In fact, after the information is refreshed, they always want to attack me!

This result was actually expected—after all, they were given a full four weeks to study those ancient scrolls. If they still couldn't pass the test, then they probably weren't really suited for studying.

Having figured out last month that the points would be credited to his account at 7:00 AM, Akira Shimizu made sure to have his phone ready in advance and wait quietly for the system's notification of the crediting.

However, by 7:30, there was still no news of the school's payment.

Ok? !

Akira Shimizu's heart skipped a beat. His first thought was: Could Class D have gotten into some trouble again and lost all their points?

But upon closer reflection, it doesn't seem that bad.

After all, they originally had 530 class points, plus the 88 points they could get in the midterm exam last month, which adds up to more than 650 points.

It's impossible to deduct over 600 points all at once! Obviously, that's unrealistic.

(If things go wrong, my debt collection plan will probably be affected.)

This is what Akira Shimizu is most worried about.

According to the previous agreement, the entire Class D should have transferred a total of 126 million personal points to him.

If something unexpected happens, it won't just be Class D that suffers; his savings will also be affected.

But right now, the most important thing is to go to the classroom.

He had just received a notification in the class group that Teacher Chazhu was going to hold another class meeting.

On the first morning of the first week of every month, Chabashira Sae always holds a class meeting, mainly to report on important matters of the month and the class score.

Akira Shimizu guessed that the homeroom teacher would probably announce some important news this time.

...

When he changed his clothes, ate breakfast, and arrived at Class D classroom, the other students were already chattering and complaining.

Have your points been credited yet?

"No!"

"You're not here either? Me neither."

It seems that it wasn't just his system that had a problem, but rather that the points for the entire Class D this month hadn't been credited to their accounts.

As Shimizu Akira pondered this matter, it was already eight o'clock, and the daily intelligence report was updated on time:

[1. Sakura Airi, a first-year student in Class D, has a hidden identity as the Photoshop idol "Shizuku".]

[2. Kikyo Kushida, a first-year student in Class D, has been in a bad mood lately because she failed to become class monitor. She often goes to the school rooftop and kicks the door, even breaking a pair of shoes in the process.]

[3. Long Yuanxiang from Class C, Grade 1, mentioned the name Shimizu Akira during last night's class meeting.]

Is Sakura Airi secretly an idol?

Her looks and figure are already outstanding, so she's quite suitable to be an idol.

Akira Shimizu wasn't too surprised by this, after all, he had vaguely felt last month that this classmate was deliberately hiding something—just her non-prescription decorative glasses alone gave off a sense of deliberate concealment.

So, the camera she was holding when we bumped into each other last time was probably for taking selfies.

Let's look at the second piece of intelligence.

Well, in a way, it was within his expectations.

But to my surprise, she got so angry that she kicked and broke a pair of shoes. It seems that her dissatisfaction with not becoming class monitor was far greater than she appeared.

The last piece of information is rather intriguing.

His name appeared in the intelligence report again, and it was Ryuen Sho who mentioned him.

(Why did he mention my name?)

(Could they have discovered my true identity?)

The thought flashed through Akira Shimizu's mind, but after careful consideration, he felt it was unlikely.

After all, Shiina Hiyori had been completely fooled by him last month. Since even Shiina Hiyori didn't think he was the one controlling the surveillance, it was naturally unlikely that she, who was assigned to investigate Ryuen Sho, would make him think of this matter.

Could it be for some other reason? Or was it just something mentioned casually?

For example, Shiina Hiyori casually mentioned that his assistant was Shimizu Akira, or Yamada Albert mentioned that there was a Shimizu Akira among the new members of the boxing club—logically speaking, Ryuen Sho most likely heard his name from these two people.

However, to hear one's own name from Long Yuanxiang's mouth is by no means a good thing.

That person was like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, extremely difficult to deal with.

I just hope this won't cause any trouble.

......

Soon, just as the morning assembly was about to begin, Chabashira Sae entered the classroom.

