Arriving at the Exam Site, the Boys' Grouping Strategy / The Boys' Groups, and the Ever-Center-of-Attention Student

"I see."

Everyone understood why Ichinose Honami asked that question. After all, the entire Class A of the First Year had worked so hard until graduation so that not a single one of them would drop out.

Currently, the students have a good amount of points. As the top-ranked class, each student earns around 200,000 Private Points per month. With few people spending recklessly, they can easily raise more points on the spot should any special circumstances arise.

"We should be able to handle 300 points in the Class Evaluation Points, right?"

Hashiba Hikaru's face showed a thoughtful expression. Currently, Class A's Class Evaluation Points is 2315. Even if an unexpected event occurs, they can still withstand a few more setbacks.

"That's right, I think everyone feels the same way,"

Ichinose Honami's voice rose several octaves, "No matter what happens, we absolutely cannot let our classmate be expelled. That's our consensus!"

"Yes!"

"Support! No matter what, not a single member of Class A can be missing!"

This is a consensus among everyone. Even with the strict penalties clearly defined in the rules, the students still maintained their original aspirations and absolutely could not accept anyone dropping out of school.

"I'm really pleased that everyone is so united."

Looking at the students united in their efforts, Chie Hoshinomiya smiled brightly. "Please keep up the good work, everyone."

"Clear!"

After thoroughly understanding all the rules, the students on the bus continued to browse the handbook, since it would be collected upon arrival at their destination, so it was good to memorize as many as possible.

Hashiba Hikaru was engrossed in reading the contents of the manual.

This is an exam that separates boys and girls. Upon arrival at the destination, boys and girls will live in two different school buildings. The two buildings are not too far apart, but because they will be living separately, they cannot go out without permission.

The only time they can connect is when dining in the Student Cafeteria, where the school doesn't issue any instructions, making it easier to get along and exchange information.

However, there's one rather troublesome aspect to the rules: while you can bring your personal belongings, you have to hand in your phone. Being unable to use your phone for a week is quite frustrating.

Having realized this, Hashiba Hikaru picked up his phone to talk to someone, but coincidentally, he found that many people had sent him text messages at that moment.

Everyone probably understands that the phones will be collected upon arrival at the destination, so they want to communicate in advance.

Chat interface.

Horikita Suzune: Since I don't have classes today, can we meet up later?

Kushida Kikyo: After lunch, during our free time, would you like to explore the area together? I have something to tell you.

Sakura Airi: Hikaru, can we meet tonight? I'm feeling uneasy.

"..."

After reading through the multiple messages sent by these girls, Hashiba Hikaru shook her head with a wry smile.

Today, being the first day at the Forest School, besides getting familiar with the environment, the most important thing is to understand the timetable and complete the grouping of boys and girls. Everyone knows that today is for preparation.

The boy hesitated at the sudden influx of messages. He glanced at his girlfriend, Ichinose Honami was intently reviewing the rules without showing any particular emotion.

"Forget it, I'll just go see them one by one."

After clarifying her thoughts, Hashiba Hikaru replied to each of the girls who contacted her and arranged specific times.

After finishing all these things, he looked up at the constantly changing scenery outside the window. The bus seemed to be entering the final leg of its journey, and the Matoba outside had changed from a steel city to a lush forest, as if it had entered the mountains.

Just before the bus arrived, Ichinose Honami finally sent a message to Hashiba Hikaru.

Ichinose Honami: I'll come find Hikaru during my free time this afternoon, so remember to wait for me.

"..."

After silently typing his reply, Hashiba Hikaru felt a mix of emotions, but this was within his expectations. It seemed he needed to manage his time well during this Forest School.

Having finished everything, Hashiba Hikaru remained on the chat interface. He clicked into a man's chat window and sent a message.

This Special Exam might lead to many unusual things, and the boy decided to continue moving towards his goal. After all, it was something he had already decided on, and he would not back down.

At this moment, on the bus of Class A of the Third Year, a bespectacled boy received a text message. His expression did not change at all. He simply replied calmly and then put his phone back into his pocket.

478

Chapter 478 Arrival at the Examination Hall: The Boys' Grouping Strategy

As the bus gradually slowed down, the students on board felt a chill; the temperature dropped noticeably as they moved from the city into the mountains.

When the vehicle came to a complete stop, Chie Hoshinomiya, holding the Student Handbook, began taking attendance.

