The Month-End Quiz

So, time moved on to... the middle of the month.

Did anyone think it was already the end of the month???

Don't joke around! We still haven't had swimming class!

Swimming class had been scheduled for the second week of school. That day, some of the boys in Class 1-D were met with scorn from a large number of girls and resistance from a few others.

The reason was simple: the class's eat-drink-and-make-merry group, led by Kanji Ike, had actually planned to rank the girls in the class—and rank their bust sizes, at that!

When Shuichi Kanda heard the news, he found himself hoping they'd pull it off.

If they did, he might be able to sit back and reap the benefits, getting his hands on that precious data!

And he'd heard that Yamauchi had been confessed to by a girl in their class named Sakura?

Who was Sakura?

After searching his memories, Shuichi Kanda finally matched the name to a face.

Then he understood in an instant: that idiot Yamauchi was bragging again, and he'd even besmirched a girl's reputation. What a deplorable thing to do!

Swimming class was the first lesson of the afternoon. Watching his classmates head in groups to the changing rooms, Shuichi Kanda couldn't help feeling a little envious.

Still, after he explained his situation to the PE teacher, the teacher nodded understandingly.

"I see. Then I won't force you. But in your situation, if you can get your body into shape, you should keep working at it."

There he went, speaking in riddles again. Why were all the teachers at this school like that? Did they enjoy being cryptic? How annoying!

Shuichi Kanda got his wish... no, he was graciously allowed to sit in the spectator seats. To avoid being misunderstood, he didn't even dare take out his phone, afraid people might think he was taking pictures of the girls.

Wouldn't that make him a pervert?

Before long, the boys emerged from the men's changing room, and most of them fixed their eyes on the curtain to the women's changing room as if they held a grudge against it.

Soon, some girls came out of the changing room.

Oh!

They were all wearing school swimsuits, but paired with the youthful bodies of the girls, they made for a wonderful sight!

Unfortunately, the girl universally acknowledged as the class's number one, Haruka Hasebe, wasn't among them.

As expected, because she was sitting right in front of him. Whether by coincidence or not, she was directly in front of him.

And from Shuichi Kanda's angle, he had a perfect view of that huge sun.

I knew it. Even if Ike and the others weren't exactly serious or smart, they sure had a good eye for this sort of thing.

Was this a special skill unique to boys going through puberty?

No, it was a special skill unique to all men!

As a normal boy, Shuichi Kanda was just as eager for this class, where everyone would be baring themselves to one another.

What a shame. His body had doomed him to be a spectator for now, watching his classmates dance gracefully in the pool from the sidelines!

It was really great... no, really unfortunate!

Hey, you muscle-bound jerk over there, you're blocking my view!

Looking down from above, Shuichi Kanda took another look at his classmates' physical condition.

First, the most eye-catching one was undoubtedly the muscular man with long golden hair and a particularly skimpy swimsuit: Rokusuke Koenji!

Even an amateur could tell that his well-honed physique was far beyond what an ordinary person could match.

I want it! I want it so badly!

If this guy could be my bodyguard, that bunch of useless fools behind Sakayanagi Arisu wouldn't stand a chance!

But...

Remembering the way Koenji had acted during their self-introductions on the first day, Shuichi Kanda immediately gave up on the idea.

There was no way he could control a person like that. It couldn't be helped!

Next!

Sudo had a physique thoroughly trained through years of basketball. Compared with the other students, his impressive build clearly stood out.

But basketball was all that guy cared about. He probably wouldn't have the time to be my bodyguard all the time.

I want him, but stealing someone else's dream would be awful. Next!

As expected, Miyake came in third. His physical fitness ranked third in the class, even surpassing Hirata's.

Still, even with Miyake as an archer, it would be hard to stand up to Sakayanagi's trio.

I need to keep looking and see if there's anyone else who could be a bodyguard.

As for Hirata, pass. That guy was far too busy.

So Shuichi Kanda shifted his gaze to a poker-faced boy named Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

The instant he saw him, Shuichi Kanda was so shocked that he stood up from his seat.

He'd never seen muscle definition like that before. As a chef in his previous life, Shuichi Kanda had been able to tell good meat from bad just by looking at it.

But even so, he couldn't help being stunned when he saw Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

What incredible muscles and body definition!

Even Koenji's muscular physique couldn't compare. Shuichi Kanda preferred this kind of body, one that was filled with balance, over that kind of sheer power.

He was strong. This guy was strong!

He was probably no match for Koenji in terms of strength, but Shuichi Kanda had never seen anyone with a body as balanced as his. No—even in his previous life, he had only seen that kind of physique on people who had practiced martial arts for years.

Who exactly was this guy?

Chapter 30: The Month-End Quiz

Shuichi Kanda suddenly stood up in the stands, but it didn't attract much attention. Haruka Hasebe, who was sitting in front, only lifted her head when the sunlight was blocked and saw Shuichi Kanda's shocked face.

But Shuichi Kanda soon realized that he was drawing attention to himself and hurriedly sat back down.

What was up with that guy?

With that question in mind, Shuichi Kanda began observing the scene below, but he didn't focus his gaze on Kiyotaka Ayanokoji.

He knew that focusing on just one person might draw their attention.

