Chapter 147: Is This Guy an Idiot or What?!
Ryuen's question was simple.
After Nagumo's forged-paper scheme failed, would the school change the exam questions? And would the midterm papers Nagumo had given him still be useful?
Nagumo's answer was that since the genuine papers had never been involved, the school probably would not change them.
Probably.
Although Ryuen failed to receive an absolutely certain answer from Nagumo, it was enough to ease his worries.
Afterward, he uploaded all five examination papers to Class C's group chat and instructed everyone to memorize their contents.
Having received such valuable material, the Class C students even offered Ryuen a few rare words of praise and gratitude.
"What happened after Manabe contacted you, Kikyo?" Yuto asked.
"After that?"
"Since Manabe Shiho confidently guaranteed that these were the papers for the upcoming midterm, of course I wanted them."
After all, failing even one subject meant expulsion.
Kikyo certainly did not want to be expelled from the school.
"So she sent me pictures of all the papers," Kikyo answered cheerfully.
"You and Manabe Shiho really are close," Yuto remarked.
"We're not that close! I didn't get them for free. She charged me ten thousand points!" Kikyo complained.
Yuto laughed helplessly.
"So it was a transaction. I thought she gave them to you. Aren't you worried those might not actually be this year's midterm papers?"
"Not really. Manabe told me that if the papers turn out to be different, she'll refund my ten thousand points."
Afterward, Manabe repeatedly warned Kikyo not to tell anyone.
Ryuen had distributed the papers for free. If he discovered that Manabe was secretly reselling them for personal points, she would probably have to answer to him.
Despite Manabe's repeated warnings to keep everything secret, Kikyo told Yuto without hesitation.
After all, she was Yuto's loyal knight.
Naturally, she would side with him.
Besides, Kikyo thought this information might prove useful to him.
"Yuto, I'll send you every picture of the papers right now."
"Sure."
Suzune already possessed Manabu's old first-year midterm papers.
However, Yuto wanted to compare Ryuen's papers with Manabu's and confirm whether they were identical.
Kikyo quickly forwarded every image Manabe had sent her.
Yuto opened them and compared the questions.
Sure enough, Ryuen's papers were completely identical to Manabu's old midterms.
"Yuto, Manabe said everyone in Class C already has the papers Ryuen distributed."
"If these really are the upcoming midterm papers, the entire class will probably score extremely well."
"Should we send them to everyone in Class D too?" Kikyo asked.
"Well..."
Yuto thought briefly before revealing a refreshing smile.
"Of course not."
"Because these definitely won't be the papers used for this midterm."
"You're that certain?" Kikyo asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Completely certain."
Because Yuto was preparing to cause trouble.
Regardless of whether the upcoming exam was originally supposed to reuse Ryuen's papers, Yuto intended to interfere and ensure the school replaced them.
Why?
Naturally, it was revenge against Ryuen.
The bastard had tried to frame Yuto several days earlier, yet he had somehow obtained permission to sit the midterm despite his suspension.
Yuto was dissatisfied that Ryuen had escaped expulsion.
And when Yuto was dissatisfied, he wanted to ruin Ryuen's plans.
Yuto could also distribute the papers among Class D and allow everyone to memorize the answers.
But he had no intention of doing that.
"It's better to earn your grades through your own effort."
"Relying on old examination papers to essentially cheat your way through would be the wrong approach."
There was another reason.
With Class D currently sitting at zero class points, Yuto wanted to use the midterm to eliminate poor students like Ike Kanji if they refused to improve.
If Ike and the others survived through genuine effort and hard work, Yuto would allow them to remain in Class D.
But if they still failed after Suzune had worked so hard tutoring them, then any resulting expulsion would be entirely their own fault.
They would deserve it.
"Thanks, Kikyo. This information is actually very useful."
"Mm~ As long as it helped you. Remember to treat me better from now on," Kikyo said playfully.
"Then, come over to my dorm tonight."
"Not tonight!" Kikyo immediately refused.
Yuto teased Kikyo for another moment before ending the call.
Then, using their Line contact, he transferred five hundred thousand personal points to her.
A second later, Kikyo sent him a message.
[?!]
[Yuto, did you just send me 500,000 points?!]
[Yep.] Yuto smiled as he replied.
[Why did you give me so much?!]
[Consider it spending money, and thanks for passing along useful information. Accept it without worrying, Kikyo.]
[Ooh~]
Kikyo and Kei were both Yuto's girlfriends, and Kikyo was even more capable of helping him gather information.
Since Yuto had previously given Kei five hundred thousand points as spending money, there was no reason not to give Kikyo the same amount.
He had to treat them fairly.
After receiving Kikyo's delighted thanks, Yuto immediately called Chairman Sakayanagi.
"Shimizu, why are you calling me again?" Sakayanagi asked after answering.
"Old man, I discovered that quite a few first-year students have obtained midterm papers used by upperclassmen when they were first years."
"...And what exactly are you trying to say?" Sakayanagi asked suspiciously.
"If this year's first-year midterm uses exactly the same questions, then students who obtained those old papers could earn perfect scores without studying seriously."
"Meanwhile, students who worked hard and studied properly might score lower simply because they never acquired the old papers."
"That isn't fair."
"So I want the school to stop reusing previous years' papers for the upcoming midterm," Yuto said.
"Shimizu... This is actually one of the school's assessments."
"It tests students' observation skills. If they discover that the papers remain unchanged, they can exploit that information to achieve higher scores," Sakayanagi explained patiently.
"Really?"
Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"A second-year 'good senpai' literally approached me and tried to sell me the papers directly."
