Chapter 150: Congratulations, Class B Promoted!
The next morning at 7:00 AM. This was the first day following the end of the examination.
In the restaurant on the third floor of the ship, sunlight stread through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the air was thick with the aroma of coffee, bacon, and fresh bread.
With the pressure of the exam gone, the atmosphere in the restaurant was much more relaxed than in previous days. Students sat in small groups; so were still rubbing sleep from their eyes, while others were already heading to the buffet with trays in hand.
In the innermost corner of the restaurant, the four horoom teachers sat together around a table.
Mashima Tomonari of Class A held his coffee, his gaze fixed on the sea outside. Hoshinomiya Chie of Class B sat opposite him, a steaming cup of milk tea before her, stirring it gently with a spoon.
Sakagami Kazuma of Class C was cutting into the bacon on his plate, making crisp clicking sounds. Chabashira Sae of Class D leaned back in her chair, only a cup of black coffee in front of her, her expression unnervingly calm.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei." Sakagami Kazuma set down his knife and fork and looked up at Hoshinomiya Chie, forcing a small smile. "Congratulations. Class B has ascended to Class A this ti. 1,266 points—that's first in the entire grade."
Hoshinomiya Chie blinked, a hint of a smile flashing in her large eyes. She took a sip of her milk tea, tilted her head, and said in a light tone, "Oh my, Sakagami-sensei, saying it like that makes blush."
She set down her cup, but her gaze involuntarily flickered toward Chabashira Sae beside her. Chabashira remained with her head down, staring at her black coffee.
Hoshinomiya Chie quickly withdrew her gaze, the smile on her lips fading slightly. She didn't speak to Chabashira, turning instead to Mashima Tomonari with a trace of mischief in her voice.
"Mashima-sensei, now that Class B has climbed up, how are you feeling? You were once a Class A student yourself and never fell, but now, as a horoom teacher, you have to experience dropping out of Class A. It must be quite painful, right?"
These words caused the hand Mashima Tomonari used to hold his coffee cup to pause slightly. He turned his head toward Hoshinomiya Chie, his steady face showing little emotion.
"Climbing up is a testant to the students' strength," he said, maintaining his composure. "Although this is the first ti I've experienced a class falling, I believe in my students. They won't be crushed by a single failure."
His outlook was remarkably positive.
Hoshinomiya Chie blinked, seemingly having expected him to say that. She simply gave a soft "Oh," took another sip of tea, and didn't press further.
However, Sakagami Kazuma's gaze shifted back and forth between Hoshinomiya Chie and Chabashira Sae, his brow furrowing slightly. He had noticed it—Hoshinomiya was deliberately avoiding Chabashira today, and the subtle sense of distance between them was completely different from a few days ago.
Still, he didn't ask. It was better not to get involved in such matters.
He lowered his head back to his plate, his mind racing with calculations.
Once they returned to the school, the class rankings would officially change:
1st Year Class A: Hikigaya Class, 1,266 points. 1st Year Class B: Katsuragi Class, 825 points. 1st Year Class C: Ryuen Class, 550 points. 1st Year Class D: Ayanokouji Class, 130 points.
Class A had changed hands.
Sakagami Kazuma adjusted his glasses, the corners of his mouth curving slightly.
Class A was not invincible. The fact that the original Class A had been unseated this ti was the best proof.
Perhaps the next target could be this "original Class A." With 825 points, the gap between them and Class C's 550 points wasn't insurmountable. If they could seize the opportunity to narrow the gap over the next two or three exams and then overtake them...
Class C's 0-point start in the first month had given him a massive fright, but now, he felt this Class C had more potential than any Class C he had ever led. If they could surpass the original Class A, then his Class C would be a class that had defeated "Class A."
Sothing to be proud of.
At this thought, Sakagami Kazuma imdiately pulled his phone from his pocket. His fingers tapped rapidly on the screen as he composed and sent a short ssage.
[Ryuen, good work this ti. After returning to school, keep it up. The goal for Class C can perhaps be set much further now.]
After the ssage was successfully sent, he put his phone away and picked up his utensils to continue with his bacon.
In any case, Hoshinomiya and Chabashira weren't going to chat with him, and Mashima was in his own "emo" world. Better to just keep eating.
