I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

Ichinose had originally intended to persuade Horikita not to use such an extreme method, but just as she was about to speak, something flashed through her mind, and Ichinose suddenly realized that Horikita had not chosen to announce this measure at the last minute in order to catch those who would oppose the decision off guard.

Horikita's real target is those who might leak information. As long as Horikita prevents them from having time to tip off others or collude, she won't allow malicious individuals to interfere with her plans.

"This is just my guess. After all, it's better to be cautious about something so important. Without Tianyin, we have to walk the road ahead on our own. We can't completely trust anyone except our own people. Fanbo, do you understand what I mean?"

Horikita's hint was quite obvious. Ichinose's eyes narrowed slightly. For Horikita to say something with such confidence, it was likely that someone in the class had done something that Horikita had discovered.

It's worth noting that Tianyin's intelligence network covers the entire second year, and with Class A currently enjoying great success, it's not surprising that someone would proactively seek cooperation and leak information.

Horikita's second half of his statement is quite subtle.

own people?

Who exactly are these "our own people"? The students in Class A? The students of the Tianyin faction, with Tianyin at its core?

Or……

Which of the girls who established romantic relationships with Tianyin?

'It seems Horikita Suzune has grown quite a bit.'

A beautiful smile bloomed on Ichinose's gentle face.

“I understand. I’ll talk to Hui first, but… I think if we can win over Hirata, the success rate of getting everyone to accept your suggestion will be higher. It’s time for him to change his neutral stance.”

Chapter 173: The Zero-Score Plan

A week has passed in the blink of an eye, and the first and second grade students have finally ushered in their third weekly test, with only one week left until the final test.

The third week of physical training was tough on the first and second graders. The previous two weeks of building warehouses and swimming had given them some free time, so although it was called physical training, most of them did not feel very tired.

Of course, first-year students are an exception. Unlike second-year students, they can't sleep in a little longer every morning. They don't gather until eight o'clock to receive safety education from the instructors.

Because they lost to the second-year students in the grade competition, the first-year students now have to run all the way back to school from the foot of the mountain every morning. At first, the first-year students were exhausted every day, but since many of them had a certain foundation, after mastering the rhythm of the training, the first-year students became completely familiar with the rhythm of physical training in the following days.

As for why we specifically mentioned the running training in the first year?

因为第三周的全体学生的体能锻炼任务就是跑步，从下午开始一直跑到晚上，为了不让学生们感觉到枯燥教官们还故意制造了年级矛盾让两个年级互相进行50米、100米、200米、500米、800米、1000米以及1200米的多个跑步项目比赛的年级竞争，这一通组合拳下来让无论是一年级还是二年级的学生全都累的够呛。

However, compared to the second-year students, the first-year students, who had to do morning runs every day, seemed to have a lot more confidence in the physical training in the third week. In the grade-level running competition, the first-year students far surpassed the second-year students in terms of their rankings. This made both Horikita and Ryuen feel extremely threatened. In order not to be further outpaced by the first-year students, the second-year students, who did not need to do morning runs, also volunteered to participate in the training. As a result, the second-year students also lost their precious rest time.

However, after a week of physical training, the physical fitness of students in both grades improved rapidly at a visible speed. At the beginning, some students would often fall behind or be unable to complete the training tasks, but on the last day of training, almost no one fell behind. This was undoubtedly a qualitative transformation for students in both grades.

To their dismay, the physical fitness test in the third week was a swimming competition instead of a running competition, which left the students, who had only been training for running for a week, feeling powerless with no way to use their strength.

Horikita, having regained his composure, sat quietly in his seat, waiting for the proctor to arrive.

Looking around, everyone had relaxed expressions on their faces as they chatted with each other, showing no signs of the tension that came with an upcoming exam.

They had already taken this kind of exam twice. The content was nothing more than safety-related knowledge, with at most some scenario-based questions for students to answer how to solve the problems. Even if the answers were not standard, not many points would be deducted. Therefore, it was very easy to pass the written exam. The reason why many people's scores were still hovering around the passing line was that the written exam allowed students to hand in their papers early. As a result, many students with good grades gave up on continuing to answer the questions and handed in their papers after judging that they could pass. This is the real reason why the grade average score remained at a not-so-high median, even though the questions were very simple.

But this exam is destined to be completely different from the past.

