"What kind of person is this guy?!"
After leaving the office, Nagumo Miyabi muttered to himself with a mix of anger and frustration.
This was the first time he had been completely outclassed in such a way, to the point where it felt almost humiliating.
But Nagumo Miyabi had to admit that Saiki Kusuke possessed unparalleled abilities.
Even Horikita Manabu probably couldn't compare to him.
"If his older brother is this capable... could Saiki still be hiding his true strength?"
Nagumo Miyabi grew increasingly puzzled.
However, there was no doubt that a storm was brewing within the school—
...
Meanwhile, Saiki, Horikita Suzune, and the others had already arrived at the gymnasium.
Sakayanagi Arisu from Class B wasn't present. Due to her physical limitations, she naturally wouldn't attend, so Hashimoto Masayoshi took on the task instead.
[Sakayanagi didn't assign me any specific targets. She just told me to observe noteworthy students—]
However, Hashimoto Masayoshi's gaze kept drifting toward Saiki.
[To betray Sakayanagi and side with Saiki, I'd need at least 20 million points...]
'Yare yare...'
Saiki avoided Hashimoto Masayoshi's gaze and shifted his attention elsewhere.
Ryuen Kakeru and his Class C hadn't shown up, while Ichinose Honami and most of Class D were present, engaging in conversations with the first-year students.
"Generally speaking, the students who come to the gymnasium for the exchange event probably don't have particularly high academic abilities."
Horikita Suzune said.
"Hmm."
Saiki nodded. With his telepathy, he knew Horikita Suzune was right. He could hear the thoughts of the first-year students around him.
[This school is so unique... There are rules like this?]
[My grades aren't great... I need to find a senior with good grades to partner with. I don't want to lose all my personal points.]
[Are those students from Class 2-A? But it's strange. According to the data, the average academic ability of Class 2-A seems pretty average... It feels like they're worse than Class B... How did they become Class A?]
Through the mental chatter of these students, Saiki got a general sense of the situation.
Although it was still early in the semester, these students already seemed to know about some of the school's rules, which was completely different from how things were when Saiki and his classmates first started.
However, Saiki also noticed that not many first-year students had come to the event.
Horikita Suzune's gaze shifted to the distance. At that moment, Ichinose Honami was surrounded by first-year students, but she didn't bring up the special exam. Instead, she started with self-introductions and casual conversations to build rapport—of course, not everyone could open up immediately.
Ichinose Honami wasn't in a hurry. She smiled warmly and patiently chatted with the students, gradually building a connection with them.
[This senior is so kind...]
[She's so pretty!]
[I want to partner with her!]
"She's not prioritizing the special exam but is instead focusing on building trust. That's very much Ichinose's style. It's something that seems easy for anyone to do, but in reality, it's a dazzling approach that few can pull off."
Horikita Suzune said slowly.
[I could never do something like that.]
Saiki heard Horikita Suzune's thoughts.
"Are you thinking of a similar strategy?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked from the side.
"Yes, but unlike Ichinose, my initial strategy revolves around personal points."
Horikita Suzune said.
"We're currently Class A students. Our class points exceed 1,000, and we have hundreds of thousands of personal points. For first-year students, this is a pretty attractive advantage—something that Classes D and C don't have. However, even so, we can't afford to waste personal points. Based on previous exams, personal points are crucial. For example, if a key student in the class is at risk of expulsion, 20 million points can turn the tide—so I'm more inclined to save up personal points. Also, since our class has just risen to Class A, our total personal points might still be less than Class B's."
Horikita Suzune calmly analyzed the situation. After observing the surroundings, she turned to Hirata Yosuke, who had come with them.
"Hirata, could you stay here and interact with these students? After all, being from Class A is an advantage in itself. I'm sure many students will actively reach out to us."
"Sure, of course. But if that's the case, are you planning to leave, Horikita?"
Hirata Yosuke asked.
"Yes."
Horikita Suzune nodded seriously.
"Is that okay, Horikita?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned to look at Horikita Suzune.
"I've noticed that more than half of the students didn't attend this exchange event. We need to negotiate with those students."
"Huh?"
Sudo Ken, who had come along, looked completely confused, not understanding what Horikita Suzune was talking about.
"Is that so?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spoke while thinking to himself.
[Her goal is to target the first-year students who didn't listen to Ichinose's advice—but at the same time, this also means the difficulty of winning them over. These are students who can find partners on their own without help, lack the courage to attend the exchange event, or have already devised their own strategies. In any case, there are likely many difficult students to deal with.]
"I'll ask for your reasoning, then."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka continued, pretending not to understand.
"There are two reasons—based on my earlier observations, the proportion of students at the exchange event who are anxious about their academic abilities is surprisingly high. We need students with at least a B in academic ability—those who are confident enough not to attend the exchange event but are still capable. The students at the exchange event aren't particularly valuable, but we can't rule out the possibility that there are some with good academic abilities. So, I'll leave this task to you, Hirata."
Horikita Suzune said.
"Our top priority isn't to pair high-achieving students with each other but to ensure that no one gets expelled. We need to convince first-year students with solid academic abilities to cover for the weaker students."
[Ichinose's goal is likely to protect the low-achieving students as much as possible. This way, we might also be able to pair up with more high-achieving students.]
