Chapter Summaries

Yang Cheng comforted Suzune Horikita about her brother, and she left without telling him she had meant to reject his romantic hopes. He then went to meet Sae Chabashira and found Ayanokoji there, learning that she had pressured Ayanokoji to lead Class D toward Class A.

• Yang Cheng told Suzune Horikita that her brother had tried to protect her without respecting her wishes, then described his mischievous sister and the value of facing one’s flaws.
• Suzune thanked Yang Cheng but avoided her planned rejection, claiming she had invited him to discuss Class D’s midterms with Ayanokoji another time.
• Yang Cheng wondered what Suzune had really intended and decided to keep his scheduled meeting with Sae Chabashira.
• Yang Cheng entered the multimedia classroom and found Ayanokoji already there with Sae Chabashira.
• Yang Cheng joked about the secret meeting, and Sae threatened to expel him for insulting her.
• Yang Cheng inferred that Sae had used Ayanokoji’s father’s pressure to make him help Class D reach Class A, but he had no intention of accepting the same burden himself.

Yang Cheng told Sae Chabashira he did not care whether he graduated from Class D or Class A, then revealed he had over three hundred thousand Private Points and could pursue a class transfer. Sae asked Ayanokoji to keep Yang Cheng in Class D, but after Ayanokoji left, she asked Yang Cheng what it would take to persuade him to help the class.

• Yang Cheng argued that personal ability mattered more than graduating from Class A and said he could use Private Points to change classes.
• Sae Chabashira explained that a transfer cost twenty million Private Points, and Yang Cheng showed her and Ayanokoji his balance of over three hundred thousand.
• Sae accused Yang Cheng of hoodwinking second-year students, but he said they had paid him for teaching and that he had never claimed to be a third-year student.
• Sae Chabashira worried that Yang Cheng might leave Class D and become its enemy, while Yang Cheng privately reacted to her thoughts about using herself as a bargaining chip.
• Sae asked Ayanokoji to help keep Yang Cheng in Class D, but Ayanokoji left to focus on the upcoming mid-term exams.
• Sae Chabashira asked Yang Cheng what he wanted, promising to try to agree if it was within her power.

Yang Cheng was caught between Kikyo Kushida’s attempt to provoke Suzune Horikita and Horikita’s unexpected decision to start a study group. The group was set to meet after school, though Yang Cheng was reluctant to join and had other plans that evening.

• Sae Chabashira parted from Yang Cheng relieved after he promised to help Class D when he could, as long as it did not go against his wishes.
• Kikyo Kushida invited Yang Cheng to a study group with Ike and Yamauchi, using the invitation to provoke Suzune Horikita and make the boys jealous.
• Yang Cheng tried to decline Kushida’s invitation, but Suzune Horikita announced that she and Yang Cheng would join and asked Kushida to invite Sudo too.
• Kushida and Horikita agreed to meet after school in the library, while Yang Cheng wondered why nobody had asked his opinion and thought of his date that evening.

Yang Cheng refused to join Suzune Horikita and Kikyo Kushida’s study group, which met without him at the school library. At the campus pastry shop, Kei Karuizawa asked Yang Cheng to pretend to date her so he could protect her, and the chapter ended with her offering to explain the arrangement to Horikita.

• Yang Cheng rejected Suzune Horikita’s request to join the study group and predicted that it would end badly.
• Kikyo Kushida was disappointed when Yang Cheng failed to appear at the library, while Ike and Yamauchi welcomed his absence.
• Kei Karuizawa asked Yang Cheng to go out with her at the campus pastry shop.
• Kei explained that she had been bullied in middle school and wanted Yang Cheng to pose as her boyfriend to protect her.
• Kei offered to explain the situation to Suzune Horikita and asked Yang Cheng to keep her past secret.

Yang Cheng agreed to pretend to be Kei Karuizawa’s boyfriend and promised to keep her bullying past secret. After clearing up rumors that he liked Suzune Horikita, he paid for their meal and gave Kei a notebook tied to a favor that would benefit her.

• Yang Cheng warned Kei Karuizawa that he could expose her past, then reassured her and agreed to act as her boyfriend.
• Kei Karuizawa said she would explain their arrangement to Suzune Horikita, prompting Yang Cheng to ask why she thought Horikita might misunderstand.
• Kei Karuizawa explained that Class D believed Yang Cheng was pursuing Suzune Horikita, and Yang Cheng realized the rumors had also influenced Kikyo Kushida.
• Kei Karuizawa invited Yang Cheng to an upscale pastry shop but could not afford the bill, so Yang Cheng paid for her.
• Yang Cheng offered to let Kei Karuizawa treat him another time and handed her a notebook while asking her for a favor that would benefit her too.

