Turning Trash into Scores

The next morning, Class D had yet to recover from the aftermath of the Sudo incident.

A new blade fell first.

The midterm academic assessment.

The teacher said it lightly.

He merely mentioned in passing during class that there would be a school-wide basic assessment next week, and the results would be included in future evaluations.

One sentence.

Half the class died on the spot.

"It's over."

Someone in the back wailed first.

"I only got through the entrance exam by luck. What is there to assess?"

"Does this school not let people catch their breath?"

"First points, then penalties, and now exams?"

The frustration and confusion slowly spread between the desks.

This time, it didn't explode.

It collapsed.

When it came to fighting and discipline, plenty of people could still lie to themselves and say, "That has nothing to do with me."

But exams were different.

Once exams came around, everyone had to lay their actual knowledge on the table.

Gu Heng sat where he was, looking over the expressions in the classroom, expressions that were easy to read at a glance.

Panic 76
Avoidance 83
Wishful thinking 61
Giving up 69

Good.

This was no longer just Sudo's problem.

It was the entire class's problem.

"Gu Heng."

Horikita walked up to his desk, keeping her voice low.

"You already guessed this was coming next?"

"More or less."

Gu Heng looked at her. "After the points were reset to zero, if the school only made us suffer through discipline without following it up with an academic blow, the screening process would be incomplete."

Horikita's brow furrowed tighter.

She knew Gu Heng was right.

"Look around."

Gu Heng lifted his chin.

Horikita followed his gesture and looked over.

The few in the front rows could still sit up straight.

People in the middle had already started playing dead.

The back rows were even more straightforward, their faces saying, "Who gives a damn?"

"It's useless for you to keep watch over discipline alone."

Gu Heng said.

"I know."

Horikita replied coldly, "But that doesn't mean I'll allow you to turn everyone into a pile of price tags again."

"They aren't price tags."

Gu Heng looked at her. "They're priorities."

Horikita's expression turned colder at once.

"What's the difference?"

"There is one."

Gu Heng said, "The former means using people to settle accounts. The latter means first seeing clearly who can be pulled back, who can only be held down for now, and who won't listen no matter what you say."

Horikita wanted to argue.

But after scanning the classroom, she suddenly found it difficult to argue completely.

Because this group really couldn't be pulled together with a simple, "Come on, everyone, let's study."

They were too fractured.

Some had poor foundations.

Some were lazy.

Some simply didn't take the exam seriously.

And some had already accepted that they belonged at the bottom.

If they weren't sorted into levels first, there would be no way to know where to start.

"How do you plan to divide them?"

She asked.

"Four categories first."

Gu Heng opened his notebook and wrote down four lines.

Those who can push for higher scores
Those who can shore up their foundations
Those who can only minimize losses
Those who need watching so they don't cause trouble

Horikita stared at those four lines without changing her expression.

But the discomfort was already clear in her eyes.

"Who are you planning to show that to?"

She asked.

"Only the people who can be useful, for now."

Gu Heng said, "The others will only feel offended right now."

Just then, Hirata walked over.

"I just asked around."

He said, "A few people are already saying they might as well resign themselves to it. It's not like they'll suddenly learn how to study."

"Who?"

Hirata listed several names.

After listening, Gu Heng casually made a couple of notes under the third and fourth categories.

"So you really have already started sorting them."

Hirata smiled bitterly.

"If we don't, it'll only get more chaotic later."

Gu Heng said, "You'll handle the fourth category."

Hirata froze.

"Me?"

"Yes."

Gu Heng looked at him. "Don't let them give up before they've even started. You don't need to make them suddenly become motivated. You only need to get them willing to sit in their seats and finish the most basic questions first."

Hirata frowned.

"Only that much?"

"Getting them to do even that will be difficult."

Gu Heng said, "The most troublesome thing about people who give up isn't that they can't do it. It's that they won't even try."

Hirata slowly nodded.

"Then what about me?"

Horikita asked.

"You'll handle the first and second categories."

Gu Heng said, "Pick out the ones with the strongest foundations, the ones who can still push higher, then list separately the group that has hope of making it past the line. Don't give them empty encouragement. Tell them directly how they'll die if they keep going like this."

By the last sentence, Horikita's lips nearly twitched.

