Just Want to Be a Slacker

Whether provoking Kamio Tatsuya would bring a major enemy upon the class was clearly not within his scope of consideration.

Monday, Kamio Tatsuya came to school as usual.

This week was the last week of May; barring any surprises, on Wednesday of next week, June 1st, Class D students would receive another batch of Private Points.

However, the prerequisite was that they had to successfully pass this Midterm Exam—otherwise, those who got expelled wouldn't be eligible to collect any Private Points.

Well, let me see, just how many people will pass this Midterm Exam.

Upon arriving at the classroom, Kamio Tatsuya noticed that the atmosphere in the class today was extremely tense.

There was no helping it; this was only natural. With the rule that failing even one subject meant expulsion, the pressure was intense.

Moreover, the old exam papers that Class D's underperformers had placed their hopes in had largely proven useless, which only heightened the stress.

Everyone had lost the will to chat, silently sitting in their seats, waiting for the results to come in.

Amid such a quiet environment, Kamio Tatsuya felt quite at ease, even thinking that it would be great if it stayed this peaceful every day.

Well, it would be even better if Kouenji could stop humming while looking in the mirror.

In this somewhat heavy atmosphere, Chabashira-sensei entered the classroom.

"It seems you've all mentally prepared yourselves."

As Chabashira-sensei's utterly relaxed voice rang out, the stifling tension in the room began to ease slightly.

Chabashira-sensei's demeanor at this moment was almost identical to how she had been on May 1st, three weeks ago.

The immense pressure caused many students in Class D to unconsciously swallow hard.

"S-Sensei..." The first to speak, unable to bear the pressure, was Ike. "Our results... what about them?"

Not just Ike, but Yamauchi was also fidgeting restlessly, and Sudo was clenching his fists tightly, cold sweat even trickling down his forehead.

Besides them, other students who lacked confidence in their grades were staring at Chabashira-sensei with great anxiety.

"No need to rush. The results are already out, and I'll announce them now. After all, there will be plenty of paperwork to handle once school's out, and your nervousness is pointless—the outcome was decided the moment you handed in your papers."

That was true enough, but...

Paperwork?

Hey, hey, hey, seriously?

Surely no one actually failed, right?

Chabashira-sensei, don't you dare let me get my hopes up for nothing!

Thinking this, Kamio Tatsuya glanced over at the Three Fools.

Among these three, the one Kamio Tatsuya disliked the most was naturally the idiot Yamauchi, followed by Ike. As for Sudo, while he was also brainless, his stupidity was a completely different breed from Yamauchi's. Kamio Tatsuya didn't actually mind this single-minded type all that much.

With that, Chabashira-sensei affixed a large sheet of white paper to the blackboard, listing all the students' names and their scores.

As she did so, Chabashira Sae spoke to the Class D students: "As I've said before, the passing score in this school is calculated by dividing the average by two. If there's a decimal, it's rounded..."

She then wrote several numbers on the blackboard: the averages for the Five Subjects and the passing lines.

Japanese: 78.8—39.4—39 Math: 78.5—39.25—39 English: 73.6—36.8—37 Science: 76.3—38.15—38 Social Studies: 76.7—38.35—38

Seeing these numbers, Kamio Tatsuya quickly calculated. The overall average was 76.78, rounded to 77.

That meant students who passed this exam would receive 7700 Private Points as living expenses on the first of next month.

Next, Kamio Tatsuya swiftly scanned the scores on the blackboard.

Japanese: 87, Math: 98, English: 67, Science: 96, Social Studies: 75.

Well, it was nothing special, but he was well within the safe zone—no need to even compare against the passing lines.

He was a bit of a lopsided student, stronger in the sciences, since his English and Social Studies scores didn't even reach the average.

Still, Kamio Tatsuya was fairly satisfied with his results. He just needed to maintain them.

Though it was a bit odd—how was he ranked in the top five with these scores? Was there something wrong?

At that moment, quite a few students in the class burst into cheers.

"I... I passed!"

"Awesome!"

"I passed too~!"

Many students who had been teetering on the edge of the passing line were overjoyed—maybe that was an exaggeration, but they were genuinely thrilled.

But none of that mattered. What mattered was that as Kamio Tatsuya continued checking the results, he noticed several people's scores were strangely off.

Hirata Yosuke, Kushida Kikyo, Horikita Suzune, and even Yukimura Teruhiko and Wang Meiyu—their scores all had issues to varying degrees.

51 points.

Horikita Suzune scored 51 points in all five subjects.

The others also had a few 51 or 52-point scores here and there.

Seeing this, Kamio Tatsuya's expression turned complicated.

No way, man!

To lower the average score, they actually controlled their marks on purpose?

