What if they're just bad?

Everyone turned to look at Kijima Tsukur, their gazes faintly hostile.

They shouldn't have made the information public.

Well, look what happened.

One careless move, and Class B might overtake them.

To be honest...

Kijima Tsukur was pretty bewildered, too.

He really was.

But he wasn't bewildered by Class B. It was Class D...

If their goal was to get the entire year promoted to Class A, then naturally, the more Class Points, the better.

But this Class D...

Even if the school had considered the strengths of each class when assigning students...

Class D might indeed have worse grades than the other three classes.

It was normal for there to be some distance between Classes B and C.

But...

He had already told Hirata Yosuke and the others the answers.

So how had they still ended up with zero?

What on earth were they doing?

Had Hirata Yosuke and the other two been keeping things to themselves, not sharing the information with their class?

That made no sense. They had nothing to gain from it...

Kijima Tsukur frowned, still unable to figure it out.

Mashima-sensei didn't pay any attention to this.

"Now, to answer Classmate Sakayanagi's question from earlier, the next opportunity to gain Class Points is the midterm exam."

"These are your scores from the last quiz."

Mashima-sensei put another sheet of paper on the blackboard. It listed everyone's scores, with Kijima Tsukur's at the top, naturally standing out the most.

He had scored full marks in four of the five subjects, and ninety-nine in Japanese.

He was nearly forty points ahead of second-place Sakayanagi Arisu. There was no doubt he was the top student in the year—and even the top student in the school.

"The passing mark is half the average score. For this exam, any student who scores below forty-three will be expelled."

"The midterms are three weeks away. Those who failed still need to work harder, and you mustn't let your guard down."

"You need to think carefully and avoid expulsion. I believe there are ways to avoid failing and make it through the exam. If you can manage that, then prepare to face the challenge with the bearing befitting Class A."

Gulp...

Several people swallowed nervously.

They were all hovering around the passing mark. It wasn't that their grades were especially poor; in middle school, they'd even been top students in their classes.

It was just that Class A's passing mark was ridiculously high...

Half the average score...

In other words, to be sure of passing, they needed to score over fifty in every subject.

So they really had no choice but to work hard.

Fortunately, they weren't too panicked.

They were in Class A.

Even the weaker students here were still top students.

It was only seven points. If they worked hard and studied carefully, it wouldn't be that difficult. Besides, there was something more important now.

As the bell rang, signaling the end of class,

everyone turned toward Kijima Tsukur in unison, a trace of anger rising in their eyes.

We've got a traitor in our class!

PS: I read the comments from the past couple of days, and something felt a little strange.

The protagonist is clearly there, and he has a goal. He's even in Class A, so why have people's loyalties shifted to Class D?

It feels less like they're reading a novel and more like they're here to judge Yamauchi Haruki.

When you run into a trio of idiots like these,

wouldn't keeping them around benefit the other three classes more?

The trio are a mess, sure, but the ones they'll drag down are Class D. What's that got to do with the other classes? They're clearly useful pawns.

Is it really necessary to get rid of the trio of idiots no matter what the benefits are, what your loyalties are, or whether you're in Class A, B, or C?

It feels like no matter which class people are in, they're still looking at everything from Class D's perspective. I don't quite get it...

Anyway, I'll clarify this first.

Personally, I prefer harem stories and novel solutions to Special Exams.

I've always believed that your opponents determine your own caliber.

The moment the protagonist treats Yamauchi Haruki as his opponent, he's already lost.

So the trio of idiots will only be expelled as sacrifices, not in some showy, face-slapping fashion.

If your heart is always with Class D, I recommend looking for a fanfic that starts in Class D.

Chapter 38: What if they're just bad?

After Mashima-sensei left,

the expressions on the faces of everyone in Class A were grim.

As Mashima-sensei had said, the students in this year's cohort were much stronger than those in previous years, except for Class D.

The two classes scoring close to full marks in the first month, and all...

Class C was also almost on par with the Class B of previous years.

In the school's eyes, this year's students were almost absurdly strong.

And yet...

Everyone knew better.

It wasn't that this year's students were stronger than those in previous years.

They had a traitor in their class!

Several boys followed Hashimoto Masayoshi over to Kijima Tsukur.

"Kijima Tsukur!"

"Class B is about to overtake Class A. Aren't you going to explain yourself?"

"If you hadn't made the information public, this never would've happened!"

"Explain yourself properly!"

A group of people gathered around Kijima Tsukur, their fists clenched and their eyes blazing with anger.

They couldn't judge Class B's true strength.

But they had every reason to believe that, if Kijima Tsukur hadn't made the information public, Class A wouldn't be in this position now, at risk of losing its status at any moment.

"Isn't this great?"

Kijima Tsukur glanced at the people around him. "What do I need to explain?"

"You..."

Several classmates glared at him, then turned to Katsuragi and snapped,

"Katsuragi, are you still going to support this guy? If this keeps up, we'll all get kicked out of Class A sooner or later."

"Yeah."

Feeling everyone's eyes on him, Katsuragi was under tremendous pressure. He fell silent for a moment, then replied in a low voice,

"My opinion won't change before the first Special Exam."

"Damn, I'm starting to wonder if this guy put a spell on you."

"..."

Katsuragi was at a loss, too.

These people still hadn't realized one thing: Kijima Tsukur didn't need anyone else's support at all.

So far,

Kijima Tsukur had handled everything on his own. At most, Yamamura Miki had brought him a chair.

Whether he wanted to make information public or do anything else,

nothing would change whether the others supported him or not!

"Enough."

Kijima Tsukur turned sideways, tapped the phone on the desk with his left hand, and looked at Katsuragi.

"Does anyone know Class D well enough to tell me what's going on with them?"

"What do you want to know?"

Katsuragi asked in a low voice. He knew Class D reasonably well.

Mainly because after their last meeting,

he'd kept in touch with people from all three classes. Quite a few people had asked about Kijima Tsukur, and Katsuragi had also been gathering information on the other classes.

"I already told them the rules."

Kijima Tsukur pressed his index finger against his phone and tilted his head, genuinely perplexed.

"Hirata and the others don't seem like the type to keep things to themselves. In theory, Class D should've been prepared. How did they end up with zero Class Points?"

"Hmm..."

Katsuragi was silent for a moment, then explained with some exasperation,

"I can confirm that Hirata and the others really did share the information with their class. They thanked me several times, too."

"..."

Watching the two of them talk as if no one else were there, the others were so furious their teeth ached. Once they'd calmed down, they were just as bewildered.

What on earth was going on with Class D?

They'd been given the answers and told how the exam worked, yet their Class Points had still dropped to zero. It was absurd. Had something unusual happened?

After a long while, Totsuka Yahiko of the Katsuragi Faction asked in confusion,

"What other reason could there be? They're just bad."

"Hmm?"

Kijima Tsukur frowned. He really hadn't considered that possibility, but it made even less sense.

"Do you think they could be that bad?"

"So what? They're Class D."

Totsuka Yahiko wasn't close to him, but out of respect for Katsuragi, he still said dismissively,

"Kijima, you might not have interacted much with people from Class D. Do you know how the school describes them? They're a bunch of defective products."

"Having zero Class Points is certainly ridiculous, but I doubt it makes much difference to them whether they lose five thousand points or a thousand, does it?"