Classroom of the Elite: Starting with a Zero, I Know the Plot So I'll Just Lay Flat!

[Horikita-senpai is even more direct; she had Karuizawa and the others start reviewing from middle school material. Although the academic ability of some of the upperclassmen truly leaves me in awe, I don't think this approach—ignoring the material that will be on the upcoming exam and completely disregarding the students' actual progress—is simple at all.]

Not simple, you say?

The methods used by Horikita and Nakano Yuu are like laying a foundation for their group members, yet the content they are reviewing has nothing to do with the current exam syllabus. If they go into the exam like this, there will definitely be problems.

And are these two not worried? Worried about their group members failing, or the students in the class becoming disappointed in them?

Should I call them cold-blooded? Or perhaps... they simply don't care whether their group members drop out or not, as if the situation of their group members has absolutely nothing to do with them.

At the very least, Kushida feels that Horikita shouldn't be doing this.

Because she has already discovered that while Karuizawa is a member of Horikita's group, Horikita has actually been taking quite good care of them.

The reason she says this is because Karuizawa asked her to borrow money to photocopy the notes on middle school knowledge that Horikita had organized.

Therefore, since Horikita is willing to organize middle school knowledge points and notes for students for free, she wouldn't easily make the cold-blooded choice to let Karuizawa and the others fend for themselves.

Then there can only be one reason.

Is the reason Nakano Yuu and Horikita dare to do this because... they have already mastered a method that allows even the worst students to achieve a passing grade on this exam?

It can be said that Kushida's analysis is already very close to the truth.

That's right.

Since the rule of this school is meritocracy, where you can buy anything with points, and if you can't buy it, it's only because you don't have enough points, then even the test papers for this written exam can be bought, right?

"Is it really like that?"

Kushida looks very annoyed.

Damn it!

So, Horikita and Nakano Yuu aren't including her in their plans at all? How could these two do this!

Of course.

Kushida has also been thinking about keeping her distance from these two. Among them, Horikita is considered by Amasawa-kouhai to not pose much of a threat to her, while the biggest and most dangerous person is Nakano Yuu.

Even though she has avoided him like that, she feels that their relationship is actually maintained quite well.

After all, they added each other as friends. And she even helped Nakano Yuu get introduced to Kamuro from Class A.

As a result, this guy Nakano Yuu clearly has a plan to deal with this exam, yet he completely excluded her and didn't tell her?

[Kushida-senpai, please calm down. You look like someone who has completely lost their composure right now.]

"..."

Kushida.

That's right.

Kushida hurriedly forced herself to calm down.

It is meaningless to lose her composure now.

However.

She still feels so frustrated.

[I speculate that it should be possible to buy the test papers for this written exam, but the cost shouldn't be high. Otherwise, it would be impossible for classes A, B, and C to easily obtain them, and if it cost a lot of money, the students in other classes would be affected to some extent in their daily lives.]

[But judging from the way you usually interact with them, it doesn't seem to be the case, so the cost of buying the test papers shouldn't be expensive.]

And Amasawa-kouhai's devilish remarks echoed in Kushida's mind once again.

"Then my current points..."

Kushida tapped on her Student ID Card.

Name: Kushida Kikyou.

Student ID: ST1045666068.

Class: First Year, Class D.

Gender: Female.

Private Account Points: 1995 points.

Well.

Ever since she lent her points to Karuizawa and the others, she now has less than 2000 points left.

However, this isn't everything. She actually still has 5000 private points. These were purchased when she saw upperclassmen buying them while she was shopping with friends in the shopping district; they buy anonymous point cards, which are similar to point storage devices. The point cards have QR codes on them, which can be scanned to deposit and withdraw points, with no limit on the number of uses or the amount.

So she kept a backup plan at the time and bought these anonymous point cards, then scanned 5000 points into them, and now those 5000 points have become her final reserve fund.

But.

"If it's to buy test papers, even adding these 5000 points wouldn't be enough, right?"

Kushida said.

[I estimate it would take at least thirty or forty thousand, after all, it's the test papers for 5 subjects.]

As expected, Amasawa Kyou-kouhai said the same thing.

[So you might only be able to borrow money, Senior Kushida.]

Amasawa Ichika began to add.

But where would Kushida go to borrow money? Class D was full of paupers; most students were even poorer than her. And if it were students from other classes, if it were students from other classes...

"If I were to buy the test papers from students in other classes, I would still need to spend money, and I would also have to borrow it from others. But what if I could get the students from other classes to give me the papers directly?"

Kushida felt that her popularity was quite good, and she had good relationships with some students in other classes, knowing some gossip that others couldn't be told.

So, perhaps the other party would give the test papers to her.

However.

