After the afternoon classes ended, students received the news that the exams would proceed as scheduled. This left many students feeling disheartened, with some even privately expressing their intention to boycott the exams.
Simultaneously, the school also announced Koenji's expulsion.
No one felt sympathetic; they simply thought the guy was too dangerous and it was better for him to be expelled quickly.
Without a moment of sadness for Koenji's expulsion, the students once again immersed themselves in studying and training.
The school also hired hunters from the mountains to drive away the wild boars, ensuring they wouldn't be active during these days.
Since the school buildings were not large, the exam order for the three grades was staggered.
The exam content was, as expected, meditation, speech, road relay, and a written test – these four components.
However, due to the incident they encountered previously, the members of the group were somewhat distracted during their studies and training over the following days.
This was especially true for the two students in Class B. They had only been slightly ahead of the two students in Class D, and with the tragedy unfolding right before their eyes, it was only natural for them to have some psychological trauma.
And so, the special exam, full of twists and turns, finally reached its last day of testing.
The first-year students' exam started with meditation, followed by a written test in the classroom. The third event was the road relay, and finally, the speech was tested.
The second-year students began their exams with the difficult road relay, while the third-years started with the speech.
After breakfast, all the first-year students gathered at the meditation hall. Not only was there no need to make breakfast on the last day, but there was also no need for cleaning. The students only had to focus on their exams.
"Alright, the meditation exam will now begin. Pay attention to the rules and movements when entering the dojo. Your posture during meditation must be precise.
Remember everything you were taught in class. After the meditation session, wait in the classroom. You will be scheduled for the next exam after all tests are completed."
Since the six groups were together this time, the atmosphere was a bit chaotic.
Normally, they practiced meditation in their fixed groups with people they knew. The school arranging it this way somewhat affected the students' moods.
The members of each group took turns to be tested. After a considerable amount of time, the first-year students' meditation sessions were fully completed. Guided by the teachers, the students left the dojo to prepare for the next exam.
The second exam was a written test. The content was simple, with everything learned at the forest school directly used as exam questions.
Even for an average student, scoring over seventy points was easy.
However, the two injured members of Kamio Tatsuya's group naturally did not come to the exam. Therefore, to ensure a passing score, it was necessary for everyone to score at least 80 points to possibly pass.
But under Kamio Tatsuya's instruction, the remaining three members of Class D did not answer their papers seriously.
As for the two students from Class B, they were still in a daze.
After the written test, it was the road relay. The total distance was eighteen kilometers, but Kamio Tatsuya's group only had nine people, meaning each person had to run an average of two kilometers.
With the idea of treating everyone equally, Kamio Tatsuya really allocated two kilometers to each person.
This was clearly not a strategy to win. The correct approach would have been for physically strong individuals like Ishizaki, Kamio, and Yamada to cover more distance.
However, Kamio Tatsuya had no intention of winning from the start.
His initial thought was to cooperate with Class D, have the students of Class D intentionally perform poorly, and then fail to achieve the average score, thus using a self-sabotage method to take Koenji down with him.
After seeing Koenji's stats, Kamio Tatsuya had been thinking of ways to eliminate him, and this exam provided Kamio Tatsuya with an opportunity.
Even during the group formation, Kamio Tatsuya had managed to successfully include Koenji in his group.
Originally, he had planned for himself and Ishizaki to simply submit blank papers to lower their scores. He didn't expect Nagumo to approach Katsuragi at this point.
The result was that Class D intentionally performed poorly, causing Kamio's group to fail to reach the average score, leading to Kamio Tatsuya's expulsion.
Then, he received 20 million private points from Nagumo, a large portion of which belonged to Kamio Tatsuya.
Kamio Tatsuya, seizing this opportunity, used a scapegoat to have Yamauchi or Sudou from Class D expelled in his place.
He himself would use his authority as a group leader to drag Koenji down with him, making him exit the competition.
Unexpectedly, Koenji insisted on bothering the wild boars midway, even directly provoking a group of them.
With such an action, Kamio Tatsuya didn't know what to say.
