Students at this school had never managed to collect 20 million points before, so even the 2 million points they had now were something to be proud of.
But Nakano-kun thought there must be someone who had managed to collect 20 million points. Horikita Manabu of Class 3-A, for instance.
What he had told Ryuuen—that he'd gone to observe the number of students in the upper grades—was true.
Every second-year class had fewer than 40 students, while among the third-year classes, only Class 3-A still had its full 40 students.
That could be taken as proof that Class 3-A was strong as a whole. It could also mean that Horikita Manabu, the class leader, was strong. And of course, it could mean that when Class 3-A had to choose between abandoning a classmate and spending points, they'd spent the points.
They'd used 20 million points to protect their classmates.
So perhaps Horikita Manabu, as class leader, had already collected 20 million points.
Of course, those points had served the interests of his class. As for an individual, collecting 2 million points was already quite an impressive achievement, especially since they could spend those points freely.
Even so, they were still a long way from their goal of transferring classes for 20 million points.
But none of that stopped Nakano-kun from being in a good mood.
So.
That very evening, Nakano-kun took Horikita-san to the shopping district, where they went on a shopping spree.
After they'd finished shopping, the two of them stopped at a bubble tea shop. Nakano Yuu ordered Horikita Suzune a milk tea and brought over some pastries, too.
"..." Horikita.
Horikita Suzune seemed a little puzzled.
There were four different pastries on the table: a blueberry cube cake, a rich red velvet cake, a chocolate cheesecake mousse, and a tiramisu cup cake. They were all tempting flavors.
Yet she seemed uneasy.
It wasn't hard to understand why. It was that feeling of... "There's no such thing as a free lunch."
She probably thought Nakano-kun had called her out because he had something important to discuss, or because he needed her to do something difficult.
"Relax." Nakano-kun took a sip of his osmanthus rice-wine milk tea. "I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm just in a good mood today. I got 780,000 points from Ryuuen, and another 20,000 from students in Class A."
So he'd earned 800,000 points and was celebrating a little?
Still.
Horikita Suzune wrapped her left hand around the fruit tea with green grapes that Nakano Yuu had ordered for her. It wasn't the sort of drink she usually liked, but it tasted pretty good, so she took two long sips.
She could sense the boy across from her was excited, but she had nothing to celebrate.
Because—
She hadn't earned anything.
His happiness had nothing to do with her.
No, that wasn't quite true. Nakano Yuu had invited her out today and taken her shopping for a few necessities. He'd paid the bill, so she had gotten something out of it after all.
"Our goal is to collect 20 million points. We've only taken the first step, but it's a promising start."
"I wanted you to see that if you stick with me, we can accomplish our goal," Nakano Yuu said. "As my partner, you'll get a share of the points we earn based on how much you contribute."
"For example, this time, we got past exam papers from a third-year senior to put together study materials. You helped fill in the answers, so you put in the work, too."
"So I've decided to give you ten percent of the earnings," Nakano Yuu said.
Oh.
So she was getting something out of this after all?
But Horikita-san shook her head. "I didn't do anything valuable this time. You don't have to give me that much."
"Then I'll pay you for buying the 'study materials,'" Nakano Yuu said. "You can also distribute the 'study materials' to the students in your class. But we're in Class D, so it'll be safer if everyone gets a copy. Their academic performance isn't very good."
"If we can pass this exam, the class's poor evaluation score should improve, too. We'll earn a little by putting together 'study materials' for Class C this time, but the students in our class are still struggling," Nakano Yuu said. "I hope the class can improve because of this, too."
Just like that.
Nakano-kun was seriously talking to Horikita-san about Class D.
Horikita-san found his concern for the class... strange.
Out of ten, it was twelve parts strange.
This was a person who'd said things like, "What does the class have to do with me?" and "Even if I give the students in my class the exam papers, they still won't get good grades."
Yet now he was acting as though he cared about the class.
And he even said he hoped the class would improve because of this? Was he sure he wasn't sick, or that something hadn't gone wrong in his head? He needed to go back to normal. This wasn't like him.
Just like that.
Something was fishy.
Those three words instantly appeared in Horikita's mind.
Besides.
There was something off about what he'd just said. They'd bought the exam papers from a second-year student in Class 2-D, yet he'd immediately said they got them from a third-year senior.
Was he deliberately hiding something?
And they'd bought exam papers, but he kept calling them "study materials." That was strange, too.
He'd even said he wanted to do something for the class and help his classmates out of their difficult circumstances. That had to be a lie.
Or was he saying all this on purpose so someone else could hear?
Just as she was thinking that—
"Your coffees."
A voice suddenly came from the side. A server had walked over with a tray carrying two cups of rich, fragrant coffee, each topped with a design.
But—
"No, we didn't order those," Nakano-kun said, looking surprised.
"That gentleman is treating you," the server replied, stepping aside slightly. The blond young man who'd been sitting by the window before Nakano Yuu and Horikita Suzune arrived stood up and walked straight over to them.
