VIP Exam Ends (Part 1)

Manabe and the other two came to the elevator.

The three of them stopped in front of the elevator doors at the same time.

Yabu Nanami stared fearfully at the elevator buttons, tears in her eyes, and whispered:

"Do we really have to go find Ryuen? We're really done for this time."

"We agreed we'd just teach Karuizawa a lesson, then have Angela Yi Chen deal with Ryuen."

"Ryuen was supposed to defeat Yi Chen for the class."

"But... now... we've been filmed."

"What are we supposed to do about the four million points?!"

Yamashita stared at the carpet in despair. She had only pretended to be calm while talking to Yi Chen just now. Now that she thought about the four million points...

Tears kept streaming down Yamashita's face. She choked out:

"It's over. There's no way Ryuen would help us with four million points..."

"Even if Ryuen really can win this exam, she wouldn't do it for us..."

Manabe looked at the two of them, both falling apart.

Manabe decided to throw caution to the wind and pinned her hopes on a desperate gamble.

"You two are so pathetic. What are you crying for?"

The two of them looked at Manabe with tearful eyes.

Yamashita choked out:

"Manabe, aren't you scared? We're going to be expelled."

"We... our lives are going to be over."

Manabe said coldly:

"What's there to be afraid of? Ryuen will definitely help us. She's a tyrant."

"He must have weaknesses, too. We'll just ask him for help like normal."

"If he refuses, we'll join forces with the classmates who don't submit to him and overthrow his violent rule."

"Then we'll all report Ryuen for the violent incident at school."

"We'll force him into the same predicament as us."

Yamashita and Yabu Cai stared at Manabe in shock.

Yabu Cai looked at Manabe with a wounded expression.

"Will that really work, Manabe?"

Manabe said nothing. She silently pressed the elevator button.

The other two understood that this was their last chance, too.

Yi Chen returned to the deck and called Ichinose.

Yi Chen said:

"Ichinose, the plan has changed. Koenji from our class has already submitted an answer for his group's VIP."

"If the other classes find out, they'll probably start acting, too."

Ichinose sounded worried on the other end.

"Yi Chen, our Jupiter group has already finished the exam."

"Our VIP has been submitted to the school."

"And... and your Class D Mars and Saturn groups just finished, too."

Yi Chen looked shocked.

"How is that possible? How did this happen?"

Ichinose said anxiously:

"Yi Chen, hurry and submit the answers for Class A's group and Shiranami from our class."

"Right now, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Uranus are the only four groups still going."

"If we don't hurry, we'll miss our chance."

Yi Chen hurriedly replied:

"Okay, I'll hang up for now. I'll call you again after I submit the answers."

Ichinose said:

"Got it. Definitely, Yi Chen!"

As Yi Chen thought, he quickly got in touch with members of the other groups.

Yi Chen thought about Osamu being in Venus, then called him.

Kanji Ike answered lazily.

"What's up, Yi Chen? Need something? This is the first time you've contacted me first."

"If it's something I can help with, I'll do it."

Yi Chen said calmly:

"Submit the Venus group's VIP, Katsuragi Kohei, to the school right now!"

Osamu cried out in surprise:

"Really, Yi Chen? It's only the first day. We can't go acting recklessly like Koenji!"

Yi Chen said calmly:

"Trust me. If I'm wrong, you can do whatever you want to me. I'll keep it short: our Class D Mars and Saturn groups have already been guessed."

Osamu said urgently:

"What?! Okay! I'll trust you, Yi Chen!"

Kanji Ike:

Venus: Katsuragi Kohei of Class A

Submit

Then, following the same method, Yi Chen quickly contacted people he knew in the other groups.

Hirata

Uranus: Ishizaki Daichi of Class C

Submit

Yukimura

Earth: Kito Hayato

Submit

After giving the instructions to the three of them, Yi Chen let out a long breath. He wondered whether he should submit Shiranami Chihiro from Class B.

Yi Chen thought it over and decided against it. Since several groups were still ongoing, the others must also care a lot about their personal points.

He'd leave one group to earn points.

Yi Chen silently considered how the changes in the situation would affect the class.

In other words, Koenji had guessed Neptune and Ryuen had deducted 100 Class Points.

"Then..."

"Wait a minute. Neptune's over? That's right! It's over!"

"So Koenji guessed correctly! With the groups we've guessed now, we've earned 100 Class Points in this exam!"

Yi Chen let out a long sigh, feeling much more relaxed.

Meanwhile, Manabe and the other two took the elevator to the floor where Ryuen was.

All three were preoccupied on the way. Yabu Cai and Yamashita occasionally glanced at each other with worry.

Manabe pretended to be calm, but kept her fists clenched.

They arrived at the thirteenth floor of the cruise ship, where there was a huge conference room.

Ryuen of Class C usually came here to make plans for the class.

They reached the door. Manabe took a deep breath and raised her hand to knock.

A moment later, the door opened, and Albert answered it.

The three of them walked into the room anxiously.

Ryuen was seated on a soft sofa, leaning back.

Ryuen frowned slightly, his gaze falling on the three of them with an oppressive intensity. He spoke in an unfriendly tone:

"What are you doing here? If you have something to say, get on with it."

Manabe forced herself to speak.

"Ryuen, we... we're in trouble. We need your help, or we'll all be expelled."

She told him everything about how Yi Chen had obtained the video of them bullying someone and was demanding four million personal points.

Ryuen's expression grew darker as he listened. He gave a cold snort.

"You really are idiots. You couldn't even handle something that simple, and now you've caused this huge mess. Why should I clean up after you?"

Yamashita hurriedly pleaded:

"Ryuen, please help us. We're really out of options. This is all Manabe's fault. We don't want to be expelled."

As she spoke, Yamashita began to sob uncontrollably.

Seeing that, Manabe wanted to angrily grab Yamashita, but Ryuen's presence was so imposing that Manabe didn't dare act rashly.

Yabu Cai also hurriedly collapsed to the floor, sobbing and choking out:

"Ryuen, I'm sorry. This is all Manabe's fault."

"Please help me. I don't want to be expelled."

Manabe immediately snapped:

"That's not true! You clearly—"

Manabe was about to continue when she saw Ryuen staring at her with a dark expression.

After spending the past few months around him, Manabe knew exactly what that look meant.

Ryuen angrily sat upright, picked up a round cup filled with a red drink from the table, and squeezed it hard.

The cup shattered, and red liquid flowed from Ryuen's hand.

The three of them trembled at the sight.

Albert handed Ryuen a tissue. Ryuen spoke slowly, his expression stern:

"Four million? Hahaha?"

"Are you joking? Has our whole class even managed to scrape together four million points by now?"

"Is the whole class willing to hand over all their points to clean up after you three?"

I'd also have to think about where to get that many points. Besides, why should I pay for your mistakes?

Manabe summoned her courage and spoke bluntly:

"Ryuen, are you going to help us or not?"

"I promise we'll earn back the points we lost today in the exams to come."

Ryuen looked at Manabe mockingly.

"Oh? You're a little interesting. You think you can earn back four million points as you are now?"

Yamashita and Yabu Cai hurriedly chimed in:

"Ryuen, we'll work hard to earn them back, too. Please, we don't want to be expelled."