NOVEL WEB Chapter 156
Chapter 156: Ryuen: This Time, I Will Bring Class A Down!
“In an exam where it’s impossible to control all students uniformly, loopholes are bound to appear,” Katsuragi said.
Ichinose remained silent, shifting her gaze slightly. Katsuragi’s words were similar to what Hikigaya had just said. Did this mean Hikigaya was actually at Class A’s level?
“So we chose not to participate because we are Class A. In this kind of exam, all we need to do is maintain our class status,” Katsuragi said calmly.
It was indeed a cautious approach, likely because they had lost the island exam. If they lost again here, it would be over for them. So they had to protect every single point, ensuring none were deducted.
The ranking system at this school was solely determined by class evaluation scores. Students initially placed in Class A would naturally develop a sense of superiority—along with immense pressure.
They didn’t want to fall. If they did, they’d be mocked. It would also prove they weren’t capable enough.
If they fell but managed to climb back up quickly, they could still retain some morale. But if they stayed down for too long—like Ryuen’s class, which had been in Class D for a while—eventually, no one would even bother to correct others, insisting they had originally been in Class C.
It was a real-life example right before their eyes.
So the pressure on them was immense.
“And not just for this exam—I will continue this strategy in future exams as well,” Katsuragi added. Then, noticing Hikigaya, he averted his gaze. “I’ve already heard about your class’s contribution and punishment system, so I must say, Hikigaya, you’re really going all out to climb to Class A.”
“But we won’t just sit back and watch you climb up,” Katsuragi declared, displaying his pride as a member of Class A.
Unfortunately, neither Hikigaya nor Sakayanagi had ever taken Katsuragi seriously.
They saw him as the easiest to deal with. So Hikigaya simply responded with a polite smile.
“You must be joking!”
A commotion erupted from Room 303.
Hearing the voice, Hikigaya immediately walked inside—it was Horikita Suzune.
Logically speaking, the Dragon Group’s discussion should have ended, and students should have started leaving. Katsuragi had already exited, but Hikigaya’s Class C members were still inside.
The Dragon Group members were:
Class A: Katsuragi Kohei, Nishikawa Ryoko, Matoba Shinji, Yano Koharu
Class B: Kanzaki Ryuji, Ando Sayo, Tsube Hitomi
Class C: Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo, Hirata Yosuke
Class D: Ryuen Kakeru, Oda Takumi, Suzuki Hidetoshi, Sonoda Masashi
A total of 14 students.
But in the room now, only Kushida, Hirata, Horikita, Ryuen, and Kanzaki remained.
Ryuen sat in a chair with an infuriating grin, while Horikita looked displeased.
“What’s going on?” Hikigaya asked, unaware of their prior discussion.
“Ryuen wants us from Class C to cooperate with him,” Hirata explained. “And… he also wants to take pictures of Horikita.”
More photos?
Ryuen, do you really love taking pictures of girls that much?
“What conditions is he offering?” Hikigaya asked.
“Hikigaya… are you really considering working with him?” Hirata hesitated.
“He wants us to reveal all the VIP students,” Horikita answered, “in exchange for him not guessing our class’s VIP, so we won’t lose points.”
“He made the same offer to us in Class B,” Kanzaki added from the corner. “He won’t guess our VIPs either, opting for Answer 1 instead—meaning everyone answers together on the third night to receive the 500,000 personal point reward per month.”
“There’s only four classes in our grade, and now you’re trying to ally with both Class B and Class C?” Ichinose entered the room, having overheard the conversation.
She was surprised—Ryuen had proposed the exact same plan as Hikigaya.
“Of course, my target is Class A,” Ryuen smirked. “You all know that this school ranks classes based on their evaluation scores. Only Class A graduates get all the benefits, and the rest are just trash. Don’t deny it—you all don’t want to stay behind either. But look at the numbers.”
Ryuen wrote on a piece of paper:
• Class A: 1258 points
•
• Class B: 1121 points
•
• Class C: 1041 points
•
• Class D: 0 points
•
“The gap between A, B, and C is small, but you guys are miles ahead of my class. So why should I care about gaining points?
“If I can pull Class A down, wouldn’t that make things easier for you?”
Ryuen paused before saying:
“Ichinose, your class would automatically move up to Class A.”
If Ryuen obtained the names of all three VIPs in Class A and guessed them correctly, Class A would lose 150 points.
That would put their score at 1108 points.
Class B wouldn’t even need to do anything—they’d automatically surpass Class A.
A free promotion.
“…”
Ichinose hesitated slightly but did not waver.
“Our Class B will not join,” she said firmly. “Back in the island exam, it was you, Ryuen, who sent Kaneda to infiltrate our class and steal information about our leader.”
