"Hahaha, that's too funny."
In Class C, Tennoji Kaede chuckled, drawing a sidelong glance from Ibuki, who sat in front of him.
He waved his hand to show that nothing was wrong.
Once Ibuki had turned back around, Kaede curled his lips into a grin and lightly kicked the bottom of her chair twice with his toe.
Ibuki tensed all over. Right now, all she wanted was to find Tennoji after class and settle things with him.
At that moment, Sakagami-sensei also began seriously explaining the rules for Class Points...
Tennoji Kaede really had been amused by Class D's hilarious one point.
He hadn't expected that the Hidden Rule he'd casually sold to Horikita would preserve a mere single point for Class D!
Maybe Class D's 1,000 points had already been deducted before the end of the month? That would explain why there was no saving them...
They really did whatever they pleased, didn't they~
No wonder they were the first Class D in history to hit zero points in the original timeline.
By comparison, Class C had quite a few more Class Points than Kaede remembered, and the gap to Class B was down to just 60 points.
After the first week of school, the Tyrant had already completed his rule over Class C.
After that, on the surface, Class C had become the most well-behaved and ordinary class.
With Kaede's intervention, Ryuen hadn't caused any major disturbances afterward, such as picking fights or testing the waters. Naturally, Class B hadn't lost too many points.
But there was no way they could overtake Class B in the first month just by gaining or losing points for their everyday conduct.
Classes A and B were in one tier, and Classes C and D in another. The gap between the former was small, while the gap between the latter was large.
Kaede judged that the only possible promotion in the first month of school was Class B overtaking Class A.
Class C overtaking Class B, or Class D overtaking Class C, would both be incredibly difficult.
Class C overtaking Class B? The gap in overall quality was too large.
Class D overtaking Class C? Had they asked for the opinions of people like Sudo or Kuroya Supreme Godwork?
Class D was the kind of team where your own teammates were the problem. A guaranteed loss.
"Ooooooh~~~!"
Suddenly, an exaggerated roar came from neighboring Class D. Class C was close enough to hear it, and everyone looked completely baffled.
You could get one point and still be that excited?
Tennoji Kaede had a few theories about it...
First Year Class D.
"Did I hear that right? Saechie, you said we wouldn't be expelled for failing the last quiz? Then Horikita's information must have been wrong!"
"I knew there was no way you'd get expelled just for failing an exam!" Kanji Ike said, visibly relieved.
After hearing Ike say that, the tension that had gripped Class D eased considerably.
Chabashira Sae sneered. "Ike, you're celebrating too soon! Horikita wasn't wrong. From now on, if you fail even one subject on the Midterm Exam or the final exam, you'll be expelled immediately!"
"I made it very clear yesterday: that was only a pop quiz. I have to admire you 'one-point' masterpieces. You knew the rules, yet still walked right into the trap."
"Huh? But... Saechie, you didn't explain that to us either," Ike muttered indignantly.
"After you enter the workforce, do you expect your boss to explain every detail of your job to you?"
Kanji Ike pouted. He still thought it was the teacher's fault.
Wasn't it normal for everyone to fail to catch on right away? And why had the teacher deliberately kept it from them?
Ayanokōji, however, had realized more.
That quiz hadn't been impromptu. Chabashira had deliberately concealed when it would begin.
From that, he'd already made a preliminary assessment of certain aspects of this unusually behaving teacher's personality.
"Ike, you still don't understand? You couldn't even seize the chance to ask questions. What reason would I have to explain things specifically for you? Those are this school's rules. There's nothing you can do about them." Chabashira showed no mercy.
"You seem to think you've escaped disaster because no one was expelled this time. What about next time? Take a look at these grades..."
Chabashira drew a red line to separate the list.
"Ten students failed! Your academic performance is shockingly poor. Did you even study before entering this school? Honestly, I could guess on most of the questions and still wouldn't get a single-digit score..."
Ken Sudō, six points in English!
Sudō was met with numerous scornful looks from his classmates.
All he could do was turn pale.
The other nine students who'd failed also lowered their heads in shame.
They might have avoided expulsion this time, but what would happen at the Midterm Exam a month from now?
After answering questions from several students she viewed more favorably, Chabashira left the classroom.
Class D remained immersed in the cruel reality they could hardly believe.
The atmosphere in First Year Class B was completely different from Class D's.
Their homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie, encouraged everyone with a cheerful smile.
"Everyone in Class B, there's no need to worry. Class C's score isn't low, but if you all do as well as you normally do on the upcoming Midterm Exam, we'll soon pull ahead of a Class C that's lacking in academic ability~"
Ichinose Honami, the pink-haired, exceptionally busty beauty who led Class B, also rallied everyone.
"Chie-sensei is right. As long as we in Class B stand together, we'll definitely rise to Class A and graduate with the best results!"
"Ichinose's right!"
"We're going to win!"
The ugly truth about the school had no effect on Class B.
If anything, they became even more motivated, and that very day they held a larger Study Session than ever before.
They were preparing for the Midterm Exam!
First Year Class A.
A frail girl with short white hair gazed calmly out the window. A cute cane leaned against the right side of her desk...
Or rather, she herself was cute enough.
Sakayanagi Arisu had no interest in the old stories her homeroom teacher, Majima, was telling.
She'd known all the school's Hidden Rules for a long time, and had little interest in participating in the class competition.
After all, she was the daughter of the school's chairman—the princess of this place, so to speak. How interested could she be in a garden she'd grown up taking for granted?
Still, there were a few people in Class A who had caught her attention.
Katsuragi Kouhei was a very boring man.
The group he'd gathered around him had quite a few objections to her.
Sakayanagi Arisu was already wondering whether to teach the Katsuragi Faction a lesson in some upcoming exams. She had a few people of her own she could use.
Speaking of her own people, Yanagi glanced at a girl with long purple hair in the class.
Kamuro Sumire was the somewhat solitary type in this excellent Class A.
But judging from her expression a moment ago, she seemed to have already sensed the school's Hidden Rules?
She was so cute, and she seemed to have secrets of her own... Interesting.
Yanagi had suddenly become very interested in Kamuro.
She was always like that: her interest came quickly and went just as quickly.
In any case, in Sakayanagi's mind, Kamuro already belonged to her side.
Ryuen Kakeru had arranged a gathering for that day in a large KTV room.
After school, everyone in Class C showed up. No one dared to stay away.
Inside the room, Ryuen sent away the people around him. Tennoji Kaede then approached, holding a stemmed glass.
"The gap between us and Class B isn't much now. Looks like all those days of holding back paid off, huh? If we'd just done whatever we wanted, we might not even have beaten Class D's one point."
"Heh, Class D..." Ryuen scoffed too. "I ran into a few of those ugly monkeys before. This score suits them."
"Clink~" Kaede and Ryuen tapped their glasses together.
Ryuen stared at him. "A million points, and that contract with the foolish woman from Class D. You sure have been enjoying yourself this month, Tennoji."
Kaede didn't bat an eye. "So you really did have someone follow me?"
"Or did you buy the information about the points from Sakagami-sensei? You could've just asked me directly. I wasn't planning on keeping it from you anyway..."
The two exchanged smiles, then drained their glasses.
Before you continue