Karuizawa Kei's Choice (cont.)

"I'm sure everyone has already guessed it. After all, for students, the phrase 'golden autumn October' is associated with the Sports Festival, just like the cafeteria and yakisoba bread."

He started with a small joke, and the students in Class B smiled in return, which at least eased the slightly tense atmosphere in the class.

After the joke ended, Sakagami Kazuma became serious again and said:

"This Sports Festival is different from previous ones, and everyone in the class needs to take it seriously."

"Don't worry, homeroom teacher, our Class B won't lose to anyone at the Sports Festival!"

Ishizaki Daichi also shouted loudly, after all, Class B was basically composed of delinquents, and delinquents' physical fitness was definitely better than that of normal students, not to mention that there were also students like Kitagawa Ryo, Ryuen Kakeru, and Yamada Albert, whose physical fitness was among the top in the grade.

"It's good to have this determination, but the preparations for this Sports Festival are equally important."

Sakagami Kazuma chuckled twice and began to explain the specific rules:

"The principles of this year's Sports Festival are [all-grade free-for-all] and [diverse events]. Unlike previous years where the teams were divided into red and white groups, this year's Sports Festival will be a team event where each class competes independently. In other words, you can challenge any class on the day of the Sports Festival, except your own."

"First, to make it easier for you to understand my explanation, I will use 10 white cards and yellow cards that match the number of students in the class to continue the explanation."

As he said this, Sakagami Kazuma took out some instruction cards from his file bag, first arranging the cards that had no writing on them, and then pasting them one by one onto the blackboard.

Each card was roughly the size of a playing card. The top ten white cards were blank, but the yellow cards all seemed to have a student's name written on them. In the middle of the yellow cards, a black card stood out prominently.

The cards are arranged in rows of ten, so it's easy to count that there are a total of fifty cards pasted on top.

"First, I'll explain the purpose of these 10 white cards. You should discuss it with each other first, and then decide on 10 'projects' based on your ideas and abilities, and write the projects on these cards."

"The projects mentioned here refer to all sports that can be conducted fairly under the conditions provided on campus, such as the 100-meter race and obstacle course race."

"Running, long jump, high jump, swimming... just write down the events you think you can win."

"While you are free to choose, there are a few rules for deciding on a project. To put it extremely, if you make a project a niche competition that most people don't know about, then no one can win except the person who proposed it. Also, the rules of the project must be fair and easy to understand. Therefore, after you propose a project, the school will judge whether it is appropriate and decide whether to adopt it."

Seemingly noticing the confused looks on many students' faces, Sakagami Kazuma asked Ishizaki Daichi in the front row:

"Let me give you an example to illustrate what I just said. Ishizaki, what sports are you good at? Anything is fine, tell me."

"Uh... what are you good at?"

Perhaps feeling obliged to answer his homeroom teacher's question, or perhaps simply unable to immediately recall his strongest area of expertise, Ishizaki Daichi scratched his head and finally said:

"Does fighting count? I used to be a really good fighter!"

His seemingly joking reply made the classmates burst into laughter.

After all, everyone remembers the fight in the class on the first day of school, where Ishizaki Daichi was easily pinned to the ground and brutally beaten by Ryuen Kakeru.

However, Sakagami Kazuma accepted his answer seriously and wrote "[Freestyle Fighting]" on the white card.

"So, let's assume that Freestyle Fighting is the selected sport."

Ishizaki Daichi and his classmates, who didn't think the suggestion would be taken seriously, were completely dumbfounded.

"How should the rules be set?"

"Well, our old rule was to beat the opponent until they couldn't stand up anymore."

Following Ishizaki Daichi's instructions, Sakagami Kazuma added the rule "[Until the opponent loses the ability to retaliate]" below the card that read "[Freestyle Fighting]".

"Wow, it actually got adopted?"

Ishizaki Daichi.

"This is a project that most people are familiar with, and the rules are simple and clear. As long as no accidents occur, the school has no reason not to adopt this project."

Sakagami Kazuma responded calmly.

Although this suggestion came from a casual remark, it didn't pose a problem for the school, since there would be staff members on-site to act as referees.

"Then repeat this process nine more times, and you'll be able to select all ten items."

"However, it should be noted that these ten projects must include seven individual projects and three group projects."

"On the day of the Sports Festival, the school will randomly select five individual events and two team events from the twenty events provided by both sides as the final competition events."

The reason for ultimately selecting seven events may be due to the necessity of determining a winner.

Since there will be no tie, the outcome is decided when a team wins four out of seven events.