"Tea Pillar Teacher, why haven't we received our individual points yet?"

"We worked really hard for the first two months, didn't we!"

"Yes! I've been frantically memorizing ancient scrolls, and I've even been memorizing English letter by letter!"

"Well, even if you're memorizing ancient scrolls, you've certainly put in a lot of effort." Chabashira Sae replied calmly, "Effort always pays off. Last month, your average score was 88, so the class points increased by 88."

"Great! Not only did everyone pass safely, but the class points also increased by 88!" Kikyo Kushida from the class said cheerfully, as if she had breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's a pity about the math problems—I don't know who did this, but they changed one of the questions! Otherwise, everyone would definitely have been able to answer the math questions correctly!"

"The answer I wrote back then was for Class D in first grade!"

"When the test papers were handed out a couple of days ago, the teacher announced the correct answers! It was Class C of Grade 1."

"It really was those guys from Class C who did it on purpose! Their goal was to lower the average score of the other classes!"

"Thinking about it carefully, Ichinose from Class B doesn't seem like the type to do something like this; Sakayanagi from Class A is even less likely, since she voluntarily gave us the contents of the ancient scroll for free last month. So it seems that only Class C has this motive!"

The students immediately started discussing among themselves, their voices exploding in the classroom.

In fact, as early as when the test papers were handed out, everyone was already dissatisfied with that special question in the midterm exam.

Because of that question, almost all the students in the class answered it wrong and lost ten points.

There are a total of five subjects in this midterm exam, with a total score of 500 points.

Converted to ten points, that's exactly two percent of the total score. In other words, this question directly lowered the class average score by two points.

Looking at the class points alone, 2 points doesn't seem like much, but the question itself is infuriating—it directly asks which of the four classes will ultimately be promoted to Class A. Most students with a sense of teamwork would answer their own class, only to be marked wrong, while the correct answer is Class C in the first year.

As a result, many students in Class D began to suspect that Class C was behind this, deliberately trying to annoy other classes and lower everyone's average score.

But is this really something that Class C would do?

Not necessarily; they really don't need to do that.

Akira Shimizu didn't think the other party would be that stupid.

Long Yuanxiang isn't an idiot; he should know better than anyone how foolish it is to include such a question in a public exam and designate the correct answer as Class C of the first year—it's no different from openly mocking the other three classes.

After all, it's far from the time when Class C becomes Class A. Even if he really wanted to mock others, he should wait until he truly reaches the top.

In the third month, a stage where steady development is crucial, openly offending other classes would definitely do more harm than good to Class C, not to mention that it only adds up to two class points.

Long Yuanxiang is a smart man; he would never do such a losing business.

So the answer is obvious: someone deliberately targeted and framed Long Yuanxiang.

It's highly likely that "Miaomiao Cat" was behind this; it seems this whole thing was specially arranged for him to see.

Thinking about it this way, Akira Shimizu also realized another key point—Miaomiao Cat only changed one question.

Since the five questions totaled one million points, each question naturally only cost two hundred thousand points.

In other words, the other party used only 200,000 personal points to completely ruin the reputation of Class C in the first year.

The opponent's move was extremely clever.

Currently, Class D has begun to develop resentment towards Class C.

If Shimizu Akira remembers correctly, Class B was also disgusted by Ryuen Sho's thuggish behavior for quite a while last month, so it seems that the relationship between Class B and Class C has been strained for a while.

As for Class A's attitude, it's unclear, but at least between Class B and Class C, if we were to describe it using game stats, their favorability rating would probably start at -20.

"Alright, I haven't finished speaking yet. You can discuss these issues after class. Now, let me report on the class points for this month." Chabashira Sae cleared her throat and took out a slip of paper from her pocket. "Class A currently has 1035 points, Class B has 870 points, Class C has 710 points, and Class D has 590 points."

"Wait a minute, last month we clearly had 530 points, and with the 88 points added, it should be 618 points. How come we're 28 points short?" a student immediately asked.

