Ideas

Akasaka felt a little creeped out under Ayanokoji's stare and had no idea what to do...

Kato Megumi saw how awkward he was, so she picked up a book and stood, stepping between them to bail him out.

"I don't know how to solve this problem. Akasaka, could you teach me?"

Akasaka knew she was helping him out, and he gave her a grateful look as he took the book.

"No problem. Leave it to me. You solve this kind of problem by..."

But he trailed off before he could finish, because he didn't know how to do it either...

He'd forgotten that he was terrible at studying.

Kato sighed. She should've known he wouldn't be able to solve it. She took the book back and went over to Horikita. She really couldn't do the problem, so she needed someone to explain it to her.

"Horikita, could you help me with this problem? I really don't know how to solve it..."

To her surprise, the usually aloof Horikita Suzune didn't turn her down. She took the book and patiently explained the problem to Kato Megumi.

"You solve this problem like this..."

Kato Megumi sat down beside her and listened attentively, thinking to herself, Horikita really isn't as hard to get along with as I imagined. She's just a little cold.

Now it was Ayanokoji and Akasaka's turn to exchange a look. They both thought to themselves, Maybe there's still hope for Horikita...

Horikita seemed to sense a hint of malice. Puzzled, she looked up, her lovely brows furrowing.

"Are you two insulting me in your heads?"

Ayanokoji and I both froze.

Ayanokoji did a better job of hiding it. He remained calm and expressionless.

But Akasaka was hopeless. His face clearly said, How did you know? and Horikita saw right through him.

Horikita picked up her ballpoint pen and viciously jabbed it into Akasaka's arm.

Akasaka looked at the red mark on his arm and felt at a loss for words.

"Why'd you only jab me and not him?"

I pointed at Ayanokoji, who was leisurely drinking some water nearby.

Ayanokoji tilted his head, pretending not to understand, as if he had no idea what was going on.

That infuriated Akasaka. He slapped the table and sprang to his feet, pointing angrily at Ayanokoji.

"Quit pretending! You were thinking the same thing I was. Don't think I didn't notice!"

Ayanokoji kept playing dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about, Akasaka. Please don't slander me. I'm an upstanding citizen."

Akasaka nearly coughed up blood.

If you're an upstanding citizen, then I'll believe old Chiang is still alive.

Horikita raised her ballpoint pen again and clicked the button, exposing its sharp tip once more.

"What else do you have to say for yourself? I'll let you say your last words first."

Akasaka stood up, ready to run. "I just remembered I left the rice cooker on at home. The rice is going to burn, so I have to go back."

Kato Megumi mercilessly called him out. "Akasaka, rice cookers switch off automatically, so the rice won't burn."

Akasaka glared at Kato Megumi in annoyance.

Whose side are you on? Weren't you my accomplice?

But when Kato Megumi saw the question in his eyes, she felt a little giddy. Teasing Akasaka seemed to bring her joy.

Kato Megumi's little-devil side had fully come out around Akasaka—and only around him.

After his teammate exposed his excuse, Akasaka hurriedly tried to think of another way out. Then he suddenly remembered something and turned to Horikita.

"I have a way to get the whole class through the exam. Do you trust me?"

Horikita set down her ballpoint pen and folded her arms.

"Let's hear it."

Akasaka pursed his lips. It seemed he'd managed to change the subject, so he continued with his idea, which was also what had happened in the original story.

"We can spend Personal Points to buy First Year Exam Papers from upperclassmen and use them as references."

"I've been keeping an eye on the Student Council."

"The exam questions for the first three months of the first year are all the same. It's obvious the school did this on purpose."

"They did it so students could cheat. You just have to think of it."

After hearing Akasaka's explanation, Horikita instinctively wanted to refuse.

She believed that studying should be done honestly and that cheating was wrong.

As an exemplary student, she had never even considered cheating.

Just as Horikita was about to refuse, Ayanokoji raised a hand to stop her.

Horikita glared at him in displeasure. "What are you doing?! Are you saying we should rely on cheating to earn points?"

"What's the point of that? If we don't improve our abilities, we'll still fail the next exam."

"But it can solve our immediate problem, Horikita," Ayanokoji said helplessly, pointing to the other thirty-six students behind him.

"You may not need it, but they do. Have you thought about the consequences of failing the exam? It could drag down the entire class."

"So what if it drags down the entire class? They didn't work hard enough." Horikita Suzune held her head high, not thinking she'd done anything wrong.

Horikita wasn't actually wrong. In real life, people shouldn't cheat. But this wasn't an ordinary school. It was Advanced Nurturing, a school that simulated the real workplace in depth.

In the workplace, people would make different choices. They wouldn't simply work hard and wait for success, because that would take far too long.

It was more worthwhile to take credit for someone else's work. That was why Advanced Nurturing made the exams for the first three months of the school year identical: it was meant to let students cheat.

After those three months, they'd have to study properly.

Put simply, it was a grace period—a special measure designed to help classes full of troublemakers, like Class C or Class D, pass their exams.

It also showed that in the workplace, good grades weren't enough to guarantee success.

What mattered was knowing how to read the room and keep the boss happy. That was how you got ahead.

People who didn't know when to bow their heads would be held back their entire lives, doomed to toil away as lowly wage earners.

Their achievements might even be stolen by others who'd stop at nothing to claim them as their own.

Of course, this wasn't something anyone should do. Please don't try it.

After listening to Ayanokoji's long explanation, Horikita seemed to understand the general idea and gave in. She agreed, adding that if they needed to spend points, everyone in the class should contribute.

Ayanokoji and Akasaka exchanged another look and thought to themselves, She's way too naive. She actually expects everyone to chip in.

The two of them glanced at the thirty-six students who never studied properly and shook their heads.

This is going to be hard to raise...