[Our class points are steadily increasing.]
[The students' grades have also improved significantly. Although the results of these small exams haven't closed the gap with Class A, they haven't widened it either.]
[And next, we might even have a chance to overtake Class A!]
Chabashira Sae's thoughts were heard loud and clear by Saiki.
As for Chabashira Sae, Saiki found her somewhat exasperating.
She wanted the class to rise to Class A, but at the beginning, she did nothing, barely fulfilling her duties as a teacher. Instead, she chose to deceive the students with lies.
At the same time, Saiki could guess from her thoughts that another special exam was likely on the horizon.
"Now, I'll announce your midterm exam results. Anyone who scored below 40 will be expelled immediately."
Chabashira Sae smiled as she posted the exam results on the board.
When the students looked at the results, many of them showed expressions of surprise.
Sudo Ken, who had always been at the bottom of the class, was now near the middle of the pack, while Yamauchi Haruki had taken the last place this time.
[Sudo isn't last this time?]
[Since the sports festival, Sudo has completely transformed.]
[Yamauchi is now last.]
Everyone was surprised by Sudo Ken's improvement. In fact, since the sports festival, Sudo Ken had changed quite a bit.
[Adversity isn't necessary for growth; favorable conditions can also lead to improvement. Feeling respected and appreciated by others, Sudo has responded by changing himself. It seems that Saiki's abilities surpass even those of the White Room—and may be more effective.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka muttered to himself.
'I wasn't thinking about any of that nonsense!'
Saiki wanted to defend himself, but there was no way to do so.
"I've smashed my own record! Look at that! And I almost got an average of 60!"
Seeing his results, Sudo Ken jumped up from his seat in excitement.
[Seriously, it's not like he got first place. Why is he so happy?]
Yamauchi Haruki, sitting nearby, glanced at Sudo Ken with disdain, his eyes twitching slightly.
'Is this how you think about your friend?'
[This is so annoying... Now I'm the one in last place.]
'Have you ever considered that it might be your own fault? Even Sudo improved, but you haven't reflected on yourself at all?'
[Lately, it feels like nothing's going right... For some reason, it feels like someone's been following me... Am I just being paranoid?]
'...No, you're not. Someone really is following you.'
Saiki answered in his mind.
Since the last incident, Class D had been targeting Class B more and more. Under normal circumstances, Ryuen Kakeru would have already used "physical means" to deal with Yamauchi Haruki.
But Ryuen Kakeru was now very wary of Yamauchi Haruki, believing that Yamauchi might have prepared thoroughly. Moreover, Yamauchi Haruki usually moved around with Ike Kanji, making it difficult for them to act. They could only secretly monitor Yamauchi Haruki, hoping to gather more valuable information.
Saiki looked up at the results. His own grades were still in the middle—Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had almost the same score as him.
"I'm also looking forward to next month's personal points, sensei!"
Sudo Ken, elated, leaned on his desk and smiled.
In a normal school, speaking to a teacher like this would surely result in punishment, but Chabashira Sae didn't seem to mind. Her smile didn't falter:
"That's right. You performed well in the sports festival, and your exam results are decent. You can expect a certain level of personal points next month. Originally a Class D, you're now keeping up with Class A. Well done."
Chabashira Sae rarely praised the class.
At the same time, her gaze shifted to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was sitting in the classroom.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked back at her expressionlessly.
Chabashira Sae quickly averted her eyes:
"As you all know, the school will hold a small exam next week to prepare for the second semester's final exams. It will cover eight subjects. I'm sure some of you have already started reviewing, but I'll remind those who haven't."
"Huh? We just had midterms, and now there's another exam?!"
Ike Kanji's face showed surprise.
"Don't worry, Ike. First, the small exam will have 100 questions, with a perfect score of 100. The content is very simple—it's just to confirm whether you've mastered the basics. Also, like the first semester's small exam, it won't affect your grades at all. Whether you score zero or 100, it doesn't matter. This is purely to assess your current abilities."
Chabashira Sae's smile carried a hint of mystery.
[This exam, while seemingly unimportant, actually isn't. The results will affect the groupings for the final exams.]
'Yare yare, as expected. This school would never do something without consequences.'
Saiki thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also sensed something was off.
[In this school, there's no such thing as an arrangement that 'has no impact.' This small exam must have some hidden purpose.]
'Yare yare, are you a psychic too?'
Saiki inwardly complained.
"However—I should tell you that the small exam results aren't meaningless. The reason is that these results will have a significant impact on the next final exam."
At this point, Chabashira Sae continued, deliberately making things sound more complicated than they needed to be.
"What... what does that mean?"
Sudo Ken asked, confused.
"If only I could explain it in a way you'd understand, Sudo—the school has decided to use the results of this small exam to pair you up with someone in the class. You'll form teams of two and take the final exam together."
