This Is as Far as It Goes

Ever since the Diary was exposed for secretly sending out Diary Copy, Asakusa Toru has inexplicably felt a little insecure.

The strength is still too little.

Even with the protective network of Advanced Nurturing, what if this dilapidated vocational school can't withstand the pressure?

His Stand Power has yet to awaken, and the invincible Star Platinum has not yet appeared.

The only thing we can hope for is the physical fitness that the White Room will bring.

Yes, we can't keep going down this path.

We must rise up!

The determination was ignited.

She put on the headscarf.

With 365 times the time acceleration and the proficiency bonus from S-rank items, my physical abilities, which I thought were nearing their limit, have been honed once again.

Although I have absolutely no interest in Simak Dian, anyway—I'll beat him up first.

Defeat, reset, rekindle determination, rise again.

Repeating endlessly.

Silently, his fighting ability began to increase, from the initial difficulty to a balanced state, and before long, the headscarf wrapped around his forehead slipped down.

When his initial determination faded, the middle-aged man finally became his defeated foe.

... Next, only the greatest masterpiece remains.

Let's skip it today.

His resolve had been completely extinguished.

The headscarf loosened on its own initiative, and the little bit of energy that had been lifted up for so long vanished again. Asakusa Toru returned to a state of 'lacking energy'.

"Alright, alright everyone—the results are about to be announced!" Soon, Hoshinomiya Chie looked very happy, walked into the classroom.

The students in the class were even more excited because of the slightly earlier exam results.

Although most students aren't really worried about being expelled for failing a test, high school students inevitably feel nervous about exams.

"... It's finally here."

"What was bound to happen has finally happened."

"My first formal exam in high school... I'm really nervous."

Whispers filled the air; at times like these, there was no need to worry too much about classroom order.

"Don't worry, everyone is a good kid, no one failed~" With a smile, Hoshinomiya Chie unfolded the large report card she had brought and slapped it onto the blackboard.

The white paper rolled down from top to bottom, and then the names of the students and their corresponding grades were clearly displayed in front of everyone in the class.

At the very top are naturally a few students who got full marks. After all, it's just a midterm exam for the first year of high school. With a little ability and a little review, getting full marks in a few subjects isn't difficult.

The scores decrease sequentially downwards with each different name.

Skipping over Ichinose Honami's name and his own, Asakusa Toru quickly found the names Shiranami Chihiro and Shibata Hayate.

It's about in the middle; it seems the review was effective.

"Call--"

The sound was clearly one of relief, a very obvious sigh.

There were both students who were satisfied with their grades and those who were dissatisfied.

However, as Hoshinomiya said.

There was not a single student in this class who failed.

A bright line was drawn under everyone's name, and no student's name was below the passing mark.

Class 1-A, all members survived.

But looking at Class 1-D, which is at the very bottom, the situation is slightly different.

Class 1-D.

"Forty, thirty-five, thirty-three, thirty-one, twenty-nine..."

Nervously, Ken Sudō stared at the numbers of his five subjects next to his name on the report card posted by his homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.

Although he changed his attitude and put all his effort into studying, it was already beyond imagination that he had reached this level in less than a month, considering he didn't have much talent in this area to begin with.

At least in this class, his grades are good enough to keep him from the bottom of the class.

His hard work to this point has not been in vain.

However, if he remembered correctly, the passing score for the last English quiz was thirty-two.

This time, he only scored twenty-nine.

Yes, he knew his English wasn't good, and no matter how hard he tried, it would be difficult to improve, so he tried his best to review other equally risky subjects first.

Still no luck?

Ken Sudō a little lost in thought.

But even more lost in thought than him was Kanji Ike, who sat in front of him.

"Twenty-five, twenty-eight, twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty-four..."

The uniformly twenty-something names, clearly and distinctly placed at the bottom, caused Kanji Ike to contort his expression and clutch his head.

"--It's over, it's all over!!!"

No subject passed the test.

"Haruki, Haruki, we're doomed!!!" He cried, grabbing Yamauchi Haruki's shoulder as he sat in front of him, his voice booming, "We're going to drop out of school together!"

His feelings were very genuine; he seemed to truly believe that he and his fellow sufferers, Yamauchi, were about to end their budding, rosy high school life.

However, Yamauchi, whose shoulder he had grabbed, turned around and revealed a very complicated expression.

"Kanji ... take care," he said.

Chapter 123 ends here.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you talking about, Haruki? We definitely walked together."

