Chapter Summaries

Kushida practiced roasting Hasebe and Wang Meiyu, whose requests helped her loosen up and enjoy insulting people. Their friends’ reactions spread a rumor that enduring Kushida’s verbal attacks proved someone was truly her friend.

• Hasebe asked Kushida to roast her, and Kushida gradually stopped holding back during their practice.
• Wang Meiyu interrupted them, then asked Kushida to roast her to prove their friendship.
• Kushida called Wang Meiyu an idiot, and Wang Meiyu happily treated it as proof of their unbreakable bond.
• Hasebe reasoned that enduring more roasting showed a closer relationship, prompting Wang Meiyu to ask Kushida to continue.
• A rumor spread that people had to endure Kushida’s insults without resentment to prove they were her friends, and Kushida’s refusal to deny it was taken as confirmation.

After Kushida’s true nature was exposed, she managed her new invitations and friendships while worrying about trusting people in private. Bai Lan learned Ibuki’s planned fight with Ryuen had never been scheduled, and Kushida later concluded that Bai Lan had orchestrated her rise in popularity to teach her the Dark Side Favor Harvesting Method.

• Kushida rejected most requests for private verbal sparring, accepting only trusted girls and arranging group practice sessions.
• Bai Lan hid near the proposed fight location, then called Ibuki and learned Ryuen had rejected her challenge that morning.
• Ibuki explained Ryuen’s reasons for refusing the fight, while Bai Lan wondered why she had given him the time and place anyway.
• After a packed day, Kushida finished replying to practice requests and emailed Bai Lan about her exhaustion.
• Kushida decided Bai Lan had engineered the events that exposed her private side and helped her gain favor, and believed he had taught her the Dark Side Favor Harvesting Method through experience.

Bai Lan navigated Kushida’s strange emails and tried to stay inconspicuous during the first exam, while suspecting the school had included out-of-syllabus questions. After Ryuen repaid his one-million-point debt, their disagreement over whether Bai Lan might trade Class C’s evaluation for points left their cooperation on the verge of ending.

• Kushida emailed Bai Lan her thoughts and thanks, while Bai Lan wondered why her revealed hidden side had made her more popular.
• On April 30, Bai Lan took the five-subject exam and deliberately aimed for modest scores, but found that about a fifth of the questions in multiple subjects were beyond the syllabus.
• Ryuen called Bai Lan after school and repaid the one-million-point debt, and Bai Lan marked the IOU as paid before handing it over.
• Bai Lan explained that sacrificing Class C’s evaluation could sometimes earn him more points, and Ryuen threatened to terminate their contract.
• Bai Lan readily agreed to end the contract, leaving Ryuen silent as he considered how Class C could deny Bai Lan any benefit.

Bai Lan’s deal with Ryuen continued after Ryuen decided to trust him, while Class D’s reduced monthly living expenses sparked a dispute over who was responsible for the deductions. Bai Lan arrived as the argument grew, leaving the class divided over compensation.

• Ryuen decided that Bai Lan’s suspicious proposal was a test and agreed to sell points if the price was right.
• Bai Lan entered First-year Class D on May 1 and found students arguing over the sharp cut in their living expenses.
• Class D students who believed they had followed the rules demanded compensation from classmates who had been late or skipped class.
• Students targeted over obvious violations denied blame, while others joined the dispute or defended them to protect themselves from future demands.
• Hirata tried to mediate the conflict, but the students continued arguing over the money.

Bai Lan explained how he had preserved Class D’s living expenses and turned Ike’s attempt to involve him in a compensation dispute into a push for a fair review of everyone’s violations. The morning meeting began before the class could settle the issue, and Teacher Chazhu entered looking unusually buoyant.

• Bai Lan recalled that he had preserved much of Class D’s living expenses so his planned future violations would not leave the class owing him.
• Ike tried to draw Bai Lan into the dispute over compensating students who had skipped class, arrived late, or left early, hoping to protect his own living expenses.
• Bai Lan signaled to Hirata that he would retaliate, then argued that compensation should account for all violations rather than just skipping class, lateness, and leaving early.
• Students from both factions admitted uncertainty about their rule-breaking and called for an investigation into the class’s point deductions.
• Bai Lan proposed asking Teacher Chazhu to review the detailed deductions, but the morning bell interrupted the discussion.
• Teacher Chazhu entered the classroom with a faint spring in her step, which Bai Lan noticed.

