Hachiman's Meritocracy Classroom

Is it love?

Definitely not.

Which means…

All signs pointed to one thing: Chabashira-sensei was willing to pay that price because there was something she absolutely had to accomplish.

And the fact that she'd been saving for three years showed the determination she had to see this project through.

With that, Hachiman reached his conclusion.

Class D had its share of problem children, but the biggest problem child of all was their homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei.

However.

Now, the black-haired female teacher with her ponytail was gazing at the dead-eyed boy before her.

Her pupils were a beautiful gold, and her fingers were long and slender.

But her gaze was sharp, like a hunter's, yet Hachiman didn't flinch.

It was Chabashira herself who looked away first.

"An obsession…"

"Why do you think that?"

Chabashira pulled a ladies' cigarette from her suit pocket, lit it, but didn't inhale.

"I'm an adult, you know. If something's wrong with me, I'll handle it myself."

So, this was the mark of an adult, handling their own problems?

But…

"Some people can be quite stubborn," Hachiman said.

"Heh…"

Chabashira seemed to smile, but now she found the situation troublesome.

"What would you do if I told you I had no problems?" Chabashira asked.

"I'd probably return the two points cards you gave me," Hachiman replied. "And our deal… would probably end there."

For Hachiman, it was a regrettable decision.

Being in Class D and losing a channel to gain points from Chabashira was a significant loss.

But…

Knowing the other person had issues and still taking money they'd scrimped and saved for? He couldn't do it.

At this point, he might have to look into school clubs or other places to see if there were any other ways to make money.

However, the upperclassmen had already been thoroughly harvested by Sakayanagi, so he'd probably only get scraps.

But being taken care of by Sakayanagi… no, that wasn't happening.

Hachiman felt that trash loli wasn't straightforward. Like when they went out to eat, she kept talking about taking care of him, but when he suggested splitting the bill, she readily agreed. Her words and actions were completely different.

Hachiman took it as a serious warning.

"You little brat," Chabashira said, extinguishing her cigarette. "Why are you suddenly calling off the deal?"

"Because Chabashira-sensei actually has the students' files, right?" Hachiman said.

"…" Chabashira. "You're quite interesting. That's true. As the homeroom teacher, I do have the files. But the information on paper might differ from reality, so isn't it reasonable for me to ask for your help?"

It was reasonable.

But…

"The price you're paying is too high, and your compensation is only 200,000 points," Hachiman said.

"Only…? Are you worried I don't have enough money?"

"Indeed."

Sae Chabashira seemed to adjust her wording. "My salary isn't very high since coming to this school. And as you surmised with this Meritocracy system, we teachers are also evaluated based on merit."

"As the homeroom teacher of Class D, my salary is a mere 200,000 points."

"But this is also what sets this school apart from the outside world. When I was in university, your Hiratsuka-sensei and I were classmates. But I didn't choose to work at a local high school with your Hiratsuka-sensei because of this very reason."

"Because the school gives all students a chance to climb higher. So, although my starting salary as your homeroom teacher isn't high, if you can successfully advance to Class C, my salary will double. And if we advance to Class B, it will double again."

"This is something you can't achieve in the outside world."

"So, this is my ambition. To obtain greater rewards. Is there any problem with making some initial investments now?" Chabashira said. "I admit, asking for your help is partly to complete my task of evaluating students as a teacher."

"At the same time, I hope you can discover outstanding students and we can climb together."

"This is a win-win-win plan."

She admitted to her deal with Hachiman, which was to get Hachiman to unite the potential problem children in the class.

Although these problem children were like bombs, it couldn't be denied that their hardware stats were decent.

Therefore, there was a possibility of climbing up.

And Chabashira's frugality was for investment.

Was she trying to use points to motivate students to climb up?

It seemed like a utilitarian approach that was both inspiring and opportunistic.

However.

