Hachiman Hikigaya, who returned from his studies after completing his training.

In the private KTV room that had been booked, several high-achieving students from Class D were being gathered by Katsuragi to give questions to Class C. In addition to three boys, there were two girls, Miki Yamamura and Ai Morishita.

Sakayanagi, who had the best grades, declined Katsuragi's invitation, citing that he could easily beat Class C in any test in Class D.

"It's not a big deal if we're casual about it. After all, that's Class C. I've investigated, and their academic ability is much worse than ours." Hashimoto looked unconvinced.

Katsuragi stared intently at the somewhat frivolous Hashimoto. "Don't be careless. It's just a matter of spending a little more time setting questions. When I feel that the questions you set are too easy, you have to redo them."

"Yes Yes."

As if he didn't want to come up with a new question, Hashimoto sat up straight obediently, and then soon leaned his head over to Morishita Ran next to him.

"Morishita, how's your work going? Let me check the difficulty level."

"Masayoshi Hashimoto, you're blocking my view of the question."

Morishita pushed Hashimoto's head away with his bare hands and continued to pose questions while maintaining a calm expression.

"Just take a break, Morishita."

Undeterred, Hashimoto leaned in again, while Katsuragi, sitting opposite them, simply watched silently.

His thoughts drifted back to the time a few days earlier when he had dinner with the former student council president at the Hachiman dormitory.

"I will be responsible for setting the exam papers for Class C from Class D this time. I guarantee that the difficulty level will be just right to pass the teacher's inspection."

"This time I'm going to expel two students from Class C, but I guarantee that as long as you perform normally, you can beat Class A and Class C."

After the meal, Hachiman made this promise to the former student council president, and after a moment's thought, the president agreed to Hachiman's proposal and signed a cooperation agreement.

The Paper Shuffle special exam is recorded in the student council's files. It was basically a routine exam at the school, just like the one on the deserted island. Horikita Manabu, a third-year student, had also experienced it.

If Horikita Manabu, a capable person who has experienced exams, had helped review the questions, Katsuragi believed that the questions Hakiya set would definitely be more difficult than those set by Class D themselves.

After signing the contract, he not only learned from Hachiman who the student he was going to drop out of school was, but also received a piece of advice that made him uneasy.

Whether or not to adopt Hikigaya's suggestion is entirely up to him.

In the end, he followed Hachiman's advice, and the people at the karaoke bar were invited after he chose to take the second suggestion.

“I have to go back to the student union for something, and I might be busy for a long time. Once you’re done, just have someone bring it to my dorm for me to check tonight.”

After regaining his composure, Katsuragi stood up from the sofa and calmly said that no one thought he was trying to slack off, so they let him leave without any objection.

After leaving the private room, Katsuragi did indeed return to the student council room as he had said, but once there, he simply sat quietly in his seat without any intention of doing anything.

"Want to eat together? I'll cook this time, just the two of us."

"Just so you know, what I make isn't as good as Horikita Suzune's."

Putting down his pen, Hikigaya looked up at Katsuragi, whose serious expression was masked by a shadowy aura in his eyes.

He was probably in a bad mood.

Chapter 184 The Traitor of Class D

"That bastard Hachiman."

Once again witnessing B-class students harassing C-class students while they were studying in the library without breaking school rules, Kanzaki muttered angrily.

This situation has been going on for almost a month now. The students in Class B are like shadows, following the students in Class C wherever they study.

During the midterm, the students in Class C also implemented anti-harassment strategies, but Class B sent in a student council secretary, Horikita Suzune, who was involved in harassment, and another student council secretary, Yukinoshita, to oversee the situation.

This made Class C's harassment attempts less effective, as they were conducted stealthily.

"Hachigaya harassed Class C, not Class A, so why are you so angry?"

Upon hearing Kanzaki's words, Himeno replied in a low voice as well. Ichinose was sitting on the other side of the long table, teaching other students. Both of them were afraid of being overheard by Ichinose.

On the day the rumors broke, Ichinose gathered all the students in Class A and confessed her past to them, stating that Hachiman had absolutely not used this incident to threaten her into stepping down as leader.

