Miyabi is the second-year representative and one of the few people in the school who managed to rise up. At the end of his first year, he led his Class B to be promoted to Class A. He received high praise for this.
He also raised funds to open a store for the second-year students, further demonstrating his brilliance.
As the grade representative, he has three sources of income.
First, as a member of the class, the school sends monthly Class Points that serve as living expenses. Second, income from the store. The bubble tea shop is still in debt, but after the debt is paid off, he has the right to exclusively enjoy half of the profits. Third, as the grade representative, he collects 400,000 Points monthly from each class as a form of tribute.
This is quite a comfortable life. He can even accumulate enough to eventually gather 20 million Points, and regardless of whether his class maintains its A status, he himself can graduate as a Class A student in his third year.
This is a wonderful thing.
However, it was ruined by Houtarou.
This first-year student is not only liked by the bitchy girls in his class but is also praised by them, stealing the popularity that should have belonged to Miyabi.
Moreover, Houtarou is a terrifying person. He's extremely good at making money and swindling it from others.
So is "Houtarou The Money Scammer" now asking him how many Points he has gathered?
He's seen this scenario before. During the previous exam with old questions, to avoid leaking information, he had to pay Points. And now, is he coming to scam money again?
Miyabi has a deep impression of that incident.
Because his Points were almost completely scammed away, he had to swallow his pride and eat the unappetizing free mountain vegetable set meals for several days. This made him learn his lesson the hard way.
And now, has he gathered Points in his account again?
Yes, he has. More than three months have passed since then, so his account now has an unprecedented 11.05 million Points.
If he gathers another 9 million, it will be a lifeline.
And as a member of the Student Council, he has obtained information that when students graduate, the school will exchange their accumulated Private Points at a certain ratio — directly for cash.
For someone like him with decent academic abilities, naturally, even if he takes ordinary exams, he can get into a good university. But those 20 million Points can be exchanged for real money.
Doing well in school and graduating with a large sum of money — isn't that also a kind of glory?
And now…
"Nagumo-senpai, how many Points have you gathered?"
That's what Houtarou asked him.
Miyabi: "??"
What the hell. Is this guy trying to ask for money again?
"I haven't accumulated many Points, currently less than 5 million. After all, dealing with school exams requires various expenses. I'm everyone's big tree, but I also need maintenance."
Miyabi decided to be conservative.
In this school, everything can be bought with Points, and the only reason something can't be bought is insufficient Points.
After so many exams, his explanation is plausible.
By understating his Points, he also feels that if he's inevitably forced to give some up, it would only be a partial loss, with some still remaining.
So he gave a conservative figure — less than 5 million.
However…
"Is that so?" Houtarou looked at him with distrust, "Based on your three income sources, you should have just exceeded 10 million Points. Nagumo-senpai, you're not being honest."
Miyabi: "..."
Damn it.
So there are spies in the second year? How could they tell him such things?
If he falls, then the second year would become Houtarou's ATM! Are these spies brain-damaged or what?
"Anyway, I won't give you my Points!" Miyabi said, "Also, you need to pay for the coffee you just drank."
"..." Houtarou almost stopped to laugh, but continued, "I understand. But Nagumo-senpai's 10 million is a bit too little for me now. I'm looking to acquire 50 million. So, your 10 million is far from enough. You'd better accumulate some more."
Oh. Is that so? So is it because his Points aren't enough and he needs to save more?
Then his Points are safe, right?
Not at all. Because is Houtarou even speaking human language?
This guy wants to fatten him up and harvest him again, right?
Miyabi was in a good mood after not seeing this guy during vacation, but now he's starting to feel bad again.
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Houtarou, on the other hand, didn't continue the conversation with Miyabi.
After all, that guy's current available Points are only 10 million.
Houtarou's system task requires him to obtain 50 million Points from upper-grade students and 50 million from freshmen. Harvesting just Miyabi alone wouldn't fulfill these requirements.
Moreover, as the second-year representative, Miyabi functions like a money-absorbing monster, constantly collecting Points from second-year students. He's essentially a potential investment.
