The next day, early morning.
Lioro, now in the form of Ike, looked at himself in the mirror, dressed in the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School uniform.
After making sure everything was in order, he grabbed his bag and stepped out of the room.
As he walked down the dormitory hallway, Lioro recalled the information he had gathered from Ike. About a month had passed since the academic year began, meaning the plot of the series was already underway.
Currently, the students of Class D are going through a rough period. They hadn't received any points for the new month due to poor behavior—multiple absences, using phones during class, and various other violations.
The school operated in a way that silently monitored students and assigned performance scores. Points were allocated monthly based on these evaluations, and this time, Class D had earned a grand total of zero.
Their only hope of redemption now rested on the upcoming midterm exams. If they performed well, the class could receive up to 100 points as a reward. The problem was, their prior quiz results were abysmal. Among the worst performers were Kanji Ike, Ken Sudō, and Haruki Yamauchi.
To make matters worse, the student with the lowest score in the upcoming midterms would be expelled. If things followed the original storyline, Sudō would end up with the lowest score and be saved by Ayanokōji through the use of 100,000 points.
Whether Sudō stayed or got expelled didn't really concern Lioro. What truly piqued his interest were these points. They could supposedly be used to buy anything on campus. He pulled out Ike's phone and checked the balance.
10,590 points remained.
At the start of the school year, each student was given 100,000 points. Somehow, Ike had managed to blow through nearly 90 percent of it on pointless things. Well, actually, the games had been pretty fun... Lioro himself had ended up playing them all night.
You couldn't blame him. It had been a long time since he'd had access to modern tech.
Shaking his head, Lioro left the dorm and followed the signs around campus. After a few wrong turns and detours, he eventually found the school building and entered his classroom.
Sliding open the door, Lioro saw that most of the class had already arrived. He spotted his seat—second to last desk in the first column—behind Yamauchi and in front of Sudō.
Of course, the three of them were known to be a little trio of idiots.
Yamauchi greeted him with a casual wave as he passed. Lioro nodded back and took his seat. He glanced at Sudō, who sat slumped in his chair, legs on the desk, looking irritated and uninterested in talking.
The entire room felt gloomy. After the blow of receiving zero points, more than seventy percent of the class looked downcast and demotivated.
Lioro placed his bag on the desk, pulled out his chair, and sat down. Sitting in a classroom full of young students gave him a strange sense of nostalgia. It brought back memories of his own school days.
He was lost in thought when the classroom door opened and the teacher entered, heels clicking against the floor.
The moment Lioro laid eyes on her, he perked up.
Damn. She was hot.
Long brown hair tied in a ponytail, a black blazer over a white shirt, a short black skirt, and stockings.
Should a teacher really be allowed to dress like that?
Absolutely.
In fact, Lioro approved wholeheartedly. All beautiful teachers should dress like this. Voluptuous, stylish—she was a solid ten out of ten.
While Lioro was busy admiring her, Sae Chabashira started writing on the board and began teaching history. Lioro listened for a bit, but quickly grew bored. History had never been his favorite subject.
His gaze drifted across the classroom. There they were—Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, Suzune Horikita, Rokusuke Kōenji... all looking just like their anime counterparts.
Ayanokōji seemed to sense his gaze and looked back at him. Their eyes locked. An unspoken challenge began. Who would blink first?
While Ayanokōji was likely puzzled, Lioro was fully committed to this sudden battle of wills.
A few seconds passed. Finally, Ayanokōji looked away.
Victory.
Lioro nodded to himself in satisfaction.
Several hours later, the lecture ended. Sudō and Yamauchi were the first to get up. They seemed to have plans and invited him to come along. Lioro declined, saying he had other things to do. The two didn't press him and left.
Lioro packed his bag and prepared to explore the island, curious about this unique place built entirely for the education of high school students.
But as he walked through the hallway, someone called out to him.
"Ike, can we talk for a moment?"
Turning, Lioro saw Ayanokōji approaching.
"What is it?" he asked casually.
"I wanted to invite you to join our study group," Ayanokōji replied, expressionless.
"Study group?"
"Yes. It's to help improve grades for the upcoming midterms."
Lioro scratched his chin. He vaguely remembered an event like this in the series. No doubt Horikita was behind it, trying to avoid a classmate being expelled due to poor grades.
It seemed Ike's poor academic standing had earned him an invitation.
But didn't Ike reject Ayanokōji's offer to join the study group?
While Lioro was thinking, Ayanokōji quietly observed him.
Kanji Ike.
A game enthusiast often seen hanging out with Ken Sudō and Haruki Yamauchi.
Recalling their earlier eye contact in class, Ayanokōji couldn't help but wonder.
Could this be the start of a friendship?
They had shared a brief, silent moment of connection.
