Part 4
The draw for the fifth event began.
'Mental Arithmetic' The number of participants needed is 2 people. Time limit is 30 minutes
Rules, answer calculations through Mental Arithmetic. Accuracy and speed will be assessed,
and the first person to answer it correctly will win.
The Commander has the opportunity to change 1 answer.
Events from Class A were chosen three times in a row.
This is a bad situation for us, but only for this special event. I think that at this moment,
Katsuragi was happy in the shadows. This is an event that Katsuragi had agreed to interfere in.
However, it was still too early to be relieved. If Katsuragi does not appear, this hope will end.
"This is also a Class A event. We will definitely win this match."
I followed the strategy planned by Horikita and chose 'Koenji Rokusuke' and 'Matsushita Chiaki'.
I appointed Matsushita to wear earphones. Even if Koenji took the item, he would not
necessarily use it.
This was the right decision for Horikita to assign Koenji to Mental Arithmetic. This kind of event
does not depend on the total score to win, but people from which class gets first place then
wins. Koenji can respond to our hopes and win first place, but if he doesn't play seriously,
Matsushita will be able to cover it. Matsushita can calculate quickly, and at first it was meant to
be placed on the Mathematics or Mental Arithmetic Exams. Therefore even if we enter
Matsushita in the Mathematics Test, we still could not have won - so we were lucky.
Students selected by Sakayanagi are: 'Katsuragi Kouhei' and 'Tamiya Emi'.
According to information from Katsuragi himself, Tamiya's ability was not very high.
As I see now, Katsuragi is wearing earphones.
"There are 10 questions. The more difficult the problem, the higher the score. In the case of
incorrect answers, additional questions will be given until one person answers incorrectly."
On the audition room screen displayed, the numbers will be projected in the next step.
Because the Commander can only answer one question, that means we can only answer the
question at the end of the game.
It appears that Koenji will begin to participate in Mental Arithmetic, but he keeps his arms
crossed.
"... this is against expectations."
Even after starting this special exam, his attitude did not change.
Heading 1 digit, 3 columns, 5 seconds is displayed. This is difficulty level 10.
6, 9, 1. The answer is 16.
The first question anyone seemed to be able to solve was over, and students wrote their
answers.
Matsushita answered correctly without any difficulty, but Koenji left the paper blank. Besides, he
didn't even look at the question, and of course he couldn't possibly answer.
It seems I can only hope that Katsuragi will make a mistake with the intention of helping us as
promised beforehand.
"Fufu, he really is a freak."
Even if he couldn't see the answer, Sakayanagi can see Koenji's reluctance to answer the
question.
"But your focus should be on Matsushita-san, so it doesn't matter even if he does this."
Through her comments, the game continues.
When it comes to the third and fourth questions, it has become 2 digits, and the number
reached 6 columns.
Matsushita had no trouble, and answered correctly again.
After more than half the questions came out in the Arithmetic Mental competition, difficulties
arose from the fifth question.
The fifth question is 3 digits, 6 columns, 5 seconds are displayed, and the sixth question is
more, namely 3 digits, 8 columns and 5 seconds are displayed.
Matsushita held his head and had difficulty calculating.
Then the answers he gave to the sixth question was correct, even though he had difficulty
continuing.
However, this was as far as he can go. The seventh question in the next question is 3 digits, 12
columns and 4.5 seconds are displayed. The eighth question is 3 digits, 15 columns and 3.5
seconds are displayed.
The ninth question even becomes 3 digits, 15 columns, 2.5 seconds are displayed.
"Hey, hey ~ It's way too hard to answer these ~!"
After seeing the questions for the participants, Hoshinomiya-sensei sighed.
"It seems the difficulty is a bit too high ..."
Sakagami-sensei also agreed with his comments and it seems like he doesn't know the answer.
Even though Matsushita can answer the question so far, he only answered correctly until the
sixth question. Unfortunately, for question 7, he answered it incorrectly. Koenji did not answer
the nine questions that had been given. Even if he answered the last question, he could not
have been able to reverse the situation.
Of course, I remembered all the answers to the nine questions. Likewise for Sakayanagi.
