"Why am I still ranked dead last?! Why?!"
'Because you've only narrowed the gap with normal students.'
Saiki Kusuo mentally responded to Sudō Ken's confusion.
Though Sudō had improved rapidly during this period, his original foundation was simply too weak.
However, even being last, Sudō scored much higher than expected—or rather, the entire class performed quite well this time.
"I felt like my score should've been closer to the top ten! I remembered all those formulas!"
'You were as excited to discover which formulas to use as humans were when they first discovered fire.'
"I tried so hard... and I'm still dead last?!"
'What exactly did you try? It feels like I was the one putting in the effort.'
Saiki felt a bit helpless, but through their mental exchange, he sensed Sudō did have some drive. It could barely be called progress.
"Still, the average score was 65! Not bad!"
'Pretend I said nothing.'
Saiki shook his head slightly, then turned his gaze to Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, who was quickly analyzing the class results.
"Horikita's total score is first, as expected. Saiki's math is surprisingly in the top ten, but his English is dead last... His total score is close to mine, still mid-tier. Is he holding back? Or...?"
'No matter my score, you'll always suspect me, right?'
"I must say, your exam results are a pleasant surprise," Chabashira Sae said with a smile.
"I didn't expect these rejects to score this well. Not bad, even if they're in Class C. At the start, they were rated Class D—a class like that has never scored this high, almost on par with Class A."
"Everyone passed, which is shocking—even Sudō and his gang got decent scores."
"Did someone exploit the school's rules?"
"Seems like you've proven a little worth after being labeled rejects."
"Chabashira-sensei!" Hirata Yōsuke raised his hand.
"What is it?" Chabashira narrowed her eyes, her gaze fixed on Hirata, as if guessing his thoughts.
"If our scores are good... does that mean our class rank has risen?" Hirata asked curiously.
Chabashira smirked: "Your scores are decent, but you're getting ahead of yourselves. Want to jump to Class B already? Not enough!"
She wrote the point totals for each class on the board.
After this exam, excluding Class A, Class C gained points—but midterms contribute little. With the prior gap between Class C and B, they still hadn't surpassed Class B.
However, the gap between Class C and B had undeniably narrowed.
Ayanokōji's brow twitched as he noticed Class D's points were nearly identical to Class C's.
"Class D's points are almost the same as ours... Does that mean their scores are similar too?"
"Based on the last ranking, Class D's average ability shouldn't be high, but this time, they matched our scores—even though we had last year's exam questions."
"Could this mean Class D also obtained last year's questions? Did they discover them—or did someone from our class leak them?"
Ayanokōji's reasoning was swift, but he only suspected this possibility without concrete evidence.
Saiki knew the truth.
His gaze shifted to Kushida Kikyō, who chatted with classmates about the midterms, acting oblivious.
To Saiki, if Kushida only told Class D about last year's questions, it was a good thing—slowing their class's rise.
With Class D as a rival, climbing further would create more enemies.
However, if Kushida and Ryūen Kakeru's actions later affected Saiki, he wouldn't stand idly by.
"Wipe those smiles off your faces. It's just a midterm," Chabashira said, taking down the score sheet and scanning the class.
"Many more exams await you."
"Their average ability is low, so this score means they obtained the exam in advance, like the last quiz—"
"But this method will soon fail."
"Upcoming exams won't have reference questions, and they won't just test academics."
'Looks like more trouble ahead,' Saiki thought, hoping no more surprises would arise.
Only Saiki knew Chabashira's thoughts; the other students pondered different matters.
"We still haven't surpassed Class A... The gap will only grow! We need more talent in the study group."
'Please don't. I'm begging you.'
"Everyone did well! Let's celebrate tonight."
'That's pointless. And don't do it in my dorm...'
"Let's do it in Saiki's dorm again!"
'Do you have mind-reading powers?'
...
Thus, another month quietly slipped away.