"Because several students in the class were sleeping or playing on their phones during class, these points were deducted accordingly. Other classes also lost a few points to some extent; this kind of thing is unavoidable," Chabashira Sae explained expressionlessly.

"So that's it!"

"Even Class A got points deducted? Well, that makes it more acceptable."

This reason is somewhat plausible. Compared to more serious issues like skipping class or being late, people can understand occasionally dozing off in class or sneaking a peek at their phone – after all, no one is perfect, and sometimes eating carbs after lunch can make you feel sleepy and lazy.

Akira Shimizu opened his notebook, which contained the point counts for each class from last month to this month:

Second month: Class A 950 points, Class B 790 points, Class C 640 points, Class D 530 points.

Third month: Class A 1035 points, Class B 870 points, Class C 710 points, Class D 590 points.

Compared to last month, the growth of each class is as follows: Class A increased by 85 points, Class B increased by 80 points, Class C increased by 70 points, and Class D only increased by 60 points.

Overall, all classes are making progress. Class A, in particular, has taken a commanding lead, breaking the 1,000-point mark first, with almost twice the points of Class D.

The increase of 60 points seems to be a steady progress, but when compared with the four classes, it seems to lack momentum.

The 85-point increase in Class A is like a chasm, widening the gap further and further.

At this rate of growth, it's almost certain that Class A will be the one to graduate with the best grades.

However, the school authorities will likely not stand idly by and let this situation continue.

(Both this month's and last month's special exams were non-confrontational, so it's understandable that Class A had an advantage.)

Non-confrontational special exams: Exams that test academic ability and other basic skills, in which Class A has the greatest advantage.

If other classes want to catch up with Class A, this kind of steady and methodical exam approach is clearly not going to work.

The only chance is through a special exam that is a zero-sum game – that is, they must take away the class points that should belong to Class A while increasing their own class points. Only by doing this can they truly defeat Class A.

It's just unknown when the school will hold this special exam.

Chabashira Sae continued, "By the way, explain why your points haven't arrived yet. There was a bit of a dispute this time, so the points for first-year students will be delayed."

"This is the school's decision, and my authority as the homeroom teacher is limited. The school should issue the points after the dispute is resolved, but I can't say for sure whether the class will still have the original number of points at that time."

Chashu Sae left behind this meaningful remark and then announced the end of the court session.

(dispute?)

When it comes to disputes, the first thing that comes to mind for Akira Shimizu is the student council.

After all, the student council is responsible for handling all kinds of disputes in this school.

Furthermore, Ms. Chazhu specifically emphasized that "the homeroom teacher's power is limited," which clearly implies that the student council holds the dominant power.

It seems that if we want to find out the truth, we'll have to ask the student council president.

After all, this concerned his 126 million points, so Shimizu Akira couldn't help but take it more seriously.

He turned his head and asked his deskmate, "Is your brother free after school today?"

Horikita Suzune—the younger sister of student council president Horikita Manabu—was taken aback upon hearing this, and then replied, "I don't know."

Although her relationship with her brother did improve somewhat after she went to the student council last month, as her respected brother, Horikita Manabu, said, he would send her a few messages every week, but that was all.

Her brother never mentioned the schedule to her, and she didn't have the courage to ask.

However, after a moment of stunned silence, she also realized what Shimizu Akira meant—he probably thought that the student council should handle this dispute, and that it was related to her brother.

"...I just asked, and your brother is free after school." At this moment, Shimizu Akira added casually.

Horikita Suzune felt a strange unease rise in her heart again.

Why does my brother reply to his messages instantly?

You should know that she often has to wait two or three hours to receive a reply to the messages she sends to her brother.

Chapter 172: 169 Horikita Suzune: You can ask to take the handshake a step further.

Akira Shimizu naturally noticed the strange look his deskmate was giving him.

After all, that gaze is too direct; when one person is staring at another, the latter can usually sense it.