"Senpaku, I am Sakamoto. What brings you here?"

His voice suddenly became extremely authoritative:

"Any attempt to distort the rules or undermine a level playing field will be met with severe sanctions from the student union once proven. There will be no exceptions."

This is a clear warning.

It seemed to be aimed at Longyuan, but it also affected everyone present.

"That concludes our conversation for today. You may leave now."

Horikita Manabu issued an order to leave.

The figure turned back to look out the window, no longer looking at them.

Akane Tachibana stepped forward at the opportune moment and quietly gestured to Sakamoto and Ryuen:

"Please come this way, students."

Longyuan snorted coldly, turned around without hesitation, and followed Juqian towards the door.

Sakamoto bowed slightly to Horikita Manabu's retreating figure, giving an impeccable farewell before calmly following him away.

The door to the room closed gently.

Sakamoto and Ryuen walked side by side down the corridor as they left.

The two remained silent, appearing quite harmonious.

Until we reached a fork in the road.

Just then, Long Yuan suddenly stopped.

He turned around, his face filled with undisguised mockery.

Look at Sakamoto.

"Hey, Sakamoto."

His voice was provocative.

"How does it feel to be betrayed by your class A and still helping them count the money? There was a traitor in your class who leaked information to our class C, which is why we got 910 points. Did you already know all along, or did you simply not care? Or are you actually in no control of anything and are just pretending?"

Ryuen directly revealed to Sakamoto the whole reason why their class was able to achieve high scores.

He's basically given up entirely, after all, judging from the current situation...

His partnership with Sakayanagi has completely broken down, and information about the S system has been made public.

Most importantly, why was Sakamoto able to remain so calm?

Last month, we fell for his scheme, and this month, our class almost lost points to his class again.

Ryuen wanted to see Sakamoto lose control of his emotions.

He stared intently at Sakamoto, trying to find a crack in that calm face.

He was extremely annoyed by Sakamoto's perpetually composed demeanor.

Sakamoto stopped and turned to face Ryuen.

The gaze behind the black-rimmed glasses calmly met his eyes.

They remained completely unmoved by Longyuan's almost blatant accusations and provocations.

"Longyuan seems to be quite concerned about the internal affairs of our class."

Sakamoto's voice remained clear and steady.

There are many ways to obtain class points. Class C's excellent results are due to the effective leadership of Longyuan, and there is no need to attribute them to unfounded speculation.

He gently adjusted his glasses and continued:

"As for the upcoming exams, it remains to be seen. If Longyuan is interested, he may as well rely on his own abilities."

Ryuen stared at Sakamoto's retreating figure as he disappeared at the end of the corridor and spat.

"A pretentious guy..."

He muttered a curse under his breath, but a hint of doubt flashed across his face.

Sakamoto's reaction was so calm that it made him somewhat puzzled.

Is that traitor from Class A... Sakayanagi Arisu, or is he part of his plan?

Or does Sakamoto really have some backup plan?

He snorted coldly and turned to walk in another direction.

In any case, he will show no mercy in this month's competition.

Based on his experience with the students in Class A,

Masumi Kamuro and Arisu Sakayanagi don't seem like difficult characters to deal with.

No matter how good Sakamoto is,

He was just one person.

Class A is nothing special.

First Year Midterm Exam: Chapter 054: Sakamoto Entrusts Others

The cafeteria was bustling with noise at lunchtime.

The aroma of various dishes mingled with the students' noisy laughter.

In a relatively quiet corner,

Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sat side by side.

In front of Horikita Suzune was a standard student meal.

This is clearly the most economical and practical option.

On the plate in front of Kiyotaka Ayanokoji

It's a deluxe set meal piled high with tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet), tempura, and an extra soft-boiled egg.

This "luxurious" lunch was paid for by Horikita Suzune.

The reason was simple: during the break this morning, this girl, who always kept to herself and never easily asked for help,

Surprisingly, he took the initiative to approach Ayanokouji and made a request in a slightly stiff tone:

"Ayanokouji-san, are you free at noon? Could you... have lunch with me?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka merely glanced at her expressionlessly.

Without asking any further questions, he simply nodded:

"can."

So this scene happened.

The two ate in silence for a while.

The cutlery made a slight clinking sound.

Horikita Suzune ate politely and attentively.

Ayanokouji maintained her usual leisurely eating pace.

In the end, it was Horikita Suzune who put down her chopsticks first.

She picked up a tissue and wiped her mouth, then looked up.

He glanced at Ayanokouji, who was still busy working on that thick pork cutlet.

"I have something to discuss with you."

She got straight to the point.

"Yosuke Hirata and his classmates have already started taking action in preparation for the upcoming midterm exams."

Ayanokouji continued chewing without stopping, only glancing up at her to indicate that he was listening.

He had heard about Hirata leading the study session.

"They started study sessions,"

Horikita continued, his brows furrowed.

"However, the three students with the worst grades in the class—Yamachi, Ike, and Sudo—rejected Hirata's invitation."

"Those three obviously don't want to study."

Ayanokouji swallowed his food and responded calmly.

This is an obvious fact.

"He even failed such a simple quiz. I never thought there were such hopeless people in real life."

Horikita's tone carried an undisguised disdain.

"But if left unchecked, they will definitely fail the next test. This will drag down the class average and thus affect the class's points."

She paused, then said:

"We're at 0 points now. We can't afford to lose any more points we might gain, and we must seize every opportunity to earn them. If we want the class to improve, we absolutely cannot afford to lose points on these basic tests, right?"

Ayanokouji put down her chopsticks.

He got it.

Horikita wanted to entrust him with the troublesome task of persuading the "three idiots" to attend the study session.

As he pondered how to respond,

When deciding whether to agree outright or negotiate,

A slightly unfamiliar voice, tinged with a smile, suddenly broke in.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, could I possibly interrupt?"

Horikita Suzune instantly raised her head alertly.

A cold gaze was directed at the source of the sound.

Ayanokouji slowly turned his head as well.

Suddenly, a strange boy in a school uniform appeared next to their table.

He wore an overly enthusiastic, even somewhat deliberate, smile.

Her hair was styled in a slightly flashy way.

He exudes a slyness that is completely out of place in society.

"I'm so sorry, I meant no harm!"

Seeing Horikita's wary look, the second-year boy quickly raised his hands, assuming a harmless posture.

"I just happened to be passing by and overheard you talking about something related to class points. I found it interesting, so I took the liberty of coming over."

He explained with a smile, his gaze darting back and forth between Horikita and Ayanokoji:

"You're first-year students, right? I'm a second-year student."

Ayanokouji silently observed the other person. He had indeed never seen this person before in his first year.

"Then, senior,"

Horikita Suzune's voice remained icy.

"What brings you here all of a sudden? Are you here to teach us how to increase our class points?"

Her words carried a hint of probing—

Asking senior students for advice is theoretically a possible approach.

The second-year student's smile grew even brighter.

It's as if they didn't hear the barb in Horikita's dialect:

"This junior is really perceptive! May I ask which class you're in?"

Horikita Suzune remained silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.