"Students whose names are called, please disembark in order. Before disembarking, please take your mobile phones out of your pockets and put them in this plastic box. You can retrieve them after the exam."

"Knew."

Everyone was mentally prepared for this step. The students slowly got off the bus in the order of roll call. After handing in their phones, some people did seem uncomfortable and looked a little nervous.

Hashiba Hikaru gazed at the Forest School not far away. In front of her was a very spacious area, like a playground, and deep inside stood two school buildings with dark brown walls. As a place to accommodate three grades, it was a very large-scale school.

After all the students got off the bus, the teacher immediately divided them into two lines according to the requirement of separating boys and girls. There was basically no time to leave any gaps, so Hashiba Hikaru didn't even get a chance to speak to Ichinose Honami.

Because there was a distance between the two school buildings, the girls lined up and walked to one side, while Hashiba Hikaru followed the boys' line to the other side.

As Hashiba Hikaru moved along the specially maintained stone path, his gaze constantly shifting as he surveyed the surroundings. As the location chosen by the school, it was indeed very quiet.

Apart from two rather prominent and tall school buildings, the view is filled with lush trees and hills. Because it is deep in the forest, the air is even fresher than on the Artificial Island where the school is located.

Upon arriving at the boys' school building, Hashiba Hikaru smelled the scent of wood. Although it was clear from a distance that the building was quite old, being there in person gave her a new experience of its historical atmosphere.

"Although it's a vintage wooden building, it's clearly well-maintained; it's really beautiful."

Shibata and Kanzaki Ryuji stood on either side of Hashiba Hikaru, surveying their surroundings.

"That's true, it seems the school always chooses very special locations."

"That's right."

After the boys from Class A of the First Year walked through the classroom, they were quickly led to a place that resembled Gymnasium. However, what was noteworthy was that, perhaps due to the different order in which they got off the bus, they were the first to arrive at the place, while the boys from other classes had not yet arrived.

"The other three classes should be arriving soon."

Kanzaki Ryuji glanced at the boys in his class who were already used to surrounding Hashiba Hikaru, and decided to think about his strategy in advance. "What are your thoughts on grouping, Classmate Hashiba?"

"Since it's Special Exam, we should naturally strive for the highest score."

"Does that mean you're going to recruit boys from three other classes to form a group?"

Shibata looked at everyone in the class and asked with some doubt, "But the negotiations shouldn't be that easy, right?"

"Time is limited. We need to go for lunch after the group assignments are completed, so we don't have much time left."

Hashiba Hikaru thought for a moment, then said very seriously, "If anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to bring them up now."

"I think we should go along with what Classmate Hashiba says. After all, you're the Student Council Vice President and know the most seniors."

"Yes, this way we'll have an advantage when forming larger groups, right?"

"In that case, how many groups should our class of twenty boys be divided into?"

Someone raised the most crucial question.

"We'll see how things unfold later."

Hashiba Hikaru felt that, judging from the rules, the formation of groups and large groups would definitely require a lot of negotiation and exchange of interests, so it was better not to be too optimistic.

"Um."

The boys from Class A of the First Year surrounded Hashiba Hikaru in the middle, like soldiers guarding an emperor. A short while later, the boys from Class B of the First Year appeared from the road they had just come from.

Leading the boys of Class B was none other than the conspicuous bald man, Katsuragi Kohei, who walked expressionlessly at the head of the line, followed by Ryuen Kakeru leading the boys of Class C.

The two classes entered the venue at roughly the same speed, but they didn't communicate with each other at all. After Class B and Class C arrived, the last to arrive were naturally the boys from Class D of the First Year.

Hashiba Hikaru glanced over and saw that the leader was still the handsome Hirata, while Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had already partnered with him, was staying in the middle of the group, inconspicuous as a form of camouflage.

After the boys from the four first-grade classes arrived, the boys from the other grades also gathered here. The boy saw Horikita Manabu standing at the front of the third grade, and Miyabi Nagumo from the Second Year.

After all the boys had arrived, the teacher who was maintaining order picked up the microphone and began to speak. He was not one of the four homeroom teachers from the first grade, but a male teacher from the second or third grade.

"Now that everyone is here, let's start discussing how to form small groups. You all read the rules on the bus, right? The small groups need to be formed by noon today, and the larger groups will be formed by 8 PM tonight."

