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And they were in the corner.
Kushida's left hand lightly gripped her fingers, then she said,
"I've been trying to contact the upperclassmen these past few days."
"And then I finally blended into a small circle." Kushida said.
She spoke casually about things others couldn't do.
"And I heard from a senior that the test papers for our exams have always been recycled from previous exams. So, the upper two grades have the test papers for our upcoming exams."
"Then this exam might be the same."
"Because their grade, and the previous grade, were all like this. Everyone had the same paper circulating."
Kushida said.
After saying this special news, she looked at Hachiman and Horikita Suzune.
Of course, as Kushida's important target, Kushida first looked at Horikita Suzune.
However, Horikita Suzune's expression remained unchanged.
But.
In reality, her heart was in turmoil.
Is there such a thing?
"The school actually allows students to cheat directly?" Horikita Suzune said.
As a top student, she was very surprised.
She even felt it was unfair.
"..." Hachiman.
"Normal exams are a test of learned knowledge. But.."
"The special exams at this school cannot be dealt with by common sense." Hachiman said.
"It might want to refine us through exams, training us to be able to meet societal demands."
"So, the exam after the first month of enrollment might be to test whether we can discover the true nature of this school."
"And even if I didn't destroy the camera, and let the Class evaluation points be exposed, and the teachers could only tell us the true nature and rules of this school in advance. But it would also be announced on the 1st of this month."
"So, this might be guiding us not to be too rigid in our thinking."
And if it's really as Kushida said.
If the test papers are recycled from previous exams, then you only need to memorize the answers to pass!
And is this the key to passing this exam?
If you think about this, then you can get the test papers from the upperclassmen.
Just.
"Just to ask." Hachiman said.
"Which grade and Class is the senior you contacted, Kushida?"
"Third-year D Class, is there a problem with that?" Kushida said.
Hmm.
Of course, there's a problem.
"Then did she make you an offer?" Hachiman asked.
"Eh? How did you know? She said if we wanted it, she'd only charge 40,000 points."
40,000 points.
In other words, it was to sell the papers.
This is very real.
Because the students of Third-year D Class are very poor.
They don't have much money and are all eating unpalatable wild vegetable sets.
Of course, they want to earn some extra money.
But this also means that students buying and selling papers among themselves is also reasonable at this school.
However.
"Then let's contact Ichinose first." Hachiman said.
"To deal with this exam, their Class also contributed to us."
In other words, sharing information, right?
"Mm-hmm." So Kushida continued to work.
But she wanted to take out her phone but then put it away.
Because Ichinose Honami was also in the cafeteria.
"Ichinose."
"Kushida."
From a distance, Kushida waved to Ichinose, greeting her with a joyful expression.
"What a coincidence."
Kushida had a joyful expression, with a hint of relief, "That's great, to actually meet Ichinose here."
"Huh? Is something wrong?"
Ichinose was slightly surprised, asking softly.
"Hmm, it's like this."
Kushida paused, as if organizing her words, and whispered, "I got a message from a senior that the content of our current exam was actually from a previous exam. So the Grade 2 and Third Year seniors still have the same test papers. So I thought it might be helpful for your Class B, and I rushed to tell you the news."
"I see."
Ichinose nodded lightly, but her expression didn't change much.
"I already knew about this. In fact, I was thinking of telling you all about it too."
Ichinose nodded lightly, a sweet smile on her face, and said softly, "But still, thank you, Kushida."
"Eh? Is that so?"
Kushida looked surprised.
Why would Ichinose know?
"Hmm, a senior from the Student Council told me."
Ichinose saw Kushida's expression, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "That senior wants me to join the Student Council to help him. So, he told me this news."
"I see."
Kushida nodded, smiling sweetly.
Originally, the authenticity couldn't be confirmed, but now that Ichinose said a Student Council member vouched for it.
Then, it can basically be confirmed as true.
Only Hachiman was thinking.
Because the Student Council senior who would tell Ichinose such a thing might not have pure intentions.
Because it's also a written exam, as an experienced person, and also a relatively close relationship, Horikita's brother didn't say anything.