The Commander can change the answer to one question. If we can't answer the 10th question,
we can change the answer to question 9. If we can't answer the 9th question, we can change
the 8th question. Then direct the participants to answer the questions correctly.
It was possible that Katsuragi, who deliberately answered incorrectly, would have influenced the
majority of the results.
The 10th question, which is the last question, everyone starts counting.
A 3 digit heading, 15 columns, 1.6 seconds are displayed.
The digital number is displayed on the screen, then disappears. 15 times more numbers are
displayed on the screen.
Silence occurs briefly.
Whether it's Katsuragi, Matsushita, or Tamiya. They can't even pick up their pens, so all they do
is read the questions.
Sakayanagi as the Commander sent a signal for intervention. Of course, I also followed suit.
"Oh ... then the Commander is allowed to intervene in answering questions. The higher the
question answered, the higher the value."
The question I answered naturally was the 10th question that became the last question.
Matsushita obediently followed the instructions from the earphone and wrote the numbers on
the answer sheet.
After all, he himself did not know the answer. Of course, he would not doubt it.
"Fufufu, Mental Arithmetic is really a fun game. I played this game for the first time."
Koenji, who Sakayanagi didn't care about, didn't know when to open his eyes.
Koenji is seen smiling funny, looking at the camera, so the camera captures an image of him
competing on our screen.
"Which question did you teach him, Ayanokouji-kun? I chose the 10th question and answered
7619."
I told Matsushita that the answer was -
"Same. I also answered that."
It seems that Sakayanagi also calculated the answer to the last question.
"We are balanced in the Commander's intervention. This means, it will be a one-on-one battle
between Katsuragi-kun and Matsushita-san."
When the teacher collected everyone's answer sheets, a man who previously answered the ten
questions with a blank sheet, opens his mouth.
"The answer to the last question is 7619, correct?"
"This is really ... very shocking. Kouenji-kun, answered correctly."
After hearing the answer from Koenji, Sakayanagi praised him.
The teachers quickly began to check the answers of the four participants.
If Katsuragi answered questions 7 through 9, we will lose.
On the other hand, if the correct answer from Katsuragi does not exceed 6 questions, it is a
victory for us.
"According to the statistical results, the first place to answer 8 questions out of a total of 10
questions. The first place to get the highest score is Katsuragi Kohei-kun. This is a win for class
A."
I intended to win the fifth match, so we would be in an advantageous position. But it seemed like
Katsuragi was being too careful.
As soon as Sakagami-sensei announced the results, it was the end of the fifth match.
"Too bad Ayanokouji-kun."
"Looks like you haven't succeeded in letting Katsuragi bow."
"He really hates me. It's not wrong to mention this. But do you think I would ignore this kind of
thing?"
Even though I couldn't see Sakayanagi, I know she is smiling.
"I already told him. If he betrays me, I will force some of the students who worked hard for him
to drop out. He tries his best, because he doesn't want to increase the number of victims. He
wouldn't want that. "
The time Sakayanagi competed with him was longer than me.
He naturally knew the advantages and disadvantages of Katsuragi.
"I thought you could win, but you lost. It seems to hurt your spirit a little. Did you feel anxious
when you played the last match?"
"I have no idea."
"Even though Katsuragi-kun didn't side with Class C from the start. But if Kouenji-kun wanted to
play seriously, maybe this could of been a perfect victory for you. That means it's the equivalent
of a game that might be won?"
"That is just a possibility. People who cannot be controlled cannot become a fighting force."
This is the same reason if students who are not good in academic, physical, and special abilities
can be considered the same. Students who don't take things seriously are not considered
strengths. Even though the two may look different, they are similar. At least in special exams like
this.
Of course, we cannot make Koenji will take action. This is also our own problem.
Thus, we produced 2 wins and 3 losses. Class C is on the edge of a cliff.
"There are two events left in this special exam. Too bad."
'I really wanted to enjoy this moment more' - I could imagine Sakayanagi's voice saying that.
"So far, I feel like winning and losing in some matches is a trivial matter."
"If so, I hope you can give me a victory."
"Unfortunately, I can't do that. After all, this is a serious and decisive battle."
Sakagami-sensei continued the examination process and began drawing the sixth event.
If the chosen draw is one of Class A's events, we will definitely lose.