I look at the paper that Mashima-sensei handed me. What is written there is a list of members of the group I will belong to in the special exam...
A Class - Yusuke Ishida, Ryoma Sakaguchi, Yahiko Totsuka, Masayoshi Hashimoto
B Class - Takuya Kagawa, Chihiro Shiranami, Susumu Tsuzuki, Teppei Yamaguchi
C Class - Ryoko Kuroe, Haruki Suzumiya, Albert Yamada
D Class - Satsuki Shinohara, Hachiman Hikigaya, Akito Miyake
(How did you decide this?)
I know some members.
In class A, there is Hashimoto, who I have a close relationship with, and Totsuka, who I lost my temper to when Hiyori was insulted.
Shiranami from Class B was a lesbian who became hostile to me whenever I talked to Ichinose.
So, C-class Albert Yamada is a foreigner under Ryuen. He is probably one of the top first-year players in terms of physical specs.
"The main premise of this exam is to ignore class relationships for once. I'm telling you that doing so is a shortcut to passing the exam."
That's a strange thing to say.
The test results will have a huge impact on the class struggle, and the definition of victory has not even been determined before that.
"From now on, you will not be acting as D-Class members, but as Snake Group, but there are only four possible results for each group in the special exam. There are no exceptions, and you will always fall into one of them. This is one of those exams.
"Look at this."
While saying this, Mashima-sensei hands me a printout so I look through it.
─ Explanation of special exam by summer group─In this exam, the tasks will be based on the "preferred person'' assigned to each group.
By submitting your answers to the school in the prescribed manner, you are guaranteed to receive one of four results.
The basic rules are as follows.
・On the day the exam begins, the school will send an email to all students in the first grade at 8 a.m. Those selected as "preferred recipients'' will be notified at the same time.
・The exam date is 4 days from tomorrow until 9:00 pm. Please note that there is one completely free day in between.
・Twice a day, the group gathers alone at a designated time and room and has a one-hour discussion.
・Each group is free to decide how to spend the hour. - Test answers will be given for 30 minutes from 9:30pm to 10:00pm after the test.
Please note that each person can only answer once. If you do it more than once, the school will not accept it.
・Answers will only be accepted by sending them to the designated email address using your own mobile device.
・"Preferential recipients" do not have the right to send answers by email. - Answers to groups other than those to which you belong will be invalid.
・All students will be notified of the test results by email at 11:00 pm on the last day.
The general rules are as follows. Furthermore, the rules are detailed and include prohibitions.
If I don't do well, this will probably be more troublesome than the desert island special exam.
As for the results...
─Test Results─
・Result 1 If all the answers in the group except for the recipient and the classmates to whom the recipient belongs are correct, private points will be awarded to all members of the group.
・Result 2: If there is an unanswered or incorrect answer among all answers except for the recipient and their classmates, the recipient will receive 500,000 private points.
This is another test result that seems to have some quirks.
"What is important in this test is the presence of one person in the group who has a preferential treatment.For example, let's say that Hikigaya is a preferential person. In that case, the answer for this group will be Hikigaya. If everyone answers Hikigaya, the group will pass, and the result will be 1, and everyone will receive 500,000 private points without exception.
Hikigaya, who is a preferential recipient, will receive an additional 500,000 private points.
On the other hand, even if only one person answers incorrectly, they will receive 500,000 private points. In that case, the result would be 2, and only Hikigaya would be able to earn 500,000 private points.
"Eh? That is too cheating!" Shinohara exclaims.
Well, if you just listen to what I just said, the preferential recipient will get at least 50 private points.
However, there are basically no good stories in the world. This school in particular is famous in the world for its high advancement and employment rates, but it wasn't until I enrolled that I learned that you can receive the benefits of that after moving up to the A class.
Then...
"Teacher, what about the remaining two results?"
Mashima-sensei said earlier that there would be 4 results, so the remaining 2 will probably have disadvantageous conditions for preferential treatment.
Otherwise, it lacks fairness.
"Did you understand the two results I explained? If you don't understand this, you can't proceed to the next step."
"It's fine"
"I'm fine too."
"Ah, it's probably okay."
Shinohara is half-hearted, but doesn't she understand at this stage?
While I was stunned, Mashima-sensei let out a sigh and asked me to turn over the printout.
He must have decided that there's no need to waste more time on an idiot like Shinohara.
She is responsible for herself.
When I turned over the print with that thought in mind...
Answers will only be accepted for the following two results 24 hours a day during the exam.
Answers will also be accepted for 30 minutes after the end of the exam, but if you make a mistake during either time, you will be penalized.
