The day after the results of the year-end exams were announced, as I was waiting for the morning HR while reading a book in the classroom as usual, the chime rang and Chabashira-sensei came in...
(What's that look?)
Chabashira-sensei's expression was extremely grim and gave off a tingling aura, and tension ran through the classroom.
I had seen Chabashira-sensei have a cold expression, but this was the first time I had seen such a grim expression.
"Um, did something happen, Sensei?'' Ike asked Chabashira-sensei, who was very different from yesterday.
"There's something I have to tell you guys.'' She pretends to be calm, but you can tell she's upset from the way her voice is being squeezed out from the back of her throat.
"You first-year students have successfully completed the school assignments without any dropouts. This year is the first time that you did not drop out due to the assignments the school gave you."
Well, Kushida disappeared, but it wasn't a school exam, it was Ryuen and I who make her disappeared.
In fact, it is not wrong to say that no students dropped out because of the assignments given by the school.
Regardless, it's probably a good thing that no one drops out of the assignments given by the school.
If it's normal.
However, looking at Chabashira-sensei's expression, it seems like this is a bad thing.
"Is there a problem? You sound as if this situation is somehow inconvenient for the school,'' Horikita says, and Chabashira-sensei nods.
"Nothing like that. But sometimes things go beyond my expectations."
What do you mean? I do not understand what it means.
With a question mark on my face, Chabashira-sensei hesitantly opened her mouth.
"In consideration of the fact that no students will drop out due to the assignments that the school has prepared... it has been suddenly decided that an additional special exam will be held from today as a special measure.'' The classroom was buzzing at the sudden announcement. On the blackboard, it is written that there will be an additional special exam on March 2nd.
"Only those who are able to clear this exam will be able to proceed to the next exam on March 8th."
"Hey, wait a minute! Kushida-san has already expelled from school, so there's no need for us to take that test!"
Shinohara yells at Chabashira-sensei's words, but Chabashira-sensei shakes her head with a bitter expression on her face.
"As I said earlier, we took into consideration that there were no students who dropped out due to the assignments prepared by the school. Kushida did not drop out due to the assignments prepared by the school, so the exam will be held.''
"Huh... hah!? What's that! Everyone was able to complete their school assignments, so they had to take a special exam on top of that? Don't kid me like that!"
Ike stands up and complains, and I agree with him.
Whatever it is, it's too unreasonable.
But I have doubts. Arisu's father is the president of this school, and I've heard from Arisu several times, but I don't think he would set out such a brat-like policy.
So, is it a pattern where the board members made a proposal and couldn't resist?
I don't know how much power the chairperson has, but I can't say for sure since the board members are also government employees, so they probably have some power.
"It's natural for you to feel dissatisfied. I and other teachers take seriously the unplanned special exam, which has placed a burden on the students.''
In other words, it seems that the teacher is not satisfied with this special exam either. Is it the work of the board of directors?
However, even if I yell, the exam won't go away, so I need to change my mind.
As long as you are a student, it is your duty to participate in the exam.
"Teacher, what is the content of that additional special exam?'' Hirata asked, a question that everyone was probably curious about.
"This exam is extremely simple. It doesn't require mental, physical, or physical strength, and anyone can do it on the actual day. And the dropout rate is less than 3% for each class, which is by no means high." This is the first time I've heard of a dropout rate.
However, once the probabilities are determined, anyone can do it on the day of the actual test... I don't think so, but is it like playing roulette and deciding the ranking based on the size of the numbers?
"What are the rules?"
"The name of the special exam is class voting."
I see, from the name it seems that academic ability and physical strength have nothing to do with it, but what should I vote for?
"You will have four days from today to rate your classmates. Then, on Saturday, the fifth day after the voting day, you will vote to praise three classmates who you think deserve praise. Vote for criticizing three classmates who you think deserve criticism. Also, ask students from other classes to vote for praise.
In other words, someone like Hirata has an advantage and someone like Yamauchi has a disadvantage. And if praise votes are given to other classes, Ichinose will have an advantage.
"Eh...is that really all you have to say?"
"Yes. That's it."
"Then how do you decide whether to pass or fail?'' Ike asks, and Chabashira-sensei uses chalk to write on the blackboard.
Regarding the points, 1 point will be counted for each praise vote received, and minus 1 point will be calculated for each criticism vote.
For example, if Ike receives 5 praise votes and 2 criticism votes, his score will be 3.
The points will determine the ranking, and the person with the highest score will be given a new special reward called Protection Points.
"Protection points?" A system I've never heard of before.
Naturally, everyone is interested.
