Amid the tension before the Midterm Exam, Fūki Ran made a bold decision.
"You're going to buy past exam papers?" Horikita Suzune looked at Fūki in disbelief. "I thought you were a rational person."
"These aren't ordinary study materials." Fūki calmly arranged his schoolbag. "I looked into it. The school has an unwritten rule: the basic question bank is completely updated only once every three years. And this year happens to be the first year of a new cycle."
Kushida Kikyo hurried over, looking worried. "But isn't that dangerous? What if the school finds out..."
"That's why we need to be careful." Fūki glanced at his phone. "I've already contacted a few reliable Third-year Students."
That evening, Fūki went alone to an empty classroom behind the school building. Three Third-year Students were already waiting there.
"So you're the D Class student who wants the Past Exam Papers?" The young man leading them pushed up his glasses. "One hundred thousand points. No bargaining."
Fūki calmly took out his Student Terminal. "I want to inspect them first."
After confirming the materials were genuine, Fūki completed the transfer. But that was far from all he planned to do.
Back in his dorm, Fūki spent the whole night analyzing the materials. Just as he'd expected, although the questions changed slightly from year to year, the core concepts and question types remained basically the same. He carefully compiled a Key Review Guide, turning the disorganized Past Exam Papers into a highly targeted Exam Prep Bible.
The next day, Fūki put his plan into action.
He first sought out Ryuen Kakeru from Class C. The boy, known for his cunning, was roaming the hallway with his lackeys.
"I hear you're worried about the exam?" Fūki got straight to the point.
Ryuen narrowed his eyes. "What does a piece of trash from Class D want?"
"A set of review materials guaranteed to get you a passing grade. Two hundred thousand points."
Ryuen sneered. "Why should I believe you?"
"You can inspect them first." Fūki handed him a few pages of carefully selected Sample Questions.
An hour later, a transfer from Ryuen appeared on Fūki's Student Terminal. The deal had gone even more smoothly than he'd expected.
Next was Class B. Fūki chose Ichinose Honami, a girl known for her integrity, but she initially refused in no uncertain terms.
"This is cheating!" she said firmly.
"This is just making reasonable use of resources," Fūki calmly countered. "Surely Class B doesn't want to be overtaken by Class C in the exam?"
Ichinose wavered. In the end, she bought the materials in her own name, intending to "use them at her discretion."
Class A proved the trickiest. Katsuragi Kohei refused the deal outright, but through other channels, Fūki still managed to sell the materials to some Class A students.
The deals went surprisingly smoothly. In just two days, nearly a million points had appeared in Fūki's account.
However, on the night before the exam, something unexpected happened.
"Fūki," Kushida Kikyo said anxiously as she found him, "Ryuen is spreading rumors everywhere that someone from Class D is selling exam materials. Now a lot of people know it's you!"
Fūki immediately realized this was Ryuen's revenge. He wanted to hold on to the materials while also bringing Fūki down.
Worse still, Chabashira Sae suddenly posted a notice in the class group chat: "We have received a report that students have recently been trading exam materials in violation of school rules. The school will investigate this matter thoroughly, and those involved will face severe punishment."
The classroom immediately filled with chatter.
"I heard the person selling the answers is in our class?"
"Who is it? That's awful!"
"We should drag him out!"
Amid the whispers, Fūki remained unusually calm. He'd anticipated this might happen and had already prepared a response.
On the day of the exam, as soon as Fūki entered the examination room, he felt countless eyes turn toward him. Ryuen Kakeru wore a knowing smile, while Ichinose Honami avoided his gaze.
Halfway through the exam, the proctor suddenly came over to Fūki. "Fūki, please come with me for a moment."
In the Academic Affairs Office, Fūki saw Chabashira Sae and several Student Council officers.
"We've received a report," said Student Council President Tachibana Kiyomi sternly. "You're suspected of trading exam materials in violation of the rules."
"Do you have any evidence?" Fūki asked calmly.
"We have records of the transfers," Chabashira Sae said coldly, "as well as statements from several students."
Fūki took out a USB Drive without a hint of panic. "These are study notes I compiled, and I did sell them to some classmates. But that's completely in keeping with school rules. Aren't students encouraged to share study materials with each other?"
Tachibana Kiyomi examined the contents of the USB Drive, her frown deepening. "These really are just ordinary study notes..."
"But they cost as much as two hundred thousand points!" Ryuen Kakeru appeared in the doorway out of nowhere. "You're clearly exploiting the exam for profit!"
Fūki smiled faintly. "The price is determined by market demand. If someone thinks my notes are worth that much, doesn't that prove my study methods are effective?"
The teachers present fell silent. In the end, with insufficient evidence, the school could only warn Fūki not to make similar deals again.
Afterward, Horikita Suzune stopped Fūki in the hallway. "You took too great a risk."
"But it worked, didn't it?" Fūki glanced at the balance on his Student Terminal. "And I got the result I wanted."
Still, Fūki understood that the effects of this incident were far from over. Ryuen Kakeru wouldn't let the matter rest, and the network of connections he'd built in the other classes had also been exposed.
The Midterm Exam was only the beginning. The real battle was yet to come.
Before you continue