The New Wagering Rules

Hearing Horikita Manabu's assessment, Chairman Sakayanagi chuckled.

Sakayanagi Arisu, huh?

That student was taking a jab at him.

Chairman Sakayanagi picked up the teacup on the table, then "complained" to Horikita:

"Arisu really is something else. She's my daughter, after all—so naturally, she's outstanding. Manabu, the truth is, I haven't given my daughter any special treatment, nor did I tell her anything about the school before she enrolled. It's all thanks to the fair and impartial judgment of the school's S-System. Honestly, having such an exceptional daughter is a real headache."

As he sipped his tea, Chairman Sakayanagi didn't forget to show off his daughter's excellence to Horikita Manabu.

Perhaps, as a doting father, he couldn't help but feel good when someone praised his daughter for being so outstanding.

In that respect, the truly exceptional people at this school all shared one trait.

They knew how to talk.

But soon, Chairman Sakayanagi abruptly changed the subject and continued asking Horikita Manabu about this year's first-years:

"So, what do you think of Kujo Makoto from this year's Class C?"

The question felt familiar.

It was just like the Student Council interview when Horikita Manabu had spoken with Katsuragi, Ichinose, and the others.

For Horikita Manabu, the situation had now been reversed.

So he answered the chairman honestly:

"He doesn't go out of his way to hide his actions. Not long after the school year began, Kujo had already figured out the school's rules. He used point transactions to apply for an exemption from classes, then shared his own interpretation of the school's rules with the other students in his year. Some of the rules he shared were false, but this year's first-years are exceptionally capable. The misinformation doesn't seem to have affected them much."

Hearing this, Chairman Sakayanagi pressed him further:

"Hmm. But I'm not asking what he's done. I'm asking what you think of Kujo Makoto as a person."

In response, Horikita Manabu said:

"He's good at manipulating people."

Chairman Sakayanagi nodded.

Instead of asking more about Horikita Manabu's assessment, he shared something that would give even Horikita Manabu pause:

"This person, who's good at manipulating others, had an idea and passed it along to me through my daughter. He wants to use points to get the school to increase the difficulty of this year's first-year midterms. As you know, if the exams become harder, the S-System requires the rewards at the end to be increased accordingly."

Under the rules of Advanced Nurturing High School, personal points could buy anything.

That included changing the content of the school's exams.

As long as they had enough points, students could even revise the school rules.

However, depending on the circumstances, the number of personal points required to meet different needs could increase exponentially.

Likewise, the school's Student Council president had special authority to make recommendations regarding exam rules.

To some extent, the only things capable of changing the school's competitive rules were an enormous number of points or a capable Student Council president.

That was the main reason Horikita Manabu was wary of Nagumo in the second year.

Once Nagumo became Student Council president, he would undoubtedly use his authority to make the school's exams more difficult, thereby increasing the dropout rate.

That went against everything Horikita Manabu and the Student Council presidents before him stood for.

Horikita Manabu didn't say anything more.

He knew Chairman Sakayanagi would elaborate on Kujo's proposal.

But things didn't go as he expected. Chairman Sakayanagi directly put the question to him:

"Then what would you suggest?"

Horikita Manabu answered honestly:

"Update the test papers."

He thought that was the most straightforward and effective solution to the current situation.

Students could buy past test papers from upperclassmen to use as references.

If the school reused old questions, students could simply memorize the answers.

It would be easy for first-years to get high scores that way and reduce the number of students expelled from their classes.

Chairman Sakayanagi, however, sounded as if he were testing Horikita Manabu when he asked:

"Wouldn't it be easier for the school to announce that the test papers were changing, then use the old ones anyway?"

In other words, they would claim to change the papers without actually doing so.

That strategy would only work for this year's first-years.

After all, if the school started updating the test papers now, it would take manpower and resources, and there might not be enough time to finish.

Making the announcement would be much easier.

Horikita Manabu pushed up his glasses and offered the chairman another suggestion:

"That would be tantamount to announcing that the original exam rules had been leaked. The school is considering the students' proposal precisely because it hasn't identified any way the first-years could have obtained exam information illicitly, isn't it?"

Chairman Sakayanagi gently swirled the tea in his cup.

He had already figured out that Horikita Manabu and Kujo were on the same side.

At his age, with a sensible and adorable daughter of his own, mere intuition could no longer dispel his doubts.