Some people even thought Koenji did it on purpose, seeing that the situation was already irreversible, and directly chose to go big to get himself expelled.
However, Kamio Tatsuya believed this was not Koenji's true intention. Although that guy was mischievous, he never intended to implicate others.
This did not align with his sense of beauty.
But no matter what the inside story was, Koenji had to take the blame.
And his expulsion was not a waste of Kamio Tatsuya's painstaking efforts.
It was a pity for the two students from Class D who had a brush with death. Moreover, one of them had his arm bitten by a wild boar, and the scar on his arm would probably accompany him for life.
That's right, although Koenji caused the wild boar rampage, it was Kamio Tatsuya who led the wild boars towards the group!
However, he also did not expect it to lead to such severe consequences.
It wasn't until four in the afternoon that the day-long special exam finally ended.
After the exam concluded, the boys changed their clothes and went to the gymnasium as instructed. Soon after, the girls also gathered one by one.
"You all worked hard during the eight days of the forest school. Although the exam content may have been different, this is a special exam held only once every few years.
Compared to the last special exam, the overall evaluation of this one is much higher, and the main reason is likely the excellent teamwork you all displayed."
The person who looked like the principal of the forest school said this.
"Next, I will announce the overall first place for the boys' groups. Here, I will only read out the names of the third-year group leaders. The school will later distribute points as rewards to the first to third-year students belonging to that group."
"First place goes to the group led by Ninomiya from Class 3-C."
"Yay!"
A cheer immediately erupted from Class C's side, as this was the group Horikita Manabu belonged to, and the leader for the first years was Kaneda.
It was natural to be happy that Class C won first place.
"Second place, the group led by Ishikura from Class 3-B."
Then, the rankings were announced one by one. Kamio Tatsuya's large group, as expected, came in last place.
After announcing the results for the boys' groups, the teacher on stage continued sternly, "Furthermore, there is some regrettable news I must inform you of.
There was an accident in one of the boys' groups, so the average score did not meet the standard required by the school.
It was Kamio's group from the first year. Of course, as the leader, Kamio will receive an expulsion penalty."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Kamio Tatsuya's relatively small group. In Class 1-D, many students' faces fell.
"Haha, serves you right, you're finally getting what's coming to you!"
Yamauchi from Class 1-D suddenly jumped out and pointed at Kamio Tatsuya's face, laughing loudly.
This even surprised Kamio Tatsuya. "Are you out of your mind? Your life is in my hands. Is it really wise to be acting like this?"
Actually, Yamauchi knew perfectly well. However, his thought process was peculiar. He believed that since Kamio Tatsuya was about to be expelled, he would be safe once Kamio Tatsuya was expelled.
Wasn't this foolish?
Originally, Kamio Tatsuya intended to get rid of Sudou first, as his athletic ability was indeed too outstanding among the first-year students.
If he were to remain, he might pose a threat in the future. But Yamauchi's actions caused Kamio Tatsuya to change his mind.
Moreover, Yamauchi's outburst not only displeased Kamio Tatsuya but also many others.
Due to the accident, when Kamio's group's score was unsatisfactory, most people felt sympathy and pity. Yet, at this moment, he was still in the mood to gloat.
"Quiet!"
When the teacher spoke, Yamauchi also fell silent. However, judging by the smile on his face, he was eagerly anticipating something.
At this point, Katsuragi walked over to Nagumo. Soon after, he returned and nodded at Kamio Tatsuya, indicating that the points had been obtained.
In the second-year ranks, Nagumo also looked at Kamio Tatsuya with a smile.
In fact, after the accident in Class D occurred, Nagumo had considered reneging. But then he thought, it was only two people missing; if they worked hard, they might still pass.
Moreover, he heard that one of the individuals' injuries was not severe and there was a possibility of them returning to take the exam. Therefore, Nagumo did not terminate the contract.
Fortunately, he did not withdraw the contract, or he would definitely not have earned this side income.
Subsequently, Kamio Tatsuya produced a contract.
