New Information
Most students had reached their classrooms and were waiting for their teachers to arrive. Everything was a bit behind schedule due to the incident at the assembly. The students made their seating arrangements, sitting wherever they liked, which would inevitably change when the teacher showed up, but the students were talking with each other, getting to know their classmates for the year. Others were minding their business, keeping to themselves. Everyone in the class looked professional in their uniforms, showing why they deserved to be there. No one was standing out and making much noise; it was almost like a workplace with middle-aged people. The view outside the classroom was tranquil, with greenery and a sight over part of the campus. One boy was watching, daydreaming, staring outside.
Click!
The door opened. A tall, dark, bald man entered the class. He walked towards the front desk and looked at the class, which was already silent. He spread his arms and announced.
"Welcome to class 1-A! I am Mr. Saint, your homeroom teacher".
The class listened attentively; this was the highest class, and no one wanted to mess around.
"This will be the start of your three-year journey here", he continued. "I know you got a brief introduction from our principal, and I know you're all brilliant, so I will just give you the details you want to hear and not beat around the bush. As you know, you will compete to get the 'number 1 spot', and a point system will do this. The person with the most points at the end of the three years is the winner".
Some students were listening, while others were already pulling out notebooks and pens and opening to a clean, fresh page ready to note any important information. Was this the standard to be met for a top student here?
"Sounds simple enough, eh?" He then moved from behind his desk to the front of it. "You can get points in many different ways. One way is exams. You are all young adults, and you feel like you've left some subjects behind, like math, English, biology, chemistry, and physics. However, you will be taught all these subjects at this academy just like in high school".
Faces looked up in disbelief; they couldn't believe it. They knew they were getting into something unexpected, but this was something else. They thought they would learn about the real world, how to build a big business, be an influential, prestigious person, or even learn to become a politician. Something interesting, not learning Pythagoras theorum again.
"You will be taught these subjects because you will be tested on them. Your results will determine how many points you get. Don't worry, some of you look worried, but it's fine. Exams, homework, and assignments offer a decent number of points, but the ones you must look out for are the challenges. Now, they offer a lot of points. But challenges are not something you can prepare for. The challenges are also random, so you cannot rely on intelligence alone to do well on them. This is why you must do well academically and get a lot of points in your exams", he then started to walk towards the students.
"Imagine someone from a lower class surpassing your point total because you relied on doing well on the challenges and didn't take studying seriously."
This caused students to start stressing even more. More worried faces appeared, the atmosphere turned tense, and the calmness of most of the students disappeared. Fear was being instilled into them. How would the lower classes fare if this was how the supposedly cream of the crop was reacting? Mr Saint noticed this,
"That's good. I can see you're already scared, this is a good sign. It shows me you're taking this seriously and genuinely want to win", he leaned back on the front of his desk.
"You will have a timetable telling you when you have each subject. You will also have different teachers for each subject. I am your homeroom teacher, so if you have any problems, you can come to me or email me."
Some students checked their phones to see if their timetable showed up, but they needed help navigating the specialised phone properly.
"I can see most of you still need to get used to the phone. I'll let you figure your way around it in a minute. I have a few more things to explain. Firstly, you are here on the campus, where you will live. You will have dorms, and there will be two people in one dorm. You will get to choose your roommate, and once you have chosen your roommate, you will need to go to the main office to inform them and get your key. If you cannot choose a roommate, you will be randomly paired up with someone. No one can have a dorm for themselves as there is not enough. As you will be living here, you will need to live your daily life here, so eat and take care of yourself. This campus is huge, and I'm sure you have already seen the shopping mall. Whatever you need, you can find it in the mall".
Someone raised their hand and asked. "Do we use our own money or the points we earn?"
"No, you will not use your own money, and no, you do not have to use your points. You will use credits. Credits will be given to you every month in a set amount. Students will be given the same amount, but the credits will increase if they do well academically. Points and credits are two different things. Remember that".
"Can we buy points with our credits?" Someone questioned.
Mr Saint smiled. "Great question. No, you cannot buy points, BUT you can use points to get credits. So if your credits are running low and you need to buy something, you can exchange points for more credits."
What's the exchange rate?" Someone shouted out.
"Hehe, I'll let you find out for yourselves. You can also give other people credits, so if your friend is running low and you want to help them out, you could transfer them some credits. But you can't transfer points".
The students were expecting an answer, but they were disappointed.
"Well, that's pretty much it for the information you need. I can see you already arranged yourself in the seats you want. You are the top class, so I trust you all and won't move you. I've nothing else to say so you can get to know each other or figure out how to use the phone. If you have any questions, I will be here at the front".
With that, Mr Saint finished his speech and sat at his desk. The noise slowly crept higher, with the students whispering among themselves.
"Alexander, what'd you think?" Frank asked, turning to look at Alexander, who was still looking out the window.
Alexander blinked to snap out of his daydream and turned to Frank. "Just like I've been told. Nothing surprised me", he replied. Alexander was a well-groomed white boy who lived the good life and was born into a prosperous family. He had blonde hair slicked to the side and crystal blue eyes. He was the type of person who got everything he ever wanted.
"Do you think you will be able to get the number one spot?" Frank continued to ask. Frank was a strong-built guy with a buzz cut. He was 6'4 with big muscles and had brown hair. From the outside, it looks like he is Alexander's bodyguard, but if you were to ask Alexander, he would say that they are friends.
Alexander scoffed. "Not going to be a challenge. This is nothing like the real world, where people can abuse and cheat the system and live a good life. This is just doing well in studies and reaping the rewards. High scores mean more points and more credits. It shouldn't be hard to get number one. All the dumber students will fall behind while I expand the gap with every exam. The challenges will be simple too". At the end of his monologue, he looked at his phone to check the time and then glanced out the window again.
Frank noticed and looked out the window. "It's a nice view; I'm glad we got to stay in the same seats", he said.
"Yeah, Something to pass the time during lessons", Alexander replied, appreciating the view.
"You're not going to slack off, are you?" Frank asked in a concerned voice.
Alexander scoffed, "Why would I waste my time listening to someone telling me something I already know?".
Their conversation picked up the attention of someone close by. A girl with long, silky silver hair, who sat before Alexander, turned around. Her clear white skin glowed, her blue eyes glistened, her silver hair shined, and her long eyelashes captured Alexander's attention as she turned. It caused Alexander's attention to shift from the view outside to the view in front of him. She joyfully introduced,
"Hey!"