It's Actually Zero!

May 1st. The usual calm of daily life was tinged with a hint of seriousness.

Today was the day the school distributed monthly private points.

Makoto Nishikado took out his personal terminal and saw that his account had been credited with 91,000 private points.

Before he even entered the classroom, the class group chat was already flooded with messages.

[Honami Ichinose: Has everyone received their private points? Is there anyone who didn't get 91,000?]

[Hayato Shibata: Excluding the points earned from club activities, I also got 91,000.]

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

[Ryuji Kanzaki: I've already checked; there are no exceptions. Everyone received the same amount.]

[Honami Ichinose: Just as Ximen-kun predicted. If nothing goes wrong, the school should be revealing more information today.]

Stowing his terminal away, Makoto Nishikado walked into the classroom.

Around his desk, Honami Ichinose and Ryuji Kanzaki had already chosen their seats.

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

Makoto Nishikado wasn't surprised; he set down his bag and took his seat.

"How many points did the other classes receive?"

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

Just like in the original story, the students in Class D still had 0 points.

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

"Class A got 94,000 points, Class C got 49,000, and Class D got 0." Honami Ichinose recalled the information she had gathered, her heart filled with sympathy. "Life isn't going to be easy for Suzune and the others."

Given the frugality of Class B students, necessary monthly expenses often exceeded 10,000 points.

Beyond daily necessities, the cost of food was usually the highest.

The school provided free mountain vegetable sets, and Class B students often ate them to save money.

However, everyone wanted to change their palate occasionally.

The cost of living on Sakurajima was relatively high; 10,000 points a month was considered quite restrained.

Now that Class D had zero points for the month, and with no points expected in the future, such a life was simply unsustainable.

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

Ryuji Kanzaki frowned, his tone laced with a hint of reluctance.

He didn't care about the situation in Class D; that was the class with the lowest overall quality.

In his view, Class D no longer had the qualifications to participate in the competition between the four classes.

The situation in Class C wasn't much better, with their remaining points being barely half of Class B's.

If not for Ryuen Kakeru, who loved to stir up trouble, Ryuji Kanzaki would have excluded Class C entirely.

For now, only Class A was Ryuji Kanzaki's target.

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

At the same time, the overall quality of Class A was undoubtedly impressive, as they were able to maintain discipline in class consistently.

What a formidable enemy!

"It's only a small gap. As long as we work together, we'll be able to surpass Class A soon."

Honami Ichinose offered words of comfort, though she was somewhat surprised.

She truly hadn't realized that Ryuji Kanzaki held such a deep obsession with rising to Class A.

Although rising to Class A and protecting all their classmates were shared goals for Class B, if Honami Ichinose really had to choose, she would prioritize protecting everyone.

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

"Ximen, Sakuragi has been asking around about you lately."

After saying this, Ryuji Kanzaki looked at Makoto Nishikado, his eyes filled with a touch of scrutiny.

He had already heard that Sakayanagi Arisu had sent her lackey specifically to deliver bento boxes to Makoto Nishikado.

Doing something like that indicated that Sakayanagi Arisu had recognized Makoto Nishikado's strength and had developed an interest in him.

In Ryuji Kanzaki's estimation, being targeted by Sakayanagi Arisu was not a good thing.

According to rumors among Class B students, Makoto Nishikado and Sakayanagi Arisu were already a couple.

But Ryuji Kanzaki didn't believe it was true.

That was Sakayanagi Arisu, after all!

He feared she was simply treating Makoto Nishikado like a toy.

Ryuji Kanzaki intended to warn him not to be deceived by Sakayanagi Arisu's facade.

In his observation, Makoto Nishikado appeared very calm.

"Expected, to be honest. Do you two know each other?"

Makoto Nishikado recalled the situation and remembered that this setting did indeed exist.

Ryuji Kanzaki and Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to be old acquaintances, having known each other before enrollment.

The memories of his past life were too distant now, and Makoto Nishikado did not remember them very clearly.

However, it was reasonable.

Ryuji Kanzaki came from a wealthy family, and the circles of big shots were inherently small.

"Yes, I've known her since I was a child. Sakayanagi is a very troublesome person; you should be careful."

Ryuji Kanzaki felt much more at ease.

In his heart, Sakayanagi Arisu's talent was on the same level as Makoto Nishikado's—a level that left him in awe.

It was just that compared to Makoto Nishikado's reliability, Sakayanagi Arisu appeared extremely cold.

Except for the people and things she truly cared about, Sakayanagi Arisu would not take anything else to heart.

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

Ryuji Kanzaki felt that the reason Class A had so few points deducted this time was thanks to Sakayanagi Arisu.

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

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

With her ego and coldness, once she became the class leader, she would eventually harm the class.

That would be the opportunity for Class B.

And if Class B wanted to progress, Makoto Nishikado had to step up.

He must not be deceived by Sakayanagi Arisu!

Fortunately, Makoto Nishikado was still reliable.

The three of them exchanged a few words, and soon the bell for class rang.

Chie Hoshinomiya entered the classroom carrying a poster tube, the smile on her face impossible to hide.

"Alright, alright, everyone back to your seats."

"Although the first month's behavioral assessment exam is over, there's no need to violate basic school rules unless necessary."

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

Afterward, she unrolled the poster and stuck it to the blackboard, securing it with magnets.

The poster listed the four classes, Class A to Class D, with their corresponding points behind each.

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

"Everyone's performance over the past month has been outstanding. In the history of Advanced Nurturing, this is the first time a Class B has managed to earn over 900 points."

"In fact, even if you count the Class A of previous years, very few classes have managed to earn over 900 points."

"You all have every right to be proud."

Chie Hoshinomiya was so happy not just because Class B's performance was good enough.

While Class B's good performance was worth celebrating, she was actually more concerned about the results of Class D.

Guess how many points Class D had left this time?

It was actually zero!

Since the founding of Advanced Nurturing, there had been so many batches of Class D, yet this was the first time she had encountered a zero-point score in the first month.

That Horikita Suzune, who was said to be the younger sister of the Student Council president and had even been cared for and guided by Makoto Nishikado, had worried her for a while.

Now it seemed she wasn't anything special after all.

Chie Hoshinomiya felt relieved, and the smile on her face became much more genuine.

Imagining Sae Chabashira's face, which must be as dark as the bottom of a pot right now, she couldn't help but hum to herself.