Let's Hurt Each Other!

Why make it public?

Could it be fake?

Probably not. They could just ask an upperclassman to confirm it.

First-year students who belonged to a club could easily get in touch with upperclassmen, so it would be simple to check whether the post was real.

If it wasn't fake, then what was the reason?

Though she couldn't guess Kamio Tatsuya's motive, Sakayanagi Arisu's intuition told her this might be a trap.

Whatever. She'd leave it to that guy from Class C to investigate. She'd already given him the information he needed.

At almost the same time, Ichinose from Class B saw the post too.

One of her classmates immediately turned to her and asked, "Ichinose, do you think this post is credible?"

Ichinose shook her head. "I don't know. But whether it's true or not, I don't think we can afford to slack off on our studying."

"I think so too."

"You're right, Ichinose!"

"Yeah, I'm sure our Class B will pass this exam without a problem."

Compared to Class B, the students in Class C reacted much more strongly. Quite a few of them secretly breathed a sigh of relief, convinced they were in the clear for this exam.

Ryuen, however, wasn't like them. As soon as he saw the post, he began to question the poster's real intentions.

He couldn't help it. That guy had directly screwed over the classes ahead of them with his last post. If he was posting again now, there was probably another trap involved.

Seeing how relaxed the slackers in Class C looked, Ryuen understood.

Could that guy have made up the exam papers to throw us off?

Whatever. No matter what, they couldn't let their guard down. They had to keep studying!

Besides, even if it was true, the school would surely step in if the matter got out of hand.

After all, exams were meant to test the students' abilities. It would be strange if the school did nothing about something like this.

That was what Ryuen thought.

As for Class D...

When Kamio Tatsuya returned, he saw that the members of the Failing Group were all beaming.

"I don't know who that person is, but finding those past exam papers for the Midterm Exam was a brilliant idea."

"Now we don't have to worry about failing the Midterm Exam."

It wasn't just Ike and Yamauchi. Plenty of other Class D students secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and Sudo immediately put on airs like some big shot.

Horikita, sitting at her desk, had gone deathly pale.

After school, Kamio Tatsuya headed to the library as usual. This time, though, Horikita didn't come. She'd decided to devote herself to tutoring the Three Fools starting today.

She'd even returned all the tuition Kamio Tatsuya had paid her earlier. Kamio Tatsuya thought she didn't need to, but she insisted.

He didn't try to talk her out of it any further.

It wasn't as if he couldn't study on his own. Since he'd gotten into the swing of things, his progress had been quite good.

Besides, now that the past exam papers had been made public, how much motivation would those three have left to study?

"Kamio, are you here by yourself today?"

Kamio Tatsuya had been sitting in the library for a while when someone came over to talk to him.

It was Shiina Hiyori from Class C. She had a schoolbag on her back and a stack of papers that looked like exam sheets in her arms.

"Shiina, have a seat. What are you—"

"I'm organizing the topics that might come up on the exam."

Shiina Hiyori sat down across from Kamio Tatsuya and placed the papers in her arms on the table.

They were indeed exam papers.

Kamio Tatsuya nodded. "Are you getting ready to help your classmates study?"

"Yeah. Everyone's been studying hard, but I'm still a little worried about a few of them. I don't know if they'll be able to pass."

A hint of worry crossed Shiina's face. She seemed a little uneasy.

Chapter 52: An Eye for an Eye!

In short, Shiina was doing the same thing as Horikita. So why did they give off such completely different impressions?

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"Not at all. It's surprisingly fun working hard together with everyone."

Sigh, people really were different. She was not only better than Horikita Suzune, but much kinder than Kamio Tatsuya too. At the very least, Kamio Tatsuya genuinely didn't want to help that bunch in Class D right now.

That was why, even though he knew the exam scope Chabashira Sae had given them was different, he hadn't bothered to point it out.

Would they even notice?

They had the Midterm Exam papers now. They should figure it out pretty soon, right?

Just then, Kamio Tatsuya's phone buzzed.

That only happened when someone messaged him privately or tagged him in a group, so he checked.

No private messages.

In the class's biggest group chat, Hirata Yosuke had tagged everyone.

[@everyone About the past exam papers for the Midterm Exam: I just looked them over, and the history section's scope is completely different from the one Chabashira-sensei gave me. So I hope everyone won't blindly trust these papers.]

