Oppa wanted to make friends normally on the first day of school and hoped that I would do the same if possible. Unlike his own tendency toward playing it safe, he must have been worried about my meritocratic and self-righteous personality.

So I’m sorry, oppa. It looks like making friends is already a lost cause.

There was no way anyone would approach the girl who had completely wrecked the self-introduction session. I had already become the infamous bitch who made Kushida cry twice and, on top of that, had proudly declared herself a meritocrat, turning into an obnoxious woman as well.

If you combine those, does that make me an obnoxious bitch?

“Hehehe.”

“Damn it.”

Meanwhile, the only person showing me blatantly obvious interest was Koenji, who had been branded as a problem student just like me and I found his gaze extremely unpleasant.

After the storm-like passage of time, the entrance ceremony began. While pretending to listen attentively to the rambling speeches of the school’s distinguished figures, I was fully absorbed in identifying flaws in the S System.

Once the ceremony ended, we received a brief orientation from Chabashira-sensei and that was it. Today’s schedule was over. I decided to head to the dormitory first and check what necessities I might need.

“Wait, why don’t you stop right there?”

Of course, the Kushida incident was not going to be let go. Several girls stepped in front of me as I tried to leave.

“What is it? Do you have business with me?”

“Did you even apologize? You trashed the class atmosphere in an instant and now you’re trying to run away irresponsibly?”

The loud, short-haired, unattractive girl in the group spoke up. Her name was Shitpoo (Shinohara) or something, if I recall correctly.

“Do I have anyone I need to apologize to specifically? There’s no one here from the same middle school as me.”

“Don’t play dumb! Because of you, Kushida is still crying. Even just now, the others went to comfort her. If you picked a fight, then take responsibility!”

The surrounding girls voiced their agreement. Already forming a group and relying on numbers to attack a single person—this alone told me everything I needed to know about the overall level of the girls in this class.

Petty, disgusting incompetents.

“I’m curious—do you incompetents have some kind of rule that says you can’t move without a group? Seeing you gang up because you can’t say anything one-on-one is just pathetic.”

“What? You keep calling people incompetent—just how great do you think you are?”

“At the very least, I can understand why you’re trying to pick a fight with me.”

“Pick a fight? It’s because you won’t apologize—”

“Shinohara whatever. You’re using this incident as a chance to establish yourself as a central figure in the class, aren’t you?”

Faced with my cold expression and blunt words, Shinohara froze for a moment, then raised her already loud voice even higher to hide it.

“I-I didn’t do anything like that!”

“Then you’ve been acting like a parasite without even realizing it? How pitiful, not even understanding your own standing.”

“Stop it! Who are you to say that!”

“On top of that, you’re loud but empty-headed. Judging by that, your intelligence is clearly low. Talking to you makes me feel like I’m getting dumber.”

Shinohara was filled with hostility but had no weapon to strike back at me. Should I drive the nail in further?

“More importantly, could you please get that face out of my sight? I have an eye condition where looking at pumpkins too long worsens my vision. You can understand that, right?”

“You rag-like bitch!”

Unable to control herself, Shinohara swung her hand toward my cheek. Trying to commit violence in a classroom with a CCTV camera—truly beyond stupid.

Before her hand could even touch my face, I grabbed her wrist and applied pressure.

“Kyaa—ahhh! It hurts!”

Feeling strength she could never associate with a woman, Shinohara cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face. Seeing her genuine agony, everyone froze and couldn’t even speak to me.

The White Room curriculum includes self-defense and various combat techniques. Having completed every course, my strength exceeds that of an average male athlete. She must have underestimated me because I look slim and delicate, but an incompetent with no basic athletic ability like her could be crippled at any moment.

“If you understand, then stay out of my sight from now on. Otherwise, I’ll break this hand. You don’t want to spend your fun first day of school wearing a cast, do you?”

Fear began to bloom on Shinohara’s face. She would never dare provoke me again.

“Stop it! What are you doing to your classmate?!”

Hirata, who had just returned after comforting Kushida, rushed over and tried to pry my hand away. But with only the strength of someone who played soccer, he had no chance of freeing my grip.

As Hirata panicked, unable to loosen my hand, someone suddenly intervened and easily released my grip.

“W-What?”

“I dislike ugly behavior, you see. Watching a brown-haired girl get harassed by a pumpkin girl is something I simply can’t tolerate.”

Koenji Rokusuke. The blond man casually peeled my hand off Shinohara’s arm. Until now, the only person capable of doing that had been my brother, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the surprise didn’t leave my face.

“Still, I didn’t expect the brown-haired girl’s grip to be this strong. Stronger than most adult men. No wonder you can boldly proclaim meritocracy.”

“Tch—don’t interfere!”