That was why Chairman Sakayanagi had cleverly set a trap with his question—to test Horikita Manabu.

Horikita Manabu had deftly avoided it.

That alone showed that he and Kujo had a close relationship.

At the very least, Horikita Manabu didn't object to using points to change the exam rules. He had even tried to justify the first-years' actions.

This school respected tradition.

But its educational philosophy actually leaned more toward respecting students' "freedom" to develop within the established framework.

The Student Council president had the authority to adjust exam rules in specific ways, so the school's rules were, in essence, student-led.

Put bluntly, this was a testing ground where students decided for themselves how to survive.

It was meant to produce outstanding people with strong adaptability.

Chairman Sakayanagi wouldn't interfere in students' lives without reason.

As long as those few people didn't get involved themselves...

In the end, the midterm exams weren't meant to test the students' academic ability.

They were meant to test whether students could adapt to the school's rules and put them into practice.

In every respect, there was no need for the school to change the exam content itself.

From another perspective, this year's first-years were simply that exceptional—so much so that even the chairman was impressed.

Chairman Sakayanagi folded his arms and leaned back in his chair before speaking:

"The school won't change the exam rules on its own. The S-System has determined these to be the optimal exam rules, and the students are simply acting within that framework. But the other party wants to use points to buy the authority to modify a single exam, and the S-System has given us a corresponding response."

Horikita Manabu was very interested in what the S-System had come up with.

Chairman Sakayanagi continued:

"Add a wagering segment. Each class can guess where a specific class will place in this midterm exam. A correct guess earns 50 points; a wrong guess loses 50 points. If everyone guesses correctly, no one gains or loses points. If everyone guesses wrong, everyone loses 50 points."

Horikita Manabu nodded.

This was the kind of exam he was most familiar with as a third-year—and the kind this school liked to use most.

A voting exam.

The rules were simple.

First, each class held a vote to choose its leader.

Then the leaders submitted their guesses about the class rankings to their respective homeroom teachers.

For example, suppose the total scores for the classes in this midterm were A > B > C > D.

If Class D guessed it would place fourth, Class C guessed third, Class B guessed second, and Class A guessed first, then every class would earn 50 points.

If all four classes guessed that Class A would place first, no one would gain points.

If all four classes guessed that Class A would place second, they would all lose points.

If Classes A and B guessed that Class A would place first, while Class C guessed that it would place third and Class D guessed that it would place fourth, then Classes C and D would earn 50 points, while Classes A and B would neither gain nor lose points.

Under normal circumstances, this exam would be an easy way for Classes A, B, C, and D to earn points.

But with Kujo's arrangements, the current exam was effectively one where the original questions had been partially revealed.

The class rankings were already difficult to control.

This was no longer an exam based on academic ability or memorizing answers.

As long as they passed, it would become a negotiation between the first-year classes.

After getting a general grasp of the rules, Horikita asked a question:

"What happens if two classes tie in total score?"

Under the current circumstances, there was only one way for that to happen.

Two classes would have to get perfect scores, with all 40 students in each class earning full marks.

Chairman Sakayanagi smiled.

"They'd tie for first, of course. There wouldn't be a second-place class, and the rest would rank third and fourth. If everyone guessed correctly, no one would gain or lose points. If some guessed Class A would place first and others guessed Class B would place first, they wouldn't all be correct, so each class would gain 50 points."

Horikita Manabu nodded, then added many suggestions of his own.

That was a basic quality expected of the Student Council president of this school.

For example, how to ensure the wagers were fair, and how to make the exam rewards more reasonable.

Horikita Manabu and Chairman Sakayanagi talked for a long time.

But the final rules still had to be confirmed according to the S-System's evaluation criteria.

The general direction, however, had already been decided.

The simple addition to the rules probably wouldn't change much.

"How many points did the first-years spend to change the exam rules?"

This wasn't information that should normally be disclosed to students.

But Kujo's side already knew, so there was little point in hiding it.

In the end, Chairman Sakayanagi told Horikita Manabu.

"Ten million points."

There was no way the first-years could afford that many points.

And this was only the easiest introductory exam.

Even changing it had already cost so much.

There was no way they could use points to change the later exams.

Before long, the school announced the new rules for the midterm exams.

This was also the first time this year's first-years at Advanced Nurturing High School had faced a Special Exam with transparent rules.