・Result 3: If someone other than the recipient of the award gave the correct answer to the school without waiting for the end of the exam. The class of the student who answered will receive 50 class points, and those who answered correctly will receive 500,000 private points.
In addition, classes that are found to be receiving preferential treatment will be penalized with a 50 class point deduction. At this point, the group test ends.
If the same classmate as the recipient gave the correct answer, the answer will be invalidated and the test will continue.
・Result 4: If someone other than the recipient of the award gave the answer to the school without waiting for the exam to end and the answer was incorrect. The class to which the student who answered incorrectly belongs will be penalized by losing 50 class points, the honoree will gain 500,000 private points, and at the same time, the class to which the honoree belongs will gain 50 class points.
The group test ends when the answer is incorrect. Please note that if a classmate of the recipient gives an incorrect answer, the answer will be invalidated and will not be accepted.
That's what it felt like. In short, everyone can work together to take on the exam, or they can betray and monopolize the private points.
However, if you think about it normally, you won't be able to betray him easily.
After all, if you make a mistake, your class points will be deducted.
but...
"Mashima-sensei. In the case of result 4, if I rush too far and make a mistake, my class points will be reduced by 50, right?"
"That's it"
"Then let me ask you, will my private points be reduced in that case?"
"No, your private points will not decrease."
"Wait a minute, Hikigaya. You're the one asking such a question..."
Miyake looks horrified. It seems like this guy understands.
"Ah. I'm thinking of betraying you. I originally planned to go to A class as an individual, so even if my class points decrease, it won't be a big deal."
Even if your class points decrease by 50, it won't hurt you that much if you're aiming for A class like me.
"Huh? Why are you saying something so selfish? There's no way I'll allow something like that to happen!"
Shinohara says so...
"Don't say it like that. There's no reason to be told that by a scumbag who lives on a deserted island and buys floor mats, pillows, and cordless fans without telling the boys."
"Oh!"
It's okay if Miyake calls me selfish. But at least I don't want someone who is selfish to call me selfish.
"Hey, are you serious? Is that true?!"
At this, Miyake looked at Shinohara with a mixture of shock and anger in his eyes.
Shinohara, on the other hand, becomes impatient.
"So what, do you have any proof?!"
"There is. I've recorded the testimonies from the girls in my class."
There are informants. They are timid girls like the Mii-chan and Inokashira.
In fact, on the night after the exam, the timid girls told me that the arrogant girls had spent their points without telling the boys.
So I made sure to record that testimony. So that it can be destroyed if it becomes too obtrusive.
"I understand that I'm being selfish, but there's no reason for a selfish person to complain about my policies."
After saying that and kicking Shinohara away, Miyake comes to talk to me.
"I understand what you're trying to say. Betrayal is a personal choice, so I won't say anything about it, but please stop betraying me based on guesswork."
"Of course. I'm just thinking about betraying someone before they betray me because there's probably someone who will betray me, and I have no intention of betraying them if I don't know who's given preferential treatment."
I don't intend to take on the challenge based on guesswork. If you're going to betray him, make it clear who the preferential giver is.
"For now, let's leave the speechless scumbag alone and get back to the topic. Mashima-sensei, regarding this exam, are you going to keep the information about the recipients of preferential treatment and those who answered the exam a secret?"
"Ah, this is a very difficult issue to deal with. Since there is a risk of bullying, it is a natural course of action."
Well, I guess so. If the person who received the preferential treatment was found out after the exam was over, there would be people who would go out of their way to take advantage of the person who gave them the preferential treatment.
At least I understood the gist of it, in short
・Share who the preferential recipient is with the whole group and clear it, everyone wins.
・Someone gets the last answer wrong and the winner wins.
・The traitor finds out the preferential person, and the traitor and the class to which he belongs win.
・The traitor makes a mistake in judgment, and the favored person and the class to which he belongs win.
That's what it feels like.
To clear the game, you will need various elements such as sharing information with allies, making judgments about the reactions of other classes, and forming alliances with other classes.
It is also important to follow the prohibitions. The printout states that students who steal someone else's cell phone, obtain information on preferential treatment recipients through intimidation, or use a cell phone without permission to send answers to the school will be expelled from the school.
Furthermore, it seems that after the final exam, the class will be immediately dismissed and students from other classes will be prohibited from discussing with each other for a certain period of time.
"Starting tomorrow, you will be asked to go to your designated room at 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. During the exam, a plate with your group's name printed on it will be pasted on the door. And on the first day, you will meet for the first time. So, be sure to have them introduce themselves. Once that's done, you can do whatever you like with the rest. However, please be careful as you are generally not allowed to leave during the exam time."
In other words, the actions and content of the story are left up to the students.
