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ArabicClassroom of the Elite: Standing Firm in Class A — Chapter 44
Chapter 44: Transaction Successful
Kaedehara Tetsu raised a single, unhurried finger.
“First, Mashima-sensei, please point out if there is any school rule that explicitly prohibits students from purchasing score reduction services.”
Mashima Tomoya’s expression darkened into a grim scowl. Of course, he knew no such rule existed. The S-System was complete, but no one with a rational state of mind would ever think to formulate a clause against sabotaging a test score.
“Since it is not explicitly forbidden, then according to the foundation of our rules, it is tacitly allowed.”
Tetsu did not wait for a rebuttal. He raised a second finger, his voice calm and entirely devoid of heat.
“Secondly, will my actions have a negative impact on the school’s public order or the teaching environment? I ask you, Mashima-sensei, will the act of changing a student’s score from a perfect one hundred to a ninety-nine cause the teaching building to collapse? Will it provoke riots among the student body, or damage the prestigious reputation of Advanced Nurturing High School? No. What it affects is merely that student’s individual score ranking. It is just a number on a screen.”
He paused, letting the weight of his logic settle over the cramped office space.
“Finally, and most crucially…”
Tetsu leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes locking onto his homeroom teacher.
“Is there any difference in the essence of the transaction between adding one point and subtracting one point? No. Both are actions of using Personal Points as a payment method to modify a numerical value in the school’s database. They are completely equivalent, inverse operations of two transaction models. Since the school allows the existence of one, then from the perspective of logical rigor, there is absolutely no reason to prohibit the other.”
Tetsu delivered his concluding statement with the smooth, practiced cadence of a seasoned prosecutor.
“I am not exploiting loopholes. I am discovering and adhering to the logic within the rule system you uphold. If you deny its reasonableness simply because my actions seem malicious, then what you are doing is precisely denying the principle of rules above all else. You will turn the school’s system into a joke, open to arbitrary interpretation based on personal preferences, full of human-centric bias.”
The faculty office fell into a deathly silence. The ambient hum of the air conditioner suddenly felt deafening.
Mashima slowly sank back into his chair, the leather creaking under his weight. He was completely silent. He found that he could not refute the student’s twisted logic from any angle. This boy understood the cold, distorted truth of the S-System even more deeply than the adults who enforced it.
Beside him, Hoshinomiya Chie had completely forgotten to drink the coffee in her hand. She stared at the eloquent young man before her, her eyes sparkling with an unmatched light mixed with sheer astonishment.
‘This boy… is a monster.’
A true monster disguised in the uniform of a high school student. He was not just using the rules; he was deconstructing them, playing with them as if they were mere toys.
“…Whose score do you want to reduce?”
After a long, suffocating pause, Mashima finally squeezed the words from his throat. He did not say yes, nor did he say no. But the very act of asking the question meant that, to some extent, he had tacitly acknowledged the possibility of Tetsu’s theory.
“Class 1-A, Sakayanagi Arisu.”
Tetsu stated the name without a shred of hesitation.
“The subject is mathematics. Score, minus one point.”
Mashima’s pupils contracted sharply. If this hostility were directed at another class, he might have understood it as a vicious, albeit extreme, inter-class competition. But targeting Sakayanagi Arisu, an exceptional student within his own class? What was the reason for this? A petty personal vendetta? Or some deeper, insidious meaning he could not comprehend?
Hoshinomiya’s face shifted into a truly remarkable expression. She seemed to finally catch a whiff of an unusual, complex entanglement between adolescent boys and girls. The flames of gossip burned brightly in her eyes, temporarily overriding her shock.
“What happened between you and Sakayanagi?” Mashima pressed, his voice thick with suspicion.
“I am just playing a pleasant little game with Sakayanagi-san, Mashima-sensei.” Tetsu’s answer was watertight, his polite smile never wavering. “also, I am just here to purchase a service that adheres to the rules. My motive for purchasing this service does not seem to be within the scope of your review.”
Mashima’s chest heaved. He felt his dignity as an educator being constantly eroded by the calm, smiling teenager sitting across from him. He took a deep breath, forcing his racing heart to settle.
“One last question. What about the price?” He stared hard at Tetsu, trying to use this final barrier to regain some control. “Since it is a custom service not explicitly written in the rules, how should the price be calculated?”
“Since adding one point costs one hundred thousand Personal Points, then I will also pay one hundred thousand points to subtract one point. This is the fairest way, and it doesn’t require you, Mashima-sensei, to consult your superiors, does it?”
Tetsu spoke as if those one hundred thousand points were merely an insignificant string of numbers. He had anticipated and cleared away every potential obstacle Mashima might have used to stall the transaction. He had even thoughtfully saved his teacher the trouble of reporting to the higher-ups.
Mashima looked at him for a long time. Finally, he squeezed a single word from between his teeth.
“…Alright.”
He pulled out his teacher’s terminal and brought up a backend operating system he had barely touched since his employment began.
Tetsu retrieved his own phone. With a soft chime, his Personal Points instantly decreased by one hundred thousand.
At the same time, a transaction successful confirmation message popped up on Mashima’s terminal. Looking at the cold, emotionless text on the glowing screen, Mashima felt a sickening sensation in his gut. It did not feel like he was engaged in an educational task. It felt as though he were completing a dirty, illicit underground transaction, and he was the corrupt accomplice taking money to do the deed.
“Thank you, Mashima-sensei.”
Tetsu stood up, brushing a nonexistent speck of dust from his uniform. His polite, aristocratic smile returned to his face. “Then, I won’t disturb your work discussion with Hoshinomiya-sensei.”
He bowed slightly, turned on his heel, and walked out of the office.
The door closed softly behind him with a quiet click.
Silence returned to the room, heavy and oppressive.
After a long while, Hoshinomiya finally placed her now-lukewarm coffee cup on the table. It made a soft clink against the wood. She looked at Mashima, who was still sitting frozen in his chair. Her playful, gossipy smile was long gone, replaced by an unmatched seriousness.
“Hey, Mashima-kun.” Her voice had dropped an octave, losing its usual airy lilt. “I take back my previous comment. That child in your class isn’t a monster.”
Mashima slowly looked up at her, his expression exhausted.
“He’s a madman.”
“Spending one hundred thousand points just to make Sakayanagi-san lose a single point…” Hoshinomiya murmured, wrapping her arms around herself as if suddenly cold. She tried to understand the motivation behind such a bizarre, wasteful act. “It’s terrifying. Has the internal struggle in Class A really reached this extent? Mashima-kun, your future days probably won’t be easy.”
“This isn’t an internal struggle. It’s more like a game.” Mashima shook his head, staring blankly at the closed door. “Everything Kaedehara Tetsu does serves only his own will and pleasure.”