"Where exactly was my observation skill being tested?"
"Ahem... That could also be considered a test of the upperclassmen's courage and strategic ability," Sakayanagi explained with a cough.
"Old man, after all those excuses, you're basically saying you reject my suggestion, right?"
"Mm... Yes."
Yuto raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Then tomorrow I'll photocopy the old papers and distribute one set to every single first-year student."
"That way, everyone can score full marks."
Sakayanagi's face twitched.
If Yuto really did that, it would deal a significant blow to the school's reputation and authority.
This kind of loophole could exist only as long as it remained relatively obscure.
"...Hmm. On second thought, I believe your argument has merit."
"We absolutely cannot allow hardworking students to feel that the system is unfair."
"Therefore, this year's first-year midterm papers will definitely be different from previous years!"
"You guarantee that in your capacity as chairman?" Yuto asked cheerfully.
"I guarantee it as chairman."
"Great. By the way, old man, I should mention that I recorded our conversation."
Yuto was kindly informing him that there was now evidence.
So he had better not change his mind.
Sakayanagi became completely helpless.
"Shimizu, I already gave you my guarantee. You still don't trust me?"
"If you didn't have a habit of taking back moves during shogi, I'd trust you much more."
"..."
The helpless Sakayanagi ended the call.
Yuto smiled and put away his phone.
Through sheer pressure, he had convinced Sakayanagi to replace the upcoming midterm papers.
This year's examination would therefore use entirely new questions.
...
"Does that boy really hate unfairness that much...?"
Inside his office, Sakayanagi muttered with both helplessness and admiration in his voice.
Although Yuto had pressured him into agreeing, Sakayanagi did not dislike him for it.
He had a mild temperament and would not become angry over something so trivial.
Moreover, Sakayanagi respected the students' perspectives.
He genuinely agreed with Yuto's argument that students who studied seriously should not be made to feel the system was unfair.
Smiling, Sakayanagi called the appropriate department.
"This is Chairman Sakayanagi. Have the midterm papers been finalized?"
"They haven't?"
"Then I'm issuing a change. Do not reuse previous years' papers for this midterm. Prepare completely new examination papers."
Because of Yuto's phone call, Sakayanagi formally decided that the upcoming first-year midterm would not reuse the old questions.
That meant both Manabu's papers and the copies Ryuen possessed would be completely useless during the examination.
...
"I'm already looking forward to seeing Ryuen's face after the midterm," Yuto murmured with a refreshing smile.
He quickened his pace and caught up with Kei and Suzune.
"Horikita, I checked with someone. The upcoming midterm won't reuse the old papers."
"So your brother's papers won't help us predict the actual questions."
"Ah..." Kei let out a pitiful sound of disappointment.
Suzune, however, showed none.
"If they're useless, they're useless. I didn't ask Nii-san for them because I assumed they would definitely appear again."
"I only wanted to use them to test Sudo Ken and the other two and see how much they've improved."
With Suzune's personality, she had never intended to rely on old papers to cheat.
Whether her brother's papers matched the upcoming exam therefore made little difference to her.
The three soon reached the entrance to the cafeteria.
A boy had been lingering nearby, and the moment he spotted Yuto, his eyes lit up.
"Shimizu-kun!"
"..."
Yuto raised an eyebrow at the smiling boy approaching him.
Both Kei and Suzune immediately looked wary and hostile.
The boy was Tokito Hiroya.
He was the same Class C student who had mocked Class D in the library before Yuto forced him to kneel.
Tokito and Yuto had considerable resentment between them.
Why would he suddenly greet Yuto so enthusiastically?
Something was clearly wrong.
"What do you want?" Yuto asked indifferently.
"I've got something good to sell you cheap."
...
Wow.
That sentence practically screamed scam.
He sounded exactly like Shiraki earlier, like some suspicious guy secretly selling illegal discs on a street corner.
"Yuto, don't listen to him! He already has a grudge against us."
"Why would someone like that suddenly offer us something good for cheap? That makes no sense!" Kei said while holding Yuto's arm.
"It's true!" Tokito hurriedly insisted.
"I really have something valuable. Shimizu-kun, come over here. I need to speak with you privately."
"Fine."
"Kei, Horikita, go inside first. I'll hear what he has to say."
"Be careful, Yuto."
"Don't worry."
Kei and Suzune entered the cafeteria first.
Tokito led Yuto to one side of the entrance.
"Shimizu-kun, want the midterm examination papers?"
Yuto's expression immediately became strange.
He scrutinized Tokito carefully.
This guy was from Class C.
Ryuen's class.
So...
Had Ryuen sent him to trick Yuto?
Was Ryuen copying Nagumo by trying to scam him with forged examination papers?
No, that made no sense.
Ryuen had cooperated with Nagumo. He should already know exactly what happened after Nagumo tried that scheme.
Confused, Yuto asked, "Midterm examination papers? What exactly do you mean?"
"Ryuen somehow got his hands on the upcoming midterm papers."
"So I'm willing to sell you a copy. Just give me two hundred thousand points."
Yuto immediately stared at Tokito as though he were looking at an idiot.
Was this guy stupid?
Worse, this idiot apparently thought Yuto was stupid too.
He actually wanted to charge him two hundred thousand points!
Manabe had sold the same papers to Kikyo for only ten thousand.
This guy was charging twenty times as much!
"You idi— Ahem."
Yuto corrected himself.
"Why exactly do you think I'd pay two hundred thousand points for your so-called midterm papers?"
"Because you're rich!"
…
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