Unity Is the Key to Victory / The Dragon Group's First Discussion

"What's wrong?"

"Since we're going to post a group announcement, why don't I do it? And I'll sign it with my name and Guang's name at the end to show that it was a mutual decision."

"It's possible, but don't do a surprise attack."

Hashiba Hikaru's expression was slightly awkward. Although he and the girl were quite close, she was, after all, a beautiful girl with excellent looks and figure. Sometimes, it would stir up uncontrollable thoughts in his heart, so the boy had always been very restrained.

But just now, her little hand touched Hashiba Hikaru's thigh directly. Who could resist that?

After taking a step back, Hashiba Hikaru handed her phone to the other person, a hint of nervousness still lingering on her face.

"Hehehe, I know."

After taking in the boy's expression, Ichinose Honami stuck out her little tongue.

This was a "little trick" she learned from Ando Sayo. Although she called herself a love guru, she had never actually been in a relationship; she had only read a lot of romance novels.

Within Ichinose Honami's group of girls in Class A, everyone knows she likes Hashiba Hikaru, and their relationship is clearly just one step away from becoming a real one, so everyone tells her to take the initiative.

After all, he's a boy, and he'll always enjoy some physical contact. Although Hashiba Hikaru has always been very restrained, if she teases him a little more often, the boy might just realize his feelings more quickly.

Anyway, after learning that Hashiba Hikaru had never been in a relationship, the pink-haired girl had already made up her mind to be with him. If they succeeded, they would share each other's first time, no matter what it was.

"Then go ahead and send it. I'll watch from the side." Hashiba Hikaru calmed herself down.

"Uh-huh."

Ichinose Honami nodded, then looked down and opened the boy's phone group chat to start typing. She knew Hashiba Hikaru's phone password, and so did the other person.

Within the class group chat for Class A.

Hashiba Hikaru: Ichinose and I have an important announcement to make regarding this Special Exam, so please take note.

Ichinose then edited the boy's idea into a detailed announcement and posted it in the group, adding their names at the end to convey the importance of the announcement.

"Alright, mission accomplished."

"Well, let's wait for eight o'clock tomorrow." Hashiba Hikaru glanced at her watch and said softly to the girl, "Let's meet in the restaurant on the first floor before eight o'clock tomorrow morning and discuss this over breakfast."

"I understand, I'll come ahead of time."

Ichinose Honami had a gentle smile, delicate features, and a captivating glow on her small face.

"Then let's call it a day. I'll take Honami back to his room."

"Uh-huh."

By daybreak the next day, Hashiba Hikaru was already awake, as were his three roommates from Class A.

"There are still a few minutes until eight o'clock. Let's wait for the text message to arrive." Shibata had finished washing up and was now staring at his phone.

"That's right, I wonder who will be the VIP in our class?"

"If it were Classmate Hashiba, wouldn't that be the perfect choice?" Beppu Ryota said with a teasing smile.

"In short, once the text message arrives, please don't speak loudly to avoid being overheard."

Hashiba Hikaru gave the order, then also began staring at her phone screen.

When eight o'clock arrived, everyone's phone rang with the sound of receiving a text message.

The boy opened his phone and saw that the message was quite concise and clear.

[After careful selection, you were not chosen as VIP. You will instead take on the challenge as a group member. The exam will begin at 1 PM today and will last for three days. Students of the Dragon Group, please assemble in the room on the second floor marked with the character "Dragon" to discuss.]

"No..."

Hashiba Hikaru sighed. If she were VIP, she might be able to gather more information, but since she wasn't, she would have to rely on others.

He looked up at the other three people in the room, and they all shook their heads.

"I'll head out now. Remember to keep an eye on the group chat; Ichinose and I will be discussing our class's strategy."

"Yes, we understand."

Hashiba Hikaru left the room and went to the place she had arranged to meet Ichinose Honami the day before, but to her surprise, the girl was already there.

I glanced at the time; it was 8:02.

Did she arrive here before eight o'clock?

"Hikaru, good morning."

There was no one else around, so the girl's address was quite natural.

"Good morning."

Hashiba Hikaru pulled out a chair and sat down, deciding that the discussion on the class plan should begin immediately!

Chapter 182 Unity is the Key to Victory

Feeling the sea breeze blowing in their faces, Hashiba Hikaru and Ichinose Honami chose their breakfast and began to eat and chat.

