Game Developer in the World of Anime

Exams had never really been a challenge—at least, not for Ichin or Utaha.

Even with others aiming for the top spot in the grade rankings, it didn't pose much of a threat.

With their steady routine of reading and working through practice problems, the midterm exams a week later went smoothly, and once again, the two comfortably secured the top two positions in the year.

As usual, Ichin was first, and Utaha came in second.

However, Utaha's scores had improved noticeably since last semester. The gap between them had narrowed to just five points. With the total score capped, Ichin didn't have much room left to improve, while Utaha still had space to climb higher. She had already achieved a perfect score in math—if she maxed out English next and brought her other subjects closer to Ichin's level, the top spot might finally be within reach.

While the two maintained stable top scores, it was a demoralizing blow to the students ranked right behind them. Despite pulling all-nighters and grinding through endless practice papers before the exams, their efforts only led to marginal score improvements—and their rankings didn't budge.

Third place stayed third.

Back in the staff office, Hiratsuka Shizuka looked at the ranking sheet and shook her head.

"Those two really have a death grip on the top two spots."

The other teachers were chatting about it as well.

"The test wasn't even that easy this time. Those two must have really mastered everything in the syllabus."

"Exactly," the math teacher added, glancing at the scores. "For smart students, as long as the material is within the curriculum, no matter how we tweak the question format, they'll still find a way to solve it. Hm… maybe for the final exam, we should add some bonus questions?"

As a veteran math teacher, he was eager to create problems that could actually challenge these top-performing students. If standard questions weren't doing the job, perhaps bonus problems could raise the bar.

The rest of the teachers nodded in agreement.

While high-performing students made any teacher proud, seeing one's carefully crafted exam paper effortlessly conquered could be frustrating. How did they see through that trick question? How did they even remember that obscure formula?

Hiratsuka, however, remained unfazed.

"Bonus questions, huh? You could ask the head of year about that. Though honestly, even if Kasumigaoka struggles with them, Ichin will probably be fine."

She remembered seeing a university-level calculus book at Ichin's house during a visit. When asked about it, he claimed he was just casually reading it for fun. But Hiratsuka had the feeling he already understood quite a bit—maybe even a lot more than he let on.

As if on cue, the door to the staff room opened, and the head of year walked in.

"I heard someone call for me? Was it you, Hiratsuka-sensei?"

After the usual greetings, the teachers explained the situation. The head of year nodded thoughtfully.

"Hmm… bonus questions at the end of the math paper, huh? We haven't done that at Toyogasaki in a few years, but it might be worth trying. Regular test papers really don't reflect the true ability of our top students. Alright, I'll speak to the principal about it later. It should be doable."

No one expected the head to agree so readily. If bonus questions really did appear on the final exam, no one could say whether Ichin or Utaha would ace them—but for the rest of the students, it was probably going to be a nightmare.

After all, according to the math teacher, if he was going to write bonus problems, he certainly wasn't going to make them solvable by average students.

Class Bell Rang~

As the bell signaled the start of class, Hiratsuka Shizuka walked into the classroom holding a stack of graded test papers.

After placing the papers on the desk, she looked around at the students and said,

"This time's midterm results weren't bad. Maybe not every subject, but at least for the Classical Japanese I teach, everyone scored above average. Also, the top two spots in the grade are still held by students from our class. I hope you all continue working hard. Now, I'll hand back the test papers, and we'll go over the key points from this exam."

One by one, the papers were distributed. Ichin turned to Utaha beside him and crooked his finger in a teasing gesture, a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

Even though they were practically like an old married couple at this point, Utaha still flushed slightly, glared at him, and quickly looked down to review the mistakes on her own paper.

Ichin wasn't the least bit discouraged by her reaction. After all, tonight was finally his turn again. Lately, Utaha had been so focused on reclaiming first place in the midterms that they hadn't had any real "quality time" together for several days. Tonight, the ban was officially lifted.

He hadn't even meant to think about it—but now that the idea was in his head, it was hard to push out all the mental images of black stockings…

Ah well, the youthful spirit was nothing if not energetic.

Still, Ichin had decent self-control. After a few minutes of mentally wandering, he pulled himself back and began focusing on Hiratsuka-sensei's review of the exam.

---

By lunchtime, Ichin and Utaha headed to the Service Club room as usual to eat.

As expected, Yukino had once again secured the top spot among the first-year students. Eriri, meanwhile, had done decently well—she ranked 28th in her grade, maintaining the same level she'd achieved last semester.

Since retiring from the doujin scene, Eriri had been putting a lot more effort into her studies. Apart from working part-time at Ichin's game studio, she had been seriously focusing on academics—and with a friend like Yukino helping tutor her, it was hard not to see improvement.

"Ahhh, I can finally relax for a bit now," Eriri sighed in relief, leaning back in her chair with her lunchbox in hand. "Tonight, I can finally sit down and play games again!"

It was easy to tell that the days leading up to the exam—and the ones waiting for results—had been stressful for her. Not everyone could stay calm like Ichin and Utaha before and after a big test.

Ichin opened the thermos he brought and poured everyone a cup of the corn and pork rib soup he made that morning.

"Your grades have really come a long way since last year, Eriri," Ichin remarked. "I bet Aunt Sayuri was surprised."

"She was, actually," Eriri replied, fairly content with her results. "I mean, I was never a bad student, just average. I didn't think I could improve this much in a year. Hehe, it's all thanks to Yukino's tutoring. Hey, Yukino—if you're free tonight, come have dinner at my place! I'll ask my mom to make something really delicious for you!"

"No need," Yukino replied, shaking her head. "Tutoring you was also a good review of the fundamentals for me. It wasn't that hard."

"Aw, come on! You always eat alone at home anyway. Just come over this time!"

After some back-and-forth coaxing, Yukino finally agreed.

...

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