Only now did Suzune Horikita understand.
This guy had called her over to take the blame.
And so.
Lunch break ended.
After the afternoon classes ended, all first-year students were kept in their classrooms.
Because their homeroom teachers had received a last-minute notice.
They would be informed about the school's rules.
"At this school, only students who graduate from Class A receive a 100% Advancement Rate and Employment Rate. Every other class must take examinations on their own. The school uses class competition to cultivate you.
When you enrolled, each class was given the same base score of 1,000 points, which will accumulate until graduation."
"The first day of every month is when the school distributes living expenses."
"However, the monthly living expenses will no longer be 100,000. They will be adjusted according to the evaluation based on these base points."
"In other words, according to the class evaluation scores now being announced, your score has fallen to 480 points."
"Therefore, on the first of next month, each of you will receive 480 times 100 in living expenses—that is, 48,000 points."
"However, this value changes. The score on the first will be used as the basis for calculating your living expenses."
"At the same time, class rankings are fluid. Whichever class has the highest evaluation score becomes Class A."
"So, if your accumulated class evaluation score exceeds Class A's after any examination, then you will become the new Class A."
First-year Class D's homeroom teacher, Sae Chabashira, explained the rules to her students.
Meanwhile, in the former Class A.
Class A's homeroom teacher, Majima, was also explaining the same rules.
However, this was the second time he had explained them. On the first day of school, this year's students had spent an enormous number of points to buy the school rules from him, along with information about the customary Behavioral Guidelines Exam held during the first month after enrollment.
It was practically buying insider information.
By obtaining that information and developing quietly, they would ultimately achieve higher scores than any previous Class A.
They could establish a safe gap between themselves and the lower-ranked classes.
And now.
Class A, First Year: 996 points.
First Year Class B: 834 points.
First Year Class C: 611 points.
First-year Class D: 530 points.
Their Class A had already pulled ahead of Class C and Class D.
But Class B still had 834 points left.
They had not yet opened a gap with Class B. How reassuring it would be if Class B had only six or seven hundred points left.
And so.
Katsuragi, who favored the steady approach, furrowed his brow.
This made the members of the Sakayanagi Faction look even more eagerly toward their leader—Little Princess Sakayanagi.
The little princess seemed to be contemplating something, her adorable brows lifting slightly.
In reality, though, Sakayanagi was not thinking about how to deal with the examination at all.
Because she was thinking.
Hachiman had obtained all the school's information through her.
And Hachiman had also learned from her how to expose the class evaluation scores by causing the class to lose points.
In other words, before the class competition had even begun.
She had aided the enemy—twice, and significantly both times.
What a complicated experience.
So did that make her a traitor to Class A?
Sakayanagi Arisu pursed her lips.
Yosuke Mama's Timely Rescue! Suzune: Someone Stole My Job??
Sakayanagi Arisu was contemplating whether she was a traitor.
However.
She eventually noticed the gazes of her classmates.
Did they feel that the current situation offered no advantage, so they found the steady Katsuragi unreliable and wanted the more aggressive Sakayanagi Arisu to lead them?
Did they want Classmate Sakayanagi to lead them into ruthlessly taking the lead over the other classes, so they could finally feel at ease?
Classmate Sakayanagi understood perfectly.
But classmates, the version of her you hoped for had already aided Hachiman the Great Demon King.
And she had done it twice in a row.
From that perspective, it was indeed rather embarrassing.
Sakayanagi Arisu thought to herself.
Still, since she had caused this, she might as well clean it up.
After homeroom teacher Majima-sensei announced that the Behavioral Guidelines Exam would continue, he had now yielded the podium to them.
Arisu glanced toward Katsuragi. His brows were tightly furrowed.
After the class split into the Sakayanagi Faction and the Katsuragi Faction, the dividing line between them had become distinct.
The Katsuragi Faction students sat toward the classroom door.
The Sakayanagi Faction students sat toward the windows.
Even the desks had been moved to face two different directions.
There were two rows on each side.
The Katsuragi Faction had twenty people, while the Sakayanagi Faction had sixteen.
The remaining few students with neutral positions had been pushed to the back.
"May I say a few words?" After thinking briefly, Sakayanagi Arisu spoke.
Yet as she said this, she had already risen while supporting herself against the desk.
"I don't think there is any need to worry."
"We are Class A students. Whether this is an open-book exam or not, we will earn high scores."
"But I don't think the other classes can maintain the same level of discipline as us. Take Class B—even if they know the examination rules, they will still lose at least another 150 points."
"So even if we do nothing, we can still open a gap of nearly 300 points against Class B."
In other words, Class A still held the advantage?
That was right.
Most of the Behavioral Guidelines Exam requirements involved self-discipline. If the students of the other classes truly possessed that kind of self-control, they would have been assigned to Class A in the first place.
They had lost only four points in six days.
Therefore, even if this exam continued, they could still achieve a high score of over 950 points.
No class in this school's history had ever reached such a score, including the Class A from the year of the most outstanding Student Council President, Manabu Horikita.
So their peak score had already been decided.
But the other classes could only continue losing points.
"For now, I also recommend holding our position and first securing the high score that belongs to our class."
At last, Katsuragi, who favored the steady approach, spoke.
In other words, Class A would continue facing the examination calmly.
After saying that, Sakayanagi Arisu sat down.
Casting aside the thought that she was a traitor, Sakayanagi Arisu lightly raised her left hand.
She rested her cheek against it.
Just as she had told Kamuro, even if a closed-book exam became an open-book exam... as long as the students did not restrain themselves, their scores would continue to be brutally deducted.
So, Hachiman, how were you going to restrain your classmates, who could lose 500 points in five days?
If you wanted a group to unite, the only option was to become their enemy. So were you choosing to become the enemy of the entire class?
And even if you did that, your classmates would not listen to an enemy the next time around.
So how would you solve that predicament?
But Hachiman had not done anything yet.
Nor had he fallen into a predicament.
While Class A was finishing up the information briefing, things were not going smoothly over in Class D.
Because.
Almost as soon as they learned that next month's living expenses would not be 100,000, and that even the 100% Employment Rate and Advancement Rate had been lies.
Class D's students exploded.
So they had no interest at all in listening to the specific contents of Chabashira-sensei's upcoming Behavioral Guidelines Exam.
"Th-This is too much! It's fraud! They're scammers!"
A student immediately voiced an objection.
"E-Exactly! Didn't they say that if we entered this school, tuition would be waived, and that the Advancement Rate and Employment Rate were guaranteed? So those were lies too?"
Mm.
That was what these students were focused on.
Chabashira felt a faint trace of relief inside.
"By the way, next month's living expenses are only 48,000! That's nowhere near enough!"
"What do we do? I only have 10,000 points left. We won't get more money until the first of next month!"
But the topic quickly shifted to this.
Because it concerned next month's living expenses.
Very realistic, Class D students.
Hachiman sat at his desk and noticed that Suzune Horikita, seated beside him, had taken out a small notebook and begun recording the points Chabashira-sensei had announced.
Although she had already read through everything on his phone once, she was still carefully taking notes.
She really was a serious person.
And Hachiman knew that her personal account still had a balance of 93,000 points.
In other words, she had more than 90,000 points remaining.
She was extremely frugal.
In comparison.
Before you continue