"Teacher, this is a contract I signed in the first semester under the school's impartial oversight. The contract stipulates that if I am expelled due to an exam, one of the three individuals listed above will be expelled in my place."
The host teacher took the contract from Kamio Tatsuya and examined it carefully.
Nagumo, however, looked over with disbelief. But among the first-years, many people were not surprised by this.
This meant that many of them were actually aware of this matter.
At this point, Nagumo's expression turned grim.
Scoundrel!
He had been tricked by that bald guy Katsuragi.
He and student Kamio were in cahoots!
On the other side, after the teacher confirmed the contract's contents, he nodded.
"The contract is valid. However, Ike Kanji in the contract has already been expelled, so it is now invalid. Additionally, you need to pay 2 million private points to transfer the penalty outcome."
On the other side, Yamauchi finally sensed something was amiss.
Kamio Tatsuya took out his phone and cheerfully paid 2 million private points. Then, he designated the person to be expelled in his place: Yamauchi Haruki from Class 1-D.
Upon hearing this result, Yamauchi's legs immediately went weak, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Impossible, this is impossible... Hirata, save me!"
Seeing Yamauchi's state, Hirata felt a pang of sympathy. However, Class D couldn't even muster their class points, let alone private points, so they had no way to save Yamauchi.
But soon, he thought of a way: he would take Yamauchi's place in being expelled.
"Everyone, can I ask you for a favor?"
Hirata's words still held some weight, so the students of Class D looked at him.
"Could you lend me some points? I'll be expelled in Yamauchi's place. 2 million is all it takes."
Hirata's words immediately ignited the atmosphere like a bomb.
"Impossible. If it were someone else, we wouldn't have a problem lending it to Hirata-kun, but not for this!"
"Exactly, if Hirata-kun isn't here, what will happen to Class D in the future?"
Before the boys could speak, the girls' objections drowned out Hirata's words.
"But..."
"If you really want to be expelled, I can pay for it." Kamio Tatsuya's voice came from Class C's side.
If it only cost two million to get Hirata out of here, that would be great.
Since Yamauchi was worthless now, Kamio Tatsuya wouldn't use him as a scapegoat again after this.
Besides, with Sakayanagi targeting him later, having him remain would actually be a good thing for Kamio Tatsuya.
"Thank you, Kamio."
Although Hirata knew that Kamio Tatsuya wanted to use this opportunity to make him leave the school, he still expressed his gratitude to Kamio Tatsuya.
"Hirata, no!"
"Hey, Kamio, stop meddling!"
...
After the students of Class D argued for a while, at the critical moment, Chabashira Sae stepped forward.
"Hirata, you don't need to say any more. The act of replacing someone for expulsion is itself an imperfect rule, so after Kamio Tatsuya used it, the school abolished it.
Even if you gather the 2 million now, you won't be able to be expelled in Yamauchi's place."
"How could this be..."
"Unfortunately, that's the reality."
Chabashira Sae's declaration made Hirata's plan fall through. He opened his mouth, then stopped talking about it, just looking down at the ground dejectedly.
On the other side, Yamauchi, who had been kneeling on the ground almost in tears, finally seemed to accept reality. He slowly raised his head and looked at Kamio Tatsuya not far away, his eyes filled with hatred.
"It's all your fault! It's all because of you!"
Shouting, he charged towards Kamio Tatsuya, even swinging his right fist at him.
However, when he was still a meter away from Kamio Tatsuya, a burly man blocked his path. Not only did he block his attack, but he also slapped him backward, sending him to the ground.
"Bad boy!"
Nice one, Yamada!
Well done!
You should have put more force into it, since he's no longer a student of the school.
Stepping out from behind Yamada Albert, Kamio Tatsuya looked at Yamauchi Haruki, who was crying on the ground, and shook his head.
Then, he looked towards Sakayanagi Arisu in the girls' lineup. Coincidentally, she was also looking over.
In reality, having Yamauchi expelled was the best outcome, as Sakayanagi clearly intended to target Yamauchi.
And Kamio Tatsuya wouldn't intervene to protect Yamauchi, so it was better to let him exit here.
