Today is April 29th, and in two days it will be May.
Despite this, most of my classmates are making noise or using their cell phones during class. This class is already at the end of the century.
Meanwhile, the third period chime rings and Chabashira-sensei, class D's homeroom teacher, enters the classroom.
However, the high tension among the students does not stop.
However, the teacher didn't say anything about the terrible situation and remained expressionless. I can't help but find that creepy too.
"Shut up. I'm going to have you take the class a little more seriously today.''
"What do you mean, Sae-chan, sensei?''
She's starting to be called by a nickname that I can only assume is a joke.
"It's the end of the month, so we're going to give a quiz now. Please hand them out to the back,'' Mr. Chabashira said as she handed out the handouts to the students in the front.
When I received it from a former student of hers and checked it, it was an ordinary quiz with questions from five major subjects.
"Eh, I don't want to give a test. This school is cheating."
"Don't say that. This quiz is just for future reference. It won't be reflected in your grades in any way, so you can take it with confidence. However, you can't cheat. Don't do that, okay?''
...Those are strangely connotative words.
Especially the part about "grades''.
Normally, the results of quizzes should be reflected in the report card.
However, you said that this quiz will be used for future reference, so maybe it's nothing to worry about?
(Well, I just have to do my best for now)
I look over the problem. According to that, it would be a quiz with 4 questions per subject, 20 questions in total, and 5 points per question for a total of 100 points.
Moreover, when you look at the content, it was so easy that it made you feel weak.
My rank is clearly lower than when I took the exam. For someone like me who studied science subjects well in order to get into this school, it would be a piece of cake for me.
I solve the problem with this in mind...
(Wait a minute. Isn't this too difficult?!)
My eyes widened when I saw the last problem.
The last three questions were math problems, but they were an order of magnitude more difficult.
I don't think I can solve it unless I put together a number of complicated equations.
At least not in the range that a first year high school student would do.
However, I had no choice but to do it, so I started solving it to the best of my ability.
Maybe I can get some points along the way.
Thirty minutes later, I managed to solve all the questions, but I wasn't expecting the last three questions, so I'll just hope I get an 85.
"So, did you manage to solve the last three questions of the quiz?"
During lunch break, I was eating with Sakayanagi and Shiina as usual, and when I asked them about the quiz, Sakayanagi nodded her head and Shiina shook her head.
"I think I was able to do the first question, but I'm hoping for partial marks for the latter two questions."
"It was done, but it took quite a while. How about you, Hikigaya-kun?"
"I'm hoping for partial marks for all the questions. By the way, this is the intermediate formula and solution, how many points will you give?"
While I was saying this, I showed Sakayanagi the question paper with the formulas and answers filled in so that she could grade me, Sakayanagi looked at it, nodded, and opened her mouth.
"If I were a teacher, I would give 3 points for the first question, 1 point for the second question, and 0 points for the third question because it is completely different."
In other words, my score is barely reaching 90 points at best.
"Ah, for the third question, I'm using the same method as Hikigaya-kun, so I guess I'm wrong. Can you tell me when you've finished eating?"
Shiina says this while eating the bread like a small animal. Shiina is a reading idiot, but she's a hard worker, so that's admirable...
"Of course it's fine. Also, I'd like to talk to you two about it, but May will start in two days, right?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"I think the increase and decrease in points that Hikigaya-kun mentioned before probably happens on a class basis, not on an individual basis."
"What!"
I can't help but scream. I had expected it, but it was a shock to hear it clearly. If you look at each class, my class is definitely 0.
"By the way, what is the basis?"
"I don't have any proof, but I saw teachers moving their fingers every time they talked privately, and taking notes every time the class ended. Also, it's difficult to differentiate the points for each individual.''
If Sakayanagi says that, there's a good chance she's not lying. This girl's powers of observation are quite high, so she has credibility.
"That's a bit dangerous. There are a lot of people in my class who talk a lot."
"It's better than my class. There are about 30 people in my class talking and playing on their phones... some are even.... masturbating while hiding hentai comics under the table."
"...Your class is disgusting!" Sakayanagi yelled at that.
Shiina's face also looked quite abnormal at that, "In my class, there are around 10 people at most. But nothing like what Hikigaya-kun mentioned..."
Seriously... joint and several liability is just too bad.
Actually, I know it's late, but speaking privately or using cell phones during class is strictly prohibited.
It's common sense that you learn in middle school, but if you don't understand that, the civil level of D class is different from that of Sobu Junior High School, and it's lower.
Well, let's not talk about Yamauchi's hands under the table.
"By the way, how many points do Hikigaya-kun and Shiina-san have left?"