That's pretty much the end of the story. If that happens, I have something to worry about.
"Mashima-sensei. I have two questions. Is that okay?"
"That's fine. However, depending on the content of the question, I may not be able to answer it."
"I understand that. First question, are the honorees chosen at random? Or are they chosen by the school?"
"It's the latter. The school strictly controls who receives preferential treatment within the group in order to ensure fairness. Also, I forgot to mention that we do not copy, delete, forward, or modify any emails sent from the school. It is prohibited, so please be aware of it."
In short, don't misuse emails from school, and on the other hand, the content of the email is absolute.
In any case, it would have been nice if the selection of the preferential recipients wasn't random.
"Then, my second question is about betrayal. Will you be able to betray from 8:00 a.m. when the preferred recipients are announced? Or from 2:00 p.m. after the first round of discussions?"
"What?!"
I looked over at Miyake's shocked expression and looked at Mashima-sensei, who nodded with surprise and curiosity in his eyes.
"It's the former. Regarding betrayal, we will start accepting applications after the preferential recipient is announced."
It's bingo.
If you can do that, there's no problem in skipping this shitty exam.
"Thank you. That's all for questions."
"I see. With the above in mind, the exam explanation is complete. Furthermore, you still have about 5 minutes to use the room, so you can leave anything you want to memorize, such as the list of members or the rules."
Mashima-sensei said so, but I already knew the members and the rules, and I had heard everything I wanted to ask, so I left the room.
Well, I have time until tomorrow, so I need to find it in the meantime.
That's called the law of preferential treatment.
__________________
"It feels like...this is a list of rules and members. The rules are only roughly written down."
After receiving the explanation about the exam, Hashimoto and I eat at a table in a restaurant and show the rules and member list that we wrote ourselves to Masumi and Hiyori, who are sitting at the same table.
I can see groups at other tables that are probably already sharing information about the exam, but I think we're the only ones who are ignoring the class and sharing information.
"...In Class A, everyone except Hashimoto is a former student of the Katsuragi faction."
Masumi muttered as he looked at the list. The Katsuragi faction was wiped out after I explained why I saw through its leader, so I guess it paid off.
"Well, I don't understand anything from this, so I guess all I can do now is look forward to the discussion starting tomorrow."
Hashimoto says so, but I think there are already rules for how preferential recipients are selected.
The reason is related to the question I asked Mashima-sensei earlier.
The school strictly controls who receives preferential treatment within the group in order to ensure fairness, and says that betrayal is possible even before the first discussion.
Maintaining fairness means that A-class is not favored, but it also likely means that any person can see through who is receiving preferential treatment.
In addition, it is strange that we can betray even before the first discussion.
Normally, it would be after we have had a discussion.
From that, it can be inferred that there are rules for who will receive preferential treatment, and if you can see through them, there is a possibility that you will be able to guess who will receive preferential treatment before you even have a discussion.
Well, this is just my speculation, so I can't say anything about it.
For now, I would like to think about some laws today, and then discuss them tomorrow and compare them to see if they match the laws.
"It's almost time for me to go."
By the way, Masumi started at 6:40. It's 6:25 now and she should probably go soon.
"See you"
When I greet Masumi, Masumi gives a small nod and then leaves. As she eats the beef stew while looking at Masumi, Hiyori opens her mouth.
"By the way, are Hachiman-kun and Hashimoto-kun planning to betray the group?"
"If I think this guy is definitely a preferential treatment, then I will betray him."
"I agree with Hikigaya. If he's the favourite person, I will betray him too!"
As expected, Hashimoto also seems to be fully willing to betray me. Well, I expected it.
"By the way, what about Hiyori?"
"Personally, I'm not interested in the exam, but I think I'll take action if Ryuen-kun gives me instructions."
After all, Ryuen is definitely the C class. Ryūen ended up with 0 points on the deserted island, but due to his contract with Katsuragi, he can now receive nearly 600,000 private points from Class A every month.
It's admirable that he took out insurance in case he failed the exam.
In other words, there is a high possibility that Ryuen will accumulate 20 million points and obtain the right to move up to A class by the end of his third year.
(I would like him to go up as an individual)
If Ryuen were to advance to A-class as an individual, he would definitely compete with Arisu for leadership.
However, unlike Katsuragi, Ryuen is not stupid, so I don't think it would be possible for Arisu to crush Ryuen during the exam.
And it's probably the same for Ryuen, instead of cooperating, they will try to crush each other and won't be able concentrate on the other classes.
In fact, if I do that, I'll be more certain to cooperate when I get to A class.
(Well, I guess Ryuen isn't that type.)
Is there any point in talking about him? Let's do the exam now.
