The Special Exam's Detailed Rules

Hashiba Hikaru had no choice but to continue coaxing him gently.

"If you don't get up, I'm going to stick my cold hands in and tickle you, are you scared?"

The boy moved closer, placing his hand on the edge of the blanket.

"Smack!"

The moment he finished speaking, a small, fair hand suddenly darted out from under the covers and grabbed Hashiba Hikaru's wrist. With a forceful tug, the boy, who had been hunched over, lost his balance and fell uncontrollably onto the bed.

"Splash!"

Ichinose Honami abruptly pulled back the covers, pressing her warm body against Hashiba Hikaru, who was lying on the bed. Meeting her boyfriend's astonished gaze, the girl pulled the covers back over herself, and the two of them were enveloped in darkness.

"I don't want to see the light's face right now, let's just talk like this."

"... good."

Hashiba Hikaru couldn't do anything about her, so she could only lie quietly on the bed. Ichinose Honami was only wearing her underwear, and her soft skin kept rubbing against Hikari Hashiba Hikaru's arms and hands, while her soft, sweet breath touched the boy's face.

"Is Honami asking about my Classmate Sakayanagi?"

"No."

Even in the darkness, Ichinose Honami could still catch a glimpse of her boyfriend's bright eyes. She rested her head on Hashiba Hikaru's chest, her voice filled with extremely complex thoughts.

"What does Honami want to ask?"

"With two years left until graduation, will we really stay together forever?"

The ring on Ichinose Honami's hand shimmered with tiny silver specks of light in the darkness. She glanced at the ring, her voice wistful.

"After graduation, I will marry Honami. Don't Auntie Miu already know this?"

Hashiba Hikaru held her slender waist, his voice resolute.

"That..."

Ever since witnessing Kushida Kikyo's incident, Ichinose Honami has been internally conflicted about it, because she knows just how popular her boyfriend is.

Everyone wants to have good things, whether it's Kushida Kikyo, Airi Sakura (Sakura Airi), the aloof Sakayanagi Arisu -san, Horikita Sakayanagi (whom we saw today), or a Silver-haired Senior who gave Hashiba Hikaru chocolates on Valentine's Day.

These beautiful girls all harbored complex feelings for Hashiba Hikaru to varying degrees, while the boy's attitude towards them was ambiguous. His inability to completely reject them was, in itself, an answer the girls understood perfectly well.

"I have a question, and I hope you can tell me the real answer, okay?"

Ichinose Honami straightened up, and in the darkness, her small hand touched her boyfriend's angular face.

"What's the problem?"

Hashiba Hikaru's voice was very soft.

"How many girls has Hikaru slept with?"

Ichinose Honami desperately wanted to know the answer to this question, but she couldn't find the right time. After all, she was worried that being too abrupt would lead to unpredictable consequences.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Hashiba Hikaru's apple bobbed as she slowly uttered her answer.

"Three."

Who are they?

Upon hearing the answer she wanted, Ichinose Honami a tremor in her heart.

For some reason, she felt much more relaxed; the number wasn't that high.

Since one is her and the other is Kushida Kikyo, then who is the remaining one?

"There's Honami, Kikyo, and Airi."

Since the conversation had already reached this point, Hashiba Hikaru decided not to hide it any longer and told his girlfriend what he called the two girls.

"So it really is Sakura?"

Although she was unhappy that her boyfriend called other girls by their first names, his honesty made her feel much more at ease.

"Honami knows?"

"I only saw a photo by chance; it was taken by Shiranami."

"Um?"

Hashiba Hikaru's heart skipped a beat. If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that Ichinose had known about his relationship with Sakura Airi for a long time?

"Don't worry, Guang. I didn't pay any attention to the photo at the time, and I told everyone not to worry about it either. After all, it's a private matter between the two of us, and it didn't circulate in class."

Ichinose Honami recalled how things were handled back then. Because the matter wasn't known to many people, only a few of her girlfriends were present. After the girl repeatedly emphasized it, everyone cooperated and didn't say anything more.

"Honami... I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. It's normal for boys to have these thoughts. After all, who wouldn't want several pretty girls to sleep with them?"

"Isn't it a bit too direct?"

The boy couldn't help but smile wryly, but judging from the other person's tone of voice, it seemed that his anger had subsided considerably.

"Snort!"

Ichinose Honami snorted twice. Since things had come to this point, she couldn't force her boyfriend to break up with those two girls. If she did that, she might end up pushing Hashiba Hikaru into someone else's arms, which was absolutely unacceptable.

"Since it's already like this, I won't say anything. Anyway, the person who will marry Hikaru in the end will definitely be me, right?"

Ichinose Honami grasped at her most important desire; she gripped her boyfriend's hand tightly, for this was the only thing she would never give up.

"Yes, nothing will change."

Hashiba Hikaru nodded emphatically.

"Um."

After hearing her boyfriend's final statement, Ichinose Honami suddenly started making rustling noises under the covers, which aroused Hashiba Hikaru's curiosity.

What is Honami doing?

"Take off my clothes. I want to do something else before dinner. I'm so angry today, I need to let it all out."

"..."

"Guang is unwilling?"

Ichinose Honami removed all her restraints and reached out to unbutton two buttons on her boyfriend's shirt.

"... Of course not."

"That's good. No matter which other girls are eyeing you, remember one thing: the person lying on top of you right now is your girlfriend, Ichinose Honami."

"I've always remembered."

"Mmm~"

Hashiba Hikaru threw back the covers, bringing their bodies together tightly, and a hot atmosphere slowly filled the bedroom.