.
.
.
anwhile, Ryuen was on the deck, leaning against the railing with his phone in hand. On the screen was the ssage from Sakagami Kazuma.
[Ryuen, good work this ti. After returning to school, keep it up. The goal for Class C can perhaps be set much further now.]
Ryuen stared at those words for a few seconds and then let out a scoff.
"Heh."
The laugh was light but carried an indefinable aning—not mockery, not being touched, just simply finding it a bit funny. He casually stuffed his phone back into his pocket, propped his hands on the railing, and looked out at the shimring sea in the distance.
In three days, they would return to that enclosed school, and this leisurely freedom would be gone.
Ishizaki Daichi approached, scratching his short hair, and asked curiously, "Ryuen, what's up? Who sent the ssage?"
"Sakagami," Ryuen said without turning around, his tone casual. "Telling us to keep it up."
Ishizaki Daichi was stunned. "Eh? Sakagami-sensei? That's it?"
"That's it," Ryuen shrugged.
Standing nearby, Ibuki Mio showed a trace of surprise. "Sakagami-sensei actually took the initiative to send an encouraging ssage?"
Ryuen turned and glanced at her, a playful smirk on his face. "What, you think he shouldn't encourage ?"
Ibuki Mio turned her face away and didn't speak, but she was indeed surprised.
She had thought this horoom teacher didn't care much for Class C's affairs. For example, if he really cared, he wouldn't have ignored it when Ryuen violently took over the class in the first month and demanded everyone pay him points.
Shiina Hiyori stood a bit further away, her long silver hair fluttering gently in the sea breeze, a few strands brushing against her fair cheeks. She leaned quietly against the railing, the sunlight casting a soft glow on her delicate face.
Sakagami-sensei...
She knew very well that the horoom teacher, who always seed low-profile and steady, was actually the sa type of person as herself. He tolerated Ryuen's use of violence to unify the class not because he approved of the thod, but because he knew—without Ryuen,
Class C wouldn't even have the qualification to fight other classes. In this ritocratic school, sotis necessary compromise is more important than so-called "correctness."
Of course, she wouldn't say those words out loud.
Ryuen withdrew his gaze and looked back at the sea, his tone carrying a bit of schadenfreude. "But speaking of which, Sakayanagi and Katsuragi, those two must be in a pretty miserable state right now, right? Original Class A... tsk tsk, 825 points."
He paused, his smirk deepening. "825 points... monthly living expenses are 82,500 points. After paying back that 28,000-point monthly debt to that guy Hikigaya, each person is only left with 54,500 points."
"But that's still more than our class," Ibuki interjected. "Even though our class has 550 points, which ans 55,000 points, the living expenses that truly belong to us are only 20,000 points."
"True. However," Ryuen shrugged, "for Class A students who are used to high spending, it should be quite painful. That princess Sakayanagi has now resigned from the Class A leadership position, making it impossible for her to take points from the students. Her economic standard is definitely going to drop."
At the ntion of Sakayanagi, Shiina Hiyori fell silent.
Hiyori knew clearly that Class C was just lucky to have guessed the Monkey Group correctly; otherwise, their situation wouldn't be much better than Class A's.
However, she felt that Ryuen's evaluation of Sakayanagi was wrong. Even if she resigned from the class representative position, it didn't an she wouldn't obtain points. Although Sakayanagi-san appeared to be stepping back, she hadn't given up completely.
And relying solely on Katsuragi-kun would make it impossible to compete against Hikigaya-kun, who had now beco Class A.
Especially since the original Class A had now fallen to Class B with a gap of over 400 points, they would be forced to use necessary, aggressive strategies.
Therefore, the ultimate leader of the original Class A would still be Sakayanagi-san.
So Hiyori thought.
However, she didn't voice this, instead analyzing the situation of the original Class A: "Class A will have a hard ti ahead. On one hand, they are burdened by debt, and their score has no advantage. If Katsuragi-kun leads, they will likely only take a defensive route—protecting points, protecting rank, and protecting those ager living expenses."
Hearing Hiyori's analysis, Ryuen's mood improved significantly. "Shiina, you're right. But you're still thinking too little."
