I'll Regret This

After a month of being repeatedly beaten down by Ichinose, Uesugi Gen had taken a long, hard look at himself and begun a period of seclusion to figure out why he kept failing.

In the end, Uesugi Gen reached a conclusion.

The evil Ichinose had ensnared too many followers, leaving him constantly under attack from every direction—stabbed in the back again and again. He couldn't figure out their tactics at all.

So if he wanted to defeat Ichinose, he first had to undermine her support and expose her true nature.

He needed to show Class B that he, Uesugi Gen, was the best person to lead them.

Watching Uesugi Gen's grin grow more and more unrestrained, Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata silently took a step back.

The two exchanged a glance.

Kanzaki, what's he planning?

No idea. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Go get Ichinose, or we won't be able to stop him once he starts something.

Ring!!!

As the bell rang, Hoshinomiya-sensei walked into the classroom empty-handed.

Shiranami Chihiro, sitting at the very front, reminded her,

"Um, teacher, it looks like you didn't bring your textbook."

Everyone was used to their teacher's childishness, so they simply assumed she had forgotten it.

Hoshinomiya smiled and waved her hand, explaining,

"We're having a homeroom lesson today. I changed the schedule at the last minute."

"But you're not supposed to be leading this homeroom lesson."

After saying that, Hoshinomiya beckoned to Uesugi Gen in the back row.

"Gen-chan, come on up."

Uesugi Gen straightened his clothes, held his head high, and strode toward the lectern like a dragon.

Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Hayate watched him go, then exchanged a look.

This was bad!

Standing at the lectern, Uesugi Gen surveyed the class, cleared his throat, and began his performance.

"Everyone, I'm sure you know that only students who graduate from Class A can receive the school's recommendations for jobs and further education."

The whole class nodded in unison.

"Which means that if we want to advance to Class A, the other three classes are all our competitors."

Right. That was obvious.

"So I'd like to propose something to the class: strike first and win in one blow, before the other classes realize what's happening."

Uesugi Gen looked around at his classmates in Class B. Some hesitated, some looked confused, while others remained calm.

Uesugi Gen sighed inwardly. He knew his class better than anyone. To strike first and sabotage the others would, honestly, run counter to their moral standards.

But that was fine. Changing that mindset was one of the main goals of this operation.

"Then, Uesugi, what's the plan?"

Kanzaki Ryuji stood up and asked. Unlike the other students, Kanzaki, who came from a prominent family, clearly didn't have such qualms.

Uesugi Gen glanced at Kanzaki, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

Kanzaki, you really are my best buddy!

Then he pulled out a sheet of paper and slapped it against the blackboard.

"This is the key."

"Uesugi, what's this?" Amikura Mako, sitting in the first row, asked in confusion.

In a calm voice, Uesugi Gen told the whole class,

"This is the exam paper for the upcoming midterm."

The moment Uesugi Gen said that, the students in Class B erupted into a commotion, and the room filled with noise.

Then a voice rang out.

"Uesugi, you can't do something like that!"

Ichinose shot up from her seat and anxiously called out to Uesugi Gen at the lectern.

"Um... isn't that an old exam paper?"

Kanzaki Ryuji looked at Ichinose in puzzlement. Ichinose was usually so clever; there was no way she could have missed that.

Ichinose froze for a moment, then hurriedly sat back down.

"Ah, it is an old exam paper—and it's the actual paper for this midterm. It's one of the school's unspoken rules: they've always used old exam papers for exams."

Something was definitely off about Ichinose just now!

Uesugi Gen stared at Ichinose. He decided to put the matter aside for now and deal with the situation at hand first.

"Um, Uesugi, I don't mean to be rude, but our class shouldn't need an old exam paper, should we?" asked Shiranami Chihiro, whose grades were good and who sat closest to the front.

No, no, I think we should keep it.

Shibata Hayate, who had lately been so absorbed in soccer that he hadn't been studying, silently grumbled to himself.

"Of course. I've never thought our class needed something like this." Uesugi Gen pointed to the paper behind him and flashed a brazen grin. Then he said something shocking: "This is for the other classes."

Uesugi Gen's words left the students in Class B confused.

Why? Why give it to the other classes instead?

"Uesugi—"

Shibata was just about to speak when Kanzaki pulled him back.

Kanzaki shook his head at Shibata. He knew Uesugi Gen well enough to know there was more to it than that.

Of course there was. The other classes weren't as innocent as little lambs like the students in Class B.

If they found out there was an old exam paper, anyone who wasn't exceptionally good—good enough to be certain they could pass the Special Exam—would take a look, at least to put themselves at ease.

And the moment they did, they'd fall into the net Uesugi Gen had carefully woven.

