Horikita, Congratulations on Getting Rid of a Student Who'll Cost the Class Points / You Called Me to Eat in the Toilet?

"I really don't want to. I genuinely have no interest in moving up to Class A, and I can guarantee I'm not lying." Shuichi Kanda spread his hands.

Then Horikita turned her gaze to Ayanokoji.

"I don't want to either."

And then...

"Ow, ow, ow..." Ayanokoji dodged to the side. "Why are you only chopping me?"

Damn, you got hit and still had to drag me into it, huh? Ayanokoji, you bastard!

Horikita didn't seem inclined to attack Shuichi Kanda, though.

"His frail body couldn't withstand my karate chop."

Right, right. You'd better not hit me.

Hmm?

The more I thought about it, the more it felt like something was off.

Were you indirectly calling me a weakling?

Horikita Suzune was just as bad as Kiyotaka Ayanokoji!

Still, Shuichi Kanda didn't argue. What if he really got hit?

Aside from Kamuro, no one had hit me so far!

"Then I really am grateful."

Shuichi Kanda finally couldn't hold back his retort.

"But if you want to move up to Class A, do you think the three of us can get Class D there?

That Sudo may be an idiot, but he said one thing well: even if you improve yourself, it won't matter if the class as a whole is still losing points.

So what you need to do isn't win over the students who don't cost the class points. You need to get rid of the ones who do.

Whether you get them to mend their ways or find a way to get them expelled, that's what you should be doing right now."

Once she'd managed that, she could start thinking about how to win over the students who could earn points for the class.

But if she'd expelled all the students who cost the class points first, congratulations: she'd unlocked a hellish difficulty even worse than the one she was facing now. She might have lost quite a few players who could earn points for the class.

If the class wanted to catch up to Class A, it first had to stop losing points, then start earning them.

If she couldn't even understand those two things, Shuichi Kanda wouldn't choose to help her.

Ah, it'd been a long time since I'd talked this much in one go. I'm exhausted. My throat's so dry.

Chapter 45: Horikita, Congratulations on Getting Rid of a Student Who'll Cost the Class Points

While Horikita was thinking things over, Shuichi Kanda slipped away and quietly made his way back to the classroom.

As for Ayanokoji, I didn't care about him. If he wanted to leave, he could get away just fine. There was no way Horikita could stop him.

In the classroom, the honors students, led by Hirata, were tutoring the others in groups, covering the material that would be on the upcoming midterm exams.

Shuichi Kanda wasn't involved. Part of the reason was that he didn't know most of the class, and another part was that his health wasn't very good.

On top of that, Shuichi Kanda kept finding excuses to avoid getting help with social studies, so Hirata didn't press him.

The class wasn't very quiet during the study sessions. They spent most of the time arguing, since the top students had to explain all sorts of concepts to the struggling students.

That was also why Hirata hadn't chosen to hold the sessions in the library. You weren't allowed to do that there.

Looking at the chaotic classroom, Shuichi Kanda couldn't think of a good solution. But the more you debated, the clearer things became, and studying was much the same. You learned less by rote memorization alone than by exchanging ideas through discussion.

But had something weird slipped in there?

Ike and Yamauchi definitely weren't studying properly, were they? Oh, well. That was their business. They could slack off if they wanted, as long as they weren't affecting anyone else.

As the study session was about to end, Hirata sent out a group message, giving 1,000 Private Points to everyone in the class except Sudo and Horikita, as well as those who'd already received points in advance.

"Thanks for all your effort."

When the study session ended, Hirata came over to Shuichi, looking a little tired.

"No, as long as everyone can pass the midterm exams, it'll all be worth it."

"That's not going to happen. Sudo didn't come."

At that, Hirata gave a bitter smile. He didn't want to see Sudo expelled just like that, but he also didn't want to force him to attend the study sessions.

Besides, attending a study session didn't guarantee that anyone would pass. They were only doing their best to improve the students' chances.

But Shuichi Kanda thought that as long as they studied hard over the next two or three weeks, they wouldn't fail. Even if they only studied during class and for the two hours afterward at the study sessions each day.

Why?

Because Japanese high school covered far less material than high school had back in his previous life. Besides, the passing score wasn't sixty; it was half the average.

What did that mean?

It meant the passing score could never be higher than fifty.

For high school students in their prime learning years, that should've been easy as pie, right?

Ah, sorry. I meant that anyone who studied seriously should be fine.

At least, Shuichi Kanda had never scored below fifty in his previous life.

And so, thanks to Hirata's enthusiastic efforts, the study sessions continued without a hitch. Over the next few days, the students who were at risk of failing gradually felt knowledge filling their empty shells.

Even Ike and Yamauchi seemed to have started studying properly over the past few days. The only problem was still Sudo.

He hadn't attended a single session since they started. A week had passed, and he still left as soon as school was over.

"Congratulations. You're about to get rid of the first thing that's costing the class points."

After school on Friday, Shuichi Kanda packed his bag and was about to leave when he said that to Horikita Suzune.

He planned to skip the study session today because he had to return some books.

