After the chance encounter with Qian Hua, whose name meant Thousand Flowers, I suddenly received a ding notification from my phone. I immediately pulled it open to see a message from Feng Mian.

Long Lu wants the whole class to meet up right now, should we go?

After some hesitation and thought, I quickly typed a reply.

Sure. Send me the time and place.

*****

Several minutes later, I found myself sitting inside a large and luxurious private room within a restaurant. Around the massive table in the middle was exactly 25 seats, but only half of them had been filled.

"I don't care how you do it, just make them come!

" Long Lu shouted into his phone then furiously tapped on the screen to hung up.

"God… I can't with this useless class…

"

"Calm down,

" I said, unfazed.

"It doesn't matter if they don't cooperate with us today. Sooner or later, they'll come crawling to us.

"

"What? How can you be so sure?

"

"It's simple. I've already formed an alliance with Class A, and the other two classes aren't stupid either. Most likely, they've formed a partnership as well. Our classmates will have no choice but to follow our ideas if they want to stay in the school.

"

"I see… that makes sense, but how did you form an alliance with them…?

"

"We are to help them take 1st place in this first special exam, purposely letting them win all the matches.

"

At this, the girls and Long Lu both widened their eyes in shock.

"P-Purposely lose all of our matches? Won't that place us in last…?

"

I sighed.

"Don't you see yet? The year has just begun. At this time, 1st place is nothing but a bait, a position that will make the other classes target you. Why would we want that?

"

"But shouldn't we go for 2nd or 3rd then, if that's the case?

" Feng Mian asked, confused.

"No. The teams in 2nd and 3rd — in other words, Class B and C — will be allied. This makes it perfect for them to join hands once more and take down Class A together. The three classes will clash, causing them to develop hatred and resentment towards one another. The deeper their emotions conflict, the better for us — this way, we can just reap the benefits while they fight.

"

"But… we need to end up first sometime eventually, right?

" Yu An Yan murmured.

"I mean, if we don't, we'll just stay last all the way until the end of the school year…

"

"No,

" I replied.

"In the special exams to come, we should aim for third or even second, but never first. This way, we can steadily close the gap between us and the other classes, so that by the end of the year, the difference between us and the higher classes are minimal, despite us still being in last. That way… when the final exam rolls around… we can catch them all by surprise.

"

"There is no guarantee this strategy will work, though…

" Lin Luo sighed.

"Then again, with how irresponsible our classmates are being, this is the only method we can use, I suppose. Aiming for 1st in a special exam with how we are right now is nothing but a lost cause. We can only hope that by the end of the year, our class will mature up.

"

"They will,

" I declared.

"Us being in last place means less resources for us. Eventually, they will become fed up with jealousy and the condescending attitudes from those placed in higher classes, and want to fight back. There is no stronger motivation than revenge.

"

I know that all too well.

Of course, this wasn't the true reason I was suggesting this strategy. What Qian Hua said earlier was in fact a hint:

"You don't have to win everything.

"

The only explanation for this was that even if we don't get first place in many exams, there is still a chance to come back in the end. I doubted that's how she herself did it, being the Child of the Future and all, but her saying this definitely meant something.

As for how the exams really work… I can't be too sure as of right now, but I had a feeling the final exam of the year will provide bonus class points — enough to let the class in last turn the tables and become first. The only problem was the 300 point gap… but if my plan goes well and the four classes' points stay relatively close by the end of the year, I should be able to accomplish it.

"I… I don't really get it, but you seem to know what you're talking about, so…

" Long Lu trailed off. I placed a hand on his shoulder and shook it firmly.

"Can't have you with an attitude like that. You see, I'm not the best at rallying people together. You, however, are. So on the surface, you'll be the leader of our class, the one who planned all of this. I will just be a normal student, nothing more. So shake off that half-assed attitude… and be more confident in yourself. Otherwise, this won't work.

"

"… Yeah. I got it. I just have to play leader, right? You bet. My favorite job is telling other people what to do.

