After the short exam ended, the class groupings were also revealed.
After several exams, and with the school's hints being so obvious, the four first-year classes easily figured out the grouping rules.
According to the information from Karuizawa, the person in the same group as Ayanokouji was that doctor, Sotomura Hideo, one of the accomplices in the spying incident.
I don't interact with that guy much...
It seems I won't be able to trick Ayanokouji in this exam.
As the days went by, Ryuen had obtained several sets of exam papers from the upperclassmen and gathered Class C students to evaluate these questions.
The results were, as expected, satisfactory.
Kamio Tatsuya remembered the impressed expression on Kaneda's face when he saw these questions.
"These questions truly only use first-year-level knowledge, but they are so much more brilliant than the set I made myself."
"Heh, these are treasures I paid a lot of money for from the second-year seniors."
"Second-year seniors?"
Kaneda suddenly understood; so that's how it was.
When explaining the Paper Shuffle exam, it was already stated on the board that this exam is held every year, meaning seniors in the second and third years who are currently in school must have experienced it.
Therefore, compared to the first-year students creating questions for the first time, they are clearly more experienced.
Besides, the rules never stated that bringing in outside help was forbidden, whether it was asking others to create questions or searching for them online, everything was within the permissible scope.
Originally, upperclassmen should have also been busy with special exams during this period.
But the second year was an exception. Because the second year was completely dominated by Nagumo, as soon as the exam was announced, Nagumo immediately formulated a battle plan.
And it was a battle plan targeting all four classes.
Therefore, most of the second-year students only needed to act according to Nagumo's plan.
This gave them a lot of free time.
And Ryuen's offer was not low, so students in the second year with good academic performance were very willing to earn this extra income.
Moreover, Ryuen naturally required them to keep it a secret.
The reason for getting several sets of questions was that Ryuen would randomly select some questions from these sets to form the exam paper.
This would essentially prevent the predicament of exam papers being leaked.
Sure to win and then some.
Since the questions were becoming clear, the students of Class C focused all their energy on study sessions.
Not only did they have two-hour study sessions every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school, but they also had to report to the library every Saturday and Sunday.
Although the students of Class C found this high-pressure policy difficult, they swallowed all their complaints when they saw Ryuen diligently studying every day.
After the study session ended, Kamio Tatsuya and Shiina walked back to the dormitory, chatting and laughing. However, when they reached the dormitory lobby, they found it in chaos.
"It's so noisy today. Did something happen?" Shiina was a little curious about the situation.
"Could it be a fire?"
Ibuki, who returned with them, frowned.
Hey, hey, hey, don't say something so scary with such a calm expression.
If there was a fire in the dormitory, wouldn't everyone have to sleep on the streets tonight?
"Please don't talk nonsense."
Kamio Tatsuya cautioned Ibuki and then walked towards some acquaintances in the lobby.
"Did something happen?"
Kamio Tatsuya's conversation partner was Katsuragi from Class C, a member of the student council.
Although the situation seemed stable for now, to prevent large-scale riots from occurring later, Kamio Tatsuya, as the student council president, had a duty to find out what had happened.
"This is the reason. All first-year students seem to have received the same letter in their mailboxes."
As he spoke, Katsuragi handed over a piece of paper with only one sentence written on it.
[Class 1-B, Ichinose Honami, has the possibility of illegally collecting points.]
The signature at the bottom was—Ryuen Kakeru.
Kamio Tatsuya took one look and immediately ruled out the possibility of Ryuen being the culprit.
If Ryuen were to do something, he wouldn't choose such a method.
The paper Katsuragi handed over was a folded sheet, and the handwriting was printed.
Although the raw materials for such a thing seemed to be found everywhere, printers were only available in the school's faculty office and the shopping district.
If Ryuen wanted to spread rumors, he would never use such a stupid method.
If Ichinose were to report this to the school, it would be too easy to trace the source of these papers.