About ten minutes later, the proctor, Ms. Sakagami, walked in with a thick stack of exam papers in her hand.

After taking attendance according to the normal procedure, Ms. Sakagami began to confiscate everyone's phones. This was done to prevent cheating and to prevent students from playing on their phones or chatting after answering the questions.

Such incidents were particularly frequent in other exam rooms, especially in first-year exams. The overly easy questions led many students to start playing on their phones after finishing the exam, which many invigilators found inappropriate. However, the rule that students were allowed to bring their phones anywhere in the forest school was a decision made by the school's higher-ups. For a time, the invigilators were at a loss as to how to deal with this chaos. Finally, someone suggested to Chairman Fujimori that invigilators be allowed to confiscate students' phones during exams, and only then was this behavior finally brought under control.

Sakagami-sensei, who had made all the necessary preparations before the exam, was about to distribute the test papers when he suddenly saw someone raise their hand.

"You are... Horikita-kun? Is there anything I can help you with? It's not too late to go to the restroom now."

Sakagami glanced at the time; there were less than five minutes left before the written exam started. If Horikita wanted to go to the restroom, she could make it in time if she hurried. Actually, it wouldn't matter if she came back a little late for this kind of exam, since it wasn't a formal exam. So Sakagami didn't take this small matter too seriously.

"Mr. Sakagami, I have something I'd like to say to the class. Would it be alright if I took a little of your time?"

"Oh?"

Sakagami was slightly surprised by Horikita's request. Horikita seemed to want to arrange some kind of arrangements for the class, but it seemed that there was no need to arrange any strategies or tactics for this kind of exam, which could be achieved by anyone with a normal brain, who paid a little attention in class, and had a little bit of common sense.

Sakagami glanced at the time quickly, and after deducting the time needed to cut the hair roll, he held up three fingers to Horikita.

You have three minutes to say what you want to say.

After finishing speaking, Mr. Sakagami walked to the side of the podium, making room for Horikita. He then crossed his arms and looked at Horikita with great interest, wanting to see what Horikita would say to the class under these circumstances.

"Thank you for your help, Sakagami-sensei."

"Don't be shy, time is very precious, let's get started as soon as possible."

Horikita nodded, then looked at the group of bewildered Class A students below the podium. They had not received any prior notice or gossip, and were quite surprised to see Horikita take the stage to say something.

Horikita didn't speak, but calmly looked at the audience.

"Horikita-kun, what is it you want to talk about? The exam is coming up soon..."

"Let's get to the point quickly, or we'll run out of time."

"Hey, what do you think Horikita is doing standing on stage without saying a word? Did he forget his lines?"

……

As time ticked by, the discussions below grew increasingly noisy. Then, as if a string had snapped, someone suddenly fell silent, and one after another, the entire classroom, which had been at its noisiest, instantly fell into a deathly silence.

Horikita's cold gaze swept across everyone's faces before he slowly spoke.

"For this written test, everyone is prohibited from answering questions. All members of Class A must submit blank papers."

Horikita's instructions left most of the students in Class A bewildered. They couldn't understand why Horikita would give them a zero on such a simple test. Wouldn't that mean they would fail? If everyone failed, wouldn't the class points be lost?

Just as everyone began to speculate about the reason, Hirata stood up from his seat.

"There's probably not enough time to ask Horikita-kun your reasons now, so could you please tell me if your purpose in doing this was for the good of the class?"

"of course."

"Can the value gained offset the lost class points?"

"of course can."

"If Tianyin were here, would she raise any objections?"

“If she were here, I wouldn’t need to issue this order.”

Horikita emphasized the last word of the command, her purpose being to clearly inform everyone that she was not discussing with the class, but giving an order as the class leader.

"Then I support Horikita-kun's plan."

Hirata pondered for a moment and came up with a slight idea. He nodded and sat down. As long as it didn't harm the class and had a value that was equal to or far exceeded the points lost, he had no reason not to support it.

Seeing that Hirata did not object, Katsuragi immediately spoke up to support him. Ever since Ayanokouji was given a bad reputation, many boys in the class had gathered around Katsuragi and Hirata, so if the two of them agreed, it meant that the boys collectively agreed to the arrangement.

"I believe that Lingyin will not do anything that would harm the interests of the class, so I support her."

"Me too."