Looking at that regretful gaze, Kanji Ike a little confused.

He waved his hand, suppressing his disappointment, and began to dream about the future:

"If we drop out of school together, we won't have to eat the same vegetable meals in the cafeteria every day, and we won't have to be looked down upon by students from other classes. We can transfer to any school and go out and have fun on weekends. Who knows, we might even get girlfriends as transfer students!"

Dropping out isn't the end of the story. Let whoever wants to study at this lousy school do as they please. Losing him and Yamauchi Haruki will only be a loss for the school!

He'll transfer to another school with Yamauchi and brag to his new classmates about how terrible the school is!

Even the dogs aren't left behind!

Although I failed the midterm exams and my grades will probably lead to dropping out of school, instead of wallowing in sadness, I should look forward to a brighter future.

As long as you're not the only one dropping out of school, that's enough.

If he were to drop out of school on his own, Kanji Ike probably wouldn't be able to maintain such a good mindset, but if Yamauchi Haruki dropped out with him, what would he be afraid of?

Those two brothers! Wherever they go, they're all imposing!

And there might be more than two people. He saw Sudo's English score when he checked his grades just now; it was also in the twenties, which was definitely a failing grade.

Hmph, after all that pretense of hard work, you still failed?

When the time comes, we'll have Lord Kanji Ike come and comfort him properly!

However, come to think of it, I don't think I've seen Haruki's grades yet.

Suddenly, Kanji Ike remembered this matter, and he raised his head to look at the blackboard.

You don't need to study the other subjects; just focus on English.

After all, the three brothers were so bad at English that there was no way to improve them, and it was almost impossible for them to pass.

Start with your own name, from bottom to top...

Huh?

The name on my sign isn't Haruki?

Seriously, did this guy's grades really improve just because he got Hirata's tutoring?

Let me see...

Above him was Sotomura, then above that was Inogashira, Mori Nene, Ken Sudō, and then... 'Yamauchi Haruki'.

Hey, when did you climb so high?

Although it's still near the bottom, hasn't it already moved out of the bottom five?!

Yamauchi Haruki's English score is a full 32 points!

Isn't this just the passing mark from the last quiz?!

"Hey, hey, hey, Haruki, you're actually studying seriously?!" Kanji Ike was dumbfounded.

He never imagined that his good friend would betray him!

"Ah, um..." Yamauchi Haruki turned his head away. "So Kanji, take care."

His voice was filled with sorrow and grief.

"No, no, no, no, no, take care of yourself! What do you mean, take care of yourself? You're dropping out of school with me, aren't you?!" Kanji Ike couldn't take it anymore. He could tolerate anyone else, but why was Yamauchi Haruki telling him to take care of himself?!

"You only passed English, what are you so smug about?!"

He abruptly turned his head and looked at the grade sheet again, his gaze moving upwards as he searched for Yamauchi's name in the other subjects.

But...

"Thirty-one, thirty, thirty-three, thirty-five, thirty-two..." The more he searched, the softer his voice became.

In every subject, Yamauchi's score exceeded thirty.

What is this?!

What's so strange about this?!

Betrayal, utter betrayal!

He betrayed the failing group!!!

But it's okay, it's okay, we still Sudo!

Like grasping at a straw, Kanji Ike remembered Sudo behind him.

His English is the worst; he'll definitely fail!

He found Sudo's English score almost instantly.

"Twenty-nine!" He clenched his fist with immense excitement. "Right! Right! It's definitely not just me! If we're going to drop out, we'll all drop out together!"

"Honestly, I've had enough of living without a single penny. The sooner I drop out of school, the sooner I'll be free!"

"Who's going to compete with them for a spot in Class A? Let the top three classes fight over it!"

His voice was loud, but the other students in the class didn't say much.

The other students in the class were waiting for Hirata to speak.

After giving Kanji Ike a deep look, Hirata Yosuke finally let out a soft sigh.

"Chabashira-sensei, please set a passing grade," he said.

Whether a student passes or fails is determined by the class average score, a point that has been mentioned many times. By halving the average score, you can calculate the average score for each subject.

Having just glanced at the class's grades and done a simple estimate, Hirata Yosuke already had a general idea of the class average.

... So it still doesn't work?

He has done his best.

They have abandoned their friendly facade and begun to use a tough approach to control everyone's efforts to study, to hold as many study sessions as possible, and to support and teach as many students as possible.