The End of the First Semester in July, Each Class's View on the World of C

After the unexpected encounter with Sakura Airi, the final month of the first semester for the first year students of Advanced Nurturing High School arrived in a flash.

On July 1st, following the conclusion of the recent Tian Shu Sha Exam, the Class Points for each class were updated once again.

Since half of the 400 Bonus Points originally scheduled for July had been diverted to host the new Special Exam, each first-year class would only be awarded 50 Class Points this month.

The impact caused by Yamauchi Haruki, who had already been sent to the Juvenile Detention Center, was considered wiped clean behind the scenes, allowing Class D to receive the No Expulsion Bonus for this Midterm Exam.

After deducting the Behavioral Norm Points, the updated Class Points for July were as follows:

Class A: 955 → 980cl

Class B: 719 → 760cl

Class C: 663 → 700cl

Class D: 125 → 170cl

As seen in the new table, the Behavioral Norm Point deductions for classes B, C, and D did not exceed 20 points, showing a significant improvement compared to April—even for the Defective Product Class D, which had nearly hit zero points for three consecutive months!

Only Class A remained mired in intense Factional Dispute, resulting in a significant deduction of daily Class Points.

As for Class D, they had surged from 0 to 170 points in less than a week, a true Underdog Comeback.

They had finally regained the right to eat properly at Advanced Nurturing High School; it was truly a cause for celebration.

Except for Horikita Suzune, who had to pay 30,000 Private Points to Kaede every month!

Although Class D had achieved a resounding victory in the Tian Shu Sha Exam under her leadership, and the Traitor Ayanokōji had achieved a Solo Victory, from a personal standpoint, Horikita Suzune had lost miserably.

She had only received a mere 50,000 Private Points, which wasn't even enough for two months of Tribute Money.

Horikita now regretted the Contract she had signed with Kaede back then more than anything.

One had to realize that in the four months since the start of school, each student in Class D had only received a total of 117,000 Private Points.

Yet, as of today in July, the end of the first semester, she had already paid 120,000 Private Points to Tennoji Kaede over the past four months.

Horikita usually had to rely on the charity of Hirata, Ayanokōji, and others just to barely scrape by.

Kushida Kikyo now genuinely felt pity for Horikita Suzune.

If she had been treated as an enemy by Kaede, or if that pervert Yamauchi Haruki hadn't been sent away, she didn't know if she would still be able to survive in Class D. Perhaps she would have already exposed herself and been expelled by the school by now.

On the other hand, with the help of Kaede, she had been reborn, returning to her most comfortable and habitual state of living—even better than before.

Kushida Kikyo, a cold, but not heartless, pitiful girl.

Class D only owed her; they did not despise her.

As such, she naturally no longer felt as hostile toward Horikita, who knew about her past.

Even if she were to expose Kushida's past in the future, Kushida could just go and ask Kaede for help, couldn't she?

In the Class D classroom, Kushida tilted her head slightly, looking coldly at Horikita's current miserable and pathetic state.

Tsk tsk, does she really think she can outplay my brother Kaede?

First Year Class A.

Kamuro Sumire walked up to Sakayanagi Arisu, looking reluctant.

"What do you want now?"

Lately, Sakayanagi had been pestering her to the point of misery.

Just like when she was kidnapped by Sakayanagi to participate in the Tian Shu Sha Exam; under normal circumstances, how could an outsider like her from Class A ever get a chance to participate in a Special Exam?

Sakayanagi Arisu smiled brightly. "Kamuro, will you be my friend?"

"I give up. Fine, do whatever you want!" Kamuro had no choice but to throw in the towel.

Having lost the Tian Shu Sha match for the Class A Lord, it was becoming even harder for her to get by in Class A.

She had no choice but to join the Sakayanagi Faction to seek protection. Regardless, things seemed a bit less troublesome on this side.

With Kamuro's submission, Sakayanagi finally felt a sliver of joy. She couldn't quite explain why, but she quite enjoyed bullying this tsundere classmate of hers.

To Sakayanagi, the best reward for a Special Exam was right in front of her.