Ichinose and Megumi had already discussed it privately, and after Hirata and Katsuragi expressed their opinions, the two of them, as the leaders of the girls' group, naturally had to follow suit.

Now only one small group has not yet spoken.

As the highest-ranking member of the Amane faction, Matsushita Chiaki gave Horikita a deep look. Although she didn't know what Horikita was planning, she naturally wouldn't refuse Amane's request for her full support of Horikita before leaving. However, Matsushita disliked this kind of sudden attack that caught her off guard, as if someone might leak information...

"I think it's okay."

Seeing that everyone in the class with a voice unanimously agreed to submit a zero-score test paper, Horikita secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to leave the podium, Koenji suddenly put his legs up on the table.

"Horikita girl, there must be some reason behind your decision to bring this up at a time when everyone's phones are being confiscated, right?"

"The reason? I'm just mentioning it casually while everyone's gathered together."

"Oh? Is that so? I thought Horikita Girl was afraid that someone would have any contact with students from other classes, so she deliberately chose such an opportunity, when she had a reasonable excuse to confiscate everyone's phones, to announce your arrangements."

As soon as Gao Yuanji finished speaking, many people's expressions changed.

In the past, there had been instances of people from Class A communicating with other classes in private. However, with Tianyin taking the lead in Class A and having already reached a point where further advancement seemed impossible, many people gave up on any such inappropriate thoughts.

But who would have thought that someone from another class would collude with him at this time? Who could it be?

Horikita noticed the change in everyone's expressions and frowned. She wasn't surprised or dissatisfied that Koenji had guessed her actions. On the contrary, if Koenji still couldn't guess what she wanted to do even though she had made it so obvious, Horikita would question Koenji's abilities.

But knowing is one thing, saying it is another. Many people now guessed Horikita's purpose in doing this, and even knew very well that Horikita must have some evidence, otherwise he would not have done something that could cause panic.

Therefore, even if everyone guessed what Horikita was planning to do, they would choose to remain silent to avoid causing unrest in the class at such a crucial moment.

However, Horikita did not expect that this established practice would be broken on the spot by Koenji. However, given Koenji's personality, he does seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing. However, it is now uncertain whether Class A, who are caught in a mutual suspicion, can carry out her orders faithfully. Fortunately, Horikita had already prepared a contingency plan for this kind of unexpected situation.

"That makes sense. So let's play a ghost-catching game this time. After the written exam, everyone will post their scores via email. The person whose score is different from everyone else's will be the 'ghost' among us. What do you think of this game, Koenji?"

Horikita couldn't have left no backup plan for such an easily exposed setup. Although the backup plan wasn't particularly clever, it was undoubtedly the most effective method.

The practice of forcing everyone to submit a blank paper.

"You reacted quickly, Horikita girl. You probably expected someone would expose you... But you probably overlooked one thing: what if I didn't want to cooperate with you?"

Koenji's arrogant attitude displeased Katsuragi.

"Kōenji, please watch your attitude."

"It's alright, Katsuragi-san. I expected that some people wouldn't be willing to carry out my arrangements, but let me be clear: this is crucial to Amane's ability to participate in the special exam. If she comes back and hears that you actually disobeyed her orders, who knows what terrible things she might do. Oh, and even if you don't cooperate, I still have ways to achieve my goals. If you insist on doing things your own way, you might become a clown in everyone's eyes, Koenji-san."

Koenji's face gradually darkened. In fact, he did not intend to disobey Horikita's orders; he just wanted to test whether Horikita was a qualified class leader.

But it seems he shot himself in the foot. Horikita's counterattack was too strong, hitting two of his sore spots. If he deliberately got a perfect score to disrupt Horikita's plans but it had no effect on Horikita, then his performance today was no different from making a fool of himself.

Moreover, when Amane left, she clearly told everyone that they must obey Horikita's arrangements. Although there could be some flexibility on minor matters, openly rebelling against Horikita was no different from rebelling against Amane.

He knew that Tianyin had wanted him to get lost for a long time. The reason he was still here was because he had become obedient after returning from the forest school last time, so Tianyin was too lazy to argue with him.

However, if Koenji dares to openly challenge Tenon's authority, then without a doubt he will be expelled. If the Koenji family heir is expelled by Koenji, not only will he and his family lose face, but it will also send a dangerous signal that the Miyako family is rejecting the Koenji Zaibatsu.

