Hints and Gradually Increasing Points (3K)

Third week, Monday.

As expected, Chabashira Sae walked in carrying two sets of exam papers.

You En still felt that the comprehensive questions in these two categories were fairly well-designed—not the kind of tricky problems someone would craft just to torment students, but rather a steady, balanced set of questions. If you studied seriously, working through them was actually a pleasure, a smooth and satisfying experience.

The results came out at noon. Chabashira Sae didn't even show up in the classroom.

Everyone ran out to the big screen to check. There were no rankings, but the scores were listed from highest to lowest.

"You En, total score 200." "Sakayanagi Arisu, total score 195." "Ichinose Honami, total score 195." "..." "Horikita Suzune, total score 186."

You En looked for the girls from Class B.

"Ando Sayo, total score 155." "Kobashi Yume, total score 147."

...Overall, they were all around 150 points, mastery above 70%. That was actually pretty good.

"Only one perfect score this week?"

Hasebe Haruka glanced at the results and couldn't help commenting.

She didn't usually pay much attention to grades, but Wang Meiyu cared about them, and Hasebe really liked this somewhat shy girl, so she came along with her.

Wang Meiyu looked at You En with some admiration. "You En-kun is really impressive."

"I knew he did well in school, but doing this well is a bit much," Hasebe said.

"If only it were single-subject exams. With comprehensive tests, you can't even finish the questions."

Yukimura sighed from the side. He only scored 160 this time, despite studying hard. The main issue was that he got nervous during the exam and didn't even have time to answer some questions.

"You wanna fight?!"

Sudo Ken suddenly roared.

You En looked over and saw some people from Class C staring coldly in their direction. They must have said something sarcastic that set Sudo off.

Ishizaki sneered, "Trash is trash. Still making excuses that studying is useless. The basketball club didn't want you either. Our class got two official members, and neither of them was you."

The moment those words came out, You En sensed trouble.

Sudo Ken was breathing heavily. He couldn't hold back anymore and completely lost it, ready to throw a punch.

Hirata Yosuke came up behind him and tried to calm him down, but Sudo wouldn't listen. Hirata had to physically block him.

Sudo shoved his hand away, nearly sending Hirata stumbling. "Stay out of this!"

"I'm looking forward to the day you slink out of this school."

Ishizaki and the others dropped a few more taunts and left.

You En observed from the side and noticed something: those words from Ishizaki weren't actually his own ideas. A student named Kaneda Satoru had told them what to say, and they just repeated it.

He had to admit, the provocation was successful. Sudo Ken was now like an explosive powder keg—anyone who touched him would set him off.

A few girls gathered around Hirata Yosuke. Among them, Karuizawa clung intimately to his arm, putting on a show with various questions.

"Must be nice, getting together so fast."

Ike Kanji watched the scene with envy.

Yamauchi stared longingly but kept his mouth running, "Karuizawa's that gyaru type—no thanks. Her face is pretty average. At the very least, I'd need someone on Kushida's level."

As he spoke, Yamauchi glanced at Ayanokoji beside him, trying to urge him on, hoping he'd arrange a private meeting with Kushida Kikyo soon.

Ayanokoji sensed the danger and shot Yamauchi a look to stop him from asking such a question in public, but the other guy didn't seem to get it.

So he had no choice but to say he needed to use the bathroom, cutting off whatever Yamauchi was about to say.

"Are these people really... students?"

Horikita Suzune stood a bit farther from the Class D crowd. Seeing You En walk over, she asked.

Thinking back to spending the whole day yesterday with the Class B girls, cooking together in the evening, and enjoying dinner, then looking at the Class D crowd today, she felt a huge sense of disappointment.

Even though she hadn't expected much from the students in Class D.

"..."

You En felt that poor grades weren't really a big deal—a person shouldn't be measured solely by exam scores. But when the students in Class D had both bad habits and bad personalities, that was a real problem.

He had originally planned to mention that the assessment could lead to expulsion, but now he didn't feel like doing that himself anymore.

He took out his terminal, sent a message to Hirata, and then planned to go have lunch with Horikita Suzune.

Hirata Yosuke received the message, glanced at it first, then his expression turned extremely grave.

"Hirata: 'Is this news true?'"

"You En: 'Class B's homeroom teacher said so.'"

"Hirata: 'Is it certain someone will be expelled, or if everyone passes, even the last place won't be expelled?'"

"You En: 'As long as everyone passes, it probably won't happen.'"

"Hirata: 'Can we talk a bit, just during lunch?'"

"You En: 'I don't want to get involved in this, sorry.'"

"Hirata: 'Alright, well, regardless, I have to thank you. With your warning, the classmates are in danger.'"

"You En: 'It's nothing, class rep. You've got your work cut out for you.'"

You En put down his phone and suddenly remembered that swimming class was coming up.

He recalled the gym teacher saying that once the course requirements were completed, they could borrow other facilities and invite friends to swim together.

You En wanted to see Horikita Suzune in a swimsuit, so he suggested:

"Once the class content is done later, how about we find a pool and practice together?"

"What are you talking about?"

Horikita Suzune stared at him with a puzzled look.

"Why rent a private pool? What for?"

You En said bluntly: "Because I want to see you in a swimsuit."

"..."

