I have a life simulator.

"Yes, although it seems like a lot of people are participating, the vote count is not visible, and even the comments are anonymous."

"There's also the possibility that boys might sneak in to vote."

In other words, such rankings with unclear content are actually not very credible.

"But the list is still convincing. For example, Kitagawa and Hirata, who are famous for their looks in the grade, are ranked first and second."

Having found a good opportunity to enter, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka feigned confusion and asked:

"I remember last time we were at karaoke, you mentioned that you knew Kitagawa back in middle school, right?"

"Yes, we were in the same junior high school and the same club back then."

Kushida answered with a smile, seemingly unconcerned about the topic, and even added:

"And I heard that Kitagawa also founded a drama club at this school. To be honest, I still don't understand why the school put him in Class D. After all, in my opinion, Kitagawa should be at the level of Class A."

"Perhaps the school has its own considerations."

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji answered casually, then immediately asked:

"But speaking of which, it's been more than a month since I enrolled, and I haven't seen Kitagawa much at school."

Deliberately feigning a slight jealousy over her ranking on the leaderboard, Kikyo Kushida smiled and comforted her:

"Kitagawa doesn't really go to places like the library. He usually just goes to the classroom or club room, and he spends most of his time in his room. He was like that in junior high school; he likes to be alone."

The set meal they ordered arrived at this time, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka took the opportunity to change the subject:

"Speaking of the midterm exams, Class A should be able to pass easily."

"Yes, even the students with weaker foundations have no problem with their learning attitude and are making rapid progress."

"But I always feel that if we just pass the test, Class A won't be able to differentiate itself from the other classes."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji displayed just the right amount of anxiety. He had received specialized emotional training during his final year in the White Room, and now it was time to see the results.

"But doesn't Katsuragi-san think..."

"Little Kikyo."

Setting down his cutlery, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka said very seriously:

"Actually, the reason I accepted your invitation today is to confirm something with you. Although it's just a hypothetical situation for now, if I were to have a conflict with Katsuragi-kun someday, which side would you choose?"

As soon as the question was asked, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji immediately began to observe the changes in Kikyo Kushida's expression.

"I still hope that everyone in the class can get along well."

Kikyo Kushida skillfully avoided answering.

"I don't think the world is so simple that you can easily remain neutral. If you could help out if there's a conflict in the class, Little Kikyo, that would be so reassuring."

"After all, everyone in Class A trusts and has high expectations for you."

"I'm looking forward to it... but I think if I want to ask for help, I should first explain the situation."

Kikyo Kushida maintained a polite smile throughout, as if she had no intention of leaving any room for criticism.

"Ah."

"But then again, the food at this restaurant is really good."

Although Kiyotaka Ayanokouji didn't get what he wanted, he still gained something. He took the opportunity to end the conversation and praised the long pasta on his plate.

"I would be so glad if Ayanokouji-san liked it."

Kikyo Kushida seemed to have completely forgotten their conversation, and she smiled gently as she handed her a napkin:

"You have meat sauce on your lips."

"Thank you."

After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji focused on the food in front of him.

If Ninomiya's package had really been sent, there should have been some activity by now.

However, a week has passed, and there are only about two weeks left until the midterm exams, and there has been no feedback yet.

It seems that Kitagawa Ryo has noticed and dealt with it.

For midterm exams...

After finishing lunch, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji subconsciously took out his phone to pay his points, but then suddenly realized that he and Ryo Kitagawa had signed a contract to hand over all the personal points issued by the school on the first of each month, and his account had an embarrassingly zero balance.

"I'll pay."

Kikyo Kushida noticed Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's embarrassment and stepped forward to pay for their meal.

Because of this little incident, most of the people in the coffee shop turned their attention to this place.

However, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji showed no embarrassment whatsoever; he silently lowered his head.

Points.

Indeed, the key to the midterm exam is the score.

He seemed to have already guessed Kitagawa Ryo's plan.

However, there are currently no countermeasures.

Chapter 65: Sakayanagi Arisu's Long-cherished Wish

"These are key points that will definitely be on the test. Surely no one would refuse free points?"

