Chapter 73: The Written Exam Ends! Classes A, B, and C Get 100 Points; Class D Gets 30!
And so, the first semester's written examination began for the entire student body.
Every student was on high alert. Of course, the whole school knew that this exam would reuse old questions. To obtain the maximum reward of 100 Class Points, they simply needed to honestly memorize the old questions they had acquired and meet two conditions: everyone must pass, and the class average must reach 60 points.
As for the students of Year 1, Class B...
When Hikigaya arrived at the classroom, he noticed the students' faces carried an overt excitement for the upcoming test.
Well, high-achieving students are often like this; they view grades as a tool to validate their recent studies, and it would feel strange to them not to have an exam. Furthermore, as good students, obtaining high marks was a moment to show off.
However, in this particular exam, almost everyone could achieve high scores. As long as the class representative took responsibility for filling out all the old questions and the students took responsibility for memorizing them, success was guaranteed.
The paper consisted of 80 points in multiple-choice questions and 20 points in other formats. Essentially, as long as they secured 60 points from the 80-point multiple-choice section, they could pass smoothly. To be more aggressive, one wouldn't even need to write the other 20 points; filling out the 80 points of multiple choice would suffice.
It could be said that as long as one put their heart into it, they could do it.
But would it really be old questions? Would the exam really be conducted this way? It was so different from previous assessments. For the high achievers of Class B, they felt a bit conflicted about this "tacit agreement" that felt a lot like cheating. However, that feeling would vanish the moment the papers were distributed and found to be identical to the old questions.
"Morning... Hikigaya-kun!" At that moment, Hikigaya noticed a girl with beautiful golden-pink long hair and large eyes walking through the front door, a confident smile on her face. This was Class B's "flower" and his assistant, Ichinose Honami.
"Yeah, morning, Ichinose," Hikigaya said, quickly pulling his chair in so Ichinose could pass through the aisle.
Sure enough, a moment later, Ichinose Honami was in front of him, taking her seat next to his. Because of the close proximity, he could smell a pleasant fragrance coming from her—a familiar scent. It seemed she had switched back to her original body wash.
'As expected, this scent is the most comfortable' Hikigaya thought.
He found Ichinose starting a conversation on her own.
"Speaking of which, I'm feeling a little nervous."
Oh? Really?
Hikigaya, on the other hand, didn't care about the exam at all. Even in the past, he wasn't the type to cram at the last minute. If you spend a little time reviewing your lessons normally, you don't need to force yourself during such a tight timeframe.
Wait... something was wrong. He was becoming "Horikita-fied." Thinking in such a harsh, excessive, and cold way was exactly like Horikita's stance of: "I truly don't understand how someone can attend class and still fail."
"Well, I hope everyone does well," Hikigaya said.
"After all, I truly hope the students of the entire school can achieve good results in this exam."
"Mhm, mhm." Ichinose nodded.
She inherently had a "Holy Mother" disposition; she genuinely hoped for a situation where everyone succeeded. Especially since she sometimes saw upperclassmen or students from Classes C and D in the cafeteria looking miserable, forced to eat the tasteless "Mountain Vegetable Set" because they had no points.
"But Ichinose," Hikigaya turned his body toward her.
"Eh?" Ichinose blinked gently. Her eyelashes were very long, making her look very spirited when she blinked.
This wasn't an occasion to stare at her just because he had a front-row seat. "Next time you greet me, how about you change the way you say hello?" Hikigaya suggested.
"Oh?" Ichinose still didn't quite understand. "So, instead of 'Good Morning,' I should say 'Bad Morning'?"
"No, no, not that joke," Hikigaya said. "Try something like... well, how about 'Yahallo'?"
"Ya-hal-lo—" Ichinose repeated his words. "It feels like it's not quite right... Yahallo~"
"It seems to have become a bit cuter," Ichinose said. "Does Hikigaya-kun like this kind of greeting?"
