100,000 Points

On his first day in Class D, Gu Heng did not introduce himself. Instead, he mentally sentenced those 100,000 personal points to death.

The classroom was already on the verge of exploding.

"100,000?"

"For real? We get that every month?"

"Holy shit, this school is freaking amazing!"

Some immediately pulled out their phones to check nearby malls. Some were already deciding where to eat that night. Others spun their student IDs around their fingers as if they had suddenly picked up a card with no spending limit.

At the podium, Sae Chabashira finished what she had to say, put away the roster as though completing a routine procedure, offered not a single extra reminder, and turned to leave.

The moment the door closed, the excitement in the classroom only grew stronger.

Gu Heng sat by the window in the second-to-last row. He lightly tapped the corner of his desk, his gaze sweeping across the room.

Too noisy.

Not the sound.

The people's hearts were too noisy.

A faint, transparent panel seemed to rise in his vision. It did not obstruct his sight, only flashing brief words over certain people's heads.

Desire to spend: 93

Sense of superiority: 81

Wishful thinking: 88

The numbers shone brightly, but only for an instant.

Gu Heng withdrew his gaze and looked down at his student ID.

First-year Class D.

Advanced Nurturing High School.

He had not mistaken it.

He really had transmigrated here.

And his luck was neither particularly bad nor particularly good.

The bad part was that this place was essentially a selection machine wearing the skin of an elite school. The sooner someone understood that, the less likely they were to be devoured.

The good part was that he at least knew those 100,000 points had never been a benefit.

This was the school's first lesson for trash.

At the front of the classroom, a short-haired girl sat in her seat with a cold expression, speaking to no one. Her back was perfectly straight, like a ruler planted upright.

Suzune Horikita.

A little farther away, another black-haired boy lounged lazily in his seat as if nothing around him could interest him. Yet now and then, his gaze swept over the crowd, so quickly it might have been an illusion.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

Gu Heng looked away after only one glance.

One was the person in Class D most eager to become its leader, yet the least capable of leading a class.

The other was the truly most dangerous person in the entire classroom—and the one least willing to let anyone discover just how dangerous he was.

Neither was someone easy to approach.

But avoiding them was not an option either.

Because once next month arrived, this group from Class D, who were celebrating in advance, would all fall hard together.

And he had no intention of falling with them.

Someone at the front had already started suggesting that everyone meet at the mall that evening.

"I heard the stuff in the school store isn't cheap either, but it's not like we can't afford it now."

"I'm going to replace my phone first."

"I want to go eat something good outside. Whoever wants to eat at that shitty cafeteria can go ahead."

Listening to them, Gu Heng suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, carrying little warmth even for himself.

He knew this atmosphere too well.

Whenever people were suddenly handed money that seemed to come at no cost, their first instinct was rarely to ask about the rules. Most wanted to prove that they deserved to have it first.

Spending was not really spending.

It was confirmation that they had been chosen.

Gu Heng had seen too many situations like this in his previous life.

Competition slots, guaranteed admissions, class officer evaluations, so-called special recruitment resources—when they were laid out for everyone to fight over, the first ones to rush in were often not the smartest, but those most afraid of missing out.

That was why he never rushed to take the first step.

He watched first, remembered first, calculated first.

Who was the least patient, who could most easily be pushed along, who sounded rational while already spending all 100,000 points in their heads, who seemed steady but was only pretending to be.

A hand suddenly rapped against his desk.

"Hey."

Gu Heng looked up.

A tall boy stood before him, his hair dyed a light color and his tone overly familiar.

"Want to come tonight? I heard the barbecue place outside the school is pretty good. A bunch of people from our class are going, so it'll be livelier."

Gu Heng gave him a look.

Desire to fit in: 76

Desire to show off: 69

Risk awareness: 18

Very good.

A standard specimen.

"No."

The boy froze for a moment, clearly not expecting such a blunt rejection.

"Huh? Why? You're not planning to spend any?"

"I am." Gu Heng turned his student ID over, his tone even.

"Then you..."

"But not today."

The other boy seemed about to say something else, but someone nearby called his name. He could only shrug before turning and diving back into the lively crowd.

Gu Heng did not look at him again.

