Chapter 168
They handed over command to him again, just like they did with the Island Exam.
Katsuragi could sense that this was not a true relinquishment of power, but a trial—a test for him.
In other words, if he fails to lead the class back to Class A in this exam, he will not have leadership authority next time.
And indeed, under Sakayanagi's leadership, the class achieved its best results in the VIP Exam under those conditions.
But.
Katsuragi didn't think Sakayanagi's radical approach was really good for the class, since only when they graduated from Class 3-A would it be a true Class A.
He was still unable to entrust the future of the class to Sakayanagi.
"Try again."
He thought to himself.
I said--
But just then, another person suddenly raised their hand. And they were also a first-year student.
While everyone was talking quietly, this person stood out. As soon as he raised his hand, Nakano Yuu looked over.
That was Ryuen Kakeru with his red hair casually parted in the middle.
Compared to other students who raised their hands voluntarily, Ryuuen's voice was particularly loud.
"If I break the rules and just leave today, will I not get points deducted?"
He said.
Clearly, Ryuuen had indeed asked a surprising question in a loud voice.
The students around him stared at him in surprise.
Just hearing that voice, Nakano Yuu already understood that Ryuen was probably planning something, or even something else, during this Sports Festival.
Ryuuen's energy and drive finally made Nakano Yuu realize that this Sports Festival was worthwhile.
Just as he analyzed for Horikita, this exam was an event where all students in the school were bound together, and could even influence each other to determine the Matoba of their respective classes.
From the moment he enrolled until now, Nakano-kun has consistently used the method of demanding hush money through "information brokers" and phrases like "you don't want your class to be like this either."
This model is the least likely to offend anyone and can even be used for long-term business.
So, is it permissible to do this in this exam?
Yes, that's possible. We can even expand our customer base to include older students.
However, there is a problem.
That means that older students ignore and underestimate younger students, so naturally they won't treat them as people who need to be bribed.
Therefore, one's voice carries little weight. If one wants to sell information or obtain hush money from second-year students who already have two months' worth of living expenses, or from third-year students who haven't yet been exploited, then one must first attract their attention.
But now, after he took the lead, the first grade immediately gained attention.
However, it's the bad side.
The older students must be frowning. What's going on with this year's first-year Class D? They're all too outrageous. Completely uncontrollable, and they're not cooperating with the exams at all.
"..."
Fujimaki, Class 3-A, seemed surprised by Ryuuen's sudden question. He glanced awkwardly at Horikita Manabu, but Horikita Manabu remained expressionless. So he continued, "Yes, this meeting is only to allow each grade to have contact with their respective teams. Therefore, in principle, not following the rules won't result in point deductions, but..."
He paused, then picked up the third-grade format, "If you refuse to cooperate, or are not enthusiastic about participating in cooperation, it is highly undesirable both in your future life and in the current red-white rivalry. You will reap bitter consequences. You must know that if your actions cause the entire team to fail, your class will be the first to suffer a 200-point deduction in evaluation points..."
"You can say anything like that!"
Ryuuen interrupted Fujimaki abruptly.
"Then we won't take up any more of your or our time."
Ryuen Kakeru turned to his students in Class C, "Let's go back. This meeting is pointless and won't earn us any points!"
"Hiss--"
Ryuuen's voice and actions drew the attention of almost all the students.
But the students in Class C actually turned around, which was surprising in terms of both their control over the class and their abrupt action.
"Wait a minute— Ryuen."
Noticing Ryuuen's actions, Ichinose, who had previously applied directly to President Horikita for a Student Council position, immediately looked over.
The reason is simple: Ryuuen is in Class 1-C, and Class C and Class A form the Red Team.
It's fair to say that if Class C were to act recklessly, it would drag Class A down with them, and also affect the second and third-year Red Team. But for the Class 1-A students who had just been promoted and wanted to maintain their Class A status for a while longer, Class A would indeed be the first to suffer from Ryuuen's reckless actions. This would be a huge disaster.
So now it's time for the speaker to be Ichinose Honami, the class representative of Class 1-A.
"Heh, Ichinose, I only wanted to leave out of goodwill. Even if I offered to cooperate, I don't think you would believe me. In the end, we'd just be probing each other's thoughts from the very beginning, wouldn't we? That's a waste of time."
Ryuuen, however, made a sarcastic remark.
What he said wasn't wrong. Could suddenly forcing competing classes to unite really lead to a smoother, more collaborative learning environment?
More likely, it could escalate into mutual spying, which would be a waste of both time and combat power.
And.
Ryuuen betrayed Katsuragi and his group during the Island Exam and the VIP Exam, so even though they are now passively allied with Class A, some of Ryuuen's actions will still be questioned.
As he spoke, Ryuuen led all the students of Class C out.
"Hey... wait!"
But Ichinose wasn't going to be dismissed so easily. "Are you confident you can win this exam without cooperating?"
Ichinose is definitely top-notch.
She discovered Ryuuen's unusual behavior, and she was the first to stop Ryuuen. On one hand, she might have just wanted to show the whole school that if anything went wrong, it would be Ryuuen and his group's fault for not accepting the arrangements. Class A had already done their best.
On the other hand...
