Chapter 084: Horikita: Hikigaya, You Don't Know Anything About It?
Ryuen was the tyrant of their class, using violence to control the students since the moment he enrolled.
Although many people were dissatisfied and felt that Ryuen's management was too harsh, especially last month when he agreed to A-Class' request to lower B-Class' class evaluation score, Ryuen used violent means to make it happen.
The excuse was that if it worked in Class D, it could also work in Class B.
And the reward for doing this was quite beautiful. A-Class would pay them a total of 800,000 points per month, which averaged out to 20,000 private points per person.
That was equivalent to 20,000 yen.
If they saved a little, they could still spend it.
So, it was something they could do.
After all, they had only been in school for six days, and yet they had already lost nearly 400 points in class evaluation.
Most people didn't think they would have any points left by the end of the month.
Therefore, the points earned by each class were likely to be very little.
Finding A-Class, the meal ticket to graduation, was a great opportunity.
All the students agreed to the plan.
But the result was disastrous.
Not only did A-Class' meal ticket disappear, but their class evaluation score was also directly deducted by 400 points.
Then, for the rest of the month they would have to constantly restrain themselves to preserve the remaining 200 points? That kind of situation was very unpleasant.
Ryuen chose to act carelessly, and thus their class evaluation score was reset to 0.
There was nothing more to say about that.
Now, they had to consider the upcoming written exam.
If they failed, they would be expelled.
But Ryuen had managed to get his hands on an upperclassman's exam paper, and from the upperclassmen, he learned that the exam in the second month of the first year was always a set of old papers that had been passed down for many years.
In other words, this exam could be taken shortcut-style.
This was fantastic for their class, which was full of underachievers.
At the moment, they were thinking that since they already had zero points, it didn't matter what they did during class time.
So, they quickly started cramming.
The old papers contained about 12% of content that was beyond the scope of the syllabus, but the remaining 80% was easy for most students. Even those with poor grades only needed to memorize half of that 80% to pass.
And all the questions were multiple-choice, which made it even easier.
Now, there were only three days left before the exam.
So, even if they only reviewed a little, passing wouldn't be too much of a problem.
Of course, this was only true if the exam was indeed based on the same paper.
It was pretty crazy that the school had allowed such an exam leak and the buying and selling of papers. This school really was strange.
As they thought about this, the chemistry teacher was explaining a key point for the exam:
"Chemical reactions can be categorized into four types based on the types of reactants and products and the number of substances before and after the reaction: combination reactions (A + B = AB), decomposition reactions (AB = A + B), displacement reactions (A + BC = AC + B), and double displacement reactions (AB + CD = AD + CB). This is an essential topic, so everyone should remember it well."
However, very few students were paying attention to the lecture.
While the teacher was speaking, a sudden noise came from the hallway outside.
"What's going on?"
Students sitting by the windows looked out, and others also glanced over in curiosity.
The chemistry teacher sighed and continued with his lecture.
He was just a teaching instructor, not the homeroom teacher, so he wasn't responsible for managing the students' behavior.
He did his part, and the students did theirs—this was how it always was.
"It's the student council president."
Makoto Shiho, who was close to the front door, exclaimed, "The student council president is walking toward our class!"
"Are you serious?"
"The student council president? What's he doing here?"
"Could it be that something happened?"
The students in Class D once again started chatting, completely forgetting that it was still class time.
"The student council president?"
Ryuen, sitting at the back, furrowed his brows.
It was class time. What was the student council president doing here?
But…
Knock knock knock
A knock echoed, and Horikita walked in, his right hand gently tapping on the door.
The chemistry teacher looked over, and Horikita adjusted his glasses, speaking, "Sorry to interrupt, teacher. I just need two minutes."
"It's fine."
The chemistry teacher quickly stepped aside, almost looking flustered.
He was just an ordinary teacher, and the student council president was someone with extraordinary authority.
In this school, the president's power far surpassed that of ordinary students.