So this Student Council senior might have ulterior motives.
Ichinose did not explicitly say who this Student Council senior was, but Hachiman decided that the other party had bad intentions.
The reason for saying this can be analyzed.
Because, generally speaking, upperclassmen would not actively tell lowerclassmen such information.
Although the school tacitly allowed the buying and selling of test papers, there would still be some restrictions.
Otherwise, if all upperclassmen revealed information to lowerclassmen, would the school still test the lowerclassmen?
Hachiman felt there might be some constraints, for example, they might be told that they cannot tell the other party information unless the lowerclassman actively asks for it.
Therefore, this active approach to lowerclassmen, if reported, would definitely be dealt with.
So upperclassmen also have their own areas where they need to be cautious.
So now, this senior actively seeking out Ichinose, is it knowing the law but breaking it?
It seems the other party has a purpose.
Perhaps it's because Ichinose is cute and they want to pursue her or something.
This is natural.
Hachiman also gave Ichinose a high evaluation, probably a gentle, very tolerant girl, and her looks were no less than Horikita Suzune's.
And marrying such a girl must be a pleasure.
Just thinking about it, if it were with Sakayanagi Arisu, he always felt that if he married Sakayanagi, he might be constantly restrained.
So Ichinose is a popular marriage candidate.
No boy dislikes her.
But.
This is based on the idea of being interested in and pursuing Ichinose, so what if it's not like that?
Then why would they say such a thing to Ichinose of Grade 1 Class B?
That would be for utilitarian reasons.
Because Ichinose is a student of Class B, and also the representative of Class B, then contacting her might allow them to control Grade 1 Class B.
"Can you give me a list of the Student Council members?" Hachiman then sent the message to Horikita Manabu.
"..."
Horikita Manabu was probably looking at his phone and immediately replied, but he only sent two dots.
"Of course, I will pay points." Hachiman continued to type.
"..." Horikita Manabu still sent two dots, but added a QR code for payment afterwards.
So Hachiman scanned the QR code and entered the points.
He watched the number being paid.
1000 points.
Speaking of which, the Student Council President is too fair.
Then he got the result.
The current Student Council has a total of seven members.
And among these seven, only the secretary, Senior Akane, is a girl.
Five of them are Third Year students, but the two Vice Presidents are Grade 2 students.
One of the Vice Presidents, Nagumo Miyabi, is the handsome blond guy Hachiman often sees at the Student Council, who displays his Vice President badge.
The other Vice President is named Kiriyama.
From Ichinose's statement, the other party wants her to join the Student Council to work for him, so he must at least have the position of Vice President to have such authority.
"Can you give me more information about Vice President Nagumo and Vice President Kiriyama?" Hachiman continued to send messages.
"50,000 points." Horikita Manabu sent a message.
But this time, Horikita Manabu did not provide a QR code for payment.
And Hachiman, of course, did not continue to pay.
Because Horikita Manabu typed quickly.
"I paid you. Vice President Nagumo's full name is Nagumo Miyabi. He was a student of Grade 1 Class B in the past and successfully promoted to Class A, so I brought him into the Student Council and gave him the position of Vice President."
"And Kiriyama was originally a student of Class A, a Class representative, and also has certain abilities, so after Nagumo, I also brought him into the Student Council."
The information Horikita Manabu provided was not many words, but it contained a lot of information.
First, he actually paid points himself again.
He had paid once before, which was for tutoring his sister and had educational significance.
And now, he actually paid points for him, why?
It can only be... the information Hachiman was asking about now might concern Horikita Manabu himself.
In other words, the other party wanted to invite him to the Student Council before, and Hachiman felt he might be assigned some troublesome tasks, and it turns out this gossip was true.
Moreover, there was some information in Horikita Manabu's words, such as first inviting Nagumo, who had successfully advanced to the next Class, to join the Student Council, and then inviting Kiriyama, who had fallen to Class B.
Because he had fallen, the original Class A lost face, but Horikita Manabu was still able to give him a chance.
A bit interesting.
Hachiman also remembered when he and Kushida went to investigate the situation of other Grades, they saw numbers written on the small blackboard under the Grade 2 teaching building.
