Chapter 082: Reporting, Someone Stole the Exam Papers! Another Mark for the Dragon Garden Class!
Normally, there would be a way to handle the written exam this time around.
And this has become a tacit understanding among the upperclassmen, so they don't need to study at all.
As for Hachiman and the others, even if this exam goes unnoticed, next year, when the new first-year students come in, they should already know how to approach the exam.
However.
Is it really okay to stick to the rules like this?
Indeed, since the school allows it and even the exam questions don't change, it's to encourage students to be flexible and smart when the situation calls for it.
But.
Hachiman thought this was an opportunity.
If he could divert Sakayanagi Arisu's attention to the student council and away from Class A, his class's chances of promotion would increase significantly.
Then, he could also probe the boundaries of the upperclassmen.
If Sakayanagi Arisu can gain some support from the upperclassmen through this exam, she may have a chance to become the student council president.
If she doesn't join the student council, then she could still become the student council president on her own.
This seemingly miserable suggestion was, however, eagerly accepted by Sakayanagi Arisu.
The student council president election would be in the second half of the year, and Hachiman had already decided to focus on infiltrating Class A during this half-year.
Of course, Sakayanagi's election could fail.
But as long as Hachiman could divert Sakayanagi's attention, it would be beneficial for Class C.
Although the chances were slim, Sakayanagi could still become the student council president, and at that point, Hachiman's class would fall behind.
However, Hachiman had already made himself a staunch supporter of the new student council president and even gave suggestions to help them gather votes.
So.
This could be considered as a personal favor.
If Sakayanagi really succeeds, Hachiman hoped she wouldn't forget him.
So, this was a win-win situation.
But, according to Hachiman's plan, wouldn't the exam papers that Katsuragi and the others bought become useless?
Not necessarily.
Even if they flipped the tables, Sakayanagi would still need to have a backup plan.
Otherwise, why would the upperclassmen listen to her?
So, Hachiman would report that the first-year students were involved in the exam paper trading, and Sakayanagi would be responsible for preparing a new exam paper for the first-year students.
Reporting the precedent version of the first-year exam paper would allow the school to save face while also introducing new papers.
It would be a win-win situation.
"Although I feel like I'm being used as a pawn, I must say, your suggestion isn't bad," Sakayanagi Arisu said. "It seems like a new source of fun has been added to school life."
So, does this mean Sakayanagi is the type who actually enjoys challenges?
Fine.
Then go ahead and work hard for that student council president position.
At this moment.
"The food is ready."
A tall girl with purple hair appeared at the door of the private room.
It was Kamuro.
When Hachiman arrived, Kamuro wasn't there, but now he realized she had gone to buy food for them.
Truly, Kamuro was hardworking.
However.
Kamuro Masumi furrowed her brows.
"What are you two talking about?" Kamuro had been around Sakayanagi Arisu for over a month.
It seemed she had really been treated as a... handy tool.
She had been assigned many tasks.
And because of all these assignments, she noticed that Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to be in a good mood.
When Kamuro went out to buy food, it seemed that Sakayanagi was talking with Hachiman.
With that in mind, Kamuro glanced over at Hachiman.
The only ones who knew about the exam paper transaction were Kamuro and Hachiman. Could it be that Sakayanagi was in a good mood because she had discovered Kamuro's academic struggles?
Then, perhaps Sakayanagi had found another weakness to exploit and could use it to bully Kamuro?
Such a thing...
"Oh no, this isn't related to you at all," Sakayanagi Arisu said.
"..." Kamuro.
So, it wasn't that Sakayanagi had found out about her academic issues, but that it had something to do with other matters, things unrelated to her?
Kamuro felt like she had missed something.
But this written exam? She had already figured out a guaranteed way to win, so there was nothing to worry about. Nothing else mattered now.
With that, the three began eating.
Since Sakayanagi Arisu was quite wealthy, Kamuro never hesitated to take advantage of it. She ordered whatever seemed delicious, never bothering to check the prices.
This led to a rather free-spirited appetite.
So, Kamuro began to eat.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
After three days of hard work, Horikita and Kushida had finally filled out the answers on the exam papers they borrowed from past years, using the answers from the academically struggling senior.
After all, these were ancient exam papers, so Horikita and the others had put a lot of effort into finding the correct answers.
Hachiman's suggestion was that if they couldn't figure out the answers, they didn't need to fill them in.
For the students in the class, as long as they could score an average of about 80 points, they'd still get the class evaluation rewards for first-tier 100 points, as Chabashira-sensei said.
So, they only needed to come up with answers around 90 points.
However, Horikita Suzune refused.
According to Horikita, even though these questions were solvable, if she didn't solve them, she'd feel dissatisfied.
This was the persistence of a top student, something Hachiman didn't really understand.
But it was great that they could learn new knowledge.
Although...
Their exam papers would most likely be useless.
Because Hachiman had already made his move with Sakayanagi Arisu.
She was responsible for preparing a new first-year exam paper for the school, while Hachiman was handling the leak.
So, the old exam papers would be exposed and... become useless.
However.
It would be too cruel to tell them this directly.
So.
"I think it's better not to give the completed exam papers to them just yet. Right now, the weaker students are studying. If they know the exam questions, what do you think they'll do?" Hachiman said.
"So, you mean they'll stop studying and start memorizing the papers they got?" Kushida, the little angel, asked.
"Exactly." Hachiman nodded. "So, I suggest giving them the papers a few days before the exam."
"That makes sense." Kushida thought for a moment about her classmates' behavior and immediately nodded.
Although they had borrowed ten top students from Class B, the rest of the class had to study passively.
