Suspicious!

At the moment when the texts disappeared, a tree diagram suddenly appeared in Tsukishiro Takuma's mind, with five conspicuous branches extending from the extremely thick tree body.

Two of these branches were filled with something resembling fruits, with a dull color, and only the branch named "Fantasy Path" had a faintly glowing fruit.

Upon gazing at it, a window with text descriptions immediately appeared:

[Ability: Hypnosis]

[Level: LV1]

[Explanation: You can induce mild hypnosis on a target through eye contact, speech, gestures, images, and specific objects, with a success rate of 50%. You can release the target from the hypnosis state at any time, and there is a high probability that the target can also break free autonomously.]

In addition, he also took a brief look at other "fruits".

Time stop, control, transparency, transformation, modulation...

Tsukishiro Takuma's expression darkened involuntarily.

What was that damn goddess thinking?

Is the blessing of a dignified goddess so malevolent?

Hypnosis is one thing, but why is there also time stop ability?

Is the explanation for control fake?

What does transparency imply?

And modulation, is it that kind of modulation?

By the way, that bastard goddess didn't expect him to use these skills to defeat the Hero team, right?

Hypnotize the Hero?

Time-stopping elven archers?

Control the female knight?

Modulate the silver-haired female magician?

Sure enough, he will have to correct that goddess sooner or later.

Then, Tsukishiro Takuma noticed a glowing window under the tree.

[Evil Value: 0]

So, what exactly is this "evil value"?

As if anticipating his doubts, text appeared again:

[When you perform actions perceived as villainous by others, the Torch Tree will automatically detect the level of evil in that behavior, thus forming a kind of energy called "Evil Value." Additionally, the abilities of all paths require "Evil Value" to activate and upgrade.]

Tsukishiro Takuma frowned; it sounded like the setup of a third-rate novel.

On second thought, it had nothing to do with him.

After all, he had returned to the modern era, free from the need to defeat any heroes.

It might be better to just enjoy this new beginning.

Only a fool would engage in villainous behavior.

However, that evil goddess once again anticipated his thought process.

[The newly born Torch Tree requires sufficient energy to survive. To prevent its withering, you need to provide a certain "Evil Value" to it every month. Unfortunately, the Torch Tree is bound to your soul, and if it withers, you will die alongside it.]

Upon reading the latter part, Tsukishiro Takuma's expression became unpleasant.

One could only say that she was indeed an evil goddess capable of such maneuvers.

[In addition to providing a certain "Evil Value" every month, there is another method to prevent the Torch Tree from withering. You can directly sacrifice one hundred points of "Evil Value" to let the Torch Tree take root completely, completely eliminating the possibility of its withering under normal circumstances.]

Well, just after delivering a fatal blow, she immediately presented what seemed like good news, trying to console and leave a glimmer of hope, right?

Even if Tsukishiro Takuma complained, he knew he couldn't change this reality.

After all, that goddess was now in a dimension so far away that he couldn't even contact her

Since he couldn't resist this situation, he might as well lie down and accept his situation.

Optimistically speaking, he was just back to the life of being a worker.

In the past, he used to work for money, and now its evil value.

...

Following the memory prompts, Tsukishiro Takuma arrived at the entrance of first year Class D.

By now, quite a few people had gathered in the classroom, mostly sitting in their seats, chatting in pairs, occasionally accompanied by laughter.

High school students have it good, living carefree lives without worrying about their future.

Tsukishiro Takuma looked envious, then remembered that he was now a high school student too, and couldn't help but crack a smile.

Next, he walked into the classroom with a pleasant mood.

However, upon seeing the seat with his nameplate, he suddenly froze because on both sides of it were girls.

On the left, there seemed to be a familiar black-haired girl with an indifferent expression from before, and on the right was a girl wearing glasses and rustic clothes, looking like an easy target for bullying.

Tsukishiro Takuma had a beaming smile as he sat on his seat, contemplating how to strike up a conversation.

However, he noticed a few more people entering from the door.

Oh, unexpectedly, it's those two students who caused a commotion on the bus before.

