Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 146: The Privileged Exam Begins! It Feels a Bit Rude to Keep Farming Points!

Hachiman had considered the possibility of betrayal when making a deal with Ryuen.

This was evident from the fact that Ryuen had already made a deal with Class A yet still wanted to guess Class A’s leader.

Ryuen was not trustworthy.

So, if they didn’t put everything in writing, specifying what could and couldn’t be done, they would definitely get tricked by Ryuen.

But Ichinose’s side was different.

Even though Hachiman and her group had no formal contract, neither Kushida nor Horikita doubted Ichinose’s trustworthiness.

Rather—

Hachiman was sure that Class B wouldn’t go back on their word.

Because—

They had already been informed that their classmate Shiranami Chihiro was the leader, yet they still didn’t change their stance.

Thinking even further, it became clear that Class B had already missed an opportunity to advance to Class A.

Class A currently had 1,258 points. However, if they guessed Class B’s leader incorrectly, they would lose 100 points, bringing them down to 1,158. Meanwhile, even if Class B switched leaders, they could still gain 100 points.

That would put them at 1,221 points.

So, Class B had actually lost a chance to move up.

Under such a “goody-two-shoes” and “saintly” aura, how could they possibly default on the agreement?

“I really wasn’t trying to eavesdrop,” Ichinose quickly put down the menu and stood up.

“I arrived early because of our scheduled meeting, so I was just waiting for Kanzaki,” she said, feeling wronged. “I actually came here to fulfill our agreement from the island.”

Ichinose continued, “We’ve drafted a contract, and Kanzaki went to print it out.”

Soon—

Kanzaki arrived at the restaurant.

He brought two copies of the agreement.

[During the first-year uninhabited island exam, Class B and Class C formed an agreement. Class C was responsible for providing information about the leaders of Classes A and D.
Starting from the first day of the month following the exam and continuing until graduation,
Class B will provide Hachiman Hikigaya from Class C with 392,000 private points per month.]

[Signed: Honami Ichinose, Kanzaki Ryuji (Class B)
Class C Representative: …]

There were no issues with the contract.

Hachiman and the others took a quick look before signing their names.

“I’ll take 200,000 points per month, while you two will each get 90,000, and 12,000 will go to Karuizawa,” Hachiman told Horikita and the others. “Karuizawa was the victim of the underwear incident this time.”

“I have no objections,” Kushida said. She had expected to receive only 40,000–50,000 points, so she was surprised by Hachiman’s generosity and immediately agreed.

Horikita, however, knew that Karuizawa was Hachiman’s hidden piece, so she had nothing to say about it.

“Speaking of which, I saw Ibuki,” Kushida added.

“Ibuki, huh… After this exam, she probably realizes she was tricked,” Horikita said. “She should know by now that we saw through her role as a spy.”

“But what I noticed is that the students in Class D don’t seem to care at all,” Kushida continued. “Even though they scored zero points, they’re not worried. They just keep saying, ‘Ryuen will handle everything.’”

As expected of Kushida—her intelligence-gathering skills were top-notch.

“Does Class D still have a chance to rise up?” Kanzaki quickly asked. He was wary of Ryuen, as Class B had suffered under his schemes in this exam.

But now, Class D’s class points had dropped to zero.

It didn’t seem like they had much fighting power left.

“They do,” Hachiman said. “I think Ryuen might have received some intel—he probably knows that there’s another special exam coming up during this cruise trip.”

“Another exam?” The others immediately turned to look at him.

“It’s just my speculation,” Hachiman said. “Our exam ended, right?”

“But don’t you think the ship’s movements are a bit strange?”

The ship’s movements?

Right now, the ship was drifting on the ocean without a clear direction, slowly circling near the uninhabited island where they had just finished the exam.

“If the exam was truly over, logically, the ship should be heading straight back to school.”

“But right now, it’s not moving in that direction.”

“So that means…” Kanzaki caught on.

“The exam was scheduled to last for two weeks. It’s only been nine days since we left school, so…” Ichinose, who wasn’t dumb, also realized, “There’s still plenty of time for a second exam.”

“Exactly,” Hachiman said. “I believe there’s a strong possibility of another exam.”

“So, when the time comes, I might need everyone’s help again.”

Needing their help—

There was no doubt that Class B and Class C were allies.

For Horikita, another exam meant another opportunity. But for Kushida, another exam meant more trouble for her, didn’t it?

Damn it.

Kushida suddenly realized—Hachiman couldn’t possibly be this generous, giving her 90,000 points per month.

