Classroom of the Mediocre Supremacist

I see...

"So it seems next month's exam has already begun."

His words made the three classes eavesdropping on their conversation tense up. Si ignored whatever thoughts they might have and continued.

"There should be a [Special Exam] next month, and it'll likely be written tests across various subjects that are quite difficult for us."

At this, Kamuro Masumi and Karuizawa Kei froze, some students from Class D nearby were stunned, and students from Class C at the diagonal furrowed their brows.

The reason was simple—they were all poor students who couldn't stand any written exams.

"And because it's a [Special Exam], there will definitely be reward and punishment mechanisms. For example, passing rates based on a cutoff line—those with high scores might get Class Points as rewards, while those who fail... will probably be expelled outright."

Expelled outright!!

This heavy hammer struck the poor students again.

This school not only waives all fees but also gives out Private Points equivalent to money every month—they absolutely didn't want to be expelled from here!

And if they were expelled, with their academic ability, it would be hard to get into another high school.

"Of course, knowing this school's style, they might also pair up good students with bad students based on this quiz's results and set a very high passing line—if one person fails, both get expelled together."

Now everyone was nervous, since no one could confidently claim that both they and their partner would definitely pass.

But Hoshino En wasn't hanging around just to create anxiety. He immediately offered a solution.

"But don't worry too much—there's a way to break through. Since the test should be based on old exam papers, the second-year seniors should have past tests. Just get a copy from them and memorize it, and next month's exam will be a breeze... Kamuro, flip the meat—it's about to burn!"

Hearing this, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. Kamuro Masumi, at his reminder, saved a piece of pork belly from being scorched.

Seeing her mistake, especially with Karuizawa Kei beside her who was "still nimble even with a blank mind" as a contrast, Sakayanagi Arisu reflected further on her own error.

It seemed she'd need to step up Kamuro's training.

"Wait—about the exam... what evidence do you have?"

Suddenly, Katsuragi Kohei, sitting next to Hoshino En's group, stood up and turned around.

His gaze bypassed the booth's sofa and landed on Hoshino En.

Looking at his bald head reflecting the light, Hoshino En was stunned for a moment.

"How rare. I thought Ryuen would be the first to jump out. Didn't expect you to be more impatient than him, Katsuragi."

"Impatience is a major taboo in decision-making, Katsuragi-kun."

"Sakayanagi..."

Seeing Sakayanagi Arisu pop up, Katsuragi Kohei called her name as if holding back something, seemingly angry.

"Hey, gloomy star-eyes, and the A-class loli—take back those nasty nicknames!"

At that moment, Ryuen Kakeru, who'd been called out, joined the fray and lodged a complaint about the "nasty" nicknames Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu had given him earlier.

Though he'd also given them nasty nicknames, it didn't affect Hoshino En at all.

"Huh? You want me to call you by your first name, Ryuen? Sorry, that's for later—we're not there yet."

Hoshino En's [one-click rejection] made Sakayanagi Arisu, who was about to retort to Ryuen's [loli comment], hold back.

She looked at Hoshino En with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

"Hoshino-kun, I know this might be an odd time to ask, and perhaps a bit late, but I still want to—please answer me seriously."

"Oh?"

Sakayanagi Arisu's rare seriousness actually relaxed Hoshino En.

If she was being this serious, it probably wasn't anything troublesome for him—he could take it easy.

But her next words left him dumbfounded.

"Hoshino-kun, is your sexual orientation normal?"

"...Huh?"

Not just him—Katsuragi Kohei, waiting for Hoshino En's explanation, and Ryuen Kakeru, who was sneering, also froze.

Karuizawa Kei, sitting across from them, looked shocked.

The eight Class D students completely forgot the original purpose of this gathering and turned to watch them, looking like they were grabbing popcorn.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? I don't quite follow."

"I mean: Hoshino-kun, do you perhaps like men?"

"How could that be!!!"

Confirming he hadn't misheard, Hoshino En immediately retorted.

"I'm male, attracted to females—a perfectly normal, perfectly healthy guy. What part of that made you misunderstand?"

"But you called Dragon Boy by his first name the first time you met him. For girls, though—like Ichinose-san, Shiina-san, and me—you've always used our surnames. Why?"

"Well... calling a girl by her first name could easily be misunderstood, right? It's not like we're in that kind of relationship..."

"I can do it, you know—letting Hoshino-kun... En-kun call me by my first name!"

The one who interrupted Hoshino En's explanation was Karuizawa Kei, sitting across from him, and she unilaterally changed how she addressed Hoshino En on her own.

Sakayanagi Arisu had stirred up the conflict, but in the end, this girl snatched the fruit first.

The [Empress Group] four beside them were thrilled: Damn, our girl's amazing—Karuizawa-san's straight-up flaunting herself in front of the legal wife!

Kamuro Masumi, caught between the two sides in the dispute, was speechless too: Sakayanagi, you asked for this, you got cocky, and now you're being used as a stepping stone, huh?

Sakayanagi Arisu was furious. She'd thought this little blonde was pretty good, but she never expected this girl to have a rebellious streak, aiming to [usurp the throne]!

As for the one at the center of it all, Hoshino En... he immediately sensed something was off and tried to change the subject.

"Ahem, Karuizawa... Kei, let's leave that for later. Let's talk about the exam first, alright?"

"You wouldn't want to be driven up the wall by a pointless test, would you? Your grades are still pretty bad..."

"So what's the real reason?"

Kamuro Masumi stepped in.

Before Karuizawa Kei could answer, she snatched the right to speak first and steered the topic away.

She could watch Hoshino En and Sakayanagi Arisu's [nasty little couple skit] anytime, but this chance to get ahead on the exam only came once—if it flopped, she might get expelled!

