Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 143: Celebration Banquet! Chabashira; This is truly impressive!

Class B scored 170 points.

This result was not unexpected, so the students of Class B were in a good mood.

Especially after hearing about the score of Ryuen, the guy who arranged for Kaneda to come, scoring 0 points. That really felt like a breath of relief.

“I can finally relax,” said Kanzaki.

“Mm-hmm,” agreed Ichinose, who thought the same.

Although, if they had replaced the team leader, their class’s score could have been higher.

But, their class couldn’t really match up to Class C like that.

Class C scored 491 points.

Based on the information already known:

Hachiman Hikigaya occupied 20 stronghold points, plus the points for the small hut.

The team leader information for Class AD was also known.

So, calculating this:

The score of 491 points should be = 0 points (initial points) + 20 X 2 + 20 X 3 X 5 + 51 (points for occupying 20 points, plus one for stronghold #25) + 50 X 2 (correctly guessing Class AD).

In other words, with this calculation, the point for the valuable 100,000-point territory suggested by Hikigaya… earned 51 points.

Eh.

And they could have also farmed this point, even had it handed to them, but it was stopped, as it felt unsafe, so they didn’t go back to inform Shiranami.

It’s equivalent to Shiranami losing 51 points.

“And…”

Kanzaki felt it was better not to speak any further.

He had truly made a big mistake this time.

But.

“Hikigaya Hachiman!”

“You liar!”

Ryuen Kakeru, however, took the initiative and approached.

He headed directly toward Class C’s team.

“Ryuen, what do you think you’re doing!” With their class having achieved great results, mama Hirata was feeling pleased, but quickly noticed Ryuen coming over with hostility.

So, he hurriedly stepped forward.

“Move aside!” But Ryuen roughly pushed him aside.

Although Hirata was considered the class representative for Class C, Ryuen had no interest in such an easy-going person.

So, he walked straight toward Hikigaya Hachiman.

“Ryuen!”

The girls’ team was standing outside, while the boys were inside.

So, as Ryuen rushed over, Horikita Suzune, who was standing near the front, looked at him coldly and warily.

“Do you really expect a girl to protect you? Hikigaya!” Ryuen said disdainfully.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ryuen, you bastard!” At this moment, Sudo stepped in. It could be said that he and Ryuen had bad blood.

Ryuen had actually bullied him two or three times at school.

So, now he wasn’t going to let Ryuen off easily.

“Idiot!” But Ryuen glanced disdainfully at Sudo. “If you really have the guts, come and fight. The only reason you’re talking now is because I’m alone.”

“Trash Sudo!” Ryuen commented.

“Ryuen, you son of a—” Sudo was instantly provoked.

But he was quickly stopped by other boys.

“Sudo, calm down. Ryuen’s class got 0 points. He might be trying to provoke us into fighting!”

“Just to make us lose points,” Mama Hirata quickly said.

Oh.

Is that so?

It was only then that everyone realized Ryuen’s class had also scored 0 points in this exam, so their class evaluation score was also 0.

They had 0 points, so there were no points to deduct.

If they clashed with him now and got points deducted, it would be a loss.

So, Yamauchi and Ike quickly stepped in to stop Sudo.

“…” Hikigaya.

When it came to fighting, Class C really wasn’t great.

Although Ryuen was alone, he had already defeated numerous people on his way here.

“Everyone, calm down. Ryuen’s after me,” Hikigaya said.

He then walked out of the crowd.

“If it’s a fight or something—”

Kushida stepped out, seeming to want to ease the tension.

“It’s not a fight,” Hikigaya said. “And besides, the homeroom teachers are on the beach. Unless Ryuen’s planning to drop out.”

“…” Ryuen.

Drop out?

This school was actually quite interesting. With special exams and even the challenge of reaching Class A being so tough, it was full of challenges. Ryuen didn’t want to just leave.

“Hikigaya, you sly old fox, don’t think you can throw the blame onto me,” Ryuen said.

“This time,” Ryuen said, “I just want to say you’re an untrustworthy guy.”

“We verbally agreed that our two classes wouldn’t guess each other’s team leader, but you—what I got was 0 points, which means you betrayed me!”

“Hikigaya, you’re completely untrustworthy!” Ryuen’s voice grew louder as he spoke.

