Midterm Exam Final Results

Late May.

The time for exam preparation always passes in a flash.

After Kujo distributed the original exam papers and answer keys obtained from Horikita Manabu, the leaders of each class passed them out to their respective students at the appropriate time.

Upon receiving the original papers, the students wasted no time in starting to memorize the answers provided by the top students in their classes.

It wasn't that the answers provided by the upperclassmen were poor.

Rather, the exam papers contained subjective questions that required alternative lines of reasoning to help students solve them.

Furthermore, out of a sense of responsibility, the top students in each class simultaneously provided even more universal templates for answering questions.

Ichinose had said that while they had the original questions for this exam, they might not have them for the next final exam, so the students still needed to learn more problem-solving methods.

In short, the average students were all moving in a positive direction.

After half a month of study sessions, the familiarity and sense of trust among the students in the lower-ranked classes of the first year had increased significantly.

After the five exams concluded.

Everyone walked out of the classrooms with faces full of excitement.

After all, although everyone had been saying from the start that the school was using original papers for this midterm exam.

Deep down, they had all harbored at least some degree of doubt from beginning to end.

What kind of school would use the same original exam papers year after year? Without even changing the order of the questions?

That was simply unrealistic!

That wasn't even an exam at all!

But it wasn't until the final subject was finished that they realized everything was true.

There really was such a school.

Consequently, once they stepped out of the classrooms, their smiles were impossible to hide.

The school used a combination of machine and manual grading, so the students' results were released shortly thereafter.

Just as each class had predicted, no surprises occurred.

Class A had the highest average score, Class B the second, Class D the third, and Class C the fourth.

This was consistent with the betting pools held by each class.

The class points brought about by the total scores of excellent students in the midterm exam would arrive next month, in early July.

However, this exam had a new, rather special betting rule.

The rewards for the betting rules would arrive at the end of this month, or early June.

[

Class Points Announced:

Class A: 1050

Class B: 1042

Class C: 970

Class D: 860

[No class replacement this month]

Number of dropouts this month: [0]

]

The students quickly saw the public announcement of the midterm exam results.

The students of all four classes cheered and jumped for joy.

After all, in this exam, every single class could be considered to have achieved a great victory.

Students from every class were preparing different ways to celebrate.

Some students were going to have a big feast.

Some students were going to sing their hearts out.

Some students were going to have a blast.

Yet, unlike the revelry of the crowd.

Moving against the flow of people, a student from Class C pushed open the door to the teachers' office, which was occupied by only one person.

"What an unexpected visitor."

Hoshinomiya turned her head to look at the Class C student, Ryuen Kakeru.

Ryuen showed no humility as a student whatsoever; he sat directly in the chair, crossed his legs, and said this to Hoshinomiya:

"Let's make a deal. Let's work together to target Class D."

Hoshinomiya crossed her arms and smiled, remaining silent.

Hoshinomiya knew a thing or two about this student named Ryuen.

He was from Sakagami's class, possessed a volatile temper, was rude to others, and acted in a malicious manner; he was near the top of the list of people who could not be trusted.

Ryuen didn't care at all about the other party's wariness, and he immediately uttered words that would pique Hoshinomiya's interest:

"Class D is about to surpass our Class C. I believe our interests are aligned."

Indeed.

At this point, was she still going to cling to wishful thinking?

She had long since run out of options.

Hoshinomiya sighed, kept her arms crossed, and said to Ryuen:

"I can't confirm whether you're carrying a recording device."

Ryuen pulled open his jacket, turned all his pockets inside out, and then spoke:

"Do you need me to keep taking things off?"

Hoshinomiya held her forehead and asked Ryuen impatiently:

"What do you want me to do?"

Ryuen sneered as he said:

"Information."

First-Year Class A.

Nagumo came to the first-year territory all by himself.

As the person most likely to become the next Student Council president and the leader of Second-Year Class A, he had come today to invite his junior, Sakayanagi of First-Year Class A, to join the Student Council.

"Thank you very much for the invitation, senior. I am deeply honored, but I am very sorry; please allow me to decline."

"What?"

Sakayanagi's refusal caused Nagumo's expression to change.

