The April breeze carried the last lingering warmth of the cherry blossoms past the classroom windows.
Ever since Chazhu Zuo Zhi had announced the "point deduction" rules, the atmosphere in Class D's classroom had grown increasingly studious.
In class, the hands that had once secretly passed around manga now rested properly on the desks, and the whispers had been replaced by the rustle of pens moving across notebooks.
Even Sudo Ken, who usually had little interest in listening to class, kept his eyes on the textbook and occasionally took notes.
Hoshida No sat at his desk. Unlike everyone else, he didn't look tense. He calmly recorded the key points from the lesson, occasionally glancing up to observe everyone in the classroom.
He noticed that beneath Ayanokoji's seemingly casual posture, his fingers remained subtly relaxed. He noticed the faint trace of worry in Kushida's eyes when she reminded her classmates to pay attention. And he especially noticed the owner of the gaze beside him: Horikita Suzune.
Ever since what had happened last time, Horikita Suzune's eyes would often drift toward him. Whenever he turned to look at her, she would avert her gaze and resume listening attentively.
The bell hadn't rung yet, but Chazhu Zuo Zhi had already broken her usual habit of arriving just as it sounded. She entered the classroom ten minutes early.
She carried a thick stack of exam papers, their white covers gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
After entering the classroom, she didn't speak right away. She slowly surveyed the room, a faint trace of satisfaction flickering in her eyes, then gave a slight nod.
"Pass these out." She handed the papers to the student in the front row, her voice as flat as ever. "Today is the monthly exam. The order is as follows: math, sociology, and chemistry in the morning, one hour each, with ten-minute breaks between subjects. Japanese and English in the afternoon, an hour and a half each."
After speaking, she went to the front of the room and sat down. She took a magazine out of her bag but didn't open it, merely glancing over the class before adding, "Cheating and copying are strictly forbidden."
Hoshida No took the math paper passed back from the student in front of him. He gave it a quick look. Most of the multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions covered material they had studied that month, and the formats were standard. The answers practically leaped off the page.
His pen glided smoothly across the paper, its steady scratching brisk and light. In less than twenty minutes, he had finished most of the questions.
But when he reached the final three written-response problems, his fingers paused slightly.
The questions looked ordinary at first, but they concealed tricky details. Many of the concepts went beyond the high school curriculum and even touched on some fundamental university-level mathematics.
Integral transforms and probability models, for instance. Even though he had taught himself the relevant material, he still needed to work through the problems carefully on scratch paper.
By the time he finished, thirty-five minutes had passed. He glanced around and saw that quite a few of his classmates were already frowning.
Some stared blankly at the questions; others scribbled and crossed things out on their scratch paper, their faces full of confusion and anxiety. Sudo was clutching his hair, looking ready to lose it.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained as composed as ever, his pen moving at an unhurried pace, as if these questions beyond the curriculum were a piece of cake.
Horikita Suzune, meanwhile, frowned slightly as she focused on the exam paper. Her fingers worked quickly over her scratch paper, her lips pressed tight with stubborn resolve.
The day's exams came to a quiet end amid a tense atmosphere. When the bell rang for the final English exam to end, a collective sigh of relief rose from the classroom.
The students handed in their papers and gathered in small groups, quietly comparing answers. Some looked delighted to have solved the difficult questions, while others were frustrated by their mistakes.
After packing up his stationery, Hoshida No approached Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was getting ready to leave the classroom.
"Today's exam was a little difficult." His expression remained calm, but his tone carried a hint of curiosity. "A lot of the questions went beyond the curriculum and involved university-level knowledge. What did you think of the difficulty? For example, the Markov chain model in the last math problem, or the organic synthesis route design in chemistry?"
But when he finished speaking, he saw a confused look on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's face, as if he hadn't understood what Hoshida was talking about.
"Markov chains? Organic synthesis routes?" Ayanokoji blinked and asked in his usual flat tone, "Couldn't those problems be solved using what we learned from the textbooks?"
Hoshida No paused, then understood.
Ayanokoji was either genuinely gifted, having already absorbed all that knowledge so thoroughly that he didn't consider it beyond the curriculum, or he was deliberately hiding his abilities and maintaining his "average student" persona even when discussing the questions.
He raised an eyebrow, about to say something else, when he noticed Horikita Suzune walking over. She held a sheet of scratch paper and seemed unsure whether to join their conversation.
Nearby, Kushida Kikyo was gently comforting a classmate who was upset about not finishing the exam, but her gaze kept drifting toward Hoshida and Ayanokoji. A complicated glint flickered in her eyes.
Hoshida signaled to Ayanokoji that he didn't need to worry, then turned to discuss the exam with Horikita Suzune. He learned that she had only managed to answer the first written-response question in math—and even that answer was wrong.
May 1 arrived, the day points were distributed. Everyone in Class D received 75,000 Personal Points.
The Class D students soon accepted that they hadn't received 100,000 points. As soon as Hoshida No walked into the classroom, several classmates surrounded him. "Hoshida, our points really did go down this month..."
Just then, Hirata Yousuke stepped in and helped Hoshida out. He patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone's just a little worked up. We lost over 20,000 points in a month. Good thing you discovered the hidden rule. We can't imagine what might have happened otherwise. Thanks for this."
He looked at Hirata and the others, who were earnestly thanking him, and waved a hand. "It's nothing. It was the right thing to do."
"Everyone, return to your seats." Chazhu Zuo Zhi's icy voice came from the doorway. Once everyone had sat down, she picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard:
Class A: 990
Class B: 900
Class C: 840
Class D: 750
Then she stood still and began to explain. "These are the Class Points for the four classes." She paused, then continued, "You should know about Class Points, but not what they're used for. It's time for you to learn some of the other hidden rules."
The students all looked at Chazhu Zuo Zhi curiously, waiting for her to continue. She didn't keep them in suspense. "
The 'deduction rules' you know about all come from the school's 'S' System.
1. The link between Class Points and Personal Points
Each class starts with 1,000 Class Points. Every month, that number rises or falls according to the class's overall performance. This month, for example, your class had eleven unexcused absences and thirty-six instances of using phones or whispering during class, among other things. Your Class Points fell from 1,000 to 750. One Class Point equals 100 Personal Points, which is why you received 75,000 Personal Points this month.
Hoshida No took out his phone to check. After subtracting his original points and club subsidy, he had exactly 75,000 Personal Points.
2. Dynamic class rankings
Classes are ranked from A to D based on their points. Students in Class A receive top-tier resources after graduating from the school. Most students in Class B become social elites, while those in Class C pursue ordinary careers. Class D gets nothing at all; its students are merely there to make up the numbers.
Chazhu Zuo Zhi's voice echoed through the silent classroom like cold metal.
3. The purpose of Special Exams
They are the only path to changing your class rank." She picked up the chalk and drew a heavy line on the blackboard. "The school will hold Special Exams at irregular intervals every month. These may include team battles, individual competitions, or puzzles involving the rules. The results directly determine major increases or decreases in Class Points. For example, if you win the next Special Exam and your Class Points surpass those of Class C, you'll be promoted to Class C, while the current Class C will be demoted to Class D.
4. Conditions that trigger expulsion
Besides failing an exam or an individual subject, serious violations of school rules—such as cheating or violent confrontations—voluntarily applying to leave, and severe sexual harassment can all result in forced expulsion."
"Expulsion?" Sudo slammed his hands on the desk and stood up. "What kind of joke is this? You get expelled for failing an exam?"
Chazhu Zuo Zhi ignored Sudo and spoke calmly. "Remember, this is a school where only ability matters. There is no 'sympathy' and no 'exception.'"