"I wouldn't say I like it, but I just feel like your voice... it feels a bit out of place with such a normal greeting," Hikigaya said.
I see. Ichinose understood. In Hikigaya-kun's heart, there was a girl he knew named Yuigahama whose voice was very similar to hers.
Because of that, Hikigaya-kun usually didn't include her when he was doing "bad things."
However, Hikigaya-kun had actually made such a request today.
She felt as though Hikigaya-kun's experience in interacting with girls had increased—as if he had learned from someone already.
At this point, students were trickling in. Although Hikigaya's original intent was simply that it was a waste for Ichinose not to use "Yahallo" given her similar vocal range to Yuigahama, the act was still a bit embarrassing. However, Ichinose was very extroverted.
She directly replaced "Good Morning" with "Yahallo." Though the classmates were surprised, they found the phrase novel, and it quickly became popular.
Just as Yuigahama had said, that greeting was cute and would catch on fast. It seemed that for the near future, he would be hearing Yuigahama's favorite trademark greeting quite often.
.
.
.
The homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie, soon arrived, but she brought some heavy news. This exam was considered quite important, so teachers would be swapped for proctoring. Today, the Class C homeroom teacher would proctor, and tomorrow, it would be the Class D teacher.
At 9:00 AM, the proctor arrived. The Class C teacher, Sakagami Kazuma, was a thin, bespectacled man who never smiled; he carried the heavy aura of a weary "salaryman."
Sakagami-sensei quickly distributed the first subject: the Mathematics exam.
"Whew—" A faint sound of relief could be heard from the students. When Hikigaya received his paper, he felt the same as everyone else. The paper titled [Advanced Nurturing High School Year 1 Midterm Exam: Mathematics] was identical to the old questions they had memorized, from the title and options down to the final long-answer question.
In other words: this school really cannot be treated with common sense. Since it was so unconventional, it wasn't suitable for everyone to act according to their own individual logic; Class B truly needed someone to lead them.
"..."
After a short while, Hikigaya noticed that although he hadn't done anything, the students in the class were subconsciously looking at him. This included Sakagami-sensei standing on the podium.
A proctor's job is to ensure no cheating occurs during the exam. Whether or not someone "cheated" privately before the exam was none of his business. Class C had also obtained the old questions; given Ryuen's trait of sharing intelligence, Sakagami-sensei surely understood the situation.
However, Sakagami-sensei let out a soft sigh and suddenly looked over.
'No, Sakagami-sensei, there's no use looking at me like that.'
Hikigaya hadn't actually set a trap for Ryuen in this exam. Sakagami likely hadn't realized that the reason Class C lost all their points last month was because someone held a video of a Class C assault under a camera. Since Sakayanagi's father was the Chairman, the school likely wouldn't reveal that he was the one behind it.
So, Sakagami probably just felt that with Class C at 0 points and Class B being so strong, their hopes of promotion were gone. Class C could get 100 Class Points because they had the old questions, but Class B was scribbling away at their papers so fast they clearly didn't even need to think. Since Class B also knew about the old questions, they would also gain 100 points.
The gap between Classes B and C remained unchanged. Sakagami's mood was complex, seeing Class C find hope only to be met with despair.
Furthermore, even though Ryuen had consolidated the class through violence, many of his wilder plans would be restricted because their base score was now 0. He would likely be hampered even in the upcoming "Island Exam." To gain points, he probably couldn't proceed with his "0-Point Grand Plan."
However, the "0-Point Battle Plan" was indeed a good tactic.
Since Ryuen and his group couldn't use it, Hikigaya decided he might as well take it for himself. There was no need to make the whole class live a hard life on the island. Living on the island meant consuming resources and suffering, and in the end, you might not even get many points.
Perhaps because he was being stared at by the Class C teacher, Hikigaya, as the representative of Class B, truly began to seriously consider Class B's next combat strategy.
Compared to the Class C teacher, the proctor for the second day was the Class D homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae.