"As for the second point, the people who showed up at the exchange event, regardless of their academic abilities, seem a bit unbalanced."
Horikita Suzune said.
[Unbalanced... She's referring to the fact that an entire class of first-year students didn't attend.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka guessed Horikita Suzune's thoughts but still asked,
"Unbalanced?"
"I mean that none of the first-year Class D students attended."
Horikita Suzune explained further.
"A class has around 40 students. Among them, there will be those who aren't good at studying and those who aren't good at communicating—but the fact that no one from Class D is here clearly reflects the class's intentions. It's obvious that someone is controlling the class and guiding them not to attend the exchange event."
"In other words, Class D already has a leader, and that person rejected the exchange event?"
"Exactly."
Horikita Suzune nodded.
However, Horikita Suzune was also a bit puzzled.
[It's only the first day of the semester. Did their leader emerge so quickly? No, there's another possibility—the first-year students might have interacted with their classmates earlier than we did and already know the exam rules.]
"But if they're Class D students, wouldn't that affect our class's overall score?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka continued.
"Yes, if we're considering class-based competition, partnering with Class D wouldn't yield high scores. So, I'm not planning to directly collaborate with Class D. I just want to make contact with them first and learn more about their class."
Horikita Suzune continued.
"I feel like the school's policies have changed somewhat. In the future, we might have more interactions with the first-year students, so it's not a bad idea to get to know them in advance. Besides, compared to class-based competition, I think our priority should be to protect every student. Once we ensure no one gets expelled, we can focus on achieving higher scores."
"Saiki!"
At that moment, Hashimoto Masayoshi walked over and greeted Saiki and the others.
[This is a good opportunity to gather information about Class B—no, Class A. Maybe I can even get closer to Saiki.]
'Hey, hey, don't call my name in such a public place.'
Saiki thought to himself. He didn't want too many first-year students to remember his name.
"You guys from Class B don't really need to attend this kind of exchange event, do you? After all, you probably don't need students of this caliber."
Horikita Suzune looked at Hashimoto Masayoshi.
"I'm just following Princess's orders."
Hashimoto Masayoshi shrugged.
"On the other hand, you're from Class A. Why are you attending the exchange event?"
Although he asked this, Hashimoto Masayoshi knew the reason very well.
It was because Class A didn't have the capabilities that a Class A should have.
The proportion of students with a D or lower in academic ability was quite high, while the number of students with a B or higher was relatively low.
Therefore, to ensure that the class could pass this exam, Horikita Suzune had to recruit as many high-achieving students as possible.
"Let's go."
Horikita Suzune quickly led Saiki and the others away.
Hashimoto Masayoshi watched Saiki's retreating figure, momentarily lost in thought.
...
Soon, Saiki followed Horikita Suzune and the others to the first-year floor. Although it was after school, many first-year students were still chatting and laughing in the classrooms, looking very relaxed.
"Heh, you're late, Suzune."
At that moment, a voice full of arrogance and frivolity sounded in front of them.
Ryuen Kakeru.
Ishizaki Daichi and Ibuki Mio stood behind him.
When the three of them noticed Saiki standing behind Horikita Suzune, their heartbeats quickened slightly.
However, Ryuen Kakeru quickly composed himself.
[I can't show weakness in front of Saiki... I've already prepared myself to face him again—but Horikita Suzune still has no idea what kind of monster is standing behind her.]
"Ryuen, you're here to scout the first-years too? You didn't show up at the exchange event."
Horikita Suzune looked at Ryuen Kakeru, her expression neutral.
"The idiots are all gathered in the gymnasium, right? There's no need to pay attention to them."
Ryuen Kakeru replied.
[Our target is also the high-achieving first-year students... But what I want to achieve goes beyond that. This scouting mission is also a screening process for me to see which students are worth using.]
Ryuen Kakeru thought to himself, then smiled and said,
"Don't worry, I haven't recruited anyone yet. You look like you don't believe me."
"At the very least, whatever you say here should be taken with a grain of salt."
"Oh? You've become quite wary of me."
"I've never stopped being wary of you."
"Heh, fair enough."
Ryuen Kakeru laughed heartily.
Horikita Suzune was one of the more capable people in Class A—but compared to the real threats, she was far from enough.
Meanwhile, Sudo Ken, who had come with Horikita Suzune, glared fiercely at Ryuen, but the latter ignored him and continued:
"Also, I'll tell you something. You'll find out sooner or later anyway. This year's first-years have just started, but they're acting unusually calm and composed. This suggests that the school might have explained the system to the new students to some extent."
As he spoke, Ryuen Kakeru glanced at Saiki.
[I'm sure Saiki has already noticed this.]
'Yare yare, that's true—though I used my psychic powers.'
Saiki replied in his heart.
So far, he hadn't seen any particularly strange individuals among the first-years.
"Why are you telling me this? Are you planning to use some underhanded tactics?"
Horikita Suzune had no trust in Ryuen Kakeru.
"Not really. After all, this special exam doesn't allow us to eliminate our opponents—but to win in terms of total score, I'll probably need to make some arrangements."
Ryuen Kakeru replied—
But at that moment, a burly figure appeared beside them.
"Second-years, huh?"