Sakayanagi told me so, so I took out my student ID card and checked it...
"I'm 67242."
"I'm 56681."
I've read that points can be increased or decreased, so I try to save money as much as possible, such as by eating wild vegetable set meals three days a week.
The only things I bought that weren't necessary for daily life were a chess board and a chess book.
However, I am probably the top point holder in the current D class. Most of the class buys games, clothes, manga, etc., and there are a lot of people in the classroom who complain about not getting more points.
"And what about Sakayanagi?"
"It's 59254. Well, girls need more things than boys, so I think it's inevitable that Hikigaya-kun will have more points than us."
Is that what it is? Well, that may be true.
However, if Sakayanagi's story is true, there is a possibility that our D-class points will not be increased, so we have to do something...
"Hikigaya-kun. If you don't get more points, please feel free to let me know because I will lend it to you."
Shiina says that. I am happy because I never had someone say such kind things to me before.
Or rather, I was always told malicious things.
"I'll lend it to you too."
"I won't ask anything from you unless I'm close to death or something."
"Hikigaya-kun... that's too rude!"
Apparently Sakayanagi didn't like what I just said.
She said that she wouldn't ask for anything that bad, but it seemed like she had the intention of asking for something, so I thought I'd try not to borrow it unless it's a serious situation.
_________
"Hmm...it's difficult to make money..."
At night, I use my cell phone in my room to access the school internet.
The site I access is about stories about making money on bulletin boards, but frankly I can't find any good stories.
By the way, according to the bulletin board, the amount of points paid each month is determined by the student's grades in the class, and increases or decreases depending on the student's behavior in class and the scores on regular examinations.
In other words, the points for D class will almost certainly be 0.
I thought about whether I should tell the class about this, but decided not to.
There are many reasons.
Things like, "It's too late now,''
"I don't want to attract attention by doing that,'' or "It would be troublesome if there was a riot in class.''
However, the main reason is to avoid being accused of "Why didn't you tell me earlier'' when I explain.
Most of the class was devaluing points, but from my past experience, when I spoke, some students said to me, "If you had spoken earlier, this wouldn't have happened.''
There's a high possibility that I'll get upset and other people will take advantage of it and blame me unreasonably.
There're a lot of idiots in the class after all.
That was enough for me in middle school. It's completely normal to be forced to blame others for their failures.
Having come to that conclusion, I am looking for a way to change my mindset and make money.
The first thing I thought about was a part-time job. However, since all the employees at shopping malls are adults, I thought that the chances of me being hired was low, so I went online.
As a result, it seems that no store is recruiting for part-time jobs. Well, if there were, I don't think any students would have to worry about not having enough points.
The bulletin board says things like "you have to find it yourself'' and "if you meet certain conditions, your homeroom teacher will introduce you to a part-time job,'' but it seems questionable, so I don't take advantage of it.
However, given the school's system, it may be possible that you have to find out things on your own, so I'm going to walk around the entire school little by little starting tomorrow.
Next, I looked into good money-making deals, but for now I was told that they are strict about scams.
According to the bulletin board, about three years ago, a student who was about to graduate had accumulated nearly 12 million points by deceiving first-year students who had just enrolled and had little knowledge, but he was expelled from the school.
Since then, teachers have apparently become more cautious about fraud.
In other words, it would be impossible for me, a first year student, to fool the seniors who understand the school system, so I rejected this.
In that case, what else... hmm?
When I checked the bulletin board, I noticed something that caught my attention, so I decided to look into it in more detail. the result...
(Maybe this will work...)
If this is successful, you will receive a large amount of points. The problem is that if it fails, it will cause a lot of trouble. Regarding my points and myself.
(Well, it's a good idea, so I'll try it tomorrow. In that case, I have something to do today.)
I went back to the home screen, started up the phone book, and...
"Ah, Shiina? Actually, there's something I'd like you to keep for me.."
__________
After school on April 30th, I visited a certain room in the club building. The destination is a room near the stairs on the fourth floor...the chess club room. "Excuse me"
Knock and then go inside. The room was about the size of a normal classroom, and there were seven boys and four girls inside, all but one playing chess.
Their advisor is reading a book in the corner of the room.
Then, the other side seemed to notice me as well, and a boy who wasn't playing chess started talking to me. "Which year?"
"I'm Hikigaya Hachiman from 1-D."
"1st year? Oh, by any chance you've been thinking about joining a club until today?"
Well, normally you would think so. The deadline for joining the club is the end of April.
but...
"No. To be honest, I came here because I wanted to compete for private points." At that moment, the atmosphere in the room changed.