If Hoshino En dared to lay things out so clearly in front of other classes, he was definitely planning something big, and she had to get the details!

Kamuro, I'll repay you for this!

Hearing Kamuro Masumi's words, Hoshino En cheered inwardly. He never wanted to go through that weird topic again.

Suspecting him of being [gay]—he had no idea what was going on in Sakayanagi's head.

"Specifically why? Kamuro, you tailed me for almost a month. You should know exactly what books I borrowed from the library, right? Then you ought to be able to figure it out—you're an [A-Class Elite] in the same class as Katsuragi!"

But Hoshino En didn't just hand the answer to Katsuragi Kohei and Ryuen Kakeru either. They were still [hostile], and no matter how reasonable his explanation was, they'd twist it through [bias] in the end. It was better to let their own people analyze the reasoning—that would be more effective.

Originally, the best candidate would've been Sakayanagi, but she was acting weird now, starting to doubt his sexual orientation.

With her ability, she could easily drag the topic back to that strange atmosphere, so he couldn't let her have the floor for now.

That left Kamuro as the only option. But...

"Didn't you just borrow some literary classics, a few science and education magazines, some fashion-related journals, some popular science books on swimming training, and some old textbooks? What can you see from that?"

Aaaaaagh! As expected, this girl couldn't figure it out at all—she couldn't even do the most basic [filtering useful information]!

"Hey, what's with that look? I shouldn't have gotten it wrong!"

Seeing Hoshino En's exasperated expression, Kamuro Masumi pressed him.

"Yeah, yeah, you didn't get it wrong, but you didn't see anything either. Haven't you learned anything from Sakayanagi at all?"

"I shouldn't have had any high expectations for your intelligence and judgment (mutter)..."

Hoshino En then turned to Katsuragi Kohei, who was waiting for his explanation, and asked.

"What about you, Katsuragi?"

"The reason I came to that conclusion is in what Kamuro just said. You pride yourself on being an [A-Class Elite], looking down on students from other classes, thinking you're above them—can you figure it out?"

"Let me tell you in advance, Sakayanagi figured this out the moment we met this afternoon. If you want to compete with her for the class leadership position, you shouldn't miss it, right?"

Hoshino En threw out a provocation, hitting Katsuragi Kohei square on.

"You're just afraid I'll lead you to a wrong conclusion, aren't you? Then think for yourself! You too, A-chan."

Hoshino En also jabbed at Ryuen Kakeru beside him, with devastating effect.

"Wanting safe intel without paying anything—there's no such cheap deal in this world."

"Tch."

Ryuen Kakeru clicked his tongue, averted his gaze, and started thinking.

For things like this, Ishizaki Ibuki and the others were useless; the only one he could rely on was himself.

But when it came to written exams, he couldn't figure it out either! His academic ability was abysmally bad.

And the one in Class C who was useful for this...

He glanced at Shiina Hiyori, sitting next to Hoshino En.

Tch, Shiina was currently staring at that blonde girl, entranced—useless too.

Damn it, why were there so many idiots in Class C? And their luck was absolute garbage?!

To be honest, his mental state was a bit shaky right now, not just because he'd been targeted by a guy who might be gay, but also because of the fact he'd just heard about being [isolated].

He hadn't even started harassing Class D yet, so how was he already being led in isolation by Class D's people? That was seriously unfair!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapter 45: Chapter 042—Appreciation, Liking, Bet

But the first to figure it out was neither Katsuragi Kohei nor Ryuen Kakeru, but Hirata Yosuke, who had been listening all along.

"Hoshino-kun, do you mean those three big questions weren't beyond the syllabus in the old textbooks, and the quiz papers weren't newly made but leftover from previous years—is that it?"

"Oh, Hirata, you're pretty sharp!"

This didn't surprise Hoshino En at all. Hirata Yosuke might have a pathological obsession with [class unity], but his intelligence and judgment were at least on par with Class B or even Class A. It was only natural he'd figure it out before the others.

"This end-of-month quiz doesn't count toward the grade record, and the earlier questions were set so simple that it's not even worth using as a reference for academic ability. But the school wouldn't hold a meaningless exam. Setting up such a strange quiz like this is their way of making us realize how different this school is from others."

Hoshino En took another gulp of sparkling water, his gaze playful as he looked at Katsuragi Kohei, whose expression had turned grim.

"Katsuragi, now that the exam's been explained, do you believe it?"

Believe it? Of course not. Who would believe that their enemy, who searched `:"'Chirp★∞Silk≮＞Scale¨~Slurp＄/Road¨~Hiss's enemy, would kindly hand over useful information?

But Katsuragi's loyal follower, his [right-hand man] Totsuka Yahiko, did believe it.

"You idiots from Class D, actually leaking intel to the enemy? Have you lost your minds?"

Not only did he believe it, but he immediately started mocking the informant.

Since Kushida Kikyo had only mentioned there was an exam and nothing else, Hirata still had no clue about the so-called class competition. He stared at Totsuka Yahiko, who was taunting him, utterly confused.

But the [Friend Group] and [Empress Group] behind him were furious.

Attacking the entire Class D like that? This guy had no class!

"Yosuke-kun kindly analyzed it for you, how can you act like this?!"

"Exactly, you have no social grace."

"Do you think being in Class A makes you something special?"

"..."

Aside from Kushida Kikyo, who was maintaining her image, the other six all fired verbal barbs at Totsuka Yahiko.

Totsuka Yahiko, fearless and unrepentant, shot back without hesitation.

"Hah, Katsuragi-san just didn't want to reveal information, so he kept quiet. Who'd be as stupid as you Class D trash?"