It was because another exam was coming up, and he needed her to continue playing her role.

And he might even make her do some morally questionable things again.

But her underwear had already been stolen. Just how much worse could things get?

Kushida felt like she had boarded a pirate ship with no way out.

…

After the small gathering ended, Ichinose and Kanzaki watched as Hachiman and the others left.

But the two of them didn’t leave immediately.

“Actually, our two classes’ evaluation scores are very close. We could technically dissolve this alliance,” Ichinose said with some concern.

Her beautiful blue eyes held a trace of worry.

“But, I don’t know why…” Ichinose hesitated. “I feel uneasy. I have a feeling that if we abandon this alliance, our class might start falling behind.”

“Perhaps,” Kanzaki nodded.

They still hadn’t fully grasped the school’s rules and inner workings.

And right now, Class B’s advantage wasn’t that strong. Without Class C’s support, they might truly be in danger.

Previously, it had seemed like Class C was the one benefiting from their alliance. But now, the situation had reversed.

It was Class B that was gaining the advantage.

Kanzaki even suspected that, even if Class B managed to climb to the top and reach Class A, they might fall back down just as quickly.

And when that happened, it would be a huge blow to their morale.

So perhaps it was better to continue accumulating experience first.

At the same time—

“I think even if Class C rises up, it won’t be a problem. If they can rise up, it could also dampen Class A’s morale, which is beneficial to us. And if Class C really does rise up, it’s not an issue,” Kanzaki said. “Since we previously tutored them, we’ve learned a few things.”

“Their class is weak in any test that requires raw academic ability or physical strength.”

“So even if they do rise up, they might just fall back down again,” Kanzaki concluded.

In other words, Hikigaya’s class also has significant weaknesses.

“Hikigaya and his class have really been struggling,” Ichinose said.

On the uninhabited island, Kushida had borrowed initial points from their class to exchange for underwear, claiming that it was possibly an attempt by another class to create internal discord.

This ended up causing an argument within their class.

If it had been their class in that situation, they definitely wouldn’t have argued.

—

Two days had passed since the special exam ended.

During these two days, the school had not taken any action or placed any restrictions on students.

It truly felt like these last few days were a reward, allowing students to continue their luxurious cruise.

Until the third day.

At this moment, Hikigaya was at a KFC restaurant.

He had originally invited Horikita to join him, but she seemed to be reading a book and wasn’t interested in spicy wings.

So, she declined.

The cruise ship provided a variety of services, including high-end restaurants with gourmet food, all free of charge.

Yet, Hikigaya was currently eating spicy wings.

“Do you really like this kind of food so much?”

The girl with golden, single-ponytail hair sitting across from him couldn’t understand Hikigaya’s taste.

“Isn’t everyone allowed to have their own hobbies?” Hikigaya countered.

“No, I just think you’re really easy to take care of,” Karuizawa shook her head.

Because the foods Hikigaya liked were things that an average household wouldn’t usually prepare. So, if he liked these, he could just order takeout without needing to cook at all.

That would reduce household chores.

“Cough, cough…” Hearing something sensitive, Hikigaya quickly defended himself. “I wouldn’t mind if someone wanted to take care of me. It’d be great if they also thought I was easy to take care of.”

Perhaps because he noticed Karuizawa’s slightly surprised look, Hikigaya continued,

“I asked you out today to let you know that from now on, I’ll be giving you 12,000 private points every month. This is the profit gained from the last exam from Class B.”

“Uh… I didn’t really do anything to help,” Karuizawa quickly waved her hand.

“At least this gives you something to look forward to,” Hikigaya said. “As they say, money is a great motivator.”

…Is that so?

Somehow, it felt like Hikigaya wasn’t just aiming for Class A but was also starting to save up money.

Though she thought this, Karuizawa didn’t say it out loud.

At that moment—

A broadcast announcement echoed through the ship, carrying the voice of Class A’s homeroom teacher, Mashima.

He had previously announced the rules before they landed on the uninhabited island, as well as the exam results after it ended.

So the students were already very familiar with his voice.

“Attention all students. The school has just sent an email regarding an important communication. Please check your phones and follow the instructions provided.”

Mashima-sensei’s voice rang out.

“If anyone did not receive the email, please inform the nearest faculty member. The content is extremely important, so make sure you review it thoroughly. I repeat—”

“This is…”

Karuizawa immediately reacted.

Meanwhile, Hikigaya had already pulled out his phone.

[A special exam is about to begin. All students must report to their designated room at the specified time. Any student who is more than ten minutes late will face penalties.]

