Shirogane Miyuki in COTE

The math test for Class D was handed out.

Kouenji Rokusuke quickly skimmed through the paper, a playful look in his eyes. He hadn't looked at the old test sets Hirata and the others had prepared.

But—

He already spotted questions that were outside the usual curriculum.

Even with his understanding of the current textbook, the highest he could get was 70 points. Or rather, this test only allowed a max score of 70 for the average student.

So Hirata's idea—that the test would reuse old questions—was likely the correct one.

Still—

For the school to do something so sneaky, and to assume students would cheat, then even use that as the "correct" strategy?

This school might actually be more interesting than he thought.

Unlike Kouenji, who stayed calm, Horikita Suzune looked shocked when she saw the test.

At first, she had doubts about Hirata's theory of reused questions, but she still took a look at the old tests he handed out—and found that about 30% of the questions went beyond what they had studied.

With her current knowledge, she estimated she could only score around 68 points. So it was easy to imagine what kind of results the rest of the class would get if they took it as-is.

But—

For someone like Horikita, a top student who studied hard all the time, cheating with old questions was something she couldn't accept.

She also believed the school wouldn't really use a test that only allowed most students to get a max score of 70.

But then—

Reality crushed her expectations.

The school's test turned out to be exactly the same as the one Hirata's group had passed around.

From the question numbers to the numbers used in the problems, everything was identical.

So Hirata was right.

Getting old test papers from upperclassmen was the real way to prepare.

"Regular test," they called it—and this is what they meant?

Yukimura had a similar expression to Horikita. He was also one of the top students.

But he was taking it even harder than Horikita was.

Unlike Horikita, who's great at sports, Yukimura is probably the worst among the boys in class when it comes to physical ability.

You could say his only real strength is his top grades — he's a straight-A student.

But now…

If the test just uses old questions, then what's the point of being someone like him who studies so hard?

So Yukimura started questioning everything, feeling totally defeated inside.

Compared to him, the other students seemed to take it much better.

Kushida looked a bit surprised, and the other girls in class — like Karuizawa, Sato, and Matsushita — were shocked too, but they didn't seem upset or shaken by it.

Instead, they were thinking:

"What luck! The test is the exact same as before. Not only do we not have to worry about getting expelled, we can even get a high score!"

At that moment, Chabashira glanced at Ayanokouji, who stayed completely expressionless.

Like none of this had anything to do with him.

"Well then, let's begin the test!"

Chabashira announced.

And with this huge surprise, what was supposed to take over an hour ended up taking only 20 to 30 minutes for Class D — they all finished early.

For the other classes, only Class A of the first-years took over an hour. The other B, C, and D classes, along with the second- and third-years, all finished the test quickly and easily.

Perfect.

It must have looked super obvious on the surveillance footage. But honestly, it didn't even matter.

Because that was the real test.

That was the plan all along.

The older students had already been through this, so they saw it more as a bonus chance to earn extra points.

But for the younger students…

"For three first-year classes to figure out the trick to this exam — that's rare."

"Usually, only one or two classes catch on each year."

This conversation happened in the school's main office, which was different from the teachers' office. This room had extra equipment like surveillance monitors and a team dedicated to designing the monthly special exams.

In other words, every monthly special exam was created through serious discussion by a team of staff.

It actually makes a lot of sense — if the tests are always the same, then students can just get info from the upperclassmen and use their knowledge to cruise through.

That might get them good grades, but the school wouldn't be happy with that.

Because the students wouldn't be learning anything new or getting any real experience.

Right now, a group of staff members was watching the first-years' exam results closely.

Even though they hadn't started grading yet, one staff member was already sure.

"All three of the first-year B, C, and D classes figured out the test ahead of time."

The staff member said.

"This year's group has a lot of potential."

The school started on a trial basis for three years, and it's been running for twelve more since then. Now, fifteen years have passed. They've trained generation after generation of students — and that's something to be proud of.

The rules that were made back then have continued to be used, which shows that some parts of the system are actually quite good.

But still, it's a bit disappointing.

People are never fully satisfied.

Even when it comes to just making test questions, people enjoy a bit of excitement.

And this year's students brought some surprises that caught the staff's attention.

First, Class C climbed up to Class B in the very first month, and they were less than 200 points away from Class A.

It looks like they might soon be fighting hard against Class A.

In fact, there's even a chance they might break the usual pattern and flip the rankings.

"This year's students are more energetic than in the past."

At that moment, a middle-aged man with short silver hair walked in.

The man looked cultured, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and had a very kind and friendly vibe.

"Chairman."

As soon as he entered, the staff around him greeted him.

The chairman waved lightly, telling them not to mind him.

"But judging from how the test is going, it seems like only Class A in the first year is taking the exam seriously."

The chairman said.

He looked at the monitor showing Class A of the first years.

Students from the other classes had already finished the test, but Class A was still carefully working through it.

"That's right."

One of the staff members nodded and smiled.

"Majima has it tough. He probably still doesn't know how casually the other three classes are dealing with the test."

"Even though a teacher from Class D leaked some information."

The chairman nodded. "But still, the fact that Classes B, C, and D were able to take the same approach shows they handled it pretty well."

"Looks like Majima's going to be drowning his sorrows in drinks again tonight," another staff member joked.

He was personally on good terms with Majima.

So he couldn't help but feel bad for his friend.

Because if you take the test normally, even top students would struggle to score over 70, since 30 points' worth of questions came from material that was never taught or even mentioned in the textbooks.

"It's actually not all that bad,"

the chairman said.

"Seems like Class A in the first year figured out the real point of this exam too."

"Even though they didn't buy test answers from the upperclassmen, they realized that the test might include content from older textbooks."

"So they had people gather and organize extra material from those textbooks."

"And they even used the student council's computer to print it out,"

the chairman added.

"Horikita mentioned this to me the last time she came to report."

"So you're saying that if Class A students understand the key points, they could actually finish this old test from the fourth batch of students?"

One staff member asked.

Another quickly followed up.

"Then does that mean all four first-year classes could end up getting the top rewards in this month's special exam?"

Even if all classes get high scores and there's no difference between them, it still shows that they've started to get used to the school.

So maybe next month's special exam can be much tougher.

"Let's look forward to how they grow."

The chairman said.

...

Because they had copies of old tests, and the first subject — math — was exactly the same, no extra instructions were needed.

The students who had the test papers quietly went back to their dorms after the exam and started memorizing them on their own.

And so,

After two days and five subjects, the midterm exams slowly came to an end.

Once all the tests were over, the students stayed in their seats.

It was Wednesday.

Normally, there would be regular classes the next day.

But while Sakagami-sensei was collecting the papers, he said:

"All test papers have been turned in."

"First of all, congratulations on finishing the special exam for your second month at this school."

"Starting today, until the end of the month — the 29th — you'll be on self-study."

"You can come to school to study, or stay in the dorms for self-study."