Kamio Tatsuya wasn't surprised by this, though. He'd already suspected that the school might pull some sort of stunt involving academics.
And today, Chabashira-sensei had confirmed that anyone who failed would be expelled.
So it hadn't come as much of a shock.
But why was 32 the passing mark?
On a test scored out of 100, shouldn't 60 be the passing mark?
Was the passing mark different at this school?
Then Chabashira took out a red marker and drew a line through the name of the seventh student from the bottom on the results sheet.
The seven names belonged to students who were close with Ike and Yamauchi. Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo were naturally among them.
"Um, Sensei, how is the passing mark determined?"
This was serious, so Kamio Tatsuya couldn't keep pretending to be an ostrich. He raised his hand and asked outright, because he didn't trust his score of 51 one bit.
"It's simple. Divide the average score by two, and that gives you the passing mark."
At that, Kamio Tatsuya breathed a sigh of relief.
"Lastly, I'll give you one more piece of information. This school prides itself on a 100 percent rate of advancement to higher education and employment. That isn't made up; it's an acknowledged fact.
"But that kind of good fortune doesn't fall to everyone, especially not to useless trash like you."
Tsk, tsk, tsk. She was getting more and more insulting.
"Y-you mean only students who advance to Class C or above get those benefits... Is that right?"
"Of course..." Chabashira-sensei began, then wore a wicked smile. "Not. Only students who graduate from Class A get that privilege. Am I making myself clear?"
After enduring all those blows, the students of Class D looked thoroughly broken.
"It seems the cheerful mood has completely vanished. If you understand how miserable your situation is, then perhaps this talk of mine will have served some purpose.
"The Midterm Exam is three weeks away. Think carefully, and avoid expulsion. I believe there's a way to avoid failing and make it through the exams.
"Oh, and although it's a little late, I still want to say this: welcome to the Classroom of the Elite."
Chabashira-sensei shut the door with a little force, signaling that she was leaving.
Kamio Tatsuya began thinking about how to avoid failing. He'd already accumulated this many Points, and he didn't want to be expelled for failing an exam.
Although he'd scored 51 on this quiz, and the passing mark wouldn't be higher than 50, he didn't think he was safe.
That was because this had been a comprehensive test, with the scores from several subjects added together.
The Midterm Exam, on the other hand, would presumably have a separate test for each subject.
When the time came, he really couldn't guarantee that he'd pass every subject.
And there were still three weeks—twenty days—until the Midterm Exam.
He had to raise his grades enough to get through the exams without a hitch.
That's right: get through the exams without a hitch, not scrape by with a barely passing score!
If exams were the enemy and academic ability was the weapon, Kamio Tatsuya felt that the fear of insufficient firepower, born in his very soul, had followed him into this new world.
Chapter 30: Horikita Suzune's Future Was Plain to See
While Class D was holding a meeting, the other classes were naturally doing something similar.
Their homeroom teachers had conveyed the same information, but the atmosphere in each class was worlds apart.
Take Class A, for example. After learning the truth about the school and seeing Class A's overwhelming score of 994 Points, the students instinctively straightened their backs, a feeling of "Who else but us?" rising in their hearts.
Their attitude was worlds apart from Class D's.
The students of Class A had grown even more respectful of Sakayanagi Arisu and Katsuragi Kouhei, who had brought about this result.
They'd been a little dissatisfied when their Private Points had been collected earlier, but after seeing the gap between the classes now, that little bit of resentment had vanished in an instant.
Private Points?
What did those matter? The right to advance to higher education and find employment was what mattered most.
Even Class B couldn't compare. With 650 Points, it lagged behind their 994 Points by a full 344 Points—almost the same as an entire Class C.
Class C had only 490 Points, after all, making it unlikely to pose much of a threat.
As for Class D...
Come on, don't make me laugh.
Could a class that had been docked a thousand Points in its very first month really be considered their rival?
"Congratulations on maintaining 994 Points at the end of your first month. This score is the highest since the school was founded. You've shown the poise befitting students of Class A."
Majima Tomoya, Class A's homeroom teacher, wore a stern expression, but there seemed to be a hint of a smile on his face.
Having good students made things easy.
Then he thought of another unprecedented record: this year's Class D had the lowest score, too.
Zero Points. He wondered how Chabashira would deal with that headache.
He wasn't trying to gloat, but just thinking about it made Majima Tomoya want to laugh.
If someone had told him this sort of thing was possible before, he would've thought it was a joke.
People said humanity had no limits. Apparently that applied not just to rising higher, but to sinking lower as well.
Unlike Class A, the students of Class B weren't so proud. In fact, they felt a little guilty, because based on how the classes were assigned, their abilities should've been second only to Class A's.
And yet they'd only earned 650 Class Points.
The gap between them and Class A was 344 Points—more than half of what they had.
Quite a few students who'd broken school rules before even felt deeply ashamed.
At any rate, they were a hundred times better than those Class D students who broke the rules without restraint and showed no remorse.