Everyone in the room looked at me as if they were judging me. What?
As I just said, the reason I came to the chess club was to make bets, and according to the school's internet, it was written that every club activity involved betting.
That's why I chose the chess club. "Hmm. What do you mean by betting points?"
"That's exactly what it means. I've done some research into this school's system, and this year's D class is in really bad shape."
When I say that, the senior in front of me looks at me with interest.
"Huh... it's amazing that you can figure it out before May. So you think you can get points by betting?"
"Yeah, I found out that the chess club takes bets.'' As a result of my research, it seems that all clubs do take bets.
This is probably because the club members also want points.
"Haha. I've certainly made a bet before, so I don't mind accepting it."
"Are you serious?"
"Of course. But are you ready to lose points?"
"Certainly"
"That's fine. By the way, how much do you want to bet?"
"My total points are 50,000."
While saying this, I showed the device to my senior, who seemed impressed with his smile.
"You're going to bet all your money. Then, in honor of your courage, I'll bet you 100,000."
Is this something you can afford as a strong person? Is it because it's only been 2 or 3 years so I have plenty of points?
Well, I'm lucky. If I win, I get 100,000, and even if I lose, it's okay. I deposited 17,242 points with Shiina in the morning, so I can avoid the worst case scenario of losing all my points.
What? Do you want to live in poverty? What's wrong with worrying and preparing for the worst?
"Then take a seat."
"You're used to dealing with it?"
Or rather, the advisor is also looking at me, but there's no sign of him stopping. Apparently it's OK to seriously bet.
"As I said earlier, I dealt with people who came to make bets last year as well. So, let's get started. I'll give you the lead, okay?"
"Then take your word for it."
As I said this, I moved the pawn pieces.
10 minutes later...
「...…」
「...…」
We hit the pieces together silently. All the seniors around me were watching this match, but when I moved the knight pieces without paying attention to them, the corners of their mouths twitched.
With this move, the senior will have to sacrifice either Bishop or Rook.
(Right now I'm in the lead, so I won't lose unless I give myself some slack.)
Senpai's style is the same as Sakayanagi's, an attack style, but compared to Sakayanagi's, it's a cute attack style.
Her attacks are so fierce that they seem to overrun everything.
Perhaps because I have been beaten down hundreds of times by Sakayanagi and has re-learned each time, my strength has improved since the first time I fought Sakayanagi.
There aren't that many attacking moves from my seniors, so I can crush them one by one, and I'd like to make a checkmate with about 2 to 30 moves left.
Then, my senpai gave me a bitter expression and let go of the rook, so I took the bishop without hesitation.
Shogi is convenient because you can use the pieces you captured.
Thinking so, we moved each other's pieces and on the 25th move...
"Checkmate."
I whisper and place the queen next to my senior king. If the senior king does not move, it will be taken by the junior queen, if he runs away from the queen, it will be taken by the rook, and if he takes the queen, it will be taken by the knight.
Only the king can take the queen, so it's a checkmate.
"Haha... It's my loss, you're strong."
That's because for the past month I've been beaten up by a monster called Sakayanagi, and I've been studying hard to win against Sakayanagi.
To be honest, I have no other pastimes other than chess and reading, so I'm making great progress. I'm slightly proud of myself.
"I'm training."
"Rather than that, the way you handled the attack was too good. Well, anyway, I lost, so I'll give you the points. Tell me your number."
So I wrote my number on a piece of paper and handed it to my senior, who operated his cell phone before looking at me.
"I transferred the money to your device, so please check it."
When I was told, I looked at the terminal and saw that the number had increased from 50,000 to 150,000. Is it possible to transfer points this easily?
Depending on the situation, it might cause trouble, so you have to be careful.
As I was thinking about this, a female senior who was watching the game came to talk to me.
"You're strong. How about me too?"
"Do you want to bet?"
"Of course. It warms your pocket, doesn't it?"
"Well, that's true. By the way, are you betting everything?"
"I'd be sorry if you lost, so how about 80,000 yen?"
I would be grateful if that were the case. At first I bet everything to get them interested, but I don't like betting everything. If I'm going to make a bet, I want to have some margin.
"Okay. 80,000 then."
"It's decided. Now, Kato, move out."
"Ah. He's strong."
"You'll know it when you see it."
While saying this, the female senior faced me and rearranged the pieces. Well then...Will you let me win the second match as well?
3 hours later...
"Huh..."
I sigh and head down the stairs of the club building to the first floor. In the end, I ended up playing gambling matches until the end of club activities, and I got really tired from using my brain in consecutive matches.