Yang Cheng gave Kei Karuizawa last year’s midterm questions, and she decided to share them with Class D. The next morning, Kei announced that she and Yang Cheng were dating, leaving Suzune Horikita unexpectedly unsettled.

• Yang Cheng gave Kei Karuizawa a notebook of last year’s midterm questions and encouraged her to use them to help Class D.
• Kei Karuizawa wondered whether Yang Cheng liked her, while Yang Cheng regarded the questions as an easy favor and a way to use her as a shield.
• Kei Karuizawa told a friend that she was dating Nanju Yang Cheng, and the news quickly spread through Class D.
• Suzune Horikita advised Yang Cheng to correct the rumor, but he confirmed that he and Kei were dating.
• Suzune Horikita realized she had no right to question Yang Cheng’s relationship and felt unexpectedly upset.

Yang Cheng and Kei Karuizawa’s public relationship drew Class D’s attention while Suzune Horikita struggled to find a way to help the class pass its exam. Ayanokoji discovered that Karuizawa was distributing exam questions on Yang Cheng’s behalf, leaving Suzune to suspect their relationship was a deal of mutual benefit.

• Suzune Horikita told Yang Cheng that her study group had gone poorly, and he said he had prepared a backup plan.
• Kikyo Kushida congratulated Yang Cheng on dating Kei Karuizawa and teased that she had liked him too.
• Over the next month, Yang Cheng and Kei Karuizawa acted as Class D’s model couple while Suzune failed to find a solution to the crisis.
• Kei Karuizawa gave Ayanokoji advance exam questions, and he realized Yang Cheng was directing her actions.
• Ayanokoji explained to Suzune that Karuizawa had given questions to struggling students but not to students like Suzune, Hirata, and Koenji, who could pass without them.
• Suzune concluded that Yang Cheng had chosen to date Karuizawa for the plan, while Ayanokoji suggested their relationship might be an exchange of benefits.

After Class D passed the midterms, Kei Karuizawa’s popularity rose, angering Kikyo Kushida, who suspected Yang Cheng was helping Kei while keeping their relationship false. Months later, the first-years began a two-week uninhabited-island survival exam, and Yang Cheng stepped into Class D’s dispute over whether to buy a portable toilet.

• Every student in Class D passed the midterms, including Sudo, and Kei Karuizawa gained praise for helping the class.
• Kikyo Kushida realized Kei had distributed exam questions with Yang Cheng’s help, but decided against reporting her because it could expose Kushida and turn the class against her.
• The first-years reached an uninhabited island and learned the rules of their special exam, including using exam points for supplies and earning points by claiming sites.
• Class D argued over whether to spend exam points on a portable toilet, as Kei Karuizawa led the girls and Ike led the boys.
• Suzune Horikita asked Yang Cheng to help settle the argument, and he asked Kei whether the girls would be satisfied with having a toilet before suggesting they could avoid spending points.

Yang Cheng persuaded Class D to buy a long blade instead of spending points on tents and a toilet, then revealed extraordinary swordsmanship by felling a massive tree and crafting a Simple Toilet from its trunk. Class D grew confident he could build Wooden Houses, while Karuizawa Kei proudly embraced him as her boyfriend.

• Yang Cheng clarified that he objected to wasting points on a Simple Toilet and proposed making a better one, while Karuizawa Kei felt reassured by his support.
• Yang Cheng persuaded Class D to buy a long blade and postpone exchanging points for tents and other supplies so he could try building shelters from island trees.
• Yang Cheng cut down a massive tree with one slash, stunning Class D and even surprising Ayanokoji.
• Yang Cheng stripped and hollowed the tree, quickly crafting a Simple Toilet, then explained that he had learned carpentry from his grandfather and knew some Kendo.
• Karuizawa Kei threw herself at Yang Cheng in excitement, and Class D became optimistic that he could build Wooden Houses without spending points.

Class D chose Yang Cheng as its leader, and he quickly claimed every remaining site on the deserted island. When Class D took in Ibuki from Class C, Yang Cheng suspected she might be a spy and gave Suzune his Key Card to use as bait.

• Karuizawa Kei proposed Yang Cheng as Class D's leader, and the class agreed.
• Yang Cheng built up Class D's base, then explored the island and claimed every remaining site with his Key Card.
• Yang Cheng returned to find that Ayanokoji and the others had brought Ibuki from Class C to their base.
• Suzune explained that Ibuki had been driven out by Ryuen Kakeru and that Yamauchi had insisted on helping her.
• Yang Cheng told Suzune to let Ibuki see the Key Card in her hands so she might mistake Suzune for Class D's leader.