Classroom of the Elite: Alter - Self-Test

"Alright, Class D. Open your ears and listen carefully." Chabashira-sensei started with a stern tone.

Seriously, she acted absolutely indifferent towards our class when she first arrived, but now she's talking enthusiastically.

At that moment, every single student in our class looked serious, even the ones who gave the impression of incompetence and a lackadaisical attitude. Well, this may be a matter of life and death for their dream high school life, so I guess it's understandable.

"First of all, the points in this system can be classified into two. The 100,000 points that you have right now are called 'private points'. Meanwhile, there's also a little something known as 'class points'," said Chabashira-sensei.

The class started murmuring to themselves but immediately returned to silence once they noticed Chabashira-sensei's pause.

"Alright, let's continue. Every single freshman class, from A to D, is given 1000 class points at the start of the year because they passed the entrance exam. These class points are then converted into private points and are deposited into your accounts at the start of each month. With this in mind, you could conclude that class points are updated each month," she explained.

"Class points can indeed be decreased, but they can also be increased. In this school, we have what we call 'special exams', where each class will compete against each other. Based on your performance in these special exams, class points can either increase, decrease or stay the same." Chabashira-sensei closed her eyes indicating the end of her explanation... No, she was waiting for questions.

"Se-"

"Sensei, may I ask a question? Oh, you can go first, Horikita." I was a split-second earlier and beat Horikita to the punch.

"No, it's fine, Ayanokouji-kun. You can go ahead and ask your question first." She politely refused my offer.

"Go ahead," replied Chabashira-sensei.

"Alright." I nodded to Horikita before standing up. "Are there any outside factors that can influence our class points other than the special exams?"

"You cannot increase your class points outside of special exams. However, you can definitely decrease them. For example, tardiness, absences, sleeping in class, not listening during the discussions, and using your phones during lessons. Those are all things that can decrease your class points. I apologize in advance, but the details of the math with the deduction of the points themselves are strictly confidential, so I won't delve into those." Chabashira-sensei answered straight. Surely, she was expecting that question. "Sigh... If I wasn't compelled to explain this bit, I would never want to do so. Like, you're all high school students. It's only natural to follow these common school etiquettes."

The whole class gulped. It was evident that a lot of them were planning to do exactly those things and focus on enjoyment using the money they had. They must be thanking me internally for making them dodge such a lethal bullet. To be honest, even I was severely surprised by Chabashira-sensei's revelations. This school really is something.

"You really saved their skins there, Ayanokouji-kun. I can only imagine the amount of class points we'd lose if we didn't take this gamble with you." Horikita said with a sigh.

"You can just consider it as me saving myself. Also, go ahead and ask your question now," I said, to which Horikita shook her head in response.

"My question was the same as yours." I see. So that was the case, after all.

"Ayanokouji-kun, you still have something on your mind, don't you?" Horikita said as she observed my thinking self, and she was absolutely right.

I nodded before raising my hand once more.

"Sensei, may I ask another question?"

At this point, the whole class was simply watching a conversation between me and Chabashira-sensei. While they can think of valid questions to ask, they can't quite formulate them at the same speed that I do. For example, there was a male student seated on the chair labeled "Yukimura", who certainly looked ready to ask a question, yet he backed out at the last minute.

"Sure, go ahead." There it is again. Chabashira-sensei's semi-sinister smile.

"What's the point of all this?" I asked a question that even my classmates didn't quite understand.

Audible 'huh?'s and 'what?'s can be heard all over the room.

"Finally. Alright, you slowpokes. For those who couldn't understand Ayanokouji-kun's question, I'll lay it all down for you. Firstly, what's the point of class points and private points apart from being your monthly allowance? And lastly, what's the point of competing with other classes through special exams?" Chabashira-sensei's smile widened as she uttered her next set of explanations. "You've noticed that the four classes are labeled as Class A, B, C, and D, right? Well, that's not just for appearances' sake. Class A is the most promising class, filled with the most excellent set of students that have entered the school this year. They are followed by Class B, C, and of course, you guys, Class D. It's just like the system you'd find in major cram schools."

When they thought everything started making sense, Chabashira-sensei's new revelations shattered their minds once more.

"Do you understand? In other words, you guys are the lowest of the low, the last bastion of failures- a bunch of 'defects'. Oh, don't be surprised now. Class D students have been referred to using that word for a while now." Chabashira-sensei waved her hand as if to tell us to not mind what she just said.

Yukimura, who had been listening silently, stood up in anger.

"What do you mean, Sensei?! Are you saying that I... we... are all defects and failures?!" Yukimura reproached.

"That's how the school judged and sorted you upon entry. Of course, you can be promoted and replace a higher class should you surpass them in terms of class points." Chabashira-sensei repeated her point.

