Wake up, kid

As the whole class buzzed with discussion, Chabashira-sensei walked into the classroom with the bell, looking at the students' puzzled faces.

"What's all this noise?" Chabashira-sensei tapped the lectern, silencing the class. But her attitude was different from usual, and the oppressive atmosphere was unmistakable.

Utterly unconcerned, Ike cracked a joke. "Sae-chan, what's wrong? Irregular periods?"

Kazami was already used to this sort of thing. Advanced Nurturing really needed talent like him.

The others weren't like Ike. They only cared about why their points hadn't arrived.

Chabashira-sensei ignored Ike's nasty joke and answered the question about the points with a sneer. "You really are stupid. You still haven't figured out the school's rules? Haven't you noticed even the slightest clue?"

With that, Chabashira-sensei shook her head and sighed. "I can tell you quite clearly that all your points have arrived. There have been no errors or omissions."

"But..." Some students wanted to say more, but Chabashira-sensei cut them off.

"This school operates on merit above all else."

Chabashira Sae stated the core rule, each word clear, yet cold and realistic. "A class without ability naturally doesn't deserve resources. This month, Class D's Class Points stand at-zero. You're the first class since the school's founding to lose every last Class Point in your very first month. Truly impressive. I almost want to applaud and congratulate you."

She then raised a fresh announcement poster and stuck it to the blackboard, displaying the Class Point rankings before everyone.

Class A: 960 points

Class B: 640 points

Class C: 490 points

Class D: 0 points

The enormous gap in points lay bare before them all.

Chabashira swept her gaze over the grim-faced students of Class D and added indifferently, "Oh, right. I forgot to share something else with you. Only students who graduate from Class A can enjoy the best resources for further education and fulfill their dreams. Just as your first Special Exam evaluation said, Class D really is full of defective goods, through and through. That's all you're worth."

If the points had merely soured their expressions, these words were like a bucket of cold water dumped hard over everyone's heads, and they demanded to know exactly what she meant.

"What else could I mean? The school assigns classes according to a ranking system, in descending order, and this exam just happened to prove that there was no mistake. Or did you think you could do absolutely nothing, enjoy a school life with a hundred thousand points every month, and even get help fulfilling your dreams after graduation?"

"Wake up, kid. Reality isn't that kind."

Chabashira-sensei's cruel words silenced the previously noisy classroom.

Yosuke Hirata stood up, his voice urgent as he took the initiative to ask the crucial question. "Sensei! Could you tell us exactly which actions cost us so many points?"

Many students voiced their agreement.

As though she had been waiting for this, Chabashira-sensei listed the number of their recorded violations, all in the hundreds.

Kazami marveled that it was fortunate they couldn't go into negative points, or even a thousand Class Points wouldn't have covered the deductions. Today had also cleared up some of his earlier doubts. He'd thought the school was treating them a little too well. Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch.

Still, none of this affected him much. Even if he didn't graduate from Class A, building up his abilities and traits would ensure that his future achievements wouldn't amount to little. He would carry on as usual.

Noise, complaints, anxiety, and resentment filled the classroom. Class D descended into complete chaos.

While everyone was still fretting over the zero-point crisis, Chabashira Sae raised her hand again, taking out another list and posting it on the noticeboard. It contained the results of the earlier class quiz that hadn't counted toward their rankings.

"I'll also post the results of your last quiz while I'm at it." Chabashira seemed to laugh out of sheer exasperation. "You really have left me speechless. Luckily for you, there was no expulsion penalty this time. Otherwise, judging by your overall results, half the class would be facing expulsion."

At those words, the atmosphere that had just settled grew tense again.

Rokusuke Koenji folded his arms and scoffed. "A bunch of mediocrities, just as I thought. You couldn't even manage consistent results on a basic test."

Yamauchi was already consumed with anxiety over everything that had happened. Now that Koenji had publicly mocked his poor grades, his anger instantly surged. "What are you so smug about, Koenji? You're in Class D yourself, and you have the nerve to laugh at everyone else? How much better are your grades?"

Koenji kept smiling. "Take a good look at the score sheet before you speak."

Yamauchi lowered his head to look at the score sheet in a fit of pique. The number he saw made him freeze: 90.

"Impossible! You got ninety?" Disbelief covered Yamauchi's face as he stared wide-eyed at the score, unable to accept it.

But the name and score at the top of the list left him even more petrified.

First place, Kazami Saku, 100.

Yamauchi cried out involuntarily, "How is that possible? How could you get full marks, Big Brain?! There's definitely something wrong with that score."

It wasn't just Yamauchi. Every other student looked shocked too. In everyone's established impression of Kazami Saku, nothing about his usual behavior seemed remotely connected to getting full marks.

Horikita looked at the name atop the list, her face equally filled with mixed feelings and astonishment, her brows tightly knitted. How was this possible? Those last two questions... Recalling how she had acted then, she thought, That bastard. No wonder he asked me that back then.

Faced with everyone's shock and confusion, Kazami Saku rolled his eyes. "I just have a bit of a problem with my EQ, not my IQ. You're all going too far. Am I not allowed to get full marks?"

Then he turned toward the livid Yamauchi and added, "Isn't that right, Yamauchi?"

Yamauchi's face alternated between green and white, and his toes curled with embarrassment. That meant Kazami was saying there was something wrong with his IQ, but with the scores laid bare before him, he couldn't think of a comeback.

Emotion Points from Yamauchi +9 +8...

There were also Emotion Points from the others. Kazami was delighted. What a bumper harvest.

Chabashira Sae watched their reactions. Once the discussion had died down a little, she spoke again, dropping another bombshell. "This quiz was only a basic assessment. The upcoming midterm exams will officially count toward the Class Point assessment. Your results will directly add to or subtract from your Class Points and determine how each class's ranking changes. In addition, anyone who fails this time will be expelled. I hope you'll take this seriously."

Chabashira-sensei's words gave them both hope and a sense of urgency. She seemed like a completely different person from before, when she hadn't bothered with anything. Kazami really couldn't figure out whether Chabashira-sensei wanted them to do well or not.