"I see. But depending on the situation, would you be willing to cooperate?"
"Of course. I also want to get a lot of points."
"That's surprising, Shiina-chan would say something like that. Do you want some kind of luxury item?"
Hashimoto is listening with interest, but I feel the same way. Hiyori basically doesn't buy anything other than books, and when it comes to books, she has decided to only buy up to 15,000 private points a month.
Therefore, I don't understand why anyone would want 500,000 points.
"Yes. I would like to use the money to enlarge Hachiman's room. With the three of us, we don't have much room."
I-Is that what you came for?
Well, it's true that there are times when I think it's a little cramped with three people.
"I see. I guess it can't be helped then."
"Hashimoto, stop grinning. I'll make you a mohawk."
"It's scary. Your eyes are serious."
No wonder. He likes to make fun of me, but I hate being made fun of...
Well, being teased by Arisu is surprisingly not bad.
Even as I thought about this, I continued eating.
_____________
After several hours...
"Hmm...I don't understand at all. Isn't there a rule after all?"
The day has already changed, and I'm thinking about the law of preferential treatment in my assigned room, but I can't think of anything at all.
Sighing, I looked at the list of members of the Snake group that I had written down, the list of members of the horse group that Hiyori belonged to, and the list of members of the boar group that Masumi belonged to.
Snake Group A Class - Yusuke Ishida, Ryoma Sakaguchi, Yahiko Totsuka, Masayoshi Hashimoto
B Class - Takuya Kagawa, Chihiro Shiranami, Susumu Tsuzuki, Teppei Yamaguchi
C Class - Ryoko Kuroe, Haruki Suzumiya, Albert Yamada
D Class - Satsuki Shinohara, Hachiman Hikigaya, Akito Miyake
Horse group
A class Mitsuteru Ishiyama, Hayabusa Kito, Shigeru Toba, Chikako Mototoi
B Class Shinji Eguchi, Koji Tanaka, Yoshiharu Nasu
C Class Misae Ui, Hiyori Shiina, Soya Yoshida
D Class Inokashira Kokoro, Kayano Onodera, Susumu Makita, Tokiya Watanabe
Pig group
Class A - Masumi Kamuro, Naoki Shimizu, Tokiya Watanabe
Class B: Sanae Kiyama, Makoto Sumida, Chie Heiwajima, Haruto Yonezu
C Class - Daichi Ishizaki, Takumi Oda, Kazuya Higuchi, Shinji Fuyushima
D Class - Maya Sato, Ruri Suga, Kasumi Toyama
This is something that most people don't know about. In other words, it would be impossible to find out who is giving preferential treatment just by cooperating with strangers for a few days.
I don't know much about the members of the horse group and the boar group.
For someone like me, who has a communication disorder, to team up with someone I don't have a relationship with...huh? Wait.
When I think about that, I remember Mashima sensei's words.
---The main premise of this exam is to ignore class relationships for once.
I'm telling you that doing so is a shortcut to passing the exam.
When this phrase was explained to me, I thought I should just ignore the conflict between the classes and cooperate, but when I think about it again, it's quite confusing.
Normally, my advice would be, "To pass the exam, the whole group should work together.''
Despite this, giving such advice...
(This means that Mr. Mashima's phrasing is unique, or that it is correct to simply ignore the relationships between classes.)
For now, I'll try taking the class with the Snake group.
In that case...
Snake Group - Yusuke Ishida, Ryoma Sakaguchi, Yahiko Totsuka, Masayoshi Hashimoto, Takuya Kagawa, Chihiro Shiranami, Susumu Tsuzuki, Teppei Yamaguchi, Ryoko Kuroe, Haruki Suzumiya, Albert Yamada, Satsuki Shinohara, Hachiman Hikigaya, Akito Miyake.
This is what happens. Until recently, I was able to tell them apart because the classes were written, but if you remove the classes, you won't be able to tell how they were divided at all.
This doesn't make any sense at all, but if I were to organize them, I'd probably sort them by name.
If that happens...
① Yusuke Ishida ② Takuya Kagawa ③ Ryoko Kuroe ④ Ryoma Sakaguchi ⑤ Satsuki Shinohara ⑥ Chihiro Shiranami ⑦ Haruki Suzumiya ⑧ Susumu Tsuzuki ⑨ Yahiko Totsuka ⑩ Masayoshi Hashimoto ⑪ Hikigaya Hachiman ⑫ Akito Miyake ⑬ Teppei Yamaguchi ⑭ Alberto Yamada
becomes.
(And there are other things I'm curious about)
Why did you choose the zodiac signs?
