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On the following day, the students of Class C sat in their seats, extremely well-behaved. They sat upright, looking attentive and serious, almost excessively so.
It was akin to the exaggerated atmosphere schools create when education department leaders come for an inspection – obviously artificial.
In Class C, known for its numerous delinquents, it was almost inconceivable to see such earnest attention in class.
But they had no choice. Who knew their inner struggles? Not paying attention in class and just thinking about Yukio's methods was enough to terrify them. People always choose the lesser of two evils, and between water torture and paying attention in class, the choice was clear to anyone sane.
However, as the class proceeded, something seemed off. Many started glancing towards the back row by the window, an empty seat.
Yukio was not there.
Strangely, the teacher at the podium didn't even ask about his absence, seemingly indifferent to whether students attended class or not.
It was only during the break that the students finally breathed a sigh of relief and voiced their curiosity: "Where is Yukio? Why didn't he come to class?"
"Yeah, he was the one who said we must behave well in class, or our private points would be deducted by the school. Why isn't he here?"
"Isn't this a bit hypocritical? It's not just poor class performance; it's outright absence!"
The noise in Class C's room quickly ceased, plunging into an eerie silence. The reason was Yukio's entrance, yawning as he pushed the door open.
Remembering Yukio's violent methods and the terror of water torture, the students immediately fell silent, not daring to utter another word. They could discuss him in his absence, but no one dared to speak when he was present.
Yukio understood the students' thoughts from the strange atmosphere and casually explained: "Don't misunderstand, I skipped class for a reason."
"It was to survey the school's environment. I found many surveillance cameras around the campus, so we need to be a bit more cautious in our actions outside the classroom."
The students of Class C suddenly understood – Yukio wasn't absent but contributing to the class!
Realizing this, their opinions of Yukio grew even more positive.
When Yukio returned to his seat, Ryuen approached him: "What do you mean? You went to check out the environment yourself?"
The day before, during shopping, Yukio had assigned Ryuen this task. But now, Yukio mentioned doing the same thing, implying either a lie or a lack of trust in Ryuen's abilities, causing Ryuen to feel slighted.
"No," Yukio replied lazily, revealing the truth: "I just overslept. Woke up, went for a morning run, then back to the dorm for a shower and breakfast. I thought about going back to sleep but then remembered I had class, so I was late."
"Just making up an excuse to fool the classmates. If they harbor any opinions, it's always a potential problem."
Ryuen suddenly felt like he was having a heart attack. Yukio's casual attitude towards absence from oversleeping was infuriating.
Wouldn't a normal student rush to class if they overslept? Yet, Yukio leisurely went for a run and breakfast? Ryuen felt a surge of frustration, struggling to suppress his urge to curse.
Seeing Ryuen's displeased look, Yukio empathized: "Ryuen, don't tell me you're the type of diligent student who always follows the rules."
Certainly not! Ryuen thought and realized he'd probably do the same as Yukio if he overslept. Even if it meant losing points, his approach wouldn't differ.
Feeling somewhat better, he sat down and dutifully reported to Yukio about his survey of the school environment from the previous day.
In the afternoon, it was time for the customary club recruitment in Japanese schools. Advanced Nurturing High School had various clubs, even participating in external competitions.
However, due to the school's unique system, students going out for competitions were required to wear special bracelets with recording capabilities. Any leakage of school information, intentional or accidental, would result in expulsion.
But to Yukio, these requirements seemed trivial, just maintain confidentiality. He even encouraged Class C students to participate actively based on their talents.
Yukio believed that achieving good results in club competitions would likely increase private points. Otherwise, there would be no need for the school to create special recording devices.
However, due to limited exposure to the school's complete rules, Yukio wasn't clear about the point calculation algorithm and generally encouraged participation.
Despite the encouragement, apart from Ishizaki joining the basketball club, Ryuen, Albert, Ibuki, and others remained with Yukio, not joining any clubs.
Gradually, this became a routine for Class C. Yukio would occasionally be absent, but with the excuse of investigating the school's mysterious rules, no student raised further objections.
Ryuen, Ishizaki, and others often stayed with Yukio, either having coffee or singing karaoke with classmates, improving their relationships.
However, this peaceful and comfortable campus life came to an end on the first day of May.
On May 1st, a weekend rest day, the class was notified of a class meeting by the teacher, so everyone gathered in the classroom. However, the students were more interested in their school-issued phones than the meeting, eagerly checking their latest point balances and whispering to each other.
"I got 56,000, how about you?"
"The same, 56,000! Just like Yukio said, the school is deducting our private points every month!"
"What do we do now? We were so diligent in April, and suddenly almost half our points are gone. What kind of rule is this from the school?"
The students of Class C were in an uproar. In reality, having over fifty thousand as pocket money for a month wasn't bad, but without the comparison, there would be no feeling of loss.
Last month it was a full hundred thousand, but this month it was nearly cut in half. The drastic reduction in treatment was hard for anyone to easily accept.
The huge disparity left everyone feeling like headless flies, wandering aimlessly, desperately in need of a guiding force.
Ryuen, appearing as if he had anticipated this, carelessly propped his feet up on his desk, looking quite relaxed. Ishizaki and Ibuki, on the other hand, looked towards Yukio, feeling that he should be the backbone of the class.
Yukio, however, was not in a rush to address the situation and instead pointed towards the door.
This drew everyone's attention, and the students of Class C looked over to see their teacher, Sakagami, entering the classroom with a large roll of paper.
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