This teacher was indeed interesting. Although she was in the same age bracket as Shizuka-chan (Hiratsuka Shizuka), Chabashira certainly had a more feminine allure. She was a very "S" (sadistic) young woman. She wore a black office suit, but her legs were wrapped in jet-black stockings, and she wore her hair in a single ponytail. She looked capable and very "S." If her expression weren't so cold, she would definitely be an exciting "older sister" type. But her face was stiff and expressionless.
Even though Class D had dropped to 0 points last month, she seemed to still harbor an ambition for Class D to reach Class A. As Horikita had mentioned, Chabashira-senseihad brought it up to her. Though she didn't force it, she likely hoped for a struggle.
After all, Class C at 0 points was desperate, but Class C was a complete mess of sand; normally, even a common external enemy wouldn't unite them. But Class D was different. The students of Class D were very self-centered, so once their common interests were damaged...
So, while 0 points was a desperate start for Class C, for Class D, 0 points was the most "wonderful" start.
Since Chabashira hadn't given up, it meant that during the next Island Exam, Ayanokouji might be mobilized by her to start leading Class D.
Therefore, when the time comes, would the group led by his chosen "heroine," Horikita Suzune, be more impressive? Or would Ayanokouji, the original protagonist, perform better?
Unlike Sakagami from Class C, Chabashira would patrol the classroom while proctoring.
As long as she didn't come near him, everything was fine. If his own homeroom teacher (Chie) was a person with no "lower limit," then Chabashira-sensei also set the bar quite low. One could only say that "birds of a feather flock together" was a reasonable assessment. However, this Chabashira likely just looked like a version of Horikita Suzune and wasn't actually that outrageous. If she was the teacher of his class, it might even be better; at least everyone would have the goal of reaching Class A together and wouldn't drag each other down.
Instead of a teacher who possessed her own selfish motives and used the class representative as a tool, not caring if they were broken or if the class developed problems.
As Hikigaya thought this, he realized the papers were out and began filling in the answers. The subject was Japanese. This was his forte, and he was the one who filled out this specific answer key. He finished the multiple choice quickly. Looking at the long-form questions, although he remembered the answers he had written for the key, he could clearly write them differently.
Since it was an exam, he might as well be a little serious. So, Hikigaya quickly scribbled away at the long-form questions using different answers.
Just as he was thinking this, he noticed a slightly heavy breathing behind him.
Wait... breathing? Hikigaya's gaze subconsciously moved toward the source. As a result, he saw Chabashira Sae in her office suit... standing directly beside him. Her gaze was fixed on his paper. He could confirm she was indeed reading his answers.
Hikigaya's gaze drifted down—past the black stockings to her high heels.
'Holy crap.'
Did this woman make no sound? Even though she was wearing heels, she had walked right up to him and he hadn't heard a thing.
However, she was likely just looking at the questions he was solving. Perhaps because he had been with Horikita Suzune recently, Hikigaya found that he wasn't intimidated by Chabashira-senseiat all. If Sakura were here, she would surely be incredibly nervous being stared at by the homeroom teacher.
Chabashira just stood beside him without saying a word, staying there for five or six minutes before leaving. She didn't stop there again afterward.
Though he found Chabashira-senseia bit strange, the two days of exams flew by. There were five subjects in total, all using old questions. From the first word to the last question, they were identical. As long as you memorized the old questions, you could pass!
"It's over!"
"Is everyone going somewhere to celebrate?"
"If it's for a celebration, I'm in."
"I know a yakiniku place!"
"A hotpot place would be great too; the waiters even do a noodle dance."
"How about karaoke? I kind of want to sing."
"What? Singing? I'm tone-deaf."
"Don't worry, you can just listen to others. I have all the songs from the Ave Mujica anime I've been following lately."
"I know, I know! They have the song for Togawa Sakiko too!"
While Chabashira-senseiannounced the end of the exam and collected the papers, the students below were already starting to gather. Today was Friday, and with Saturday and Sunday off, tonight was the perfect time for a victory banquet.