After all, for Kamio Tatsuya, it was all the same.
After Yamauchi was taken away, the teacher announcing the results continued, "Although the expulsion result has been transferred to someone else, the class points to be deducted will not change. Class C will lose 100 class points due to this. Kamio-kun, do you have any objections?"
"No."
"In that case, do you intend to exercise your rights as a group leader?"
Speaking of which, Kamio Tatsuya smiled and looked towards Class B's ranks.
"Class D paid 15 million private points to prevent me from dragging their students down with me. How do you in Class B plan to persuade me?"
Hearing this, Class B's ranks immediately became somewhat chaotic.
They truly did not expect Kamio Tatsuya to pull off such a move. Kanzaki felt some regret; he should have thought of this on the first day.
If he had thought of it then, he would never have allowed Kamio Tatsuya to become the leader of that group. Instead, another person from Class C should have been the leader.
In that case, Kamio Tatsuya would certainly not have dared to let the group's score fall below the mark so casually.
But it was too late to say anything now. What they faced was how to prevent Kamio Tatsuya from dragging Class B students to their doom.
If the dragging to doom was successful, although Class B had the ability to help their classmates, they would have to pay 400 class points and 20 million private points.
Class D had paid 15 million points, so Class B would likely only need to pay 15 million.
Compared to this, Class B quickly made a decision: pay to avoid disaster!
After a period of discussion, Ichinose walked out from the class team, a wry smile on her face.
"Kamio-kun, your move truly caught us off guard."
"When the rules for this exam were released, I had already formulated this plan. However, the scapegoat I initially prepared was Koenji from Class D.
But an accident occurred midway, and Koenji was expelled in advance, so I had to maximize my profits. Class struggles have always been this way; I hope you won't blame me."
Kamio Tatsuya looked at Ichinose with a smile. Since they were opponents, she had the responsibility to see through his plan. If she didn't see through it, then she had to accept failure.
Moreover, Kamio Tatsuya had not resorted to underhanded tactics. He had simply used the cards he held to create the current situation.
If anyone was to blame, it was for not seeing through Kamio Tatsuya's plan and not taking the scapegoats in Kamio Tatsuya's hands seriously.
While others worried about expulsion, Kamio Tatsuya didn't care at all.
"Kamio-kun is simply using the cards in his hand fairly. I have no complaints. If it's 15 million points, can you please refrain from exercising your rights as a leader against Class B students?"
"Of course. The school can bear witness to this. If I go back on my word, I'll be expelled directly."
Kamio Tatsuya agreed without hesitation and then looked at the -sensei beside them.
The other party nodded as well.
Although there was no contract, with the school as a witness, Kamio Tatsuya would not go back on his word.
Then, Ichinose transferred 15 million private points to Kamio Tatsuya. Adding the 15 million he received from Katsuragi, that made it 30 million.
Combined with his previous savings, his balance reached 34 million.
This way, he could look for an opportunity to have Kamuro join Class C next.
After the matters concerning the first-years were concluded, Nagumo also made his move. Although he was tricked by the two first-year boys working together.
But that was not important. What was important was that he would finally win against Horikita Manabu this time.
"Congratulations, Horikita Manabu-san, you truly live up to your name."
"You lost, Nagumo."
Fukumaki from Class 3-B was unaware of everything and said this to Nagumo.
"Heh, is that so?"
A strange smile appeared on Nagumo's face.
"Thank you for the points, Nagumo-senpai."
Just then, Kamio Tatsuya's voice came from not far away.
"Nagumo-senpai, you didn't think I wouldn't have noticed you making a move against me, did you?"
"Heh, I didn't expect you to have another contract like that. This was indeed my mistake this time, but I'm not completely defeated."
Not completely defeated, huh? We'll see about that.
"Oh really? Nagumo-senpai means Ikari-senpai's group, right?"
"Did you do something?"
"You'll find out soon. The results are about to be announced, aren't they?"
As soon as Kamio Tatsuya finished speaking, the voice announcing the results rang out again.
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