Chapter 108 Hikigaya the Great Demon King!
"Hold it!"
"How can such an important moment proceed without this great me?"
Ryuen Kakeru appeared, using a tree branch as a makeshift crutch, limping toward the assembly point. Although he looked incredibly pathetic, the expression on his face was exceptionally arrogant!
"Ryuen!"
"Why is he here?"
"Didn't he lead most of Class C back to the ship already?"
Faced with Ryuen Kakeru's sudden appearance, everyone was shocked.
"Katsuragi, what's going on? Was this in the contract?" Yahiko asked, bewildered.
According to the contract they had signed, Class C was to fully support Class A and transfer all their supplies. Consequently, almost everyone in Class A believed Class C had abandoned the exam. No one expected that Ryuen Kakeru would be able to live on the island alone with zero supplies—and more importantly, without being discovered by any other class!
"Stay calm, don't panic. At this stage, it doesn't matter what tricks Ryuen tries to pull; it's all meaningless."
Despite his words, Katsuragi Kouhei's expression was extremely solemn, and he felt a faint, ominous premonition in his heart! Out of caution, he hadn't trusted the intelligence Ryuen Kakeru provided, which was why he specifically required a clause in the contract stating Class C must photograph the leader's keycard.
'Could it be... something was wrong with the photos?!'
As the mastermind manipulating everything from behind the scenes, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka remained expressionless, but he felt a faint sense of gratification in his heart. This must be the "pleasure" Koenji often spoke of.
"Since everyone is here, I shall announce the results of the exam. Starting from last place..."
Mashima-sensei opened the sealed grade sheet. The moment he saw it, his expression froze! As the homeroom teacher for Class A, seeing such a result made it very hard to keep a straight face.
Whew—
Taking a deep breath, Mashima-sensei regained his professional composure as an elite educator and announced loudly:
"Class A: 20 points."
"Due to the leader being guessed, the base points have been cleared to zero."
Katsuragi Kouhei: "??????"
All of Class A: "!!!!!!!"
"Class C: 100 points."
"Base score: 120. These will be added to the Class Points after the exam."
The corner of Ryuen Kakeru's mouth hooked up. While the exam result looked like only third place, by protecting his leader's identity, he had secured additional base points. Furthermore, he held the Class A contract, allowing him to squeeze 1 million individual points out of them every month. The only thing he felt annoyed about was having to split half with Hikigaya.
What a load of crap!
"Class D: 120 points."
"Base score: 150. These will be added to the Class Points after the exam."
The members of Class D were a mix of surprise and joy: "Ah? We got second place?"
"That's amazing!"
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's brow furrowed tightly: Why only second place? According to my calculations, the final score should have been first!
"Class B: 130 points."
"Due to the leader being guessed, the base points have been cleared to zero."
The students of Class B were stunned, feeling a mixture of grief and joy at the outcome.
Ichinose Honami sighed helplessly: "As expected, Chihiro-chan's identity as leader was seen through by Ibuki."
"To have the leader guessed and still get this score... Ichinose-san, did you guess the leader of another class?" Kanzaki Ryuji asked in surprise. He had actually anticipated Ibuki was a spy, but faced with the collective kind-hearted will of Class B, he hadn't been able to change anything.
"KATSURAGI!!!"
"What exactly is going on?!"
"What happened to Class A being 'far ahead'?"
Class A was in an uproar; their reactions were exceptionally violent. Even the Sakayanagi faction members couldn't be bothered to gloat.
While they wanted the Katsuragi faction to lose, they never imagined losing this badly! To go from far ahead to dead last—who could accept that?
"Tsk, tsk~"
Watching the self-proclaimed elite geniuses of Class A jumping in frustration, Hikigaya, acting as a bystander, felt incredibly refreshed!
'Writing it into the contract, specifically naming me just to screw me over, was it?'
Against those who intended to harm him, Hikigaya's retaliation was never soft-hearted!
"Wait a moment!"
"Mashima-sensei, I want to know the specific details of the point deductions. Based on my calculations, I truly cannot understand why we received this score!" Katsuragi Kouhei was also completely confused.
"I just received the deduction details myself. See for yourselves." Mashima-sensei took out another sealed form.
The members of Class A crowded together to look.
"One person absent from the exam: -30 points..."
"Leader guessed three times: -150 points..."
"Unauthorized use of another class's supplies twice: -100 points..."
A total deduction of 280 points!
"How... how is this possible?!"
Except for the first point regarding Sakayanagi Arisu's absence, they couldn't understand the other two major deductions!!
"Yahiko!
How did you handle being the leader?
You actually let all three classes guess correctly!!"
All of Class A locked their furious gazes onto Totsuka Yahiko.
"I... I don't know either...
This must have been leaked by the Sakayanagi faction!
Kamuro, it was you, wasn't it?" Yahiko hurriedly shifted the blame, trying to turn the spearhead toward Kamuro Masumi.