"However, even if a winner is decided halfway through the seven events, the competition will continue until the very last event, since it affects the Class Points. In other words, even if the loser is determined to be the one to lose, they will still compete to the very end."

Sakagami Kazuma scanned the entire class, paying particular attention to Kitagawa Ryo. However, Kitagawa Ryo still looked lazy and yawned. He had talked to Hiyori the phone too late last night, and if Sakagami Kazuma hadn't been reading out the rules of the Sports Festival, he would have already planned to take a nap on his desk.

"Winning each mini-project will earn the class 20 Class Points, while losing will deduct 20 points. Winning the final mini-project will earn an additional 100 points."

"The deadline for submitting projects and confirming participants is one week before the Sports Festival; submissions after this date will not be accepted."

"These rules about the project might be difficult to understand just by being verbally explained. Therefore, the school has prepared a sheet of paper with these instructions written down in detail. You are free to use it for photocopying or whatever else you like."

Realizing that the brain capacity of the students in Class B was probably insufficient to process such a large amount of information in such a short time, Sakagami Kazuma stopped simply explaining the rules and pulled a piece of paper from the file folder:

"Beichuan, come and get this."

"Ryuen?"

Kitagawa Ryo, who had no desire to move, simply called out to Ryuen Kakeru Sho, Ryuen Kakeru then walked up to the podium with a gloomy face and took the detailed explanation.

"Besides deciding on the projects, there's another important point. In this Special Exam, one person must take on the role of the 'Commander.' The student acting as the Commander cannot sign up for any projects. Please remember this."

Sakagami Kazuma pointed to the black card in the very center.

In fact, the students in Class B were already used to this slightly childish nickname.

There's the "Leader" in the Uninhabited Island Exam, the "VIP" in the VIP Exam, and now this "Commander" thing has popped up.

"This is a crucial position that requires adaptability and resourcefulness. Think of it as a lifeline that intervenes in all projects and provides support. This could involve things like replacing students or solving problems they can't handle. The key point is that the Commander is given the authority to participate in any project."

Is it not just a competition of basic skills among students, but also involves command and intervention from the Commander?

Although it's called the "Commander," it seems more like a position equivalent to the team leader or coach of a football or basketball team.

However, this intervention did make the joke "What, the coach is warming up" a reality.

Sakagami Kazuma's expression grew even more serious:

"When the class wins, the Commander may receive Private Points, but when the class loses, they also bear corresponding responsibility."

"If the class loses the match, the Commander will be expelled after the Sports Festival."

Sakagami Kazuma's words immediately silenced the previously noisy Class B. Before the homeroom teacher announced the punishment, everyone assumed that this time, as usual, Kitagawa Ryo would be in charge of the class's strategy and command.

However, the punishment of expulsion made many people uneasy. Although Kitagawa Ryo had earned more than 20 million points in the Werewolf exam, enough to offset the expulsion punishment, those points had already been spent on a cat by his opponent!

"The Commander 'Commander is indispensable in this Special Exam. Without it, the exam will not begin. If no candidate for Commander is submitted a week before the Sports Festival, the school will randomly select one."

After reading out all the rules, Sakagami Kazuma left, intending to leave the rest of his time to Kitagawa Ryo, just like before.

But it wasn't until he walked out of the classroom that he noticed with some surprise that Kitagawa Ryo didn't follow him to the podium this time.

On the contrary, as soon as the other person saw him leave the classroom, he immediately and without hesitation slammed his head on the table and fell asleep.

Unable to resist, Sakagami Kazuma went back to the classroom and tapped on Kitagawa Ryo's desk:

"Kitagawa? Don't you have anything to add?"

"Ah..."

Sleepy-eyed Kitagawa Ryo looked up and bumped into his homeroom teacher's serious, square face. He held out his hand and waved:

What should I say?

"For example, things like [the Commander]?"

Sakagami Kazuma rubbed his hands together expectantly, reminding everyone that this Sports Festival was a mixed battle between grades, and if Kitagawa Ryo Commander n't take charge of their class, Class 1-B would face a very difficult fight.

"Class advisor, I'm applying to be the Commander of our class."

Just then, Ryuen Kakeru suddenly stood up and volunteered.

"Ryuen?"

Sakagami Kazuma was taken aback, seemingly not expecting that Ryuen Kakeru, who had always been the second oldest in the class, would stand up on his own initiative before Kitagawa Ryo had even expressed his opinion.

"It's not that it's impossible..."

