The End of the Ordinary

"Chie Hoshinomiya-sensei, what is this public point total? Is it different from our personal points—is it a total held by the class?"

Ryuji Kanzaki, oblivious to Chie Hoshinomiya's state, was the first to raise his hand and ask.

Seeing that the gap between Class B and Class A was a mere 30 points, he was already brimming with fighting spirit.

"That's right, these are Class Points."

"The personal points everyone receives each month are calculated by multiplying these Class Points by 100."

"The class with the highest Class Points will become Class A."

"If you all manage to pull off a comeback, my salary will go up, too."

As she spoke, Chie Hoshinomiya made a gesture of encouragement.

She wasn't particularly obsessed with Class A, but what working professional doesn't love a raise?

It wasn't just her; seeing that they were only 30 points away from Class A, the students of Class B were also fired up.

"What a shame, we were so close."

"If only we had been a bit more disciplined, we might have overtaken them in the very first month."

"We really owe it to Ximen. If it weren't for him, even if we had our suspicions, we wouldn't have been this disciplined."

Had it not been made clear from the start that the school rules were rigged, the students of Class B would never have achieved such total self-regulation without external oversight.

Makoto Nishikado, the center of the conversation, didn't look particularly happy; instead, he reminded Chie Hoshinomiya.

"Sensei, there's another sheet in there. That should be our mock exam results, right?"

Makoto Nishikado could see that there was another document inside the poster tube.

The results from the previous mock exams should be out by now.

"Yes, yes, Ximen-kun, don't be so impatient. Girls don't like boys who are too pushy, you know."

"These are indeed the mock exam results, and everyone performed quite well."

"Now, I have some good news and some bad news."

"The bad news is that in every future midterm and final exam, failing even a single subject will result in expulsion."

"The good news is that the passing grade is half the average score. If our class can maintain its current performance, no one will be expelled."

Chie Hoshinomiya spoke of these cruel realities with ease.

Expulsion for a single failing grade was truly harsh.

Stating it so bluntly meant that the peaceful daily life at this school had officially come to an end.

"Is it really expulsion if we fail?"

Honami Ichinose listened, feeling tense.

According to the information she had recently purchased with her points, exempting a single student from expulsion required a staggering 20 million personal points.

Even if Class B was united, scraping together 20 million wouldn't be an easy task.

And there was no telling how many times Class B might face the threat of expulsion in the future.

She had been diligently gathering intelligence, just as Makoto Nishikado requested.

The leader of Class 2-A and current Vice President of the Student Council, Miyabi Nagumo, was a student who championed the supremacy of individual ability.

Under his influence, the second-year cohort had seen double-digit expulsions within a single year.

For context, the third-year cohort had only lost 11 students over the course of two years.

Once Miyabi Nagumo became Student Council President, the situation for Class B would become dire.

Honami Ichinose instinctively looked toward Makoto Nishikado and, seeing that he remained perfectly calm, felt a sense of relief.

As for the other students in Class B, after a brief moment of shock, they didn't feel panicked.

Thanks to Makoto Nishikado, they had already entered a state of focused study.

As long as they maintained this momentum, they wouldn't be expelled for failing an exam.

"Yuki Himeno, go up and take a photo."

Makoto Nishikado took a closer look, committing everyone's scores to memory.

Feeling it wasn't enough, he turned to instruct Yuki Himeno.

In the future, this would become the norm, and Yuki Himeno needed to get into the habit.

With the teacher's permission, Makoto Nishikado sent a message to Karuizawa Kei.

She needed to photograph the results for Class D as well.

"Yes, Sensei. May I go up and take the photo?"

After receiving permission, Yuki Himeno stepped forward and photographed the scores of the Class B students.

She knew without Makoto Nishikado having to say it that these figures would later need to be compiled into a spreadsheet for him.

Fortunately, the mock exam covered five subjects, with only four questions per subject, each worth five points.

Therefore, this time the form only needed to record the scores of a single test paper.

Yuki Himeno still remembered that this test paper was very strange.

The first 17 questions were extremely simple, so simple that they didn't quite feel like high school test questions.

However, the last three questions were incredibly difficult, completely beyond the curriculum.

While taking the photos, Yuki Himeno had subconsciously searched for Makoto Nishikado's score.

Makoto Nishikado had scored 92 points this time, which was among the top ranks in Class B.

Being able to score 92 points meant that Makoto Nishikado had at least earned points on two of the three advanced questions.

Yuki Himeno returned to her seat, initially thinking that her job this time would be very simple.

That was until Makoto Nishikado raised his hand to ask a question.

"Teacher, can we get our mock exam papers back to see where we went wrong?"

"Naturally, you can, but there is a fee. Let me think, 400 points for 40 people should suffice."

Chie Hoshinomiya did not make things difficult for Makoto Nishikado.

Deliberately not returning the graded papers was the school's way of intentionally making things difficult for the students.

But as long as the students realized this and were willing to make a change, the points required were not that many.

"I'll pay."

Makoto Nishikado appeared very generous; he was not short on points right now.

If his subsequent plans were successful, he would be even less short on personal points.

"Everyone, once the papers are handed out, report which specific questions you got wrong and how many points were deducted."

The official exam was different from the mock exam; it would truly cover five subjects.

The mock exam results didn't clearly state the score for each individual subject.

Everyone had to report their own situation so that it would be convenient for Honami Ichinose to focus her attention accordingly.

"Himeno, please record this."

Yuki Himeno's eyes lost their luster.

"Boss, are you doing this to mess with me on purpose?"

Yuki Himeno had some complaints about the task Makoto Nishikado assigned, but she didn't refuse.

It was just that her workload had suddenly increased significantly because of this.

"Do you know where my points were deducted?"

"Weren't they deducted on the last three questions?"

Yuki Himeno said, as if it were a matter of course.

"No, I've calculated it. I lost six points on the modern literature questions, and another two points in sociology. I got full marks on the last three questions."

Makoto Nishikado spread his hands, his face showing a mix of helplessness and smugness.

Although the last three questions were beyond the curriculum, unfortunately for the test, he knew how to solve them.

He was someone who had once experienced cram-style education and survived the hell of the third year of high school.

The study intensity at a proper school in Sakurajima was not low, but it was still a step below the University of Tokyo.

For Makoto Nishikado, the studies here belonged to "easy mode."

Those three advanced questions were things he had already learned in his previous life.

On the contrary, he had lost quite a few points on the simple questions at the beginning.

In other words, looking at the total score of this mock exam alone wouldn't reveal which specific subject had issues.

The same was naturally true for everyone else.

Although the data for the students in Class B had already been collected and organized last time, personal data was something that had to be updated in real-time.

"Boss, is it normal to get these questions wrong? I don't want to work overtime..."

At this point, Yuki Himeno completely lost any reason to refuse.

At the same time, Makoto Nishikado's personal terminal received consecutive messages.

One message came from Horikita Manabu.

[Horikita Manabu: The application has been approved. You are now a member of the Student Council. Report there after school.]

[Makoto Nishikado: No problem, I will arrive as soon as possible.]

The other message came from Karuizawa Kei; she sent a photo, which was the grade sheet for Class D.

Makoto Nishikado opened the image and couldn't help but laugh.

"Good grief, how can seven people still fail with a test paper like this?"

Having obtained important intelligence, Makoto Nishikado also knew what he needed to do at the Student Council.