Chapter 24: The Situation in the Upper Grades
The group gathered around, read the information on the phone, and all lowered their heads in thought.
"I can't believe there really are identical past exam questions. What is the school thinking?!" Yukinoshita seemed to find it somewhat difficult to accept.
It's understandable why the typically upright and serious Yukinoshita-san would find it strange that senpai hold past exam questions, which means some people can easily pass the exam without putting in any effort.
"Well, Yukinoshita-san, don't be so agitated. I believe this midterm exam was deliberately set up by the school to test the students' insight and way of thinking."
Yukinoshita pondered for a while before nodding, seemingly accepting Sakayanagi's explanation. She suddenly asked, "Then, could the reason those senpai refuse to speak up be that the school has explicitly forbidden the sale of exam papers?"
Sakayanagi gently shook her head: "That shouldn't be the case. If the school had strictly forbidden it, the senpais could have just directly refused."
Yukinoshita spoke slowly, as if weighing every word: "Then that means someone from the upper grades wants to interfere with the first-years' midterm exam, right?"
"Huh? Why would they want to interfere with this midterm exam?"
Kamuro's face showed a look of confusion.
Yukinoshita explained: "It's simple. There are only a little over three weeks left until the midterm exam, and for first-year Class C and Class D, who have just learned the school rules and have poor academic fundamentals, this amount of time is simply not enough to raise their grades. If they block the information and then sell the test papers to those students when they are helpless, those students will have no choice but to accept the conditions proposed by the mastermind to avoid expulsion, thereby profiting..."
Having understood Yukinoshita's explanation, Kamuro nodded in sudden realization, and her eyes sparkled: "Then, if we can get the test papers, we can also use this opportunity to make demands on other classes, right?"
"We don't necessarily have to sell the test papers," Hikigaya interjected, having silently listened to the conversation between the two.
"If it was me, I'd definitely report the exam leak to the school, have the school change the test questions, and directly get those guys expelled. That way, fewer people would be competing with me for the delicious pudding in the cafeteria. Those gyaru from Class C, claiming 'I'm getting it for a friend' or something, took all the remaining pudding..."
'Damn it, are all those guys' friends disabled people without hands?'
"Hikigaya-kun, your reasoning is too pathetic, and your mindset is very dark. Why don't you go see a psychologist?" Yukinoshita looked at Hikigaya with a cold expression, and Kamuro also widened her eyes, looking at Hikigaya with astonishment.
Sakayanagi had been silent, just looking down and texting.
Upon hearing Hikigaya's words, she looked up and smiled at Hikigaya: "Reporting the exam leak to the school is not a bad idea, but the school probably wouldn't want so many students to be expelled just one month after enrollment, as it would seriously affect the school's external reputation. I think to avoid this, the school would likely prepare several sets of exam papers."
"Even so, those students still won't have the answers," Kamuro countered.
"At that point, they could just change the exam time and leak the test questions with any excuse, for example, by distributing the exam questions as practice or homework a few days before the test... or they could simply modify the exam questions, making them so simple that even elementary school students could answer them."
Sakayanagi-san gave a slight smile, offering a solution from the school's perspective.
"Then, let's assume the school is unwilling to expel a large number of students in the first month. What if an entire class hands in blank papers? Sakayanagi-san, if you were the school, what would you do?" Hikigaya pretended to be calm, but the upturned corner of his mouth revealed his malicious fun: "If the whole class scores zero, the passing line is also zero, right? Maybe that would also count as 'passing.'"
"This is really..." Hearing Hikigaya's words, Yukinoshita massaged her temples as if she had a headache, narrowing her eyes and glaring coldly at him: "Your personality is truly awful. Where do you get so many strange ideas?"
Kamuro tightened her face and remained silent. She realized that the focus of these few individuals was no longer on the midterm exam itself, but on how to gain greater benefit from this exam, and they were even starting to think about the problem from the school's point of view.
Hearing Hikigaya's words, Sakayanagi showed an intrigued smile, her gaze intensely fixed on him: "As expected of Hikigaya-kun, that is a truly extraordinary plan. If I was the school, with such a unique way of thinking, I might acknowledge it, but I would only allow you to use it once. So, should our class do this this time..."
Seeing Sakayanagi's expression, which suggested she wanted to cause trouble, Kamuro took half a step back in apprehension.
"Sakayanagi-san, this plan requires a very high level of cooperation from the class students. It would be troublesome if even one person didn't cooperate. Although Katsuragi-kun said he'd cooperate, this plan carries such a high risk, and many students in the class probably wouldn't agree. Moreover, if the school doesn't have the intention of keeping the students or doesn't approve of this method, many people would be expelled," Yukinoshita said with a serious expression.
"You're right..." Sakayanagi looked regretful. "Then the problem returns to the real test questions. Our most important task now is either to find a way to get the exam papers from elsewhere or to find the mastermind, otherwise, we'll just have to honestly study hard."
"No, I think studying hard is the most important thing..." Hikigaya couldn't help but complain.
"It's May now, and the points have been distributed, so the school shouldn't be hiding the class evaluation points and rankings of the second and third years anymore. I think it's necessary to check the situation of the upper grades first. The person capable of a large-scale information blockade should be among the upper-grade class representatives," Yukinoshita-san offered her opinion after a moment of thought.
Sakayanagi seemed to have thought of the same thing as Yukinoshita, and she chuckled sweetly: "I already had someone take a photo and send over the class evaluation points and rankings of the upper grades."
She once again displayed her phone to everyone. It was a photo of the third-year bulletin board: "Third-year Class A: one thousand three hundred forty-five points, Class B: seven hundred and one point, Class C: six hundred ninety-five points, Class D: ninety points."
"The third year is completely a situation where Class A is crushing the competition," Kamuro exclaimed, looking at the vastly different scores.
Yukinoshita gently tossed her long, flowing hair: "That must be the achievement of President Horikita. In that case, could President Horikita be using his authority as Student Council President and a large number of points to employ both carrots and sticks to block the information?"
"We can't rule out that possibility," Sakayanagi agreed, nodding.
Not long after, the class evaluation points and rankings for the four classes of the second year were also sent to Sakayanagi's phone.
"Second-year Class A: one thousand three hundred points, Class B: one thousand one hundred points, Class C: one thousand points, Class D: nine hundred points. These scores..."
The second-year scores were very peculiar; not only were the scores all round numbers, but apart from second-year Class A's clear lead, the scores of the other classes were not low. Even second-year Class D, which the school considers a garbage dump, had nine hundred class evaluation points, which means a monthly allowance of ninety thousand private points.
"The scores of the second year... it looks like they were deliberately manufactured. It seems the second-year students chose to band together, follow the leadership of the class representative, and use the school as a sucker to rack up points," Hikigaya muttered, scanning the unusually neat scores back and forth.
Yukinoshita seemed to recall something: "I met the second-year Class A class representative, Nagumo Miyabi, during my interview. He is the Student Council Vice President. Although he seems cheerful, he gives off a somewhat frivolous impression."
"Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Miyabi, then? How do we determine if they are the masterminds? Should we just confront them directly?" Kamuro asked curiously.
Sakayanagi turned to Hikigaya: "Hikigaya-kun, do you have any suggestions?"
"We don't need to be fixated on finding the mastermind. We just need to make sure they're too busy to interfere with the first-years' exam."
Meeting Sakayanagi's gaze, Hikigaya let out a slight laugh.
"I have a plan."