The numbers at that time were as follows:
Class A 2000
Class B 600
Class C 400
Class D 200
Now he understood that these referred to the Class evaluation points of the four Classes.
And even if your Class B successfully advanced, the gap in Class evaluation points wouldn't be that large.
Moreover, the point values were all in hundreds, which was quite strange, as if they were manipulated.
And if they were truly manipulated... then perhaps the entire Grade 2 had fallen.
Generally speaking, a school has one Student Council President and one Student Council Vice President, and then there can be multiple secretaries or accountants.
At Advanced Nurturing High School, Horikita Manabu's Student Council has a total of two Student Council Vice Presidents, and they are also Class representatives from their respective Grades.
Rather than being chosen for excellence, it's more like a competition.
And you compete in the Class competition, so why do you also have to compete in the Student Council?
So, perhaps it's like this.
It can be confirmed that Horikita Manabu wants to pull him into the Student Council, probably to prevent Vice President Nagumo's influence from increasing further.
From this perspective, it can basically be confirmed that the person who told Ichinose this news was Nagumo Miyabi.
And Nagumo Miyabi's purpose is not difficult to guess.
It's probably to let Ichinose get the test papers and then do a favor for the students of Class B, in order to gain greater support and trust from Class B students.
And ultimately, completely control Class B.
In other words, not only Grade 2, but does the other party also want to interfere with the First Year students?
Or, if it's not for this purpose, then there's no need to specifically highlight his identity as the Student Council Vice President in the Student Council.
The purpose is to make First Year students notice him when they go to the Student Council.
...
He figured out Vice President Nagumo's intentions.
"Ichinose, if it's Vice President Nagumo." Hachiman said, "It's best not to get too close to him."
"I don't like to speak ill of people behind their backs, but Senior Nagumo is very dangerous."
Saying this, Hachiman retrieved the photo of the Grade 2 Class evaluation points taken during enrollment.
Because she saw that Hachiman seemed to want to show her a picture, Ichinose immediately leaned closer.
Instantly, the girl's fragrant scent wafted over.
Moreover, Ichinose probably doesn't quite understand personal space with others.
Hachiman felt that if she got any closer, Ichinose would be practically clinging to him.
So he handed over his phone, allowing her to see the numbers on it.
"This is a photo I took earlier on the Grade 2 blackboard."
"Now I know these are the Class evaluation points of their four Grade 2 Classes, and the values are quite strange, so I suspect that Grade 2 has already lost the ability to compete as Classes."
Lost the ability to compete as Classes, which means... have they actually integrated into one unit?
Ichinose's expression began to change.
She wasn't stupid.
She quickly understood what Hachiman wanted to say.
He was talking about the danger of the Senior who told her the shortcut to passing this written exam, wasn't he?
Only then.
"This is a photo Hikigaya took when he enrolled, isn't it?" Ichinose said.
"As expected, Hikigaya discovered the uniqueness of this school very early on."
Uh.
No.
Hachiman didn't want to be praised.
Just.
"I see..."
Ichinose nodded as if she understood something.
"Although I don't like to speculate about others with malice, that Senior seems like a good person."
"But..."
"If he can do something like that, then... I can't let my Class fall into crisis."
"Anyway, thank you." Ichinose said.
"Our Class should thank you too." Hachiman said.
"You still wanted to tell us after learning that the exam usually uses old questions."
"Ah... Mmm. After all, the students in Class C are under a lot of pressure." Ichinose said with a smile.
Actually, Classmates went to Class C for tutoring, and then Classmates like Kanzaki Ryuji almost wanted to bang their heads against the wall.
And Ichinose also knew how appallingly bad the academic ability of Class C students could be.
And according to the tutoring progress, they definitely wouldn't be able to pass normally.
So upon learning about the old exam questions, she wanted to share it.
From this perspective, Ichinose is like an Angel.
...
Afterward, Ichinose left first because a friend was looking for her.
And Hachiman looked at Kushida.
"This way, the news that the written exam in the second month of enrollment will use old questions can basically be confirmed as true."
