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Chapter 13: Welcome

May peace be with you. — Luke 24:36, New Testament

Sunday.

In the past, me and the rest of my colleague would often refer to this day as “Science Day” due to how the teacher would teach us any Science-related knowledge on this day, but after leaving the facility, I who started to assimilated myself with the locals began to call it as “Sunday”.

Sunday, the last day that composed the information known as a “week”.

The term "week" is a unit of time and the basis for determining which day can be considered by the public as workdays and which one are the restdays. In the past, "Sunday" refers to a religious ritual in Christianity, where the Church designates Sunday as the day for worshiping Jesus Christ, thus giving rise to the concept of Sunday worship.

In the commonly used national calendar, Monday marks the beginning of the week, and Sunday is its end. However, within the scope of Christianity, Sunday is considered the beginning of the week. Various factors contribute to this designation, with the resurrection of Jesus Christ being particularly significant.

Having borne all the sins of the world and died, Jesus Christ was then resurrected, bringing about new life. Hence, Sunday is also known as the day of resurrection, marking the beginning of the week.

One might ask, why am I having this kind of weird trivia floating around in my head out of nowhere.

The answer is simple.

Right now, I’m stalling for time, so, my mind began to wonder, some weird trivia that got stuck inside my head when I was still studying inside the White Room began to re-surface.

I'm in my dorm room, trying all kinds of things to stall the time, trying to make sure that when I leave the room, I won’t meet that guy again, as my mind began to wonder about the history about the fall of Rome, I absentmindedly constantly adjusting the tightness of my tie, after more than half an hour of stalling doing pretty much nothing productive, I, who are confident that the man whom I had met before had gone to his Class, decided to step out of my dorm room, wanting to quickly to go to my Class before the bell for the first lesson ring. Yet, it seems I was too naive; one cannot escape the control of fate.

Seeing the figure inside the elevator that I was about to step into, I let out a silent sigh inside my mind and stepped into the elevator.

"You don't look very well. Are you sick?"

"No, I'm just terrified by how often we met."

What is the chance for  two students from unrelated classes to meet in the same elevator every morning? This violation of normalcy made me doubt whatever he had put some hidden camera inside my dorm room just so he could have a meeting with me.

I had checked it, thrice.

There is no camera placed, or anything that can be used to observe me from afar inside the room, so our meeting is a coincidence.

"I've tried to stall till the last possible second, and well… This is the result, we both are almost late.”

"You stalled till the last second too? Why is your thought process really similar to mine? Are you secretly my twin?” I sarcastically remarked.

"Both of my parents are Japanese, so we are most likely not.”

I let out a humm as I looked at the boy from the mirror placed in the side of the elevator.

This kid is Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, from what I had heard from the chattering in Class B. He's also the same year as me, but he’s in Class D.

At first, I thought of him as my stalker, that’s the only logical reason behind the unreasonably high percentage rate for our “accidental meeting” to occur when we are outside.

No matter what changes I made, I couldn't escape having this meeting with Ayanokoji in the elevator in the mornings before leaving for the Classroom.

Except for the first day of school, this ‘coincidence’ persisted throughout April. Initially, I thought he had full information about my schedule and thought process, which is why he’s able to arrange so many ‘accidental’ meetings with me in the morning, but later, after some digging, I realized it was all just a coincidence, something that by logic is impossible, yet it happened to me.

In a weird way, this can be called as lucky—

As such thought filled my head, I walked with him towards the classroom, none of us like to talk much, so when we met, we would just said some ‘normal’ greeting and then we would just go walk to our respective classroom in silence, something that I’m not uncomfortable off, Just when I thought that there would not be anything different from the day before, Ayanokoji suddenly asked me a question.

"I remember the school distributes points on the first of every month. Have you received yours?"

"I did receive them, but there were some issues."

"Issues?"

"Yeah," I nodded, taking a moment to think. "This morning, the school distributed the points. However, the amount they gave me didn't reach one hundred thousand. What about your class?"