Chabashira: "..."
Chie's students were indeed very active, and the class atmosphere was excellent. Class unity and a spontaneous sense of cohesion were the strengths of this class—things Class D lacked entirely.
However, Chie had already arranged for her class representative to contact Class D's Horikita Suzune. Chabashira understood that Chie was still stuck in the past; knowing her ambition, Chie wanted to crush it by any means necessary. She wanted to ensure Class D would never rise.
But Chabashira truly wanted to prove that Class D could reach Class A and fulfill the wish she couldn't achieve herself.
Therefore, after this Special Exam, Class D should have gained 100 Class Points since they also had the papers. Although they couldn't close the gap with Classes A and B, they could at least win back some points.
And then...
"You all truly leave me speechless."
On Monday, the day the results were announced, Chabashira Sae stood at the Class D podium and posted the scores for all five subjects for every student.
"I must say, you've surprised me. I thought you had already found the trick to this exam. But in the end, your results were like this!" Chabashira said, her voice full of frustration.
Because, while all the other classes in the school received the 100-point reward... Class D...
Since it wasn't the 1st of the month yet, students couldn't confirm their points through their private funds, but the teachers already knew. And the result of every exam—basically any outcome—would be made public.
Chabashira listed the addition and subtraction of the evaluation points for each class:
Class Previous Points Adjustment Total Points
Class A 955 +100 1055
Class B 911 +100 1011
Class C 0 +100 100
Class D 50 -20 30
"We only have 30 points?!"
"Teacher, shouldn't we have been able to pass this exam legitimately?" Noticing the situation, the Class D students immediately became attentive.
"And why is it -20? What happened to those 20 points?" Hirata, representing the students, took the initiative to ask.
"50 points is the reward you earned in this exam. The maximum 100-point reward this time is divided into two parts: first, no one in the class is expelled; and second, the class average for all subjects must reach 60 points.
And look, these are your scores."
Chabashira opened the poster-sized score sheet. The students' scores were immediately revealed. A significant number of students scored in the 90s, and there were even those with a perfect 100. Such scores meant the class average was very high, reaching 80 points.
"Isn't that great?!" These figures immediately drew dissatisfaction from the students. "Our average clearly passed." This was an average their previous classes could never have achieved!
"Fail!" Chabashira's voice rose. "I told you, failing would lead to expulsion."
"And the passing threshold was not specifically controlled. It fluctuates based on your scores." Chabashira paused, but everyone already understood.
This meant that because everyone's average was high, the passing line had also increased.
Because the passing standard is:
Average/ 2
So, if someone scored below half the class average, they would fail, which meant... they would be expelled.
"Is there some mistake?!" Hirata immediately stood up.
"In our class, no one would fail, right...?"
Failing didn't just mean a reduction in points; it meant... a comrade would have to leave. For Hirata, such a thing was unbearable.
However, the other students quickly searched the score sheet.
First was English: the average was 84, making the passing line 42. Good, no one was below 42.
Next was Math: the average was 80, making the passing line 40... they found it. One student's score was 39—just one point short of passing.
One student failed.
But it wasn't that simple. Some students weren't looking at Math or Japanese; they looked at Physics. They found that the average for Physics was 86, but one student had a score of 40. They were 3 points away from passing.
In total, there were failing grades in two different subjects, and they belonged to two different people.
Year 1, Class D—despite having the old questions and only needing to memorize them—actually had two people fail.
Was it a lack of trust in the old questions, or were they so overconfident that they thought they could memorize everything by just glancing at the paper twice?
As a result, they produced such trash results.
Yamauchi Haruki: Physics 40. Fail (3 points below the line).
Sudo Ken: Mathematics 39. Fail (1 point below the line).
It's no wonder Chabashira was ready to curse them out; even some of the Class D students felt completely speechless.
The questions didn't change, and the answers were given to you—all you had to do was study—and yet, this was the result.
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