[Please gather in Room 204 on the second floor before 6 PM tonight. The exam will take approximately 20 minutes. Before attending, make sure you’ve used the restroom and do not bring your phone, or ensure your phone is turned off before arrival.]

Reading the email from the school, Hikigaya contemplated.

He had already predicted that there would be another exam.

And now, the exam’s details were finally here.

However—

“Since the time and location have been specified, as well as the duration, it means that both time and location vary. In other words, this exam will separate everyone.”

“If that’s the case, then it can’t be a written test or anything similar.”

For a regular test, there would be no need for such complexity; they could simply gather everyone in one place.

But since they were being separated—

There was only one possibility.

Aside from dealing with other classes, they likely had to be wary of their own classmates as well.

Hachiman knew his class well—there weren’t even ten truly reliable people.

“Ring ring!”

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang, and Hachiman quickly answered the call.

“Hikigaya-kun!”

Horikita Suzune’s voice came through the speaker. “Did you receive the school’s email?”

“I did. What’s your assigned time?” Hachiman asked. “And your room number?”

“8:40 PM. Room 204 on the second floor.”

“I’m at 6 PM. Same room, 204 on the second floor.”

As Hachiman spoke on the phone, he glanced at Karuizawa. She was being surprisingly cooperative and simply raised her phone to show him.

Her assigned details were the same as his—6 PM, Room 204 on the second floor.

Since both he and Karuizawa shared the same room number and time, it meant they were in the same group.

However, Horikita was also assigned to Room 204 but at a much later time, 8:40 PM.

Hachiman furrowed his brows—8:40 PM.

Between 6 PM and 8:40 PM, there was a gap of 2 hours and 40 minutes.

That was 160 minutes.

According to the school’s email, each group would take about 20 minutes.

That meant at least eight different groups could be assigned.

Even though students from the same class were gathering in the same room, their assigned times were different.

The school was clearly splitting up the classes. That was not a good sign.

Because if his classmates were left to act freely, it would be the same as self-destruction.

“Get in touch with Kushida,” Hachiman said. Then, he turned to Karuizawa. “Karuizawa, ask in the class group chat and collect everyone’s assigned time and room number.”

“Karuizawa is with you?” Horikita’s voice suddenly came through the phone.

“? We were just eating together. Why?”

“…Nothing,” Horikita replied.

And so, both sides began gathering information.

—

The class had just won a major victory, so the students were confused about having another exam so soon.

Some were even worried.

As soon as the class group chat opened, people were already discussing whether they might lose points in this exam.

That was actually a good thing.

Since this concerned their own personal interests, the students were easier to manage.

They weren’t the type to sacrifice for others, but if their own benefits were at risk, they might finally start listening.

Soon—

Within ten minutes, they had collected enough information.

Class C had been divided into twelve groups, all scheduled to gather in Room 204 on the second floor at different times.

Meanwhile, Ichinose had also sent back information from her class. Their arrangement was similar—students were assigned different time slots, and those time slots matched the ones in Hachiman’s class.

However, their assigned rooms were different.

If this was happening in one class, and also in two classes,

Then it was likely that the entire first year was being divided into four different rooms, with staggered time slots for assessment.

Hachiman put down his phone and looked at the golden-haired girl sitting across from him.

Karuizawa seemed completely uninterested in the class competition.

Even when informed about the special exam, she remained calm. Her reasoning?

“You’re handling the exam, right? And you said you wouldn’t let me get expelled.”

She had completely given up on the situation.

“What do you think about this exam, Karuizawa?”

Hachiman decided to get her perspective.

“Hmm? Me?”

Karuizawa pursed her lips and murmured, “I think it’s kind of weird.”

She lowered her voice. “Satsuki and Maya aren’t in the same time slot as me—they’re later, and even in a different room. If that’s the case, then wouldn’t the people in earlier time slots get to know the exam content in advance?”

“Hmm.”

Hachiman nodded lightly—Karuizawa was smart.

She had a point—if different students were scheduled at different times,

Then those who took the test earlier could gain information and prepare accordingly.

So—

Tonight’s gathering might not be the exam itself.

It could just be an explanation of the exam rules or something similar. And within that explanation, there might be something important to take note of.

Moreover—

Hachiman glanced at the email again.

[Please gather in Room 204 on the second floor before 6 PM tonight. The exam will take approximately 20 minutes. Before attending, make sure to use the restroom, and do not bring your phone or turn it off before arriving.]

Phones were not allowed.

In that case—could they bring a camera instead?