The Exam Ends

The midterm exam, for which everyone had worked so hard, finally came to a close as the final bell rang. As the proctor for the last subject collected the test papers and left, a portion of the students in Class D slumped directly onto their desks, immediately enveloped by a massive sense of relief.

The nerves that had been taut for too long suddenly slackened, followed by an almost cathartic excitement. The oppressive atmosphere from before the exam was swept away, and the sounds of conversation and laughter in the classroom were more vibrant than ever. Students who had grown close while organizing study sessions gathered in small groups, debating their own topics or simply enjoying this rare moment of joy.

A few days later, during the morning homeroom.

When Chabashira Sae walked into the classroom holding the report cards, her habitually stern face was, for the first time, devoid of its usual mockery or indifference. She scanned the faces before her—some nervous, some expectant, some feigning composure—and announced calmly:

"I am genuinely impressed that you managed to achieve this much. For this exam, Class 1-D, no one failed."

"Yeah--!"

"That's great!"

"Wuu... finally..."

A massive cheer and sighs of relief instantly filled the classroom. Many people cheered in excitement.

Chabashira raised her hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"Additionally, based on the high-score rate of each class, class points will be awarded accordingly, and this time you have earned," she paused, her voice clearly reaching every corner of the room, "95 class points. This means that starting next month, each of you will receive the corresponding personal points."

"..."

The dead silence lasted only for a moment, followed by a storm of ecstasy more intense than before, one that nearly blew the roof off!

"We have points! We finally have points!"

"95 points! That's amazing!"

"Finally... finally we don't have to eat the wild vegetable set meal anymore!"

The sunlight of hope shone into Class D so vividly for the first time. Almost everyone's face was brimming with a genuine, radiant smile. Many turned their grateful gazes toward Kushida Kikyo.

"Kushida-san, thank you so much!"

"Little Kikyo, we love you!"

"It's all thanks to you!"

Facing the tidal wave of gratitude, Kushida wore an impeccable, sweet smile, responding one by one with, "This is the result of everyone's hard work," and "I'm so happy I could help." However, her heart was so calm that even she felt surprised. These expressions of gratitude and praise, which she had once craved so desperately, now felt as if they were coming from a distance. In her mind, she inadvertently recalled the subtle nod Kong had given her before the exam. She shifted her gaze toward Kong, only to see him still looking down at his book, and a complex emotion—a mix of warmth and loss—quietly swept through her heart.

At this time, the Class B classroom was also filled with a joyful atmosphere. Hoshinomiya Chie, with a slight tipsy flush on her cheeks, leaned over the podium and congratulated everyone in a sweet, syrupy voice: "Everyone~ you did such a great job! I knew you could do it~!"

"Class B has increased its class points by 70 for this midterm exam!" Kanzaki Ryuji looked calmly at the class points posted on the blackboard by Hoshinomiya, but even he had a faint, relaxed curve at the corners of his mouth.

Originally, because Class B held large-scale study sessions, the top students had their energy spread thin, so the average score wasn't at its peak. But after Hirata Yosuke shared the past exam papers with Kushida's tacit approval, Class B also ensured a very high pass rate and a decent average. Looking at the class point rankings, seeing the narrowing gap between Class B and Class A, every student in Class B was filled with joy and affirmation of their cooperation with Class D. This undoubtedly proved the correctness of Ichinose Honami's strategy of forming alliances.

Shiranami Chihiro, taking advantage of the festive atmosphere, chirped like a little bird as she huddled up to Ichinose, hugging her affectionately and saying, "Honami-chan is the best!" Ichinose returned a warm smile, gently patting her back, her blue eyes sparkling with relief and anticipation for the future.

Compared to the harmony in Class B, the atmosphere in Class A appeared heavy and oppressive.

Katsuragi Kohei stood before the posted class point poster, looking at the updated numbers: Class A, 1010 points. Although it was an increase of 10 points from the initial total, proving they were still maintaining their lead and progress, the 960 points of Class B behind them felt like an invisible thorn pricking the heart of every student in Class A. The reachable distance brought an unprecedented sense of pressure.

Katsuragi found Sakayanagi Arisu, who was still sitting peacefully in her seat.

"Sakayanagi, you've seen the situation." Katsuragi's voice was low and serious. "Class B's catching-up speed is exceeding expectations. I believe it is time to stop the pointless internal consumption and face the outside together. The overall interests of Class A are above all else."

Sakayanagi Arisu's slender fingers tapped lightly on the desk, as if playing a silent piece of music. She raised those purple eyes, which held no ripples, only a condescending indifference.

"Face the outside together? That assumes there can only be one voice internally." Her voice was soft, yet carried an unquestionable decisiveness.

In the end, the conversation between Katsuragi and Sakayanagi ended on a sour note.

After Katsuragi left, Sakayanagi instructed Kamuro Masumi, who was staring at her grades beside her: "Kamuro-san, that Ichinose Honami—how is the observation of her schedule and the people she contacts going?"

Kamuro pouted and reported lazily: "At first, most of the time was spent holding study sessions with people from Class B, and the atmosphere was great. Later... she went to tutor a girl from Class D. It looks like Class B and Class D really did cooperate for this exam."

"The union of mortals is, after all, only the wisdom of mortals." A cold curve appeared on the corner of Sakayanagi's mouth. "If Ichinose's performance is only to this extent, then there must be someone else behind her. Look carefully—is there anyone... special around her?"

Kamuro gave an extremely reluctant response: "...Got it. You only know how to order people around..."

Meanwhile, in the Class C classroom.

The air here seemed to have solidified, permeated by a suffocating oppression entirely different from Classes A, B, and D. There were no cheers, no conversations; most students kept their heads down, not daring to look directly at the existence in the center of the classroom who resembled a monarch.

Ryuen Kakeru leaned back in his chair, one leg arrogantly propped up on the desk. A few strands of his long red hair fell over his forehead, failing to hide those cold, aggressive eyes that resembled a reptile. He was watching the class points displayed on the digital board.

Class C's points remained at 600.

His fingers brushed across the screen nonchalantly, his gaze lingering for a moment on the high numbers of Class A and Class B, before finally landing on the number for Class D—which, although still at the bottom, had broken through from zero to 95.

A twisted and excited smile, like a viper flicking its tongue, slowly crawled onto his lips.

"Heh... this school is indeed more interesting than I imagined." He muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and filled with malice.

His brain was running at high speed. The gray areas of the rules, the reward and punishment mechanism for points, the gaps between classes... all of this was like a carefully designed playground. And he, Ryuen Kakeru, loved nothing more than finding loopholes to exploit in such a place, enjoying the expressions of despair on the faces of those "honor students" and "honest people" when the rules collapsed.

'Class A and Class B... are not easy to move for now.' His cold gaze focused again on the Class D number. 'But Class D... a bunch of losers who just crawled out of the mud of zero points, thinking they can catch their breath just because they got 95 points through some unknown luck and a little cleverness?'

In his worldview, the weak had no right to enjoy peace; their meaning for existence was to be plundered and dominated. Class D was undoubtedly the most suitable prey at the moment. It wouldn't trigger a strong backlash like touching Classes A or B, and it could effectively test the bottom line of the school's rules.

He needed information, he needed to find Class D's weakness, he needed a... "chicken" he could use to scare the monkeys.

A cruel and excited light flickered in Ryuen Kakeru's eyes. He felt as if he could already see that lamb of Class D, which had just learned to walk, about to be torn to shreds by him, the wolf lurking in the shadows. This was not just for points, but to enjoy the pleasure of domination, and to announce his arrival to this "meritocratic" school.