And Hikigaya understood. Ryuen was trying to tarnish his reputation.

He wanted to accuse him of betraying the alliance as soon as it was formed.

If that happened, others would worry about making deals with him in the future.

However…

“What do you mean by that, Ryuen?” Hikigaya said coldly. “Is the so-called alliance between us even real?”

“Or did you write a formal agreement?”

“And if you can’t provide evidence, I’ll just assume you’re slandering me.”

“…” Ryuen.

Indeed, there wasn’t a formal written agreement.

And Horikita Suzune, who was beside Hikigaya, knew exactly what had happened.

Let’s rewind to the fourth day of the island exam.

After Ibuki left, and Ichinose and Kanzaki came to them, even though they sold the 25th point for 100,000 points, Hikigaya didn’t spend much time on Class B, but instead took her to move.

The two walked towards the forest.

“According to Koenji, this island has about 25 to 26 points.”

“We’ve occupied 20 points, Ichinose has 1, and we found a hut, so there are still 2-3 strongholds left. But we’re not going for those points, we’re going to find Ryuen.”

Hikigaya spoke to Horikita Suzune while walking.

“I’m sure Ryuen stayed on the island.”

“And since Ibuki and Kaneda left, he’s probably the leader of Class D left behind on the island.”

“So to avoid being discovered, he must be hiding somewhere far in the island, possibly deliberately avoiding the points.”

Meaning in the depths of the forest, places unsuitable for survival.

“So, are we going to look for him now?” Horikita Suzune asked.

“Yeah, we also need to get information about the Class A leader from him,” Hikigaya said.

“But.”

Hikigaya handed a stick to Horikita Suzune. “Those places that aren’t suitable for survival are risky, so someone has to protect me.”

“…” Suzune.

Protecting him, so was he the one being targeted?

Did she look like a bodyguard?

“Are you really that afraid of snakes?” Horikita asked.

No, it wasn’t about fear. Snakes were just disgusting and unacceptable.

So, the two continued walking.

But after walking for a few minutes, Horikita Suzune suddenly frowned.

A few days ago, Horikita had shown some vulnerable traits due to illness, but now, after recovering, she was back to her cold and composed self.

At the same time, it seemed she had become more alert.

She took something out of the left pocket of her sportswear jacket.

“How long are you going to make me hold onto this?” Horikita Suzune said.

Inside the bag was a piece of cotton fabric.

And it was a pair of women’s underwear.

Blue and white stripes.

This was Kushida Kikyo’s underwear that she had lost in the morning.

But it wasn’t Ibuki who took it, nor was it Kushida playing a role, it was Horikita Suzune who was asked to steal it.

“I was worried Kushida’s acting wouldn’t be good enough, so I arranged for you to do it,” Hikigaya said.

“You also know I need to protect Karuizawa,” he continued. “This class is really poor, with many dragging us down, so we need to protect the people who are useful.”

“…” Suzune realized she couldn’t deny it.

Because she also wanted a chance to go solo.

“But what about the underwear? Should we just return it directly to Kushida?” Horikita Suzune asked, since after she took out Kushida’s underwear, Hikigaya actually took it from her and confiscated it.

“Probably not,” Hikigaya shook his head. “You probably thought that since this is a strategy, you could just confront Kushida directly and return the underwear to her without any issues, right?”

“Isn’t that how it works?” Horikita Suzune didn’t understand.

“Definitely not. Have you thought about what kind of harm this would cause to Kushida?” Hikigaya said. “She considers you a friend, but you stole her underwear to carry out my task. She’ll think about the strength of your friendship.”

“…” Suzune. “But this is for the exam… I think Kushida will understand.”

Hmm.

Although Suzune had softened a bit and even sought him out as a companion, she still wasn’t good at handling human relationships.

Returning the underwear to Kushida would definitely make her smile and forgive Suzune.

However…

Her inner negative feelings would undoubtedly rise sharply.

So, he would need to figure out a way to provide her with a place to vent.

“Anyway, leave this matter to me,” Hikigaya said. “The key is to find Ryuen and get the information about Class A’s leader from him. Horikita, you clear the way.”

“Fine, fine,” Suzune casually picked up a stick and walked in front of Hikigaya as they entered the forest.