Chabashira Sae's expression grew more serious.
"The exam will cover eight subjects, with a total of 400 questions—50 questions per subject, each worth one point. There are two ways you could be expelled this time. The first is similar to before: each subject has a minimum passing score of 60. If either partner fails to meet this score in any subject, both will be expelled. The 60-point threshold is the combined score of both partners. For example, if Ike and Hirata are paired, even if Ike scores zero, as long as Hirata scores 60, they're safe."
[What? Paired exams?]
[Then I just need to team up with the best student!]
[Please don't pair me with Yamauchi...]
Shocked expressions appeared on everyone's faces.
"The second way is based on the total score across all subjects. Even if you pass each subject individually, if your total score doesn't meet the threshold, you'll still be expelled. The school hasn't announced the passing score yet, but based on previous years, it should be around 700 points. I've explained both scenarios. If you fail either, both of you will be expelled~ For example, in past years, during this special exam—commonly known as Paper Shuffle—one or two groups have been expelled."
As Chabashira Sae spoke, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind began to work.
[Paper Shuffle? From the name alone, the core of this exam isn't just about pairing up. But the teacher mentioned that this small exam will affect the final exams... Does that mean the small exam results will determine the pairings for the finals? It's likely that high-performing students will be paired with low-performing ones... So this small exam, while seemingly simple, is actually about arranging the pairings, which will directly impact the class's final exam results.]
'Yare yare, you figured that out quickly.'
Saiki's gaze involuntarily shifted toward Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"By the way, there's one more thing. For the final exam, you'll be creating the questions yourselves. These questions will then be assigned to one of the other three classes—meaning you'll be 'attacking' another class. The defending class will have to 'defend' against your questions. The class with the higher total score will earn 50 class points from the losing class."
"Additionally, if two classes attack each other, the class points will increase to 100."
"Moreover, the questions you create will be rigorously and fairly reviewed by all the teachers. If any questions go beyond the curriculum or are unsolvable based on the provided content, we'll ask you to revise them. We'll ensure the exam's fairness by having students gradually complete the question creation and answering process."
Chabashira Sae further explained.
'Yare yare, as expected. This school loves to complicate simple things.'
Saiki thought to himself, sighing inwardly. Compared to the school suddenly throwing them into a deserted island survival scenario, this exam was relatively normal.
"That's the situation for the upcoming exams. From here on out, it's up to you to figure things out."
...
After class, Hirata Yosuke and a few others immediately gathered more students to discuss strategies for the upcoming exams.
Whether it was about how to pair up or how to handle potential exam questions, improving each student's performance was essential.
Saiki, of course, didn't want to participate in the discussion, but Hirata Yosuke asked him to join the meeting at the school café to discuss the exam.
'If it's at the café, I can tolerate it. At least there's food there.'
Saiki thought to himself as he packed up his bag.
At that moment, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka quickly approached Saiki.
"Saiki, you're going to the meeting later, right?"
"Aren't you going too?"
"I wanted to discuss tactics with you beforehand."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said slowly.
"Sure... go ahead..."
Saiki nodded. Although he didn't want to waste too much time, knowing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's tactics would help him prevent the guy from doing anything strange in the future.
"I assume you've already figured out the true meaning of this exam from Chabashira-sensei, right?"
'Of course, since you've already spelled it all out in your thoughts.'
Saiki thought to himself but nodded anyway.
"The small exam will determine the pairings for the final exams, right?"
"Right."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded.
"Thanks to your planning, Ryuen has focused his attention on Yamauchi. I remember not long ago, Ryuen seemed to be following you."
"Yeah..."
Saiki's mind flashed back to the image of Ryuen Kakeru's head rolling on the ground.
"But in the end, Ryuen didn't do anything to you. This means you either diverted his attention or used some method to restrain him. This has prevented Ryuen Kakeru from taking any major actions for a long time."
'Are you talking about using invisibility to secretly record him and then sending messages with my psychic powers?'
Saiki pretended to remain calm and nodded slightly.
"Impressive. But this also means Ryuen will be more wary of us. I think in the next final exam, Class D will likely attack our class. I assume you're also planning to settle things with Class D. Ryuen is a capable person, somewhat similar to the two of us. In the future, he might even become a tool we can use."
'How are we similar?! And you want to use someone like that?!'
Saiki inwardly complained but nodded slightly.
"Right..."
"Ryuen will take action against our class, but I don't think they're our biggest enemy. There's something within our class that we must deal with—a cancer that needs to be removed if our class wants to advance further."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression remained unchanged, but his gaze seemed to grow colder.
"Kushida Kikyo. I want her expelled. Saiki, what do you think?"
"Huh?"