Chapter 049: Hikigaya: To Prosper Together, One Must First Restrain the Troublemaking Sakayanagi!
Harming others without benefiting oneself is an incomprehensible act to most, but there are certainly people in this school who would do exactly that.
Because for that person, this school isn't a place for competition or a stage to showcase strength—it's an amusing game.
Therefore, simply to entertain herself, she might indeed take some terrible actions.
However, attempting to "seal away" Sakayanagi Arisu the moment he obtained the test papers proved difficult. Despite her warped personality, Sakayanagi Arisu was indeed the most intelligent female character in the original story.
In terms of breadth of thought and accuracy, she was no inferior to Yukinoshita Yukino.
Thus, Hikigaya first called out Katsuragi Kohei.
Unlike previous times when his lackey Totsuka Yahiko was always trailing him, Katsuragi was accompanied by a girl today. She wore double hairpins, had striking long purple hair, and kept her face tight and her gaze unfriendly, as if the whole world owed her money.
This was Kamuro Masumi, whom Hikigaya had seen a few times but had always deliberately avoided interacting with.
She was Sakayanagi's "lapdog."
"As you requested, I've brought Kamuro," Katsuragi said, arms folded across his chest. His brow was slightly furrowed, showing clear confusion.
"But why did you specifically ask for her? If you wanted to contact Sakayanagi—"
Since Class B had yielded the Student Council Secretary position, he and Sakayanagi had each arranged for a student from their class to fill the vacancies. Katsuragi took one spot himself, while Sakayanagi appointed the student with the highest physical ability in the class, a boy named Kito Hayato, to join.
Since the position Class B held had already been "sold" and the 200 million private points had been gathered and paid by Class A, logically, the deal was closed. Hikigaya shouldn't be looking for trouble with them anymore.
"I obtained some rather interesting materials from another class," Hikigaya spoke quickly, looking directly at Katsuragi.
"Katsuragi, which subject are you best at?"
"?"
Katsuragi's frown deepened, his face a map of incomprehension. But soon, he seemed to catch the implication of Hikigaya's words. As if having an epiphany, he spoke up.
"Speaking of which," Katsuragi adjusted his crossed arms, a hint of superiority curling his lip, "I heard your math score on the entrance exam was... only 9 points?"
"What if it was?" Hikigaya admitted it calmly, his expression unchanged.
Katsuragi leaned forward slightly, his tone carrying a mix of testing and light mockery.
"So, what kind of special 'clearance plan' are you planning this time? After all, with only 9 points... you'll be expelled if you don't find a loophole." Katsuragi paused, then added, "To us in Class A, that would actually be good news."
But Hikigaya shook his head.
"You aren't naive enough to believe that someone who scores 0 points wouldn't be able to enter this school, are you?"
"What do you mean—" The mockery on Katsuragi's face froze instantly, replaced by suspicion and deep thought. His pupils contracted slightly.
"I think you've probably guessed it. This school is special. It offers free tuition, free living expenses, and even a 100% employment and higher education rate. It's a holy land for all middle schoolers. But why were so many 'academic failures' in Class C and D allowed in?"
"Could it be... you intentionally scored only 9 points in math to test the 'internal recommendation' nature of the school?" Katsuragi took a sharp breath, his voice rising involuntarily, his face filled with shock.
In that moment, he suddenly felt like a total clown for having just mocked the other man. A person who only scored 9 points in math being assigned to Class B?
Clearly, this was blatant proof that the so-called written and interview assessments were likely just a formality! Everything had already been pre-arranged by the school.
Katsuragi suddenly recalled his own reason for applying to Advanced Nurturing High School: a recommendation from his former middle school principal.
So, all students were essentially "internally recommended," and those exams were just a facade for outsiders?
So everything was pre-ordained.
Struck by this realization, Katsuragi fell silent.
"..."
Beside him, Kamuro Masumi, who had been watching with a spectator's mindset, had perked up her ears at the mention of "9 points in math," a flash of schadenfreude in her eyes.