At that time, it would probably be more than just a drop in stock price; the entire Koenji Zaibatsu would be swarmed by wolves who wanted to pledge allegiance to the Miyako family and eventually devoured until nothing was left.

Because he understood the significance of the name Miyako Amane, Koenji knew better than others what Amane's status was in the school.

To be honest, he even suspected that the reason why Amane was assigned to Class D was just to experience the fun of playing dumb. If it was just because of her powerful background, it wouldn't matter. Big shots usually don't interfere in battles between juniors. If Amane had a powerful background, she couldn't do anything to him, Koenji Rokusuke.

But Miyako Amane is a genuine monster.

Koenji recalled that day when he suddenly had the urge to see the true strength of Tenon.

Although Amane claimed it was a draw in the end, Koenji knew he had lost completely, because for Amane, her failure to eliminate Koenji with her true strength meant it couldn't be considered a victory.

"Huh? You want to know how strong I am? There's not much point in that, is there? After all, we're in the same class. Even if you knew how strong I am, what difference would it make? Hmm? You said you'd follow my orders? Is that true? If so, I'd be willing to spar with you."

"What? You want me to show my true strength? Don't be ridiculous, Koenji, I'm scared..."

"You're going to die... Hey! Can you still stand up?"

……

"I'm in a good mood today, so I'll listen to your arrangements, Horikita girl. But let me make this clear first: I'm only following your arrangements because of Miyako girl."

Chapter 174: Half Marathon

"I don't care what your reasons are, all I want is the result."

Horikita gave Koenji a cold look. Horikita had a very good grasp of Koenji's psychology. As an outstanding student, and one with a wealthy family background, Koenji's pride and self-esteem far exceeded those of ordinary people. He certainly liked to win by doing nothing, because all he wanted was the result of graduating from Class A.

This result is Koenji's biggest weakness. If used properly, even if Koenji is unruly and disobedient, he can be easily dealt with. After all, Class A is full of talented people, and losing Koenji will not shake Class A's status.

"Kōenji-kun, I believe you understand that Class A is currently in its most crucial period of consolidation. Regardless of your attitude or thoughts towards Amane, me, or the rest of Class A, for you personally, as the heir to the Kōenji conglomerate, the best outcome you can achieve at this school is graduating from Class A. I believe neither your family nor Kōenji yourself can accept you graduating as a 'defective product,' right? Of course, we're not the only class that can become Class A, but right now we are Class A. We've already reached the pinnacle of our grade. We just need to follow the steps and we can easily achieve everyone's dreams. I believe you're not the kind of person who likes to take the long way around, are you?"

Horikita's words were full of overt threats, but Koenji knew that Horikita was right; if Amane was dissatisfied with his behavior, she could make him leave at any time.

But he couldn't accept the result of being expelled from school.

Currently, there are only two ways to protect him: one is to prepare 20 million personal points to avoid being expelled, and the other is to use the 20 million personal points to change classes.

Regardless of which method requires nearly 20 million personal points, it is unrealistic to try to escape Tianyin's control. Even if the school's higher-ups do not intervene, Tianyin's connections in the second year alone will cause him all sorts of trouble after the class change.

Furthermore, Koenji didn't believe that anyone could actually defeat Amane, so the second option seemed to be the best way to protect himself, but in reality, it was equivalent to giving up the most likely opportunity to graduate from Class A, which was no different from being expelled from school for Koenji.

Therefore, Koenji was left with only one choice: to accumulate 20 million personal points to prevent himself from being expelled from school.

But accumulating 20 million points isn't that easy...

Koenji set his sights on the special exam in July. If he could win, he could enjoy the privilege of avoiding expulsion by spending only one million personal points.

Although one million points is still a huge sum of money, it is not an unacceptable number for Koenji.

Having made up his mind, Koenji chose to avoid confrontation for the time being. It would be unwise to have a verbal argument with Horikita in public. He only wanted to test Horikita's abilities, and if Horikita were to smear him for colluding with other class members, he would have no way to explain himself.

"Humph!"

Koenji snorted and sat down, as if nothing had happened. Only the displeasure on his face proved to everyone that even he, Koenji Rokusuke, had to bow down before the name Amane.

Seeing that Koenji had been subdued, Horikita breathed a sigh of relief, and his clenched fingers were finally able to loosen.