Chapter 62: Who's the Unreasonable One, Anyway?

From the results posted by Chabashira-sensei, it was easy to spot the top scorer this time.

Koenji Rokosuke, a perfect 100 in all five subjects, was far ahead of the class.

And Kamio Tatsuya, of all people, ended up in second place.

What the hell.

Are they that desperate to save those idiots?

Whatever, it's their freedom, none of my business.

But even with all that effort, you still didn't succeed, hahaha!

No, can't laugh. That'd make me sound like a villain.

"N-No way?"

"Liar..."

Ike and Yamauchi's faces turned pale, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Sudo, too, slumped into his chair like he'd lost all his strength.

Kamio Tatsuya glanced at the bottom of the list. Yamauchi, Ike, and Sudo's names were neatly lined up at the very end.

Their scores had improved compared to last time, but unfortunately...

"How regrettable."

Chabashira Sae delivered the verdict with a blank expression.

"Ike, Yamauchi, Sudo. You three have subjects you failed. Pack your things and come with me to complete the withdrawal procedures."

Chabashira-sensei's voice made them realize this wasn't a dream—it was stark reality.

The classroom, which had moments ago held cheers, fell silent again.

Right now, Kamio Tatsuya wanted to see Horikita's expression more than the Three Fools'.

She'd worked so hard to teach those three, even coordinated with several top students in the class to deliberately control their scores and lower the passing line—yet this was the result.

Unfortunately, Kamio Tatsuya couldn't find any regret on Horikita's face.

She was calm.

An expression of "do your best and leave the rest to fate."

Tch, boring.

Meanwhile, almost everyone in the class was staring at Yamauchi Haruki, Ike Kanji, and Sudo Ken.

Those three were usually loud and annoying, but right now, many felt a sense of shared doom. This was only the beginning.

With nearly three years left until graduation, there would be more exams ahead.

Would the next person expelled be themselves?

Or maybe their friends?

Thinking that, no one could manage a smile.

Except Kamio Tatsuya.

Because as long as no one meddled, those three were as good as expelled.

Hope nobody sticks their nose in.

"Teacher, are Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo really going to be expelled?" Hirata Yosuke stood up, making one last struggle. "Isn't it too harsh to impose such a penalty just for failing one exam?"

Then Kushida Kikyo stood up too, chiming in, "Yeah, teacher. Is the school's policy really reasonable?"

Hearing this, Chabashira Sae looked as if she'd heard a joke. A cold smile—one never seen before—appeared on her face.

"Unreasonable? Don't forget, since you enrolled, your tuition and dorm fees have all been free. You even get a monthly living allowance. This is essentially the nation raising you for free.

Yet you haven't met the nation's minimum requirements, and you still expect the nation to keep supporting you for free? Hirata, say that again. Who's the unreasonable one?"

At those words, Class D fell into dead silence.

Kamio Tatsuya felt that if Hirata and Kushida kept arguing, they might end up expelled too.

Chabashira Sae wasn't wrong on that point.

Even if this school seemed like a trap, the reality was that tuition, dorm fees, and living expenses were all free—plus it offered a chance to climb up through ability.

With enough effort, one could secure a guaranteed bright future for the rest of their life.

It could be said that they were already luckier than ninety percent—no, ninety-nine percent—of their peers.

At least Kamio Tatsuya felt completely satisfied. He even believed that anyone who dared to lay a hand on this school while he was enrolled would be his mortal enemy!

As for Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudo, they had only themselves to blame.

Did they think last-minute cramming would let them pass?

Heh, this school had never been a place where you could coast by so easily.

"Now you know regret? Too late. Go ahead and laugh at your own stupidity."

The classroom fell silent for a moment, then Yamauchi, who had just been declared expelled, suddenly erupted in a hysterical roar.

"It's all your fault! All your fault for scoring too high! If you'd scored just a little lower! If you'd scored just a little lower, we would have passed! We were only a little short!"

At Yamauchi's words, quite a few people who had done well on the test lowered their heads in guilt.

Hey, why are you lowering your heads?

Why feel guilty?

Kamio Tatsuya couldn't understand the brain circuits of these Japanese people.

"Hmph, how ugly." Just as Kamio Tatsuya was puzzling over it, Koenji Rokosuke suddenly spoke up. "Blaming others' efforts for your own lack of effort—how ungraceful."

Hearing Koenji say this, Yamauchi Haruki instantly exploded.

"It's all your fault! If you hadn't scored a hundred, if you'd scored fifty, I would have passed! And you too, Kamio! It's both your faults!"

That wasn't wrong—Yamauchi Haruki had missed passing English by one point. If Koenji had also scored fifty-one, then the average would have dropped by more than a point, and Yamauchi would have passed.

But just—why should they?