Chabashira explained how the school’s April special examination determined Class D’s living expenses and revealed the rules behind class points. Bai Lan realized the class’s unexpectedly strong result could make his classmates depend on him, threatening his plan to drop out.

• Chabashira celebrated Class D’s historic advancement and considered using school information and points to keep Bai Lan interested in helping the class.
• Bai Lan worried that Class D’s success might make his classmates treat him as the key to escaping mediocrity and obstruct his dropout plan.
• Chabashira began explaining that each class started with 1,000 points and that April’s examination secretly deducted points for rule violations.
• Chabashira said class points determined monthly living expenses at a rate of 100 personal points per class point, meaning a 1,000-point score yielded 100,000 points.

Chabashira explained that only Class A at graduation could receive the school's promised education and employment benefits, and revealed the classes' points after the first special exam. Class D's students took heart at Class C's low score, while Bai Lan realized Ryuen could keep their alliance contract without collecting any taxes.

• Chabashira told Class D that class rankings determined which students could graduate with the school's guarantee, and only Class A would qualify.
• Hirata asked how the guarantee was awarded, and Chabashira explained that only students in Class A at graduation would receive it.
• Yukimura and other students protested that the rules had not been disclosed, but Chabashira told them they could withdraw and continue at an ordinary high school.
• Chabashira announced that Class D had 620 points and Class C had 120, making Class D students newly attentive to the rankings.
• Bai Lan realized that Class C's low points meant Ryuen did not have to collect the contract's minimum tax, so Bai Lan could not use a breach to end their alliance.

Bai Lan wondered why Class C had fallen to 120 points, while Ryuen had deliberately lowered the class’s score to keep their contract viable and win the students’ acceptance. Ryuen prepared to present the partnership as a path to better living conditions, after targeting Classes A and B to limit the damage to Class C’s ranking.

• Bai Lan learned that Class C had only 120 points and suspected either Sakayanagi or Ryuen had caused the loss.
• Sakagami announced Class C’s score, and Ryuen privately celebrated because he had intentionally let it fall.
• Ryuen recalled that he had first considered collecting class fees and borrowing points to pay Bai Lan, but abandoned the plan as too risky.
• Ryuen used Bai Lan’s idea of trading class evaluations for benefits to devise a plan that lowered Classes A and B’s scores as well as Class C’s.
• Ryuen planned to use Class C’s financial hardship to persuade the students to accept the contract and secure a guaranteed 30,000 points each month.

Ryuen manipulated Class C into accepting a points contract and took responsibility for his earlier fight with Bai Lan, leaving Class C with only 120 points. Class D finished second with 620 points and was promoted to Class B, while Teacher Chazhu watched Bai Lan closely and found he seemed unhappy about the result.

• Ryuen had his underlings lead students in Classes B and A astray to deduct class points, then admitted to starting his fight with Bai Lan so Class C would take the penalty.
• At midnight, Class A had 890 points, Class B had 580, Class C had 120, and Class D had 620.
• Hoshinomiya lamented that Class D had overtaken Class B, while Ichinose comforted her and the class.
• Teacher Chazhu announced that Class D had ranked second and would be promoted to Class B under the new rules.
• Bai Lan tried to hide in the classroom after hearing the results, and Teacher Chazhu observed that he did not seem happy.

Chabashira celebrated Class D’s unprecedented rise to Class B, then feared Bai Lan would turn against the class when its students downplayed his contribution. She tried to warn them that their success might not last, but Horikita Suzune challenged her explanation by attributing the different results to ability.

• Chabashira told Class D that it had made history by advancing two levels in its first month, and the students cheered.
• Class D members credited their shared effort for the success, while Bai Lan privately felt relieved that they had not forgotten their own contributions.
• Chabashira misread Bai Lan’s reaction as resentment and imagined he might retaliate against the class, so she warned the students they would soon fall back to Class D.
• Hirata asked Chabashira to explain her warning, and she pointed out that every class had started with 1,000 points but Class D’s rapid promotion was unprecedented.
• Horikita Suzune spoke up for the first time about class affairs, saying the different results came down to ability.