Chapter 636 Details of the Special Exam

At 11 p. m., after the wind and rain stopped, Ichinose Honami and Hashiba Hikaru finished their dinner together. After the girl fell asleep, the boy sat down at the table and began to review the detailed rules of the upcoming exam.

Because Chie Hoshinomiya only talked about the general process and overall framework in the class meeting, the specific methods for formulating the [project] and related details were all written in a notebook, which was probably handed over to the [Commander Tower] of each class.

Hashiba Hikaru opened the notebook and began to examine it carefully.

Notes on niche projects.

[Firstly, if the competition is divided into too many specific categories, it may not be approved by the school.]

[Secondly, if Written Exam or similar content are used as competition items, the school will take responsibility for creating the test papers to ensure fairness.]

[Third, no project may deviate from or alter the fundamental rules.]

Regarding the facilities that are available.

[On the day of the Special Exam, Commander Tower exam will be conducted in the Multipurpose Classroom. In addition, the Gymnasium, playground, music classroom, science classrooms, and a range of other school facilities are available, with a few exceptions.]

Regarding project limitations and time constraints.

[For items judged to be identical, each class can only use one of them for the competition. Additionally, if the time limit for an exam item is too long, or if the time limit is too vague or nonexistent, it may also be rejected.]

Regarding the number of players on the field for each match.

[First, the required number of participants for each exam item: excluding substitutes, each item requires a different number of participants.]

[Secondly, the minimum number of players in a match is one, and the maximum number is twenty. Including substitutes, the total number of players must not exceed twenty.]

[Thirdly, including substitutes, a class can only register a maximum of two events with more than ten participants.]

Conditions for participating in the competition.

Each student may participate in one event, but may not participate in more than one event.

[If all students have participated in a project, then they can participate in more than two projects.]

Regarding the Commander Tower.

[The Commander Tower has the authority to intervene in the entire process of seven projects. The method of intervention will be provided by the class that decides on the project, and the intervention method must be approved by the school before it can be implemented.]

"Is limiting the number of participants the school is focusing on when designing the exam?"

Hashiba Hikaru pressed her temples. From the announcement of this Special Exam to learning the detailed rules, the boy could roughly figure out the school's purpose in setting such a question.

Ultimately, it's about seeing everyone work together. After all, a project can only have a maximum of twenty participants, and can only be scheduled twice. If we want to increase the chances of winning, some of the top students from each class might have to compete several times.

If someone doesn't cooperate or a particularly difficult project arises, preventing some people from participating, then the prerequisite of everyone participating in the project cannot be met, thus interrupting the possibility of repeated appearances.

"Furthermore... the [project] was selected through a random draw by the school, which is different from the Sports Festival."

Hashiba Hikaru tapped the table lightly. His angular face was even more handsome under the lamplight. He was always expressionless when he was thinking, and his sharp eyebrows and eyes gave people an invisible sense of pressure.

This is why teenagers often choose to think alone.

"Because each class will submit five real projects, the scope is too broad, involving both physical and Intelligence competition, and it's a best-of-seven format."

The exam is a best-of-seven series. According to Chie Hoshinomiya, the exam will not end even if one side wins the match; all seven matches must be played.

This means that strategy can be used when designing the lineup. If the opponent's project is complicated and they have someone who is very good at it, then the Commander Tower can be arranged to intervene at the right time. As long as you can turn the tide and win, it is also a good way to win.

"Hmm... and this time Sakayanagi is the [Commander Tower], so if we assign her Intelligence- related [projects], she'll definitely find them easy to handle."

Hashiba Hikaru sighed, because this time the Commander Tower of Class A was his girlfriend, and he couldn't interfere with her thoughts during the game.

Even after multiple appearances, he could only receive instructions via walkie-talkie and could not forcefully intervene in the game. After all, violating the rules would result in an immediate loss, and he could not bear such a risk. The boy himself also disliked losing.

"Everything will be left to Honami to manage on-site. I hope she's strong enough."

Hashiba Hikaru is quite confident about this.

Although Ichinose Honami often plays the role of an assistant in Special Exam, he is definitely a qualified class representative who considers many things very well.

"The focus for the next seven days will be on selecting [projects]."

Hashiba Hikaru memorized the detailed rules in the manual, rubbed his temples, and pondered which direction would be more suitable for setting questions.

The current Class A students were promoted through Special Exam. If we compare their average abilities, Class B's overall strength is definitely superior to Class A's. In terms of athletic ability and Intelligence, the students in Class B don't have much of an advantage.

In this Special Exam, Class A will face Class B, and Class C will face Class D. Putting aside Sakayanagi Arisu's strategy, Ryuen Kakeru suffered a great loss last time, so he'll definitely go all out against Class D this time, right?

After all, that guy is like a venomous snake; once he sets his sights on you, you're bound to get into trouble no matter what.

However, with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka present this time, he knew that Tsukishiro from the [White Room] was watching him. Students from the [Commander Tower] had the possibility of dropping out. Although he had managed to avoid it this time, the new Special Exam at the beginning of his Second Year would definitely be more troublesome.

Hashiba Hikaru plans to have Ayanokoji Kiyotaka increase his presence and influence, perhaps as a means of self-protection. He is a very useful tool that can help the boy deal with the problems in the [White Room].

"Tsukishiro... we still know too little about him. Perhaps with more information, we can better formulate a targeted plan."

I glanced at the time; it was almost midnight.

"Hikari, come and rest~"

The pink-haired girl opened her sleepy eyes slightly and saw her boyfriend still sitting in the chair. She murmured softly.

"Yes, it's here."