Even if you don't go to the trouble of making them into zodiac signs, Group A, Group B, Group 1, and Group 2 are probably more popular.
Considering this, it may have something to do with the order of the animals in the zodiac.
Snake is the 6th, so if I'm right, the Snake group's preferential recipient will be Chihiro Shiranami.
Of course, this is just my speculation, so it doesn't necessarily mean it's correct.
Maybe I should check with the group Hiyori and Masumi belong to.
A horse group
A class Mitsuteru Ishiyama Hayabusa Kito Shigeru Toba Chikako Mototoi
B Class Shinji Eguchi Koji Tanaka Yoshiharu Nasu
C Class Misae Ui Hiyori Shiina Soya Yoshida
D Class Inokashira Kayano Onodera Susumu Makita Tokiya Watanabe
...That's why
① Mitsuteru Ishiyama ② Inokashira ③ Misae Ui ④ Shinji Eguchi ⑤ Kayano Onodera ⑥ Jun Kito ⑦ Hiyori Shiina ⑧ Koji Tanaka ⑨ Shigeru Toba ⑩ Yoshiharu Nasu ⑪ Susumu Makita ⑫ Chikako Moto Doi ⑬ Soya Yoshida ⑭ Tokiya Watanabe
So, Horse is number 7, so if my theory is correct, Hiyori is the preferred choice.
And if it's a pig group
Class A・Masumi Kamuro Naoki Shimizu Tokiya Watanabe
Class B: Sanae Kiyama, Makoto Sumida, Chie Heiwajima, Haruto Yonezu
C Class Daichi Ishizaki Takumi Oda Kazuya Higuchi Shinji Fuyushima
D Class Maya Sato Ruri Suga Kasumi Toyama
...then
① Daichi Ishizaki ② Takumi Oda ③ Masumi Kamuro ④ Sanae Kiyama ⑤ Maya Sato ⑥ Naoki Shimizu ⑦ Ruri Suga ⑧ Makoto Sumida ⑨ Kasumi Toyama ⑩ Kazuya Higuchi ⑪ Shinji Fuyushima ⑫ Chie Heiwajima ⑬ Haruto Yonezu ⑭ Tokiya Watabe
And since Pig is number 12, it'll be Chie Heiwajima, a B class girl.
Anyway, I'll ask Hiyori when the prize winners are announced in the morning.
Then, if Hiyori is the preferred recipient, I'll quickly nominate Shiranami during the discussion, and if it's bingo, I'll teach Masumi the rules of the preferred recipient.
At that time, if you make a contract with Masumi that if you get 500,000 points after the exam, you will receive half of it, and you can get even more points.
Well, that's just my speculation. For now, I'll ask Hiyori in the morning and then decide everything.
If Hiyori isn't the preferred recipient, I should have a discussion and find out who is.
I decided on a plan and was about to go to sleep, but before I could, my phone started ringing, so I looked at it...
"If you're awake and have free time, come to the observation deck.''
I received a simple email from Masumi.
"Masumi, sorry I kept you waiting. What is your purpose?"
When I arrive at the observation deck, you'll see Masumi near the window, so talk to her.
The observatory offers a panoramic view, but since the entire area is ocean, it becomes less popular after a few days, even on the first day of the trip, and by midnight, Masumi and I are the only ones there.
In a sense, it would be suitable for secret meetings.
Masumi seemed unusually fidgety in response to my question...
"...You might be wondering what I'm talking about all of a sudden, but...I-I want you to do it."
"Sorry, I can't hear you clearly, try again.
"So...I want you to kiss me.''
"What?!"
What are you saying all of a sudden?!
It's so unexpected that I thought I was called and then asked for a kiss!
"What happened all of a sudden? Tell me the reason."
"I was sleeping until just now and had a dream of kissing Hachiman, but I woke up in the middle.''
"So?"
I want to tell her not to have such dreams, but I'll hold back.
"When I woke up, maybe it was a dream, but I remembered the kiss I had with you in the mountain hut...and I wanted to do it again."
Is that how you came? I don't know how to respond.
When I was worried, Masumi picked my clothes...
"So, ....are you going to do it or not?"
She looks worried. When I saw the expression on the normally cool Masumi's face that she would never show, I lost my temper...
"...Only once."
I agree. Maybe it's because I already kissed Masumi and Hiyori that my resistance is gone.
When I agree, Masumi gives a small nod and approaches me, so I prepare myself and bring my face closer...
"Hmm..."
I gently pressed my lips together. This was the third time our lips had kissed each other in a conscious state, but it filled my body with heat.
But strangely, the heat didn't make me feel uncomfortable, and I continued to press my lips against Masumi's until it became hard to breathe.