Chapter 259 85: I Said It, First Years Are Terribly Stronger Compared to Second and Third Years!

The same exam rules were announced in Class A.

Hoshinomiya Chie stood on the podium, her hands gently resting on the edge of the desk, her gaze slowly sweeping over every face in the classroom.

Her expression today was much more restrained than usual—the Hoshinomiya-sensei who always wore a bright smile now had only a straight line across her lips.

She wasn't smiling.

"Students, settle down.

This month's special exam is a forest school trip where the entire grade will go out—similar to a training camp," Hoshinomiya said, opening the documents in her hand. "So the name is also 'Forest Training Camp Exam'."

As soon as she finished speaking, a low commotion broke out in the classroom.

"Eh—a training camp?"

"Really? Like those activities in normal schools where you go to the mountains and stay for a few days?"

"Doesn't that mean we can soak in hot springs? Eat hot pot?"

Some people let out light laughter. Indeed, if this were a normal high school, this kind of activity would be the most anticipated part of the semester. But this is Advanced Nurturing High School; no one was naive enough to think the school would be so merciful as to let them go purely for fun.

Hoshinomiya raised a hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then continued, "Of course, this school is all about exams. You all know this very well."

The laughter stopped.

"This forest school will hold an eight-day, seven-night cross-grade group activity," she said, enunciating each word. "It is an activity that surpasses the sports festival. The special exam the school is holding is called—'Mixed Training Camp.' In other words, students will live together across grade levels."

"Cross-grade?"

"With second and third years?"

"Doesn't that mean we can learn from the senpais?"

Shibata, sitting in the middle of the classroom, turned his head and gave his companion next to him an excited smile. "That means this time, we can face off against people from other grades."

But his companion raised an eyebrow. "You seem very excited?"

"Of course. Only competing with people from the same grade every day, while it requires being serious, is getting a bit boring. And if we could test the caliber of the senpais, that actually sounds quite interesting."

"Don't get too cocky, Nagumo from the second year is not someone to be messed with."

"Isn't that better? Defeating the strong gives you a sense of achievement. I believe in Hikigaya-kun!" said Shibata.

Clearly, this was someone who wanted Hikigaya to lead them to challenge the senpai.

Is this the foundation of current Class A?

A girl sitting further back muttered, "What if—we lose..."

"If we lose, we lose; the worst that happens is we win it back next time. But we should be able to gain experience from the senpai.

And I feel that with Hikigaya-kun leading us, we won't lose."

The students in Class A were actually feeling somewhat excited.

Although they were promoted from Class B, and even though they suffered a slight setback in the last exam, they still possessed fighting spirit.

As long as Hikigaya-kun points the way, they can fight wherever it is.

This is the advantage of this class.

United and cohesive, they wouldn't feel timid even when facing senpais.

They were even, to some extent, eager to go to battle for Hikigaya-kun.

Therefore, even if it was cross-grade, it wouldn't necessarily make them feel fear.

Hoshinomiya observed the students' reactions and let out a soft breath; the students of this class were indeed becoming more and more courageous, and then she continued to announce the rules.

"After arriving at the destination, men and women will immediately be separated and divided into six male groups and six female groups respectively. Students in each group will receive instruction and training in morality, spiritual exercise, discipline, and independence based on the group as a unit."

"More classes..." someone complained in a low voice. "It's supposed to be a training camp."

"And the grouping here is very unique," Hoshinomiya emphasized. "Each group must contain students from at least two classes of the same grade, forming a team of 10 to 15 people. At the same time, the team formation requires the consent of all students in the group—if one person disagrees, then the team is invalid."

"Consent from everyone?"

"That's too difficult, isn't it?"

"What if someone deliberately refuses to agree?"

"So this itself is a test," Hoshinomiya explained. "How you persuade others and how you coordinate relationships between different classes will become the basis for grading." She turned the page of the document.

"After forming teams like this, they will then be combined with groups from the second and third years. Then they will become six large male groups and six large female groups. In other words, one large group will contain a first-year team, a second-year team, and a third-year team—three teams combined together."

The classroom became even quieter. Everyone realized that this meant they would be tied to complete strangers, sharing results and bearing fate together.

"The scores of all members of the large group will be aggregated, and then compared and ranked with other large groups. The top three will receive rewards."

Hoshinomiya looked up, her gaze sweeping over everyone's faces.

"The first place in the large group average score—each student participating in that group will receive 10,000 private points. At the same time, every member who makes up that large group will bring a 10-point class evaluation reward to their class."

"The second place in the large group average score—5,000 private points per person, and 5 points added to the class evaluation score."

"The third place in the large group average score—3,000 private points per person, with no points added or deducted from the class evaluation score."

She paused.

"A very simple and unpretentious reward, right? Giving both private points and class points."

Someone breathed a sigh of relief. "Sounds pretty good..."

"However—" Hoshinomiya's voice suddenly dropped, "This time, so many homeroom Senseis opposed this exam because acting Chairman Tsukishiro demanded that a large number of students be expelled. Although we struggled and made him change somewhat, we still couldn't stop it. So, we still have to look at the penalties."

The air in the entire classroom seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Just like the rewards for the top three just now, the bottom three will have points deducted.

The third from last—each participating student will have 5,000 private points deducted. Each member who makes up that large group will bring a 10-point class evaluation penalty to their class.

The second from last—10,000 private points deducted per person. At the same time, all members who make up that large group will bring a 20-point class evaluation penalty to their class.

And I need to mention here that each group needs to elect a leader. The class to which the leader belongs will receive double the rewards."

Someone gasped.

"Then what about last place?" a boy in the front row couldn't help but ask.

