Chapter 216: Paper Shuffle

Time slipped away, and in the blink of an eye, yet another midterm exam had been navigated and passed by Fuyuji Mikage.

Compared to the first time—cramming at the last minute, seeking tutoring from Shiraishi-mama and Senpai—this time, Fuyuji was considerably more at ease.

Even the entirety of Class A had hardly any students who felt nervous about this matter. Even Katsuragi Kohei had merely kept a cursory eye on his classmates' grades before moving on to other tasks. After all, no matter how one took the exam, according to the school's rules, as long as the average score across all subjects exceeded fifty, the threat of expulsion could be ignored entirely.

For students in other classes, this might be difficult to achieve. But for Class A, which excelled in academic ability, reaching this threshold was still quite easy.

During the weekly homeroom session, when Mashima Tomonari, dressed in his pressed suit and holding a poster, strode into the classroom with measured steps, the originally relaxed atmosphere instantly turned grave and solemn.

"Oi, oi, Mashima-sensei. Don't tell me it's another special exam?"

Seated in the very front row, Yoshida Kenta stared at that long, rolled-up poster, the corner of his eye twitching violently.

"Every single time you bring that thing in, nothing good ever follows."

Mashima's expression remained unchanged. Calmly, he stepped up onto the lectern. "Impressive observation skills. It seems that after half a year at Advanced Nurturing High, you've already made visible progress."

The moment these words fell, the Class A classroom grew a few degrees noisier.

"So the special exam is real?"

"What's the test this time? Don't tell me it's some topic specially designed to torment and torture people?"

"Will there be expulsions? Could this be the doing of that newly appointed Student Council President?"

...

After spending more than half a year together, the Class A students had grown a few degrees more familiar with this outwardly stern homeroom teacher. Naturally, the strictly disciplined restraint from that very first class was now gone.

"Quiet!"

Mashima rapped against the blackboard—neither too hard nor too light. In an instant, the clamorous wave of noise was suppressed. All eyes focused upon that stern face at the lectern.

"This exam does indeed carry the risk of expulsion. However, this is an annual fixture of the school. In previous years, the majority of those expelled were Class D students—and even then, only one or two groups. As long as you maintain your current level of performance, there is a high probability that there will be no issues."

Before the students could even breathe a sigh of relief, Mashima abruptly shifted his tone.

"However—'no issues' is all it is. This exam not only tests your own abilities—it is, at the same time, a test of the opposing side's abilities. In other words—this is an exam in which two classes compete directly against each other."

Mashima's steady voice echoed and reverberated throughout the Class A classroom.

Sweeping his gaze across the expressions of the students in the class, and seeing that the majority had already focused their attention on the blackboard, Mashima unfurled the poster.

"I won't go into detail about everyone passing the midterm exams. For you all, that's simply normal, standard performance. What's important is the final exam—which is also, at the same time, this special exam. Unlike previous times, this final exam will be conducted through a method of pairing classes against each other, and mutually setting exam questions for one another."

"Paper Shuffle?"

Gazing at those bold characters at the top of the poster on the blackboard, Hoashi in the front row couldn't help but murmur in a low voice.

"Yes. Paper Shuffle." Mashima inclined his head in confirmation. "The content of this exam is very simple. Under the premise of class members being paired together in groups of two, you will take the exam. Then, you will select one of the three other classes to attack. They will complete the exam paper set by you. Correspondingly—you will defend, answering the exam paper set by the class that has chosen you as their target of attack."

"In the end, the total scores of the attacking side and the defending side will be compared against each other. The side with the higher score will seize 50 class points from the side with the lower score. If both sides achieve the same score, it will be considered a draw."

"Wait." Matoba Shinji furrowed his brow and tightened his grip on his pen. "If we're mutually setting exam questions for each other—surely we'd come up with problems the opponent absolutely couldn't answer, right? If both sides do that—what's the point of this exam?"

"Correct." Mashima cast a glance of approval at him. "However—take note. If the exam questions exceed the scope of the curriculum, or if the answers cannot be deduced and derived from the questions themselves, the teachers will make corrections and amendments. Moreover, the difficulty of such questions will be far, far lower than the normal range."

So that was it...

None of the Class A students present were particularly slow-witted. Very quickly, they digested the rules and signaled for Mashima to continue.

"Furthermore!"

Mashima's volume abruptly rose by an entire notch. Both hands braced against the edge of the lectern. His gaze swept across the entire room.

"Take careful note. The conditions for passing this time are different from previous exams. There are two passing conditions."

"The first is similar to the passing thresholds of previous semesters. All subjects have a minimum passing score of 60 points. If the combined score of both members of a pair falls below 60 points in even a single subject—both members of that pair will be expelled."

"The second—the school will set a passing threshold based on total scores. Even if you score above 60 points in all eight subjects—if your total score falls below the second passing threshold, it will still be treated as 'failing.' Here, 'total score' refers to the sum of both paired students' scores."

Both expelled together... meaning—live together, die together?

"Then... what is the passing threshold for the total score?"

Just then—Hashimoto Masayoshi, who had been spectating as though watching a show from his seat the entire time, lazily raised his right hand. In a teasing tone, he asked.

"That is not yet known. It will only be announced by the school after the exam has concluded. Judging by the standards of previous years—it should be around seven hundred points or so."

The moment these words were spoken, the students in the room whose grades were slightly weaker instantly let out a breath of relief.

Seven hundred points. Calculated based on eight subjects at one hundred points each—on average, each person only needed to score fifty points to pass with absolute stability.

For Class A, where no one's minimum score had ever fallen below fifty—this was, in truth, no different at all. Nothing more than a speed bump.

Conversely—for Classes C and D, whose academic abilities were far weaker—a single misstep could very well spell a devastating, catastrophic blow.

In that case—only one final question remained...

"Sensei, how are the pairings assigned and allocated?"

"Regarding that—I cannot tell you." Mashima paused briefly. His eyes swept across those few core figures in the class who had, from start to finish, not once raised a single question. With deliberate emphasis, he spoke. "According to the regulations—the pairings will be determined based on the results of a small quiz to be held one week from now."

In the lower right corner, Fuyuji's expression darkened.

A small quiz? This was his dark, shameful history. Even now, he was still, from time to time, dragged out and mocked over it by Morishita-sama behind him.

Still—by this point, quite a few of the quicker-witted students in the class had already caught on.

Determined based on the results of a small quiz...

But the results of a small quiz would yield nothing beyond scores. On top of that—in previous years, at most, only one or two groups of students had been expelled.

If the pairings were assigned haphazardly and at random—given Class D's academic performance, it would be fundamentally impossible for so few students to be expelled. The most reliable, most reasonable deduction was that the pairings for the final exam would be grouped by matching the highest-ranked students with the lowest-ranked students based on their small quiz scores.

In other words...

Quite a few Class A students were already subconsciously curling the corners of their mouths.

In this exam—Class A held the advantage!

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75 [Power Stones] = Bonus Chapter!