Maybe... this Ike could become his first friend?
Feeling a faint sense of hope, Ayanokōji waited.
"All right, I'll come," Lioro finally replied.
Ayanokōji pulled out his phone.
"Then I'll add you to my contacts."
"Sure."
They quickly exchanged contact information.
"Ike, could you help me ask Sudō and Yamauchi as well?"
"Sudō and Yamauchi? Yeah, I'll leave them a message."
Lioro opened Ike's contacts and sent a message.
The reply came back almost instantly.
"It seems they don't exactly trust me when it comes to studying," Lioro remarked, showing Ayanokōji the message.
[If I study by myself, I might fail. If I study with you, I will definitely fail!] x2
Ayanokōji blinked.
"Tell them Horikita will be leading the study group."
"Got it."
Lioro sent another message.
Moments later, he checked his phone again.
"They're in."
"Thanks, Ike."
"No problem."
Inside the library.
A group of five students sat gathered at a table: Lioro, Ayanokōji, and Horikita on one side, Sudō and Yamauchi on the other.
Lioro looked around the spacious, well-stocked library with interest. It was much larger than he had expected.
"Let's not waste time. We'll begin now," Horikita said in a cool tone. She took out three sheets of paper and handed them to the three boys.
"First, try solving these problems."
It seemed she wanted to gauge their current academic level.
Lioro glanced at the sheet passed to him by Ayanokōji.
The questions were low to medium difficulty.
For a university graduate, this was child's play.
Picking up his pen, he casually started filling in the answers.
Next to him, Ayanokōji glanced at his paper from time to time but said nothing.
After a while, they finished. The sheets were handed back to Horikita.
Looking over the results, Horikita frowned and addressed Sudō and Yamauchi in a sharp tone.
"You can't even solve these basic questions. It makes me wonder how you got into this school."
Sudō clicked his tongue in irritation at her tone.
Horikita's eyes then turned to Lioro's sheet. She frowned even deeper.
"Did you cheat?"
"Huh? Horikita, how dare you say that about my friend!" Sudō shot back, raising his voice.
Ignoring him, Horikita kept her eyes on Lioro.
"All your answers are correct. If you can do this, why were your quiz scores so low?"
"W-What? All of Ike's answers are correct?!" Sudō and Yamauchi both stood up, staring at their friend in disbelief.
"He didn't cheat," Ayanokōji commented in his usual flat tone.
"Damn, Ike! You've been hiding your skills!" Yamauchi exclaimed.
"I was shocked by my low quiz score, so I've been studying more," Lioro replied casually.
Sudō and Yamauchi gave him looks of betrayal.
Lioro simply shrugged.
Horikita glanced at him again, then said, "At least one of you is showing some willingness to improve."
The study session began in earnest.
Unlike in the original storyline, where Sudō, Ike, and Yamauchi gave up halfway due to Horikita's condescending attitude, this time they stayed. Maybe seeing their friend do well had motivated them.
Of course, Lioro wasn't good at everything.
When it came to History, he performed even worse than Sudō.
Horikita narrowed her eyes as she looked at his answers.
"These are elementary school questions. How can you not answer them?"
Lioro remained silent.
How the hell was he supposed to know the history of this anime-world Japan? He barely knew the history of real-world Japan.
Ignoring Horikita's glare, Lioro turned to Ayanokōji.
"Can you give me a quick rundown?"
Ayanokōji blinked, then calmly summarized the important points Lioro needed to remember.
As the study session continued, Lioro, in the middle of asking Ayanokōji a question, suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Ayanokōji asked, seeing him staring into the air.
Lioro ignored him, eyes locked on the system notification that had just appeared.
[The skill 'Beginner Mathematics' has been discovered. Requires general job: Academician. Current conditions not met.]
[The skill 'Beginner Science' has been discovered. Requires general job: Academician. Current conditions not met.]
[Genius (Academician) profession has been activated. Transformation successful. Learning conditions met. Consume 2 skill points to learn?]
Dammit! Why was History excluded?!
Lioro cursed in his mind, then siad without hesitation.
'Learn!"
Instantly, a set of familiar knowledge filled his mind.
'High school level?'
Various small concepts he was unfamiliar with before suddenly became a lot clearer, even though it was only high school level.
Suddenly Lioro's eyes glowed with interest.
'If there is a basic level..... then what about higher ones?...'
One of the things that attracted him the most in this world was undoubtedly the scientific knowledge.
And with his cheat, it seemed possible to acquire all of it.
Beware world!
Professor Lioro is coming!
----
Ps: In academic terms Beginner refers to a high school graduate, Intermediate is a bachelor, advanced is a Master's degree, Master is a Ph.D. level academician, and Grandmaster.....Einstein or something.