This was an uninhabited island, and also an artificial island, so there weren’t large dangerous wild animals, but there were still things like snakes.

Though most of them were non-venomous, it was a small island, so it couldn’t be ruled out that a venomous snake swam from the sea and climbed onto the island.

So.

Horikita Suzune walked ahead, fully alert.

Finally.

After walking for over two hours, they found a place where smoke was rising.

Someone had built a fire.

At that moment, Ryuen was still roasting by the fire, but his reaction was strong.

“Who’s there!” Ryuen quickly noticed someone had arrived.

The people who knew he was still on the island were Ibuki and Kaneda.

But those two had already returned to the ship.

So, was it Hashimoto? But Hashimoto hadn’t been told that he was staying here, so he quickly turned around.

Then.

“…” The three of them stared at each other.

“You’re hiding out here, eating stuff like this. Ryuen, do you want two loaves of bread?” Suzune said.

She saw Ryuen’s small campfire, with a processed snake’s body and a mouse roasting on the edge of the fire.

True to Horikita’s nature, she not only knew how to add fuel to the fire atmospherically but also was very good at making people angry.

“Whether it’s a snake or a field mouse, it’s all wild game,” Ryuen said. “But you two are wandering around. Are you having a secret date? Running to a place like this. Do you want to—”

“Ryuen, cut the long talk,” Hikigaya said indifferently. “Give me the information about Class A’s leader.”

“…” Ryuen.

It was bad enough that they came charging at him, but now they wanted him to give them Class A’s leader information?

“What if I say no?” Ryuen said disdainfully.

“Then I’ll inform Class A and Class B students that you’re still on the island, and when they guess the leaders, they’ll all choose you,” Hikigaya said. “You’re definitely up to something staying here, but if all three classes write your name, your plans will be ruined.”

If all the other classes wrote his name, during the guessing of leaders, he would lose 150 points.

That would invalidate any plans he had.

“Such a deal is unacceptable,” Ryuen quickly thought and then said. “You need to add more money!”

“It seems you really are the leader of Class D,” Hikigaya suddenly said. “Actually, I wasn’t too sure, but now I’m at ease.”

“…”

Damn.

Ryuen realized he had been tricked.

Because the topic just now was based on his identity as the leader of Class D.

Meaning Hikigaya had intentionally deceived him.

“IbukI was your spy, wasn’t she?” Hikigaya said.

Oh.

He understood now.

Ryuen was starting to get the picture.

Hikigaya had discovered that the information about his class leader had been leaked, and the high score he was aiming for would be nullified, so he couldn’t sit still anymore.

Heh.

Now he was starting to panic.

Compared to the leak of his own leader identity, it was actually Class C that was in the worst situation.

“So, what do you want to do?” Ryuen asked. “Do you want to make a deal with me?”

“Something like that,” Hikigaya replied. “I want the information on Class A’s leader, and in exchange, we won’t guess each other’s class leaders.”

“…” Ryuen.

It was exactly as he thought.

To fix the leak about Class C’s leader, Hikigaya needed to patch things up.

But Hikigaya, did he think that Ibuki had only told him about Koenji being the leader of Class C? In fact, even Katsuragi from Class A had found out.

So.

If he could get the other party to keep the information about him being the leader of Class D, that might not be a bad deal.

Because.

If the information about him being Class D’s leader leaked, all his plans would be undone.

“Why should I agree to leak Class A’s leader information to you? You can threaten me with my position as leader, but don’t forget, I also have information about your class’s leader,” Ryuen said.

In other words, Ryuen felt that he had more information, so he was asking for more compensation!

“If you add one more person to guess Class A, that will deduct 50 points from Class A,” Hikigaya said. “And adding someone from my class will also shorten the gap between Class A and us.”

“What do you mean?” Ryuen furrowed his brows.

“Because your target is also Class A, right? Then lowering Class A’s score is probably what you want too, isn’t it?” Hikigaya said. “Either we increase our score to catch up to Class A, or we bring them down. Both are opportunities.”

This made Ryuen focus on Hikigaya, then shift his gaze to Suzune.

Previously, during the Sudo assault incident, it was Suzune who submitted evidence that Ishizaki Daichi and the others were the masterminds, which caused a huge loss for the class.

That’s why Ryuen had been paying attention to Suzune.

