17. Aragaki-kun, So You're This Kind of Person?
"Alright, everyone, stop for a moment. The excitement should be about enough here."
Aragaki Shun clapped his hands, signaling the Class B students to quiet down after a round of cheers.
They shouldn't keep making noise, or the neighboring classrooms would complain.
"I understand everyone's thoughts clearly," a softer curve appeared on Aragaki Shun's face.
"Like you, I don't believe Class B will fail in future competitions!"
Although not as youthful and spirited as his peers, Aragaki Shun also had a certain pride in his heart.
It was impossible for him to think that he, after cheating, would still be inferior to a group of normal people.
If such an absurd situation really occurred, then he could only assume that some mysterious power was at play.
At that time, he would let the culprit know why he always kept at least 10 wisps of Source Power in reserve for emergencies.
"But once a word is spoken, it cannot be taken back. I will not retract this promise!"
Seeing the classmates below still wanting to say something, Aragaki Shun gestured for them to wait a moment.
"You just need to treat it as a backup that won't be used. If you want to prove your ability and determination, then work hard with me to defeat the other classes and seize the victory that should be ours!"
"After all, a backup is just a backup. In reality, it's still not as good as the school's promise of choosing any prestigious school or enterprise."
Even from Aragaki Shun's perspective, the school's promise was indeed quite powerful for these ordinary students.
It wasn't a matter of how much it was worth, but that the range of choices was considerably wide.
Aragaki Shun could casually offer forty well-paying, decent jobs, but to help forty people fulfill their dreams, arranging for them to enter their desired prestigious enterprises or schools...
The Aragaki family could do it, but it wasn't cost-effective.
Because the connections involved would need to span all enterprises and schools in Japan, and also require the ability to place people in government agencies, and even consider the issue of studying abroad.
Any single conglomerate, enterprise, or family wanting to achieve this would need to activate various connections and spend a lot of money to clear the way.
Even then, they would have to pray that no student's goal was with their rivals.
Four or five a year was still manageable, but forty a year was too troublesome!
It was still simpler and more direct to arrange for them to work in their own enterprise; a single word could settle the matter.
Only Advanced Nurturing High School, being directly under government jurisdiction and having Japan's top echelons lead the exchange of interests, with various forces willing to give face and pay attention.
Otherwise, it would be very troublesome to fulfill such a promise every year.
Therefore, Aragaki Shun called his and Kanzaki's promise a backup.
This backup could allow them to obtain a well-paying job after graduation, but this job might not necessarily align with their dreams.
"Alright, the class meeting time is about up."
"For the next month, I demand that everyone listen attentively in class, complete homework on time, not be late or leave early, and together, successfully complete this code of conduct examination."
"Of course, if students from other first-year classes, or even second or third-year students, deliberately provoke you, don't wrong yourselves. Counterattack depending on the situation. If you're bullied, come back to class and call for help. Our whole class is a single entity. We don't deliberately cause trouble, but we're not afraid of it either!"
After making this final summary, Aragaki Shun nodded to Hoshinomiya Chie, who had been silently observing by the door, and returned the podium to this teacher.
It was worth mentioning that after Aragaki Shun returned to his seat, a message suddenly refreshed on the personal panel that only he could see—
[Achievement Unlocked: Established leadership position in Year 1 Class B, Source Power +2.]
[Source Power: 12→14 (Current efficiency: 3 wisps per month)]
Aragaki Shun's eyes flashed with a strange light.
It was within his expectations that consolidating Class B would yield Source Power, but to increase by two wisps at once still surprised him somewhat.
However, this was ultimately a good thing.
This way, the two abilities he had always wanted to condense could also be perfected sooner.
"It seems you've gained a lot yesterday."
Hoshinomiya Chie leisurely walked to the podium, an undisguised joyful smile on her face.
"Youth is truly wonderful. Sensei now believes you are the best!"
The homeroom teacher of Year 1 Class B exclaimed in admiration: "March towards your goals! Sensei's future salary and bonuses will depend on your performance."
Sitting below, Aragaki Shun raised an eyebrow.
Did this mean that even among teachers, strength was supreme?
After they advanced to Class A, could Hoshinomiya Chie also receive a higher salary and bonus?
If so, then after working out the details of the class funds, could Hoshinomiya Chie also be persuaded to invest some points?
Never imagining that the big shot of Class B in her eyes was actually pondering how to get points from her, Hoshinomiya Chie checked the time.
It was about time for class to officially begin, so she reminded everyone to take out their respective books.
The following time was very common teaching.
And as expected, Aragaki Shun and the others could all feel it: the teaching of all the teachers in the class seemed overly lenient and friendly.
Today, they had six classes and saw four different subject teachers.
And without exception, all the teachers only introduced themselves at the beginning of class, and then completely immersed themselves in the teaching content.
As for class discipline and the like, they simply didn't care at all.
If it weren't for everyone knowing this was due to the code of conduct examination, many in Class B would probably be doubting life.
How could such a teaching attitude cultivate outstanding talents?
It wasn't until the entire day's classes were over that everyone finally welcomed the end of school in this relaxed yet tense atmosphere.
"Phew, I feel like the teachers are deliberately indulging us. Several times I couldn't help but want to make some small movements. Luckily, I held back."
Shiranami Chihiro, the frail-looking girl in the front row, patted her chest and let out a deep breath, as if a whole day of classes had accumulated too much pressure that was difficult to release, and only now did she finally dare to relax.
"Don't be too nervous. As long as you don't deliberately sleep, make loud noises, play on your phone, or eat snacks... do these obviously bad things in class, the school isn't crazy enough to deduct points for every little movement."
They were just high school students, neither special forces soldiers nor robots.
If they really forced the entire class to make no movements at all during class, then let alone a thousand class points, even a thousand times that wouldn't be enough for the school to deduct.
"Although that's what you say, if I get points deducted because of myself, wouldn't that be terrible?"
"It's alright, the deduction standards for all four classes are the same. If they weren't, then I'd have to consider directly kicking down the door."
Aragaki Shun, seeing Shiranami Chihiro's somewhat puzzled look, didn't explain, but instead teased, "If you're still nervous, how about I help you pat your head? I used to comfort my younger sister like this at home."
"Eh? Eh eh? Aragaki-kun, so you're this kind of person?"
...