Midterm Exam Lesson

In the blink of an eye, the midterm exams were approaching. Lin Tong recalled how, during the last school assembly, Nagisa had been forced to release a powerful murderous aura to protect himself from bullying by students from the main campus. Chairman Gakuhou Asano had observed, "How can inferior students resist elite students?" Consequently, he had come to Class E, delivered a few provocative remarks, and then left.

Lin Tong chose not to comment on this.

"Although the chairman is annoying, it's undeniable that he implements his educational philosophy very thoroughly. That's how he earned the title of 'education fanatic,'" Ye said with a teasing tone.

Lin Tong shrugged. "For me, there's nothing noteworthy about this chairman. I have my own life, and he has his own ideas. But if I were to introduce him to the middle school principals over there, I bet they'd find a lot in common."

"Examination-oriented education?" Ye kept smiling.

"It's not just exam-oriented; it's also elite education," Lin Tong waved his hand dismissively. "So I said, introducing the chairman to those middle school principals might just make him a kindred spirit."

"But speaking of which," Ye suddenly changed the subject, "you don't seem like a poor student who would reasonably end up in Class E."

Lin Tong looked at Ye in surprise, as if he could see his expected reaction mirrored in Lin Tong's eyes. Ye chuckled and continued, "As a student from a prestigious school, your ability to handle exam-oriented education is unmatched. What's more, your grades were among the best in the school during your first and second years. If you say you're here because of your grades, I don't buy it. So I guess..."

At this point, Lin Tong noticed Ye's tone growing serious. "It's a setup."

Lin Tong adjusted his glasses and replied slowly, "Ye Jun, you actually guessed wrong."

"Huh?"

"The reason is simple: I follow my personal preferences. I don't believe Class E is what those hypocritical teachers and students claim it to be, so I deliberately didn't take the exam in the second year and ended up in Class E. You could say I'm used to doing whatever I want."

"But..." Ye glanced at the glum Koro-sensei and their classmates. "I feel like everyone's mindset has some issues."

Lin Tong raised an eyebrow. "Ye Jun, have you ever heard the saying, 'Anyone who doesn't have a second knife isn't qualified to be a real killer'?"

Upon hearing this, Ye's eyebrows slowly furrowed.

"But Koro-sensei will make them understand this," Lin Tong said, glancing at the students gathering outside. "What about you, Ye Jun? How do you expect to perform in this exam?"

Ye returned to his usual nonchalant smile. "Just like usual; the exam will be the same."

Lin Tong smiled sweetly. "It's all the same."

Meanwhile, Koro-sensei's lecture to the class had concluded, and the phrase "Anyone without a second knife isn't qualified to be a real killer" began to resonate with everyone in Class E.

"So, Ye, you need to lead the charge and get into the top 50 in the school this time," Lin Tong teased after hearing Koro-sensei's condition that he would remain with Class E.

Ye shot a sideways glance at Lin Tong, replying casually, "That's boring; why don't you join me?"

Lin Tong smiled mysteriously. "It depends on my mood."

Ye looked slightly stunned, then burst into laughter. "You guy."

Soon, after intensive training with Koro-sensei, the midterm exam arrived as scheduled. Everyone initially applied the skills learned from Koro-sensei to tackle the earlier questions easily. However, as they progressed, they were caught off guard by unexpected, difficult questions that suddenly appeared.

When the results came out, it became clear that Chairman Asano had temporarily added test points for the main school classes right before the exams, and even taken the tests himself. The questions were precisely those added last minute by the chairman.

"What's going on? I can clearly feel this exam lacks fairness."

"That's strange; I should have informed you. There must have been a miscommunication because you all didn't attend the main school building, hahaha."

"I don't recall any miscommunication. No matter how you think about it, this is unusual. They changed the scope of questions for all subjects drastically just two days before the exam."

"You really don't understand, Mr. Karasuma. We are a preparatory school for further studies, and we test whether students can keep up. One of our policies is to cram before the exam. For those classes in the main school building, the chairman personally teaches the revised sections in class."

In an instant, the first major exam for Class 3-E ended in failure.

"This is all my responsibility. I seem to have underestimated the rules of this school. I'm too embarrassed to face you all."

