41 -41- The exam

Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

During these three weeks, Class D held numerous study sessions.

Despite encountering many problems, such as students running out of points and being unable to afford only cheap food and items available for free, which sparked a trend of borrowing personal points, almost leading to the collapse of the study sessions, in the end, under the mediation of Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou, these issues were resolved without incident.

The only problem remained with Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken, who continued to do their own thing amidst the active study sessions in the class.

These three seemed to plan to cram at the last minute before exams and just barely make it through.

Faced with the non-cooperation of these three, the rest of the class could do nothing.

Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou, out of goodwill, advised these three. However, while Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki reluctantly attended a few study sessions due to Kushida Kikyou's intervention, Sudou Ken attended only one session and then refused to participate further, seeming to genuinely dislike studying.

As a result, these three procrastinated until the end, with no progress made.

Over time, apart from the kind-hearted like Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou, the rest of the class seemed to have given up trying to help these three.

Originally, these three were already the unpopular group in the class.

If Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken had the intention to study, things might have been different.

However, these three had no sense of crisis whatsoever. Even after being advised by others, they didn't take it to heart, with Sudou Ken even showing signs of aggression.

As a result, except for those like Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou, who tried to help, no one else cared about the fate of Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken.

Thus, the whole Class D had completely given up on them over the three weeks.

The three weeks passed in such a manner.

The midterm exams arrived as scheduled.

...

On this day, Class D exhibited a tension that had never been seen before.

Every student was striving to gain every possible point, studying diligently before the exams began.

Meanwhile, Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken seemed to have crammed last minute the previous night, now showing signs of drowsiness.

"Ike, Yamauchi, and Sudou, are you guys really okay?"

Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou looked at the sleepy trio with some concern, unable to let go of their worries.

But from the perspective of others, Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou had done their utmost, and now it was up to these three guys' fate.

In this situation, the classroom door swung open, instantly grabbing the attention of everyone inside.

Chabashira Sae entered the room as if oblivious to the tension filling the air.

"Well then, let's begin the first trial for you since arriving at this school," she said, scanning the classroom and pausing briefly in the direction of Nanaya Hori, Horikita Suzune, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

"Any questions before the exam starts?" she asked, but the class remained silent, too focused on the upcoming test.

Chabashira Sae didn't comment on the lack of questions.

"Since there are no questions, let's begin the exam," she concluded, pulling out the exam papers and distributing them one by one, not relying on the students to pass them from the front to the back as before but distributing them personally, walking down the aisles.

This action made the students in Class D realize that this time, it was serious.

"I... I'll be fine..."

"I... I'll definitely pass... I'll pass..."

"Just a mere exam..."

Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken finally showed signs of wavering.

But it was too late to regret not studying properly.

Soon, everyone received their papers and immediately focused on the exam.

Nanaya Hori also picked up his paper, quickly scanning through it.

Just a quick glance was enough for Nanaya Hori to realize.

(The questions this time are much harder than the last quiz.)

It was only natural.

The last quiz, excluding the few exceptionally difficult questions at the end, was so easy that even middle school students could answer them all correctly.

For the official midterm exam in high school, if there were questions easy enough for middle schoolers to answer, then there would be a problem.

So, the difficulty level of this exam was considered normal for first-year high school students, with neither exceptionally easy questions like last time nor exceptionally difficult ones towards the end.

During the last quiz, without review and due to the students' lax attitudes, seven people failed besides Nanaya Hori.

This time, after sufficient review and with the difficulty level of the questions returning to normal, how well would the students of Class D perform?

Even Nanaya Hori couldn't predict that.

There was only one thing that could be certain.

Ike Kanji, Yamauchi Haruki, and Sudou Ken were doomed.

Seeing the trio sweating and freezing in place while holding their papers, Nanaya Hori twirled his pen.

Throughout this process, Nanaya Hori could always feel someone watching him.

That person was Chabashira Sae.

After meeting eyes with the invigilator Chabashira Sae, Nanaya Hori withdrew his gaze.

Then, along with Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who were focused on the exam papers, he calmly began to answer the questions.