"And you?"

She asked again.

"I'll make the rules for the third and fourth categories."

Gu Heng closed his notebook. "And pick out those who can teach others."

"You want to organize mutual help?"

Hirata froze.

"Not mutual help."

Gu Heng said, "Binding."

"What do you mean?"

"It means having the ones whose scores are at least somewhat presentable bring along the ones whose scores are a complete disaster."

Gu Heng looked at him. "This isn't charity. It's to make them understand that if the class keeps rotting together, it won't just be other people who suffer later."

Hirata fell silent.

"Will anyone agree to that?"

Horikita asked.

"They will."

Gu Heng said, "As long as you first let them know that if they refuse, they may have to keep eating zeroes alongside the people at the bottom."

There were less than ten minutes left in the break.

Gu Heng had already put together a rough first draft of the list.

At that moment, Sudo swaggered over from the back.

His expression was still as foul as ever.

"What are you calculating behind everyone's backs now?"

"Whether you'll die on the exam this time."

Gu Heng didn't even look up.

"Don't look down on me."

Sudo's face darkened.

"Then how many questions can you solve?"

Gu Heng raised his eyes at him.

Sudo froze.

A few seconds later, he stubbornly forced out a sentence.

"Anyway, I won't be at the bottom."

"Very good."

Gu Heng nodded. "Then you're in the third category."

"What third category?"

"Those who can only minimize losses."

Sudo's face went completely black on the spot.

"Gu Heng, are you looking to die?"

Hirata hurriedly stepped between them.

Horikita added coldly, "He was already being polite."

Sudo looked at her, then at Gu Heng, and was so angry that he couldn't speak for a long while.

But Gu Heng acted as though he hadn't seen his expression.

"What you need to do now isn't suddenly get a high score."

He said, "It's to stop dragging the class average, which already looks terrible, down too much."

"That sounds like an insult."

Sudo gritted his teeth.

"It does sound bad."

Gu Heng remained calm. "But it isn't wrong."

Still, although Sudo's face had gone frighteningly dark, he didn't explode in the end.

"Then what do you say I should do?"

He asked in a muffled voice.

Gu Heng glanced at him.

"Very simple."

Gu Heng said, "From now on, follow the people in the second category and learn the most basic guaranteed-point questions. Don't pretend to understand what you don't, and don't get carried away with what you do. Your goal isn't to win. It's to avoid becoming the most consistently negative score."

"...Fuck."

Sudo cursed under his breath.

But after cursing, he surprisingly didn't leave.

Instead, he stood there and asked the question he'd been most impatient to ask.

"Then who am I with?"

A flicker of surprise crossed Hirata's eyes.

Even Horikita turned to glance at Sudo.

The corner of Gu Heng's mouth lifted faintly.

"I'll arrange it later."

He said, "What's the rush? You really think you'll become a top student today?"

Sudo snorted and turned away.

His back still looked as intimidating as ever.

But people in the classroom had already started secretly looking at him.

"You deliberately assigned him like that in front of everyone?"

Horikita asked softly.

"Yes."

Gu Heng said, "For someone like Sudo, telling him a hundred times in private isn't as effective as giving him a place in public."

"Even if that place sounds unpleasant?"

"The more unpleasant it sounds, the more he'll remember it."

In the last minute before the bell rang, Gu Heng pushed the notebook between them.

He had already quickly divided the names inside into several groups.

Horikita looked it over twice, her fingertips slowly tightening.

Not a single name had been grouped according to closeness or distance.

"After school today, keep the first and second groups behind."

Gu Heng said.

"Why?"

"Because starting today," Gu Heng said, closing the notebook as his gaze swept across the still-listless Class D, "Class D needs to learn first that not everyone deserves the same kind of help."

Horikita stared at the notebook for a long while without looking away.

In the final second before the bell, she suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"I still hate your way of sorting people."

Gu Heng didn't look up.

"But?"

Horikita fell silent for half a beat.

"But in this class, you really are better at managing people than I am."

After saying that, she rose and walked to the front to gather the attention of those in the first and second groups.

By the time the bell fully rang, someone in the classroom had already turned to look at Gu Heng first.

From that moment on, the matter of dividing people into tiers had truly taken root.