With less than two weeks left until the midterm exams, this was the third time Majima Tomoya had said something similar in this class. His teaching style was just as rigorous and meticulous as people's first impression of him. However, all the students in Class 1-D could also see that as the midterm exam date approached, Majima Tomoya seemed to be getting a little anxious.

But it wasn't anxiety about impending failure; rather, it was an eagerness that everyone could feel—a desire to cram all the knowledge into the students' brains at once.

"If everyone listens attentively in class and reviews diligently, and sets their goal on passing the exam, every student can achieve it."

Picking up his teacup, Mashima Tomoya took a sip of tea and placed his hands on the podium as he spoke earnestly.

Although he has not yet fully recovered from the dismal situation of being transferred to Class 1-D, Majima Tomoya has slowly begun to accept the fact that the thirty or so people sitting in front of him are his students.

After adjusting his mindset, Mashima Tomoya began to gradually change his teaching style from when he was in Class A. After realizing that he was teaching a group of problem students with poor foundations, he began to become more basic and meticulous, patiently teaching from the very bottom up in a way that he himself felt was too straightforward.

As for the exam scope, he tried his best to narrow it down to the minimum for the students in Class D of the first year. To be honest, as long as they honestly memorized all the scope he had marked, it was not a difficult thing to pass.

It must be said that Majima Tomoya's efforts as the class advisor did indeed inspire some of the students. Under the influence of these students, even the lazier D-class students, in order to conform to the class atmosphere, began to study with great difficulty.

However, this is also thanks to the fact that Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike are currently suspended from school.

Kitagawa Ryo deftly twirled the mechanical pencil between his fingers while observing the atmosphere in the class.

Although Class 1D is a class full of flawed individuals, it doesn't mean that everyone in it is completely inferior. Extreme individuals like Haruki Yamauchi and Honami Ichinose are rare, just as the vast majority of people in society are ordinary.

Of the forty students in Class D of Grade 1, more than half were ordinary students.

I don't want to give up, but I don't want to work hard either; I don't want to move up a grade, but I don't want to drop out.

When the atmosphere of the whole class shifts in one direction, they will gravitate towards that direction like a weather vane.

Unlike Karuizawa Megumi's Class D in the mock exam, Kushida Kikyo went to Class A, but Ichinose Honami perfectly took her place and even did a better job. Horikita Suzune was a transformed version of herself. Koenji Rokusuke, Yamauchi Haruki, and Ike Kanji, the three students who had a devastating impact on the class atmosphere, either dropped out or suspended their studies.

Furthermore, the homeroom teacher has been changed from Chabashira Sae to Majima Tomoya. Just thinking about the time when Chabashira Sae told the students in the class about the wrong scope of the exam makes Kitagawa Ryo feel a toothache. However, it is unlikely that Chabashira Sae will cause such a scene in Class A this time.

Kitagawa Ryo reached out and touched a document in his desk drawer. It was the answer key to the midterm exam, which he had obtained after making a deal with an upperclassman.

In the last simulation, he used this answer key to severely damage Class D of Grade 1.

The most direct approach at present seems to be to release the answer key the day before the exam, which would both maintain the students' enthusiasm for learning during this period and maximize the chances of all students passing the final exam.

A more advanced approach would be to exploit this information gap by deliberately letting the students in Class D of the first year collectively slack off and show no signs of preparing for the midterm exams. This would lure Class A or Class C into a trap, creating conflict and then establishing a betting agreement between the two classes regarding their midterm exam results. Ultimately, the goal would be to defeat the other class by using their answers to the other's questions.

Regardless of the method used, the answer will ultimately need to be made public.

Kitagawa Ryo propped his head up and looked at Mashima, the homeroom teacher, who was diligently teaching basic English grammar on the podium. The girl in the front row was listening attentively with her head up. Kitagawa Ryo remembered that she was an exchange student from China named Wang Xiaomei. It seemed that because of the emphasis on basic education in her childhood, her English level was quite good.

Next to her seat, a boy with a bob haircut named Kyosuke Okiya was absentmindedly doodling. From his casual hand movements over the past two minutes, Ryo Kitagawa could tell that he was probably trying hard to resist the urge to take out his phone.

Kitagawa Ryo wasn't familiar with every student in his class, nor was he interested in getting to know each of them. Therefore, for the students, the fairest thing was always the exam and their attitude towards it.

Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike were two people he knew well, who had planned to drop out of school from the very beginning.

As for the rest.

Kitagawa Ryo snapped the cap off his mechanical pencil; the bell had already rung to signal the end of get out of class.

Let's leave it to the midterm exam.

-------------------------------------

"So, Ryo isn't planning to release the midterm exam answers?"

"Yes, let everyone take the exam at their true level."

During lunch break, Kitagawa Ryo, sitting on a bench in the courtyard eating his own bento, casually answered Ichinose Honami's question, while Horikita Suzune sat quietly eating her meal on the other side. All three of them belonged to their own cooking factions, and Sakura Airi had put all her culinary skill points into desserts, so she could only have lunch with Sakayanagi Arisu at the student cafeteria.

"But in that case, there might be students with very poor foundations who have tried their best but still can't pass..."

"Do you think that once I reveal the answers, this percentage will exceed that of the students in Class D who have very poor foundations and are unwilling to work hard, but who pass the midterm exam by relying on the answers?"

"And if there really is a student like Fanbo described, I will also take action."

After thinking for a moment, Honami Ichinose understood what Ryo Kitagawa meant:

"It's your score from the last quiz, right?"

"Well, in the last quiz, including Yamauchi and Ike, there were a total of seven students in Class D who scored below the failing mark. Moreover, Honami should know them better than I do. He should be able to tell who is working hard and who isn't."

Kitagawa Ryo turned his head away and smiled softly. Ever since he and Ichinose Honami opened their hearts to each other last time, he had unconsciously begun to rely on and trust the other more actively.

"We'll have Fanbo verify it then, there won't be any problems."

"Yeah, no problem."

Honami Ichinose could naturally hear the emotions in Ryo Kitagawa's words. She was still kind, but she would no longer be like before, almost pathologically considering herself the protector of her classmates, as if anyone dropping out of school meant the end of their life, and she would stop it even if it meant betrayal.

Thinking back to herself at that time, Honami Ichinose's cheeks flushed with embarrassment and annoyance.

If I could meet Ichinose Honami, the one who agreed to date someone to protect her classmates from expulsion and for four million points, I would have a lot to say to her right now.

Honami Ichinose secretly glanced at Ryo Kitagawa's lips.

For example, kissing someone you like is actually a very happy thing.

It is different from the morbid self-pity that comes from seeing other people's smiling faces.

It was a feeling that was both hazy and real, a slight dizziness that felt like you couldn't breathe, yet you responded with an even tighter embrace, a sense of security where the two of you lingered and mingled together.

Horikita Suzune closed the lid of the bento box, propped her head up with her right hand, and looked at Ichinose Honami, who was staring at Kitagawa Ryo. A look of certainty flashed in her purplish-red pupils.

It seems something must have happened during the few days they were away competing.

"Liang, how's your midterm exam preparation going? Our Class B is aiming to surpass Class A this time!"

Karuizawa Kei, who had run excitedly from the other side to the courtyard, was triumphantly announcing Class A's defeat.

"I'm already ready to latch onto Hui's coattails!"

"..."

When she came to her senses, she realized that Sakayanagi Arisu had somehow gotten behind her, so Horikita Suzune moved aside.

"Have you finished eating?"

"Yeah, I didn't have much of an appetite, so I came back early."

Sakayanagi Arisu, leaning on her cane, slowly sat down next to Horikita Suzune.

"It seems you agree with Liang's plan."

"If you mean not disclosing the answer."

Horikita Suzune always felt that Sakayanagi Arisu's gaze was somewhat unfocused, even though the other party had been quite active in the first month of school, to the point that even Kitagawa Ryo was beginning to suspect that she was going to compete with Ichinose Honami for the position of the nominal leader of Class D.

But it seems that since the beginning of this month, Sakayanagi Arisu has always looked listless and uninterested in anything.

However, Horikita Suzune was aware of Sakayanagi Arisu's health issues, and with a familiar and caring attitude, like that of a sister-in-law, she leaned closer and asked:

Have you been feeling unwell lately?

"..."

Feeling that Horikita Suzune's tone was too strange, Sakayanagi Arisu remained silent for a while before replying: