Chapter 9: This is the True Face of the School
"On the first of every month, points will be transferred to your account. One point is worth one yen..."
"This month's 100,000 points should have already been sent to you."
"Wow..."
When everyone in Class D heard they would receive such a huge amount of points every month, the class instantly erupted with excitement. In Japan, it's extremely difficult for most young people to find a job that pays 100,000 yen a month. But here, in this school, they didn't have to do anything and could receive that much just for existing.
Hearing this shocking news, even Hikigaya's mouth twitched slightly.
This was a full 100,000 points. In his entire life, Hikigaya had never handled that much money.
And now—without doing anything at all—it was simply given to him.
"One hundred thousand!"
"Really...?"
---
Looking back at this once-familiar scene, the first-year students of Class D could no longer bear to watch. At that time, they had no idea how cruel the school truly was. The so-called 100,000 points were nothing but a facade.
Kushida Kikyo: "If I hadn't skipped classes every day back then, we wouldn't have lost all our class points. I'm sure the next few months wouldn't have been so difficult."
Kushida still looked as charming as ever. Though she spoke with a tone of regret, her approachable smile never faltered.
Her words made many boys nod unconsciously. If only they had been more aware—if only the class had been smarter—they wouldn't have fallen to a class score of zero in the very first month.
Chi: "If you want to blame someone, blame this school's broken system. The teacher didn't even tell us about such an important rule! Isn't that just intimidation?!"
Chi's excuses were met with approval. Unable to accept their failure, the students sought comfort by shifting the blame.
Meanwhile, Ayanokouji remained silent. Although he had noticed something wrong with the school's system at the time, he hadn't known the exact details, so he had taken no action.
So, young man, what should you do?
---
"Are you frightened by the amount of money they gave you?" Chabashira Sae asked coldly. "This school judges students based on their abilities. Since you've been admitted here, your basic abilities are worth that much."
She didn't waste time like other teachers might. She briefly explained the school's system and the S-point evaluation, then said nothing more.
But Hikigaya was still confused about what this S-point system actually was.
Having calmed down from his initial excitement, he stared at the points in his account, still unable to believe it. Back at Sobu High, his parents gave him only 5,000 yen a month for living expenses. He biked to and from school, ate at home, and aside from MAX coffee, rarely spent money. Over time, he could even save up to buy a few games.
But now, 100,000 points were handed to him outright.
This doesn't add up.
By his rough calculation, there were about 25 students in a class. With four classes per year and three years in total, that made 12 classes. If each student received 100,000 points per month, that was 30 million yen per month—or 360 million yen per year.
Such an expenditure was impossible, even with government backing.
Moreover, based on his observations, this school wasn't exactly filled with prodigies. Could someone like him, with abysmal science grades, suddenly excel just by attending? Unrealistic. Even with decent liberal arts scores, his ceiling was fixed.
And what about that red-haired hedgehog? That guy was his second reference point—and Hikigaya was pretty sure his grades wouldn't be great either.
Is it worth spending so much money to train students like us?
Hikigaya couldn't help but ask himself.
The answer was obvious: no. He couldn't believe his life was worth 100,000 points a month. As Chabashira had said, if the S-point evaluation system was truly based on personal worth, then he would be a guy worth exactly zero points.
His thoughts, drifting in suspicion, were broadcast to everyone in the school.
---
Ryuen: "Oh? Never seen this guy before. Pretty sharp—he saw through the school's tricks this quickly."
Ichinose Honami looked at the boy with concern. She still remembered the bus incident, and his actions back then had shocked her deeply. Even though they weren't in the same class, this kindhearted girl couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Class A had always been leagues ahead. Aside from minor disputes, they relied on Sakayanagi's cunning to pass every exam. Yet now, watching the boy before them, it seemed Sakayanagi had taken interest in someone—for the second time.
Sakayanagi: "How interesting. Like a monster... with an overabundance of self-awareness."
She smiled meaningfully, then focused back on the video.
Meanwhile, everyone in Class D was stunned. Most of them had been ignorant of the rule, only realizing it too late when Chabashira-sensei announced it. But this boy, with only a brief observation, had already figured out something was wrong.
Shinohara: "This is… unbelievable. How could someone be that smart?"
Hirata Yosuke: "If I'd known, I would have warned everyone... but I wasn't that sharp."
Kushida Kikyo feigned regret and echoed softly, "Me too..."
Sudo: "He actually figured out the trap in this school..."
Chabashira crossed her arms, watching with mild interest. "Oh? You actually noticed."
Ayanokouji: "So... what will you do?"