"The decision of which group to form is entirely up to you. The school will not interfere in any way. The maximum number of participants will be determined according to the rules, so please keep that in mind."

The boys present were given very clear instructions. Although there were also second and third-year students present, Hashiba Hikaru knew very well that at this stage it was still an internal issue for the first-year students. How to organize the teams and groups was the key next step.

After the group assignments were announced, the boys from the four first-grade classes stood together according to their class.

Among them, the boys led by Katsuragi Kohei from Class B of the First Year were the first to act. They seemed to have planned their strategy in advance, with fourteen people splitting into one side and the other six into the other side.

"As you can see, one of our groups in Class A will be structured in this way, with fourteen people forming a group. If one more member from another class joins, it will meet the optimal rules for group formation."

"What we need to do now is recruit people who are willing to join us, do you all understand?"

The spokesperson was not Katsuragi Kohei, but a boy named Matoba.

"Tch, why should we listen to your orders? Who are you?"

Standing to the side, Ryuen Kakeru immediately scoffed, "Putting aside the fact that your ideas are too naive, even if someone were willing to join, do you think everyone would feel at ease?"

"We've come up with a way to put this person at ease."

Katsuragi Kohei exchanged a glance with Hashiba Hikaru. Knowing the latter's influence within Class A of the First Year, he immediately asked, "Does Classmate Hashiba want to know?"

Tell me about it.

"We proposed a preferential quota system. As long as this student from another class is willing to join, we won't hold him responsible for anything. The person in charge will be someone else. It doesn't matter if his grades aren't good, as long as he doesn't deliberately drag the class down."

"Yeah?"

Hearing him say that, some people did show expressions of contemplation and weighing the options, since no one wanted to take responsibility. But Ryuen Kakeru laughed again.

"What a naive idea, Katsuragi. If this is all you're capable of, you shouldn't be leading the group."

"You!"

Just as the two classes were on the verge of conflict, Hashiba Hikaru suddenly spoke up.

"I also have an idea, would you all like to hear it?"

479

Chapter 479 The boys' group assignments always put them in the spotlight.

In order not to waste time, as soon as Hashiba Hikaru spoke, the leaders of the other classes immediately stopped speaking, including Ryuen Kakeru, Katsuragi Kohei, and Hirata Yosuke from Class D.

"Hashiba, you wouldn't have come up with some simplistic idea like Katsuragi, would you?"

Ryuen Kakeru stared at the boy in front of him. He still remembered the failures on the Uninhabited Island and the Cruise Ship last time, and he had been thinking about how to get revenge.

"If you're just going to keep spouting nonsense, then please shut up."

Hashiba Hikaru gave him a cold glare, then turned to Katsuragi Kohei and Hirata Yosuke, "Actually, after understanding the rules, everyone knows very well that the final score is based on the number of members in the group and the number of classes. It's normal for each class to want to get the most points."

"Does Classmate Hashiba think we can collaborate?"

Hirata Yosuke had always cared about Hashiba Hikaru, after all, she had helped Class D before.

Instead of wasting our breath arguing here, let's reach the fairest solution. After all, nobody would agree to any of the other conditions, right?

Hashiba Hikaru's gaze swept over Katsuragi and Ryuen, because he was the most famous boy in the first year, and all 80 people here were looking at him.

"So what's your idea? Should we group them all in the same way?"

Ryuen Kakeru immediately understood the other party's plan. After all, if the grouping was within the class, he could use his personal authority to forcibly designate it. But once students from other classes were included, everyone's consent was required.

The rules are very clear: to form a group, everyone in the group must agree; even if only one person objects, it won't work.

"Yeah, all four of our classes have gone through so many exams. It's hard to completely trust each other, isn't it?"

Hashiba Hikaru countered, "Since there's already a barrier to persuasion, let's just group them in the fairest way possible."

"This is indeed a good path. If you really want to do this, Classmate Hashiba, I'm willing to support you."

The first person to approve of the plan was Katsuragi Kohei. His original plan was to form a group by recruiting others, but now that the other party had said so, it might really be possible to maximize the interests of all classes.

"I agree too. I believe what Classmate Hashiba says. Anyway, neither of us can convince the other right now, can we?"

Hirata Yosuke smiled gently, then looked at the long-haired man standing beside him.

What does Ryuen mean?

"Hmph, since that's what you all think, then let's allocate them this way. I believe the people in our class are the most outstanding."