To the students in Class D, seeing Horikita walk in like this made them look at him with respect and awe.
Although they often slacked off in class, arriving late or leaving early, they would never dare to openly defy their teachers.
"Students of Class D," Horikita said as he stepped onto the podium, followed by several tall students who appeared to be in their third year.
Behind him, Tachibana, the secretary with purple hair, followed as always.
"I received a report that someone stole the exam papers."
Horikita's gaze swept over the room, and as soon as he spoke, the entire Class D was stunned. The students immediately became flustered, shifting uncomfortably in their seats as if they were sitting on needles.
Of course, none of them had stolen anything.
However, there were indeed exam papers in their desks or bags!
And not just one—each of them had a copy!
"Damn…" As the person behind acquiring the exam papers, Ryuen had a sudden, terrible thought.
His mind was quick, and he immediately realized how bad the situation was.
But—
"It seems the report was true."
Horikita observed the expressions of everyone in the room. His gaze was calm as he slowly extended his hand and spoke in a soft tone, "I don't want to search through your bags and drawers, so that student over there, please bring the exam paper from your desk up here."
"Eh…?"
Immediately, everyone in Class D turned their eyes towards the direction Horikita pointed.
There, a fragile-looking short-haired girl named Rika sat.
When the student council president asked for the exam paper, Rika hastily panicked, trying to cover the paper on her desk with her textbook.
"This, this is just review material, not the exam paper!"
Rika, who already had a timid personality, became flustered and quickly started to explain in a panic.
However, Horikita simply exchanged a glance with the boys standing nearby.
They nodded and walked over to Rika, intending to take the paper from her desk. It seemed that her classmate who sat behind her, wanted to stop them but shrank back and remained in his seat.
Smack~
Horikita took the paper from one of the boys and glanced at it for a moment. He instantly confirmed that this was indeed the exam paper—exactly the same.
With a neutral expression, Horikita flicked the paper with his hand, then turned a gaze full of pressure towards Rika.
"Where did you get this exam paper?"
"No, no! I didn't steal it!"
Rika was even more panicked, nearly on the verge of tears as she frantically explained, "It was Ryuen! Ryuen brought it!"
Swish~
All the eyes in the room turned to Ryuen.
Indeed, Ryuen was the one who had brought the papers, but—
This wasn't something that could just be blurted out now, and Rika's explanation had a big problem. Horikita had received a report that someone had stolen the exam papers, but Ryuen's papers had been purchased from upperclassmen.
In other words, the two situations were completely different.
However, now that Horikita, the student council president, was glaring at them with such pressure, no student could remain unfazed.
"Who is Ryuen?"
Horikita, uninterested in the details, directly asked.
"I am."
Ryuen had already realized that this time he had messed up, so he straightforwardly admitted it.
Horikita looked at him for a moment before stating, "Class D stole the exam papers, and 100 points will be deducted from the class evaluation score. Of course, your class evaluation score has already been reset to 0, so it won't change."
"But," Horikita continued, "As the instigator, you will have 500,000 points deducted and will receive a formal warning. The 500,000 points must be paid back within this semester, or you will be expelled. Furthermore, anyone who receives more than three warnings will be directly expelled."
…
News of the student council president's visit to Class D to catch the thief spread quickly.
However, before the students had even confirmed it, they heard the school's broadcast.
Through the broadcast systems in each classroom, Horikita's voice rang out.
"Due to a major theft incident involving exam papers among first-year students, the current exam paper has been nullified, and the school will use the B version of the exam for the test."
"Class D, suspected of stealing the exam papers to cheat, will have 100 points deducted from their class score. The direct culprit will have 500,000 personal points deducted and will receive a warning."
The 160 first-year students sitting in their respective classrooms all looked up at the speakers above the blackboards.
Through the speakers, Horikita's voice was heard, along with the outcome of the situation.
Then—
"What does this mean?!"
The students in Class C, just three days away from their midterm exams, were confused.