He hesitated for a moment, but Ryuen Kakeru's abilities were undeniable. If Kitagawa Ryo really lacked motivation this time, it wasn't impossible to consider Ryuen Kakeru.

Are you going to try and take this from me?

But Kitagawa Ryo suddenly stretched and straightened up, propping his chin on his right hand and looking at Ryuen Kakeru Sho:

"I haven't even said anything, so who gave you the right to say anything? Are you planning to just get out of school and drop out?"

Stunned by Kitagawa Ryo's words, Ryuen Kakeru, who had been full of confidence, looked resentful but dared not talk back. He glared at Kitagawa Ryo through gritted teeth and sat back down in his seat.

A few students in the class immediately looked at each other strangely, wondering about the relationship between the two.

"Class teacher, let me take over the Commander position this time."

After reprimanding Ryuen Kakeru, Kitagawa Ryo looked up and spoke to Sakagami Kazuma.

Having received Kitagawa Ryo's promise, Sakagami Kazuma was naturally delighted and nodded repeatedly:

"Alright, I feel more at ease leaving this kind of thing to Kitagawa."

Upon hearing this, Ryuen Kakeru's face darkened with even more resentment, and his forehead turned slightly black.

Combined with the rumors circulating since the start of the semester, it seems to outsiders that the underlying conflict between him and Kitagawa Ryo has reached a point where it can no longer be concealed.

"I think we should focus our attacks on Class A of the same grade, while also guarding against attacks from older students."

At the same time, in Class 1-D, after their homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, read out all the rules, Karuizawa Kei immediately raised her hand and suggested...

Faced with the questioning gazes of her classmates, Karuizawa Kei had received the information half a day in advance, simply repeated the thoughts she had organized the night before.

At this point, when everyone has only just grasped the rules superficially, the first person to speak can have considerable influence, especially since she is the Leader of Class D.

"Because this test mainly focuses on athletic abilities related to physical fitness, it will be difficult to defeat the upperclassmen, even with the privilege of choosing our events. Therefore, our opponents will definitely be the best in our grade."

"Of the three classes A, Class B should have the best foundation, after all, they are all delinquents who often get into fights."

"Compared to Class A Class C, Class A has just ended its factional divisions, so the class is definitely not completely united yet. At least it can't compare to the united Class C. Katsuragi Kohei and Totsuka Yahiko will probably find it difficult to fully participate in group projects, as can be seen from their secret participation in the Werewolf game last time."

"On the other hand, while there are some outstanding students in Class A, most of them just barely pass. To win this Sports Festival exam, the competition in the five individual events will be especially important, and in terms of top talents, our Class D is not inferior."

All eyes turned to Ken Sudō. This athlete, who had experienced isolation, self- Salvation, and self-abandonment since the start of the school year, only to be rescued by Karuizawa Kei with points, was much more composed than before. He nodded and began to speak:

"I can fill out all the individual events, so no matter which round I'm drawn into, I can participate and win that round."

This is also a loophole deliberately created in the rules. Although it stipulates that an individual can only participate in one sport, they can register for multiple sports. They can then simply choose which sport to participate in based on the specific one they are drawn for.

"For team events, we can apply for basketball; I'm very confident about that."

Ken Sudō is very proud of being selected as a full member of the Basketball Club as First Year student.

"Well then, Koenji- san, the whole class is required to participate in this Sports Festival."

Karuizawa Kei turned her gaze to Koenji Rokusuke, who, as always, had his legs propped up on the table.

"Then just randomly put me into a group activity. Of course, if I'm chosen, I still won't participate, hahaha."

"You guys can spend 100,000 points to find a substitute yourselves."

Koenji Rokusuke had indeed made up his mind to deliberately skip the meeting.

Karuizawa Kei was having a headache dealing with Koenji Rokusuke's unconventional behavior, but she had no other choice but to bite the bullet and negotiate privately. No one had taught her how to deal with it, so she had to do it herself.

After all, if Koenji Rokusuke could cooperate, Class D's chances of winning would increase even further.

Karuizawa Kei knew very well that everything she was saying was a lie, because her real target wasn't Class 1-A.

Class 2-A

Even if we lose, we must gather important information for Kitagawa Ryo beforehand, such as the projects the opponent has chosen.

And.

Karuizawa Kei looked at the innocent-looking Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, the shivering Ken Sudō Koenji Rokusuke, the spirited Sudo Ken, as well as Hirata Yosuke, Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo, and others.

She gritted her teeth and desperately tried to convince herself:

It's still uncertain who will win and who will lose.

Please take one day off.