Sports Festival (Continued)
"Classmates... summer vacation is over." With an incredibly sorrowful voice, she uttered a painful truth that everyone already knew. "Classes start again today. Oh, teacher, I really wanted summer vacation to continue!"
"However, the summer vacation is over now, so everyone should be fully prepared for the upcoming classes and exams!"
"Especially our new classmates, you must pay more attention to your studies!"
Hoshinomiya Chie's gaze instantly locked onto Ibuki Mio.
"..."
Ibuki Mio.
Hoshinomiya Chie paused only briefly before quickly continuing.
"Oh, right, everyone, there's something special. During the month from September to early October of the second semester, we'll have extra physical education classes to prepare for the Sports Festival." She raised her right index finger and circled it as she spoke. "The teacher will be handing out the new schedule and materials related to the Sports Festival later, so please keep them safe!"
The moment the words "Sports Festival" were mentioned, the students in the class clearly reacted in their own ways.
A clear dividing line emerged between students who were good at sports and those who were not, and a distinct difference in attitudes existed between students who disliked physical education class and those who liked it.
"Oh, and also, the school's homepage has published the activity details like information panels. Everyone can take out their devices... oh wait, this is a class meeting, and taking out devices will result in points being deducted, so please check the school's website after class to find out more!"
Stacks of class schedules and materials were distributed in order, and as everyone looked down at their materials, Hoshinomiya Chie said again:
"Finally, before explaining the rules of the Sports Festival, I have some good news to announce!"
"As you all probably know, our Advanced Nurturing is a 'completely closed' school. For the first three years after enrollment, there are virtually no opportunities for communication or contact with the outside world." Hoshinomiya Chie paused. "Of course, the one on the cruise ship is different."
The topic of conversation arose somewhat out of nowhere, and... it was completely unexpected by Asakusa Toru.
Just hearing Hoshinomiya Chie mention the 'complete lockdown' gave Asakusa Toru a vague sense of unease.
His premonition was quickly confirmed by Hoshinomiya Chie's next words.
"It's always been like this, but times have changed little by little lately. Things like the internet have become incredibly developed. You know, a long time ago, you couldn't even access the internet on campus."
Due to various reasons such as technology, environment, policy, and other considerations, Advanced Nurturing will obviously not allow students to access the internet before information filtering is implemented.
Of course, things are different now. Students can freely go online and send messages, but inappropriate information or information that might reveal school secrets will be selectively blocked from being sent.
That's pretty impressive.
"Many people in the country have always wanted to know about the situation within Advanced Nurturing, and this demand is growing louder and louder." Hoshinomiya Chie's words gradually laid the groundwork, leading to a result that everyone seemed to be able to guess:
"In response to this expectation, and in order to explore the path that Advanced Nurturing should take in the future."
"The school has decided to invite some people from outside the school to this year's Sports Festival! To showcase the talent and skill of our Advanced Nurturing field to the wider community!"
With fervor, as if reciting a scripted slogan to a camera, Hoshinomiya Chie proclaimed loudly in a tone completely out of character with her past self.
... Or perhaps she was simply facing the camera.
She wasn't looking at the students at all; she was looking at the security cameras.
Asakusa Toru: "..."
Can a camera shot from this angle really produce any decent promotional videos?
Asakusa Toru had doubts about this.
But let's put the promotional video aside for now and get back to the news itself.
... This might be getting bad.
Advanced Nurturing are safe Matoba.
The reason it is safe is because it is 'completely closed'; the school has government backing, making it difficult for ordinary people to interfere or influence it.
Therefore, as long as you stay in the Advanced Nurturing environment, you don't need to worry about external factors.
One of the greatest masterpieces also went to Advanced Nurturing for this reason... well, at least that's the apparent reason.
Of course, this completely closed nature will end during the school festival, and the school will open up to invite people from outside the school for the same reason.
This was exactly what Asakusa Toru had anticipated.
What he didn't expect was that this open invitation arrived at the Sports Festival ahead of schedule.
... Not my brother, what's so interesting about the Sports Festival?
A group of students are competing in a sport. In other schools, wouldn't they just wander around and slack off if they weren't participating?
How many people would actually sit in the stands and watch a game all day?
Wouldn't it be better to wait until the school festival?
Students can experience various programs and projects prepared by themselves, and get a feel for what it might be like to have high-quality cattle and horses serving them. They can also see these cattle and horses fantasizing about their future youth.
