The moment Katsuragi Kouhei put on his disguise, Ayanokoji's strategy became clear. While everyone was still confused, he would try to deal as much damage as possible over these two rounds.
After all, Class D clearly had the advantage in this Special Favor Exam.
Not to mention, the Lord was from Class D, the Traitor (actually a Loyalist) was also from Class D, Ryuen was messing around as a Loyalist, and Katsuragi was greedy for points and ignoring who won.
Only the honest Ichinose was taking the game seriously.
In Ayanokoji's eyes, this match was far too easy to win.
As long as the distance cards weren't too bad, the Traitor could even win alone. That would earn Class D the maximum profit of 35 weight points!
The third round of the match in Room D continued (Distance: 12220).
Ayanokoji kept stealing Katsuragi's health. Katsuragi didn't dodge and was left with 1 health.
Ryuen attacked Ayanokoji.
Ichinose passed.
Room D, Round 6:
Katsuragi Kouhei had overthought things.
On top of that, Ayanokoji always had enough distance and kept stealing his health from the next seat over.
In the end, Ayanokoji hit him with four consecutive Kill cards and took him out (plus one from Ryuen).
Ayanokoji received the Rebel Kill buff.
Room D, Round 7:
Ryuen Kakeru used a Dodge to evade Ayanokoji's +1 Kill card, even though Ayanokoji's identity as a Traitor had been revealed.
Room D, Round 8:
Ayanokoji once again took out Ichinose, who had no Dodge cards. Ayanokoji had 1 health and a Dodge, Horikita had 2 health and a Dodge, and Ryuen had 3 health but no Dodge.
Room D, Round 9:
Ryuen continued attacking the Lord as a Loyalist. Horikita had 1 health and a Dodge, while Ryuen was hit with Ayanokoji's +1 Kill and left with 1 health and no Dodge.
Ryuen entered Soul Return.
Room D, Round 10:
Ryuen didn't have enough distance to attack Horikita. All was lost, and Horikita still had a Dodge in hand.
Horikita still didn't quite believe that Ryuen was a Loyalist, so she chose to attack him.
And so, unexpectedly, the Lord personally killed a Loyalist in his second round of Soul Return!
At least this avoided the debuff for the Lord killing a Loyalist for the third time. Horikita's move was utterly bizarre.
Ryuen laughed uproariously as the Loyalist died.
Ayanokoji followed up from the next seat and attacked Horikita. She didn't dodge, and the Lord died.
The match in Room D ended with a Traitor victory. The results were:
1 (Class D): Horikita Suzune (Lord) Defeated +5 Class Points +50,000 Private Points
2 (Class A): Katsuragi Kouhei (Rebel) Defeated +5 Class Points +50,000 Private Points
3 (Class D): Ayanokoji Kiyotaka (Traitor) Victorious +30 Class Points +300,000 Private Points
4 (Class C): Ryuen Kakeru (Loyalist) Defeated +5 Class Points +50,000 Private Points
5 (Class B): Ichinose Honami (Rebel) Defeated +5 Class Points +50,000 Private Points
In the end, Katsuragi's moment of hesitation backfired, and the Class D Traitor still won alone, earning the maximum profit.
Ichinose was the only one there who had genuinely taken the game seriously. But with terrible luck on her distance cards, she missed her chance. And with teammate Katsuragi's impure thoughts, she ended up with a Carry Loss.
Ryuen was a Pure Shit Stirrer. He started by pretending to be a Loyalist before switching to the Rebel, then later pretended to be the Traitor and misled Horikita, only to be killed by the Lord herself. He'd certainly had the time of his life.
Horikita was dazed, with a hint of redness, after Ryuen had played her throughout the whole game. But in the end, Class D still got the best result.
Ayanokoji was the MVP of the match. He'd quietly put barely any thought into it and still killed three people. A resounding victory for the Traitor, and thoroughly deserved!
Tennoji Kaede was the first to get off work. He watched most of the livestream from Room D in the Class C classroom, sweating bullets.
This was way too much like the Original Work...
After nearly an hour of fierce battle, the Special Favor Exam—the Tian Shu Sha match—was officially declared over!
The identities and results for the Tian Shu Sha match:
Class A:
Kamuro Sumire (Lord/Defeated), Mihiko Totsuka (Loyalist/Defeated),
Katsuragi Kouhei (Rebel/Defeated), Sakayanagi Arisu (Traitor/Defeated).
Class B:
Hamaguchi Tetsuya (Lord/Defeated), Kobashi Yume (Loyalist/Defeated),
Ichinose Honami (Rebel/Defeated), Kanzaki Ryuji (Traitor/Defeated).
Class C:
Shiina Hiyori (Lord/Defeated), Ryuen Kakeru (Loyalist/Defeated),
Tennoji Kaede (Rebel/Victorious), Kaneda Satoru (Traitor/Defeated).