Chabashira explained that students were assigned to classes according to their records and announced D Class’s test results, revealing widespread low scores and the risk of expulsion at the midterms. With the class looking to Bai Lan for help, he said avoiding expulsion was simple: they only had to pass.

• Horikita challenged Chabashira’s claim that D Class held the least useful students, but Chabashira confirmed the school ranked students using entrance exams, interviews, and past records.
• Horikita and several classmates protested their placements, then examined the test results posted on the blackboard; Horikita, Kogenji, and Yukimura scored above ninety, while Bai Lan’s seventy-one placed him seventh in class.
• Bai Lan congratulated Ayanokoji for raising his score to fifty-one, and Chabashira announced that D Class averaged sixty-four points with eight students below the failing mark of thirty-two.
• Chabashira warned that students who failed any subject on the midterms on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth would be expelled, costing the class points.
• Kogenji mocked the low-scoring students, and Chabashira reminded the class that Bai Lan had shared answers before their earlier rise in rank.
• Bai Lan told the anxious class that avoiding expulsion was simple: they only had to pass.

Bai Lan proposed controlling the class average so that everyone could pass the midterms, but his classmates argued over the risks and unfairness of the plan. After Hirata calmed them, Bai Lan asked Teacher Chazhu for the class’s detailed point deductions from the previous month, and she refused to disclose them.

• Hirata asked Bai Lan for a way to help classmates who were at risk of dropping out, and Bai Lan suggested cheating or deliberately controlling scores.
• Bai Lan explained that the class could lower the average so the passing score would fall, prompting Hirata and many students to celebrate.
• Students with safer grades objected, and the class argued over the risks of deliberately scoring low and the possibility of school penalties or rule changes.
• Hirata calmed the arguing classmates while Bai Lan watched.
• Bai Lan asked Teacher Chazhu for the detailed point deductions from the previous month, but she said she could not freely disclose them.

Bai Lan pushed Class D to establish strict rewards and punishments for disciplinary violations, then revealed how costly each violation was to the class. When classmates pointed out that he had the most points deducted, the records showed he had stopped breaking rules after three initial violations.

• Bai Lan transferred 100,000 points and ordered the class to receive a detailed accounting of disciplinary deductions.
• Bai Lan argued that Class D needed firm rules and impartial rewards and punishments before it could control its exam score.
• The class received the previous month's deduction records, and Bai Lan calculated that one violation could cost the class at least 1.4 million points over the remaining school term.
• Classmates noticed Bai Lan had lost 50 points and challenged his authority to oversee the penalties.
• Students examined Bai Lan's record and realized he had committed only three initial violations and had not broken the rules afterward.

Bai Lan established a system of class rewards, penalties, and a shared fund to encourage Class D to contribute and protect its points. With Kogenji expressing interest and no one objecting, Bai Lan began setting the first fines, leaving the class ready to put his plan into practice.

• Bai Lan said he would personally bear the 7 million points lost through his rule violations and introduced rewards for students who contributed to Class D.
• Bai Lan proposed educational penalties for violations and warned that students who refused the class rules would lose the class’s protection and could be expelled.
• Bai Lan suggested funding class work through fines and a class fund, with a paid Finance Minister overseeing the money.
• Kogenji called Bai Lan’s plan interesting if it could work, and Bai Lan declared that Class D would begin implementing it that day.
• Bai Lan set an initial fine of 20,000 points per month for students who had lost no more than 20 points, lasting six months for every ten points lost.

Bai Lan set up fines and rewards to guide Class D into accepting his rules, while Karuizawa and Kushida both moved to use his financial hardship to earn his favor. The chapter then shifted to Class C, where Ryuen’s laughter drew the class’s attention after their quiz results and looming expulsions left them despairing.

• Bai Lan announced the fine schedule, offered to collect the points, and promised to distribute some fines as rewards to rule-abiding students.
• Bai Lan explained to Hirata that rewards and punishments were necessary to encourage score control, then left to study.
• Karuizawa noticed Bai Lan’s lack of money and began writing him an email to win his favor, while Kushida sent her own email first.
• Sakagami announced Class C’s rankings, low allowances, quiz results, and the expulsion rule for students who failed the midterms.
• Class C students despaired over their finances and the threat of expulsion until Ryuen laughed, reminding them that he had promised to lead the class to Class A.

