Time entered December, and the weather gradually grew colder. With only a few days left until the exams, Saturday and Sunday were holidays, and the formal exams would begin on Monday.
Since the previous incident had temporarily concluded, Ryuen's side had also quieted down.
All four first-year classes were working hard for the upcoming exams. Students could be found in almost every place suitable for studying – classrooms, cafes, and the library.
This was true not only for first-year students but also for those in the second and third years.
However, the first-year students felt a greater sense of urgency.
This was because, unlike the regular written exams for the second and third years, the first-year exams were created by the students themselves.
From the previous few exams, it was clear that the school's questions generally combined difficulty levels. A test paper would have easy questions worth points (difficulty one), thinking questions (difficulty five), and extremely difficult questions (difficulty ten).
But with students creating the questions, there would be no easy points (difficulty one).
Difficulty ten was also unlikely because students generally didn't have that level of ability.
So, in the end, a test paper would mostly consist of thinking questions ranging from difficulty five to six, with occasional challenging questions of difficulty seven or eight.
This was naturally not a concern for good students, but it would likely give average students a serious headache.
However, this was not an issue for students in Class C.
After school, Ryuen immediately called over the students of Class C, and then Ishizaki and Yamada walked to the podium, each carrying a stack of papers.
Bang!
Seeing what landed heavily on the podium, the students of Class C couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Um, Ryuen, what is this?"
"This is something good," Ryuen said, taking out a test paper and smiling. "What would you think if I told you this was the exam paper for this test?"
"R-really?"
"Is it real or fake?"
"If you had this, you should have given it to us sooner! I've been studying diligently for a whole month!"
Most of the students in Class C were surprised but also very excited.
Although some were disbelieving, they didn't doubt Ryuen because he had led them to victory twice already.
"This exam paper comes with an answer key. You two days to study it thoroughly. If anyone scores below six hundred on Monday's final exam, you'll be in for it."
These words poured a bucket of ice water on the excited Class C students.
"No way?"
"That's six hundred points! I've never scored that high before."
"But with the exam paper, it should be okay, right?"
"Um, even if I'm a few points short, I won't get beaten to death, right?"
The discussion continued for a few minutes before gradually dying down.
"Discussion over. Remember not to leak this," Ryuen warned the class. "And no cheating!"
No cheating.
*Pfft!*
It felt a bit funny hearing those words from a delinquent like Ryuen.
After school, Kamio Tatsuya walked out of the school with Ryuen, chatting as they walked.
"How did the last thing go?"
"The last thing?"
"Did that person come to apologize to you?"
"Ah, you mean that," Ryuen's lips curved into a happy smile. "No, but that's exactly what I wanted."
"What are you planning to do? Are you going to interrogate him?"
"I have that idea," Ryuen didn't deny it. "Speaking of which, I kind of regret pulling you into Class C."
"Oh?"
"Thanks to you, this semester has been a little boring for me."
...
Looking at Ryuen's mischievous grin, Kamio Tatsuya felt speechless. He was the type to complain after getting what he wanted.
He had considered reminding Ryuen to be careful of Ayanokouji, but he decided against it.
*Cough cough,* just kidding.
Even if Kamio Tatsuya had warned him, Ryuen probably wouldn't have believed it.
Besides, Kamio Tatsuya felt it was time for Ryuen to stumble. His reckless behavior was too dangerous.
If he had really kicked Sakayanagi in the face during their last meeting, he would have been in serious trouble.
So, classmate Ayanokouji, please don't disappoint me!
On Monday, the second semester's final exams finally arrived.
After the exam papers were distributed, Kamio Tatsuya began looking at the questions.
It seemed Horikita had kept her word. This test paper was indeed the one Kaneda had created, word for word.
The students of Class C showed joy upon seeing these questions.
Although the questions themselves were quite difficult, after a month of continuous study sessions, even students like Ishizaki had accumulated a certain amount of knowledge.
Even if they couldn't solve some of the problems perfectly, since they had seen these questions before, copying them wouldn't be an issue.
After the first subject, Japanese, ended, the students of Class C were immediately very excited.
"I'm so good! I think I can score over ninety!"
"Only ninety? I think I can get over ninety-five."
"Really? I forgot the answers to a few questions."
"It's okay. To get 600 points, an average of 75 is enough. It's useless to worry about these things. Let's go to the restroom first."
"Me too."
A few minutes later, Hashimoto returned to the classroom in a panic.
"Princess, this is bad!"
"Oh? Why the hurry? Did you forget to write your name on the exam?"
Sakayanagi had a slight smile on her face.
"It's not that," Hashimoto seemed a bit impatient but lowered his voice. "I just overheard Class C discussing the exam in the restroom.
They said the content of this exam is exactly the same as the paper Ryuen gave them three days ago."
Hearing Hashimoto's words, the smile on Sakayanagi's face froze.
As Hashimoto spoke, she knew what had happened. Three days ago, the exam paper, the same.
It was simple...
Kamio Tatsuya had somehow gotten hold of the questions that Class D had prepared for Class C.
Had he collaborated with Class D?
Or did he have an informant in Class D?
No, if it were just an informant, it wouldn't amount to this.
Because to achieve this, he would have to reveal who the informant was and abandon them.
He wouldn't do that for such an unimportant victory.
So, had he collaborated with Class D?
If they had collaborated, when did it happen? Before we made our bet, or after?
If it was after the bet, then it's fine. I'll just lose to him one more time.
But if it was before...
That scoundrel played me again!
"Don't worry. Since it's come to this, let's proceed with the exam. It's okay even if we lose to Class C, considering the difference in numbers.
Also, Hashimoto, don't tell anyone about this. It will affect everyone's mood, as the battle with Class B isn't over yet."
Hashimoto could only nod.
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