Speaking of which, isn't it a bit too coincidental?

Could it be that everyone on that bus is from this class?

Tsukishiro Takuma watched as the male student with conspicuous blond hair took his seat, propped his feet on the desk, and began to casually polish his nails, seemingly indifferent to his surroundings.

Surveying the entire classroom, it seemed there were quite a few problematic students, especially those three loudly arguing idiots.

Interesting.

A faint smile appeared on Takuma's lips; it seemed like his high school life was going to be quite entertaining.

After a while, the class bell rang.

Afterward, a woman who appeared to be their teacher entered the room.

She looked to be around thirty, wore classic teacher uniform, had her hair tied in a neat ponytail, and had a stern expression, seemingly not someone to be trifled with.

Could she be a new teacher who arrived in the last few days?

"I'm Chabashira Sae, homeroom teacher for Class D, also your history teacher."

"There will be no changing of classes in this school. I will be responsible for you for the next three years, until you graduate.."

The woman who introduced herself as Chabashira Sae walked to the podium amid everyone's gaze and began distributing school materials.

"An entrance ceremony will be held in the gymnasium one hour from now."

"However, before that, I'll hand out the school rule book since we have some special rules in this school, though you have already received prior notification along with the admission notice."

"Alongside it, you'll find your student terminal. It's an integrated smartphone that serves as a student ID, phone for communication, as well as payment device. It operates based on the S system developed by our school. You can freely use it from now on."

"By the way, communication is limited within the school area, and any interaction with the outside world is not allowed."

Tsukishiro Takuma listened while receiving the school rule book and a smartphone-like device from the front desk.

Then he started reading the so-called school rules.

After flipping through a few pages, he felt that this high school was quite unusual.

A fully enclosed boarding school... No contact with the outside world... Boasting a 100% employment and college entry rate... Tuition-free state-directed teaching methods...

Good grief, what kind of dream high school is this?

Setting aside those restrictions, just the 100% employment and college entry rate are highly suspicious, right?

Isn't there a law against false advertising in Japan? Well, I guess not since this school is run by the government.

Then, he heard Chabashira Sae announce another shocking piece of information.

"On the first of every month, school will transfer points to your student terminal, and these points will be your sole means of payment during your stay here."

"Without any surprises, each of you should have received 100,000 points. To clarify, each point is equivalent to one yen, and within the school, there's nothing you can't buy with these points. As for further explanations, I think it's unnecessary."

In an instant, the once quiet classroom became lively.

"100,000 points? Is that for real?"

"Am I dreaming? The school is treating students so generously?"

"Could the school have made a mistake?"

Many people exclaimed because 100,000 yen is a substantial amount for a high school student, equivalent to over 650 US dollars.

However, Chabashira Sae quickly dispelled their concerns.

"Don't be surprised. This school evaluates students based on their abilities. For you who have successfully enrolled here, there is corresponding value and potential. Consider these points as a form of recognition, and feel free to use them."

"However, after graduation, the school will reclaim all these points, and saving them won't serve any purpose. Students are also allowed to exchange private points among themselves. But, it's best not to engage in any fraudulent or coercive behavior, as the school is particularly sensitive to these topics."

"If there are no more questions, that's it for today."

Chabashira Sae looked at everyone, noticed no one raised their hand, and left the classroom on her own.

The students in the class were still in shock from gaining 100,000 points out of nowhere.

After a while, someone couldn't contain their excitement and began speaking.

"This school is amazing!"

"Hey, let's explore various shops on the way to dorms, okay?"

"Yeah, on my way here, I saw many stores. Before, I thought I had no chance to enter them, but now it seems I can do so!"

"I'm definitely buying a game console!"

Watching the classroom erupt into excitement, Tsukishiro Takuma couldn't help but have doubts about the authenticity of this school.

Isn't the school treating students too favorably?

Or perhaps, is Japan truly a rich nation, economically developed to the point of considering money as toilet paper, and started playing new tricks?

Will there be any hidden cost later on?

---

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