Chapter 124 Singing the Same Tune, Are You Two a Married Couple?
"The explanation of the exam is over. If anyone has questions, you can ask them now. Also, the materials in your hands are not allowed to be taken out of this room."
This was equivalent to saying the list was critical information. Hikigaya immediately committed the names on it to memory.
Aside from those from his own class, Kamuro, Himeno, and a guy who didn't deserve the surname Totsuka, Hikigaya didn't know anyone else. As an academic top performer in the humanities, Hikigaya considered his memory to be quite good.
In elementary and middle school, he had once memorized the names of every student in the entire grade.
This was for the sake of "human observation" samples. Definitely, definitely not because he was desperate to make friends...
However, on one occasion when he was ordered by a math teacher to deliver homework notebooks to another class, Hikigaya accurately called out the name of a certain class's female representative. The girl was first stunned, then suspected he had ulterior motives, and decisively rejected him in public!
Heaven knows, Hikigaya really hadn't confessed; he didn't even have the intention of becoming friends with her. But no matter how he explained it, she wouldn't listen to reason, and others wouldn't believe him either.
Eventually, the rumor morphed into: Hikigaya secretly memorized the names of every girl in the school and planned to confess to them one by one, playing a game of casting a wide net!
Influenced by this, after entering Advanced Nurturing, Hikigaya stopped making a special effort to remember the names of students from other classes. However, considering this exam was full of traps, Hikigaya memorized every name on the list just to be safe.
"Um, if I haven't misunderstood...
Achieving Outcome 1 would be beneficial for everyone, right?"
The first to ask a question was actually Class D, which was truly surprising.
Sotomura Hideo said excitedly: "As long as everyone guesses the VIP correctly, everyone gets 500,000 points, and the VIP themselves gets 1,000,000!!"
Well, unsurprisingly, the first thing Class D focused on was personal points.
"Yes~ This Professor-kun is so smart~~" Hoshinomiya Chie resumed her kind smile.
"Eh? Hoshinomiya-sensei actually knows my nickname? It is truly the honor of a lifetime!" Sotomura Hideo adjusted his glasses excitedly, a thrilled smile appearing on his face.
"I pay a lot of attention to all the cute students in Class D~" Hoshinomiya Chie narrowed her eyes.
"R-Really?" Okitani Kyosuke and Inogashira Kokoro both looked overwhelmed by the favor.
'These idiots...'
Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes grew even darker.
"Pfft~"
Kamuro Masumi, sitting beside him, suddenly let out a snort of laughter.
"What's wrong with you?" Hikigaya gave her a strange look.
"..."
"I just suddenly thought of something funny." Kamuro Masumi tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of her mouth wouldn't stop curling up.
"That look you had just now—it was exactly like Squidward looking at SpongeBob and Patrick through the window."
Hikigaya's brow twitched, and he responded seriously: "I'm not that kind."
Though Squidward outwardly detested SpongeBob and Patrick, he often lent a helping hand when they were in trouble.
Hikigaya detested these fools inside and out; forget helping them—not kicking them while they were down was already an act of mercy!
"Hey! What do you mean by that?" The group from Class D immediately threw unfriendly glares his way.
"I'm complimenting you, just like Hoshinomiya-sensei said you were cute." Hikigaya narrowed his eyes.
"Liar! Hoshinomiya-sensei wouldn't be sarcastic like you!" Okitani Kyosuke said angrily.
Hoshinomiya Chie felt like she was the one being targeted by the sarcasm.
"Hikigaya, don't you feel ashamed? Having such a bad relationship with your own classmates." Yahiko suddenly launched a verbal attack.
But before Hikigaya could respond, Kamuro Masumi snapped back first: "Stop making a fool of yourself, Yahiko!"
"Who are you calling a fool?" Yahiko's face darkened. "And who allowed you to call me by my given name, Kamuro!"
"Tch~ how annoying!" Although Kamuro Masumi didn't know the specific reason, since Hikigaya called him that, she followed suit.
"Yahiko, don't go shouting at your classmates; it makes you look very unrefined."
Hikigaya hadn't intended to bother, but since Kamuro had initiated the team fight, he might as well follow up.
"Are you two a married couple? Singing the same tune here!" Yahiko complained loudly.
'Damn.'
Kamuro Masumi opened her mouth, but for some reason, she suddenly lost her voice.
'Wait, are you that weak? Refute him!' Hikigaya himself didn't really care.
"Yahiko, are you an idiot? You're actually giving them an assist!" A flash of jealousy appeared in Okitani Kyosuke's eyes.
Even though Kamuro Masumi had just compared them to SpongeBob, putting that aside, Kamuro Masumi was a top-tier beauty!
Calling her and Hikigaya a married couple—are you sure you aren't offering them a blessing?
"A mere Class D dares to call me an idiot?
Also, none of you are allowed to call me by my given name!!" Yahiko was turning red with rage.
"So noisy! What have you guys been babbling about since just now?"
The loud shouting came from a Class C boy with a wide forehead and side-swept bangs; he looked somewhat aggressive.
"Tokito-kun, do you have a question to ask?" Hoshinomiya Chie smiled.
Hikigaya noticed that the other three students from Class C seemed somewhat afraid of this man. With that short temper and aggressive face, he didn't look like someone who would submit to Ryuen Kakeru.
Sensing Hikigaya's gaze, Tokito Hiroya glared at him fiercely, but he didn't forget to ask his question.
"I want to know the specific method for submitting an early guess, and if there are any restrictions."
It seemed Tokito Hiroya was aiming for Outcome 3 or Outcome 4.
This was actually the intention of the vast majority of people. An early guess not only allowed one to monopolize the points but also deducted points from the VIP's class—a classic case of benefiting oneself at the expense of others.
"As expected of Tokito-kun, you are the smartest Class C student I've seen~" Hoshinomiya Chie praised him.
'This bad woman is secretly instigating infighting in Class C...'
"Sensei, you overpraise me. I just think a bit more than the average person, that's all." Tokito Hiroya let out a proud huff, looking very satisfied with himself.
Evaluation complete: this guy only has Ryuen's temper, but his brain isn't as flexible as Ryuen's.
"..."
"The Squidward eyes again." Kamuro Masumi looked at him sideways.
"Seriously, why do you keep staring at me?" Hikigaya gave her an annoyed look.
"Careful, or people will call us a married couple again."
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