Class B's Pre-Battle Pep Talk

Uesugi Gen decisively pulled out his phone, found Kamuro Masumi on LINE, and added her. Then he quietly waited for a reply.

So...

You'll help me, right, Thief Lady?

Also,

It had been almost two months since he'd last lent Horikita Suzune his personal points.

Class B's little treasury seemed to have gotten pretty full.

Uesugi Gen recalled the personal points he'd seen on Ichinose's phone last time, and felt an urge stirring in his heart.

As the saying goes, women get wicked when they have money. (Serious face.)

Such a large sum of points couldn't stay in Ichinose's hands forever. It'd be safer in my pocket.

What?

You're asking if I'll turn wicked?

Uesugi Gen had this to say:

You can rest easy. There's absolutely no chance I'll turn wicked.

Because I'm already wicked.

And so,

Uesugi Gen took concrete action. He walked up to the lectern and squeezed past Ichinose, who was standing there.

Then, under her puzzled gaze, he began his performance.

"Everyone, Ichinose is right. I've received reliable information through the Student Council: during this vacation, the school will hold a Special Exam, and its impact on Class Points could exceed 300 points."

At his words, the students of Class B grew serious.

Three hundred Class Points would be enough to propel Class B into Class A and put a huge distance between them and the others.

Shibata raised his hand and excitedly asked,

"Then, Uesugi, do you know the specifics of this Special Exam?"

Before Uesugi Gen could answer, Kanzaki Ryuji answered for him.

"Shibata, that's impossible. Even if Uesugi is the Student Council vice president, there's no way he'd know something that would disrupt the balance."

Fair enough. If he knew something like that, it'd be way too unfair.

The Class B students gradually calmed down.

At that moment, Uesugi Gen said with a serious expression,

"No, there is a way to find out."

"My secret informant—the nice senior who sells me information—told me he can sell us a general outline of this Special Exam for three million points. Just three million."

Uesugi Gen's words shocked the students of Class B.

Someone could actually get their hands on information of this level?

Himeno Yuki looked at Uesugi Gen suspiciously.

"What kind of person is this senior you know? How could he get information of this level? Wait..."

Himeno Yuki suddenly realized that this senior knew something Uesugi Gen himself wasn't authorized to know.

As far as she knew, there was only one student at this school who could pull that off...

Ichinose had also figured out who it was and looked at Uesugi Gen with concern.

"Uesugi, wouldn't something like that go against the school's rules?"

"No, it's fine."

Uesugi Gen firmly objected.

"If the school claims that points can buy anything, then there's no reason we can't buy the exam content. All we're doing is using my connections to reduce the number of points we need as much as possible."

Kanzaki Ryuji nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. Based on what Uesugi said, this is all within the rules set by the school. There's no reason not to take advantage of it."

His explanation successfully persuaded the Class B students, who unanimously approved the proposal.

Three million personal points in exchange for a general outline of a Special Exam worth 300 Class Points. However you looked at it, it was a good deal.

At that moment, Shibata Hayate remarked,

"Still, I never thought Horikita-senpai would do something like this. At first, I thought he was the kind of upright, impartial senior who never bent the rules."

Uesugi Gen immediately agreed, joining in the criticism of Horikita Manabu.

"Yeah, I thought he was a serious person at first, too. I never expected him to be a secret romantic who had an office romance with his secretary behind everyone's backs."

"Wow! So that's what he's really like?"

The students of Class B were instantly captivated by the Student Council President's gossip.

"I'm telling you this, but you absolutely can't tell anyone. The truth is..."

Class B's Pre-Exam Rally

"Surviving on a deserted island!"

Uesugi Gen stood at the lectern and solemnly announced to the class,

"That's the theme of this summer vacation's Special Exam."

The Class B students stared at the large words on the blackboard, stunned by the school's latest scheme.

A voice broke the silence.

"I'm a little surprised, but not all that shocked."

Kanzaki Ryuji gave a wry assessment.

Uesugi Gen himself might be unreliable, but the information he provided had never been wrong.

Surviving on a deserted island. Given this school's style, an exam like that wasn't particularly strange.