Kamio Tatsuya raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected this to happen.

But Hirata, do you think I'll let you ruin my plans?

[When I talked with students from other classes just now, I found out that our exam scopes are different. @Hirata Yosuke, could you please check with them?]

It wasn't long after Kamio Tatsuya sent the message that Hirata Yosuke replied.

[Got it. I'll check as soon as I can. Thanks, Kamio.]

Seeing Hirata's reply, Kamio Tatsuya smiled.

Now those idiots in Class D would be absolutely convinced that the past exam papers were the Midterm Exam itself.

"By the way, Shiina, what do you think about those past exam papers?"

"I think they're probably real. But no matter what, we should still study hard. If the Midterm Exam isn't based on those papers, we won't have to worry about failing."

Kamio Tatsuya nodded. That was how a normal student should think.

The best way to forge steel was to make yourself strong. Relying on underhanded tricks to pass an exam was never the right way.

Still, how many clear-headed people were there in Class D?

The next day, as soon as Kamio Tatsuya entered Class D, he sensed something was off. Quite a few people were looking at him.

This was the first time he'd been stared at like this since the self-introductions on the first day of school.

Hey, hey, did they find out who I am?

Do they all know I'm the one who posted anonymously?

For a moment, Kamio Tatsuya panicked a little.

If his identity was exposed, students from other classes would definitely start targeting him.

He wasn't afraid of most of them. The real problem was Ryuen. He didn't look like a good person.

It wasn't that he was afraid Ryuen would stir up trouble. He was afraid Ryuen would come over without a word and beat him up. There was no way he could take on the Black guy who was always with him.

Yeah, this felt bad.

"What happened?"

As soon as he sat down, Kamio Tatsuya asked Horikita Suzune.

"We saw you studying with a girl from Class C in the library yesterday."

"Is that a problem?"

Kamio Tatsuya was completely puzzled.

And it wasn't just yesterday. I studied with Kamuro the day before, and the day before that too. I even touched her leg. Am I supposed to be proud of that?

Then Kamio Tatsuya glanced around and saw that plenty of people were staring at him enviously.

I see.

Kamio Tatsuya understood.

Then he immediately stopped paying attention to them.

What the hell? So what if I'm a little close with a girl?

Hirata started dating Karizawa from our class in less than a month. Why don't you show this kind of obvious jealousy about him?

Looking at them, Kamio Tatsuya could almost guess what they were thinking. They were just unhappy that someone of his low standing could still get a girl's attention.

"Why does that guy Kamio get to study with a cute girl?"

"Yeah! He's just Kamio, but he's acting so cocky."

"Damn it, I'm way better than Kamio. Why don't cute girls come talk to me?"

"This world is so unfair!"

"That guy Kamio must have used some underhanded trick."

This wasn't just his imagination. Those guys were saying it out loud without a care.

You deserve to die!

Kamio didn't care. The more jealous they were, the better. It would be even better if they were too jealous to study.

That way, they could say goodbye after the Midterm Exam.

When's that exam that'll earn me a huge pile of Private Points coming? I'm so damn sick of this.

The first class in the morning was history. As soon as Chabashira-sensei arrived, she told the students she'd gotten the exam scope wrong and revised it.

She also gave Kamio Tatsuya a few pointed looks.

What are you looking at? I didn't make that post.

Though some students were unhappy, many more were delighted.

The revised exam scope was the same as the one in the past exam papers for the Midterm Exam.

So those past exam papers really are the test for this time, right?

Kamio Tatsuya easily read what those people were thinking.

Heh. Go ahead and study those past exam papers. Let's see how you end up dying.

After school, Kamio Tatsuya went to the library again. This time, though, he didn't have a beautiful girl to study with.

But that didn't mean he was alone.

Looking at the burly Black man sitting across from him, Kamio Tatsuya's mouth twitched.

What the hell did I do to deserve this?

Why am I being tormented by a Black guy?

After arriving, the guy didn't do anything. He just sat across from Kamio Tatsuya and stared at him.

Kamio Tatsuya changed seats, but the other guy followed him right over, like chewing gum stuck to his shoe. He couldn't focus on studying anymore.

"What do you want?"

Kamio Tatsuya had thought the guy wouldn't understand him, and was just about to speak English when the other man said, "Ryuen wants to see you."

"Lead the way!"