The thin morning mist had not yet dispersed, but a long queue had already formed at the entrance of Sobu University.
Students carried their bags, tightly clutching their study materials and murmuring key formulas, the air filled with a tense and solemn atmosphere.
Today was the day of the monthly exam, a two-day test that would assess everyone's learning progress over the past month.
When Okabara Kyogumichi walked into the teaching building, he happened to meet Kaguya Shinomiya, who was also preparing to enter the exam hall.
The girl was wearing crisp clothes, her hair neatly combed, and her face held its usual composure, though the faint red streaks in her eyes betrayed her late-night studying.
Their eyes met, and without extra words, they simply nodded to each other in tacit understanding, yet invisible sparks seemed to collide in the air.
"Good luck," Shinomiya said, moving her gaze first, her tone flat but with a subtle hint of competitiveness.
"You too," Kyogumichi smiled slightly, then turned and walked towards his own exam room.
The exam room was already filled with students, each making their final preparations. Some were quickly flipping through notebooks, some were silently writing formulas on scratch paper, and others had their hands clasped in silent prayer. The invigilator walked into the classroom with the test papers, the crisp sound of her footsteps particularly clear in the quiet room, instantly bringing the tense atmosphere to a climax.
"Students, please put away your study materials and place your admission tickets on the upper left corner of your desks," the invigilator's voice was clear and stern. "During the exam, whispering is prohibited, and no electronic devices are allowed. Violators will be treated as cheating."
As the bell rang, the first language arts exam officially began. The test papers were distributed, and the sound of uniform page-turning immediately filled the classroom.
Kyogumichi took a deep breath, picked up his pen, and began to answer. The basic knowledge section was no challenge for him; with his strong memory, he breezed through the classical poetry dictation and literary common sense questions, his pen moving smoothly across the paper.
His gaze swept over the reading comprehension questions, and he quickly grasped the main idea. Unlike other students who meticulously read word by word, Kyogumichi used a speed-reading method, first reading the entire text to grasp the general meaning, then returning to the original text with the questions to find answers, which was highly efficient.
While other students were still struggling with the first reading comprehension question, he had already started writing his essay.
The essay topic was "My Passion." Kyogumichi pondered for a moment, then recalled Kitagawa Marin's excitement when discussing her hobbies, and Hitori Bocchi's focus when holding her guitar, a smile unconsciously forming on his lips.
He did not choose flowery language but instead used simple words to tell the stories of passion he had observed, his writing filled with sincerity and warmth.
Kaguya Shinomiya, at the other end of the exam room, was also answering questions with great speed. Her handwriting was neat and beautiful, like print, and every answer was carefully considered.
Facing the essay question, she chose to approach it from the perspective of "persistence," combining her experiences of learning various traditional arts to discuss the relationship between passion and dedication. Her logic was clear, her arguments sufficient, demonstrating a depth of thought beyond her peers.
Chitanda Eru sat by the window, sunlight falling on her test paper. She was exceptionally meticulous with the language arts questions, especially the classical text section, carefully deliberating over every word and phrase in her mind.
When she encountered an uncertain part, she would gently bite her pen tip, her brows slightly furrowed, not relaxing until she found the correct answer. Her essay was written with great care, filled with a love for history, and the historical materials cited were accurate and rich.
During lunch break, the cafeteria was filled with students discussing the morning's exam.
Kitagawa Marin excitedly pulled Kyogumichi, sharing her answers: "Okabara-san, did you think the language exam was difficult? I thought the essay topic was super great! I wrote a story about my hobbies and used all the descriptive methods you mentioned!"
"Sounds very good," Kyogumichi smiled and nodded, handing her a bottle of juice. "Math is this afternoon, good luck."
"Mhm! I'll definitely work hard!" Kitagawa Marin nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling with confidence. After this period of review, she no longer feared math as much as before.
The atmosphere of the afternoon's math exam was even more tense. When the test papers were distributed, many students couldn't help but gasp at the last bonus question. The problem involved the comprehensive application of multiple knowledge points, and just understanding the question required a considerable amount of time.
Kyogumichi quickly scanned the test paper, and after confirming that the basic question types were not a problem, he focused on the bonus question. He did not rush to write, but instead drew a clear mind map on his scratch paper, listing the known conditions and desired goals in the problem one by one, looking for the logical relationships between them.
"So that's it, I need to use this theorem to transform it," Kyogumichi suddenly realized, his pen flying across the scratch paper. His problem-solving approach was clear and concise, avoiding complex calculations and directly grasping the core of the problem.
As he wrote down the last answer, he looked up and found many students still struggling with the second-to-last question.
Kaguya Shinomiya's math foundation was equally solid, and basic questions posed no pressure for her. Facing the bonus question, she demonstrated excellent logical thinking ability, deducing step by step. Although her calculation process was a bit more complex than Kyogumichi's, she also found the correct solution. When she put down her pen, her gaze met his, and a hint of mutual understanding flashed in both their eyes.
Hitori Bocchi sat in the corner of the exam room, her fingers trembling slightly as she held her pen. Math had always been her weakness, but after this period of diligent review, she could now handle the basic question types. She took a deep breath, and following the method Kyogumichi had mentioned, she first tackled the questions she was confident about, then challenged the difficult ones. Although she couldn't fully solve the last bonus question, she at least got some partial credit for the steps, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.
In the English exam on the second day, Kitagawa Marin performed exceptionally well. Relying on associative memory, her grasp of vocabulary and grammar was stronger, and she answered the reading comprehension questions quickly and accurately. When she saw the essay topic was to describe her favorite activity, she immediately thought of her creative hobbies, and her writing flowed vividly, full of genuine emotion.
Shiina Mahiru's science exam was impeccable. She thoroughly understood every knowledge point, her descriptions of experimental steps were accurate and standardized, and her calculation processes were clear. Her test paper not only had correct answers but also a presentation so neat it was like a work of art, which even the invigilator couldn't help but glance at a few times.
When the bell signaling the end of the exam rang, the entire campus seemed to let out a sigh of relief. Students walked out of the exam rooms, some excitedly discussing the questions, while others were dejected because they hadn't performed well. Kyogumichi and Shiina Mahiru walked among the crowd, discussing the difficult questions from the last physics exam.
"For that last mechanics problem, what method did you use?" Shiina Mahiru asked curiously.
"I used the law of conservation of energy, which is simpler than kinematic equations," Kyogumichi explained with a smile. "What about your solution?"
"I used the momentum theorem, but the calculation process was a bit complex," Shiina Mahiru's cheeks flushed slightly. "Your method is more elegant."
The afterglow of the setting sun cast long shadows of the two on the ground. Although the exam results had not yet been announced, everyone had put in their best effort in this battle of pens. The sweat shed in the exam rooms, the efforts made for dreams, all would become a part of their university memories.