Chapter 9: Meritocracy?

Third period, history. Chabashira-sensei's class. I entered as soon as the bell rang, signaling the start of the class. However, the students' attitudes didn't change.

Chabashira: "Everyone, quiet down. Today's class will be more serious."

Ike: "What do you mean, Sae-chan-sensei?"

Chabashira: "It's the end of the month. We'll have a short test. Pass these to the back." She handed out the papers to the first row. Eventually, the test reached my desk. The exam had several questions from each of the 5 main topics.

Ike: "Eh, I haven't heard anything about this. I don't want to take it."

Sae: "Calm down. This test is just for future reference. It won't affect your grades. There's no risk, so relax. However, cheating is, of course, prohibited."

I guess it's time, right? Surprising everyone who saw me snoring, I stood up and stretched in front of everyone. I grabbed the sheet and started reading it; what stood out the most was the low level of almost all the questions, except for the last ones, which were quite challenging.

— No... Why are these problems so difficult?

I suppose it's a good way to separate academic abilities; a person with very good academic ability should be able to solve at least 1 out of the 3 questions. Although, looking at my classmates... I doubt there are more than 4 people who will score over 89 points.

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The morning bell rang on the first school day of May. Shortly after, Chabashira-sensei entered holding a rolled-up poster. Her face is always stern and serious.

Ike: "Sensei~, are you going through menopause?"

Chabashira: "Alright, the morning class is starting. Any questions before we begin? If there's anything on your minds, feel free to speak."

Immediately, several people raised their hands.

— "Um, I checked my points balance this morning, and no points were deposited. Wasn't it supposed to be provided on the first day of the month, every month? I was impatient because I couldn't buy the juice I wanted."

Chabashira: "Hondou, I explained this before, didn't I? Points are transferred to students' accounts on the first day of the month, every month. They were transferred without any issue this month too."

Hondou: "Uh, but... I didn't get any points."

Hondou and Yamauchi exchanged looks. Ike was too surprised to notice their appearance.

Chabashira: "Are you really this stupid?... Edogawa-Kun, you can stop pretending to sleep now."

*Ranpo gets up upon hearing his teacher's voice. He stretches and lets out a loud yawn, dusts off his clothes slowly.*

Ranpo: "No, I'm not asleep, Chaba-Sensei~... I suppose you want me to answer their questions for you, right? Although, I have to agree with you, Sensei. Isn't that right, Koenji?"

Koenji: "Indeed, they're quite stupid. I have no idea how they're considered normal students with how foolish they are."

Hondou: "Stupid? What?"

Chabashira: "Their attitudes are terrible, but what they're saying is on the right track. Not many people seem to have noticed my clue. How sad."

Hirata: "Sensei, may I ask a question? I still don't understand. Please tell us why we didn't get any points. If that's not possible, we'll never understand."

Ranpo: "Ughh, they're so desperate... We didn't get any points because of our horrible behavior. Every infraction we committed throughout the month was deducted from the initial 100,000 points."

Chabashira: "Again correct, Edogawa-Kun. A total of 118 tardies and absences. 391 incidents of talking or using cell phones in class. I counted each infraction. In this school, your class's performance reflects in the number of points you receive. As a result of your behavior, the 100,000 points you could have earned went down the drain. That's all that happened... I explained all of this to you on the day of the entrance ceremony. That this school measures the abilities of its students. This time, you were assessed with a value of zero. There's nothing more to it."

Hirata: "Chabashira-sensei, I don't recall ever hearing that explanation before."

Chabashira: "What? Are you people incapable of understanding without explanations?"

Hirata: "Naturally. The reduction of points transferred at the beginning of each month wasn't mentioned. If it had been explained before, I'm sure we would have tried not to be late and not talk during class."

Chabashira: "An interesting argument, Hirata. I also don't recall explaining the rules about points received at the beginning of each month. However, didn't you learn not to talk in class and be on time during your 9 years of compulsory education? Hirata: "Well, then, can you at least tell us the details of how points increase or decrease? We'll try to do our best from now on."

Chabashira: "That's not possible. We're not allowed to disclose the details—"

Ranpo: "What a silly question! *shaking his head childishly* Every action that's not considered model behavior deducts points."

Hirata: *completely ignoring the insult* "And about the increase?! If we stop committing infractions, will we get points?!"

Ranpo: "No."

That caused the motivation of the class to drop immediately.

Chabashira: "Correct as always, Edogawa-Kun. Keep that in mind; it'll help you."

Hirata: "Ughh."

Hirata's face grew even darker. Part of the class still didn't understand; her explanation had the opposite effect. The students who wanted to change their bad behavior were discouraged. That's the goal of Chabashira-sensei; no, of the school.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class.

Ranpo: "Or so I would say if I weren't the World's Greatest Detective *widening his eyes* I'll give you some clues... Midterms and Special Exams *after saying that, Chabashira showed an irritated expression*.

Chabashira: "It seems we've had too much talk. I hope you've understood. Anyway, let's move on to the main issue."

She unrolled the white poster that had been in the tube. Taking a magnet, she hung it on the blackboard. The students looked at the paper, still puzzled.

Horikita: "Are these... the results for each class?"

Horikita tried to explain the paper, although she was only half sure. Maybe it's true.

The classes A to D are listed on the paper, with numbers right next to them.

Our class D with 0. Class C with 490. Class B with 650. And class A had the highest

number with 940.

Ranpo: "It's worse than I expected."

— Hey, don't you think this is strange?

— Yeah... the numbers are too clean.

Chabashira: "During the first month, all of you did as you pleased. Now, the school isn't saying that this is prohibited. Your actions, like talking during class and being late, only affect the number of points you get. The same goes for using points. You're free to use them however you want. We haven't restricted how you use your points."

Ike: "This isn't fair! We can't have a normal school life like this!"

Chabashira: "Look carefully, you stupid kids. All the other classes except D got some points. The amount of points you have should still be enough to last a month."

— Why do the other classes have points? It's strange.

Chabashira: "I'll tell you, but it's not like there's some sort of fraud going on. Last month, all classes were judged by the same rules. However, they didn't lose as many points as you did. It's a fact."

Hirata: "How... how is there such a point difference between the classes?"

Chabashira: "Have you finally understood? Why you were put in class D?"

Yamauchi: "The reason we were put in class D? Isn't it because we're suited for this school?"

Ranpo/Koenji: "hahahHaHAahaha!"

Chabashira: "In this school, all students are divided into classes based on merit. The best students are placed in class A. The worst in class D. Well, it's a system found in major intensive course schools. In other words, class D is the accumulation of leftovers. That also means you're the worst students, the defective products of this school. This really is a result befitting defective students."