Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 032: No Way—Chabashira-sensei, You’re Even Poorer Than Me?!

8:30 PM.

Near the vending machine where he had encountered the Horikita siblings the previous day, a boy let out a quiet sigh as he leaned against the railing by the silent artificial lake.

Since he had ample free time in the evening, he had even taken a shower before coming out.

But as expected, some preparation was necessary.

That boy was Hikigaya Hachiman.

He was working hard—for himself.

More precisely, he was working to acquire more points.

Since he had been assigned to Class D from the start, earning points through the class-based system seemed nearly hopeless. Going solo was the best option. However, he had also confirmed that the school’s shopping district did not allow students to earn money through part-time jobs or other conventional means used by ordinary high schoolers to cover their living expenses.

That left him with no choice but to take a different approach.

For him, things were rather simple. Upon enrolling, he had already made a deal with his homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei—he would investigate a particular student’s records in exchange for 200,000 points.

In this school, points could be used directly as money. Upon graduation, the school would even convert them into cash, making them extremely valuable.

On the surface, it seemed like a great deal.

However, through Horikita Manabu, he had obtained some troubling information.

He suspected that Chabashira-sensei harbored even greater ambitions.

So, naturally, he wanted to renegotiate for a higher price.

Thus, he had arranged a meeting with Chabashira-sensei.

The agreed time was 9:00 PM.

He arrived early.

Not because he wanted to act like a gentleman, but because he needed to gather some information.

For example—details about Chabashira-sensei’s salary.

She hadn’t answered him directly before, but she had once flaunted a massive sum of 6.02 million points.

She had even taken out her point cards.

When Hachiman scanned them, both cards contained exactly 200,000 points.

No deception.

A display of financial confidence.

But he still needed to ask.

Normally, if one wanted to obtain information, they could simply buy it with points. This was the most direct method. For instance, Class A, where Sakayanagi was, had spent a staggering 2 million points to purchase the school’s secrets from their homeroom teacher.

As long as one had the money, there was nothing that couldn’t be bought.

Even being placed in Class D at the start wasn’t an irreversible fate.

By accumulating 20 million points, a student could directly transfer to Class A.

Of course—

Hachiman had no such ambition.

20 million points?

For an ordinary person, that would take years to earn.

For someone with a low salary, it could even amount to ten years’ worth of work without spending a single cent.

So, why not just exchange it for ten years of labor upfront? That didn’t seem like such a bad deal.

Hachiman preferred to take the money.

It was the more straightforward option.

After all, even if he made it to Class A and got into his desired university, would that guarantee a good job after graduation?

Would he definitely get a high salary?

There was no certainty.

And if he forwent further education and instead relied on a school recommendation to enter his desired workplace, what if the company faced financial trouble or an economic downturn and he got laid off?

These were all risks.

So, rather than gambling on an uncertain future, he preferred the solid reliability of cash in hand.

Just like how he preferred women who were already wealthy from the start.

Rather than struggling together, it was better if the other party was well-off from the beginning.

Hmm.

These were all the thoughts of a future stay-at-home husband.

But for now—

Hachiman was handling serious business.

After all, at the moment, there weren’t any reliable and suitable wealthy women to support him.

However, during his inquiries, he came across some rather troubling news.

It went something like this:

“By the way, Student Council President, do teachers earn a high salary?” Hachiman typed this into his chat with Horikita Manabu.

Horikita Manabu, the student council president, was widely regarded as the most outstanding president in the school’s history.

He was also the class representative of 3rd-year Class A.

Based on the rankings of classes A, B, C, and D displayed on the first floor of the third-year academic building…

Hmm.

He now knew that those were called Class Evaluation Scores, which determined the amount of resources a class received from the school.

The rankings of Classes A, B, C, and D were fluid—whichever class had the highest evaluation score would be ranked the highest.

This meant that even the top classes felt pressure, fearing they might be surpassed by lower-ranked classes.

However—

• 3rd-year Class A: 2530 points
•
• 3rd-year Class B: 1300 points
•
• 3rd-year Class C: 300 points
•
• 3rd-year Class D: 20 points
•
Horikita Manabu’s 3rd-year Class A was overwhelmingly in the lead.

As the class representative, Horikita Manabu’s contributions were undeniable—he was indeed an exceptional individual.

He was also extremely disciplined.

Even when privately sharing information about the school with his sister, he could have chosen to ignore the rules and not pay any points.

Yet, he chose to strictly follow the regulations, even punishing himself by paying a hefty fine of one million points.

Of course, this might have also been a way for him to teach his sister about the harshness of this school—one wrong step, and you could lose a million points in an instant.

A tough-love lesson from an older brother.

Except… his sister was completely unaware of it.

Seeing this, Hachiman felt somewhat amused.

After all, his own younger sister wasn’t someone he had to worry about.

Rather, she was the one worrying about him.

Worrying that he didn’t fit in.

Worrying that no one would ever want him.

Worrying that he wouldn’t get a job in the future.

But—

“Komachi, just wait. Your big brother is currently studying for free, and during this time, he’s accumulating enough money so that he won’t even need to work in the future.”

Hachiman felt a surge of motivation.

The only downside was that after messaging Horikita Manabu, the other party didn’t respond immediately.

As expected.

According to this school’s rules, anything could be bought with points.

So, did he need to transfer some points to the student council president in exchange for an answer?

Just as he was wondering how much he should pay for this piece of information, Horikita Manabu’s reply finally came through.

[Your homeroom teacher’s salary is approximately 200,000 points.] —Horikita Manabu

His wording was precise—your homeroom teacher’s salary, not teachers’ salaries in general.

This implied that, just as students’ living expenses were tied to their class ranking, teachers’ salaries might also be linked to the performance of their assigned class.

But if Chabashira-sensei’s salary was only 200,000 points…

Then what about the 6.02 million points in her personal account?

“Do teachers receive free housing and meals? Or are there additional bonuses?”

[…]

This time, Horikita Manabu didn’t reply with words but simply sent three dots.

Right. Hachiman’s question must have seemed odd.

[Normally, teachers, like students, are exempt from housing fees, but they must cover their own meal expenses.]

[However, your homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei, seems to be very frugal. Sometimes, when I leave work late and go to the cafeteria, I see her lining up at the free meal counter.]

[I’ve also seen her picking up free relief supplies on occasion.]

It seemed that Horikita Manabu had sensed Hachiman’s interest in this matter, so he provided a bit more information than usual.

Oh.

So that’s how it was.

In other words, being student council president was a tough job, which was why Horikita Manabu stayed so late.

But…

Chabashira-sensei was eating free meals?

Did that mean she was also frugal and family-oriented?

…Not a chance.

She had a salary, so why was she eating the Mountain Vegetable Set Meal that even the senior students found inedibly awful?

In other words—

Was she saving money?

Could it be that the 6.02 million points he saw were actually the result of her scrimping and saving over time?

Yet, despite being so frugal, she was willing to pay him 200,000 points just for investigating a student?

Chabashira-sensei.

Maybe it wasn’t just about how teachers’ salaries were tied to their class rankings.

Maybe there was something deeper.

Which meant…

Just like the students—teachers assigned to Class D had problems, too?

As he processed this existentially troubling realization, Hachiman sat there in a daze.

“Clack, clack, clack—”

At that moment, the sound of high heels echoed.

1st-year Class D’s homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, had arrived.