Admission Without Examination

"No matter how you look at it, constantly calling someone a freak is just rude, isn't it?! Besides, haven't photos of him without the blindfold already been leaked?"

Unable to bear it any longer, Karuizawa Kei stood up and retorted, defending the guy her friend liked from the relentless insults.

As if that wasn't enough, she fired back with a sarcastic jab.

"Are you just jealous of him?

He's better-looking than you! And his grades are better than yours! The teacher already said he got a perfect score, so what right do you have to question it?"

Intimidated by her overwhelming presence, Ike Kanji felt a pang of guilt as if his hidden thoughts had been exposed. But after a moment, he regrouped and shot back.

"But don't you guys think it's weird? This test was only taken a few days ago.

Hell, forget a few days—he hasn't even been to class in over half a month. So how the hell did he get a perfect score?!"

As Ike Kanji pointed out the flaw, most of the slower students finally caught on.

Right!

That quiz was supposedly taken last Friday. And last Friday, around that time, Gojo had only been spotted over in Class A.

No one knew why his photo didn't surface until Sunday, but he hadn't been in class that day—there was no way he could've taken the test!

Was the teacher lying?

Sensing the students' doubt, Chabashira Sae dropped a bombshell of a fact.

"The score is correct, and he did take the test. Just not last week.

He took it on the very first day of school!..."

"Why would he take a test on material that hadn't even been taught yet on the first day?!"

Yukimura Teruhiko, one of the few top students in the class, couldn't hold back. He stood up and cut her off.

What he hated most were people who didn't study or were bad at it—yet here was a guy who didn't bother showing up to class but still pulled off insane grades.

He couldn't accept that reality.

"BAM!!"

Chabashira Sae slammed her hand on the desk, visibly furious at being interrupted.

"When a teacher is speaking, students do not interrupt! Don't you have even that basic level of manners?!"

The whole class was cowed by the display, and silence fell once more.

"S-sorry."

Yukimura Teruhiko realized he'd overstepped. He muttered an apology and slowly sat back down.

Seeing no one else had anything to say, Chabashira Sae continued.

"Because Gojo's situation is rather special, he's the only new student here who entered without passing any written exams or interviews.

So, to assess his baseline, I had him take all the subsequent quiz papers on the very first day of school.

As for the specific reason behind his special circumstances, that's the student's personal privacy and not something I'm at liberty to disclose.

Now then!

Do you all finally understand how useless you are?

Even when he doesn't attend class, he still gets perfect scores. Meanwhile, some of you show up to the classroom but keep your minds elsewhere—you can't even bring yourselves to acknowledge someone else's excellence!"

She leaned forward, both hands braced on the lectern, her sarcastic words cutting through the air.

She didn't say "invited"—she said "exempted." The difference was huge.

Most of the struggling students lowered their heads. Even a few of the top students had nothing to say.

"Oh? Is that so?

How intriguing!

Even I, the sole heir of the Koenji Conglomerate, had to take the entrance exams step by step—though the process was quite simple for me.

Yet someone managed to get in through exemption. It must be due to some personal special circumstances!"

Koenji Rokusuke voiced his thoughts directly. After all, in this country, the Koenji Conglomerate was a behemoth.

If even he, the only heir, couldn't enjoy exemption privileges, then it had to be something unique about the individual.

He then added with a sigh of admiration.

"What a mysterious boy!

Both his abilities and his appearance surprise me. Truly fascinating."

But at that moment, Yukimura Teruhiko realized—no, he was the first to realize and point it out.

"But even if Gojo is top of the class, if he keeps skipping, no amount of class points—whether 100 or 1,000—will be enough, right?"

"Exactly! That means no matter what we do, we can't climb up!"

"Even if we actually get those 100 class points, we still won't have any income next month!"

With Yukimura Teruhiko's reminder, more and more people started agreeing with that view.

After all, if even 1,000 class points aren't enough to cover the deductions, what's the point of 100?

"This is a problem within your own class, and as a teacher, it's not my place to interfere. Besides, Gojo isn't answering his phone.

But you can try looking for him in his dorm room. It's Room 412."

Just as she finished, she suddenly remembered something else and continued.

"And there's a more important issue now.

In the regular exams, any student who fails a single subject will be expelled!

Based on the current scores, nearly a dozen of you are in that situation."

Hearing that failing meant expulsion, even the struggling students stopped blaming Gojo Satoru and started complaining about the school instead.

"Since when does one failure lead straight to expulsion?!"

"What kind of school is this?!"

Seeing some students already looking hopeless and shutting down, Chabashira Sae couldn't be bothered to keep taunting them.

"Quiet!

Anyway, that's the situation. What you do from here is your own business.

Now, let's start today's lesson."

Ignoring the silent class, Chabashira Sae began teaching from the textbook on her own.

At the same time, in Class B.

"So, to sum it up, that's the situation.

From now on, let's all work together to aim for Class A!"

Hoshinomiya Chie, the homeroom teacher, raised her right hand high as she finished.

But the class atmosphere felt a bit off, and no one responded.

Seeing her usually lively students acting so strange, Hoshinomiya Chie couldn't help but ask.

"Huh?!

Why is everyone so down? Is it because of Amikura?"

She thought of the student who had been on leave for the past couple of days. At the time, she hadn't given a specific reason, just said she wasn't feeling well, and hadn't come to class since.

"Actually, it's like this..."

Kobashi Yume explained Amikura Mako's situation.

"Because of that, Mako hasn't left her dorm in a long time. She won't answer calls, and when we go to her room, she won't open the door.

We're all really worried about her, but right now, no one knows what to do."

"Yeah, we tried looking for Gojo too, but we couldn't find him at all."

Another student chimed in.

"Huh?

Is that the reason?"

She had thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be just a girl heartbroken over a breakup.

Still, seeing how united the class was, Hoshinomiya Chie felt heartened and smiled as she pointed out a solution.

"I thought it was something big, but it's just that.

Young girls these days, honestly—it's just a breakup.

But it seems you've all forgotten one key point. Since you can't find Gojo, why not go talk to Kamuro from Class A?"

"That's right! We were so focused on Mako and Gojo that we forgot his girlfriend is still attending class in Class A."

Shiranami Chihiro stood up excitedly.

"See, that's what they mean by 'the onlooker sees the game best'!"

Hoshinomiya Chie said proudly.

With a solution found, most of the class cheered up.

But Kanzaki Ryuji noticed something off.

As a core member of the class, he often worked alongside Ichinose.

He knew her well. Under normal circumstances, Ichinose wouldn't stay silent about a classmate's misfortune.

Yet she seemed to be avoiding the topic entirely. Even now that a solution had been found, she didn't look happy—just kept her head down.