After a few days of reading, he'd learned almost everything in the middle-school social studies curriculum. They rarely tested that material in high school, so he only needed to know the basics from the textbooks, enough to understand the questions.

Horikita Suzune knew exactly what Shuichi Kanda meant. She looked over at Sudo, who had already slung his bag over his shoulder and was getting ready to leave.

But what had Shuichi Kanda meant by that? Was he mocking her, or was he really congratulating her?

She wasn't sure.

Never mind. I'll go at my own pace. She had a vague sense that it was still too soon to let a Class D student leave.

Then she looked toward Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, who was still sitting at his desk.

On Saturday morning, Shuichi Kanda decided to take it easy. The cram-style studying over the past few days had left his brain feeling swollen, so he wanted to relax for a while.

With his physique, physical activities weren't much of an option. He might as well go to the library and cultivate his mind.

The Devotion of Suspect X

It was a long mystery novel by the Japanese writer Keigo Higashino. He'd heard plenty about it, but this was his first time reading it.

Eagerly, Shuichi Kanda opened the book. But after two chapters, he felt a little speechless and went back to the table of contents.

That was right, wasn't it? The book had nineteen chapters in total. So why had the first two already revealed who the culprit was, how the crime was committed, and what happened afterward?

Was this really the winner of the Naoki Prize and the Honkaku Mystery Award?

For a moment, Shuichi Kanda had his doubts. But trusting Keigo Higashino, he kept reading.

The farther he got, the stranger it seemed. Had he picked up a counterfeit book? The first two chapters had made the killer's identity perfectly clear, yet when the police investigated, the culprit had an airtight alibi?

You've got to be kidding me.

Just as Shuichi Kanda was about to keep reading, someone beside him interrupted, forcing him to stop for the time being.

"Kanda, aren't you going to eat?"

He turned his head and saw Hiyori Shiina watching him with her flawless face, looking curious.

"Eat?"

Shuichi Kanda was taken aback, then took out his phone and checked the time.

12:58

"It is time to eat. I'll come back and read this afternoon."

He closed the mystery novel he'd been about to continue reading and prepared to return it to the shelf.

"Do you like mystery novels, Kanda?"

"They're all right. Giving my brain a workout every now and then keeps it from getting rusty."

Shuichi Kanda didn't dislike Shiina as a student. She could be a little lacking in boundaries sometimes, but she was a beautiful girl, after all.

"I see." Hiyori Shiina nodded in understanding. "But shouldn't you be studying for the exams? I remember you were making up the social studies you missed in middle school."

"That? I've already memorized everything."

Shiina had helped him find the middle-school social studies textbooks when he'd first looked for them. That had been a week ago.

"No way. You memorized all of it in just one week?"

Seeing Shiina look so surprised, Shuichi Kanda felt he'd overdone it a little.

"I'd already learned it all before, so I was just reviewing."

"Is that so? Last time, you seemed not to know even the most basic geography."

Why are you so hung up on this?

Actually, he'd managed to memorize everything so quickly thanks to the high-tech Memory Candy the system had handed out in May.

After eating one, you could greatly enhance your memory for a short time. The duration varied from person to person, but it never lasted less than an hour.

Looking at all the candy in that cheap plastic bucket, Shuichi Kanda hesitated briefly before eating one. Then, in just one night, he memorized those social studies textbooks, along with the current first-year high school textbooks.

"By the way, I'm heading to the cafeteria for lunch. Want to come, Shiina?"

"I've already eaten."

Too bad. My first time inviting a beautiful girl to lunch had failed. It felt a little awkward.

As the title suggests:

Because the numbers weren't good, I'm starting from zero. Every 100 monthly votes = 2,000 extra words; every 1,000 recommendation votes = 2,000 extra words; every 5,000 in tips = 2,000 extra words; every 50 blade tokens = 2,000 extra words.

From now until the end of the day the novel goes on sale, I'll guarantee three chapters a day. That'll probably be the fifth or sixth, next Tuesday or Wednesday.

On the day it goes on sale, I'll guarantee ten chapters, or 20,000 words. Bonus chapters from bounties are separate.

So I'm off to write. Let's all do our best.

Chapter 46: You Called Me to Eat in the Toilet?

After lunch, Shuichi Kanda returned to the library. He got the book from Hiyori Shiina and started reading again, then kept going until he reached the end.

He closed the book and let out a long breath.

So that was why it was called devotion: he was willing to sacrifice himself for the person he loved.

Tetsuya Ishigami was incredibly smart, yet incredibly foolish—and still, he was admirable.

When the final mystery was revealed, Shuichi Kanda felt the hair on his scalp stand on end. At the same time, he was deeply shaken.

Tetsuya Ishigami had accounted for almost every variable. The only thing he'd overlooked was the human heart. Love could make people lose their reason, which was why his plan had ultimately failed.

At that moment, Shuichi Kanda even found himself wondering what would happen if this guy came to their school. If it were him, even the useless bunch in Class D probably wouldn't be able to hold him back.

"What a terrifying guy."

"Terrifying? Do you mean Ishigami, Kanda?"