"So the next thing to do is to get our hands on the test papers." Hachiman said.
"So can you ask your Senior to meet up?"
"Mmm, I'll try." Kushida nodded.
As the Little Angel of the Class, she didn't want to see anyone in the Class fall behind due to failing.
And now she had confirmed the truth of the matter from Ichinose.
Then she could boldly proceed.
Thus.
Kushida began to work.
...
Ten minutes later.
"Senior."
Kushida sat down opposite a Senior with a wide forehead, wearing a sweet smile, "There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Do you still have test papers left over from the exam two years ago?"
"How many points are you willing to pay?"
The Third Year Senior was completely straightforward.
Rather, when Kushida came to inquire about information, she was already tempted.
After all, she was a Class D student, and she had already thrown up from eating the unpalatable wild vegetable meal set.
So she also wanted points.
And now, she nervously looked around, then lowered her voice and asked.
"Ugh~, this..."
Kushida showed a troubled expression, looking at the Senior hesitantly, "Then, Senior, how much do you want?"
"As we discussed before, 40,000!"
The Senior lowered her voice, but spoke with resolute determination, "I also have to take risks here, not a single point less than 40,000!"
If she could help her Classmates pass and also do a favor for Ichinose.
Then this price was acceptable.
But.
Kushida felt she could bargain.
Now everyone knew the rules of this school, and the Third-year D Class Senior, their Class evaluation points were 20 points, so they could only get 2,000 private points each month.
It wasn't even enough for food.
In other words... the Senior was quite poor.
So.
"Senior..."
Kushida looked at her with some difficulty, "Isn't that a bit too expensive?"
"It's not expensive."
The Third Year Senior didn't give any face, saying seriously, "I can guarantee the accuracy of this test paper. Your midterm exam questions will definitely be exactly the same as this one.
And if you pass the exam, not only can you avoid expulsion, but you can also get points. If you can get a perfect score, for a Class of forty people, that's 400,000 in total!
I only want 40,000, so it's not expensive at all."
"..."
Kushida showed a troubled expression, then became pitiful, "Senior, do you really have the heart to let me drop out?"
"..." Uh.
Although she was a girl, the Third Year Senior was momentarily stunned, after all, Kushida's appearance was still very cute.
And she even showed an expression of trust and belief in her.
At that moment, she even felt a pang of shame, wondering if it was really okay to extort such a cute School Junior?
"35,000, not a point less!"
Gritting her teeth, the Senior lowered her demand, but her tone softened considerably, unlike her previous resolute manner.
"Senior."
Kushida still had a bitter face, continuing to look pitiful.
"30,000." Kushida said.
"35,000! I really can't go any lower!"
But the Senior had a bitter expression, and her words became resolute, unlike her previous soft-heartedness.
With 35,000 points, if she was frugal, she could avoid eating the wild vegetable meal set for at least 60 meals.
So, she couldn't lower the price any further.
And Kushida also sensed the firmness in the Senior's words.
She knew that acting cute wouldn't work anymore.
"Alright, 35,000."
Kushida sighed softly, took out her phone, looking pitiful.
...
Thus.
Kushida and the Senior were making a transaction.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Hachiman and Horikita were not far away.
Watching the scene.
"See? Kushida is very good at this kind of thing." Hachiman said.
Actually, Hachiman didn't think Kushida's actions were excellent.
Because.
She didn't understand the importance of bargaining, surrendering the choice to the other party from the start, letting them state their psychological price instead of her stating hers.
This way, even if the senior was a novice, she would know that Kushida didn't actually know the true price of the exam paper, nor how to price it.
Therefore, she used a phrase like, 'The whole Class for 400,000, I only need 40,000 points.'
The correct way to bargain is to make the item seem rare and desirable.
The senior was just one of many upperclassmen, so they could find other upperclassmen.
So, the other party could continue to lower the price. 30,000, no, even 20,000 points would be enough to get it.
However.
"Then."
Hachiman stated his purpose. "How about you try to accept Kushida a little?"
"..." Horikita.
"Do you mean... I should become friends with her?"
.....
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