The first-years this year were truly more infuriating than the last.

"As you can see, my mobility is not convenient. I am very sorry that I cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility of 'keeping the first-year peers in check' that you mentioned, senior. I hope you will forgive me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall take my leave."

After Sakayanagi finished speaking, she slowly left Nagumo's sight under the escort of the others from Class A.

Damn it.

Damn it.

During the midterm exams for the first-years this time, Nagumo had sent people several times to hold study sessions with the class led by Sakayanagi.

The second-years also had to prepare for their own midterm exams, so helping the first-year students was a decision that was a complete loss.

To this end, Nagumo could only leak the contents of the original exam papers to the other party and complete a verbal agreement with them.

Providing the original papers and helping the students of First-Year Class A with their studies was meant to be exchanged for their promise to join the Student Council.

In Nagumo's plan, he had never once thought he would be rejected. After all, a student from Class A joining the Student Council was equivalent to having a stable opportunity to become the Student Council president next year.

He would soon become the Student Council president.

The Student Council president of this school had the right to nominate a successor; no matter how one looked at it, accepting his invitation was not a loss.

Could it be that all the first-years this year were a bunch of idiots?

Did they not care about the power and status of the Student Council president?

Things had gone against his wishes.

The other party had chosen to break the agreement directly.

Nagumo had no way to deal with the other party now.

It was just a verbal agreement to begin with. There were no witnesses, nor was there any written proof.

Sakayanagi, Ichinose—why were all the first-years this year such annoying people?

Even though they looked so cute, were their minds really that calculating?

Could it be.

Was he now forced to go look for someone from Class C or Class D?

But.

Did those two classes really have anyone who could be mentioned in the same breath as junior Sakayanagi and junior Ichinose?

On the way back, the members of Class A departed.

Led by Sakayanagi, the entire class possessed a far greater volume of information than any other class.

Yet, it was precisely because they knew so much that the people beneath her felt even more confused.

Katsuragi, his face full of concern, finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked Sakayanagi:

"I still don't quite understand what Kujo is trying to gain from this exam. Is he trying to trade ten million points for class points? But he couldn't have predicted the school's modifications to this exam, could he?"

Hearing this, Sakayanagi chuckled softly and teased Katsuragi:

"Oh my, Katsuragi, are you finally willing to start thinking about the affairs of other classes? I thought you only cared about helping me manage our own classmates. What a surprise."

Upon hearing Sakayanagi's words, Katsuragi asked her with an even more earnest tone:

"May I ask why you are helping Kujo? Do you also hope for all the first-year classes to advance together?"

To advance together.

What a heavy ideal.

Perhaps it was something only a sentimental, responsibility-obsessed person like Kujo could do.

That was what Katsuragi believed.

In the current Class A, Katsuragi did not follow Sakayanagi as a mere lackey; his current role leaned more toward that of a monitor, ensuring that her actions were truly in the best interest of Class A.

If Sakayanagi were to do something that harmed their classmates, he would immediately step in to stop her.

In the current Class A, although Sakayanagi had obtained full leadership authority, Katsuragi, as the former commander, still held a certain degree of influence.

However, Katsuragi could not deny that within the rules and exams of this school, Sakayanagi's ability to think of "other students merely as helpers and opponents" far surpassed his own.

After all, the special exams at this school were essentially a game of human strategy, not a pure contest of the students' raw capabilities.

Compared to him, Sakayanagi was better suited to lead Class A and command everyone to survive the special exams to come.

Sakayanagi looked toward the direction of the school building, and as she walked, she said to Katsuragi:

"Hmm... where should I begin? Do you remember the contract signed with Kujo?"

Of course, Katsuragi remembered.

It was the contract he had personally signed when the results of the first month's exam were released.

It is no exaggeration to say that it was because of that contract that Katsuragi discovered the true nature of this school was competition between people.

But Katsuragi still didn't understand what connection there was between these two things, so he asked:

"But does this have any connection to Kujo's actions this month? It looks like he just happened to get the correct test papers from the upperclassmen, and it just so happened that the school didn't change the exam papers. If the exam rules had been to change the original papers or add new types of rules, he would have been helpless."

Just happened to?