Additionally, Houtarou doesn't want to antagonize the second-year students, so targeting only Miyabi would avoid widespread resistance.
Now isn't the ideal time to make a move either. This special exam tests academic skills, leaving little room for manipulation.
From Houtarou's observation, Miyabi has organized academically strong students from his class and second-year Class B to support weaker students in second-year Class C and Class D.
It's similar to how they conduct study sessions.
There's no shortcut available, and opportunities for strategic maneuvering are limited. The best approach is to wait for a special exam that can effectively target upper-grade students before harvesting them.
That's when he'll make his move.
If he allows Miyabi to continue collecting Points from the second-year students until he accumulates around 20 million, and then takes action, half of his goal to obtain 50 million from upper-grade students can be quickly accomplished.
Very efficient.
Therefore, he simply needs to wait for Miyabi to fatten up, and for a suitable special exam to come along.
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With no shortcuts available, the entire grade had to buckle down and study diligently.
Meanwhile, Houtarou efficiently completed the exam content in the first week and proceeded with his book-borrowing journey.
On the night before the exam, Kei, Maya, Haruka, Suzune, and Kikyō reported back with their findings.
Yōsuke approached Houtarou to request a plan that would help everyone pass, and this plan was subsequently announced to the class.
However, most students in the class quickly opposed it.
The concern was that while everyone might score 5-10 Points, a single person scoring high would doom everyone else if they betrayed the agreement.
This essentially meant placing their fate in others' hands.
Despite Yōsuke's repeated assurances that no one in the class would betray them, nobody agreed to the plan.
As a result, they reverted to individual efforts, with everyone preparing to take the exam independently.
Still determined to help, Yōsuke asked the academically strong students to aim for exactly 51 Points. Even Kei, who had recently experienced a breakthrough in her study methods and could score in the 60s, was instructed to score precisely 51 Points in all subjects.
This strategy made sense because the passing threshold was half of the average score. Even if some students scored full marks, this approach would ensure no one faced expulsion.
After all, it was impossible for the entire class to achieve perfect scores.
This approach effectively lowered the average passing line, making it more manageable for academically weaker students.
Yōsuke had done everything within his power to help.
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Then, October 27 arrived.
"Today, tomorrow, and the morning of the day after, we'll have exams. Two subjects each day. Each subject has a response time of 2 hours. You must wait at least 30 minutes after starting before you can submit early." Tomonari said.
Since this wasn't a paired exam, the homeroom teachers of each class would serve as invigilators.
Tomonari stood at the podium.
Just as he made this announcement, Houtarou noticed his classmates' gazes shifting toward him.
When the teacher mentioned turning in tests early, everyone looked at him.
For good reason. Except for English listening questions, Houtarou solved problems remarkably quickly and often submitted his tests early.
He had noticed that Arisu, who sat next to him, also solved problems quickly. However, she never turned in early. Instead, she would look in his direction after finishing her test.
Though she wouldn't make any more marks after finishing — behavior that would normally be considered cheating — no one said anything.
Perhaps because she never revised her answers?
Arisu looked particularly cute today in her white ankle socks, with a sweet smile that could easily win anyone over.
"Oreki-kun is in great form." Arisu said, "Since the 7th, I haven't seen you look at any study materials."
She made this observation with just 10 minutes remaining before the exam officially started.
"If you want to enter a state of flow, I recommend reading the book 'Flow'." Houtarou replied.
{T/N: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi}
"Oh…" Arisu nodded, "Then I'll have to get those books to read."
Masumi: "..."
And Masumi, who sat behind the princess, found their exchange annoying.
Because it's only 10 minutes before the exam starts, couldn't these two stop being so clingy?
Masumi wished she would be a bit quieter so he could review a few more formulas.
So…
October 27th: morning Math, afternoon English.
October 28th: morning Physics, afternoon Chemistry.
October 29th: morning Biology.
All five subjects were completed.
During lunch break on the 29th, Houtarou and Suzune met up again.
Today the school only scheduled exams, and after finishing, students would have a day off.
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