Yukimura sat back down, but he absolutely looked like he wanted to say more. Of course, he wasn't satisfied with Chabashira-sensei's answer. Based on his appearance alone, he looked like someone who studies really hard. Well, that's a bit of a disrespectful assumption on my part. Just because he has glasses doesn't mean he's studious. It's just that it's the impression that his appearance and attitude gave me.

I looked at Horikita to probe if she was planning to ask a question about this revelation, and to my surprise, she turned to look at me around the same time I did. I nodded, prompting her to be the one to ask a question. I'm not sure if we're thinking of the same one, but I figured that I'd give her the chance to ask. She was considerate enough to check up on me, after all.

"Sensei, may I ask you a question?" Horikita raised her hand.

"Go ahead," replied Chabashira-sensei.

"This school boasts the highest rates of advancement in the whole country. Does that mean that as long we overtake Class C, we can guarantee our future?" asked Horikita.

So we were thinking of the same question, after all.

Hearing those words seemed like a wake-up call for most of my classmates. After all, getting accepted into a good college or directly into the workforce had been their main purpose for enrolling here.

"Nothing comes easy in this world, Horikita-san. If you want to achieve your so-called bright future, your only option is to overtake Class A. This school guarantees nothing for other students." Chabashira-sensei coldly answered.

For my classmates, those were the words of a grim reaper. Their dreams of a guaranteed future were immediately sunk down the drain the moment they realized their positions. Well, that's apart from Kouenji, who still didn't care about anything that was happening around him. He smilingly continued to polish his nails...

"What's with those faces? Weren't you all saved just now? If it weren't for Ayanokouji-kun's suggestion to buy all of this information using your class points, you would've been in the dark for the first month. I can only imagine the atrocious results of your blissful ignorance by then." Chabashira-sensei shrugged her shoulders after drawing attention to me.

"With someone like him leading this class, I believe you all got a big chance of taking over Class A in the future. To give reference to Ayanokouji-kun's display of quick thinking and intellect, no freshman in the history of this school has ever been able to figure out the point system's true purpose on the first day. While you may think it's an obvious strategy now, did you think that mediocre people like you would come up with his idea to try and buy information? From a teacher, no less." Geez, what a way to elevate me in my classmates' minds...

Right now, everyone inside the classroom has their eyes on me. With Chabashira-sensei mentioning it, the figurative position of a class leader would surely fall on me in the near future. This is not a bad start. Taking advantage of the silence...

"One last question, Sensei. How much did explaining the point system cost?" I didn't raise my hand, nor did I wait for Chabashira-sensei to give me permission to speak.

"200 class points." She gave a clear-cut answer. "If that's all, then I suppose I could dismiss the class now. Take the information I gave you this time and use it to your advantage. Don't let the deadweight morons hold you back. Don't forget to attend the entrance ceremony, ten minutes from now."

With those parting words, Chabashira-sensei walked out of the classroom with poise.

As soon as her figure disappeared, I looked toward Hirata who was also looking at me. I nodded and let his amazing social skills do their magic.

"Everyone, may I please have your attention?"

The entire class was completely silent after Chabashira-sensei left. They still seem to be in the process of digesting the information she gave us. Hirata clapped his hands in order to get their attention.

"I would've liked us to introduce ourselves since we don't know each other yet, but we only have less than ten minutes left before the entrance ceremony. As we've all heard from our teacher earlier, we can't risk ditching or arriving late in the entrance ceremony since it might risk us losing some class points... For now, I would like to hear your thoughts on the events that occurred just now, Ayanokouji-kun..." Hirata's smile was genuine yet strained. Surely, he was still concerned after hearing everything about this school's S-System.

I stood up and waited for everyone to face me. Well, it didn't take long.

"I'm sure many of you are wondering. After Chabashira-sensei praised my so-called intellect, why was I placed here in Class D? I would like to explain all of those in the near future, but for now, I would like all of you to hear me out." The atmosphere turned tense without my intention. "Firstly, as much as I would like to hold a class meeting in order to gather our thoughts as a class, we don't want Class C, B, and A to get suspicious of us, so let's wait until tomorrow. Secondly, we are the only class that holds this very important information. Should this leak to other classes, our only advantage will disappear instantly. Remember, we bought all of that information using 200 class points. Since everyone else has 1000 class points while we have 800, we're still dead last. There's no merit in telling other classes about what we learned today."

Most of them were nodding at my words while others listened intently.

"Lastly, this system tells us that our solidarity as a class will be the most important thing in the next three years. I hope we can work together as one team in all of the trials to come." I finished with a slight bow.

Despite my monotone way of speaking, the entire class was still moved. Hirata clapped his hands and everyone excluding a handful of people followed suit. Huh... Acting like this sure is an effective method to garner everyone's trust. It was a good thing that I prepared for this.

Now then, my next objective would be to get to know all of my classmates and take note of who to pay attention to. This way, I can effectively and fully utilize any of their abilities that would prove to be useful in the future.