Shirogane was painting a rosy picture for the class.
And Ryuen didn't argue.
There was only one reason—he was tempted too.
If they could push their class score above 2,000 points, even if they didn't make it to Class A in the end, and everyone got 200,000 yen a month, then if he took a 20% cut by force, he'd still walk away with tens of millions of yen.
So Ryuen started daydreaming.
While Shirogane kept on talking.
Ryuen ruled through fear, and while that sometimes worked, it couldn't last forever. If he kept using violence, someone was bound to fight back. And in these class-based exams, just one traitor could destroy everything. A couple acts of sabotage could wipe out all the progress they'd made.
That's why—
If Ryuen plays the bad cop, someone has to play the good cop too.
"Just look at where we are right now."
"If we graduate from Class A, we can get into any university, no tests, no tuition. Could you guys even get into college through regular exams?"
"This is a real shot for Class C. A chance for all of us to take off."
"Now look at our class score," Shirogane said, pausing to glance at Sakagami-sensei, who had been zoning out a moment ago. But once he felt Shirogane's eyes on him, he quickly snapped out of it.
Truth was, Sakagami-sensei had spaced out because Shirogane had already said everything he was going to say. What was left for him to add?
Still, he had to say something now.
"Class rankings change every month, based on your class points."
"Classes A and B are usually called the top classes, while Classes C and D are the lower ones."
"Normally it's very hard for a lower class to climb up, but you guys are different."
Even though Shirogane had stolen his thunder, Sakagami-sensei was still in a good mood.
He wasn't just happy to have someone like Ryuen, who could enforce things with force. He was also glad there was someone like Shirogane in the class—someone calm and smart who could play the "bad cop" role.
After all…
Even though he thought Ryuen's plan broke the rules, it still did a great job bringing the class together. That alone was impressive. But of course, there were downsides. And now, Shirogane's smooth talking had helped cover for those flaws.
Violence leads to rebellion. Some students might be tempted or unhappy with Ryuen and choose to betray the class.
But now, Shirogane had already taken precautions.
Betray the class?
Are you ready to throw away your chance to move up in the school rankings? Do you want to become everyone's enemy?
Just like that, the risk of betrayal dropped a lot.
And if we look back, Ryuen had asked Sakagami-sensei two weeks ago how many class points they had left. Back then, Sakagami-sensei said they had 705 points.
But the recent exam results were different.
Two weeks later, instead of losing points, Ryuen's class actually gained 30 more.
That seemed strange.
But actually, it wasn't.
That was because Shirogane had reported a shop staff member for secretly taking photos, which got them a 30,000-point reward card from the student council. Since that incident happened during the school rules test, normally a bad action would lead to a big penalty—but doing something good like that could also earn a big reward.
So…
Even though nothing was announced back then, their class score had gone up by 50 points.
This was the first time since the school was founded that a class got bonus points in the first month's school rules test.
The chairman even sent a message saying that after class, the homeroom teachers of all four classes needed to come to his office.
He figured it must be for praise.
That's why Sakagami-sensei was grinning more than AK.
Now, Sakagami-sensei wrote the scores on the board showing the results of the first month's school rules test for each class:
1st Year Class A – 924 points
1st Year Class B – 560 points
1st Year Class C – 735 points
1st Year Class D – 0 points
"Just like Shirogane said, our class has a pretty good score."
"And according to the school rules, class positions can change based on the scores."
"Right now, our 735 points puts us in Class B."
"After this class ends, when you check your student ID, you'll see that your class has changed. You now belong to 1st Year Class B."
"The classroom won't change, but the class nameplate will."
"As for the nameplate,"
Sakagami-sensei smiled, "I brought it with me. After class, you can switch it yourselves."
"Normally, the staff would do that."
"But since we broke a school record, I think it's more meaningful if you do it yourselves," Sakagami-sensei said. "Also, after school, we're going to the steak buffet in the shopping district. My treat."
"Sensei's benefits also go up with your class rank."
"So let's celebrate," said Sakagami-sensei.
Oh!
So yeah, they were really amazing!
And they even get free dinner tonight—and it's a buffet!
"Yay!" – XN
Cheers came from the 1st Year Class C students.
…
Of course they were proud.
Meanwhile, Chabashira Sae, the homeroom teacher for 1st Year Class D—another low-ranked class—entered her classroom with a blank expression.
She already had the score reports for all four classes.
Chabashira was still dressed the same as always — black women's suit, high heels, and black stockings — but this time, her face was ice cold.
Things in the class weren't looking good either.
Last night, she was suddenly added to the first-year Class D group chat, and it seemed like the students had finally gotten some news. Everyone started asking questions nervously.
But there was no way she could say anything at that point. In fact, even if she had, it wouldn't have changed anything.
The first month's behavior test was already over, so no matter what they did now, it was too late.
"Everyone, sit down. Morning homeroom is starting."
She usually came to class early once or twice a week to make announcements.
And today was an especially important day — there was no way she'd miss it.
Someone in the class couldn't hold back anymore. It was Yamauchi Haruki, a messy-looking guy known for lying and showing off. "Sensei, this month's allowance hasn't been sent yet. Wasn't it supposed to be sent on the first of every month?"
Yamauchi said what everyone else was thinking.
Yesterday, Kushida mentioned in the group chat that the allowance might be cut. But this wasn't a cut — it just hadn't been sent at all.
Most students didn't have many points left. The 100,000 private points everyone got at the start of the school year were mostly gone. Only a few still had over 10,000. The gyaru group, led by Karuizawa, were in a tough spot — they barely had over a thousand.
As for the boys… Ike and Yamauchi were in an even worse state, stuck with just double digits. That probably wasn't even enough to buy a bottle of water.
They hadn't even eaten breakfast because they had no money.
That's why Yamauchi was so desperate to ask.
Because this didn't feel like a simple cut — it felt like something had gone wrong.
"..."
Chabashira looked toward Horikita.
Horikita kept her usual cool attitude, but she probably had questions too.
Kushida had just said she'd checked with students from other classes — and they had already received their allowance.
Only Class D hadn't gotten anything.
So, was there a problem?
Yes.
Right now, Horikita was probably thinking the school's finance office just forgot about their class.
After all, this school provided housing and meals, and while students didn't have to pay for housing, the school gave them an allowance.
And now that everyone had already moved in, it wouldn't make sense for the school to just stop sending it.
So…
Even Horikita was now paying close attention.
"No."
For the first time, the disappointed Chabashira-sensei folded her arms under her chest. "This month's points were sent to you a long time ago."
"Huh?" The students looked at each other. None of them had gotten any points.
"I said, the points were sent a long time ago. There's no mistake. The school didn't forget about this class."
Chabashira-sensei repeated herself calmly.
All month long, she'd kept that stiff, emotionless face. Other than being cold, she barely showed any other expression. But now, she looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Because…
She had believed this class could finally help her achieve her dream — rising from Class D all the way to Class A.
But in the end, it turned out to be the worst class she'd ever taught.
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