But now, looking at her, Suzune was just standing beside Hikigaya, not saying anything more. It seemed that he had misjudged before—Hikigaya was actually the one calling the shots in Class C.

“Still not enough,” Ryuen said. “Your offer is still not enough!”

“I can offer you another base,” Hikigaya said. “This one is special, probably a hidden base. If you find it and occupy it, you could gain extra points.”

On one hand, Ryuen certainly had ambitions.

His goal was Class A.

Rising from the bottom, something difficult like that was interesting to him.

However, his class’s evaluation score right now was 0.

After this exam, they would only have a bit over 100 points.

But Class A had over a thousand.

So if he could lower Class A’s score, it would make it easier for him to rise.

Also.

Ryuen didn’t intend to follow the rules.

Because.

Ibuki had taken a very clear photo of Koenji being the leader of Class C.

So.

How could he let the foolish Class C earn another 300 points? First, he needed to calm Hikigaya down.

Thus.

“The deal is done,” Ryuen said. “Lead the way.”

“And once I occupy that special base you mentioned, I’ll tell you the information about Class A’s leader.”

And so, the deal was struck.

There wasn’t a formal written contract.

It was only a verbal agreement.

In fact, both parties had intended to betray each other from the start.

So when Ryuen showed up, Hikigaya wasn’t at all intimidated.

“Ryuen, before blaming me, you should first correct your own actions because you also leaked the information about my class’s leader. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been deducted to 0 points, would you?”

“You yourself couldn’t follow the rules, yet you come looking for me? Don’t you have any shame?” Hikigaya said. “And, I can say I didn’t guess you. Do you believe that?”

“…” Ryuen.

Ryuen had ended up with 0 points.

The teacher didn’t release the exam results, but he was also thinking about why he had gotten 0 points.

He had filled in the leaders of the other three classes during the guessing stage.

Among them.

Guessing correctly for Class A and Class B would give 100 points.

He had also guessed Class C, but when he came over earlier, he saw that Koenji was no longer there.

Which meant Hikigaya had tricked him.

Class C’s leader had been replaced at the last minute by Hikigaya using some method.

So, for guessing Class C, he lost 50 points.

Although he also went to capture stronghold 25, according to Hikigaya, capturing it would earn extra points, but those were stronghold points.

So, being guessed would lead to the points being reset.

Thus.

In this round, he ended up with only 50 points.

And these 50 points could be either from Hikigaya letting Ichinose guess him, or Hikigaya also guessing him.

50 minus 50 equals 0.

And 50 minus 100 doesn’t result in negative points, so it also equals 0.

So.

Hikigaya could easily say he didn’t violate the rules.

The detailed exam scores wouldn’t be revealed, so no one could know how many points stronghold 25 was worth. Therefore, Ryuen had no way of refuting Hikigaya.

Ryuen had no justification.

Damn!

He had tried so hard to rise in this exam, and now it ended in such a disaster.

“Fair’s fair,” Ryuen said. “Hikigaya, next time I won’t go easy on you. And I think I understand your behavioral pattern now.”

“And also.”

He paused for a moment before continuing. “No matter how many points I got now, my class will receive 1.2 million points every month until graduation.”

Actually, that wasn’t true.

At first, Ryuen had planned to split the 1.2 million personal points he exchanged with Class A only halfway with his class. Then, when he thought he could earn class evaluation points, he increased that ratio.

It became two-thirds for his classmates, to ensure their basic living expenses were covered, and then they would continue to cooperate in the next exam.

So, all of this was Ryuen’s generosity.

But now, looking at it, he hadn’t gained anything.

He could only hope that the next exam would have some benefits.

Ugh.

…

Ryuen came and went quickly. He walked straight onto the transport boat, seemingly eager to get back to the ship and rest.

After all, he had been through quite a rough few days and really needed to recover his body.

However, the four teachers had not boarded the ship yet.

Due to the announcement of the exam results, the class evaluation points of the four classes had undergone significant changes.

1st Year A Class, Sakayanagi Katsuragi’s Class: 1188 points + 70 = 1258 points
1st Year B Class, Ichinose’s Class: 951 points + 170 = 1121 points
1st Year C Class, Hikigaya and Horikita’s Class: 550 points + 491 = 1041 points
1st Year D Class, Ryuen’s Class: 0 points

The scores had changed, with the first three classes tightly packed together, while the last-place D class had earned only 0 points.