"Our class hasn't received the points yet. The class group chat is still buzzing about it.  You said you didn’t get one hundred thousand. So, how much were you allocated?"

"Just over sixty thousand. I didn't calculate the exact figure, so it can be either below or above it, but it should be in that range, but just looking at it shows a big difference from the hundred thousand we got in April."

"Sixty thousand..." Ayanokoji muttered quietly upon hearing my answer. After that, the atmosphere between us returned to its usual silence.

Before Christian believers attend church service, they must rid themselves of all distractions and maintain a devout, humble, and calm heart. Their attire must also be solemn and neat; otherwise, it will be considered disrespectful.

Although I've never held any belief in any deities, I still felt the oppressive atmosphere that believers experience before worship when I entered the classroom. What was supposed to be a celebration of inner faith turned into a somber affair. The moment I stepped my foot into Class B, I deeply understood the weight of being scrutinized by a serious crowd, prompting me to hastily evade their gaze.

"Luo-kun, you're unusually late today. Did something happen?" As soon as I returned to my seat, Ichinose expressed her concern.

Ah… This girl is truly an angel.

Though I would not admit it out loud, being cared for by others like this does feel comforting, since in the facility, it’s sink or swim and every participant is left on their own.

"I met with someone I know on my way here and had a chat with him. I'll be more careful next time."

"I see, by the way, Luo-kun, did you also only receive about sixty-five thousand points?"

"I haven’t checked my total point, but the added point should be around that figure."

"Is that so? Then that means everyone in the class got the same."

"Was there an error in distributing the points, or is the school facing a shortage of funds?"

"I have no clue either. We'll have to wait for Hoshinomiya-sensei to come before we can ask anything."

"I guess so."

This response implied that apart from me, no one else in our class had uncovered the true nature of this school. Since the students from Class B failed to uncover it, could the one from Class A already know the truth? They are said to be the best after all.

At least, from here on, I can gauge the true strength of each Class by seeing how much of our respective points are left.

I glanced at the clock hanging on the white wall, and it emitted a faint ticking sound. As the bell announcing the start of classes on May 1st rang, my heart was filled with palpitations. Soon, Hoshinomiya-sensei entered the classroom, carrying several rolls of posters.

"Good morning, everyone. First of all, thank you for coming to school on a rest day. Now, let's proceed with our morning assembly. As usual, feel free to ask any questions, and Sensei will help clear your doubts within their capabilities."

"Sensei, did the points for this month get distributed with a shortfall? I calculated it, and the accounts were credited with only sixty-five thousand points, not the promised one hundred thousand. And it's the same for the entire class. Was there some kind of mistake?" Shibata was the first to question Hoshinomiya-sensei, but he quickly received an answer.

"The school has correctly credited the points to each student's account without any discrepancies."

"But it's still thirty-five thousand points short. Didn't you say that a hundred thousand points would be credited to our accounts on the first of every month?"

"Nope~ Shibata-kun, Sensei never said the school would credit a hundred thousand points into your accounts on the first of every month. Sensei only said the school would credit points on the first of every month isn’t she~?" While saying this statement, Hoshinomiya-sensei flashed a mischievous smile and clasped both of her hand together, clearly feeling joyful.

“”"What?!"””

This child-like teacher, is she a S? Did she get off from teasing her student around like this?

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, may I ask, how does the school determine the distribution of points each month? Is it random?" Ichinose followed up on Shibata's question.

"It's not random. The school allocates points based on each class's class points."

"Class points?"

Hoshinomiya-sensei didn't immediately respond. Instead, she took out a piece of paper from her tube of posters and unfolded it, sticking it on the blackboard with magnets. After moving aside to reveal the contents, I finally saw everything written on the paper.

Class A: 940 points

Class B: 650 points

Class C: 490 points

Class D: 0 points

"This shows the class points for each class. Multiply these by a hundred, and you get the personal points you'll receive for the month."

"What is this supposed to mean?" The students below responded with increasing confusion.