At that moment, a dagger flew across the back of the classroom. Koro-sensei dodged to the side, startled. A teasing voice cut through the air: "Is this okay, Koro-sensei? If you don't look us in the eye, I might just kill you, and you won't see it coming!"

Seeing Ye striding toward the podium with a stack of papers in hand, Koro-sensei's face flushed a deep red. "Ye! I'm feeling quite down right now... Huh? What is this?"

Ye casually tossed the stack of papers onto the table, the clear high scores glaringly evident.

"I don't mind changing the subject," he said with a smirk.

The classmates gathered around, exclaiming in amazement at Ye's test paper.

"Thanks to the knowledge you taught me that goes beyond the exam's scope, I managed to answer everything, even with the changes to the questions. However, I have no plans to leave this class. Assassination is far more interesting than going back to my previous class. So, what's your excuse? Are you going to say that not everyone made it into the top 50? Because the truth is, two of us did, including me. Do you want to run away from here like that? It sounds more like you're afraid of being assassinated!"

The classmates all shared knowing smiles. Kataoka signaled to Maehara, who eagerly chimed in, "What? So Koro-sensei is actually scared?"

The laughter erupted around the room, with classmates echoing, "In that case, why not just tell the truth?" and "Right! Just admit you wanted to run away because you were scared!"

The provocation had clearly gotten to Koro-sensei, who seemed flustered. "Ah! I'm not trying to run away!" he protested, flailing his tentacles in the air, his face a shade of crimson.

"So, what are you going to do next?" Ye asked, a chuckle bubbling beneath the surface.

Koro-sensei grinned, his signature chuckle escaping. "In the final exam, we'll get them back double! We will avenge our defeat and wash away our shame!"

The classroom erupted into laughter. "Hey! You shouldn't be laughing at a time like this!"

Seeing Class 3-E regain their confidence, Karasuma and Irina outside the classroom breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Tong, sitting at the back, smiled as he watched Koro-sensei and the students share in their joy.

By the way, you mentioned two people made it into the top 50. Who else was it besides you?" Nagisa suddenly recalled Ye's earlier words.

Ye glanced at Nagisa. "That person is sitting in the back."

Everyone turned to look, spotting Lin Tong engrossed in a thick philosophy book titled Principles of Marxism, completely absorbed in his reading.

A wave of exasperation washed over the classmates, their foreheads adorned with sweat drops as they thought, "Looks like something strange has sneaked in."

Anyway, the midterm exam was behind them.

"Huh? After the midterm, we have a school trip for a few days?" Octopus announced, reading from a school notice.

"In that case, everyone, split into groups and choose your team members! Remember to stick together during the trip and enjoy yourselves! Hehehe!"

Excitement buzzed through the room as they eagerly began searching for teammates and planning their itinerary.

"Ye, Lin, let's team up!" Nagisa, Okuda Aimi, Chino Kaede, and Shanno Tomoto exclaimed, looking over a map of Kyoto. When they saw Lin Tong and Ye chatting, they extended a friendly invitation.

Ye turned and readily agreed, "Sure!" Lin Tong nodded in affirmation, "No problem!"

"But, Ye, will you cause a commotion when we get there?" Shanno asked anxiously.

Ye narrowed his eyes with a mischievous grin. "Don't worry. If a fight breaks out, I'll just seal the mouths of any witnesses. It won't get out of hand." He wore a devilish smile, reminiscent of an octopus.

"Hey... Is it okay to bring Ye along?"

"Relax, we know each other well enough..."

"Alright then." Ye leaned in, looking at the paper in Nagisa's hand. "Let me see who else is in this group."

"Nagisa, Sugino, Hayashi, me, Kayano, Okuda, Kanzaki Yukiko..."

Lin Tong put down the Mao Zedong Thought book in his hand, his voice sticky with enthusiasm, "Looks like we're in for a good school trip!"

Just then, Koro-sensei opened the classroom door, arms full of thick books. "School trip guides, one for each of you, hehehe."

In a flash, everyone received their guidebooks. "Hey! This is too heavy! It's almost as heavy as a dictionary!"

Lin Tong eyed the thick guidebook, his eyes twitching slightly. "Well, let's start planning our group's itinerary first!"