Chapter 3: You Guys Are Too Good

Before Hikigaya Hachiman could dwell too long on his embarrassment, a few students from Class B raised their hands.

"It's just you~~"

Hoshinomiya-sensei, ever carefree, casually pointed at one of them and smiled. "Cute little Fanbo, do you have a question?"

"Sensei," Ichinose Honami stood up, her voice carrying a hint of doubt. "Isn't 100,000 points a bit too much? We're just ordinary students. Why is the school being so generous?"

She had a point. The average high school student's allowance was nowhere near that amount. Even factoring in three meals a day and daily necessities, 20,000 to 30,000 yen would be reasonable. But 100,000? That was excessive.

With 160 students per grade and 480 in the entire school, that meant the school was distributing 48 million yen per month—nearly 600 million yen per year. And that didn't even include the operating costs of Keyaki Mall.

These were just students, most of whom had never worked a day in their lives. Even with national backing, this seemed like an impossible amount of funding.

"Also," Ichinose continued, "you said that 100,000 points are already in our student IDs and that points will be transferred on the first of every month. Does that mean we'll receive 100,000 points every month?"

"I was thinking the same thing," another student chimed in.

Kanzaki at the front table nodded, a look of skepticism on his face.

It didn't take long for the sharpest students to notice the problem.

Of course, this wasn't surprising—Ichinose and the others were naturally talented.

In the end, only three students raised their hands: Ichinose, Kanzaki, and Shibata—the latter looking like a typical friendly sports guy.

Hoshinomiya-sensei gave them a proud look and dramatically pointed at them.

"Good question!" she declared, as if she were some sort of enlightened sage.

Then, with a teasing grin, she added, "Since you asked so sincerely, I shall mercifully bestow upon you this answer—you can think about it yourselves!"

...Are you Musashi?

Hikigaya held back a groan. He'd bet his entire (non-existent) social life that Hoshinomiya-sensei didn't have a boyfriend.

Despite the lack of a direct answer, the students in Class B seemed relieved.

The fact that she hadn't confirmed it outright likely meant that no, they wouldn't be getting 100,000 points every month.

After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch—everyone knew that much.

"So, Hoshinomiya-sensei," Kanzaki asked, his expression serious, "does that mean the number of points we receive each month will vary? What determines the amount?"

"And why did the school give us 100,000 points at the start? That's too much for a normal allowance."

"Is it because they anticipate that we'll struggle with points later on, so they frontload 100,000 to make up for it?"

"And when you said we can buy 'everything' with points… What exactly does 'everything' mean? The concept seems too vague."

The students' questions came one after another, leaving many in the class looking puzzled.

Hikigaya, however, was stunned.

As expected of a nationally renowned elite school, these students were too sharp. They were catching on to issues he hadn't even considered.

He had always prided himself on his observation skills, but now he wasn't so sure.

And more importantly—why was he even here?

He had submitted a blank entrance exam and somehow still got accepted. That was beyond ridiculous.

Maybe I should just go home…

Hikigaya rested his head on his desk, watching his classmates in silent admiration.

"Alright, alright, enough with the questions."

Hoshinomiya-sensei crossed her arms over her chest, pouting slightly.

"You guys sure are persistent… but I'll answer one last thing."

The students straightened up, expecting something important.

Hoshinomiya smirked.

"Ping tong!" She blinked playfully. "The answer is—figure it out yourselves!"

And with that, she turned on her heel, ready to slip out of the classroom.

However, halfway to the door, she suddenly stopped and hurried back to the podium.

"Oops, almost forgot!" Her tone grew surprisingly serious.

"This is an important rule I haven't told you yet."

Everyone leaned in.

Hoshinomiya grinned.

"Since the school provides single dormitories, inappropriate relationships between boys and girls are strictly prohibited."

Before anyone could react, she quickly added, "Buuut~ as long as no one finds out, there won't be a problem! Hehe, basically, no babies—no problem!"

A long, dead silence filled the room.

"…Did she just say what I think she said?"

"You heard it too?"

"Unbelievable…"

Many students were too stunned to respond.

Hoshinomiya, however, didn't seem fazed.

"Why is everyone so quiet?" She puffed up her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips.

"This is top-secret information, you know! You should all be excited! Now, repeat after me—'Hehe~'!"

She clenched her fists enthusiastically.

The classroom remained silent.

But seeing no other choice, Shibata and a few others awkwardly raised their fists and echoed her.

"Hehe~"

"Hehe~"

…This was absurd.

Hikigaya held his forehead.

Seriously, what is this? A classroom full of idiots?

He was starting to feel genuinely worried about his future.

Then again, it wasn't like it mattered. His life goal was to become a househusband, so none of this concerned him.

He just wished he wasn't so embarrassed to be part of this class.

"Alright then! See you later, everyone~"

With a satisfied nod, Hoshinomiya finally left.

The classroom remained frozen in disbelief for a while.

Eventually, someone muttered:

"…What a great teacher."

"Yeah, seriously…"

Kanzaki, however, quickly regained his composure.

"Let's put that aside for now," he said, standing up. "Clearly, there's a reason why Hoshinomiya-sensei didn't answer our questions directly. This must be part of the so-called 'S-system' rules."

…That was fast.

Kanzaki really was the model student. Hikigaya almost felt bad for just sitting here doing nothing.

However, Ichinose raised her hand.

"Kanzaki-kun, I think we should discuss that later," she said with a warm smile. "We've just met, so shouldn't we introduce ourselves first?"

Although she framed it as a suggestion, her gaze firmly rested on Kanzaki—seeking his agreement.

After all, he had just led the conversation toward school rules, while she wanted to focus on interpersonal relationships first.

It was subtle, but she had just overridden his authority.

Kanzaki seemed to understand and nodded. "You're right. I didn't consider the atmosphere. Let's start with introductions."

"In that case, I'll go first!" Ichinose said cheerfully.

For some reason, she glanced at Hikigaya as she spoke.

…That had to be his imagination. There was no way she had any reason to look at him.

"My name is Honami Ichinose! Feel free to call me Honami. I love sweets, especially red bean buns, and I'm not great at sports…"

Her introduction was flawless—the perfect mix of friendliness and charisma.

Hikigaya, meanwhile, recalled his own middle school self-introduction disaster.

The secondhand embarrassment alone was enough for him to quietly sneak out of the room.

No one would notice his absence anyway.

…Or so he thought.

As he reached the door, he accidentally met the gaze of Chihiro Shiraha.

Her face turned red, and she quickly looked away.

…What was that about?

Hikigaya had no idea.

But he did know one thing—

He still had a lot of questions for Hoshinomiya-sensei.