"

"Glad to hear it. Now then… are we going to eat, or what?

" I raised an eyebrow.

"We're here already. Might as well.

"

"Yay! Food!

" Qing Yue cheered, clearly tired of all the serious talk.

"Fwah...

" Amane, on the other hand, was already drooling from smelling the air coming from the outside. I had to admit, it did smell good.

We all ordered whatever we wanted after that and ate like kings and queens. The restaurant was truly high-class. Perhaps if Long Lu told everyone in the class he was going to be treating them to eat here… they would've came. Too bad, I suppose.

In any case, he did indeed pay for the meal. It couldn't have been cheap, but he waved it off like it was nothing. Poverty didn't exist in Fragment, after all. In this place, everyone was rich — to the point where it wasn't even considered rich anymore.

After lunch, the girls decided to explore the Recreation Campus a bit more, while I sent Ming Hao a message to meet up to inform him of what I want to do for this upcoming exam on Monday.

*****

- About Fifteen Minutes Later -

In the same place we had met up this morning, Ming Hao and I now stood once again, facing one another.

"Long time no see!

" He joked, a bright smile on his face.

"You responded quite… quickly,

" I replied, as nonchalant as ever.

"Yeah, well, it's not like I'm particularly busy today. The school year's just started — we should take advantage of this stress-free time while we can.

"

"I suppose that's fair.

"

"Did you get the list of profiles I sent you for everyone in my class?

" He asked.

I nodded.

"Sure, but I didn't bother reading them. They're not important anyway.

"

"Oh? Sounds like you have a good idea on what to do for this exam.

"

"Mhm. All you have to do is pair your weakest class members with twelve people from our class — we'll lost on purpose. But are the rest in your class all strong?

"

"Hm… in all honesty, there's only about ten people in my class I'm particularly worried about. The rest are all extremely strong, almost at my level. Oh, by the way, I'm a late-stage Advanced Mage now, heh.

"

I just smirked, unable to tell him I was in fact an Ancestral Mage already. Didn't want to ruin his moment there.

"Even better,

" I replied.

"You see, my class is somewhat… disoriented. I can control 12 of our members, but the rest I can't. Though from what I can see… they aren't all too strong.

"

"Ha! It's fine, it's fine. I did a bit of research into your class — most of your classmates I recognize, and I'm confident my classmates can beat them. The only troublesome ones are your harem and you, of course.

"

Harem… hah.

He then leaned in closer and whispered, despite there being no one else around.

"I see you got some new members in there since the last time I checked as well… nine girls? Seriously? How can you handle them at night?

"

I pushed him away and scoffed.

"Secret strategies I can't share.

"

"Come on, man! I want a harem too!

" He complained.

"This isn't fair…

"

"A lot of things in life aren't fair, buddy,

" I replied with a chuckle.

"But if it's a harem you want… actually, yeah, no, I don't have any advice. Actually, why are you even looking for a harem? That's just unloyal.

"

"HAH!

" He nearly doubled over from laughter.

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!

"

"W-Well, I didn't exactly go searching for one… anyway,

" I shook my head, bringing the conversation back on course as Ming Hao continued to giggle.

"Do you know how the teams are decided?

"

"I'm pretty sure it has something to do with class leaders, from what I've heard from upperclassmen… but you know, we haven't even chosen our leader yet. We did hold a discussion about it though, and everyone said they would choose me, which is good for our alliance.

"

"Did you tell them about this alliance already?

"

"Of course. And they agreed.

"

"Even to becoming first right at the beginning of the school year?

"

"Yep. My class, they're a confident bunch. Said you'd be doing us a favor, and they can take on Class B and C no problem.

"

I snorted.

"Well, glad to have such a… reliable ally, at least. I can probably become the class leader of my class as well — or rather, nominate someone else to be it. We'll talk again.

"

Ming Hao nodded and prepared to head out.

"See ya.

"

Just like that, our deal was formed, and the first special exam of the school year was right around the corner.