The entrance exam's monitoring system had no blind spots, leaving no room for cheating. As Saiki Kusuo pointed out, to achieve a mid-range ranking in every subject, one would need to know the scores of everyone else. Controlling rankings was far harder than controlling scores—even cheating couldn't make it possible.
"Could Saiki Kusuo predict everyone's scores?"
"How could he? That'd be like having superpowers!"
Hearing Chabashira Sae's thoughts, Saiki Kusuo's heart skipped a beat.
"It's absurd. Maybe Saiki Kusuo's talent is just average after all."
He finally breathed a sigh of relief. Though the chance of exposure was nearly zero, hearing the word "superpowers" still made him instinctively tense.
"We'll see his true level after next week's pop quiz. Those defective students in Class D won't expect it so soon. This quiz carries a lot of weight in the next class point evaluation. Given their current state, their scores will likely be terrible. Watching their points get deducted will be entertaining. I can't wait to see their desperate faces."
"A homeroom teacher talking about her students like that," Saiki Kusuo thought, his eyebrows twitching slightly.
"But there's a pop quiz next week? And it heavily affects class points? I don't want to interfere too much, but if their points get deducted, that's bad."
An idea formed in Saiki Kusuo's mind.
"What about your physical education scores? Your long-distance run was average, but other scores fluctuated wildly."
"Maybe my physical condition was unstable then."
Saiki Kusuo could only come up with a vague excuse.
Chabashira Sae studied his face, searching for any signs of deception. But Saiki Kusuo's expression remained unchanged.
"Oh well, enjoy your time here. I hope you perform better in school."
Chabashira Sae shook her head, turned, and left.
"Nothing seems unusual. Did he really just get in through connections? Strange... Time will tell. This batch of students is my best chance. I'll use them to climb to Class A!"
"A teacher more eager to reach Class A than her students? And she treats them like tools," Saiki Kusuo thought, quickly returning to his dorm.
He placed the novels he'd brought and noticed numerous unread messages on his student terminal. They were from Shiina Hiyori.
Shiina Hiyori: Saiki-kun, are you back in the dorm?
Shiina Hiyori: The novels I recommended are great! Let me know if you finish them—I've got more!
Shiina Hiyori: The mystery design is amazing!
Though she seemed socially awkward, Shiina Hiyori lit up when discussing novels.
"Replying might open a floodgate. Better not," Saiki Kusuo thought, but hesitated, then grabbed his phone and typed a few symbolic responses.
"At least texting avoids spoilers, and I can get more recommendations."
After his brief reply, Shiina Hiyori sent a flurry of messages.
Shiina Hiyori: You've read that book too?!
Shiina Hiyori: No one around me reads this genre!
Shiina Hiyori: Let's read together sometime—library or school café!
"Café, huh? They've got good desserts," Saiki Kusuo thought.
The next day unfolded as usual for Saiki Kusuo. More students were late, including the Idiot Trio.
In class, some played on phones, others slept, and a few chatted loudly. Saiki Kusuo heard their thoughts clearly.
"This school's amazing!"
"Ten million yen monthly, no tuition, and all these facilities!"
"What's for lunch later?"
Saiki Kusuo estimated nearly half the class wasn't paying attention, still excited by their new environment.
"The pop quiz results won't be pretty," he thought.
Yet some students, like Horikita Suzune, focused intently on Chabashira Sae's monotonous lecture.
Chabashira Sae noticed the students' distractions but ignored them.
"You won't be laughing soon," she thought.
After morning classes, everyone headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Saiki Kusuo chose a dish and sat in a corner—waiting for his classmates to arrive first to avoid interruptions.
Surrounded by mostly upperclassmen, he overheard their conversation.
"The freshmen's pop quiz is coming... If we'd known earlier, we wouldn't be in Class D."
"It's tough—lots of content outside the curriculum. But after their quiz, we've got monthly exams. Can't mess up."
"Don't worry. We'll buy last year's papers from seniors. Split the cost among the class."
In the noisy cafeteria, their voices were hard to hear. But Saiki Kusuo heard every word.