Hashimoto Masayoshi leaned in from the side. "Kamuro-chan has finally joined us of her own volition. Welcome, welcome."

Kamuro Sumire tilted her head slightly, her willow-leaf eyebrows arching.

A large part of the reason she didn't want to join Sakayanagi's side was because of this man named Hashimoto; he gave off a very unpleasant vibe!

He was self-centered and calculating—he wasn't even as good as Tennoji!

Huh? Kamuro Sumire was somewhat surprised that she had suddenly thought of that person from Class C.

She undoubtedly held no special feelings for Tennoji Kaede.

Caught red-handed, forced to sign a contract, and then lectured by the homeroom teacher for ages—now that she couldn't steal anymore, her hands were itching like crazy.

If she could still like the guy after all that, she'd have to be seriously ill.

Kamuro Sumire was, by nature, a rather cold woman.

However, after enduring the grueling "meritocracy" trials at this school, she had gradually come to understand the deeper meaning behind his actions back then.

For the rational Kamuro Sumire, the thought of betraying Class A to help Tennoji had never crossed her mind.

Aside from that, however, she was quite willing to offer him whatever help she could in the future.

First Year Class B.

Watanabe Norihito, with his trendy hairstyle, remarked, "After all that back and forth, the gap between us and Class C has become 60 points again?"

Shibata Hayate, who had a particularly cheerful personality, laughed, "Don't be so tense, Norihito. Isn't it fine that we're still Class B? And Ryuji, are you that worried about Class C too?"

"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking about something else."

Kanzaki Ryuji smiled and told a lie; in reality, he was indeed thinking about Class C.

Last month, many people in Class B reported being followed by someone from Class C, causing them psychological distress. This had become the main factor in their daily point deductions.

Ryuen Kakeru, the tyrant leader of Class C—this was the name currently circulating in Class B.

He had to find a way to neutralize the threat he posed...

But then, Kanzaki looked up at the large group of students gathered around Ichinose not far away. They were currently transferring their Private Points for the month to Ichinose for safekeeping.

This was the leader their Class B trusted most, and Kanzaki was firmly convinced of that.

In the end, he decided to let things take their natural course for the time being.

In First Year Class D, the atmosphere suddenly heated up.

Shinohara Satsuki, with her blue bob cut, said excitedly to her close friend, "Hey! That ranking list has been updated. What do you guys think?"

Upon hearing this, the shy Inokashira Kokoro immediately blushed. "The... the Handsome Ranking?"

"Of course! Two people from our class made it into the top ten! Tsk, it's actually quite surprising. I only just realized recently that Ayanokōji is actually quite handsome~ Is he just too lacking in presence?"

Within Karuizawa's small circle, Mori Nene from the Tea Party Group chimed in, "Ayanokōji? He's only sixth. A boring guy; I don't think he has any charm at all. Right, Kei?"

"Yeah, yeah... well, the guy in second place, Nakatsuka Satoshi from Class A, is really handsome!"

Karuizawa Kei didn't really enjoy talking about these kinds of topics, so she had to bite the bullet and offer an awkward, agreeable smile.

"Seriously~ Kei, you're so lucky! You get to date Hirata, and he's the third-ranked handsome guy. Don't be ungrateful~~~!"

Inokashira Kokoro asked in confusion, "Come to think of it, is this first-place student a boy from Class C?"

"Yes!" ×2.

Shinohara Satsuki and Mori Nene locked eyes for a split second before immediately looking away, acting as if nothing had happened.

Mori Nene immediately praised, "Tennoji Kaede is just so handsome~ I don't know why, but sometimes I just want to stare at him. He's so charming~"

Shinohara Satsuki huffed, "Are you seeing things? Isn't Tennoji just an iceberg handsome man? He clearly gives off a stoic ceo style vibe!"

The two girls' discussion grew a bit too loud, drawing the attention of two other Class D girls.

Kushida Kikyo glanced over, then went back to reading her book.

Sakura Airi sat in the corner, remaining unnoticed.

Are they... talking about Tennoji?

Come to think of it, the promised day is tomorrow...