Ryuen's tone even held a hint of pride. "They can only defend, but what about us? We can attack. We can keep our eyes on them and bite. Bite off a few dozen points in one exam, a hundred points in two... sooner or later, we can drag them down from the Class B position."
He paused, his gaze landing on the deep blue sea, a dangerous light flickering in his eyes. "825 points—the gap between us and our 550 points is only 275 points. As long as we seize the opportunity, we can catch up in two or three exams."
A flash of surprise crossed Ibuki Mio's eyes. "Ryuen, when did you beco so smart?"
Ryuen's smile froze instantly.
He turned his head and stared at Ibuki Mio, his arrogant face filled with speechlessness. "What do you an 'when did I beco so smart'? I've always been smart, okay? Dammit, discussing intelligence with a person like you... I'm the real idiot."
Shiina Hiyori agreed that Ryuen possessed considerable wisdom.
However, she also knew in her heart—
Everything Ryuen said sounded reasonable, but it was actually because he was very familiar with the taste of being on the defensive. After all, Class C had started with 0 points in the first month and had to defend, struggle, and desperately grab every chance to climb up. And the one who had plunged Class C into that situation was that man—Hikigaya Hachiman.
In the old question exam, Class C got 100 points.
In the deserted island exam, although Class C got 350 points, all 350 points were used to pay off debt; only 100 points truly belonged to them.
And in this exam, Class C finally earned so points and money, but it was only by luck; they still fell for Hikigaya Hachiman's trap. Now, that man has beco a student of the new Class A, and this Class A will be even harder to fight than the original one.
As for their Class C... did they really have a chance to unseat him?
Hiyori lowered her eyelids; she lacked confidence.
Suddenly, a burst of noise ca from not far away.
"Whoo—!"
"We won, we won!"
"Long live Class B! Wait, no, we're Class A now—!"
Ishizaki Daichi craned his neck to look over there, his face full of curiosity. "What's going on over there? So noisy?"
Ryuen didn't even lift an eyelid, his tone full of disdain. "Just Class B's victory party, nothing worth seeing."
Ishizaki Daichi scratched his head. "Oh... true."
He pulled back and leaned against the railing again, but his eyes couldn't help but glance over there a few more tis.
Ryuen ignored him and turned to Kaneda, who had been silent; Ryuen had left the task of consolidating the data to him.
"Kaneda," Ryuen began. "Is the data organized?"
Kaneda Satoru looked up, adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose, quickly opened his notebook, and cleared his throat.
"First, the Class Points. We obtained 100 points, bringing our total to 550 points."
Ryuen nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
"Then the Private Points." Kaneda Satoru's gaze fell on the notebook, reporting in a steady tone. "We correctly guessed the VIP of the Monkey Group, so we obtained 1,000,000 points. Then, we gained 1,000,000 points because Class A guessed the VIP of the Cow Group incorrectly. Finally, with Outco 1, our VIP also obtained an additional 500,000 points."
He paused and looked up at Ryuen.
"Then there are the mbers of the final five groups. Dragon Group had 3 people, and the other four groups had 3, 4, 4, and 3 people respectively, for a total of 17 people receiving 500,000 points... which equals 8.5 million."
Ibuki Mio felt a bit dizzy listening to this, her brow furrowing slightly. "So... what's the total?"
Kaneda Satoru pushed up his glasses, his tone calm. "8.5 million plus 3 million, totaling 11.5 million. Deducting the 2.4 million we previously borrowed from Hikigaya, we have 9.1 million left."
Ryuen was silent for a few seconds before slowly speaking, "Hold 3 million as start-up capital for the next exam. The two VIPs get an extra 500,000 each—that's another 1 million deducted from the total. The rest is split equally..."
Kaneda Satoru quickly scribbled in his notebook and looked up. "5.1 million. For forty people in the class, that's..."
"127,500 each," Shiina Hiyori suddenly spoke, quickly providing the answer.
Kaneda Satoru was stunned, looked down at his notebook, and then nodded. "Yes, Shiina-san calculated correctly. 127,500 each."
Ryuen nodded with satisfaction and turned to Shiina Hiyori. "You're in charge of the distribution."
Hiyori was slightly taken aback, then nodded gently. "I understand."
Thus, Class C concluded this exam.
anwhile, in the Class A area...
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