Having been tricked before, she suspected Ryuen’s seemingly appealing offer was actually a trap.
If Ryuen betrayed them halfway and leaked Class B’s VIPs, the pressure on Class A would be relieved, and her class would drop to Class C instead.
“But are you sure about this?” Ryuen remained unfazed. “You know your homeroom teacher desperately wants you to move up to Class A, right? The gap between your class and Class A has been stressing her out.”
“Ryuen, enough!”
Both Kanzaki and Hirata snapped—Ryuen’s words were an indirect insult to their classmates.
“Heh,” Ichinose maintained a composed smile. “This exam and its group assignments were all determined by the school. Our teacher had no say in it.”
“You really don’t know?” Ryuen smirked. “The exam rules were set by the school, but the group assignments were partially arranged by the teachers.
“So why do you think your teacher put you in Rabbit Group—a group full of nobodies?”
He was leading her into a realization.
“Probably because of me,” Hikigaya interjected.
His words made Ryuen freeze.
So… Class B’s teacher considered Hikigaya more dangerous than any Class A student?
After all, Hikigaya had single-handedly shifted the tides of the island exam, scoring 491 points.
Was that why Class B’s teacher sent their strongest student, Ichinose, to keep an eye on him?
If so, Rabbit Group might actually be stronger than Dragon Group.
“…”
Ryuen was silent.
He felt annoyed.
Why wasn’t Hikigaya in Dragon Group? His group had Katsuragi, Kanzaki, and himself—all top-tier competitors. But instead of Hikigaya, they got nobodies like Hirata and Kushida?
And now, knowing that teachers had arranged the groups, it meant Class B’s teacher saw Hikigaya as the biggest threat.
So the school wasn’t watching Ryuen. They were watching Class C.
That realization irritated him.
“Hikigaya, you’re a real pain in the ass,” Ryuen muttered. “I enjoy chasing women too, but damn, you’ve got both Ichinose and Horikita following you around.”
“…”
Hikigaya couldn’t deny it—he had been spending a lot of time with Horikita lately.
And occasionally… dining with Sakayanagi.
But Ryuen, could you at least phrase it nicely?
There might be a pattern.
Since B Class has three privileged students, and there are a total of 12 privileged students, it seems that each class has three.
It appears evenly distributed.
At the same time, Hachiman had deliberately sent a message to Ichinose, making people wonder what he intended to do with B Class’s privileged student information.
So, is that how it is?
There is a pattern.
…
Horikita stood quietly to the side, listening. Although Ryuuen had used brute force to check the students’ phones for privileged student information, Hachiman had also managed to do it. He, Horikita, and Kushida had taken charge of checking their class’s phones and even locked them away.
This prevented their classmates from acting recklessly.
“In the end, the group I most want to collaborate with is B Class. First of all, our common enemy is A Class. Also, Ichinose, you must have full control over the privileged students in your class, right? After all, you’re extremely popular.”
“Ah… haha.” Ichinose seemed a bit embarrassed. “You’re overestimating me. I haven’t earned that much trust from everyone, so…”
But this was clearly just humility. Ichinose’s popularity was indeed very high, and she had her classmates’ trust.
Letting this conversation continue wasn’t in Hachiman’s best interest.
Because he had already confirmed that Ryuuen shared his perspective—Ryuuen wasn’t just fixated on winning a single group’s competition. He had realized that there was a pattern to how privileged students were selected in this exam.
This was evident from the previous incident where Sudo got into a fight. Ryuuen’s teacher, Kazuma Sakagami, had stepped in to support his class.
Sakagami-sensei had questionable integrity and often provided Ryuuen with information that a teacher shouldn’t—or at least vague hints. This further confirmed that there was indeed a pattern to the privileged student selection.
It was worth regarding Ryuuen as a highly useful opponent.
Hachiman stepped forward. “This so-called collaboration is meaningless. If you two work together, it forces C Class and A Class to align against you. Under such circumstances, A Class would undoubtedly choose to work with us. A three-way standoff—does that sound fun to you? Also, Ryuuen, you’ve betrayed B Class before. What guarantees do you have that you won’t do it again?”
“……” Ryuuen stared at Hachiman. “Then you can just wait until you’re utterly crushed in this exam!”
He kicked his chair aside and stormed out.
It was obvious—his earlier attempt was meant to trick Ichinose into revealing at least one privileged student’s identity so he could deduce the pattern. But Hachiman’s words made Ichinose more alert, ensuring she wouldn’t cooperate.
His plan was thwarted.
Annoyed, Ryuuen kicked a chair, appearing rude.
But that was just for show.
Since it was already clear that B and C Classes had formed an alliance, splitting them apart or obtaining privileged student information was difficult.
So…
Ryuuen’s real target in this exam—was the weakest class.
First-Year A Class.