But there were definitely some who didn't want to study. After this exam, what would happen in future written exams?
They couldn't always rely on answers to copy, right?
So, everyone needed to improve their own academic abilities.
"However, you can inform the class about this and ease their worries," Hachiman added.
"Tell the class?"
"Yeah." Hachiman nodded. "Give them some hope. If they can stick to studying for 20 days, then give them the papers. If they're unhappy about it, they can blame me."
"Hachiman-kun!"
However, just as Hachiman finished speaking, he realized his left hand was being gently cupped by a girl's soft hands.
"Do you want to be the bad guy who forces everyone?"
"But that will be tough," Kushida said, showing a pitiful expression, which was almost like comforting him.
Yet.
"..." Hachiman.
A few days ago, Horikita still thought that she was a hindrance, but now, she can freely enter and exit Horikita's dormitory. Has she already conquered Horikita Suzune?
Then what about him here?
Hachiman's hand was held by Kushida, so he quickly turned his gaze to the black-haired, fox-eyed girl on the side.
But Horikita had already filled in the old test paper, so she continued reading.
This was Horikita Suzune's room, and there was no problem with her reading in her own room.
Moreover,
Kushida was also someone he had entrusted her to try to accept, but she was still used to being alone.
"Then let's arrange it like this," Hachiman said.
Horikita and Kushida had no objections.
Since Hachiman had provided the reimbursement for the test papers, Kushida had not incurred any losses.
And when it came time to distribute the test papers, she had participated in filling in the answers.
So... Kushida's reputation would also be known by the classmates.
This was very satisfying.
At the same time,
It seemed like she and Horikita had become... [friends].
So her goal was mostly achieved.
She had become a little safer.
And Horikita Suzune...
"..."
For this academic achiever, it was hard to understand how one could possibly fail if they studied seriously.
However, she had also participated in filling in the answers, and even borrowed the old version of the textbook to learn in order to complete the answers.
She knew that her classmates were going to cheat, but she eventually chose to participate, instead of stubbornly thinking cheating was wrong.
This was also a sign of her becoming a little more flexible.
Hachiman thought to himself.
...
Thus, time passed.
"Everyone, you've worked hard studying these days. We got a piece of information from the upperclassmen: the exam questions for the second month's entrance exam last year were the same as the ones for the previous year's second-month entrance exam."
"And I got the test paper."
During P.E. class, Hachiman announced this "rumor."
Immediately, the classmates were in an uproar.
"If, if that's the case..."
"Then why do we even need to study? As long as we look at that test paper, won't that be enough?"
As the academic underachievers in Class C, their mentality immediately changed.
"But unfortunately,"
"You can only see the test paper three days before the exam," Hachiman said. "For now, you should still focus on improving your academic abilities. You can take a shortcut once, but you can't rely on it forever."
"Also, buying the test papers requires 100,000 points," Hachiman added.
"Eh..."
Upon hearing this number, the students who had gone to buy the test papers from upperclassmen immediately shut up.
"At the same time, the fact that the test paper is from old questions seems to be a secret shared by the upperclassmen."
"And if we make a big deal out of buying it, what if we get blackmailed?" Hachiman said.
At this point,
The classmates immediately fell silent.
Because they would need to spend 100,000 points and risk being cheated or blackmailed by upperclassmen, which was too risky.
It was better to wait until Hachiman gives them the test papers for free three days before the exam.
Also, many students had experience—if they crammed and reviewed the test papers three days before the exam, it should be fine.
Finally, Karuizawa understood what Hachiman meant by his method to ensure they would pass the exam.
"Kei?"
"Why do you keep staring at Hachiman?" The girl beside Karuizawa, a gyaru named Sato Maya, spoke up.
She noticed that Karuizawa was spacing out.
Then she followed Karuizawa's gaze and saw Hachiman.
"..." Karuizawa.
She had been given the order not to look at him casually by Hachiman.
She had actually been lost in thought just now.
But...
"I just find it hard to believe that Hachiman can afford to spend 100,000 points on the test papers," Karuizawa said. "Does he really have that many points?"
Everyone received 100,000 points in the first month of enrollment, and the school also gave them 45,000 points on the 1st of the second month.
But Hachiman could actually spend 100,000 points.
It was surprising.
"Maybe he has other ways to get points," said the girl who often hung out with Karuizawa but still wouldn't be overshadowed in a group of cute girls.
This was Matsushita Chiaki.
She seemed to come from a well-off family, and her fashion taste and experience with perfumes were quite sophisticated.
She belonged to the more mature type within the "Gyaru girl" group.
"Didn't you say before that you saw Hachiman having a meal with a silver-haired loli?" Matsushita said.
So, Hachiman... was actually being supported by an outside-class silver-haired loli?
He was a kept man, a "sugar baby"!
.
.
.
Thus, after today, two pieces of gossip spread among the first-year students.
One was that Hachiman from their class was a "sugar baby."
The other was that the class had gotten news that the exam would be using old questions. So... it was definitely going to be hard to keep that secret.
They were unwilling to spend money to buy the test papers.
But it was very likely that the gossip would be exposed.
And Hachiman didn't stop this from happening; in fact, he did it on purpose.
Both Class A, B, and C knew about the existence of old exam.
Now, only Class D, the Ryuen Class, remained.
So, the Ryuen Class should know soon.
.
.
.
On the other side.
In Sakanagi Arisu's room.
In front of her were old test papers from five subjects: Math, Chemistry, Physics, English, and Biology.
The old papers didn't contain troublesome problems but only multiple-choice questions.
There were at least 250 questions across the five subjects.
And these questions had to take into account the material and progress of the four class.