They would just need to check the students' consumption records.
Although troublesome, it was by no means impossible.
Therefore, the method Ryuen would likely adopt would be to have Ishizaki and the others discuss the matter freely in public.
The scene would probably be like this.
Ishizaki: Did you hear? Class B's Ichinose seems to be illegally collecting points.
Others: Really? Is that true?
Ishizaki: I heard it from someone else, but someone saw a large number of private points stored in Ichinose's terminal.
...
And then it spreads from ten to a hundred.
Since it wasn't Ryuen, who could it be?
Moreover, Ichinose's method of collecting points was definitely not illegal.
Based on Kamio Tatsuya's understanding of her, she probably centralized the private points that Class B obtained through the favored person test.
Perhaps she didn't even ask for them; Class B students voluntarily submitted them to her.
This situation was likely only possible in Class B.
Ryuen could forcibly take these points, but it would be impossible for students to voluntarily hand them over to him.
At this moment, student voices could be heard from outside. Someone saw Ryuen walking in from the entrance.
As soon as Ryuen walked in, he was surrounded by boys from Class B.
"Hey, Ryuen, what do you think you're doing?"
"Huh? What are you talking about for no reason?"
Ryuen clearly had no idea what was going on.
"Don't play dumb with me! I'm talking about this letter! Spreading this kind of thing everywhere!"
Casually taking a piece of paper from a passerby, Ryuen immediately burst into laughter, either mocking the stupidity of these Class B boys or because he was amused by the matter itself.
"You mean this? Isn't it interesting?"
"What's interesting about it! Some things can be done, and some can't!"
"Then prove it to me. Prove that 'Ichinose did not use improper means to collect points'."
"This..."
Faced with Ryuen's retort, the Class B students hesitated.
They naturally wouldn't doubt Ichinose, but this concerned the strategy their class had adopted, so they didn't dare to answer carelessly.
Moreover, they hadn't denied that Ichinose possessed a large number of private points.
"Is there anything to hide about this? The points in Ichinose's hand should be the portion Class B obtained through the favored person test."
Since this was a farce, Kamio Tatsuya wanted to resolve it quickly.
However, upon seeing the surprised expressions on the faces of the Class B people, he was speechless. Was this hard to guess?
Wow, so it's not just Class C and Class D; Class B also has quite a few idiots.
At this moment, Ichinose seemed to have rushed over after hearing the news.
"How about it, Ichinose, is the situation as Kamio said?"
Seeing Ichinose, Ryuen waved the letter in his hand.
"Even if I say yes, you probably won't believe me, right?"
"Who knows, and isn't it important whether I believe it or not?"
Ryuen waved the letter in his hand again, then looked at the first-year students gathered in the lobby, his gaze lingering on Kamio Tatsuya for a moment.
"What nonsense are you talking about? I am very confident in my own judgment."
Kamio Tatsuya was also speechless. You really never get tired of playing.
"Exactly, how could we possibly not believe Ichinose!"
The surrounding Class B students also started to stand up for Ichinose, but there were also some people among the crowd who remained silent.
That's how people are. The more excellent you appear, the more others think you're not so perfect, and they all wait for you to fall.
However, some have fallen, and some have not yet fallen.
"If that's the case, I can only ask the school for help. If I explain to the school tomorrow, an investigation will be conducted.
If I have indeed collected points through illicit means, whether I intend to hide it or not, everything will be revealed, right?"
After speaking, Ichinose added,
"If Ryuen thinks I won't report it to the school, it's fine for you to go."
"I don't have that kind of free time. Since you said so, then I'll wait and see tomorrow."
Saying that, Ryuen crumpled the letter in his hand into a ball and casually tossed it into the nearby trash can.
Ichinose, on the other hand, looked directly at Ryuen as he disappeared into the elevator.
"Alright, the matter is resolved. Everyone should go back. You must be tired after studying all day."
