Chapter 1 - High School Restart
"Can you still call yourself human, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?"
In Class 2-C's, Hikigaya Hachiman slowly stood up and looked directly at his seatmate.
At the moment the class was in the middle of the special exam called "Unanimous Decision."
The exam consisted in whether they agreed to expel a classmate in exchange for class points. Regardless of agreement or opposition, the entire class had to be unanimous, or they would face a penalty of lost class points.
Because a student named Kushida Kikyo kept voting "agree" and betraying the group, the class was forced into a situation where someone had to be voted out or they would fail the exam.
After choosing the final candidate for expulsion…
Hikigaya struggled for a long time but ultimately couldn't accept it.
Votes in favor: 37
Votes opposed: 1
Because it wasn't unanimous, another vote would take place in ten minutes.
Sakura Airi, the student facing expulsion, was trembling. Her close friend Hasebe Haruka, persuaded by Sakura's loud insistence to sacrifice herself despite not wanting to drop out, ended up voting in favor through tears.
The mood in the classroom was so oppressive it bordered on despair.
Everyone thought the exam would end like that, but then Hikigaya, usually invisible in class, suddenly changed his mind.
"I'm very curious about your reason for voting against," Ayanokouji looked toward Hikigaya. From Ayanokouji's unchanged, indifferent expression, Hikigaya once again confirmed that he felt no guilt whatsoever.
Sakura was Ayanokouji's friend, moreover she also has feelings for him. Yet it was Ayanokouji who suggested expelling her.
Because Sakura's feelings were so obvious, Hikigaya believed Ayanokouji must have noticed them. Or rather, maybe that was precisely why he used this to pressure her into dropping out.
"Horikita… never mind…"
Hikigaya didn't answer Ayanokouji, because it meant nothing to him now that he was preparing to drop out. The same went for Horikita, the leader of Class C who opposed the expulsion of the betrayer Kushida.
"No matter what anyone says, I'll vote against. That's that." Hikigaya sat down listlessly. Ignoring the group, he naturally became the new target for expulsion.
Though he didn't consider himself close with the self-sacrificing Sakura, he still couldn't allow himself to be one of the people forcing her to leave.
He had his own principles.
That day, Class C lost three students.
.
.
.
After the university entrance exam ended, Hikigaya, while biking home, was hit by a large truck. When he came to, he found himself at the opening ceremony of his first year in high school. Pretending to faint while organizing his memories, he was brought to the infirmary to rest by a teacher.
"Back to this garbage school again, huh?" After the flood of memories ended, Hikigaya got up from the infirmary bed, went to the bathroom, and stood in front of the mirror.
His lifeless, dead fish eyes with whites showing below the irises, bangs that went over his eyebrows, wearing the red suit uniform—nothing had changed from when he first entered this school three years ago.
Advanced Nurturing High School, as introduced in the admissions brochure,
Claimed that 99.9% of its graduates would get into their desired schools or jobs. The school gave out monthly allowance points, allowed freedom in hairstyles and personal belongings—it all sounded like a dream in the brochure.
Backed by the government, located in the center of a 600,000 square meter closed-off commercial zone with karaoke, movie theaters, cafes, clothing shops, and more—it had everything for entertainment and shopping. Except for the one downside: students couldn't contact family or friends outside for the full three years. Otherwise, it was basically paradise for students.
But Hikigaya knew that was all sugarcoating. In truth, the school was a breeding ground, raising poisonous insects in a jar. Of the four new first-year classes, only the strongest would enjoy the promises in the school's brochure. The rest were just sacrifices.
Just like the outside world, survival of the fittest was drilled into them early on.
The day he was expelled was something he could never forget. Now that he had a second chance, he wasn't going to live like a dead fish anymore.
Who would win was still up in the air, but he wouldn't let Ayanokouji Kiyotaka—the monster who toyed with people's hearts—have the last laugh.
He had no intention of returning to class. After staying in the infirmary until dismissal, he left the school grounds and headed to the Keyaki Mall to begin his plan to gather personal points.
Meanwhile, he organized all his information he remembered from when he first entered the school the first time.
The 160 new students were split into Classes A, B, C, and D. The best students went to A and B, while those with various defects were placed in C and D.
Only Class A students were eligible to "graduate."
Being assigned to Class 1-D, if he wanted to graduate from Class A, he had two options:
1. Accumulate 20 million personal points and buy a transfer to Class A.
2. Have Class D's class points surpass all others and become the new top Class A.
Class points determined class rankings and fluctuated with exam results and student behavior. Each class started with 1,000 points.
Personal points were distributed monthly based on class points multiplied by 100. One point equaled one yen. Points could be used to buy everything in the mall—tangible goods as well as intangible ones like test scores and class transfers.
During the first month, the school kept this information hidden.
The new students were only told that they'd receive 100,000 points on the first of every month and could spend it freely.
Now, what Hikigaya needed was to fabricate a plausible source for the information he planned to sell—because not only the school had installed numerous surveillance cameras in classrooms and throughout the campus but also monitored large movements of personal points.
If he traded with other classes and the school discovered he knew things he shouldn't without doing anything to earn that information, they'd suspect he got it from a graduate outside the school, potentially causing issues and suspicion—something he wanted to avoid.
He talked with all kinds of people in the Keyaki Mall—senpai at the café, a female staffer at the clothing store, a ramen shop customer.
Only after nightfall did Hikigaya return to the dormitory and received the key for Room 403 from the dorm supervisor.
'I've gotten more sociable' Hikigaya thought to himself while waiting for the elevator with the key in hand. It was something the old him could never have done. The year since his expulsion wasn't wasted—thanks to the "loving education" from a certain young lady.
"You're... Hikigaya-kun, right?"
While he was spacing out, a beautiful girl tapped him on the back.
"I'm Kushida from the same class! Do you remember me?"
Hikigaya turned his head to the left, where the voice came from.
A pretty girl with straight brown hair stood beside him, tilting her head and giving him a cute smile.
Kushida Kikyo—the traitor from the expulsion exam.
She tried to get Horikita Suzune, who knew about her dark past, expelled. But Ayanokouji turned the tables on her and exposed her secret.
According to his plan, Kushida was walking right into his trap.
Seeing there were no students around, Hikigaya casually said,
"Of course I remember. You're Kushida Kikyo from middle school—the one who caused the class to fall apart."