"Is it just VIP?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not." The boy showed the other person the text message on his phone.

"Me neither. It seems I still need to gather information on the other students in the class." Ichinose Honami glanced at the other person's phone screen, then handed him her own phone.

"While neither of us is VIP, on the bright side, it means we don't need to hold back when we're taking action."

"Indeed, after all, people with something to hide will always act unnaturally, and if their mental fortitude isn't strong enough, they might leak information."

Ichinose Honami took a sip of her juice, a faint smile on her pretty face.

"So how should we formulate our exam strategy this time?" she asked the boy for his thoughts.

"I think we should focus on guessing the patterns of those VIP." Hashiba Hikaru finished the last bit of food on her plate and wiped her mouth.

"In any case, since the school has made it clear that this exam requires everyone to use their brains, perhaps guessing the selection pattern of the VIP is the best solution."

"Should we have the students in the class VIP proactively tell Hikaru the information?" Ichinose Honami opened the group chat, preparing to send a message.

"It's possible, but I think there's another thing that needs to be emphasized."

Hashiba Hikaru placed her phone in front of her and said calmly, "Although the rules prohibit checking other people's phones through violence or coercion, eavesdropping should be allowed."

"Just like the last Uninhabited Island Exam, although the rules are very detailed, there are always some loopholes left for everyone to think of ways to come up with unexpected solutions."

"What you mean by 'Hikari' is... that someone might eavesdrop on other students' conversations to gather information?" Ichinose Honami's expression gradually became serious.

"That possibility cannot be ruled out, and Honami, don't forget that the use of recording devices is not listed among the prohibited items either," Hashiba Hikaru said with a smile, touching the area under the table where the two were sitting. "For example, if someone were to stick a Voice Recorder under this table, wouldn't our conversation be completely exposed?"

"Indeed... since it's an intelligence war, I'm sure many students will be taking action in this area." Ichinose Honami quickly understood what the boy meant.

"Therefore, I think it's necessary to emphasize another thing to the other students in the class, and that is about the way of discussion."

Hashiba Hikaru pointed to the phone and solemnly explained, "Regardless of whether you are VIP or not, you may use your phone to communicate in private, in addition to the twice-daily group discussions."

"I understand. Anyway, other people are forbidden from trying to steal or secretly use your phone. If all communication is done on the phone, the risk of information leakage is reduced."

A hint of excitement shone in the pink-haired girl's beautiful eyes; she thought this method was quite good.

"Furthermore, just in case, the chat history can be deleted after the conversation ends, which can better ensure security even if the phone is accidentally lost or the screen is exposed."

Hashiba Hikaru opened her chat history with Ichinose Honami on her phone. Deleting the chat history was quite simple; it only took a few steps.

"Let's say this to everyone for now, and then have the selected VIP members of our class privately message Guang to gather this information."

"Can."

The boy nodded slightly, and after a moment of contemplation, he added, "Because each person can only answer questions within their own group, once we discover the pattern by which the school selects VIP from all classes, we still need to carefully consider how the three VIP in our class should approach the exam."

"Well, I'm afraid we'll need to discuss the specific implementation plan more thoroughly when the time comes," Ichinose Honami said with a serious expression.

"Communication is fine, but it should still be done via mobile phone."

Hashiba Hikaru glanced at the girl's face and chuckled, "Does Honami think I'm not conspicuous enough?"

"..."

These words immediately silenced Ichinose Honami.

Indeed, whether it was the sale of hidden rules at the beginning of the school year or the various events that followed, almost all the first-year students knew that although Ichinose Honami was the current class leader of Class A, Hashiba Hikaru was the real decision-maker.

If you proactively meet with the other VIP, it's entirely possible that someone might spy on you or follow you; this is a very real possibility.

"I understand. Then I'll communicate with them via my phone." Ichinose Honami opened the class group chat page and prepared to type.

She glanced at Hashiba Hikaru, and only after the boy nodded did she begin typing in the preliminary plan they had just discussed.

First: To prevent information leaks, except during group discussions, everyone should communicate via mobile phone as much as possible, and the timing of deletion should be determined according to the importance of the topic, so as not to leave any loopholes.

Second: Students who have received a text message indicating they have been selected as VIP, please proactively contact Classmate Hashiba privately. Just in case, please do not inform anyone other than Classmate Hashiba.

