-20- The same as the entrance exam?

"What's going on?"

"Suddenly so serious..."

The students in the classroom quieted down with puzzled expressions.

The bustling scene in the classroom suddenly dissipated.

Hori and Horikita Suzune also raised their heads and looked towards the platform.

Even Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who was leaning on the desk, seemed to perk up and directed his gaze forward.

Faced with this situation, Chabashira Sae nodded.

"Because the end of the month is approaching, there's a small test you need to complete."

Chabashira Sae picked up the stack of papers in her hand.

It seemed that the stack of papers was indeed the test paper.

This caused complaints from all the students in the class.

"Ugh, we have to take a test?"

"But weren't things always so relaxed before?"

"I thought in this school, there wouldn't be any malicious exams."

"Yeah..."

The students in the class all made overtly negative reactions.

Naturally, students who liked exams should be nonexistent, right?

However, in the face of complaints from the entire class, Chabashira Sae remained unmoved.

"This test will only serve as a reference for the future, it won't reflect on your transcripts, and there won't be any risk, so you can relax and take it with ease. Of course, cheating is strictly prohibited."

With this statement, Chabashira Sae instructed the students in the front row to pass the papers back.

Although the students in the class were still complaining, after hearing that the grades from this test wouldn't affect them, they relaxed one by one and passed the papers back until they reached the last row.

Hori also received the test paper and looked it over.

The paper listed five main subjects including Chinese, mathematics, English, etc., each with several questions. In terms of the scale of the exam, it was quite concise and straightforward.

Hori roughly glanced over the exam questions and confirmed that each subject had four questions, totaling twenty questions for all five main subjects, each question worth 5 points, with a maximum score of 100 points.

However...

"The difficulty level of these questions seems too irregular," was Hori's first impression.

Indeed, the difficulty level of the questions on the test paper varied greatly.

The earlier questions were almost disappointingly easy, even two levels lower than the entrance exam, so simple that even middle school students could answer them all correctly.

But, towards the end of the paper, there were several questions with a difficulty level vastly different from the earlier ones.

If the earlier questions were ones that middle school students could answer correctly, then the later questions were at a level where one would doubt if even third-year high school students could solve them.

"Did they accidentally make some mistakes in the questions? That shouldn't be possible, right?" came a murmured voice from Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's direction.

On the other hand, Horikita Suzune had already picked up her pen and started answering the questions without hesitation.

Looking at the indifferent girl, it seemed that she could solve even the last few difficult questions and achieve a near-perfect score?

Hori rotated his pen in his hand and glanced at Chabashira Sae.

Upon seeing this, Hori felt somewhat stunned.

Because, Chabashira Sae happened to be looking at him too.

"Hmph..."

Chabashira Sae seemed to be observing something, her lips curled, and then she began invigilating.

Hori narrowed his eyes slightly and then turned to look at Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

However, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had already started answering the questions, too.

Seeing his indifferent demeanor, it seemed that he would stop at a score of around 50, just like during the entrance exam?

In that case...

"I'll just do it like I did during the entrance exam."

Hori put away his pen.

And this process was also seen by Chabashira Sae.

...

As time passed, the progress of the exam gradually fell behind.

When the bell for the end of class rang, Chabashira Sae announced the end of the exam.

"Okay, pass the papers forward."

With this command, starting from the back row, Hori and his group began passing the papers forward, one by one, until they reached Chabashira Sae's hands.

Chabashira Sae picked up the test papers and left the classroom without looking back.

Up to this moment, the students in the class seemed to be liberated again, and each of them became lively once more.

"Did you see the questions just now? The last few questions were super hard!"

"Yeah, they were!"

"I even suspect if the teacher made mistakes in the questions."

"Really? I thought even the earlier questions were tough!"

"Seriously? Are you an elementary school student?"

The classmates in the class joked and discussed like this.

Of course, before long, everyone threw the matter of the exam out of their minds and started discussing where to go again.

"Shall we go to karaoke today?"

"Singing again?"

"My throat is a bit hoarse already."

"And our points are almost depleted."

"Then let's find somewhere to go that doesn't spend too many points."

Whether male or female, everyone was discussing similar topics.

It seems that approaching the end of the month and the depletion of points have made the actions of the students somewhat restricted.

"Ah, come on, just let next month come already!"

"I want to continue enjoying life!"

A few unpopular and foolish boys from Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's group shouted like this.

Although this was basically the voice of the students in the class, shouting out so recklessly made people want to keep their distance.

"They're indeed in the same level as you."

Horikita Suzune coldly uttered these words to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who was sitting beside her.

"...As merciless as ever, even though we're not familiar at all," Ayanokouji Kiyotaka sighed with half-closed eyes.

At this moment, Horikita Suzune shifted her focus again.

"I just glanced at it." Horikita Suzune fixed her gaze on Hori and said bluntly, "You turned in a blank paper, didn't you?"

"Yes," Hori replied without looking at Horikita Suzune, "Is there a problem?"

"I'm just not sure what's the point of doing that," Horikita Suzune said aggressively, "Setting aside the difficulty of the questions later, I don't think you couldn't even answer the earlier questions, so why turn in a blank paper?"

"Anyway, it won't reflect on our transcripts, right?" Hori smiled indifferently, "So why waste energy?"

Upon hearing this, Horikita Suzune didn't say anything more, just stared straight at Hori.

"Say, could the person the Student Council President mentioned who turned in a blank paper during the entrance exam be..."

Before Horikita Suzune could finish her sentence, she was interrupted.

"What are you guys talking about? Let me join in!" Kushida Kikyou approached with perfect timing, her face carrying an opposite demeanor of cheerfulness and sweetness compared to Horikita Suzune.

Horikita Suzune immediately closed her mouth and didn't continue. Instead, she picked up her bag.

"Oh, Horikita-san," Kushida Kikyou said quickly upon seeing the situation, "We're going to Keyaki Mall later, do you want to..."

This invitation was not completed at all.

"No need."

Horikita Suzune cut off the conversation with one sentence, then left without waiting for Kushida Kikyou's response.