Ryuen explained Class C’s predicament and proposed hiring Bai Lan to help raise its class points, using future earnings to offer him a commission. He left the class focused on the risks of score control as Kaneda outlined obstacles to the plan.

• Ryuen blamed Class C’s low points on its failure to accept his leadership earlier, then explained that the school had ranked the classes by ability and that Bai Lan’s arrival had disrupted the expected order.
• Ryuen told Class C that Bai Lan had helped Class D preserve points and sell valuable information, and warned the students not to use violence against him.
• Ryuen proposed negotiating with Bai Lan to raise Class C’s points, promising the class at least twenty thousand points in living expenses and offering Bai Lan everything earned beyond that amount.
• Ryuen argued that a generous commission would be needed to persuade Bai Lan to help Class C, and warned that expulsions during midterms could threaten the class’s points and living expenses.
• When a student suggested controlling everyone’s scores, Ryuen withheld his own solution, and Kaneda began listing obstacles to the plan.

Ryuen persuaded Class C to support negotiating with Bai Lan by promising living expenses and a path to Class A. Bai Lan rejected Kei Karuizawa’s attempt to give him money, exchanged messages with Kushida, and planned to meet her for training; meanwhile, the student council president reviewed the first-year exam results and noticed Class D’s 620 points.

• Ryuen argued against having the whole class score zero and promised Class C a guaranteed allowance and help avoiding expulsions if Bai Lan worked with them.
• Class C welcomed Ryuen’s proposed negotiations and urged him to secure a good deal.
• Bai Lan received 74,396 points from Kei Karuizawa, then transferred 100,000 points back to her.
• Bai Lan declined Kushida’s offer of points, agreed to meet her at six for practice, and told her everything was under control.
• Tachibana gave the student council president the first-year exam results, and he noted that Class D had scored 620 points.

Bai Lan confronted Ryuen over their contract, but Ryuen explained the points shortfall and paid him a settlement fee, leaving Bai Lan without a reason to attack him. Bai Lan offered advice for Ryuen's class to handle the midterm exams, then went rock climbing while waiting for his appointment with Kushida.

• Bai Lan went to Ryuen's classroom intending to cancel their contract and beat him up, but Ryuen stopped a lackey from provoking him.
• Ryuen explained why his class could not pay the contracted points, described his cooperation plan, and transferred Bai Lan an 80,000-point settlement fee.
• Bai Lan advised Ryuen to use discipline, score control, and studying to prepare for the midterms, and suggested letting high scorers perform well to earn possible bonus points.
• Bai Lan returned to his dorm, changed into sportswear, and borrowed equipment from the Climbing Club to practice while waiting to meet Kushida.

Bai Lan spent the afternoon climbing and catching up with Kushida before interrupting a boy who was about to hit Horikita. After rousing Horikita’s fighting spirit, he asked what had happened, leaving the truth of the confrontation unresolved.

• Bai Lan finished two hours of rock climbing, then met Kushida behind the school building and listened to her gossip over fried chicken.
• Kushida left after a friend invited her out, and Bai Lan went to the commercial district for dinner and a walk.
• Bai Lan spotted a boy pinning a girl against a wall and raising his hand, but paused to consider whether the boy or the girl was at fault.
• Bai Lan silently rushed over and grabbed the boy’s wrist before he could hit Horikita.
• Horikita recognized Bai Lan, and his awkward explanation about bullying her restored her usual fierce expression.
• Bai Lan asked what had happened, hoping Horikita would feel able to explain her side.

Bai Lan attacked the boy who had struck at him, overpowering him despite the boy’s considerable martial arts skill. Horikita intervened to stop the beating, and Bai Lan explained that he had intended to leave because he did not yet know what had happened between them.

• Horikita refused to explain why she felt guilty, so Bai Lan decided to observe rather than intervene.
• When Bai Lan turned to leave, the boy attacked him, and Bai Lan dodged and countered with a kick.
• The boy used a joint technique to try to bring Bai Lan down, but Bai Lan resisted and knocked him back with a series of kicks.
• Bai Lan stopped attacking after the boy fell, and Horikita rushed between them to end the fight.
• Horikita checked on the boy while Bai Lan laughed and told her he had not meant to interfere before learning who was in the wrong.