"Protection points are the right to cancel your expulsion if you are expelled from the school. However, this cannot be transferred to another person."
"really!?"
"That's right. It's actually worth 20 million private points."
Well, I guess so. However, if someone like Ryuen had this protection point, it would be extremely terrifying.
After all, it's only once, but it can cause such a big problem that it's enough to cause you to be expelled from school.
But if the rewards are attractive, the penalties will be unreasonable. Well, I can pretty much predict it.
"Does this mean that something untoward will happen to the lower ranked students?"
"No, only those in the lowest ranks are subject to penalties. And regarding penalties, this additional exam is an exam that will be conducted to eliminate the problem of 'absence of students dropping out due to exams'..."
Chabashira-sensei takes a deep breath...
"Students who come in last place will be expelled from this school."
Announce the penalty.
The class was stunned by this, but from my point of view, it wasn't anyone else's problem.
I would also be considered as a candidate for expulsion.
No matter how much I contribute to the class, I have publicly announced that he will move between classes on my own.
Of course, I have no intention of expelling from the school, and I will make other expulsion candidates to do so.
Personally, I want Yamauchi to be expelled from school, but frankly, it could be anyone if it wasn't me.
If the people in my class were to vote for criticism, it would be me, Koenji, Sudo, Ike, Yamauchi, Hondo, Tonomura, Inokashira, and Sakura.
In other words, other people will have to sacrifice themselves, but they won't target Koenji.
It's not impossible to expel Koenji from this exam, but if he is expelled and Koenji hates him, he could turn Koenji Conglomerate into an enemy and end his own life.
In fact, it would be more beneficial to help Koenji and be liked by Koenji.
(Now, how should I move...)
After that, Chabashira-sensei explained the rules while writing them on the blackboard, but I had already started formulating a strategy to keep myself from expelling.
Additional exam/in-class voting
Exam content
Each person is given 3 votes for praise and 3 votes for criticism, and the results are determined by voting within the class.
Rule 1
: Praise votes and criticism votes interfere with each other.
Praise vote - Criticism vote = Result
Rule 2:
You can't vote for yourself, whether it's praise or criticism.
Rule 3:
Multiple entries by the same person, no entries, abstentions, etc. are not allowed.
Rule 4:
This process is repeated until the first and last place are decided, the first place gets protect points, and the last place gets expelled.
Rule 5
: Each person has one dedicated praise vote to cast on students in other classes, and filling it out is compulsory.
Rule 6
: 20 million private points are required to cancel expulsion.
When Chabashira-sensei writes the rules for the additional special exam on the blackboard, the classmates eagerly review the rules.
I personally find Rule 6 to be troublesome.
I currently have 16 million private points in my pocket. If you add the private points of the D-class guys to this, it will reach 20 million, but of course I have no intention of paying it.
However, if you reject it foolishly, the priority of the criticism vote in the class will go up, so you have to avoid that.
So, while everyone is paying attention to the blackboard, I transfer 6 million to Arisu.
Arisu, who is smart, will understand everything.
The private points owned by the D-class, excluding me, are probably around 5 million, so this is no problem.
Thinking this, I looked ahead and saw Chabashira-sensei putting away her chalk, looking apologetic.
"These are the rules for the supplementary exam. I assure you that it is absolutely impossible not to get expelled for anything other than 20 million points. The rest is up to you to decide."
When Chabashira-sensei leaves the classroom, there is an uproar in the class.
"What should we do? This is seriously the worst test!"
"Boys are annoying!"
"What?! Are you going to give me a critical vote?!"
Men and women mingle, and their wariness is exposed. Well, if they suddenly told me there was a test to decide who would drop out...
If you think so...
"Well, there's nothing we can do about panicking here...you guys are really ugly."
I heard that voice and the classroom became silent.
And if you look at Koenji, the owner of the voice, you'll see that he's taking care of his hair.
Even though he is a candidate for expulsion, his unwavering attitude is amazing.
Sudo, perhaps not liking Koenji's attitude, lunges at Koenji. "Hey, Koenji seems to be taking it easy. You unilaterally withdrew from the desert island exam and the sports festival, causing trouble for the class. You're a strong candidate for expulsion."
That's what I'm saying, but you're not in a position to complain.
"Oh my gosh. You don't seem to understand anything."
Koenji crossed his legs and threw them on the desk.
"Listen, Redhead-kun, this exam should be conducted with an eye on the next two years, not the past one year. Normally, if a student is expelled from the class, there will be a big penalty, but this time, There's no such thing. In other words, if you think about the class, this is the perfect exam to delete the most unnecessary student.''