I was overpowered by a man I had just met. Even with the strength honed in the White Room. Irritated, I left the classroom with a sharp expression.

* * *

“Damn it! I lost? To that monkey-like man?”

After entering the dormitory, I threw my bag at the bed and kicked it in frustration. A meritocrat like me being humbled by someone other than my brother—this humiliation was unprecedented.

After venting, the room was a mess, but I soon calmed down and began analyzing the cause of my defeat.

I have to admit it. Koenji Rokusuke is strong. For now, I only confirmed his strength, but he might surpass me academically as well. Does the Koenji Conglomerate conduct successor training on par with the White Room? This is more troublesome than expected—he might even be stronger than my brother…

The moment that forbidden thought crossed my mind, I slapped my own cheek—harder than Shinohara ever had. After hitting myself dozens of times until my cheek swelled, my mind cleared.

“Crazy bitch. That monkey stronger than oppa? Impossible. Oppa is the greatest masterpiece of the White Room. What is the Koenji Conglomerate anyway? I won’t tolerate insulting him any further. Oppa is my goal. I won’t place someone like that on the same level.”

Having fully regained my composure, I swore that during my time at this school, I would defeat Koenji Rokusuke through sheer strength. It’s true that women are generally weaker than men, but I am a White Room graduate. Honestly, saying I’m stronger than a male wrestler wouldn’t even be an exaggeration. A pampered rich boy like him would be easy.

“Haa… I’m hungry.”

After exerting myself, hunger set in. Most students probably rushed to the store as soon as school ended, so by now a fair amount of time had passed. There should be fewer people. Some daily necessities might be gone, but since I’m ignorant in that area, I’ll research what sells well and buy them tomorrow.

“Before that, I should eat something.”

* * *

I headed to the convenience store near the dormitory. Even after waiting a bit, there were still some people around.

As I was about to enter, I saw a clerk grumbling while cleaning up a toppled trash can.

“Damn it, who did this? The CCTV will tell, but messing up a public trash can—what nerve. That’s going to be a major point deduction.”

Point deduction? Deducted from what… don’t tell me—

It might have been an offhand remark, but the word ‘deduction’ immediately triggered my unease. I approached to ask, but the clerk had already finished cleaning and left.

‘I knew it. It’s a system where points are deducted based on behavior.’

The decisive evidence was the free-item shelf, where goods were scattered carelessly.

Seeing that students could take up to three free items per month and that vending machines even offered free bottled water, the school had a system allowing basic living even with zero points. Normally, this would be a safety net for students who ran out of points at month’s end, but it didn’t feel like that at all.

First-years who had just received their points wouldn’t touch old or near-expiration free goods. That meant upperclassmen took most of them—and in such quantities, it implied many people were already running low at the start of the month.

Possibly even at zero.

Now the abundance of CCTV cameras around the campus made sense. I initially thought they were to prevent incidents in an isolated environment, but they could also be for monitoring point increases and decreases.

I shouldn’t spend money recklessly. Even spending habits might be evaluated. For now, I’ll buy a small meal and take free items. I might even gain bonus points.

Mindful of the cameras, I selected a shampoo, toothbrush and toothpaste in relatively good condition from the free items. Then I decided to buy cup noodles, something I’d only heard of. There were many varieties, so I picked the one that seemed most popular, ‘Giga Cup Ramen,’ and another one.

Back at the dormitory, I tried it and… hmm. It’s a flavor oppa would like.

* * *

When the alarm rang, I opened my sleepy eyes. Sunlight filtered through my eyelids as I regained awareness and confirmed the dorm room I had been sleeping in.

Only then did it truly sink in. I had left the White Room.

After finishing my morning preparations, I had breakfast with one cup of noodles I bought yesterday and headed to school. After walking for a while, the moment I entered the classroom, the atmosphere fell silent.

Well, it was probably because of yesterday’s near wrist-breaking incident. I could feel both boys and girls cautiously watching me. Shinohara’s group glared at me with resentment, but the moment our eyes met, they immediately looked away in fear.

It seems they didn’t report yesterday’s incident.

Objectively speaking, it could have escalated into a violent case, but since things remained quiet, nothing must have happened. Even if it became an issue, the classroom CCTV clearly shows Shinohara’s group provoking me and attempting to slap me first. And I only grabbed her wrist—without striking—and did so carefully enough to avoid bruises. There’s no way I’d be disciplined for violence.

If anything, I could push Shinohara into a corner and make myself the pitiful victim.

With that in mind, I sat down, opened my book and began studying while remaining conscious of the cameras. Since this is a school, grades would certainly factor into evaluation.

Of course, a standard three-year high school curriculum means nothing to me—I completed it perfectly years ago. I’m only pretending to study for the sake of point evaluation.