'Finally, I'm free.'
Saiki let out a sigh of relief in his heart. He had finally managed to shake off Matsushita Chiaki, who would undoubtedly shift her focus to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
'Now I can finally enjoy the vacation properly. Yare yare, next semester is definitely going to be full of trouble. But before that, I should... wait...'
At that moment, Saiki caught a thought he really didn't want to hear and quickly sped up to leave the area.
But the owner of that thought had already called out to him.
"Saiki!"
The voice belonged to Horikita Suzune.
Hearing Horikita Suzune's call, Saiki had no choice but to stop and turn to look at her.
"You! Did you see me and then walk the other way? I saw you speeding up just now!"
"Not at all. You must have mistaken. I didn't notice you at all."
Saiki immediately replied with a blank expression, as if he knew nothing.
He looked at Horikita Suzune and noticed her eyes were red and swollen. Clearly, she had been crying.
'Horikita crying? What an unbelievable scene.'
Saiki thought this in his heart.
'It seems the former student council president has already left.'
[If Saiki brings up the fact that I was crying, I'll kill him!]
Horikita Suzune's thoughts echoed loudly in her mind.
'Yare yare, I wouldn't be so foolish as to bring that up.'
Saiki had no intention of asking about it.
"Is there something you need?"
"Was it you who told my brother I was there?"
Horikita Suzune asked seriously.
"Yes, I just saw someone who looked like you and mentioned it to Horikita-senpai, but I wasn't sure if it was actually you."
Saiki replied.
[Did Saiki see me from the beginning?]
"Did you come here today specifically to see my brother off?"
After a moment of thought, Horikita Suzune continued to ask.
"I just happened to be passing by and saw Horikita-senpai, so I chatted with him for a bit."
Saiki said casually.
[Passing by, meeting my brother by chance, and then finding me... How could there be so many coincidences?]
'Yare yare, Horikita really isn't that easy to fool.'
"My brother seems to think very highly of you. Why is that?"
"It must be your imagination."
"No, my brother just told me that you're a very special student."
Horikita Suzune said.
[My brother didn't actually say that, but I can use this as a reason to get some useful information out of Saiki.]
'Yare yare, trying to trick a psychic like me?'
Saiki could clearly hear Horikita Suzune's thoughts and calmly replied:
"I barely spoke with your brother. We just exchanged a few greetings. He shouldn't have any special thoughts about me."
Hearing Saiki's words, Horikita Suzune didn't respond immediately. After a moment of silence, she continued:
"Saiki-kun, our class has successfully risen to Class A. We've come this far, and your contributions have been indispensable."
"I didn't do anything. Even during the last commander exam, I just followed your arrangements."
"That may be how it looks on the surface, but the reality might be different."
Horikita Suzune narrowed her eyes slightly.
[Although my brother didn't personally tell me about Saiki, I can feel that my brother values Saiki far more than anyone else.]
[On the surface, it seems like Saiki-kun didn't have much to do with the last exam... but I'm not sure about the actual situation.]
[Could it be that everything was within Saiki's expectations from the start?]
'Yare yare, have you been spending too much time with Ayanokoji? Has it poisoned your mind?'
Saiki complains in his heart.
"Although we've risen to Class A, I believe the other classes will still covet our position. We absolutely cannot let the position we've worked so hard for slip away."
Horikita Suzune's gaze became extremely serious.
'In this kind of atmosphere, I should probably show some response.'
Saiki nodded.
"Yeah."
...
The spring break wasn't very long, but for Saiki, it was one of the few times he could truly relax.
Of course, he occasionally had to participate in some group activities against his will.
The temperature gradually rose, and the cold weather began to fade. In the peaceful spring weather, Saiki and his classmates welcomed the new semester.
They officially entered their second year.
'Yare yare, has a third of high school already passed without me noticing? Time flies.'
On the first day of the new semester, Saiki sat in his seat, looking out the window, thinking this in his heart.
He turned his attention back to the classroom. Compared to last semester, there weren't many changes among the students—but after rising to Class A, the class's cohesion seemed to have improved even further.
[During the entire spring break, Matsushita was following me, right? I remember her target was supposed to be Saiki. Why did she suddenly shift her focus to me?]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thoughts echoed in Saiki's ears, but the latter pretended not to hear anything.
Although there weren't many changes among the students, the classroom equipment seemed to have been completely upgraded.
Especially the blackboard, which had been replaced by a large screen. Whether it was because they had moved up to the second year or because the school had upgraded its facilities, the classroom was now equipped with more advanced technology. Even the traditional paper textbooks had been replaced with electronic tablets—
If it were just ordinary tablets, Saiki wouldn't have been surprised—
But he felt that the technology in these new tablets was a bit too advanced.
"This is amazing! I heard these tablets don't need charging. The internal battery can last for ten years!"
"And the features are so comprehensive! It can connect to any part of the school! It even seems like it can remotely control access gates and stuff."
"The school must have spent a fortune upgrading these devices."
Saiki felt something was off, so he quietly removed his ultra-thin transparent gloves and placed them on the tablet.
This was one of Saiki's psychic abilities—he could obtain the experiences of the previous owner of an object by touching it.