Class D:
Horikita Suzune (Lord/Defeated), Kushida Kikyo (Loyalist/Defeated),
Hirata Yousuke (Rebel/Victorious), Karuizawa Kei (Rebel/Victorious),
Yukimura Teruhiko (Rebel/Victorious), Wang Meiyu (Rebel/Victorious),
Miyamoto Soshi (Rebel/Victorious), Ayanokoji Kiyotaka (Traitor/Victorious)
After the additional exam at the end of June, the Class Points for each first-year class changed as follows:
Class A: 935 → 955 Class Points
Class B: 699 → 719 Class Points
Class C: 633 → 663 Class Points
Class D: 0 → 125 Class Points
Late at night, in Room 501 of the School Building, inside Tennoji Kaede's dorm room.
Shiina Hiyori took a sip of her plain coffee with milk and looked through the book on the table: Detailed Explanation of Greek Mythology.
A bookmark was tucked inside. Hiyori opened to that page and saw that the passage was about Icarus.
Tennoji Kaede rummaged through his things. "Weird. Where's that ridiculously expensive snack...? Did I finish it?"
Hiyori turned a page. "It's okay. There's plenty to eat on the table. Come sit down."
Kaede sat down on a cushion, looking glum. "I invited only Little Hiyori over today, so I feel like I should've prepared better..."
Hiyori assured him it really was fine.
"Then never mind. Let's pick up where we left off and keep talking about the exam."
"Sure. But why have you suddenly wanted to read Greek mythology lately, Kaede?"
"That? It was just a book I borrowed from the library on a whim."
"I have you to thank for helping me this time, too. Let me start with what happened after Horikita Manabu came to see me last time."
Tennoji Kaede saw Hiyori nod.
Then he slowly began recalling the night he'd been summoned for a talk by the Student Council President...
"This Special Favor Exam reminds me of a card game called SG Kill that I used to play."
Kaede flipped through the documents and continued, "Class D can send twice as many people. So, three against two each match? Why does that feel like an illegal party?"
Horikita Manabu said, "You've played quite a few games. The School Administration has approved this proposal, and it will definitely be implemented at the end of June!"
"As thanks for helping me deal with the Kushida matter last time, I'd like you to represent Class C and help Class D gain points in this exam. It'll also serve as compensation for the School Administration's mistake."
Tennoji Kaede looked a little puzzled. "What did the School Administration do wrong? Is this about Yamauchi Haruki?"
Horikita Manabu adjusted his glasses and explained, "That's right. In the first semester of the new first-year students' enrollment, the School Administration would normally award 100 Class Points to each class that passed the Midterm Exam without anyone dropping out in July."
"But this year, due to an unexpected incident, someone in First Year Class D was expelled in the very first month that the S System was announced—May. That made it difficult to award them those 100 points. It went against the original intentions I had for this school."
Kaede thought it over, then said, "I think I get it. You're saying the School Administration considers the major incident caused by Yamauchi Haruki, in which he harmed his classmates, to have resulted from its own 'poor selection.'"
If Yamauchi had been expelled for lacking ability, that would have been one thing.
But since he'd so quickly harmed his classmates, it suggested that there was something seriously wrong with his character. The School Administration had made a poor choice and was mainly to blame.
"You've understood correctly, though naturally, we won't announce that publicly. So I proposed to the School Administration that we offer half of July's reward in advance—200 Class Points—as part of the Special Favor Exam plan."
"The class receiving special favor is naturally Class D, whose Class Points had once again dropped to zero due to the School Administration's mishap."
"Speaking personally, I hope you can help Class D earn around 100 points in this exam, while keeping the current first-year class standings as intact as possible."
Kaede scratched his head, looking like he didn't know how he could manage it. "You're expecting an awful lot from me."
Horikita Manabu laid out his offer. "As compensation, I'll give your Class C a Private Points reward equivalent to 100 Class Points over the next nine months."
"That's 3.6 million Private Points."
Kaede slapped his palm. "Deal! I'll get it done!"
"By the way, has this Special Exam been named yet? If you don't mind, Student Council President, how about calling it 'Tian Shu Sha'?"
"That's fine. Is there any particular meaning behind it?"
Kaede explained, "During the Three Kingdoms period, when Wei, Wu, and Shu existed in that great eastern country, there was a saying: 'Wei had the advantage of Heaven's timing, Wu had the advantage of terrain, and Shu had the advantage of human harmony.' Judging by the outcome, Shu was indeed the weakest, while Wei was the strongest."
"Since this exam is meant to make up for Class D's Class Points dropping to zero due to an accident, you could say that Class D has received Heaven's favor. The weakest class, yet favored by Heaven..."
"So it's only natural to call it 'Tian Shu Sha'!"
Before you continue