The midterm exams for all four classes lasted from morning until afternoon. When the final bell rang, signaling the end of the last exam, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Prolonged exams were not just a test of intelligence—they also took a toll on physical stamina and mental endurance.
After collecting the answer sheets, Hoshinomiya Chie swept her gaze across the classroom, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Well, the midterms are officially over. Everyone can enjoy a relaxing weekend now. The results will be announced next Monday—let's all look forward to it."
"I'm definitely scoring sky-high this time. Just wait and see, Hoshinomiya-sensei!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty confident too."
"Oh?" Seeing the self-assured expressions on everyone's faces, Hoshinomiya chuckled lightly. "Then I'll be waiting to be blown away by your results."
Once she left the classroom, the students immediately swarmed around Hikaru Hashima and Honami Ichinose, their faces alight with excitement.
"The exam papers were exactly the same! Ichinose-san's intel was spot on!"
"Right? I was worried they might've changed the questions this year, but they didn't," Shibata said, rubbing the back of his head with a grin. "I might've just set a personal record for my total score."
"Thanks so much to Ichinose-san and Hashima-kun for arranging everything. The practice exams were a huge help."
Listening to the flood of gratitude, Honami Ichinose responded with a smile. The plan had yielded extremely satisfying results, and she couldn't help but feel pleased.
"Once the midterm results are out, should we throw another celebration party?" someone suggested.
In the tightly-knit Class A, many students were fond of organizing group activities like this.
"What do you think, Hashima-kun?" Honami turned to the boy sitting at his desk, and the rest of the class naturally followed her gaze, waiting for his response.
"I don't mind, but if we're going to have a celebration, it'd be better to wait until next month."
Hikaru checked his phone's calendar before addressing the class with a smile. "After the results are announced, we'll still have a few days before the new month starts. Let's wait until we see our updated class evaluation points before making plans."
"After all, our next batch of private points won't be deposited until June. I'm guessing most of us are running low on funds right now?"
"That's true. If the next deposit doesn't come soon, I might have to survive on the cheapest rice balls."
"Hahaha, Beppu, you're such a spendthrift!"
"Hey, I'm just spending normally!"
"Then it's settled for now," Honami declared with the authority of the class leader, decisively ending the discussion. "We'll talk about organizing the party after our class evaluation points update next month. For now, everyone should go and rest."
Over the weekend, Hikaru once again became a master of time management. Though the study sessions were temporarily suspended, his schedule remained packed.
Saturday morning: Dragged out by Honami to accompany several female classmates on a shopping trip, enduring the agony of being treated as a pack mule.
Saturday afternoon: Met with Hiyori Shiina at the library to discuss mystery novels and borrowed a book she highly recommended.
Sunday morning: Lazed around in his dorm.
Sunday afternoon: Accompanying Airi Sakura to a secluded spot on campus for photography. Besides taking pictures, they also explored recent fashion trends back in her dorm.
Ever since the incident where she tripped, Airi had become noticeably more proactive when alone with Hikaru. She even invited him to help pick out outfits for her upcoming modeling photos and blog posts—effectively making him the first to enjoy such exclusive privileges.
However, sensing her increasingly eager attitude, Hikaru didn't reject these requests, but he kept one thing firmly in mind:
If he wanted to remain a master manipulator, he absolutely couldn't let things escalate into an actual relationship. Otherwise, he might face the very danger the system had warned him about: "This system takes no responsibility for risks involving personal safety."
---
Monday morning arrived, and an unavoidable tension hung in the air across all classrooms. Whether they had memorized the exam answers or not, everyone felt at least a little nervous before the official results were announced.
Hoshinomiya Chie walked into Class A's room holding a rolled-up stack of papers. The moment the students saw her, all eyes locked onto the podium, awaiting their fate.
"I'm sure everyone's eager to see the midterm results. Please remain calm—I'll reveal them shortly."
After scanning the room, Hoshinomiya wasted no time. She unfurled the papers and pinned them to the blackboard.
"Your hard work and effort have paid off. Everyone's grades are quite impressive."
As soon as the five subject scores and overall rankings were posted, the students immediately scrutinized them.
"Wow, so many perfect scores!"
"Honami-san is first in total score! Amazing! Though Hashima-kun isn't far behind—just two points short."
"I got 96 in English? Hell yeah!"
Thanks to the previous year's exam papers, top performers like Honami achieved near-perfect scores—496 out of 500. Hikaru trailed closely with 494.
Even those with weaker subjects or lower overall performance had memorized the answers, allowing them to score high marks if not perfect ones. The lowest score in Class A was still in the 80s.
Under the school's expulsion rule—where the passing threshold was half the class average—the benchmark would've been around 40 to 50. But in Class A, not a single student fell into that range.
"Congratulations, everyone!!"
"Woo-hoo!!"
As the results were announced, Class A erupted into a sea of celebration, every face brimming with joy.
---
Meanwhile, in stark contrast to the jubilation, the atmosphere in the last classroom on the floor was far more somber.
Chabashira Sae was also announcing results. Thanks to the purchased exam papers, Class C's overall performance wasn't bad—except for one exception.
The cold-faced homeroom teacher drew a red line under a student's name and stated bluntly:
"Sudou. You failed English."
"What?!" The red-haired boy stared at the blackboard in disbelief.
"The average English score this time was 79.6. The passing threshold is half of that."
Chabashira wrote out the calculation for everyone to see.
"So the minimum passing score is 39.8. Your score? 39. That's a failure."
"Though your time here was brief, you've worked hard. After school, please submit your withdrawal request. A guardian's presence will be required—I'll contact your mother."
"What?!"
"Sudou's getting expelled?!"
Chabashira's declaration sent the classroom into an uproar.
A certain black-haired girl's expression darkened instantly. She knew all too well that an expulsion would mean a massive deduction in class evaluation points—potentially sending them back to last place.
And that was unacceptable.
"Wait!"
The girl shot up from her seat, locking eyes with Chabashira. "The expulsion hasn't been finalized yet, right? There's still a way out!"
"Oh?"
Chabashira's lips curled slightly. A flicker of anticipation rose in her chest—she wanted to hear what the girl would say next.
"Then by all means, enlighten us."