Her academic ability was only Rank C—she'd probably score around 50-60 points. In Class C or D, she might be above average, but in the genius-filled Class A, she was at the bottom.
Knowing that Hikigaya, the guy who made her hit a wall at every turn, was actually a failure was a pleasant surprise.
'So my academic ability isn't that pathetic! This Hikigaya Hachiman guy is even worse than me!'
However, Hikigaya's next words were like a bucket of cold water. Because those 9 points were intentional—a way to probe the limits of the rules! This meant he wasn't a failure at all; he was terrifyingly bold! Indeed, even a true failure would find it hard to score exactly 9 points...
The light in Kamuro's eyes dimmed instantly. The small arc that had just formed on her lips vanished, her shoulders slumped, and a wave of intense disappointment washed over her. Every time she met this guy, nothing good happened. She finally thought she caught a chance to sneer at him, but... it was just her misunderstanding again?
"So, the materials you mentioned are—" Katsuragi quickly broke out of his shock, his focus returning to Hikigaya with unprecedented caution.
"What do you think about this written exam? The school just told all freshmen the rules and then immediately announced an exam."
Hikigaya didn't speak fast, but his tone carried a sense of urgency.
"You don't truly believe the school wants us to honestly rely on our own strength to take it, do you?"
"..." Katsuragi fell into silence again.
Because the students of Class A, himself included, thought exactly that. They intended to use their academic advantage to crush the other classes.
"If you still think so," Hikigaya pulled out a test paper, "why don't you try doing this one first?"
After confirming that Katsuragi was good at math, he pushed the math paper in front of him.
"..." Katsuragi stared at the header [1st Year, First Midterm Exam: Math]. After a moment of hesitation, he finally pulled out a chair, sat down, took a pen, and began to solve the problems with a grim expression.
"Kamuro-san, do you want to do one too?" Hikigaya casually pulled out a chemistry paper and handed it to her.
"..." Kamuro looked up sharply, her eyes full of vigilance and a hint of irritation. Did he discover her academic rank was C and was now intentionally bullying her to make her look bad? Her mind raced with various thoughts, but eventually, with some resistance and reluctance, she took the paper.
Then, as Kamuro looked at the questions, her brow furrowed deeper. Although her academic ability wasn't high, she believed she could fill in more answers than the original owner of this paper. However, she soon noticed something was wrong.
"This... when is this paper from? It's way too old, isn't it?" Kamuro couldn't help but look up, her tone questioning.
"Correct. It's an old paper from about seven or eight years ago," Hikigaya explained calmly. "The syllabus is different from now, so it's normal for the score to be low."
Is that so? Kamuro felt that those words didn't comfort her at all.
"I estimate I'd get a score in the 70s at most," Katsuragi said, having quickly browsed through all the questions. He put down his pen and gave a prediction.
"Then fill in the answers," Hikigaya urged.
"..." Katsuragi's grip on the pen tightened. Though Hikigaya's request was strange, a terrifying thought surfaced uncontrollably in his mind: 'Why is he making me do these old questions? Could it be... it's actually related to the upcoming written exam?'
The homeroom teacher had said that the maximum reward for this exam was 100 Class Points.
The rules were: 50 points if the whole class passes with zero expulsions; another 50 if the class average reaches 60 or above. Both conditions must be met to get the full 100 points.
For Class A, zero expulsions was a given.
With their academic strength, reaching an average of 60 didn't seem hard. But... what if the exam was like the paper in front of him? Even he only estimated a score in the 70s. Others in the class might only get in the 50s or 60s, and someone like Kamuro might only get in the 40s... Even if no one was expelled, the goal of a 60-point average would be impossible!
With this heavy realization, Katsuragi finally filled the paper with answers. After seeing him finish the math paper, Hikigaya had him complete chemistry and physics as well.
Only after three papers were finished did Hikigaya reveal the true reason he had called them there.
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