"Now that you mention it, I think I saw Kamuro-san together with that dead-fish-eyes guy from Class D...
Could it really be her who leaked it?" Suspicious gazes from Class A fell upon Kamuro Masumi.
"Hmph." Kamuro Masumi merely snorted coldly in response, offering no explanation.
"Don't just stay silent, Kamuro!"
"Did you really betray the class?"
Seeing the Class A crowd angrily surrounding Kamuro Masumi, Hikigaya couldn't help but walk over.
"Yo~ Bottom-dwellers of Class A, you all look quite energetic!"
Faced with Hikigaya's direct verbal assault, the Class A students were filled with immense rage.
"Hikigaya, was this your doing?" Katsuragi Kouhei's face was dark.
"Isn't that obvious? You cooperated with Ryuen, but you specifically chose to target me. To use a modern proverb: you were lighting a lamp in a latrine—looking for shit!"
Hikigaya's vicious words successfully drew all the fire from Class A away from Kamuro Masumi and onto himself.
"Hikigaya, isn't this revenge a bit too harsh?"
"We in the Sakayanagi faction never offended you!" Hashimoto Masayoshi complained with a look of distress. He knew a little bit about Sakayanagi Arisu commissioning Hikigaya to suppress the Katsuragi faction.
"Blame it on those two idiots, Katsuragi and Yahiko!" Hikigaya mocked them by name.
"Curse you! What right does someone from a mere Class D have to criticize me?" Yahiko shouted, refusing to back down.
'Still putting on the airs of a Class A elite even now? Then don't blame me for completely crushing you!'
"The base at the bottom of the cliff. I was the one who reported you for stealing my medical kit without permission," Hikigaya said coldly.
"Wh-What...?!"
"That's impossible! That base clearly wasn't occupied; the supplies inside should have been free to use!" Yahiko cried out in disbelief.
"Stop it, Yahiko..." Katsuragi Kouhei interrupted his teammate, his face grim. "There is only one possibility. Hikigaya took the supplies from that base one step ahead of us, then swapped them with a medical kit he redeemed using class points... isn't that right?"
At the time, he had felt the packaging color of the medical kit wasn't quite right; it was the same color as the packaging for supplies redeemed with points. However, he hadn't thought much of it then, overlooking that small detail...
"Yo~ That bald head of yours turns pretty fast. By the way, the person who climbed down the cliff by hand was our class's 'Beautiful Brother' who wishes to remain anonymous."
Hikigaya's explanation instantly cleared up all the confusion.
"Hand... hand-climbing...?"
Katsuragi and Yahiko's faces were horrified as they visualized the scene: while the two of them were walking down the mountain via the stairs, someone else—in order to beat them to it—had climbed down the cliff face on the other side by hand. Against such a ruthless person, their loss was not unfair!
"Furthermore, I was the one who guessed Yahiko was Class A's leader. I was also the one who told the other three classes about it.
So? Surprised? Disappointed? Shocked?"
Hikigaya's words instantly silenced everyone in Class A. In other words, Hikigaya alone had accounted for a massive 200-point deduction for Class A!!
'Are you some kind of Great Demon King from hell?'
Only Kamuro Masumi looked at him with a gaze that remained kind, mixed with a hint of gratitude: You provoked Class A to their faces just to get me out of trouble, didn't you?
Hikigaya pretended not to see her.
"Hahahaha!
This is called reaping what you sow, Katsuragi!" Ryuen Kakeru took the opportunity to kick them while they were down.
"It's all your fault, Katsuragi! And Totsuka!"
"Why on earth did you have to go and provoke that guy?" The Class A students complained bitterly to the two of them. Simultaneously, looking at Hikigaya, their eyes held a few more shades of fear. It had to be said—this revenge was far too terrifying!!
Unlike the "mourning faces" of Class A, Class B collectively entered a wave of joy.
"Yay! We got first place in this exam!"
"We beat Class A for the first time!!"
Regardless of the point gain or loss, the result of defeating Class A was undoubtedly a massive boost to Class B's morale!
"I heard it was that Hikigaya-kun who told you the Class A leader." Amakura Mako gave her a thumbs-up, while also winking and nudging her with a teasing look: "Quite capable, aren't you, Honami-chan!"
In the eyes of most of Class B, Ichinose Honami had used her personal charm to capture a boy from another class, who then voluntarily made the contribution.
"Th-Things aren't like what you're imagining!" Ichinose Honami looked embarrassed.
"No! Honami-chan would never use feelings as a bargaining chip!" Shiranami Chihiro protested.
"Yes, yes, of course~" The Class B crowd laughed it off.
They were all basically aware of Shiranami Chihiro's feelings for Ichinose. Compared to a yuri relationship, they were more inclined toward Ichinose being able to have a normal romance.
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