[Does Senior think that buying test papers is something glorious? The students from other classes who managed to get the papers were likely arranged by their class representatives. Since it's a class-wide plan, do you think they would just give them to you? Or do you think they could accept being held accountable afterward?]

[For example, in Class C, do you think Ryuen Kakeru would easily forgive someone who leaked secrets?]

Amasawa Ichika poured a bucket of cold water directly over Kushida.

That's right.

Although her social skills were strong and she had built friendships with some students, learning their secrets, this kind of relationship wasn't something she could just use and discard. Now that both sides were in different classes, they would inevitably be influenced by the idea of class competition. It was impossible for them to risk betraying their class to give her the papers. Even if the other party were willing, if they were caught and punished, she would only be harming them.

Then.

Then wasn't there no other way?

Kushida began to feel distressed.

[Actually, Senior Kushida still has one option, it's just that you haven't discovered it yet.]

"What is it?"

Kushida was no longer talking to her classmates; she had honestly sat back in her seat, and to others, it looked like she was preparing for class.

But in her heart, Kushida continued to converse with Amasawa Ichika.

[It's very simple. It's hard to get the test papers from students in other classes, but you can easily get them from your own classmates.]

Amasawa Ichika said.

"..."

Kushida.

Kushida felt that what Amasawa Ichika said was as good as saying nothing.

Because if the test papers were in the class, and the classmates had them, didn't that mean Nakano Yuu and Horikita Suzune had them?

What kind of terrible idea was this bad junior Amasawa Ichika coming up with?

She actually wanted her to compromise with Horikita.

And then she wanted her to fawn over Nakano Yuu?

Even if her group members failed the exam and she had to bear their complaints, she couldn't accept having to bow her head to Horikita Suzune.

And as for Nakano Yuu, she naturally wouldn't... naturally wouldn't... hmm?

Kushida's heart felt very angry, but she suddenly thought of a point.

"You previously said that the timing for me to develop a relationship beyond friendship with Nakano Yuu was during this midterm exam period?"

Kushida said.

[That's right. But unfortunately, it's useless for you to ask for more information, because you didn't tell me back then.]

[So this is your own mistake; you dug your own grave.]

By Amasawa Ichika.

"..."

Kushida.

"No, I've been thinking about why I would so shamelessly want to make Nakano Yuu press his handprint."

"Normally speaking, if you hadn't intervened, would I have taken the initiative to make him do that? Obviously not. After all, I have a sense of shame."

"So, is it because of this reason? It definitely wasn't because I sold my body to get the test papers."

"Impossible! Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

Kushida was adamant. But her other inner thoughts were not like that.

Because, would she really do that?

Perhaps she really would.

Because although Horikita and Nakano Yuu had obtained the test papers, they hadn't directly made them public to the students in the class. But if the test papers were released to the students, they would gain the favor of most, if not almost all, of the class.

And when it came to things like currying favor, Kushida was the least able to refuse.

So.

Could it be that if it weren't for the interference of this future junior, Amasawa Ichika, she might have indeed, indeed been capable of making some compromises in order to obtain the test papers?

Even if... even if it meant catering to his preferences just to get Nakano Yuu to press his thumbprint.

And the reason she made such a concession was simply because she had no money.

If you have no money but still want the test papers, then isn't the path... the only one left?

"..."

Kushida.

She suddenly felt like she had cracked the case.

It was like knowing the answer and working backward to deduce the process. And now, having deduced the process, Kushida almost couldn't maintain her composure.

[It seems that if I hadn't intervened, Kushida-senpai would have already deduced the truth about how her thumbprint was taken.]

[However, I still feel like something is a bit off.]

By Amasawa Ichika.

As the person currently sharing a body with Kushida, the thoughts Kushida just had—working backward from the known result to deduce the process—had already been perceived by her junior, Amasawa.

But the junior felt that things were not that simple.

It seemed like there was a discrepancy in some part of the chain.

However, since she was borrowing the other person's body, and she was also worried that Kushida-senpai was so easily deceived that if she were to fail here, it was highly likely she wouldn't even last a year before being expelled—which wouldn't be a good thing for her either.

Therefore, Amasawa would still exert some of her influence for the time being.

Thus, she gave Kushida a chance to play the ostrich for a while.

[If you want to obtain the test papers, then perhaps you can only get them from Nakano-senpai and have him press his thumbprint. But, since they have the intention of giving test papers to their group members, perhaps you can wait a little longer, Kushida-senpai.]

What did waiting a little longer mean? Did it mean waiting for the moment Nakano Yuu and Horikita Suzune shared the test papers with their group members?

And when that time came, she would only need to obtain the test papers from those members. The difficulty would drop instantly; after all, she held secrets that at least three students in the two study groups couldn't afford to have revealed.

Moreover, as classmates and good friends, it wouldn't be an unreasonable request for them to share the test papers with her, right?