The content of this school's entrance placement exam was surprisingly difficult.
He always heard online that foreign high schools were easy, and the exams were simple, but that was probably just misinformation spread by marketing accounts, similar to the myth that 'Einstein failed math.'
In a sense, they were right; some foreign public schools promote 'happy education' and have incredibly simple exams. But this only applies to some public schools. Good public and private schools have exams that are not much simpler than those in other countries.
As for Japan, although influenced by capitalist 'quality' education and 'pacifier' plans (dumbing down the public), high school is much more relaxed than in other countries. But that doesn't mean their teaching content is simple.
The students in Japan and South Korea who truly put in the effort often participate in specialized clubs after school to gain experience for their future goals or attend cram schools.
Mineoka High School, where the System arranged his enrollment, is a prestigious school in Japan with a deviation value of 74 to 77, second only to the aristocratic Shuchiin Academy. Strict exam requirements were only natural.
But even so, building the school entrance on a hundred-meter long slope with an angle of nearly 45 degrees—the designer of this school was definitely brain-damaged!
While his thoughts drifted, he had already finished the test papers. He intentionally got a few Japanese language questions wrong and handed the papers to the secretary.
The grading was quick. After about four or five minutes, the scores were presented to Principal Nakano.
"Excellent! Very good! You truly live up to your reputation as a genius who achieved near-perfect scores on the entrance exam!"
Principal Nakano looked at the six perfect scores and one 80 on the papers, nodding with satisfaction. The one paper that wasn't perfect, Japanese language, was understandable. Besides the difficulty of subjective questions, getting 80 as a Chinese student with limited knowledge of Japanese was impressive.
"I didn't expect Shin-kun to be so good at history, too," Principal Nakano said, picking up the history paper. Half of the exam was world history, and half was Japanese history. It wasn't easy to get a high score on foreign history.
"Just memorization. I give my all for subjects that affect my exam scores," Shin replied modestly.
"No need to be humble. A good memory is a great talent."
Principal Nakano crossed his hands and suddenly sighed.
"Shin-kun, I didn't want to make things difficult for you at the beginning of the school year, but recently... our Mineoka Academy is merging with the neighboring Sakurano Academy. Since it's an order from the Ministry of Education, we have no choice."
"Oh..." Shin looked enlightened.
During his research on Mineoka Academy, he had learned about the upcoming merger with Sakurano Academy, an ordinary Japanese high school with a stable deviation value below 50.
Shin didn't understand what the Ministry of Education was thinking. It was like merging Hengshui High School (known for intense academic pressure) with a nearby vocational school just because they were close.
Calling it a vocational school might be extreme, but given the disparity in their deviation values, once Sakurano merged into Mineoka, Mineoka's proud deviation value would surely plummet.
A drop in deviation value would lower the school's ranking, which would attract fewer good students, leading to a further decline in the deviation value. As a semi-private school, Mineoka Academy would then receive less funding and resources, causing further decline.
Whenever he thought about this, Principal Nakano probably felt stressed enough to pull out all his hair. But this was an order from the Ministry of Education, and it was supported by the academy's board members.
Who knows what those board members were thinking. It was too big a deal just to place their daughters in the school. But the principal could guarantee that if Mineoka failed on his watch, his career as principal would be over.
Refusal was impossible. However, gathering the underperforming students from Sakurano Academy into a few specific classes for differentiated education was also unacceptable. Doing so would be a public declaration of support for a stratified society, which would invite more than just a warning from the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association); he would be eternally disgraced.
As for educating those underperforming students well, Principal Nakano admitted he lacked the capability. He couldn't implement a military-style education system like China and lock these students up, as he would be fired if he did.
So...
"Shin-kun, I hope to gather a few of our school's top students. If needed, we will provide specialized tutoring with our best teachers. We only hope that you can achieve a top rank in the national mock exams!"
Principal Nakano's eyes shone with ambition, and he spoke loudly.
Oh, so that's his plan.
Since it was impossible to mitigate the negative impact of the merger on the school's quality across the board, they would focus on the elite students. If the top students in the national mock exams were all from Mineoka, the school would naturally gain good publicity, and he would have a satisfactory report to submit.
"Hmm... Principal Nakano, I would like to support your initiative, but I'm afraid my personal time cannot be solely dedicated to studying," Shin said tactfully. "Due to various issues, I've temporarily cut ties with my family, so I'm having some financial problems. Your school's tuition for international students isn't cheap, plus my rent. I need to spend most of my free time working part-time..."
"All your tuition and miscellaneous fees for the next two years are waived!" Principal Nakano declared grandly. "Furthermore, I can introduce you to a few high-paying jobs that won't take up much time. As long as Shin-kun can achieve a top-three rank in the national mock exams, I can also write you a recommendation letter for a prestigious university."
"Deal!" Shin immediately stood up and shook Principal Nakano's hand.
He didn't care about the recommendation letter; he only cared about the tuition fees. He wasn't sure how much they were, but having them waived was a great relief.
"But high-paying jobs..."
"No rush," Principal Nakano offered a playful smile. "I still need to assess things, and that side also has its own candidates."
...
"Alright, if no one has any objections, we'll elect Katsura-san as the class
representative."
Following the homeroom teacher's announcement, Kotonoha, who had been nervously fidgeting with her hands, stood up and walked to the front of the classroom, looking very anxious.
"Why so nervous, Katsura-san? You were the class representative for a year in your first year, weren't you?"
The teacher joked, looking at the nervous girl. Kotonoha wanted to give the teacher a composed smile, but her timid and anxious heart wouldn't allow it. She could only nod gently.
"I will do my best."
That year as a class representative was not a happy experience. For Kotonoha, coming to Mineoka High School was her mother's idea, and serving as class representative was her hope for a chance to change herself.
However... the results were not good.
Kotonoha was a responsible class representative, perhaps even overly responsible. In the end, her classmates viewed her as a convenient tool and thought she was meddlesome.
Students at this age hadn't fully shed their middle school mentality. The girls instinctively shunned the beautiful and academically excellent Kotonoha. While the boys liked her, few could express it clearly.
Before she knew it, she was isolated. Once an atmosphere of cold bullying formed, it became a well-established environment and quickly worsened.
Standing on the podium, Kotonoha looked at the many familiar faces from her old class and felt even more anxious and scared.
"Alright, alright, we won't waste time on an inaugural speech," the teacher clapped his hands to quiet the class. Kotonoha, head down, quickly returned to her seat, feeling countless eyes stabbing at her.
"By the way, we have a new student joining our class today. Although many of you are new to the class due to the school merger, this student is a new-new international student."
The teacher made a pun (which Shin didn't understand), then pulled open the sliding door. Shin stepped inside, dressed in a black school uniform.
"Hello, everyone. My name is Shin. My interests are reading and gaming. I look forward to getting to know you all."
It was an unremarkable introduction, nowhere near as impactful as "My interests are aliens, people from other worlds, and people from the future." But Kotonoha immediately raised her head.
Their eyes met, and Shin offered a slight smile.
Kotonoha's cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head.
Shin squinted. My adorable meal ticket has arrived.
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