He looked toward the front.

Horikita was still sitting alone, as though a sheet of glass separated her from the rest of the class. She had not joined the discussion, nor had she shown much surprise. She merely held her student ID beneath her fingertips, quiet to the point of sharpness.

She looked the most like the only person in the class who was still online.

But Gu Heng knew she had only gotten half of it right.

She knew this place was abnormal.

But she did not yet know just how abnormal it was.

When Gu Heng stood, the legs of his chair lightly scraped the floor.

The classroom was too loud for anyone to notice.

Only from a seat by the window did Ayanokoji raise his eyes slightly.

Gu Heng walked over to Horikita's desk and stopped.

Horikita looked up at him, her gaze cold and carrying four very obvious words: get to the point.

"Is there something?"

She spoke first, her tone far from polite.

Gu Heng gave a small hum, pulled out the chair in front of her desk, and sat down without beating around the bush.

"Starting next month, Class D won't get a single point."

The air seemed to freeze for an instant.

Horikita stared at him, her eyes visibly darkening.

"What did you say?"

"I was perfectly clear." Gu Heng looked at her. "That 100,000 isn't a reward. It's a selection process. When the month-end settlement comes, at least half of the excitement you see now will become a joke."

Horikita frowned.

Not in anger.

It was the scrutiny of instinctively judging whether the person in front of her had gone mad.

"Why?"

"Because this school would never give Class D anything for free."

"That counts as a reason?"

"It's not enough for you. It's enough for me."

Horikita said nothing. Her eyes lingered on his face for two seconds, as if trying to discern whether he was merely putting on airs or genuinely knew something.

Gu Heng calmly met her gaze.

He was not afraid of this kind of stare.

What he feared was someone like Ayanokoji, who asked nothing yet had already begun calculating him.

"What's your name?"

"Gu Heng."

"Gu Heng." Horikita spoke the name lightly. "If you are merely trying to attract attention with this kind of alarmist talk, then you have come to the wrong person."

"I know." Gu Heng leaned back slightly. "That's why I'm not here to attract your attention."

"Then what are you here for?"

"To save time."

He raised a hand and lightly tapped the student ID beneath her fingers.

"You can tell this school isn't normal, and so can I. Since neither of us intends to go crazy with these people, we might as well exchange something useful first."

Horikita stared at him without replying immediately.

The transparent panel in Gu Heng's vision flickered faintly again.

Wariness: 84

Pride: 90

Desire to verify: 71

Very good.

He had hooked her.

But she was still far from someone who would trust others easily.

"What do you want to exchange?"

"Your judgment."

"And what can you give me?"

Gu Heng smiled.

"I can keep you from taking at least one unnecessary detour."

Horikita's gaze turned even colder.

She clearly disliked being spoken to as if he were evaluating her value.

Gu Heng understood.

But he had no intention of coaxing her.

Because what he lacked most right now was not goodwill, but efficiency.

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me." He stood. "There's still plenty of time until the end of the month. You can keep watching."

He turned to leave, but Horikita spoke at that moment.

"What if you're wrong?"

Gu Heng stopped and glanced back at her.

"Then consider me a busybody."

"And if you're right?"

"Then starting next month," Gu Heng said, glancing at the still-excited classroom, his tone remaining calm, "Class D had better have someone ready to take charge."

With that, he left.

When he returned to his seat, the noise in the classroom had not diminished in the slightest.

Someone was already making plans to go to karaoke that night.

Someone was discussing whether to buy new earphones.

Someone said this school was much easier to get through than they had imagined.

Gu Heng sat down, placed his student ID on the desk, and said nothing more.

The sunlight outside wavered slightly. Summer heat pressed through the glass, yet the classroom felt like a pot that had just come to a boil.

He did not mind if the people in the pot kept boiling.

After all, it would not take long to find out who would truly get scalded.

At the front, Horikita did not turn around.

But she never put away her student ID.

And by the window, Ayanokoji finally raised his eyes and looked in Gu Heng's direction once.

It was brief.

So brief that it seemed as if nothing had happened.

Gu Heng lowered his head and opened his textbook as though he had not noticed.

Only he knew what that glance meant.

The real monster of Class D had begun to remember his face.