“Impressive, Chabashira,” said Sakagami, the D-class teacher, pushing his glasses up.

In reality, his mood was on the edge.

Because right now, not to mention 201 points, his class had a total of 0 points.

Compared to Chabashira’s class, they were behind by a whole 1000 points.

He was starting to feel uneasy.

Because initially, Chabashira’s class was only a few hundred points ahead, and after this exam, Ryuen’s class could have surged up in the next exam.

So, he thought there was no problem.

But now.

The pressure had grown immensely.

The teachers had different classes, and thus different treatment, so there was also a competition between teachers based on their strength.

Sakagami, the D-class teacher, thought Ryuen had actually done quite well. Not only had he gained A-class’s 1.2 million personal points per month, meaning he could enter a class he liked and even graduate from Class A.

On the other hand, he had discovered the secret stronghold 25, earning 51 points as a reward, and was even deemed excellent.

Finally, he had guessed the leaders of the other three classes correctly.

So, 201 points were secured.

Meanwhile, Chabashira’s class could only maintain 550 points.

So, the gap between them was still very narrow.

However, Chabashira’s class had gained 491 points, which pushed his class far behind, almost to the point where it felt like they couldn’t catch up. It also meant they had closed the gap with Classes A and B.

It could almost be said that they might create a miracle for the school.

They really had a chance to challenge Class A.

“Just average,” Chabashira said.

“…” The tone sounded rather pretentious, so Sakagami, the D-class teacher, decided not to speak to her anymore.

But Chabashira understood. This score, this 491 points, was really just average.

If Hikigaya became serious, that score would definitely not stay the same. The 300 raw points wouldn’t be exhausted, and it wouldn’t be like the first day when, in less than three hours, 300 points were all gone.

And this clearing of points.

That was something that needed to be considered carefully.

The question was whether to deliberately think it through, enjoy the abundance of resources, or to assume the class wouldn’t be able to hold up and would eventually be exhausted, so just use everything up right away.

Ugh.

In other words, he still didn’t acknowledge the current class, so he only wanted to raise the class once.

…

After all, it had been a week of exams.

The students boarded the transport boat in an orderly fashion and returned to the ship.

“I just want to lie on the bed and not get up!”

“A bed, this is a real bed!”

Hikigaya returned to the ship and went to his room in the cabin.

However, the key figure in this exam was Koenji Rokusuke.

The boys from the class gathered around.

“Koenji, is your body okay?”

“Hikigaya said it, you made a huge sacrifice for the class this time.”

“Heh, you really underestimate my physical condition,” Koenji said. “But don’t forget, the class owes me 400,000 points every month until graduation.”

“That’s a given!”

Although Koenji wasn’t popular normally, and now when meeting, they were just talking about money, making it seem like he had no friends, nobody was denying his contributions this time.

Even if 100 points were given to him, everyone’s living expenses would increase by 39,000 extra.

It was a good thing.

In fact, the boys were brought over by Hirata, and the idea was to check on Koenji.

Yeah.

This was very in line with Hirata’s personality.

He probably also hoped to take this opportunity to integrate the usually solitary Koenji into the class, so they could all get along.

But sadly, Hirata, you know…

Koenji wanted those massive points so he could fly solo.

Hikigaya thought to himself.

But.

Everyone had returned to the dorm, and Yamauchi was still there.

Hikigaya didn’t trust Yamauchi much, but the underwear of Karuizawa and Kushida were still in his bag. If Yamauchi found them…

At that point, his whole reputation would be ruined.

Thus.

He had been hesitant to dispose of the evidence on the island, considering the risk of pollution or getting caught.

But now, it had turned into a situation that could destroy his reputation.

So, after realizing he might get burned by playing with fire, Hikigaya quickly started thinking about how to destroy the evidence.

But.

“Let’s all go have lunch, a celebration banquet, as a celebration!”

A boy’s hand was placed on Hikigaya’s left shoulder.

“Right, Hikigaya… you want to go too, right? Call the girls out too.” The boy said. “Hey, help me ask Sakura out.”

“……”

This Yamauchi guy, something’s off with him.