The First Day of School

"Is this Advanced Nurturing High School? It really lives up to its reputation. It's so impressive."

Standing before the grand school gates, Kengo Tendo looked up at the academy countless people dreamed of attending and couldn't help murmuring in awe. He quickly pulled out his phone, framed the school gates and the main building, and snapped a photo to capture the memorable moment.

A short distance away, a beautiful figure caught his eye—a sweet-looking girl was looking down as she adjusted her uniform skirt. Kengo's eyes shifted slightly as an idea came to him, and he immediately walked over.

"Hello. Sorry to bother you, but could you do me a small favor?" He stopped and spoke politely and warmly, raising his phone and giving it a little wave. "I'm a new student starting today, and I'd like to take a picture with the school as a memento of my first day."

"Of course." The girl looked up and smiled warmly as she took the phone. "What a coincidence, I'm a new student too. I hope we get along!"

Kengo was delighted. He hurried over to the school gates, deliberately striking a few fresh, handsome poses and even turning the corners of his mouth up slightly for the camera. The girl captured each moment perfectly as the shutter clicked again and again.

"Thank you so much!" Kengo took his phone back and thanked her as he looked through the photos. Then he introduced himself. "My name is Kengo Tendo. I've been assigned to Class 1-D."

"What a coincidence!" The girl's eyes lit up, and her smile grew even brighter. "I'm in Class 1-D too. My name is Kikyo Kushida. We'll be classmates!"

Following the directions to the registration desk, they met a teacher in charge of reception, who adjusted his glasses and announced the rules in a flat tone. "After registering, new students must hand in their personal phones. You'll be issued school devices later. For now, collect your dormitory key and handbook."

"They're taking our phones?" Kengo's smile instantly fell, and his brows knitted together. He instinctively felt for the phone in his pocket, grumbling to himself. I've got so many 'study materials' on there that I spent ages collecting. If I hand it in, won't I lose all of them?

But seeing all the other new students obediently doing the same, he had no choice but to reluctantly hand over his phone. In return, he received a dormitory key that looked like a hotel key card and a handbook printed with the school rules.

"I'll go drop my things off at the dorm first. See you in class!" Kikyo Kushida waved and headed toward the dormitory area.

Kengo nodded and followed the address in the handbook to find his dorm room.

The moment he opened the door, his eyes lit up. The room was far better than he'd expected, with a private bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. The furniture and appliances were neatly arranged, and it had everything he needed for daily life.

He quickly unpacked, folded his clothes and put them in the wardrobe, then placed his important belongings in the desk drawer. It didn't take long to get everything in order.

Once he had finished unpacking, Kengo headed straight to Class 1-D in the teaching building.

Quite a few people had already arrived when he entered the classroom. He checked the seating chart on the podium and quickly found his seat.

After sitting down, he discreetly surveyed his classmates. A chubby boy wearing round glasses sat in the row in front, fiddling with his school device. A name tag was stuck to the corner of his desk: Hideo Sotomura.

Behind Kengo sat a boy with an expressionless face, his hands in his pockets as he stared indifferently out the window, as if nothing around him interested him. His name tag read Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

The girl sitting beside him was nervously gripping the hem of her clothes, her head slightly lowered. She looked extremely shy. Her name tag clearly read Wang Meiyu.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Kengo took the initiative and greeted her softly in Chinese. "Hello, my name is Kengo Tendo."

Hearing her familiar mother tongue, Wang Meiyu looked up abruptly, surprise filling her eyes. Then she replied in a quiet voice, "Hello, my name is Wang Meiyu."

Looking at her reddened cheeks, Kengo thought to himself, The Dragon Kingdom in this world is ultimately just a substitute for the one in my previous life.

Besides, his memories of his previous life were already fragmented. Maybe the Meng Po soup I drank before reincarnating was watered down, leaving me with these blurry impressions.

He'd struck up a conversation with Wang Meiyu simply because he felt a natural fondness for the Dragon Kingdom. It definitely wasn't because she looked especially cute with her head lowered.

Kengo wanted to use their shared mother tongue as an excuse to chat a little more with Wang Meiyu, but the crisp sound of high heels came from the corridor, interrupting their conversation.

A female teacher wearing black stockings and high heels walked into the classroom and spoke briskly. "I'm your homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae. I'll be handing out your student IDs now."

Everyone received their ID in turn. Kengo took a closer look at his and found that it looked no different from an ordinary phone, except that it couldn't connect to the external internet and could only access the school's intranet.

Afterward, Chabashira-sensei explained the S System and the uses of points in detail. She also made sure to tell everyone that points would be transferred into their student accounts on the first day of every month.

What left Kengo utterly confused was that the school had actually given every new student 100,000 points all at once—the equivalent of 100,000 yen.

He wondered to himself, There's no way I'm worth that much. There's definitely something fishy going on.

Kengo had never believed in gimmicks like "a 100% rate of advancement." Going by the way he used to play Paradox games, all you had to do was eliminate the unqualified and you could easily achieve that so-called "100%."

After Chabashira-sensei left, a tall, athletic boy stood up in the classroom. It was Yosuke Hirata.

This typical popular guy suggested that everyone take turns introducing themselves. Kengo didn't care either way, and when his turn came, he simply said, "My name is Kengo Tendo. I like playing games, and I'm pretty good at them. Anyone interested can join me for a game after class."

There was always an exception. The red-haired boy in their class clearly wasn't willing to cooperate and looked thoroughly displeased.

Looking at his flamboyant style, Kengo thought he looked every bit the delinquent. Someone like him can get into a school that claims to have a '100% advancement rate'?

At the opening ceremony, Kengo made a point of paying attention to how many upperclassmen there were. The result matched what he'd expected: their numbers were noticeably lower.

Combined with the class rankings from Class A to Class D, this made him increasingly certain that his own Class D was probably the worst class in the school.

Kengo sighed softly, full of questions. I just wonder how this school's elimination system works.

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

He reflexively looked toward the long, straight-haired girl in the corner of the classroom and wondered to himself, Could there be some connection between the Student Council President and Horikita?

When the opening ceremony ended, Kengo walked straight over to Horikita Suzune and asked bluntly, "Horikita, are you related to the Student Council President we just saw?"

"He's my older brother," Horikita Suzune replied flatly, her expression unchanged.

Kengo immediately followed up with a suggestion. "Could you ask your brother what the school rules are exactly? I'll treat you to a meal afterward as thanks."

"I can't do that." Horikita Suzune's expression changed abruptly, and her tone turned somewhat distant as she flatly refused.

"Okay. Thanks anyway for telling me." Kengo accepted the refusal without fuss and replied politely, but he wondered to himself, Could there be some kind of conflict between her and the Student Council President?