Seeing the students in Class B gradually settle down, Uesugi Gen explained,

"You've all copied answers before, right? How do you usually do it? First you check whether the questions match the ones you remember, then you check whether the answers you remember are there. If they are, you pick one and move on. That's how most people do it, right?"

"..."

Most of Class B stared at Uesugi Gen blankly. Was that how people copied answers?

Uesugi Gen covered his face with one hand. All right, he'd been too naive.

"Uesugi, are you saying—"

Kanzaki Ryuji sprang to his feet, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at Uesugi Gen.

Whoa, Kanzaki, you understood what I meant right away. Guess you're not as straight-laced as you seem.

Uesugi Gen burst out laughing and announced his plan to the class.

"Exactly. First, we let the other first-year classes find out that old exam papers exist."

"Then, when the exam is close, I'll use my position as Vice President of the Student Council to ask the school to change the paper."

"After that, I'll make a deal with the school using points and get them to change it in the way I specify."

"That means they won't make any major changes to the midterm paper. They'll only alter a small part."

"And any students who've seen the old paper and memorized the correct answers will fall into my trap if they don't read every question word for word."

"Think about it. The first few exams will be exactly the same as the old papers. But what if they change a letter or a word in one of the many English multiple-choice questions? Would you notice?"

"Or what if the first few questions are exactly the same as the old paper? Will you still read the rest as carefully? In a subject like math, all they have to do is switch a symbol or move a bracket, and the answer will be completely different."

"Even if some of the choices are different, as long as the answer that used to be correct is still there, they'll think they remembered it wrong. After all, who pays attention to the wrong choices when reading a question? The same goes for most of the other questions. Once they've seen the old paper, there are plenty of ways to confuse them."

"At the same time, students with worse grades will study the old questions more and may even memorize every answer on the paper. Those with a little more confidence will look at it less, while the top students won't look at it at all."

"That'll leave them in a situation where the worse their grades are, the more old questions they'll memorize—and the more they'll get wrong. The better their grades are, the less they'll look at the old paper—and the fewer they'll get wrong."

"If the plan works, the scores of students at every level in the other classes will be spread much farther apart."

"If we're lucky, more than ten students might even be expelled at once."

"That would leave Class D with no chance of ever competing with us again, while Class C would be badly hurt and lose a huge amount of strength. If Class A is unlucky, one or two of their students might even be expelled."

"With a single exam, we can become Class A, permanently knock Class D out of the running, and leave Class C unable to recover for at least a year or two. After that, all we'll have to do is focus on defeating Class A once they've fallen to Class B. It's three birds with one stone."

"This is my Manjian Qifa plan!"

One AOE attack, sweeping indiscriminately across the whole field.

Only those who survived it would be worthy of playing this game with me.

At the lectern, Uesugi Gen wore an evil grin.

I'll Regret This

Silence.

The whole class fell into a deathly silence.

The plan was too insane. Expelling more than ten students at once—there had probably never been a precedent like that, even at the fiercely competitive Kōiku.

But looking at it the other way, if the plan succeeded, the benefits to Class B would be enormous. The only cost would be points, and there was almost no risk. After all, Class B was unlikely to be the class that looked at old exam papers in the first place.

For a while, not a single student in Class B said a word. They all lowered their heads and sat motionless in their seats.

Then—

A voice broke the silence.

"I support this plan."

The calm voice came from the back of the classroom. Everyone followed it, and saw Kanzaki Ryuji raise his hand with a composed expression, showing his support for Uesugi Gen.

"As long as our goal is to advance to Class A, the other classes will come after us sooner or later. Rather than sit back and wait, we should strike first and wipe them all out."

Facing the eyes of the whole class, Kanzaki Ryuji calmly explained his reasoning.

Uesugi Gen looked at Kanzaki Ryuji and silently shed crocodile tears.

Kanzaki, you really are my best buddy. I was wrong to call you Ichinose's lackey before. Just you wait—once I become class leader, I'll make you crown prince.

"I support it too."

Himeno Yuki, who had always kept to the margins of the class, showed her support for Uesugi Gen through her actions.

Shibata saw the two people beside him raise their hands. He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and said,

"Um, I support it too..."

One after another, scattered voices came from different corners of the classroom.

"I support the plan too..."

"Count me in..."

"Me..."

Uesugi Gen looked over the classmates who had raised their hands and silently memorized their names. He sighed inwardly.

Not even ten in total?

Well, it was still too hard for them to choose to personally destroy someone else's future.

Then Uesugi Gen shifted his gaze to the beautiful figure who had lowered her head and remained silent the whole time.

Now, Ichinose, let's see what you'll do.