Third: Students selected as VIP can proactively communicate with Classmate Hashiba when encountering problems. Of course, the main means of communication is through mobile phones, and private meetings should be avoided to prevent information leakage.

About five seconds after Ichinose Honami sent these three messages to the class group, Hashiba Hikaru's phone rang.

It was a private chat message between three people, which included their specific group assignments and a screenshot of the text message showing that the person selected VIP had been chosen.

According to the rules of this exam, in order to make the VIP Exam mechanism more fair, the school will not accept changes to preferential treatment status regardless of whether one is selected as a VIP or not, which is different from the Uninhabited Island Exam.

Furthermore, the text message regarding VIP is prohibited from being copied, forwarded, or modified. Therefore, apart from seeing it in person, the only way to convey the specific details is by taking a screenshot.

"Has everyone sent it yet?" Ichinose Honami asked, noticing the boy's suddenly serious expression. "Information about the VIP."

"It's been sent."

After memorizing the names and group information on her phone, Hashiba Hikaru looked up at the pink-haired girl opposite her.

"Does Ichinose want to know?"

"No, just like we said, this result should only be known to Classmate Hashiba. It's crucial to ensure the smooth execution of our operation plan."

"Okay, then I'll just delete this record." Without hesitation, Hashiba Hikaru sent a reply to the three of them and then quickly deleted the three private messages.

"So, is Hikari going to start thinking about the patterns now? Or should we disband now?" Ichinose Honami asked tentatively. After deciding to hand over the decision-making power for this exam to her, the girl's role was to support Hashiba Hikaru.

"No rush. Let's think about it after the discussion ends at 1 p. m. today. The focus should be on gathering information from other classes."

Hashiba Hikaru glanced at the list of Dragon Group members in her phone's notepad. These were no small fry; it was likely to be a tough battle.

"Yes, I'll also observe others more closely during our discussion."

Ichinose Honami belongs to the Rabbit Group. The girl has just told Hashiba Hikaru the specific list. Not only that, in order to figure out the school's selection rules for VIP, the other students in Class A also uploaded the list of their group members to the group chat.

Only by summarizing this information can we better understand the underlying patterns.

"Yes, there are a lot of interesting classmates in Honami's group." Hashiba Hikaru glanced at the list of members of the Rabbit Group.

Besides Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had caught his attention last time, there was also Yamashita Saki, who had infiltrated Class A during the Uninhabited Island Exam. He had heard that Manabe Shiho was also an undercover agent who had entered Class C's camp at the time.

And then there's Ibuki Mio fact that she and Ryuen Kakeru appeared together on the Uninhabited Island suggests that they might be vying for influence within the class. This Special Exam is definitely a crucial opportunity, and given the girl's competitive nature, she certainly won't sit idly by this time.

I think so too.

Ichinose Honami stared at the list of members she had written down. She knew what Hashiba Hikaru meant. In order to help the class win, the pink-haired girl believed that she had to gather more information.

"Let's pretend nothing happened for the time being and wait together for the first group discussion."

Hashiba Hikaru gazed at the clear sky in the distance, her thoughts churning within her.

Logically, once the information about the VIP is released, each class should be thinking about how to prepare for the exam, but the boy believes that no other class has as comprehensive an information as he does.

After all, based on previous intelligence gathering, the remaining three classes were not completely united. Even if they wanted to reach a consensus, it would definitely require a period of adjustment. But Class A was different. After a semester of building a united atmosphere, everyone hardly had any extra thoughts.

The fact that the boy's phone received a text message immediately after Ichinose Honami sent a notification to the class group chat is proof of this.

Those with VIP have an indescribable advantage in this exam, and may even be able to take all the rewards if they perform exceptionally well. However, the students in Class A all understand the core objective of this exam: to achieve victory together with everyone in the class. That is everyone's goal.

"Yes, let's work together, Light."

A smile crept onto the girl's lips. If they could win this exam, Class A would receive a large sum of Private Points.

With the class score gained from the Uninhabited Island Exam, Class A will undoubtedly have an unparalleled advantage when the second semester begins.

What an exciting future!

Chapter 183 The Dragon Group's First Discussion

When it was noon, after having lunch with Ichinose Honami, Hashiba Hikaru checked the time on her watch. The first group discussion was about to begin, and she had to take advantage of this opportunity to gather information.