"I'm Miyabi Nagumo from Class 2-A, and you two are first-year students, right?" the blond young man said.
"A second-year senior?" Nakano-kun exclaimed in surprise.
"That's right. I'm Miyabi Nagumo from Class 2-A. At the end of last year, my class moved up from Class B, so we're in Class A now." Nagumo seemed proud of his class's promotion. "I'm also the vice president of the Student Council."
"The Student Council!"
This time it was Horikita Suzune who was surprised. As Horikita Manabu's younger sister, she naturally paid attention to anything related to him.
"Heh."
Apparently pleased to have caught a pretty girl's attention, Senior Nagumo kept smiling.
But Nakano-kun knew Horikita wasn't interested in him at all. She'd only reacted to the words "Student Council," because Horikita's brother was the Student Council President.
"So, Senior Nagumo, why did you suddenly come over to talk to us...?" Nakano-kun had picked up on something unusual.
"Sorry. I overheard your conversation. Did you first-years in Class 1-D really get 'study materials' from the third-years?" Miyabi Nagumo asked. "And was it for the sake of your class?"
Oh.
Though Miyabi Nagumo sounded mild, Horikita Suzune, his junior, already understood.
Nakano Yuu's words just now had indeed been a lie.
He'd probably said them so this man would hear.
And judging by her experience, this man was about to become the next sucker Nakano-kun picked out.
Good. You're next, Senior Nagumo!
Under Horikita-san's watchful gaze, Nakano-kun began acting utterly harmless.
"Um, will we get in trouble for getting some study materials from our seniors?"
"Or is it not allowed to approach upperclassmen?"
"If that's the case, I'll go to the Student Council and return the study materials with the Student Council President as a witness." First-year Nakano-kun seemed rather bad at handling this kind of conversation.
He gave off the impression of a complete beginner.
Mm.
Second-year senior Miyabi Nagumo's attention turned fully toward him.
He'd entered the bubble tea shop before the two of them, intending to pick up milk tea for the girls in his class. Then, by chance, he'd overheard the two first-years talking.
The timing suggested the new students were facing their first written exam.
Around this time last year, Nagumo had realized something was off about the written exam. So he'd asked upperclassmen for advice and quickly learned that the exam was based on old questions.
He'd also learned from his seniors that the school allowed upperclassmen and underclassmen to trade old questions, but the upperclassmen were forbidden from bringing it up. The underclassmen had to figure it out and ask first.
In other words, the school tacitly approved of this.
Sure enough, after Nagumo bought the exam papers, his class passed with flying colors. He also realized that this school really was different from the schools outside.
He'd been intrigued by the school's approach, which encouraged students to think and adapt.
Driven by that philosophy, he soon led his class to victory in one Special Exam after another, eventually moving them up from Class B to Class A.
They became the first class in the school's history to climb from a lower class to a higher one.
That was how he'd caught the attention of Senior Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President, who'd invited him to join the Student Council.
And then Nagumo had reached what he considered the peak of his life so far.
And now, the new students were already this impressive?
Had a first-year already figured it out at this point?
"How did you think to ask the upperclassmen for exam papers?" Miyabi Nagumo asked. "Which class are you from?"
"Class 1-D," Nakano Yuu said. "Our grades are terrible, so we were wondering if there was a shortcut."
"..." Miyabi Nagumo.
For a moment, Miyabi Nagumo was at a loss for words.
It seemed he'd misunderstood. These two students had just stumbled upon it by chance.
And if they were in Class D, a class full of poor students, then it made sense that they'd be stressed about a written exam and try to find another way.
"So, Senior, will it really be okay if I take the exam this way?"
The first-year junior asked humbly. He seemed a little flustered, and as he spoke, he nervously put his left hand in his pants pocket. It twitched twice.
Nagumo noticed the movement. As second-year students at this school, they were quite sensitive to spies, eavesdropping, and recording devices.
In Nagumo's eyes, Nakano Yuu's movement just now had been enough to press the record button on a voice recorder.
He didn't assume Nakano was using his phone's built-in recording function. Ordinary people couldn't precisely find the recording feature and start recording with a phone in their pocket.
While Nagumo was watching, Nakano Yuu pulled his left hand out of his pocket the very next second. The pocket lining had flipped out from the speed of his movement, and the pocket was empty.
"..." Nagumo.
The contrast left him nearly speechless, and he felt as though he'd scared himself. The junior wasn't recording anything; he was probably just adjusting his trajectory.
He looked like a novice having his first encounter with this kind of unusual exam, one that clashed with his preconceptions.
After all.
Learning that the exam was based on old questions would sound ridiculous to anyone.
But it was a hallmark of this school. They'd probably get used to it soon enough.
Now—
"You're lucky," Miyabi Nagumo said. "This exam is based on old questions. That's one of the school's cleverest features. The school has high expectations for its students, and it doesn't want to turn them into rigid bookworms. You need to learn to be flexible if you want to survive in society."
"And that's the key to this exam. It tests old questions, directly challenging the students' assumptions."
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