As the second semester began, a hint of coolness finally mixed with the originally scorching air.
Natsukawa Sosuke sat in the back row by the window, propping his chin with one hand, his gaze aimlessly falling on the edge of the blackboard. He was in low spirits today, operating in an energy-saving mode, quietly serving as part of the classroom's background.
Most of the surrounding students hadn't fully recovered from the lingering effects of the holiday, making the entire class surprisingly quiet.
The preparatory bell rang, and Chabashira Sae entered the classroom, her heels clicking.
"Snap out of it, everyone."
She slammed a stack of documents onto the podium with a "thud," her gaze sweeping across the class.
"This afternoon's class will be a two-hour special homeroom. Pass these documents around; they contain the new semester's timetable and some other information. I have some announcements to make."
Upon hearing the word "special," Class D, which had been somewhat lethargic, instantly perked up considerably.
"Don't be nervous, it's nothing bad." Chabashira rarely curved her lips into a smile. "The curriculum will change a bit at the start of the second semester; the weight of physical education classes will temporarily increase. Because – the Sports Festival is coming."
"The Sports Festival?!"
The atmosphere in the classroom instantly became lively. For these high school students in the prime of their youth, this was undoubtedly the best stage to showcase themselves and exert their energy.
"Alright! I've finally waited for this day!" Sudo Ken clenched his fists, his face full of confidence. "This is my home turf!"
Chabashira ignored Sudo's excitement. She picked up a piece of chalk and wrote "Sports Festival" on the blackboard.
"For this Sports Festival, the entire grade will be divided into two opposing teams: Red and White. Class A and Class D are the Red Team, and Class B and Class C are the White Team. This Sports Festival involves the entire school, so this grouping includes all grades from first to third year."
"Really? We're teaming up with Class A? And the Class A of the entire school!"
"Yay!"
"Doesn't that mean we're guaranteed to win? Class A is so strong, after all."
A flurry of whispered chuckles rose from below.
"Each student will earn points for their respective rankings in the events. After all events are completed, the total scores of the Red and White teams will be calculated. If a team loses – all classes in all grades of that team will have 100 class points deducted."
"Oh..."
The faces of the students, who had just been smug, instantly fell.
"Deduct 100 points? Won't the points we painstakingly accumulated shrink again?"
"Don't be so quick to complain." Chabashira continued, seemingly oblivious to the students' gloomy faces,
"Besides the team competition, there are also generous individual rewards. Those who place in the top three in the all-member events can not only add points to their team but also receive 'points' that can be used in the next written exam, or directly exchange them for corresponding individual points. For example, first place in an individual event can get 5000 individual points or +3 points for a subject in the next written exam."
"5000 points! And written exam bonus points?!"
"Yay!"
The eyes of underachievers like Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki instantly lit up. For them, who constantly hovered around the passing line and were short on money, this was like manna from heaven.
"This is great! Just run fast and you can get points and money!"
However, before this excitement could last for two seconds, Chabashira's cold voice rang out again.
"However –"
"If you get last place in an event, 1000 individual points will be deducted. If you don't have enough points, 1 point will be deducted from your total score in the next written exam."
"Oh..."
The spark of hope that had just ignited was instantly extinguished.
"They're deducting points?! Isn't that life-threatening..."
Chabashira didn't wait for the class atmosphere to recover and continued to explain the rules,
"The student with the most outstanding performance across all events will receive the MVP title and be rewarded – with 100,000 individual points."
"100,000!!!"
"Yay!" (Sudo's voice)
"But –"
That cursed turning point word appeared again.
"Among all students in the school, the bottom ten students in overall performance will have 10 points directly deducted from their next written exam."
"Oh..."
Dead silence.
Complete dead silence.
10 points deducted from a written exam? Under the strict rule that failing means expulsion, for students with low academic ability, this was almost equivalent to half an expulsion notice.
"Th-this is too reckless, isn't it..."
"If you're bad at sports, aren't you doomed?"
Some students with poorer physical fitness had already started trembling.
Chabashira Sae placed the documents in her hand on the podium and pointed to one of the forms.
"This is the 'Participation Form.' Besides the 'All-Member Events' that everyone must participate in, there are also 'Recommended Events' with higher scores and more effort required, such as relay races and tug-of-war."
"As for who participates in which event, what the order of participation is, who takes on those difficult recommended events..."
"It's all up to you to decide."
Hirata Yosuke raised his hand to ask, "Teacher, what is the degree of freedom for this decision?"
Chabashira Sae leaned her hands on the podium, her gaze profound.
"There are no restrictions. Whether it's one person taking on all recommended events, drawing lots, or voting... as long as this form is submitted within the specified time, the school will not interfere."
"This is the freedom granted to you."
"However, once submitted, it cannot be changed except in special circumstances, so you must consider it carefully before giving it to me."
...The next day, during homeroom.
According to the school announcement, from now until the Sports Festival, the weekly two-hour homeroom period would be self-allocated by the students. Chabashira Sae stood at the back of the classroom, arms crossed, like an uninvolved bystander.
Hirata Yosuke walked to the podium and picked up a piece of chalk.
"Alright, let's discuss the participation list for the Sports Festival."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Sudo Ken immediately stood up from his seat.
"Hirata, this matter is actually very simple."
Sudo stood at his spot, hands resting on the desk, his face radiating an air of confident indispensability.
"This Sports Festival, that 100,000 points for MVP belongs to no one but me."
His gaze swept across the class.
"So, those 'Recommended Events' that are high-scoring and difficult, try to leave them all to me. Whether it's the relay race or tug-of-war, I'm confident I can get first place."
"As for those who aren't good at sports, you just need to try not to get last place in the 'All-Member Events.' I'll earn the rest of the points for you."
If these words were spoken normally, they might be considered arrogant. But at this moment, with the terrifying rule of "deducting points for last place" hanging over their heads, Sudo's words were practically gospel to most students.
"Really? Sudo, you're going to take on all the recommended events?"
"That's great... I was worried about what to do if I got chosen for the relay race."
"If it's Sudo, it'll definitely be fine! He's the Basketball Club's ace, after all!"
Not only did everyone not object, but they all showed expressions of relief.
Who would refuse such a good thing when someone is willing to voluntarily take on the most tiring and stressful events, and likely score points?
"I think Sudo-kun's suggestion is very good."
Seeing this, Hirata also nodded.
"Since we are aiming for victory, we should adopt a 'merit-based' strategy. Let students who are good at sports take on more responsibility; this will both ensure the class's points and protect students who are not good at sports."
"Exactly! That's what I mean!" Sudo forcefully pumped his fist. "Leave it all to me!"
"Then..." Hirata wrote the characters for 'merit system' on the blackboard.
"Does anyone else have any other opinions?"
"No objections!"
"Agreed!"
"Good, since everyone has no objections, then in order to arrange everyone's events more reasonably, in the next physical education class, we will conduct a comprehensive ability test. Grip strength, sprints, endurance... Based on the test data, we will decide the final participation list."