Hoshinomiya looked at him, silent for two seconds.

"Last place—apart from 20,000 private points deducted, all leaders of that group will be expelled. At the same time, the class they belong to will have 300 points deducted from their class evaluation score."

The classroom was deathly silent.

Matoba, who had been excited about being able to fight the senpai, had the smile disappear from his face. 300 class evaluation points—that was equivalent to a whole semester of hard work for a class. If Class A were to have 300 points deducted because of this exam, and if Classes B and C were able to win the top two spots, then Class A's status might become unstable in this exam.

Everyone lost the excitement they had just felt.

But there was also the matter of expulsion.

"S...Sensei," a girl asked with a trembling voice, "leader expulsion... is that for real?"

Hoshinomiya closed her eyes and nodded gently.

"Although the Senseis tried our best, it is a pity that expulsion is unavoidable."

She opened her eyes again, her gaze containing a complex, almost pitying look.

"The leaders of the three groups in the last-place large group will all be expelled. Furthermore, in addition to having 300 evaluation points deducted, their classes must designate one student to be bundled for expulsion. And this student must belong to her/his group. It can be someone from the same class or someone from another class."

"Bundled expulsion..."

"That means if there are class representatives from other classes in the same group, you can directly name the other party for expulsion..."

"This is being buried alive together..."

Someone said that phrase in a trembling voice.

Hoshinomiya did not deny it.

"Therefore, this is indeed two expulsions per grade. And one leader per group. The leader is also a double-edged sword—the class of the leader of the top three large groups can harvest double the benefits, but if you unfortunately end up in last place, you will encounter an expulsion crisis. And it is a bundled expulsion, so if there are class representatives from other classes in the same group, you can directly name the other party for expulsion."

She closed the file and put her hands together in front of her.

"Therefore, how to arrange groupings and the arrangement of leaders, etc., are things that need to be paid attention to in this exam."

The classroom was silent. Everyone was digesting this information, and everyone was silently calculating the risks they might face. The students of Class A felt for the first time the kind of real, heavy weight pressing on their chests.

Hoshinomiya looked at them and sighed softly.

"The specific grouping methods and schedule will be announced before departure. You can use this time to think about strategies. Class dismissed."

She didn't say anything more and turned to walk out of the classroom. The sound of high heels clicking on the floor faded away in the hallway, leaving the classroom full of silent students.

Some started to talk in low voices, some were writing something quickly in notebooks with pens, and some were just staring blankly at the tabletop. Matoba put away his previous excitement and stared at his fingers with a frown. His companion patted him on the shoulder, but he didn't react.

And in the back of the classroom, Hikigaya was still sitting quietly, his elbows resting on the desk, his eyes fixed on the empty podium in front.

But this time, not too many emotions could be seen in his expression—no fear, no anxiety, not even what you would call gravitas.

Because the current exam rules and the changes in requirements were, for now, within the scope of acceptance.

But Ichinose, who was sitting diagonally in front of him, noticed his fingers on the desk were tapping the surface very lightly and slowly. One tap, two taps, three taps. A rhythmic pattern.

She didn't make a sound to disturb him.

As an assistant, all she needed to do was support his plans and strategy.

This is what she needed to achieve now; as for other thoughts or feelings, she couldn't afford them for this exam.

After all, men and women will be separated.

.

.

.

And here in Class B, the exam rules were also being announced.

Sakagami Kazuma stood before the podium and pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose. His voice was much more emotional than Hoshinomiya's.

"This month's special exam is a mixed training camp, a cross-grade group activity lasting eight days and seven nights..."

He read the rules from beginning to end. The atmosphere in the classroom gradually changed from initial nonchalance to tension. Especially when they heard about "leader expulsion" and "bundled naming," several faces turned pale at the same time.

However, Ryuen Kakeru, who was sitting by the window, had his legs crossed from beginning to end, one hand resting on the back of his chair, his expression unmoved. The corners of his mouth were even slightly raised, as if he felt a certain degree of pleasure in all of this.

After Sakagami finished reading, he closed the file and scanned in the direction of Ryuen. "The rules are just like that. If you have any questions, you can raise them now."

Ishizaki immediately turned around and leaned behind Ryuen, his voice unable to suppress his excitement. "Ryuen, this exam seems a bit interesting. You can compete directly with people of the level of the Student Council President. I wonder how many points we can get."

His eyes were bright; he was clearly Ryuen's subordinate and fan.

"Hmph." Ryuen turned his head and gave a soft snort through his nose. "Compared to us first years, the other grades are all paper tigers."

"Eh? But Nagumo from the second year—isn't he quite strong?"

"Strong?" Ryuen tilted his head, the arc of his mouth deepening. "I've been in contact with him before; he's nothing more than that.

Come to think of it, I actually think he's the easiest to deal with compared to Sakayanagi or Hikigaya.

I even feel that Nagumo is weaker than Ayanokouji."

Ayanokouji, huh.

In the last team-up exam, Ayanokouji had indeed left a deep impression on them.

"Then what about the third year?" Ishizaki Daichi continued to ask. "The third year has the Student Council President."

"Third year?" However, Ryuen's eyes were even more disdainful. "Horikita Manabu is personally very strong, but the Class A where Horikita Manabu is located is not very strong.

As for Class B, it's even more suppressed, and Classes C and D are pure trash. Other than having a vote during the final Student Council President succession election, they are of no use," Ryuen commented arrogantly.

This evaluation was indeed arrogant.

But what was surprising was that even Hiyori did not refute him.

Because.

From the information she had collected herself, she could tell that the competition among classes in the third and second years was indeed not as fierce as it was in their first year.

Or rather, it was their first-year students who were the ones off the charts.

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