However, the outgoing leader retracted her statement that she was dissatisfied with everyone's slackness on the day she stepped down. According to her, she did so because she didn't want everyone to continue to slack off.

What the students in Class A didn't know was that Ichinose only listened to the explanation after Hikigaya strongly insisted on it.

"That's unfair competition; shouldn't it be condemned?"

"Then why didn't you try to stop it?"

Hime took out a lollipop, tore off the wrapper, and popped it into her mouth, while Kanzaki turned away with a dark face, unable to say a word in rebuttal.

If he had the ability, he would have stopped them long ago, but how could he find a reason to attack Class B, which was under Hachiman's control?

If he rashly steps forward, he will not only lose face, but he may also be harassed by the students from Class B, which would make him look like a clown if he can't solve the problem.

Having only recently become a leader, he also had his own ulterior motives.

While licking the citrus-flavored lollipop in her mouth, Himeno's gaze fell on Ichinose, who was not far away.

Although she had openly and legitimately become Hachiman's girlfriend again, the two of them weren't always together, which was unusual for her.

Even Ichinose is angry with Hikigaya. What on earth did Hikigaya do?

Hopefully, this won't have a significant impact on Class A.

Praying, Himeno Yuki used her arm as a pillow and lay face down on the table.

"Xiaoxue, you've been slacking off again."

"I'll feel better after I finish this lollipop and replenish my sugar levels."

Remove the hand that his friend Mako had placed on his head, and Hime's eyelids drooped like a cat in a daze.

Class A can just leave everything unchanged.

She couldn't help but think.

.............

.............

There are three days left until the final exams.

"Hashimoto, please take the test paper and give it to Mr. Mashima. I need to take this phone call."

In the D class classroom, just after school ended in the afternoon, Katsuragi Shizuka placed the completed test paper, which he had prepared, onto Hashimoto's desk before the deadline for submitting the test papers on the last day.

Before he could reply, Katsuragi put the phone to his ear and walked out of the classroom.

What's so special about this? I can confirm the exam questions before I even make a move?

Looking at the test questions that were so openly and honestly placed in front of him to be given to Class C, a hint of doubt flashed through Hashimoto's mind.

After casually flipping through the papers and seeing familiar questions, he confirmed that these were the exam papers he had volunteered to get from Katsuragi's dormitory that day at the karaoke bar. Things seemed to be going a little too smoothly.

However, there shouldn't be any problems inside, since no one would have expected him to betray Class D.

He betrayed the class that he saw as having no hope of advancing to Class A.

"We have confirmed that we have received the exam papers submitted by Class D."

"Thank you, Mashima-sensei. I'll be going now."

After the taciturn and serious teacher Majima accepted the exam paper, Hashimoto, excited yet slightly uneasy, walked into the men's restroom, which was usually reserved for teachers and not frequented by many students.

After entering the innermost cubicle, he closed the toilet lid, slowly sat down, and cleared his mind.

This is his habit; the toilet stalls, where he is absolutely undisturbed, allow his thoughts to settle down and give him a sense of security.

After calming his thoughts and confirming that there were no mistakes, he dialed Long Yuan's cell phone, and the call was quickly answered.

"I have confirmed that the exam questions are the same ones I prepared that day. I saw and heard Mr. Majima say that he had received the exam papers."

"Oh ho, you're quite capable, Hashimoto."

Ryuen's voice seemed to carry a hint of mockery, but Hashimoto didn't care.

He'd be willing to be beaten up by Ryuen every day just to graduate from Class A.

After observing for more than half a year, Hashimoto believes that there are two classes that are most likely to graduate as Class A: one is Class B led by Hachiman Hikigaya, and the other is Class C with Ryuen and Ayanokoji.

At first, Sakayanagi's genius made him think that he could graduate from Class A by simply following in her footsteps. Unfortunately, it turned out that he had misjudged her; Sakayanagi was no match for Hachiman at all.

In just a few months, their class went from first to last place, and fell far behind the top three classes.

This school is meritocratic; only leaders who can win, no matter how dirty the task, can lead their class to graduate with an A grade.

Being a genius alone is not enough.

"If Hachiman hadn't shown no intention of taking me in, I wouldn't have insisted on choosing Class C," Hashimoto replied calmly.

Knowing that Longyuan wouldn't care about such trivial matters, he wasn't afraid that Longyuan might suddenly change his mind and cancel his transfer deal.

His academic ability, physical skills, social skills, and ability to read people are among the best in the first year. If anyone in Class C intends to move up to Class A, buying him with 20 million personal points would definitely be a worthwhile investment.

Take the sports festival in early October for example, he won several first places, and his score was only slightly less than Kito's.

"Heh, Class B is full of talented people, Hachiman wouldn't even look at you. As for Class A, they would never buy a traitor like you."

"I will only hand over all the exam questions if you buy me into Class C before the exam. I've already decided when to buy you."

Hashimoto would naturally not leave himself no room for maneuver when dealing with someone like Ryuen.

He wouldn't let Longyuan get away with it for free.

If Longyuan doesn't buy his place after receiving the answer and lets him stay in Class D, then he'll have no choice but to drop out of school.

This is different from the fake betrayal he committed by following Sakayanagi's orders during the deserted island exam; this is a real betrayal, and no one in Class D will step forward to protect him.

"Haha, Hashimoto, don't worry, I'll take Sakagami-sensei to find you right now."

"Then I'll wait for you at the entrance of the restroom next to the teachers' office."

After hanging up the phone and sitting on the toilet for a while, Hashimoto unzipped his coat and pushed the door open.

Three familiar figures appeared before him.

Katsuragi, arms crossed and face ashen, and Yamamura, fingers clasped tightly to his chest, looking worried.

And — Hachiman Hikigaya, with his expressionless face.

Chapter 185 The two people who dropped out of school are on my tab.

"Are you a god, Hachiman?" Hashimoto asked dejectedly.

From the moment Hashimoto met Yamamura, this stalking master with such a low profile, he knew that he had been targeted by Katsuragi and Hachiman for a long time, which made no sense at all.

Given Katsuragi's personality, he wouldn't suddenly suspect his classmate. He hadn't even seen Hachiman recently, so how could he suddenly be being targeted?

"Who could be such an ethereal thing? I'm just speculating to be on the safe side." Hachiman's lips twitched.

Calling him a god is a bit too childish.

Because of the presence of Ryuen and Ayanokouji, he did not underestimate Class C, the class with the lowest academic ability, after choosing them as his opponents. He often put himself in the shoes of Class C to speculate on how to defeat Class B and Class D.

First of all, it is impossible for Class C to surpass Class D and Class B in academic ability within a month. Class D goes without saying, but the students in Class B have been holding study sessions since the end of the summer vacation.

As for resorting to underhanded tactics that violate school rules, that's impossible; as the student council president, he's no pushover.

There is only one way for Class C to win: obtain the answers to the test paper set by Class D.

The methods to obtain the answers to the exam papers set by Class D are even fewer, especially since the leaders of each class have learned the policy of secrecy, just like Hachiman, and there are not many students who handle the exam papers.

"I've increased the difficulty of this special exam. There's a good chance that some students in Class C will drop out. The only way to prevent students from dropping out and to beat Class D is to steal the exam papers from Class D."

"As for someone like you, you've probably wanted to leave Class D for a long time."

Because of Shinmura's existence, Hikigaya could easily categorize Hashimoto as being on the same level as Shinmura based on Hashimoto's actions of deceiving Maezono and the deserted island.

Such people only care about Class A, and betraying their class doesn't bother them much.

“My name contains the word ‘justice,’ how could you think of me like that?”

Hashimoto was still in the mood to joke around, which made Katsuragi give up on giving Hashimoto another chance to change his mind.

According to the school's OAA evaluation standards, Hashimoto Masayoshi is undoubtedly a very capable student, and he could at least rank in the top three in Class D. Being poached by Class C is undoubtedly a major loss.

Unfortunately, Hashimoto showed no intention of staying.

"Do you really think there's no chance for Class D to return to Class A?" Katsuragi asked in a deep voice.

"Can you guarantee that Class D will return to Class A? Don't be ridiculous, are you sure you can do it?"

Hashimoto abandoned his frivolous demeanor, his expression darkening as he exuded an oppressive aura no less powerful than Katsuragi's, his sharp gaze piercing Katsuragi's eyes.