And true to their position as students second only to Class A, they quickly regained their composure after a brief wobble and began facing the days ahead with a positive attitude.
As for Class C, its students were relieved—no, they were overjoyed.
Quite a few of them even looked toward the man sitting in the back row.
He had medium-length red hair and eyes as sharp as a snake's.
His name was Ryuen Kakeru. Not long after enrolling, he'd used violence to bring Class C under his control, leaving everyone on edge.
But his heavy-handed approach had at least kept the Class C students from acting up too much during class.
Most of them feared his methods, but without him, Class C's fate probably wouldn't have been much better than Class D's.
At least they still had 490 Class Points, while Class D had zero.
And compared to the gap between Class B and Class A, the gap between Class C and Class B was a mere 160 Points—not even half of 344.
Some of the Class C students even thought they'd soon be able to replace Class B.
Back in Class D, after Chabashira-sensei left, the room fell quiet for a moment before quickly growing noisy again.
It wasn't just students who'd failed, like Ike and Yamauchi. Even a boy with good grades couldn't accept the reality.
Yukimura Teruhiko, an excellent student, seemed unable to accept the fact that he'd been placed in Class D.
"Are you kidding me? Why am I in Class D?!"
"I understand how confused everyone feels, but please calm down for now."
Faced with the chaotic Class D, Hirata Yosuke tried to get everyone to settle down. There was no point in continuing to make a racket like this.
But the students had taken a bigger blow than he'd expected, and they couldn't calm down anytime soon.
"How am I supposed to calm down? They called us the bottom of the barrel! Doesn't that make you angry?"
"Even if they say that now, can't we work together and prove them wrong?"
"Prove them wrong? I haven't been able to accept it ever since the classes were assigned!"
"I understand how you feel. But even if you vent your frustrations here, nothing can get started, can it?"
"What did you say?"
Yukimura closed the distance with an air that made it seem like he was about to grab Hirata by the collar.
"Come on, you two, calm down, okay? We've only been in school for a month, right? Like Hirata said, we can all work hard together from here on out. Right?"
"N-no, it's... What Kushida said isn't wrong, either..."
Thanks to Hirata Yosuke and Kushida Kikyo's efforts, the class quieted down for the time being.
Kamio Tatsuya had been keeping an eye on Yukimura Teruhiko for the past few days. He was the type of student who took his studies seriously. He wasn't as good at getting along with his classmates as Hirata, but he wasn't bad, either.
Sure enough, after Kushida reassured him, he calmed down quickly.
Kamio Tatsuya didn't really understand why Yukimura had been placed in Class D.
But compared to him, Hirata Yosuke seemed like the bigger mystery. His academic ability, athletic ability, and even social skills were all top-notch.
Chabashira-sensei probably wasn't exaggerating when she called the Class D students defective products.
A defective product was one that failed to meet relevant quality standards or agreed-upon requirements. It might be damaged, flawed, misclassified, inaccurately described, or missing parts.
If someone as outstanding as Hirata Yosuke was still considered defective, that proved that what he showed everyone was only his normal—or, perhaps, excellent—side.
But everything had two sides. If he was so outstanding on this side and had still been placed in Class D, then the side he kept hidden must have had serious problems.
By the same logic, that girl named Kushida Kikyo probably had her own considerable problems.
As for the others...
Kamio Tatsuya looked at Horikita Suzune. Forget her—her problem was obvious.
If things kept going like this, Kamio Tatsuya could even predict her future.
She always wanted to do everything by herself, without realizing that one person's strength was limited.
One person could challenge many things that were impossible.
A group could challenge the impossible.
Even if she managed to graduate and get a job where she wanted, she probably wouldn't last long.
Her coworkers would isolate her, then deliberately make things difficult for her at work. She'd make a mistake, her supervisor would call her in for a talk, and in the end, she'd be fired.
Chapter 31: Horikita, Want to Be My Tutor?
As he analyzed Horikita Suzune's future, a trace of pity gradually entered Kamio Tatsuya's gaze.
"What's that look for?"
"Nothing. I just think your future will probably be pretty miserable."
"That's none of your concern."
Kamio Tatsuya was telling the truth, but Horikita Suzune's expression darkened.
It was true that, with so few Points, her life was pretty miserable. She only had a few hundred Private Points left, and she'd probably have to start eating the Mountain Vegetable Set in a couple of days.
Hmm?
Wait, maybe there were free meals, too. Perhaps there were free ingredients in the food section. She could go check after school.
They weren't talking about the same thing, but somehow, their thoughts had lined up.
"Kamio, could I ask you something? I'd like to discuss what we should do next to earn more Points after school. I really hope you can join us. Would you?"
Hirata Yosuke's eyes were full of expectation.
After all, Kamio Tatsuya had been the first to notice that something was off, and Hirata hoped to draw on his intelligence.
Looking at Hirata Yosuke's earnest expression, Kamio Tatsuya nearly agreed on the spot.
But after thinking it over, he immediately refused. Besides, did they really need to discuss ways to earn more Points?
Buddy, you're taking this way too seriously.
Before you continue