"Still, for once, you've done something a deputy class leader should do. With this information, facing the Special Exam will be a lot easier for us."

Himeno Yuki glanced at Uesugi Gen.

He might be unreliable, but when it came to Class B's interests, he did at least put in a little effort.

"Of course. I'm the class leader, after all. Do you really think I'd take your money and do nothing?"

Uesugi Gen thumped his chest and spoke with righteous conviction.

Then he turned away, thinking guiltily,

If they found out I'd pocketed those three million personal points, the glorious image I'd worked so hard to build would come crashing down.

But several million points had been laid out right in front of Uesugi Gen. If he didn't take them, he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

After all, as Class B's class leader and its Minister of Finance, he held the ambition of bringing prosperity to the class. Those points belonged in his private treasury.

Unfortunately, through one moment of carelessness, he'd been framed by a treacherous villain. Now he had to beg others for food every day just to get by (mooching meals), while his enemy taunted him to his face (Ichinose invited him to eat with her every day).

But it was fine. Points under heaven belonged to whoever was most deserving, and Uesugi Gen was clearly a man of great virtue. So the points in Class B were all his.

Then, once they'd saved up more personal points, he'd use the same trick again.

Perfect plan!

My money is mine, and your money is mine, too.

Mine, mine, it's all mine!

Back to the matter at hand,

Ichinose rested her chin in her hand and thought for a moment.

"Now that we know the exam is about surviving on a deserted island, we can prepare for that directly. Does anyone in our class have any related experience?"

Ichinose turned to face the class and asked,

"Camping, cooking, fishing... Anything related will help."

"Um, Ichinose, I used to live with my grandparents in the countryside. I can identify some edible plants. Does that count?"

A student raised his hand to ask.

"Of course it counts. Anyone else? The more, the better."

Ichinose replied encouragingly.

"Um, Ichinose..."

"Um..."

The students of Class B eagerly offered suggestions, actively preparing for the exam.

"Let's help Ichinose make a list of useful things."

Amikura Mako and the other girls saw the crowd gathered around Ichinose. They stood up and went over to help lighten her workload.

"Then we can't afford to fall behind, either."

Kanzaki Ryuji stood up and looked at the members of the Uesugi-gumi.

"Let's assign tasks to everyone in Class B in advance, based on what each person is good at."

"Then they can work on improving the areas they're responsible for. When the Special Exam comes, they'll be able to get started right away with the assignments we've made. That'll save us a lot of effort."

The members of the Uesugi-gumi nodded in agreement.

After speaking, Kanzaki Ryuji turned to Uesugi Gen.

"Uesugi, is there anything you'd like to add?"

"Kanzaki, what do you think a newly formed team should do first?"

Uesugi Gen didn't answer Kanzaki Ryuji's question. Instead, he posed another question for him.

Kanzaki Ryuji thought briefly before answering,

"Hmm... Usually, you get to know the team members first and learn their general strengths and weaknesses. Then you use those to maximize efficiency and bring everyone together so that one plus one is greater than two... Hmm?"

Kanzaki Ryuji immediately understood what Uesugi Gen meant. He looked around at all of Class B.

"Exactly. You see it, too, don't you?"

Uesugi Gen continued,

"The school's reason for choosing this kind of exam for the Special Exam at this point in time..."

"It's probably to see how well the first-year students have managed to bring their classes together this semester."

Before Kanzaki Ryuji could speak, Ichinose, who had just walked over, answered.

Uesugi Gen narrowed his eyes at Ichinose.

"You came—"

"Amikura and the others said you were discussing something important over here, so they asked me to come take a look."

Before Uesugi Gen could finish asking, Ichinose had already bent forward and answered with a smile.

Then Ichinose stood beside Uesugi Gen and said seriously,

"Teamwork, the ability to coordinate and carry out plans, and the ability to handle unexpected situations..."

"To achieve all that, the class has to reach a consensus. In other words, we have to choose a capable leader."

"If we can't even bring our class together by now, then we've already lost half the exam."

"This is a Special Exam that will evaluate how well each class has come together over the course of this semester."