"Everyone, please listen to me for a moment."
Sakayanagi Arisu's voice wasn't loud at first, and only a few students in the front heard what she was saying.
But when she tapped her cane on the floor, the noisy classroom instantly fell silent.
At that moment, almost everyone's attention was on her.
"I understand everyone's concerns about this exam. If the first-year student assigned as your partner lacks sufficient ability, you might end up expelled." Sakayanagi Arisu spoke at a measured pace, her reliable tone alleviating some of the unease among the group.
Although her results weren't as dazzling as Katsuragi's or Kaoru's, she was still a leader everyone trusted.
The greatest risk in this exam came from the unknown first-year students.
Class 2-A knew nothing about them, and even with the OAA system, finding capable first-years to partner with would likely be no simple task.
The risks borne by both sides were completely different.
If they failed the exam, second-year students faced expulsion as punishment, while first-years merely faced point deductions—naturally, this made everyone nervous.
Class 2-A could currently scrape together another 20 million personal points, but that would only save one person.
Therefore, whether it was Sakayanagi Arisu or anyone else, they all understood clearly:
The key to this exam was avoiding expulsion, with rewards being a secondary consideration.
"Just now, Mashima-sensei gave us the approximate cutoff scores. In terms of academic evaluation, to pass, one must achieve at least a C-grade or higher," Sakayanagi Arisu stated calmly.
"I've reviewed our class's academic standings: 17 students have a B-grade or above, 18 have a C-grade evaluation, and only 5 are below C-grade."
In other words, only five people in their class theoretically faced the risk of expulsion.
After Sakayanagi Arisu's explanation, the initially panicked mindset of everyone gradually eased.
After all, they were Class A, and their paper strength was respectable.
"That's true, but the punishment threshold set by the school is a combined score of 500 points for both partners," Katsuragi Kohei said. "If the first-year we partner with can't even score 200 points, our risk of expulsion becomes very high."
Class 2-A's own level was certainly high, but the problem wasn't there—it was about how to select a reliable partner.
"Whether it's B or C, the partners we find mustn't have issues. At minimum, we need partners around C-grade level," Katsuragi said conservatively.
His approach to problems always started from the class's perspective, so he believed everyone's partner should ideally have C-grade academic ability, with D-grade as a second choice—anything lower couldn't be considered.
"Katsuragi-kun, your solution is brilliant. I was thinking the same thing."
Sakayanagi Arisu revealed a smile, which made everyone freeze.
Had he just proposed some solution to the problem?
Katsuragi Kohei instinctively glanced at Kaoru standing behind her.
Not just him—in fact, many were watching Kaoru.
As the student representative, Kaoru's speech during the entrance ceremony a few days ago had been too arrogant, making many from the Katsuragi faction wonder if they should join the Kaoru faction instead.
However, Kaoru himself didn't seem to be stepping forward to consolidate these opinions, so many of the glances directed his way carried peculiar expressions.
"Sakayanagi-san, if you have any thoughts, you can speak directly," Katsuragi Kohei said with a frown, feeling that his earlier statement held no special meaning.
Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled lightly before saying, "The problem is already half-solved. Just as you said, our partner candidates need to be at least C-grade level."
Katsuragi Kohei was momentarily speechless.
Wasn't this just stating the obvious?
But upon second thought, he realized this "obvious" statement actually made sense—after all, it had already defined what kind of partners Class 2-A needed.
Just as Sakayanagi Arisu had said, half the problem was already solved.
"We need to have a talk with these first-year students."
Katsuragi Kohei reacted quickly. "We have 17 students here with B-rank or higher academic abilities. We can exchange with them—they should also be concerned about the penalties."
Pairing the strong with the weak—that was Katsuragi Kohei's first instinct.
By exchanging high-achieving students with each other and pairing the other class's top students with their own weaker ones, they could offset their own disadvantages and avoid the school's penalties.
The more Katsuragi Kohei thought about it, the more he felt this was a good idea.
They could leverage their strengths, and the first-year students wouldn't lose out either.
However, Sakayanagi Arisu rejected his proposal.
"Exchanging students is indeed feasible, but who exactly do you plan to exchange with?"
The girl's clear voice rang out. "Does Katsuragi-kun believe the first-year students have already completed their class integration?"
Katsuragi Kohei was suddenly startled—he had almost forgotten this point.
Even their own second-year Class A back then hadn't been able to immediately integrate the entire class, and the same applied now.
Without class integration, it was highly likely that the current first-year students had no representative, making student exchange impossible to discuss.
"We can look into this," Katsuragi Kohei said cautiously. "Since it concerns their own interests, I don't think anyone would object."
Taking a step back, even if the first-year students currently had no representative, Katsuragi Kohei believed his proposal was highly feasible and unlikely to be rejected.
"Katsuragi-kun, being overly confident isn't always a good thing," Sakayanagi Arisu said, as if lamenting, with a deep sigh.
Katsuragi Kohei furrowed his brows. What was wrong with his proposal?
"Hey, if you have any objections, just say them!" Totsuka Yahiko couldn't hold back any longer.
This elementary school girl repeatedly contradicting his leader was infuriating to watch!
At that moment, Matoba Shinji spoke up.
"The penalties for the first-year students are different from ours. They might try to extort us."
Some people's expressions changed at these words, which also served as a wake-up call for Katsuragi Kohei.
A chill ran down his spine as he realized he had been thinking too simplistically.
If there were a few shrewd individuals among the first-year students, they would quickly realize this exam was highly advantageous for them and could take the opportunity to extort the second-year students.
Simply exchanging a few students to pass the exam might not satisfy some of the first-year students' appetites.
Seeing Katsuragi Kohei's expression, Sakayanagi Arisu smiled faintly.
"Matoba-kun's thoughts align with mine. If someone takes this chance to drive up the price against us, it would be too costly."
"So then?" Totsuka Yahiko said irritably. "Do you think this method won't work?"
"No, I never said that, Totsuka-kun," Sakayanagi Arisu maintained her smile. "On the contrary, we can precisely use this to our advantage."
"How?" Katsuragi Kohei felt something was off.
Sakayanagi Arisu blinked. "It's simple—we just buy out the high-achieving first-year students."
Many gasped in shock, and even Katsuragi Kohei was stunned for a moment.
"Buy them out?" Totsuka Yahiko still didn't grasp the situation. "You mean we should agree to their extortion?"
"As long as the terms are acceptable, we agree to all of them," Sakayanagi Arisu said cheerfully. "A, B, C—we take them all. That way, the other classes will have no recourse."
Totsuka Yahiko seemed to have finally processed the idea, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"This plan of yours won't work—there are too many people involved."
Katsuragi Kohei sighed inwardly.
Just considering the conditions she proposed, it was obvious the numbers would exceed limits without even needing to think twice.
"What does it matter? We'll target the A and B-rank freshmen first."
Sakayanagi Arisu remained unfazed. "For every additional student we secure, the other classes lose one. Even if no one gets expelled, we'll still achieve a high score."
Katsuragi Kohei pondered for a moment and realized her approach had merit, though it would require spending a considerable amount of Personal points.
But from another perspective...
His original plan might also lead to others making exorbitant demands.
If spending points was inevitable, Sakayanagi Arisu's method seemed more straightforward and forceful.