Since the guy had never stood out in class for so long, perhaps he didn't want to reveal his abilities. Shuichi Kanda didn't want him to realize that he'd seen through him, either.

Soon, the PE teacher organized a swimming competition.

As it turned out, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's performance was surprisingly average. He wasn't the best, nor the worst. Excluding Shuichi Kanda and another boy named Sotomura, who hadn't participated, he placed tenth.

So he was hiding his abilities, after all?

If he wanted to keep a low profile, then Shuichi Kanda shouldn't provoke him. When it came to someone with monstrous physical abilities like that, Shuichi Kanda really didn't want to pick a fight without knowing where he stood.

Against someone like him, Kanda figured he wouldn't last a single move.

In the end, Koenji won the swimming competition and received 5,000 Private Points from the PE teacher. Sudo narrowly took second place.

On the girls' side, Onodera from the swimming club took first place, while Horikita Suzune, who sat behind Kanda, came second.

He'd known she was probably in good shape, but he hadn't expected her to be that good.

As everyday activities continued, the month soon came to an end.

Throughout that month, Shuichi Kanda had gone to school as usual, taken part in club activities, and eaten meat and vegetables to replenish his nutrition.

His frail body gradually filled out.

In just one month, he'd gained five pounds. He'd gone from looking like a stiff breeze could knock him over to putting on a little weight. At least he didn't look particularly scrawny anymore.

He'd also made a lot of progress in club activities. He still couldn't make a bow from scratch by turning a piece of wood into one, but he had no problem maintaining a finished bow. He just needed more practice.

Thanks to practicing how to maintain finished bows every day, Shuichi Kanda had also built up a little muscle in both arms.

Mm, he was one step closer to achieving his modest goal of pinning Kamuro Masumi to the ground and beating her with his own strength! Just imagining it was thrilling! Keep it up, Shuichi Kanda!

Then Shuichi Kanda faced the duty every student had to fulfill: a quiz.

"Quiet down! I need you to pay a little more attention in class today."

"What is it, Sae-chan?"

After a month of living together, Chabashira-sensei's authority had been utterly swept away. Someone was already calling her "-chan." Had she been too approachable in the past?

Did that mean she was nearly at the point of becoming a helpless little girl for others to dress up as they pleased?

A cold, aloof office lady in an outfit unsuited to her age and position, her usually expressionless face flushed with humiliated shyness! I want to see that!

What am I saying!? What am I saying!?

This isn't an 18+ novel!

"Since it's the end of the month, we're having a quiz. Pass these back."

Then the cool female teacher handed a stack of exam papers to the first person in each row, and they passed the sheets back one by one.

Soon, Shuichi Kanda was taking his first exam in this world.

A quiz was, as the name implied, a small-scale exam. A test that would normally give each subject its own perfect score had been condensed onto a single paper.

There were five core subjects, each with several questions, for a total of 100 points.

"Huh? You didn't tell us there'd be a test. That's so sneaky."

Huh? As students, wasn't taking tests perfectly normal?

Even if they had a test once a week instead of once a month, Shuichi Kanda would have thought it reasonable.

"This test will only be used as a reference for the future and won't be reflected on your report cards, so there's no need to worry. Still, cheating is strictly prohibited, of course."

Naturally. Cheating on a test was just lying to yourself, wasn't it?

The five subjects were Japanese, mathematics, English, science, and social studies.

After giving the questions a quick read, Shuichi Kanda had a general idea of how he would do.

First were Japanese and English. These language subjects had been tough for Shuichi Kanda in his previous life, but now he'd eaten the Translation Konjac.

It worked not only on spoken language but also on written text, so language subjects were a piece of cake.

Next was mathematics. It had been a long time since he'd done any problems, but the logic should be the same. Besides, he'd been studying for a month, so it wouldn't be a problem.

Science covered subjects like biology, physics, and chemistry. Back home, it was called the science comprehensive exam. Easy.

Finally, there was social studies, which covered history, geography, politics, and economics. But that was a tough subject for Shuichi Kanda.

He'd only ever looked at textbooks from high school onward. He hadn't read any textbooks from before high school, and life had been so busy lately that he hadn't even thought to study those subjects.

As it happened, none of the things he'd learned in high school were covered in these questions.

Still, luckily, the textbooks covered at least some of these things.

It was multiple choice, anyway. He'd just pick whatever answer seemed close enough.

And, like most teachers, Chabashira-sensei kept pacing around during the test.

Hey!

Stop pacing around!

I know you're trying to give me a hint!

So what if I hadn't done anything for a month? Did she really have to make such a big deal out of it? He could always ask Hirata to pay her back the points.

Chabashira-sensei frowned as she watched Shuichi Kanda work through the questions.

She couldn't imagine how someone who had mastered Japanese, mathematics, English, and science so thoroughly could stumble over social studies.

The test ended before long. As soon as class was over, Shuichi Kanda slumped over his desk.

"Sure enough, if you don't know something, you just don't know it. Social studies—why did we need a pointless subject like that?"

"Huh? You're not good at the humanities either, Shuichi?"

Miyake, sitting in front of him, immediately turned around and picked up the conversation.

"Well, I'm pretty confident in Japanese and English, but I can't handle social studies."