How could there be so many coincidences in this world?

Sakayanagi stopped walking and tapped the ground lightly with her cane.

The entire Class A escort team stopped in their tracks as well.

Sakayanagi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and asked the group with a hint of testing in her voice:

"I signed that contract with him precisely because I was worried that someone as interesting as him might be caught up in an unexpected expulsion crisis. With this guarantee, he could at least receive my help once. Does that make sense to you, Katsuragi? And everyone else? Do you understand?"

Sakayanagi's gaze swept over the people around her.

Hashimoto, Kamuro, Kito, Morishita, Yamamura, and Katsuragi were all deep in thought.

Then, Katsuragi frowned; he had already thought of one possibility, but it was so unlikely that he confirmed it with the girl:

"The results of this exam don't matter at all; Kujo doesn't even care about the specific content of this exam. Kujo isn't trying to gain anything from this exam; rather, he wants to sign point contracts with every class. As long as there is a debt, or rather, a guarantee, it's equivalent to him binding all of us together."

In other words, everyone who signed a contract with Kujo would become his protective umbrella.

As long as Kujo were to be expelled, each class would essentially be wasting millions of points.

Therefore, every class would, to some extent, mark Kujo as an "important person."

Is he using other people's trust as his own bargaining chip?

What a malicious person.

Sakayanagi reached out and tugged on Kamuro's sleeve, and Kamuro immediately snapped back to reality, leading her toward the direction of her dormitory.

Sakayanagi's health was poor, and she needed to rest regularly.

Unfortunately, no one present, except for Kamuro, could detect the girl's physical condition.

"It seems you are not a dull person after all. As the current leader of Class A, I am very happy to see your growth. Now, my apologies, everyone in Class A, I must take my leave."

After saying this, Sakayanagi left the group, accompanied by Kamuro.

The others watched Sakayanagi's retreating figure, lingering for a long time without choosing to leave.

For the first time, Katsuragi felt a sense of dread regarding another person's existence.

Spreading the school rules in the first month, creating an impression of being a good person, and fostering trust between the classes.

No.

Considering that he never personally spread the rules himself.

His original goal was to let Ryuen play the villain, while he took on the image of the good guy.

All to ensure he gained enough trust among his classmates.

In the second month, he immediately and unburdened by guilt utilized everyone's trust, directly converting ideological faith into a concrete point-based contract, attempting to tie everyone to the same train.

What is even more terrifying is that everyone still thinks he is an honest person doing good deeds.

They all think he is a leader eager to work hard and bring everyone in the first year together.

Is this the person Sakayanagi is keeping an eye on?

Has the game of chess already begun?

But.

As things stand, who else in the first year can actually keep Kujo in check?

Library.

Kujo and Shiina Hiyori were still having their date inside the library.

They were still leaning against each other, back-to-back in their chairs.

Shiina Hiyori sighed to Kujo behind her:

"It really has become quiet, hasn't it... It's a little lonely."

Kujo flipped through his novel, watching the characters inside go from aimless whining to life-or-death struggles.

After processing what Shiina Hiyori said, Kujo asked the girl in return:

"Don't you like quiet places, Hiyori?"

Through his recent reading, Kujo had begun to understand the typical mental state of normal characters in these kinds of books.

However, he also felt a sense of gratification regarding the changes in Shiina Hiyori.

Shiina Hiyori continued to share her inner thoughts with a hint of regret:

"But. There were so many people here just a short while ago, and now it's just the two of us. Kujo-kun, talk to me a bit more."

Kujo closed his book and asked the girl:

"What would you like to talk about, Hiyori?"

Shiina Hiyori turned around and said to Kujo:

"How about we go to the beach to take some photos next time?"

Kujo thought about it; Shiina Hiyori was likely referring to the Seaside Promenade, as Advanced Nurturing High School was technically on an island, so the edges were all considered the seaside.

"Sure."

"Hehe, then I'll make a super delicious bento for Kujo-kun when the time comes."

"That is truly something to look forward to."

< src="https://e1.kuangxiangit./uplos/chaptersnew/507/178683/250804/1754307137-100437152-113295964.jpg" alt='Shiina Hiyori'>