According to the plan, Hikigaya had promised to give everyone the exam papers he had purchased from upperclassmen for 100,000 points.
But now the situation was… does this mean they wouldn't be using that set of papers?
"Hikigaya!"
Since it was break time, Mother Hirata stood up from her seat and walked over to Hachiman.
As the glue of the class, and after receiving half a month's worth of remedial lessons, many students had made some progress.
However, many students still struggled with their studies and needed the papers to pass.
So, now hearing the announcement, did it mean that the old exam papers wouldn't be used?
"The stolen exam papers were probably just one part of the story," Hachiman said. "Because now, no one is dumb enough to go directly to the office and steal the papers. So, most likely, Ryuen and his group had their purchase of old exam papers reported."
"In other words, they'll be using the B version of the exam now, so the one we had before is no longer valid," a female voice joined the conversation.
It was Horikita Suzune.
As long as she wasn't facing her brother, Horikita Suzune always appeared very imposing.
But right now—
She seemed a bit regretful.
Because—
The hard-earned exam papers were now discarded.
"It should be like that," Hachiman said. "Because the student council directly announced this matter, it shows how seriously the school is taking it. So, the old exam paper probably won't be used anymore."
"After all, it's already exposed that Ryuen's class knew the exam questions."
"And if other classes perform poorly later and cause a ruckus, then both the school and the student council will lose face."
So, what should the students in Class C do?
Without the exam paper, some of them would still face the risk of failing.
After all, they had only been studying for about ten days, and it was impossible to make significant progress in such a short time.
On the other side.
First-year Class A.
"Ryuen is up to his usual tricks again, isn't he?" said Katsuragi Kohei's lackey, Totsuka Yahiko, as he listened to the voice of the student council president, Horikita, coming through the loudspeakers.
"But he's also facing punishment," Katsuragi said. "So, how could Ryuen be so unwise?"
"After all, they're just students from Class C. Now they've even dropped to Class D," Totsuka Yahiko said. "But now, since the old exam paper can't be used, this is an opportunity for us in Class A."
An opportunity?
Yes.
Horikita had already said that the school would use the B exam paper for the test.
That meant they would follow the regular exam rules, and for Class A, everyone's academic abilities were strong, they were all top students.
So, if they took the exam based on their true abilities, Class A should be able to earn a perfect score of 100 for the class evaluation score.
But.
Is that really the case?
A girl with long purple hair, wearing a hairpin, her face never smiling and always tense, didn't think so.
Because.
The school hadn't prepared any B exam paper; this was just an excuse to deal with the situation.
In reality, the real exam paper should be the one created by Sakayanagi Arisu. She had received it yesterday and had already begun memorizing the questions.
Most of the students in the class were top students, so they probably didn't need to worry. But it was precisely because these people were top students that it was troublesome.
Because the average score of top students was very high.
At the same time.
The passing score was also very high.
It was unsettling, but now she felt somewhat reassured.
Thinking this, she looked at Sakayanagi Arisu, who was sitting in front of her.
Sakayanagi had her elbows on the desk, and a smile was on her face.
Right.
This person, she probably plans to challenge the student council during lunch break.
And in first-year Class B.
"We really got saved by Hikigaya this time," said Ichinose.
Because they had also gotten the exam paper filled out by Horikita Suzune and the others.
Not only did they get the paper for free.
They were also told that it was best to give it to the students as review material three days before the exam.
They said they were worried about potential changes if the paper was handed out too early.
Otherwise.
If the old exam paper was handed out early, then once the student council president came, they could easily catch them red-handed.
Just like what happened with Ryuen's class.
So, Ichinose felt a bit lucky.
But.
"Then, is it possible—" said Kanzaki. "Is it Hikigaya... um... we can't guess like that. Because it wouldn't benefit them either."
Kanzaki furrowed hisbrows but quickly smoothed them out.
He had no idea that he had eliminated a correct answer himself.