Horikita Suzune had no idea how his brain worked and sighed:

"Didn't Kushida send a photo last time?"

You En replied: "But I want to see it with my own eyes."

"No."

Horikita Suzune rejected the proposal, but her resolve wasn't that firm. She just felt a vague reluctance at the thought of showing herself to him alone.

"Oh."

You En responded with a feigned hurt tone.

Horikita Suzune felt like she'd done something wrong and relented: "I'll take a few photos for you later, don't be like that."

You En asked eagerly: "Really?"

Horikita Suzune twirled a strand of hair with her finger. "It's the same swimsuit as last time, nothing special to see."

"Take lots of photos, please!"

"I don't get you."

Horikita Suzune sighed helplessly, but a faint smile crept onto her lips.

Then came the afternoon swimming class.

After the gym teacher taught a few things, he gave You En some extra one-on-one coaching before sitting off to the side, watching the students do free activities.

"Let's race and see who swims faster!"

A student suggested.

"A race?"

The gym teacher nodded. "Then I'll add a prize. First place gets 5,000 points."

"No way?!"

Yamauchi Haruki shouted.

Sudo Ken, full of pent-up frustration, cracked his knuckles. "Then I've got to win this."

Koenzaka seemed to want to join too.

You En figured it made sense—in this school, upper and lower grades didn't mix. As the heir of a conglomerate, Koenzaka couldn't trade with upperclassmen using outside resources.

And by the third week, if most people had been spending freely, their points were nearly gone.

The gym teacher glanced at You En, knowing he trained with Annie, but not for competitive speed—more for endurance and adaptability. So he said:

"If we're going to compete, let's make it challenging... long-distance swimming, 1,500 meters."

"Long distance?"

Sudo Ken didn't understand what that meant, thinking it was just swimming a bit farther, and remained full of confidence.

The group arrived at an even larger swimming pool, big enough to hold fifty people competing at once.

Not just the boys, but the girls too.

Matsushita Chiaki quietly estimated how much it would cost to build a pool like this. Application fees, excavation, foundation work, the circulation system and temperature control equipment, plus shower rooms, changing areas, and a reception hall...

At the very least, it would be fifty million yen, right?

The key point was that there wasn't just one or two of these pools—the school built them as if money meant nothing.

"So extravagant."

On the boys' side, even Ike Kanji, who knew nothing about construction, could only sigh. He'd been to a few swimming centers before, but they couldn't compare. This pool was built like a small artificial lake.

"Let's begin."

The gym teacher glanced at You En, then at Ayanokoji and Kōenji. The first-place winner would definitely be one of these three. Although he'd tried to secretly give You En some personal points through special treatment, he couldn't make it too obvious.

It all depended on his performance now. Teacher here had done all he could.

Over twenty boys entered the water at once.

The fastest few were actually the Three Idiots, with Sudo Ken leading the charge forward.

You En basically swam in whatever way felt most comfortable.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka observed him from the side. This kid was a completely different person compared to last time. You En kept his strokes long, conserving energy, and breathed on one side only, adjusting his center of gravity to avoid imbalance.

Even Ayanokoji couldn't have done it better. From here on, it was just a contest of stamina.

By the twenty-meter mark, most of the boys had already slowed down. For beginners, that was about the limit.

Sudo Ken pushed himself nearly sixty meters in one burst, then his body suddenly gave out, and he slowed to a crawl.

Then You En, Ayanokoji, and Kōenji passed him unhurriedly, swimming ahead.

By the eight-hundred-meter mark, the gap between the three began to widen.

You En and Kōenji were in the lead, with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka falling slightly behind.

But You En sensed that Ayanokoji still had energy left—he'd probably just noticed something was off.

Because they'd already completed one lap. The students by the pool were staring at them like they were watching superhumans.

"I'm done. You two continue."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka climbed out of the pool. His breathing was only slightly faster; he wasn't even winded.

Kōenji nodded at You En. "You En boy, it seems the winner will be decided between the two of us."

"Then let's do it."

You En and Kōenji began their final lap.

You had to admit, he was a true heir to a conglomerate. Pushing through purely on physical constitution, like he was on drugs—it was ridiculous.

But that didn't matter.

You En focused his mind, activated Second Self, and injected new momentum. His body returned to peak condition, and he easily overtook Kōenji to take first place.

Kōenji Rokuke may have lost, but he showed no emotion. He just flicked his hair, nodded with some recognition, and headed off to shower.

The gym teacher announced the winner, cleared his throat, tapped on his terminal, and said to You En:

"Here are your 5,000 points."

"Thank you, teacher."

You En checked his point balance. He now had 13,500.

From his Tuesday and Thursday part-time jobs, he'd earned 4,000 points. Friday's job gave him 6,000. He'd spent 1,500 on hanging out with Ando Sayo and the others, plus splitting the cost of ingredients for dinner.

With this 5,000, he'd broken through the ten-thousand peak again.

Suddenly, a message came in.

You En opened it. It was a swimsuit selfie from Horikita Suzune.

It seemed she was a bit shy, so her face was mostly cropped out, and her photography skills weren't great either. But she'd captured all the important parts.

You En thought for a moment, took a few photos of himself, and sent them over.

Horikita Suzune: "?"