You're Too Old to Act Cute

After a brief period of student chatter, Honami Ichinose realized it was almost time and reminded her classmates.

"Everyone, please return to your seats. We should make a good impression on our homeroom teacher."

The students in Class B were very well-behaved. They returned to their seats without making a fuss.

The classroom, which had been bustling with noise, quickly grew much quieter.

Seeing this, Makoto Nishikado couldn't help comparing them with Class D.

When it came to discipline, there was a tiny difference between the two classes.

Before long, an adult woman dressed in pink entered the classroom.

"Could I have everyone's attention? I have something very important to tell you."

The mature woman in pink stood with her hands on her hips, her voice so sweet it could make your teeth ache.

The students watched their homeroom teacher with curiosity.

She didn't look very reliable, but she seemed easy to approach.

For high school students, a teacher like that was surely a hundred thousand times better than a cold, stern one.

The students in Class B felt an instant fondness for her. Only Makoto Nishikado quietly shook his head.

"Teacher, may I say something?"

Makoto raised his hand.

He was a good student who followed school rules, so he always raised his hand before asking a question.

"Couldn't you wait until your teacher has finished speaking? You there, go ahead."

Chie Hoshinomiya pouted, then quickly returned to smiling.

If you asked whether she was cute, she was, in a way.

"Teacher, stop putting on that cutesy voice. You're too old to act cute."

Makoto's expression was dead serious.

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled burst of laughter escaped from the students below the podium.

But what really drew his attention was the system notification.

Makoto kept his expression neutral, but inside he was over the moon.

"...I'm forever seventeen, you know. Don't say such mean things to your teacher again."

Chie Hoshinomiya's smile wavered.

She had never met a student who was so tactless.

"Yes, teacher."

When Makoto sat back down, his classmates looked at him completely differently.

What a warrior!

The students in Class B gave Makoto another generous helping of emotion points.

At the podium, the teacher took a deep breath to compose herself, then rose onto her tiptoes and skillfully wrote her name: Chie Hoshinomiya.

"My name is Chie Hoshinomiya. You can call me Chie-chan from now on. If you can't remember my name, I'll be so sad I won't be able to sleep tonight, so you'd better remember it!"

The students below were stunned.

Chie Hoshinomiya was still putting on that cutesy voice.

Makoto had just said something like that to her, and she was acting as if nothing had happened!

In that respect, Chie Hoshinomiya had the thick skin one would expect of an adult.

Fortunately, Chie Hoshinomiya finally became a little more reliable and began explaining the school rules.

"You'll stay in the same class for all three years, so I'll be your homeroom teacher as we study and grow together. I look forward to working with you all~"

Chie Hoshinomiya put on her cutest expression, then handed out the student handbook and student ID cards, which also functioned like mobile phones.

"This is a boarding school. You can't leave campus without permission, and you can't contact the outside world, including your families."

"Also, cash isn't used at this school. Instead, we have a unique S-System."

"You can use the points on your student ID card to buy anything on campus."

The students in Class B checked their student ID cards and saw that each of them had 100,000 personal points.

"One point has the purchasing power of one yen, and the school will deposit the points you're entitled to each month."

The moment Chie Hoshinomiya said this, the entire classroom fell silent for an instant before erupting into an uproar.

If that was true, 100,000 points had the purchasing power of 100,000 yen!

Makoto took in everyone's expressions, but felt a little disappointed.

This news had stirred up a great deal of emotion in everyone.

Yet the system hadn't given him any notifications at all. That meant it wouldn't award him points unless he was the one who stirred up those emotions.

There went another hundred million.

System, I'll remember this grudge!

"Chie-sensei, are you sure there hasn't been a mistake? It really is one hundred thousand?"

A tall, well-built boy stood up without bothering to raise his hand.

His name was Ryuji Kanzaki.

He hadn't yet developed a fear of the road, and he seemed quite dependable.

"There are forty students in a class, twelve classes across three grades—that's 480 students. The annual expense would be 570 million. Is that really reasonable?"

Ryuji Kanzaki couldn't understand it.

Even if the government had funded the school, would capitalists really hand out their money to the poor?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

He came from a wealthy family and knew that capitalists would sooner burn their money to light a cigarette than give it to the poor.

Most students were lucky to get 5,000 yen in pocket money a month, and there was no need to mention students from poor families.

Many adults earned 300,000 yen a month, but after supporting a whole family, they didn't even have 100,000 yen left over to spend freely.

So why were they giving students this much money?

"Whether it's reasonable or not, haven't you all already received your points? And, Kanzaki, remember to raise your hand before asking questions next time~"

Chie Hoshinomiya winked playfully.

"...All right, Chie-sensei."

Ryuji Kanzaki ignored Chie Hoshinomiya's shameless attempt to act cute.

He sat back down, still looking completely unable to accept it. He hadn't even understood the hint Chie Hoshinomiya had given him.

"Chie-sensei, may I ask a question?"

Makoto raised his hand again.

[You stirred Chie Hoshinomiya's emotions and gained 1032 emotion points.]

When Chie Hoshinomiya saw it was Makoto, her eyelid twitched. She nearly lost her sweet smile.

"Of course. Go ahead, young man."

Her voice somehow included a tremor of fear.

Now this was what you called a scheming guy keeping a green-tea girl in check.

"On the first of next month, will we still receive 100,000 points?"

This time, Makoto's question was perfectly serious.

He had a better way to earn emotion points this time.

"What makes you ask that?"

Hearing the question, Chie Hoshinomiya breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she realized that the fact Makoto had asked it meant he had already guessed the right answer.

Meanwhile, Makoto wasn't intimidated.

He couldn't spoil the truth outright, but he could make all his classmates realize something was off.

"There are students at this school who come from poor families. Giving them 100,000 points to spend freely every month, for three whole years, would be enough to change their everyday spending habits."

"Helping students develop bad habits by giving them money—that's incredibly malicious."

"That's something that absolutely shouldn't happen at a school, a place meant to educate people."

"Besides, Chie-sensei didn't say the school would deposit 100,000 points every month. She said it would deposit the points we're entitled to each month."

"So, Chie-sensei, how many points should Class B receive next month?"

[You stirred Honami Ichinose's emotions and gained 1611 emotion points.]

[You stirred Ryuji Kanzaki's emotions and gained 3109 emotion points.]

[You stirred Chihiro Shiranami's emotions and gained 483 emotion points.]

[...]

With that, Makoto had pocketed more than 30,000 points once again!