After the girls and I were all ready, we set off for school. We weren't exactly late, but we were nowhere near early either.

On the way, Feng Mian and I kept our distance, refraining from participating in the other girls' conversations. This was normal for me, but Feng Mian was different. The other girls noticed her unusual quietness, but chose not to bring it up.

Once we got into class, we settled down in our respective seats. We arrived just in time before Ms. Cai began her lesson.

"Good morning, class…

"

"Good morning, Ms. Cai…

"

"So today, I have a few announcements…

" she said, glancing down at a sheet of paper in her hands and rubbing her eyes.

"Firstly… congratulations on placing 4th in the first special exam of the year.

"

She said this with her usual monotone voice, making it sound extremely sarcastic. She probably intended this, in all honesty. 4th was last, after all.

"W-We know already,

" a boy sitting near the front muttered in annoyance.

"You don't have to rub it in our faces like that.

"

I recognized him to be Da Bao's friend, the same annoying one who seemed to always have a head-strong attitude and never recognized his own mistakes.

"But if I don't rub it in your faces… I'm afraid you won't ever improve,

" Ms. Cai chuckled condescendingly, sweeping her gaze over the class as if we were a bunch of vermin.

"Me? I don't need to improve,

" the boy said, scoffing arrogantly.

"If our class rep had chosen the teams better, we would've easily won. I dunno how that dumbass ended up as class rep, but if you ask me, I'm much better. I could've led us to victory.

"

Qing Yue nearly choked on her own laughter as she heard this, hiding her face behind her hands.

"… You lost against your opponent too, did you not?

" Long Lu spoke up, raising an eyebrow angrily.

"If you are so good, how come you still lost?

"Hmph. It's called hiding my strength,

" he snorted, folding his arms and looking away.

"Since I knew this was lost anyway, I chose not to reveal my real power and remain in the shadows. Otherwise, this class's only trump card — me — will also be exposed, and we'll have no chance of winning at all. I want to carry y'all, but we have this dimwit as class rep instead of me, so…

"

"This guy…!

" Long Lu grit his teeth and looked like he was ready to explode, but then he noticed me looking at him. I faintly shook my head, and he relaxed, averting his gaze.

"Now, now… you still have a chance to redeem yourselves,

" Ms. Cai interrupted, catching all of our attention.

"The exam yesterday was but a diagnosis… an introductory placement of the four classes. But in order to make you all try your hardest, none of the teachers told you this. The real first special exam of the school year… starts tomorrow.

"

"W-What?!

" the class erupted in shock, but I kept a neutral expression, having already heard this news from Qian Hua.

"Xuan Kai… you don't seem surprised at all,

" Yu An Yan blinked in wonder.

"Did you… already predict this?

"

"Predict? No,

" I snickered.

"I was pretty shocked when I first heard it too.

"

"When you first heard it…

" Lin Luo narrowed her eyes.

"Someone told you this information beforehand already, then?

"

"Perhaps.

"

"Calm down, class…

" Ms. Cai sighed in exasperation.

"Here at this school, you're going to have to get used to being alerted to things on extremely short notice… it's part of your adaptability and reflexive skills. Now then, regarding the actual exam…

"

"Wait,

" Long Lu interrupted, a smirk creeping up his face.

"Since our friend here thinks I am unfit for class rep… how about he take the lead for this exam?

"

He turned to the arrogant boy from earlier, who blinked in shock.

"E-Eh? Uh…

"

"Come on. Where did all your confidence from earlier go?

"

"T-Tch… fine. I'll lead us to first place, just watch.

"

Long Lu smiled.

"I will.

"

… Well, I suppose this works too. I can tell that guy is actually pretty strong, but he's the type to not bow down until someone forces him to. If I can crush him through this experience… I'll have the opportunity to rebuild him once more, my way. Without a doubt, he will come in useful as an obedient pawn.

"Alright, class… tomorrow morning, meet at the front gates of the Main Entrance at exactly 8 AM,

" Ms. Cai said quietly.

"If you're late, you're automatically disqualified from the exam, and this class will be at a disadvantage. That's all. Remember, never let your guard down in this school. There's no telling when you might suddenly alerted of a new special exam. Speaking of… we're having a pop quiz today. Pencils and papers, out!

"

"WHAT?!

"

*****

Disadvantage, huh?

As we walked back to the dorms after school that evening, I couldn't help but recall Ms. Cai's casual words from earlier today. She had said that if someone were to get disqualified, it would place their class at a disadvantage.

On the surface, this seems obvious — of course, having one person down compared to other classes won't be good manpower and brute force wise. But for some reason… I couldn't shake the feeling that Ms. Cai's words meant something more. Perhaps… the judging of this special exam happening tomorrow was based on the number of people we had remaining by the end of it or something like that.

But to meet at the front gates… just what were we doing?

I doubted it was going to be another individual competition like the obstacle courses. Rather than a series of 1v1s, I had a feeling this next one would be more about collaborating and truly working together as a team. But with that arrogant guy as our leader this time around — his name was Han Xiao Bing, by the way — I didn't know how well that was going to go.

Still, as long as we managed to gain some points this time, it was fine. We were still early in the year, after all. If my guess was correct and the points we earned from each exam were increased for every exam that passes, even coming in last again was no big deal, as long as we got some points at the very least.

While I was deep in my thoughts, before I knew it, we were back in our dorms. All the girls went to take showers, but one stayed behind.

"… Big Brother Xuan Kai,

" she said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Uh… yeah?

"

"What happened last night~?

"

I froze.

"… What?

"

"Hehe~ don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. I heard the noises, y'know. Or should I call them… moans?

"

I quickly covered her mouth and glanced around to see if any of the other girls came back for whatever reason. Luckily, the coast was clear, and I removed my hand from her mouth once more.

"… If you heard everything, why bother asking?

"

"I want to know… why? How long have you two been doing this behind the rest of our backs?

"

"That was the first time,

" I replied truthfully.

"And it was because of her… succubus side. According to Mei Gui, it's something like the Curse of Chaos. Her succubus side only gets stimulated around me, and she can only have sex with me. I couldn't just leave her in that state for school today, so I had no choice but to do that with her.

"

"Oh…? You sounded like you were having quite a bit of fun, though~

"

"W-Well, yeah. She's gorgeous, and her body's amazing,

" I answered with a chuckle.

"There's no way I can't feel good from doing it with her.

"

"Hm~

" Qing Yue giggled and suddenly twisted her body around on the couch to straddle me, looking at me lustfully.

"… What are you trying to do?

"

She smiled seductively and leaned in close to my ear.

"I can make you feel even better~

"

It was tempting, but…

I placed my hands around her thin waist and lifted her off me.

"… Not now, Qing Yue.

"

"… Eh?

" Her voice was surprised and held a hint of sadness in it, but I couldn't afford to be doing this right now.

"There's a special exam happening tomorrow. If I start doing that with you right now… I probably won't be able to get a good night's sleep.

"

"Oh~? You can last that long?

"

"You heard us last night, didn't you?

" I scoffed.

"The question is… can you?

"

Qing Yue smiled and planted a kiss on my cheek.

"You'll find the answer to that once this exam is over~

"

She left, having came to an agreement with me, and I sighed.

Since we were all 18 now, doing things like this wasn't out of the ordinary, but…

… You know what? Screw it. I have all these beauties around me, and they are all in love with me as well. Why don't I just admit the truth and make them truly mine?

I think… that way, it'll be better for our… ahem, combat efficiency too.