Before they knew it, three weeks had passed since school began.
During that time, discipline in Class 1-D had gone steadily downhill, changing by the day until the lack of order became appalling.
The boys, led by Ken Sudō, Kanji Ike, and Haruki Yamauchi, arrived late more and more frequently, and their fidgeting during lessons never stopped. Gaming, sleeping, and chatting had practically become the norm.
The girls were not far behind, with the gyaru group making a considerable contribution to the class as well.
In contrast to the foul atmosphere in the classroom, however, Ken Kaneki had spent those three weeks in considerable comfort.
His relationship with Shiina Hiyori from Class C, in particular, had progressed by leaps and bounds.
The two often read together in the library or Kaneki's dorm room and discussed the plots. Occasionally, they also arranged to visit the school café to try its limited-edition desserts.
At present, they were at precisely that stage of being more than friends but not quite lovers.
As long as one of them was willing to break through that thin barrier, their relationship could officially take another step forward.
However, out of respect for Hiyori, Kaneki was in no hurry to turn their relationship into a romance.
Having weathered many storms in his previous life, he actually relished their current ambiguous relationship, with its touch of innocent awkwardness and fluttering hearts.
Every meeting of their eyes, every accidental brush of their fingertips, felt especially lovely to him.
Besides, he wanted to give Hiyori a grand confession.
At noon, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji received a rare invitation to lunch from the boys in his class.
However, accustomed to going around with Ken Kaneki and Koenji, he naturally declined politely without hesitation.
But in the course of declining, he learned something unexpected from Kanji Ike and the others.
Yosuke Hirata, the class's king of the popular crowd, and Kei Karuizawa, the central figure among the girls, had most likely started dating.
When Ayanokoji brought his lunch to a corner of the cafeteria and shared this gossip with Kaneki and Koenji, the three of them reacted with surprising calm.
"The signs were there ages ago, weren't they?" Koenji said slowly, picking up some food and putting it into his mouth.
"It is a little surprising, but it makes sense."
Kaneki took a sip of soup and offered that reply.
He knew that in the original story, Karuizawa and Hirata only pretended to date to protect Karuizawa from being bullied.
Given Kei Karuizawa's tendency to latch onto others like a parasite, Kaneki thought he could pull some strings behind the scenes when the time came and become her host.
Ayanokoji nodded, set down his tray, and began eating as well.
Afternoon classes arrived on schedule.
During social studies, their homeroom teacher, Sae Chabashira, walked into the classroom in high heels and abruptly announced a quiz with a cold expression.
As she handed out the papers, Sae Chabashira offered a pointed hint in her uniquely indifferent voice. "The results of this quiz may affect certain things for you later on. I hope you'll take it seriously."
Those words made Ayanokoji keenly aware that something was amiss. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched Sae Chabashira at the lectern.
However, he said nothing, merely pondering it to himself.
Taken together with the three of them's earlier speculation about the School S System and their Class Points dropping to zero, Chabashira-sensei's words most likely provided further confirmation of their deductions.
The results of this quiz would probably be linked to points as well, and might even involve other mechanisms.
Taking the paper passed down to him, Kaneki gave it a quick scan.
The questions were not particularly difficult, consisting mostly of basic material covered in their recent lessons.
He took out a pencil and smoothly answered all the questions, then pushed the paper aside and unabashedly put his head down on his desk to sleep.
Sitting not far from him, Ayanokoji likewise no longer deliberately controlled his score and slacked off to hide his abilities as he had in the original story.
As for Koenji, seeing both his good friends answer the questions properly, he naturally would not slack off either.
Deeply influenced by Kaneki, the two had become considerably more carefree in how they did things.
Since it was only a basic quiz, they quickly filled out their papers.
Once they finished, both were left with nothing to do, one staring blankly out the window while the other admired his own peerless beauty in a small mirror.
The bell finally rang, and Sae Chabashira collected the papers and left the classroom.
Kaneki stretched and called Ayanokoji and Koenji over, and the three headed together to the vending machines at the end of the hallway to buy drinks.
Just as Ayanokoji pressed a button and a can of iced coffee rolled out, Haruki Yamauchi sidled up with a furtive look.
"Hehe, Ayanokoji, could you buy me a cocoa too?" Yamauchi asked, rubbing his hands together with a fawning expression.
Ayanokoji raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement flashing through his eyes, but at Kaneki's signal, he inserted some coins and bought Yamauchi a cocoa anyway.
Once he took the cocoa, Yamauchi immediately started talking.
From him, the three learned something staggering.
In the mere three weeks since school began, Yamauchi had already squandered over ninety thousand points, leaving a pitiful balance of only two thousand on his terminal.
"Come on, what's the point of keeping points if you don't spend them?" Yamauchi boasted without the slightest sense of impending trouble, even pulling a brand-new PSVITA Game Console and its accessories out of his pocket.
"Look, Ike and I just bought these a couple of days ago. They cost a whole twenty-five thousand points! And it's not just us. Miyamoto and the other guys in class who are good at games bought them too."
Growing excited, Yamauchi added smugly, "Sudo's dying to get one too, but he's out of points. He said he'll buy one when the school gives us another hundred thousand points on the first of next month. Then we can play together online!"
Hearing this, Kaneki, Ayanokoji, and Koenji discreetly exchanged glances.
Those idiots in their class were clearly still lost in their dream of receiving a hundred thousand points every month, completely unaware that the cruel reality of their points dropping to zero awaited them next month.
For students with only a few thousand or even a few hundred points left, if no new points were issued next month, even getting basic meals would become a problem.
And the game consoles and luxury goods they had paid so much for would become nothing more than piles of useless plastic they could not eat.
"I see..." A wicked smile curled Ayanokoji's lips, a sign of the devious streak gradually awakening under Kaneki and Koenji's influence.
"It looks like there's a nice business opportunity here." Koenji smoothed his blond hair and smiled wickedly.
Kaneki looked at Yamauchi, who was still happily drinking his cocoa, and patted his shoulder.
"Take your time. We've got something to do, so we'll be off."
After sending Yamauchi on his way, the three turned in unspoken agreement, walked straight out of the school building, and headed toward the campus café.
Before next month arrived, they needed to have a proper discussion about how to take advantage of these utterly unsuspecting "easy marks" and make a hefty profit.
Before you continue