Results Are In

On May 1st, the students of Class B arrived early in the classroom, but unlike usual, everyone was holding their phones with serious expressions, discussing the first month's assessment.

Shiraishi Makoto walked in a little later. The moment his front foot crossed the threshold, a classmate in the front row immediately called out to him.

"Shiraishi-kun, look at these points..." The boy raised his phone as he spoke, the implication clear.

Today was the day the results of the first monthly assessment were to be announced. Although the scores hadn't been released yet, the personal points, distributed on the first of every month, had already arrived in everyone's accounts.

The amount credited was 98,000 points. From this, it could be inferred that Class B's retained class points for the month were 980. Though it was unclear whether the deducted 20 points came from the first two days of the semester or from minor mistakes made by some students afterward, the number 980 was already astonishing enough.

"Don't worry about it. Even if Class A performed perfectly, the gap between us and them is only 20 points." Shiraishi Makoto comforted him in a soft voice.

In the original trajectory, Class A was inherently strong, and their first-month score of only 60 points deducted was nothing short of monstrous. Shiraishi Makoto couldn't actually be sure whether Class B's unusual behavior during this period had already alerted Class A, causing them to be on guard ahead of time.

But as he had just said, compared to the hundreds of points separating upperclassmen classes, even if Class A hadn't lost a single point, they'd only be 20 points ahead. Overtaking them would be easy with just one win in a special exam.

Shiraishi Makoto returned to his seat, and soon it was time for class. As the bell rang, homeroom teacher Hoshinomiya Chie walked into the classroom holding a poster tube, her steps a little unsteady. Shiraishi Makoto immediately noticed an unusual flush on her cheeks.

"Hoshinomiya-sensei's been drinking again, hasn't she?" Hamaguchi Tetsuya's muttered complaint came from behind him.

After a month at school, the students had long figured out Hoshinomiya Chie's personality. Since she was a health teacher and didn't need to teach classes, she often got dead drunk the night before and came to school the next day reeking of alcohol. There had even been a few times she nearly lost her composure and threw up in front of the students.

"Mhm mhm, is everyone here?"

Hoshinomiya Chie stood at the podium, her gaze still a little unfocused, as if she hadn't fully sobered up. But as her eyes swept around the room, they finally landed steadily on Shiraishi Makoto.

"Makoto already explained the school's 'hidden rules' to everyone before, so I won't ramble on too much." Her tone was light and airy. "The school's first month was a quality assessment. In simple terms, it was about seeing if everyone followed the rules."

As she spoke, Hoshinomiya Chie casually picked up a piece of chalk and wrote four striking numbers on the blackboard:

980, 950, 490, 0

"These four numbers are the first-month class points for Classes A, B, C, and D."

"Huh? Sensei, isn't our class 980 points? We've all received our personal points." A confused student raised their hand, not quite catching on.

"That's right, that's right. Our class really is 980 points." Hoshinomiya Chie shook her head, then suddenly raised her voice. "So—congratulations, everyone! You've successfully overtaken Class A and been promoted to Class A in the very first month!"

"Big round of applause!!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she started clapping vigorously herself.

The words hung in the air, and the classroom fell silent for a moment. Then, almost in unison, the students let out sighs of relief. They exchanged glances with those around them, barely able to hide the joy in their eyes.

"Ah~ why isn't anyone reacting? This is an unprecedented achievement, you know!" Seeing no one cheering along, Hoshinomiya Chie put on a displeased expression.

"Sensei, of course we're happy, it's just... we can hardly believe it yet." Ichinose Honami explained softly.

Knowing that the original Class A students were generally stronger, the original Class B students had been under considerable pressure all month. Looking at the results, the gap between them and the original Class A was only 30 points. The joy was real, but the sense of urgency in her heart hadn't diminished at all.

"Then get happy with me~ Woohoo!"

With Hoshinomiya Chie leading the way, the atmosphere in the classroom finally began to warm up.

Sitting in the back, Shiraishi Makoto stared at the original Class A's data, slightly dazed.

He remembered clearly that the original Class A's first-month points should have been 940, but now it was clearly showing 950. Without a doubt, Class B's unusual performance had affected Class A.

"OK, besides the quality assessment, the quiz results are here too." Hoshinomiya Chie lifted the poster tube on the desk and stuck a ranking chart on the blackboard.

On the chart, Ichinose Honami led by a wide margin with a score of 93. Close behind were a group of top students scoring around 80. Further down were a large number of students with 70 points, and a few with 60. There wasn't a single score below 60.

Shiraishi Makoto's score was 78, not particularly outstanding in the class.

"And then, everyone below this line counts as failing." Hoshinomiya Chie picked up a pen and drew a red line at the bottom of the ranking, then announced with a smile, "Which means no one failed. Congratulations, everyone!"

"Sensei, how was the passing line determined?" Kanzaki Ryuji raised his hand to ask.

"The passing line is everyone's average score, divided by two." Hoshinomiya Chie suddenly let out a small burp, her words slurring a little, but she continued, "This time, everyone's average was 79, so scoring above 38.5 counts as passing. Looking at it this way, everyone's safe."

Her tone shifted, gaining a hint of seriousness: "But be careful, though. If you fail the midterms or finals, you'll be expelled immediately."

Upon hearing the standard for the passing line, many sharp-minded students in the class immediately thought of countermeasures. A few quietly turned to look at Shiraishi Makoto. They weren't sure about his academic level, but given his outstanding performance in daily life and how close his 78 was to the average of 79, they couldn't help but suspect he was deliberately controlling his score.

Meanwhile, the students with weaker academic abilities collectively let out a long sigh of relief. Even the worst performer among them was still over a dozen points above the 36-point passing line. As long as they maintained the status quo, there was no risk of expulsion.

"That's it, sensei... uh..." As she was speaking, Hoshinomiya Chie's expression changed, and she turned and ran out of the classroom.

Everyone in the class knew what she was off to do, but they were also used to their unreliable homeroom teacher. Seeing her leave, they began to murmur among themselves.

"It looks like Hoshinomiya-sensei was really happy too, that's why she drank so much," a student whispered.

Hearing this, Shiraishi Makoto shook his head slightly.

Rather than Class B doing too well, he was more inclined to believe that Class D had screwed up so badly that it made Hoshinomiya Chie this happy.