"That's why, you, Koenji is the most unnecessary student!''
"No, that's not true. I'm better than anyone else," Koenji said boldly and without any hesitation.
"I'm always at the top of my grade in written exams, and it's obvious that I surpass you in terms of physical ability, right?"
Well, if you just look at his potential,
Koenji is better than Arisu, Ichinose, and Ryuen.
"Then what do you mean? There's no point in doing something like that unless you're serious about it."
"That's right. So from now on, let's change our minds. I will use this exam as an opportunity to contribute to the class. It will definitely be a plus for the class." Well, if Koenji contributes to the class, it will be a plus for the class.
But... "Who would believe that?'' As Sudo says, no one would believe in Koenji's discovery.
Even an idiot could tell that this was a lie to get through this exam.
"Then let me ask you something. What about students other than me who have no hope of being useful in the future? Like the two friends you often hang out with, students with no hidden abilities will become useful students in the future. Do you think I can believe it?"
Well, I guess so. If you have a student who has no ability but is motivated, and a student who has ability but is unmotivated, the latter is more valuable.
The class can benefit from the whims of talented but unmotivated students.
In fact, Sudo's friends... Yamauchi and Ike are obviously of lower value than Koenji.
At this point, Yamauchi stood up and pointed at me.
"Well, if that's the case, Hikigaya should be expelled from the school. People who are capable of moving up to class A on their own should be expelled now."
Yamauchi says this with obvious desperation.
Well, since Koenji pointed it out to me in a roundabout way, if they don't name anyone other than themself, they'll get a lot of criticism.
I try to open my mouth, but before I can, Koenji lets out a sigh.
"Oh my gosh. You're going to nominate Hikigaya Boy next to me. It's up to you all to make whatever choices you like, but if that's the consensus of the class, it'll be impossible for you to move up to Class A if you think Hikigaya-boy should drop out. Defective products really suit you."
"Bastard!"
Sudo, angered by Koenji's words, tries to confront Koenji, but Hirata intervenes.
"Both of you, calm down. I think we need to calmly discuss this."
"Ha! Why are you so calm? You must be calm because you'll never be in last place."
Sudo replied with a snort of laughter, and Hirata was speechless. Well, there's no doubt that Hirata won't come in last place.
Even if you get some criticism votes, you will probably get a certain amount of praise votes.
After silencing Hirata, Sudo pushes Hirata away and tries to approach Koenji, but
Horikita, his master is there to stop him.
"Stop it, Sudo-kun. Please don't engage in any more meaningless exchanges."
"No, but..."
"I'm telling you to stop."
"...Understood"
Sudo falls silent at Horikita's point and sits down in his seat.
After confirming this, the classmates lose their composure and begin preparing for class.
There are classes to be taken, and you need to take them seriously.
After I finish getting ready, I head to the bathroom. While I was urinating, the door opened and Koenji came in and started urinating next to me.
"I was saved earlier. It looks better when a third party refutes than when I refute myself."
If I objected, people would think I was trying to protect myself and it would have been a lot of trouble, so I was grateful that Koenji objected.
"It's just that the ugly opinions were off-putting."
Well, I thought Koenji would just say that.
"By the way, I have a favor to ask of Koenji. I'm going to be a bit flashy in this exam, so would you be able to deal with wild jeering and give me a neutral opinion?"
It's a very roundabout way of saying it, but someone from Koenji would probably understand it.
"Hmm... From the looks of it, it doesn't seem like you're planning on giving me a critical vote."
"A vote of criticism? Don't be foolish. On the contrary, I think you are the kind of person who deserves a vote of praise."
Well, I also think that he is a person who should not have protection points.
"Huh? That's an interesting opinion. Tell me why you think so."
Koenji said so, so I decided to talk.
"There are four reasons for that..."
When I explained to him why Koenji deserved a vote of praise, he gave me a faint smile.
"I see. It's ironic that someone who has no interest in the class understands this test so well."
"Well then. Anyway, those are the reasons why I think you are a person worthy of praise."
"That was brilliant logic, Hikigaya boy. As a thank you, I'll listen to your request. Additionally, when they point something out while you're on the move, I'll refute it with a concrete idea. "
"I see. Thank you for your cooperation."
"Why, I don't want to be expelled from school either. I'll let you go along with your strategy."
Koenji said as he finished his business and washed his hands before leaving the bathroom.
For now, one of the preparations for the strategy has been completed. I'll need Matsushita's help for the next preparation, so I'll contact her after school.
With that in mind, I finished my business and washed my hands before leaving the bathroom.