, revealing a friendly smile as she reached out to take the phone. "What a coincidence, I'm a new student too. Please take care of me from now on."

Kengo felt a surge of joy upon hearing this. He hurried to the side of the school gate, deliberately striking a few crisp, handsome poses, and even curled the corners of his mouth slightly toward the lens. The sound of the shutter clicked repeatedly as the girl accurately captured every moment.

"Thank you so much!" Kengo took back his phone, thanking her as he flipped through the photos, then took the initiative to introduce himself. "My name is Kengo Tendo, and I've been assigned to Class 1-D."

"What a coincidence!" The girl's eyes lit up, her smile growing even brighter. "I'm in Class 1-D too! My name is Kikyo Kushida. We're classmates from now on!"

Following the directions to the registration desk, the teacher in charge adjusted his glasses and announced the rules in a flat tone: "After registering, new students must hand over their personal mobile phones. You will be issued standardized devices later. For now, collect your dormitory keys and handbooks."

"They're even confiscating our phones?" Kengo Tendo's smile collapsed instantly, his brows knitting together. He subconsciously touched the phone in his pocket, muttering to himself—it contained quite a few "study materials" he had saved for a long time. If he handed it over, wouldn't they all be gone?

But seeing the other new students complying obediently, he had no choice but to reluctantly take out his phone and hand it over, then accept a dormitory key that looked like a hotel room card and a handbook printed with school regulations.

"I'll head to the dorms to drop off my things first. See you in class!" Kikyo Kushida waved and turned to walk toward the dormitory area.

Kengo nodded and found his room according to the address in the handbook.

The moment he pushed the door open, his eyes lit up—the dormitory layout far exceeded his expectations. It had a private bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen, all fully equipped. The furniture and appliances were neatly arranged, perfectly meeting his daily needs.

He quickly unpacked his luggage, folded his clothes into the wardrobe, and placed his important items in the desk drawer. It didn't take long for him to get settled.

After finishing his unpacking, Kengo headed straight to Class 1-D in the teaching building.

When he walked into the classroom, many people had already arrived. He checked the seating chart on the podium and quickly found his seat.

After sitting down, he quietly observed his classmates: in the front row sat a chubby boy with round glasses, head down as he fiddled with his school-issued device. A name tag was stuck to the corner of his desk—Hideo Sotomura.

Behind him was an expressionless boy with his hands in his pockets, staring out the window with an indifferent gaze, as if he didn't care about anything around him. The name tag read Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

The girl sitting next to him was nervously clutching the corner of her skirt, her head slightly bowed. She looked incredibly shy, and the name on the corner of her desk was Wang Meiyu.

Kengo hesitated for a few seconds before taking the initiative to greet her softly in Chinese: "Hello, my name is Kengo Tendo."

Hearing her familiar mother tongue, Wang Meiyu jerked her head up, her eyes full of surprise, before responding in a small voice: "Hello, my name is Wang Meiyu."

Kengo looked at her flushed cheeks and thought to himself: The Dragon Kingdom in this world is, after all, just a substitute for the one from my previous life.

Besides, his memories from his past life were already fragmented; perhaps the Meng Po soup he drank during reincarnation had been watered down, leaving only these blurry imprints.

He had reached out to Wang Meiyu purely out of a natural affinity for the Dragon Kingdom, and definitely not because the way she kept her head down was particularly cute.

Kengo wanted to use the common language as a pretext to chat with Wang Meiyu a bit more, but the crisp sound of high heels echoing from the hallway interrupted their conversation.

A female teacher wearing black stockings and high heels walked into the classroom and spoke in a professional, efficient tone: "I am your homeroom teacher, Sae Chabashira. I will now distribute your student IDs."

Everyone received their IDs in turn. Kengo examined his in his hand and found that the ID looked exactly like a regular smartphone, but it couldn't connect to the external internet and could only access the school's intranet.

Afterward, Chabashira-sensei explained the school's S System in detail, as well as the use of points, and specifically informed everyone that points would be deposited into student accounts on the first of every month.

The only thing that left Kengo full of doubt was that the school would be so generous as to give every new student 100,000 points at once—which was equivalent to 100,000 yen.

He pondered to himself that he certainly wasn't worth that much; there had to be a catch behind this.

Kengo never believed in gimmicks like "100% placement rates." Based on his experience playing Paradox games, as long as you eliminated the unqualified, you could easily achieve a so-called "100%."

After Chabashira-sensei left, a tall, well-built soccer player stood up—it was Yosuke Hirata.

This typical "popular kid" suggested that everyone introduce themselves in turn. Kengo didn't care much, and when it was his turn, he simply said: "My name is Kengo Tendo. I like playing games and consider myself a bit of a pro. Any interested classmates can team up with me after class."

There is always an exception to every rule; the red-haired boy in the class was clearly unwilling to cooperate, his face full of resistance.

Kengo looked at his flashy attire, the very picture of a delinquent, and couldn't help but mutter to himself: How could someone like this get into a school that claims a "100% placement rate"?

At the opening ceremony, Kengo specifically noted the number of students in the upper grades, and the result matched his expectations—the numbers had clearly dwindled.

Combined with the ranking from Class A to Class D, he became increasingly certain that his Class D was likely the worst class in the entire school.

Kengo sighed softly, his mind full of questions: I just wonder what the elimination mechanism of this school is actually like?

However, when the Student Council President took the stage, Kengo's attention was drawn to him—the president's surname was Horikita.

He subconsciously looked at the black-haired girl in the corner of the classroom, wondering to himself: Could there be any connection between this Student Council President and the Horikita-san in our class?

As the opening ceremony concluded, Kengo walked straight toward Suzune Horikita and asked bluntly: "Horikita-san, are you related to the Student Council President from earlier?"

"He is my older brother," Suzune Horikita replied in a flat tone, her expression unchanged.

Kengo immediately followed up with a suggestion: "Then could you help me ask your brother what the specific school rules are? I'll treat you to a meal as a thank-you gift later."

"I cannot do that." Suzune Horikita's expression shifted abruptly, her tone adding a layer of distance as she refused him flatly.

"Alright, thanks for telling me anyway." Kengo calmly withdrew his proposal and responded politely, though he speculated to himself: Could it be that there is some conflict hidden between her and that Student Council President?