"These are the points each class possesses as a unit. At the start of the school year, all classes begin with a base value of a thousand points, which are then adjusted by the S System. As you can see from the results, all classes have been deducted points. Especially Class D, to be honest, I've never seen a Class D start with zero points in the first month of school, it’s kind of amazing, really." With that, Hoshinomiya-sensei let out a mocking laugh.

She seemed very pleased, as if she were witnessing her enemies suffer.

"What's the significance of this? Is it just for controlling personal points?"

"Indeed, you're right on the mark, Honami-chan. You got traight to the point." Hoshinomiya-sensei applauded her.

"What does this mean?" Some anxious girls nearby asked.

"Don't worry, Ando-chan, the teacher will explain it to you."

"Firstly, you should have noticed from the data above why classes are divided into four levels."

"...?"

It's a hierarchical ranking of scores, indicating the division of strength.

"The school divides classes based on the order of excellence among students. The most outstanding students are assigned to Class A, while the inferior 'defective goods' are sent to Class D. It's similar to the ranking system in math competitions; I'm sure you all understand."

"Just like what you see here, class points are not only linked to the monthly credit amount but also directly reflect the order of class rankings."

"...Is there a problem with the class rankings?"

"Of course, there is. You've all heard about how 100% of our graduates get the job or get a full scholarship to any university they desire after graduation, right?"

"But in reality, that statement isn't complete. It only refers to graduates from Class A. In other words, only those graduating from Class A can freely choose their desired careers or prestigious universities."

"H-How can this be?!"

"Class A..." Ichinose muttered absentmindedly but quickly regained composure.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, how exactly is the increase or decrease in our points determined?"

"Sensei is sorry, but Sensei only knows what kind of in-class behaviour that would get the class point deducted, not the overall scoring system, and even if Sensei knew, Sensei couldn't tell you. It's like knowing the correct answers to a test, but not the process. You have to explore these things on your own."

“Some of the thing that deducted your class point are being late or being absent from class, point can also be deducted from talking or playing with your phone while there’s a teacher in class, basically, as long as a behaviour that’s inappropriate for a student to have is done, it would deducted a your class point.” Hearing Hoshinomiya-sensei's reminder, Ichinose quickly began writing everything she said in her book.

Thud, thud, thud, thud—

The bells rang.

"Huh? Is the assembly over already? I haven't finished speaking yet."

Hoshinomiya-sensei paid no attention to the emotions of the students in our class, pouting and complaining. Then, another piece of paper was posted on the blackboard. It listed all the names of the students in the class, along with numbers next to each name.

"Please bear with Sensei a little longer, everyone. These are the results of the last quiz. Firstly, Sensei is pleased to announce that no student in this class scored below the passing line. So, let's keep it up, and don't get expelled."

"Students who don't meet the passing criteria will be expelled!?" Shibata was the first to realize the problem and asked in disbelief.

"Wait! Sensei! I haven't heard of such a thing when applying to this school!"

“Yeah! Me too!”

“Same here!”

"Sorry everyone, but that’s simply how it is.” Hoshinomiya-sensei said apologetically.

I take a look at the paper and noticed that most of the people in Class B scored in the eighties and nineties, with a few in the sixties and seventies, and a handful in the forties.

"This school stipulates that failing even one subject in midterms or finals results in expulsion. Based on this quiz, any student scoring below forty-three is subject to expulsion. Apart from Okabe-kun, whose score of forty-four is somewhat precarious, there are no other issues in the class. So, Okabe-kun, you must work hard."

"A-Are you kidding me?!"

The passing line is set by each class individually, and its algorithm is the average score of the subject divided by two. The passing line of forty-three represents that the average score of Class B in this quiz was eighty-six.

"Everyone~ Listen up~ Didn't at the beginning of the school Sensei have already said that this is a school where meritocracy reigns supreme? This is one of the rules that come up."

"Even though a month has passed, Sensei still want to remind everyone—"

"—Welcome to a school where strength reigns supreme."