The moment he touched the tablet, a familiar figure appeared in his mind.
"Long time no see, Kusuo! I'm sure you've already noticed something's off and touched the tablet, right? All I can say is, this new semester is going to be very interesting!"
In the vision created by his psychic ability, Saiki Kusuke smiled at Saiki.
Saiki Kusuke was very familiar with Saiki's abilities and had predicted that Saiki would use his powers to read the information on the tablet. He had taken advantage of this to pre-record a "message."
After all, Saiki's limiters and special gloves were all created by Saiki Kusuke.
'???'
A sense of foreboding instantly spread through Saiki's heart.
The school's equipment had been developed with Saiki Kusuke's assistance.
Saiki knew just how deranged Saiki Kusuke could be... If Saiki Kusuke were to come to the school, he would undoubtedly cause a series of troublesome incidents.
'I hope he's just providing technical support...'
Saiki prayed in his heart.
"Is everyone here?"
Just as the bell rang, Chabashira Sae entered the classroom almost simultaneously.
"First, let's summarize last semester."
Chabashira Sae finally took on the demeanor of a proper teacher, reviewing the events of the previous semester and looking ahead to the future.
However, soon, a meaningful expression appeared on her face:
"Finally, I have something special to tell you."
"Is it a special exam?"
Ike Kanji asked.
If it were the old Ike Kanji, he would have looked worried and panicked, but now he seemed very confident.
"You're probably curious about this part, but before I continue, there's something I need you to do. This will be very important for your school life moving forward."
Chabashira Sae said slowly,
"Please take out your phones and place them on your desks. If anyone forgot to bring theirs, I'll ask you to go get it immediately... but I doubt anyone would forget."
All the students immediately placed their phones on their desks after hearing the teacher's instructions.
"Now, please connect to the school's homepage and install the new application. It should be available for download starting now—the official name of the app is 'Overall Ability,' but it will only be displayed as 'OAA' after installation."
The screen on the blackboard switched, showing a demonstration video and text instructions.
'What kind of troublesome thing is this now?'
Saiki already felt something was off, but he followed Chabashira Sae's instructions.
"Once you've completed these steps, put your phones down. If anyone doesn't understand, raise your hand."
Chabashira Sae said,
"This isn't just for our class. The entire grade is installing this app at the same time. This software is very important. Seeing is believing, so please open it."
"Scan your student ID with the camera, and the initial setup will be completed automatically."
"This will create an account for each student—you won't need to log in in the future. Since it's tied to your phone, please be more careful with how you use your phone from now on."
Saiki thought this in his heart, then glanced to the side. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka seemed to have already completed the setup. Using his psychic abilities, Saiki could see the interface on Ayanokoji's screen.
Second Year, Class D: Ayanokoji Kiyotaka
First Year Results:
Academic Ability: C (51)
Physical Ability: C+ (60)
Adaptability: D+ (37)
Social Contribution: C+ (60)
Overall Ability: C (51)
Next to the numbers, there were explanations:
Academic Ability: Calculated primarily from written exam scores throughout the year.
Physical Ability: Evaluated based on performance in physical education, club activities, and special exams.
Adaptability: Measures social adaptability, including communication skills, number of friends, and ability to think on one's feet.
Social Contribution: Evaluates classroom behavior, attendance, disciplinary issues, and contributions to the school (e.g., through student council activities).
Overall Ability: Derived from the above four metrics, though Social Contribution has half the weight.
※Formula for Overall Ability:
(Academic Ability + Physical Ability + Adaptability + Social Contribution × 0.5) ÷ 3.5 (rounded to the nearest whole number).
'Yare yare, they've come up with something like this? Was it that guy's idea, or someone else's?'
Although it was strange for the school to implement something like this, the game-like design of the system piqued Saiki's interest. He quickly opened his own profile.
The numbers that appeared before him shocked Saiki.
Second Year, Class D: Saiki
First Year Results:
Academic Ability: S (100+)
Physical Ability: S (100+)
Adaptability: S (100+)
Social Contribution: S (100+)
Overall Ability: S (100+)
'???'
Saiki was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized this had to be Saiki Kusuke's doing.
At that moment, even Chabashira Sae on the podium was dumbfounded.
Every time a student successfully linked their account, she could see their ratings—
When she saw Saiki's stats, she couldn't believe how exaggerated they were.
[Isn't the highest rating supposed to be A+? How is there an S?]
[And all the stats are 100+... A student like this can't possibly exist!]
[Is this... a bug?]
But in the next second, the numbers changed again.
Saiki:
Academic Ability: C+ (60)
Physical Ability: B- (70)
Adaptability: D+ (40)
Social Contribution: C+ (60)
Overall Ability: C (57)
[It must have been a system glitch, right?]
Chabashira Sae didn't think much of it. After all, the previous numbers were too outrageous. Even Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't possibly reach that level.
"Right now, only the first-year results are displayed. But starting today, as second-year students, you'll receive new evaluations in real-time. Updates will occur at the beginning of each month, just like class points."
Chabashira Sae continued,
"Not only that, but some of your classes will also have new teachers."