However, although I was tired, I felt a sense of accomplishment. When I look at the device in my hand...
860000 ppt
That's how it was displayed. I made a bet with all the members of the chess club and ended up winning 9 wins and 2 losses, increasing my points from 50,000 to nearly 900,000. In the end, it was a great success.
All of my seniors had 1 million or 2 million points, so towards the end of the game they usually bet around 200,000 points.
However, the manager and vice manager who gave me a loss were strong and I lost. If I hadn't lost to those two, I would have gotten close to 1.5 million yen, so I'm extremely disappointed.
Well, my seniors told me to come and get my revenge at the beginning of the month, so I'm going to go make another bet.
but...
(I have to make sure the class doesn't find out about this point)
I've heard a lot about the S system from my seniors in the chess club, but the points that will be given to my class the next day will definitely be 0.
Some of my classmates already don't have any points, but if they find out about my points, they'll definitely come and ask for it and it'll be a hassle.
(It's good that I made money, but I wish this school had a system like a bank.)
That way, even if someone looks at your device, it won't be a problem as long as they don't see your passbook...
For now, let's try not to turn on your device in the classroom. There are ears on the walls and eyes on the screens.
"Hikigaya-kun?"
When I arrived at the first floor, I walked down the hallway and was about to leave the club room building when I heard a voice coming from the top of the stairs near the entrance to the club room building, so when I looked up I saw Shiina.
"Shiina, huh? What a strange coincidence."
"Those are my words. I'm about to go home after the tea ceremony club, but Hikigaya-kun isn't in any club activities. Are you by any chance joining today, before the deadline?"
While saying that, Shiina comes down the stairs and talks to me. I thought about whether or not to tell, but I didn't think she would spread it to anyone because of her personality, so I decided to tell.
"I joined the chess club and made a bet."
"A bet... are you preparing for tomorrow?"
Shiina also understands the point system to some extent, so she understands why I made the bet.
"Well."
Even if I affirmed it, I couldn't see any hint of contempt or disgust on Shiina's face.
I thought most girls would avoid gambling, but Shiina, who is a natural, doesn't seem to particularly care.
"Really? How much did you earn?"
"860,000"
When I approached Shiina and spoke in a low voice to avoid being overheard by third parties, Shiina seemed to have not expected this and looked at me with surprise.
"You've gotten quite a bit."
"My seniors have over 1 million or 2 million points. They've been betting a lot of points."
"I see. By the way, was there anyone stronger than Sakayanagi-san?"
"He's not there."
I will reply immediately. It's true that I lost twice, and the manager and vice manager are clearly stronger than me...but Sakayanagi is definitely stronger. That girl is a ghost.
"That's why I got a lot of points, so I'm safe for the time being. I mean, I'm going back to the dormitory, but are you going to go home too?"
"Yeah, Let's go together."
While saying this, Shiina holds my hand. After holding hands with Sakayanagi and Shiina on the second day of school, whenever they meet after school, they always hold hands, and the boys around them start cursing at us because of jealousy.
Shiina is a natural and doesn't care about what others think of her, and Sakayanagi seems to be enjoying that situation, which is a problem.
However, Shiina holds my hand out of pure emotion, so I can't shake her off, and Sakayanagi's body is weak, so I can't shake her off to avoid getting hurt.
As a result, if those two people hold my hand, it will be impossible for me to let go of them.
(Oh my... well, I guess I can't help it)
I sighed and leave the club room building with Shiina. A week ago, I started thinking that if I couldn't shake it off, I would give up and hold hands.
I'm not going to complain now.
As a result, we returned to the dormitory with many students watching us, but sadly, compared to when we first entered the school, we were already used to being watched.
Before entering the school, I had decided not to interact with other people beyond the bare minimum, but I met Shiina on the bus on the first day of school, and Sakayanagi caught me after school on the first day of school, and I've been with the two of them ever since.
I have a lot of time.
"...I really don't understand life."
"What happened all of a sudden?!"
"No, I just thought that school life was different from what I had imagined before entering the school."
"Ah...I certainly thought I would spend time in the library alone before I entered school. But even though school life is different from what I imagined, it's still fun."
When I see Shiina saying this with a smile on her face, my face heats up, so I look away.
It was impossible for me to look at Shiina any more, and my fever wouldn't go away until I parted ways with Shiina in the dormitory elevator.
The next day, I woke up and immediately checked my device...
860000ppt
As expected, the score did not increase by 1 point.
I started getting ready for school, thinking that there might be a riot if I went to class. Maybe I should record it and show it to Sakayanagi later.
That girl is a sadist, she'll definitely have fun watching those idiots in despair.