After finishing the award ceremony, the only important work he had in June, Hikigaya Hachiman had to face an imminent problem: the mid-year academic ability test.
This was no simple pop quiz. As a unified exam, it was very important. These tests were held at the end of June, October, and January each year, serving as the midterm exams for each semester, albeit scheduled slightly later than usual.
Hachiman still carried the heavy title of "First Place in the Class F Entrance Exam," so it would be embarrassing if his academic performance dropped sharply. After all, not many of his classmates knew he was a novelist, nor did they know that he spent most of his time writing.
I should study hard...
Hachiman decided that since he had no important meetings or writing to do for the time being, it was time to return to his original duties as a student.
In fact, as a student, he could at least meet the two basic requirements of "listening carefully in class" and "doing homework carefully after class." In other schools, this might have been enough. Unfortunately, this was Sobu High. There were countless students who could do those two things, so there was no way to widen the gap.
Therefore, when Yukino and Yui saw Hachiman walk into the Service Club on the first day of June and take out a workbook instead of his laptop, they were a little shocked.
"So you can study, Hikigaya-san? This is the first time I've seen it." Yuigahama's surprised tone inexplicably annoyed him.
"You must be kidding. I got 804 points on the entrance exam, fourth in the whole school. How could I have done that if I didn't study?" he retorted. "But you, Yuigahama-san, I've always been curious—how did you get into Sobu High?" In his eyes, students like her who spent all their spare time making friends were the ones who truly had no intention of studying. He had repeatedly suspected she was a fish that had slipped through the net of the admissions office.
"Hey! I've explained this many times!" Yuigahama explained in a somewhat annoyed tone. "I was admitted to Sobu High with high scores! Although not as high as yours, Hikigaya-san, I was definitely admitted through formal means after exceeding the score line." Because she always gave people a silly and naive feeling, many suspected her academic performance was also poor, and she had been forced to explain this countless times.
"So, through your conversation just now, we can see that people will have one-sided and superficial impressions of each other because they don't know each other fully," Yukino, who had been listening nearby, spoke up. "If you two can learn from this lesson in the future, it will be a great contribution made by this club."
"By the way," she added, "my entrance exam score was 828. If either of you has any difficulties with your studies, I can help you free of charge during club activities. This is also part of the Service Club's work."
Naturally, Hachiman would not accept her generosity. After all, he was also a person who could score over 800 points and could improve through self-study. Of course, if he really needed help, he could just wait until they were home and seek one-on-one tutoring from Yukino. There was no need to do it at school.
Seeing that Hachiman was not moved at all, Yuigahama Yui happily moved her chair next to Yukino and began asking her about her studies. And so, from June 1st, the Service Club became the Study Club. Occasionally, other students who came by saw this and immediately decided to join in.
Within a week, there were more than ten temporary members studying in the Service Club classroom. From time to time, the club would host public lectures by the top-ranked first-year and club president, Yukinoshita Yukino.
The news spread, and the Student Union's Publicity Department even came by to shoot a video to highlight the school's excellent academic style and the students' hard-working spirit.
"I'm really impressed by you guys," Hiratsuka said with a sigh after visiting the club one day. "No, no, I'm not being sarcastic; this is from the heart. You're just doing what high school students should be doing the most." She had originally been worried that the Service Club would be shut down during the end-of-year assessment due to poor performance, but now it seemed that worry was completely unnecessary. It would be unreasonable for the school not to give the club an award.
Hachiman was originally very smart, and after this period of intensive study, he felt that his academic competitiveness was no less than it had been during the entrance exams.
In the days leading up to the test, most clubs had stopped their activities so that their members could focus on studying. Even Hayato Hayama, who had been working hard in the soccer club, joined the Service Club's study group.
"Hayama, how are the soccer club's activities going?" As the investor in the school's football field renovation, Hachiman was quite concerned about the matter. He asked during a study break.
"It's going very smoothly, Hikigaya-san," Hayama replied. He was now full of ambition. "In fact, most of the members' passion for football hasn't disappeared. I didn't need to do much to mobilize them. Having a standard football field not only improves our enthusiasm but also effectively reduces the risk of injuries during training." With his natural affability and excellent leadership, he had become the de facto director of the football club in just a few months.
"That's great, but don't rush for quick success. Just start from scratch," Hachiman advised. "It might take many years and many generations of students to revive Sobu High's football prowess. For our class, we just need to lay a solid foundation for the younger generations."
"I totally agree, Hikigaya-san."
Hachiman felt that he was doing the same thing in the mystery literature world. The development of orthodox mystery in this world had been slow since the 1980s, and his works would become the cornerstone of its revival.
After his exams were over, it was time for The Clockwork Museum Incident to be released.
What kind of power would this work, which was completely ahead of its time, bring to the mystery literary world? Hachiman was waiting to see.
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