Ichinose is quite intelligent, and she understands that Ryuuen is a very clever person. It can be said that if it weren't for the students arranged by Classmate Sakayanagi to trick Ryuuen during the VIP Exam, Ryuuen wouldn't have lost so badly.
Therefore, Ryuuen was not a decadent person; on the contrary, he was very enthusiastic about winning.
So, by doing this, didn't he find a reason or plan to sacrifice the extremely powerful Class A in order to achieve victory?
In this unexpected situation, this is the information Ichinose wants to obtain.
But Ryuuen didn't stop. A flippant "Heh, who knows?" appeared on his lips.
It is impossible to figure out clearly.
As he advanced, the students from Class C walked out of the gymnasium entrance one by one.
It could be said that previously only some students in the first-grade classes had inquired about it, but now, the actions of Class 1-C have attracted the attention of all the older students.
So, what should you do in this situation?
"Ryuuen is hopeless."
Horikita Suzune, standing next to Nakano Yuu, said.
She also watched the play and then made this comment.
No, no, no.
Almost as soon as Ryuuen pulled this stunt, Nakano Yuu had already considered Ryuuen's intentions.
It's fair to say that the idea that Class 1-D is garbage has long been deeply ingrained in people's minds. After all, no class has ever had its 1000 points deducted to 0 in the first month of school.
Will this bad reputation lead to a decline in public opinion? No, because there's no lower limit.
Although it seems unlikely that Class B and Class D will win if they team up, don't forget that the current Class 1-B and Class 2-B were originally Class A, which were the strongest classes in terms of overall strength when the school initially assigned students.
The Class 1-B definitely wants to return to Class A's position, while the second year is only the third or fourth month of Miyabi Nagumo's rule. Even if Kiriyama, the leader of the Class 2-B, is subdued by Nagumo like in the original story, there will definitely still be people in that class who continue to resist.
Otherwise, the final exam results for second graders last semester wouldn't have shown that all four classes lost points, with Class 2-B losing the most.
If the second-year exams become a one-man show by Nagumo, then he can manipulate the exam results by controlling the three classes A, C, and D.
Therefore, the fact that Class 2-B had 150 points deducted at that time further demonstrates that Nagumo was wary of them and wanted to deal a severe blow.
The score on this exam is enough to give Class 2-B another chance to fight back.
So, do the remaining Class 3-B really not want to fight one last time?
They'll definitely want to go for it.
Therefore, given this momentum, encountering Class 1-D that's dragging everyone down will definitely be a headache.
One of their biggest headaches is figuring out how to make Class 1-D obedient, which will also be part of their exam planning. In this way, they can just wait to collect the money.
Was Ryuuen's decision to lead the class away from the venue also for this purpose?
Is deliberately acting uncooperative just a way to extort money from allied classes or upperclassmen who want to win?
Ryuuen and Nakano share a similar way of thinking: they both like to find rules and then use those rules to gain huge benefits.
While Ryuuen's actions this time may seem like a provocation to everyone, his approach was actually correct.
Firstly.
It's meaningless.
Teaming up with Class A is utterly pointless.
What can you gain by teaming up with Class A? Among the competition events, there are only two competitions where two classes can team up: one is the pole-climbing competition (boys only), and the other is the recommended event, the four-way tug-of-war.
Ichinose have a strong sense of unity and are all well-behaved. They've only been in Class A for a short time and definitely don't want to be relegated. So, even if Ryuuen doesn't join forces, Class A will still obediently participate. There's no need to elaborate.
Talking more is a waste of time.
It can even create a sense of pressure for Class A, making them take the exam more seriously, and forcing them to work hard on their own because Class C is not cooperating.
This can be seen as a boost to the morale of Class A and even the entire Red Group.
After all.
If you lose, you get a -200 point deduction in your evaluation score. That's definitely something you don't want to happen.
Secondly.
Teaming up with Class A is out of the question; the odds of winning are very high.
Although both the first and second grade Class A were originally from the Class B, being able to advance indicates that they possess a certain level of ability.
Class 3-A is the Student Council President's class, and the third-year students will graduate in two semesters, so Class 3-A will definitely go all out.
Class C is generally stronger overall than Class D.
Therefore, with this combination, their chances of winning are actually not low.
Therefore, it's highly likely that he'll get 200 points in the red-white match without even trying.
So what's the point of any communication? Just wait to be carried along.
Therefore, he no longer needs to consider the battle between the entire school, but rather the duel between the first-year students.
In the grade ranking, the first-place score receives +200 points, the second-place score remains unchanged, the third-place score receives -50 points, and the last-place score receives -100 points.
Therefore, what he really needs to consider is how Class C can improve its overall score in the competition and how to lower the scores of other classes in the competition.
The fact that this could be done is definitely not through any legitimate means, and the only possible targets are probably Class B and Class D.
The easiest to deal with is definitely Class D.
It can be said that the continuous Island Exam and VIP exams have stripped Ryuuen Class bare, and the money owed has been basically paid off. Ryuuen Class now has very few points left.
However, the stunt that Ryuuen is putting on now will probably get them some points from the upperclassmen in the alliance.
In other words...
Hmm.
Nakano-kun was originally going to let Ryuen, but this time, he delivered himself right to his doorstep.
He had no choice.
Meanwhile, Ryuen, in a very unconventional manner, led his group away.