It Was Actually Zero!

On May 1, a hint of tension entered the otherwise peaceful daily routine.

Today was the day the school distributed each student's monthly personal points.

Makoto Nishikado took out his Personal Terminal and saw that 91,000 personal points had been added to his account.

Before he even entered the classroom, the class group chat was already full of messages.

[Honami Ichinose: Has everyone received their personal points? Did anyone get something other than 91,000?]

[Hayato Shibata: Not counting the points I got from my club, I also got 91,000.]

[Amikura Asako: It should be the same for everyone, right?]

[Ryuji Kanzaki: I already asked around. There are no exceptions; everyone got the same amount.]

[Honami Ichinose: Just like Makoto said, it looks like the school will reveal more information today, barring any surprises.]

After putting away his Personal Terminal, Makoto entered the classroom.

Honami Ichinose and Ryuji Kanzaki had chosen seats near his, close to his desk.

Both of them kept their eyes fixed on the doorway, clearly waiting for him.

Makoto wasn't surprised. He set down his bag and sat at his desk.

"How many points did the other classes get?"

Makoto currently only had the contact information for students in Class D.

Just like in the original story, the students in Class D still had zero points.

Kushida Kikyo had initially thought the points hadn't been distributed on time.

"Class A got 94,000 points, Class C got 49,000, and Class D got zero." Honami recalled what she'd heard, feeling deeply sympathetic. "Suzune and the others are going to have a tough time from now on."

Even with the frugal habits of Class B's students, their necessary monthly expenses often exceeded 10,000 points.

On top of daily necessities, food usually cost even more.

The school provided free vegetable meals, and Class B's students often ate them to save money.

But everyone wanted a change of pace now and then.

The cost of living in Sakurajima was quite high, so 10,000 points a month was already considered very frugal.

Now Class D had no points at all for the month, and they wouldn't get any in the future, either. There was no way they could get by like this.

"We're still 3,000 points behind Class A."

Ryuji frowned, a hint of resentment in his voice.

He wasn't concerned about Class D's situation. They were the class with the worst overall abilities.

In his view, Class D no longer had any right to compete with the other three classes.

Class C wasn't much better off; its remaining points were barely half of Class B's.

If not for Ryuen Kakeru, who was always looking for trouble, Ryuji would have written off Class C as well.

For now, Class A was the only class he had his sights set on.

Class A had only lost 6,000 points that month, which meant they'd realized the school's rules early on.

At the same time, Class A's overall ability had to be impressive. They'd managed to maintain discipline throughout class.

What a formidable opponent!

"It's only a small difference. As long as we all work together, we'll surpass Class A soon enough."

Honami offered words of comfort, though she was a little surprised, too.

She hadn't realized Ryuji was so determined to rise to Class A.

Although reaching Class A and protecting every single student were both shared goals for Class B, if Honami had to choose, she would prioritize protecting everyone.

"Surpassing Class A probably won't be as easy as you think."

"Makoto, Sakayanagi's been asking me about you lately."

After speaking, Ryuji looked at Makoto with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

He'd already heard that Sakayanagi Arisu had sent one of her followers to deliver lunch to Makoto.

The fact that she'd done that meant Sakayanagi Arisu had recognized how capable Makoto was and had become interested in him.

As far as Ryuji was concerned, having Sakayanagi Arisu set her sights on you wasn't a good thing.

According to the rumors among Class B's students, Makoto and Sakayanagi Arisu were already dating.

But Ryuji didn't believe it.

This was Sakayanagi Arisu, after all!

She was probably treating Makoto like a toy.

Ryuji wanted to warn him not to be fooled by Sakayanagi Arisu's outward appearance.

From what he could tell, Makoto seemed perfectly calm.

"That was to be expected. By the way, do you know her?"

Makoto thought it over and vaguely recalled that this was indeed part of the setting.

Ryuji and Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have known each other before, even before enrolling.

His memories from his previous life were too distant now, and he couldn't recall the details very clearly.

Still, it made sense.

Ryuji came from a zaibatsu family, and the circles of influential people were small to begin with.

"Yes. I've known her since I was a kid. Sakayanagi is a handful, so be careful."

Ryuji felt much more reassured.

In his mind, Sakayanagi Arisu was as talented as Makoto—both were the kind of people who inspired his admiration.

But compared with Makoto's reliability, Sakayanagi Arisu seemed utterly cold.

Aside from the people and things she truly cared about, Sakayanagi Arisu paid no attention to anything else.

For Class A, having Sakayanagi Arisu was both a good thing and a bad thing.

Ryuji thought Sakayanagi Arisu was probably responsible for how few points Class A had lost this time.

She must have seen through the school's rules and hidden tests, allowing Class A to avoid disaster.

But Ryuji also believed that, given Sakayanagi Arisu's personality, she would eventually have a negative impact on Class A.

With her self-centered and cold nature, she would sooner or later hurt the class if she became its leader.

That would be Class B's opportunity.

And if Class B wanted to improve, Makoto would have to step up.

He absolutely couldn't let Sakayanagi Arisu fool him!

Fortunately, Makoto was still as reliable as ever.

The three of them chatted for a while, and soon the bell rang.

Chie Hoshinomiya entered the classroom carrying a poster tube, unable to hide her smile.

"All right, all right. Everyone, get back to your seats."

"Although the first month's conduct exam is over, you should still avoid breaking the school's basic rules unless you have a good reason."

Chie Hoshinomiya was in such a good mood that she even gave the students in Class B a few extra words of advice.

Then she unrolled the poster, stuck it to the blackboard, and secured it with magnets.

It listed the four classes, Class A through Class D, with their respective points beside them.

Class A: 940 points. Class B: 910 points. Class C: 490 points. Class D: 0 points.

"Everyone did a wonderful job over the past month. In the history of Advanced Nurturing, Class B has never gotten more than 900 points in the first month before."

"Actually, even if you include past Class A classes, very few have ever managed to get more than 900 points."

"You can all be even more proud of yourselves."

Chie Hoshinomiya was so happy, not because Class B had done well enough.

Class B's performance was certainly worth celebrating, but she was actually more interested in Class D's results.

Can you guess how many points Class D had left this time?

It was actually zero!

In all the years since Advanced Nurturing was founded, there had been so many Class D groups, but this was the first time one had scored zero in the first month.

That Horikita Suzune, who was supposedly the student council president's younger sister, had even received attention and guidance from Makoto, and she'd had Chie worried for a while.

Now it seemed she was nothing special.

Chie Hoshinomiya finally relaxed, and her smile grew much more genuine.

Imagining how Sae Chabashira's face must be as black as the bottom of a pot right now, she could barely resist giving a little snort.