Hearing Ichinose's persuasion, the Class B students gradually left. Others, seeing that there was no more drama, also dispersed in small groups.
After most people had left, Kamio Tatsuya finally spoke to Ichinose.
"Ichinose, you'll be at a disadvantage doing this."
"Huh? Will I?"
"If it were me, I wouldn't just let the school prove my innocence; I would also demand punishment for the person who spread this."
Kamio Tatsuya also picked up the letter he was holding and waved it.
"In other words, Kamio-kun wants me to report Ryuen? You are both from Class C, right? If you do this, Class C might be deducted class points."
"I never mentioned Ryuen's name from beginning to end," Kamio Tatsuya felt helpless. "Besides, you don't need to be hesitant just because I'm in Class C. After all, although we are friends, we are enemies from a class standpoint."
"Yes, I am not hesitant. If there is an opportunity, I will not give up." Ichinose first stated her position and then asked, "But Kamio-kun, do you think this matter was not done by Ryuen?"
"He wouldn't leave such obvious evidence," Kamio Tatsuya shook his head. "In any case, you can handle the follow-up as you see fit."
"Okay, thank you, Kamio-kun."
The next day, as Ichinose had said, she requested an examination from the school, and the school issued a notice proving that she had not collected points through improper means.
However, it was only limited to that. She did not ask the school to pursue Ryuen, or rather, the person who left the letter, for responsibility.
Kamio Tatsuya understood Ichinose's thoughts, probably wanting to face others' attacks head-on.
Tsk, sooner or later you'll suffer.
"Ichinose really didn't pursue it."
"Well, I'm truly grateful to her," Ryuen replied casually, then showed a sly smile. "Maybe she let me off because of your face."
You damn dog Ryuen, you're really not a good person!
Shiina can hear this!
"What are you going to do about this? Just let it go?"
"If it were before, I probably would have let it go. But now, I think it's a good way to pass the time. The days of having to review every day are making me almost bored to death."
That's right. Not only Ryuen, but other students were also becoming gloomy from the days of having to study every day.
Regarding this phenomenon, Kamio Tatsuya could only say, this is nothing yet.
You guys have never experienced a day with one hour of morning self-study + five classes in the morning + four classes in the afternoon + three classes in the evening, arriving at class at 5:30 in the morning and not finishing until almost 10 PM.
But just thinking about those days made Kamio Tatsuya feel tired.
Ryuen did not consult with Kamio Tatsuya about finding the person who spread the rumors under his name.
He even specifically warned Kamio Tatsuya not to meddle, saying he wanted to enjoy the process of finding this person.
Although the investigation had not yet begun, Ryuen had a hunch that the person who did this was the one Kamio Tatsuya mentioned, the one who was secretly giving advice to Horikita Suzune.
Several more days passed, and Ryuen had been investigating the incident during this time.
Perhaps it was due to the excessive academic pressure recently, so one day after school, Ryuen immediately took Ishizaki and a few other students who were also under a lot of study pressure and barged into Class D's classroom.
Kamio Tatsuya was calmly packing his things.
"Aren't you going to take a look?"
Ibuki, seeing Kamio Tatsuya's leisurely demeanor, immediately walked over and asked with a hint of confusion.
"What am I going to do there?"
"If Ryuen and the Class D people get into a fight, you could at least try to dissuade him."
Who?
Me, dissuade Ryuen?
"Who gave you the illusion that I can dissuade Ryuen?"
"Huh? Ryuen adopted your opinions in these last two exams, didn't he?" Ibuki widened his eyes in disbelief.
"That's true, but that doesn't mean Ryuen has to listen to me. He adopted my opinion simply because it was beneficial to him."
Kamio Tatsuya clearly defined his position. He was the one who offered advice; the one who made the final decision was Ryuen.
He never thought about trying to get on top of Ryuen. That would be pointless.
Because standing in that position means taking responsibility for everyone in the class, and he couldn't bear that responsibility.
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