COTE: Popularity System

Summer vacation.

The first-year students of Advanced Nurturing High School were summoned by the school and boarded a luxury cruise ship.

"The school is really too good to us."

In the luxury cruise ship's buffet restaurant, Yamauchi Haruki expressed his feelings.

"Yamauchi, weren't you the one who was most annoyed about the summer break being taken up, claiming you knew people in the Ministry of Education and were going to report the school to them?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, sitting next to him, retorted.

"No, no." Yamauchi Haruki waved his arms. "I never said that, you must have misheard."

Here it comes. Yamauchi's classic "you misheard."

Whenever someone tries to argue with his words, he fobs them off with phrases like "you misheard" or "of course I can do it, I just don't feel like it right now."

In the beginning, some people chose to believe his claims. But after one semester, everyone in the class knew that he was a pure, habitual liar, so they didn't pay attention to anything he said. Yet, Yamauchi Haruki himself was oblivious, tirelessly continuing to boast about himself.

"Can you guys stop using such precious time just to talk?"

Ike Kanji tapped the plate in front of him, which was piled high with food specially provided by the luxury cruise ship for the students.

"It's rare to have normal people food to eat. If we don't eat more now, we might not get the chance later."

On the luxury cruise ship, all service facilities were open to students free of charge. Things like restaurants, movie theaters, and spa services—students didn't need to pay for any of them.

For the D Class students, who hadn't received any points for nearly a semester, this was a rare and golden opportunity.

Initially, they were unhappy that the school was taking up their summer leisure time, but after seeing the high-quality services they could enjoy, they could only exclaim, "It smells so good!"

"Oh right, it's all Ayanokoji's fault for distracting me."

Yamauchi Haruki realized this and quickly began shoveling food with his chopsticks, eating like a Saiyan.

Hearing Yamauchi Haruki's words, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was speechless.

My fault, huh?

Just as he was about to eat something to fill his stomach, students from other classes walked over, looking displeased.

Morishige Takurō from Class B frowned, looking dissatisfied. "I say, can you guys in D Class improve your table manners?"

"Everyone in the entire restaurant is eating quietly. Only you guys in D Class are shouting and yelling, and even the way you eat is hideous."

"Eating in the same restaurant as you lowers everyone else's standards."

Hearing this, Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji, who were gorging themselves, stopped shoveling food and began to sense the surrounding gazes.

Only after Morishige Takurō said this did they realize that the looks from the people around them were indeed full of disdain and disgust, as if they were looking at trash.

Without needing to think much, they knew their actions had caused trouble for others.

Realizing Morishige Takurō was right, even the thick-skinned Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji lowered their heads guiltily, not daring to argue back.

"Well, we couldn't help it."

Hondō Ryōtarō, sitting nearby, spoke up to explain, "D Class hasn't had any points transferred in for a long time. We've been eating the free Wild Vegetable Set Meals every day. Seeing so much delicious food on the luxury cruise ship, we really couldn't control ourselves."

Hondo Ryotaro, a D Class student, replaced Sudo after he was expelled, becoming part of the new idiot trio.

His record included spending all 100,000 points in the first month, and then failing history during the midterm exams, forcing the use of the entire class's points to save him.

Other than that, his level of idiocy was comparable to Yamauchi, Ike, and the others. It was only because he sat farther away that he hadn't joined the idiot group initially.

However, after Sudo left, he naturally became a member of the idiot group, becoming the new idiot trio of D Class.

As for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he was just an outsider lingering on the periphery.

"No points transferred in?" A sinister smile appeared on Morishige Takurō's lips. "As expected of the school's defective products, saying something so alarming with such composure. I almost admire you."

"Morishige, hold your tongue."

Just then, the voice of Katsuragi Kōhei rang out. "Sakayanagi requires you to cooperate with my actions during this period. I believe my words still hold some weight for you right now."

Hearing this, an unpleasant expression appeared on Morishige Takurō's face. He snorted coldly and returned to his seat, no longer mocking the D Class students.

After Morishige left, Katsuragi looked at the D Class students and said with a serious expression, "I apologize for Morishige's words and actions just now. However, I also hope you pay more attention to etiquette and consider the feelings of others."

Katsuragi gave off the impression not of a high school student, but of the school's head disciplinary teacher.

In response to his statement, the idiot trio nodded repeatedly, promising that they would definitely eat quietly from now on and stop making a fuss. But they quickly started chatting again.

Ike Kanji put his chopsticks down on the table and said with a serious face, "During this trip, I'm going to make the most important decision of my life."

"What are you going to do?" Hondo Ryotaro asked curiously.

"I'm going to confess to Kushida-san." A look of determination flashed in Ike Kanji's eyes.

"What?!" Yamauchi Haruki immediately shouted excitedly upon hearing this. "Are you crazy? Kushida would never agree to you! I have a better chance of winning her over than you do!"

"Well... how would I know without trying?"

Ike Kanji said, "Besides, Kushida-san is so gentle that even if she doesn't want to be my girlfriend, she definitely won't say anything hurtful."

"That's true." Yamauchi Haruki nodded thoughtfully. "In that case, after you fail, I'll confess to Kushida-san too."

Girls like compromise. If he asked her directly to be his girlfriend, she might not agree. But if he asked her to become Ike Kanji's girlfriend, she might agree to become his girlfriend instead.

I really am a genius.

"Go away, go away!" Ike Kanji said irritably. "I've already arranged to meet Kushida-san later. You guys just watch from the side, don't cause trouble."

"Don't worry, I'll keep my distance." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said flatly.

But inside, curiosity was stirring.

Although he knew Ike Kanji would most likely fail, he wanted to witness the entire event. It was his first time seeing a real confession scene unfold. He'd treat it as reference material.