What do you mean by wanting the community outside the school to know more about it?
Ultimately, it's highly unlikely that anyone invited to the school would be an ordinary citizen, right?
Even the news of the open day is not publicly announced; the invitation is only circulated within the school's network of connections.
Asakusa Toru cared about was not being noticed; being in the spotlight didn't put much psychological pressure on him.
What he cares about is that the school is no longer completely closed.
This is important.
Because, judging from the changes in the messages received and the recipients before the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, it can be seen that the scope of this Diary is not limited to the Advanced Nurturing School.
He still remembered very clearly the long list of unreleased storylines that had appeared when the page was refreshed.
The existence of the God-man Band and the God-man has also been proven.
He always knew that his diary had a much larger audience.
He hadn't truly forgotten about it these past few days; he had simply chosen to selectively ignore it.
Why?
Because things on campus weren't completely settled, he couldn't spare much energy to deal with things off campus.
No, that's just an excuse.
The real reason...
He seems to be experiencing some psychological issues.
Asakusa Toru himself was also aware of how different he was from his original self.
This cannot be explained by simply gaining power and then rapidly falling into depravity.
Therefore, it's not the Diary's fault.
Was it the fault of the six beautiful girls surrounding him?
Of course not, how could they be wrong?
But there must be a reason why things turned out this way.
It's not about finding out whose fault it is, it's just that Asakusa Toru sometimes thinks about it.
Why?
... For no reason at all.
The avoidance of certain things has been more or less stopped; the first semester is over, and normal student life is about to end.
Let's see how many 'guests bring their Diary's will attend this Sports Festival.
Having calmed down a bit, Asakusa Toru turned his attention back to Hoshinomiya Chie and the class schedule and Sports Festival introduction that had been handed to him.
This Sports Festival adopted a competition format that divided all grades into two groups.
Class A and Class C formed the White Group, and Class B and Class D formed the Red Group.
Although the results of the ABCD letters seem somewhat different from the planned performance, this is simply because they were promoted to Class A.
The actual grouping did not deviate from the original plan.
Well, even if he were grouped with Class D, it wouldn't really have a big impact on his plans.
It's simply thanks to the 100 Class Points from Class C.
Because the two classes that lose in the red-white team competition will have 100 Class Points deducted from their scores.
The winner receives no reward.
This is a typical rule added to control Class Points.
Aside from the class groupings, the rest are the usual 'individual competitions' and 'team competitions' that you'd expect at Sports Festival.
The rules governing the changes in scores and Class Points are as follows.
The scores for each event are from the Sports Festival score, and only the ranking is calculated.
The only thing that truly affects the outcome and the Class Points is the final ranking.
First place: add 50; second place: remain unchanged; third place: deduct 50; fourth place: deduct 100.
... As expected, it's still a rule that only deducts points.
It's not even a zero-sum game; even if you precisely control Class D, who scored zero, until the end, it's just a matter of adding or subtracting nothing.
Considering the 100 points for the red and white groups, the net loss is still 100.
To be honest, I'm a little reluctant to participate in this stupid competition.
Fortunately, apart from the changes in Class Points, this Sports Festival also affects individual Private Points.
Private Points and scores increase or decrease.
The target group is likely students with athletic talent but academic disadvantages.
That being said, two or three points is really too stingy.
Shouldn't you get at least five points for special skills?
The top three in a single project have a combined total of 9,000 Private Points, while the last-place project loses 1,000 points, resulting in a net income of 8,000 Private Points.
There are a total of thirteen competitive events in the entire Sports Festival, which are divided into those that are mandatory for all participants and those that require registration.
[All participants in the project]
100-meter race
Hurdles race
• Pole Drop Contest (Men Only)
• Pitching Contest (Women Only)
Tug-of-war between men and women
Obstacle course
Three-legged race
• Cavalry Battle
200-meter race
[Register for the project]
Borrowing contest
Four-way tug-of-war
Mixed-gender three-legged race
• The whole grade participated in a 1200-meter relay
The first nine items are mandatory, while the last four are optional.
There are five individual competitive events: four running races and one obstacle course.
The three-legged race is a bit tricky because it's counted as an individual sport, but the prize money isn't awarded twice.
Let's just treat this as a personal project.
That is, six individual projects and seven team projects.
The net reward for individual projects is 48,000 Private Points, while there appears to be no additional reward for team competitions.