"You're lying," Classmate Hachiman judged calmly and mercilessly.

ps: Here we go, tonight at midnight, we'll see you with 10 updates.

ps: Sniffle sniffle.

Chapter 035: Sae Chabashira: Don't underestimate me, I cheated with Shizuka Hiratsuka!

Hachiman judged without hesitation that Sae Chabashira was lying.

"..." Chabashira. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it's contradictory. If the goal was to climb up, and as the homeroom teacher, your treatment would also improve, then there would be no need to be so frugal in the early stages."

"And to invest so much."

Hachiman said, "I don't think it's just for higher rewards. Rather, you must have something deeper within you."

"..." Chabashira.

Is that so?

So this brat is indeed troublesome.

Chabashira stopped talking and walked directly to the railing, placing her hands on it. The railing trembled slightly as if touched, though it didn't actually.

Chabashira-sensei was very gentle.

She just placed her hands there.

"My evaluation of you was already quite high," Chabashira said, with her back to Hachiman. "But now, that evaluation might need to be raised."

"Indeed."

She said, "I have my own obsession. I was once a student at this school, and I came from Class D."

"And the class I was in eventually rose to Class B, just one step away from Class A."

"But unfortunately, we ultimately failed to achieve an underdog victory."

"But that event has always stayed with me," Chabashira said. "And the collected data also indicates that Class D has never successfully risen to Class A, but I want to see if there's any chance at all."

"And this time, I saw your files and discovered you problem children, and I thought perhaps I could give it a try," Chabashira said.

I see.

It's regret.

Hachiman nodded.

"But Chabashira-sensei, you might still be lying," Classmate Hachiman analyzed.

"Because the motive is insufficient."

"I don't think a mere ordinary regret would be the reason for your obsession. So, was the responsibility for your class's failure to reach Class A your fault?"

"Because you cut off the future everyone expected, you've been stuck in that moment ever since," Hachiman said.

Thump!

At that moment, the railing that had been gently touched made a sound.

Chabashira's left hand rested on the trembling railing.

"You're a terrifying man," Sae Chabashira turned around, her eyes had changed. "And cruel."

Sae Chabashira.

She enrolled as a student in the 10th cohort after Advanced Nurturing High School was put into use.

She was initially assigned to Class D.

In the first month, they showed no outstanding performance, and it was only after another month that they grasped the essence of this school.

However, they lost their starting advantage because of this.

But the students in the class did not get discouraged despite being a step behind others.

Instead, they showed unity.

And through their efforts, they finally reached the position of Class B.

By this time, it was the end of their third year, and the class evaluation points for Class A were not far off. There was a dropout exam.

And in this exam, as long as someone dropped out, they would be able to pass safely.

Otherwise, points would be deducted as a penalty.

Maintaining the current gap with Class A, they had a chance to move up in the next special exam.

And at that time, to avoid the class harming or framing each other, the class representative chose to have everyone vote for her to drop out so they could achieve the goal of reaching Class A.

This was agreed upon by all the students in the class except for one person.

And that person who did not agree was Sae Chabashira.

When everyone else agreed to the class representative dropping out, she chose to oppose it.

This continued until the exam ended.

Their class did not receive the rewards for this exam and thus had their class evaluation points deducted.

And so, in the final special exam, they still did not surpass Class A.

Ultimately, they graduated as Class B.

Because of this, Chabashira's relationships were fractured.

Her best friend grabbed her collar and cursed at her, and most of the classmates resented her. They all thought that if she hadn't insisted and had instead agreed to the class representative's plan, perhaps they all would have graduated as Class A.

This would have allowed them to go to their desired universities or directly get jobs at their desired companies without exams or fees.

Beyond that, they could also have received the title of outstanding graduate from the prestigious Advanced Nurturing High School, essentially a mark of talent.

For some people, it was almost a life-changing opportunity that was now gone.

After that, things became more ordinary. No matter how unwilling they were, everyone graduated and moved on to their respective lives.