I stood, looking up at the list to see which class my name fell under. After a brief moment of scanning, I finally found it.
'Liam Morningstar: Class Qi'
I was placed in Class Qi. If I remembered correctly, that was the class that Amelia was the leader of. I had no specific preference for one class over another; truly, any class would do.
Having figured out where I was supposed to be, I promptly headed there. When I arrived at the classroom, a handful of students were already present. Luna was one of them, sitting in the front row with her head down.
When she saw me, a surprised look crossed her face, followed by a broad smile. She moved to call out to me, but I ignored her and went to the seat with my nameplate on it—it was a spot at the back of the class, right beside the window.
She lowered herself back into her seat and held her head down again. She might have been anxious, surrounded by people she didn't know, and felt relieved when she saw a familiar face walk in.
I sat in my seat, watching as the rest of the students entered the classroom. I only recognized a handful of them from the special exam. The room remained fairly quiet, with only a few students mingling with each other, but the atmosphere changed completely when a certain student entered.
It was a beautiful girl with blonde hair who seemed to captivate everyone with every move she made. She had a cheerful smile on her face as she entered and greeted the whole class. She quickly became the center of attention, with everyone circling around her desk as she took her seat.
"Amelia, I can't believe I'm actually in the same class as you!" one of the girls said, practically swooning.
The boys were no better; they were all captivated by her. The ones who seemed confident in their looks and status didn't hesitate to approach her. Even Luna appeared entranced, the look on her face suggesting she was staring at a goddess.
Amelia handled the attention well, as if she were used to it. That made sense; Luna had told me she was somewhat of a celebrity. Receiving a lot of attention must have been nothing new to her.
Shortly after, the teacher who should have been there already entered the classroom. She looked pretty young—maybe in her late twenties. She had beautiful, womanly features and carried herself with confidence. Even her attire suggested she was quite young.
She acknowledged the class with a broad smile and clasped her hands as if to apologize. This was one of the first things that flagged my attention.
"I'm so sorry for being late; I got caught up."
Even the way she spoke wasn't very teacher-like. Amelia was quick to respond.
"That's okay, teacher. We've gotten to know each other a little since you were running a bit late, so it's fine," she giggled, looking at the other girls, who also smiled and agreed with her.
"Yeah, it's fine," another student spoke up.
"As long as you're here, that's all that matters," another added.
I could already see Amelia's influence on the class; everyone was quick to agree with her. The teacher noticed this and smiled, placing her hand on her chest in an exaggerated manner.
"Thank you so much! Ahem. Anyway, my name is Camilla Cole, and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next four years. Let's get down to business, shall we?" She picked up a remote and pointed it at the smartboard at the front of the class.
The screen lit up with bright yellow text that read: 'Ranking System.' Below the text were two options she could click on: 'First Year Rankings' and 'Class Qi Rankings.' But before she clicked on any of the options, she began explaining.
"This school operates on a ranking system. It determines your place within the school." She then proceeded to take out a stack of envelopes from her bag. "Can someone please help me hand these out?" she asked, to which a blonde-haired boy stood up.
It was the same boy Luna and I had met on the island—the one who approached us after we found a couple of students enjoying themselves by the river. If I recalled correctly, he said his name was Hikari.
"Yes, I can help," he said as he moved from around his desk and collected the stack of envelopes from Ms. Camilla Cole.
"Each envelope has the student's name written on it. You can figure out who is who by the nameplates on the desks," she instructed.
Hikari followed her instructions and handed out the envelopes until all the students received theirs. Everyone began opening their envelopes. Camilla did not object, so I assumed it was okay and opened mine too. Inside was a navy-blue credit card along with a set of keys that had a room number on them. I figured the key was for our dorm room, but what was the card for?
"What is this?" one of the students asked, but Camilla didn't respond. Instead, she shifted her attention back to the smartboard and clicked on the option that said "First Year Rankings." The screen lit up, displaying the rank of every first-year student alongside their hero names.
On the left side of the names was a number that differed from the students' ranks. I was naturally curious about what this number represented.
"Let me first start off by saying that your hero names are kept secret unless you choose to reveal them. Some of you have already set your hero names as your real names or something that can identify you; that's out of our hands. If this puts you at a disadvantage, then the school is not to be blamed."
What she was basically saying was that we wouldn't know who the person was behind the hero name unless they chose to reveal themselves or their hero names were already revealing. Like Luna, for example; her hero name and first name were the same, which meant her identity wasn't really a secret.
"I know some of you are wondering what the number beside your hero name represents," Camilla continued. "That number is your monthly allowance, which will be sent to the card you are currently holding in your hand. The allowance starts at $100 for the lowest-ranked students and continues to increase by a hundred dollars until you reach the top-ranked student."
I wasn't particularly good at math, but I understood what she was saying. For example, there were 160 first years, so the 160th ranked student would receive $100 each month, the student at rank 159 would receive $200, and it would continue increasing by a hundred until you got to the rank 1 student. The rank 1 student would earn a total of $16,000 per month—that was three times as much as the average person makes in a month.
Out of the entire first year, I was ranked 18th, which meant my allowance per month would be $14,200. She then switched over to the class ranking, and there it was again—my hero name, Mockingbird, was ranked 7th out of the 40 students in my class.
Many students in the class wore excited expressions, while others looked gloomy. Camilla noticed this and was quick to respond. Though only the hero names were displayed, we had no way of knowing who was in the top spots.
"Don't worry; you'll have many opportunities to increase your ranks," she said, trying to encourage them. "I think that concludes all I have to tell you. Since today is the opening ceremony, you're free to leave early. You can go to your dorms or check out the school campus—whatever you choose."
With that, she gave us a polite wave and left the classroom. I was eager to see the dorm I would be staying in, so I got to my feet, ready to leave. But just then—
Amelia jumped to her feet with a surprising suggestion.
"Wait up, everyone! Before you all go, I think we should introduce ourselves properly."