Why Are All the Class Leaders Girls?

"Collective cooperation?"

Ichinose Honami blinked in confusion, somewhat not understanding Kitagawa Ryo's meaning.

"There's a loophole in the rules that Nagumo deliberately created for this Sports Festival: temporary substitutes."

Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami:

"In team events, if any participant or substitute is unable to play, 100,000 Private Points can be spent to replace them with a temporary substitute."

"This temporary substitute position is open to all classes."

"Nagumo released this vulnerability because he felt only he could use it, since he controlled the entire second year."

"He probably intends to gather the elite students of the entire second year to form a team project to challenge Class 3-A."

Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami:

"We can use this method too."

"For example, Nagumo's most confident sport is football."

"If the First Year list includes Hashimoto Masayoshi and Kito Hayato from Class A."

Me, Ryuen, Yamada Albert from Class B.

Shibata Sō from your class.

And Ayanokoji Hirata Yosuke, Koenji, and Koenji from Class D?

"The former ace player of this soccer club..."

Kitagawa Ryo clasped his hands together and looked towards the top floor of the club building, where the Student Council was located, and whispered:

Can we win?

Chapter 67: Why are all the class Leader girls?

"First Year group collaboration?"

Ichinose Honami pondered the words Kitagawa Ryo had uttered several times, then nodded thoughtfully.

In fact, Class 1-C, led by Ichinose Honami, is the class that most advocates teamwork. Whether it's the Uninhabited Island Special Exam or the VIP Special Exam, they follow a steady and pragmatic approach, without resorting to tricks, and pursue the benefit of everyone. Therefore, Kitagawa Ryo's suggestion did pique Ichinose Honami's interest.

"Yes, teamwork."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded and explained:

"Just like I said, First Year will definitely be targeted by upperclassmen, and before the Sports Festival, no one can guarantee that their class won't be the target. Instead of living in fear, we should set our sights on second-year students."

"Our four first- First Year classes can negotiate in advance, each selecting one of the four second-grade classes to compete against. Then, based on the best athletes from each class, we can form two must-win team events. The matches will be best-of-seven. If we can secure two points in the team events in advance, it means we only need to win two of the remaining five games."

"But then there's no way for them to help each other; it all depends on the individual abilities of each class."

"Call."

After hearing Kitagawa Ryo's words, Ichinose Honami breathed a sigh of relief. In any case, Kitagawa Ryo did provide a viable path for Class 1-C. Class 1-C was probably a rather awkward class in this Sports Festival. Compared with Class A, Class B, and even Class D, Class 1-C clearly lacked the number of top athletes. The only ones who could really compete were Shibata Sō, Kanzaki Ryuji, and herself. Moreover, the strongest of the three was only Shibata Sō, who was rated [B+]. Unlike the other three classes, which all had [A] level athletes.

Therefore, whether they are playing against students in the same grade or students in higher grades, Class 1-C's winning rate is not very high, which is what Ichinose Honami has been worried about these past few days.

After all, this Sports Festival has a significant impact on Class Points. If the class battles are fast, it's more than enough to complete the challenges against two classes in one day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). If both battles are won, sweeping up two or three hundred Class Points should be quite easy.

It's worth noting that in the last Uninhabited Island Special Exam, even Class 1-B, which came in first place, only gained 180 Class Points.

Moreover, unlike the final Uninhabited Island Exam everyone gets bonus points, this Sports Festival is likely to increase the Class Points of some First Year while decreasing the Class Points others. This increase and decrease could widen the gap between them.

Moreover, the losing class in this Sports Festival will not only have Class Points deducted, but more importantly, the Commander will expel them from school.

It's important to understand that Class 1-C didn't have the massive points that Sakayanagi Arisu and Karuizawa Kei possessed. As the only loser in the Werewolf game, Class 1-C lost a full three million Private Points (two million for participation fees and one million for purchasing invitations from Class D) without gaining anything.

Even worse, due to the contract, they have to pay Karuizawa Kei 800,000 Private Points every month. So even though Class 1-C still has more than 800 Class Points, if you put all the Private Points together, they can't even come up with Twenty Million Personal Points, let alone 20 million.

That's why Ichinose Honami has been looking rather worried these past few days, since their Class 1-C only has one life in this Sports Festival.

Ichinose Honami intended to take Commander and drop out of school if she failed, but her classmates had already seen through her intention to give up and resolutely rejected the suggestion.

It was precisely because Class 1-C consisted of such a group of friends that Ichinose Honami was even more unwilling to see any of them expelled.

"I agree to Liang's plan."

After weighing the pros and cons, Ichinose Honami chose the strategy of taking the initiative rather than waiting to be defeated. Having made up her mind, Ichinose Honami quickly shook off her previous confusion, and her bright blue eyes stared intently at Kitagawa Ryo:

"Would students in Class 1-A and Class D of Year 1 be willing to join this program? Should I contact them?"

As First Year student who is equally adept at interpersonal relationships as Kushida Kikyo, Ichinose Honami quickly got into character and offered to contact the remaining two classes herself.

"Oh, this..."

But unexpectedly, Kitagawa Ryo suddenly became a little embarrassed. He scratched his head sheepishly and held up the plastic bag filled with a lot of ingredients:

"Does Honami think this is only for two people?"

Would you two like something to drink?

"Ordinary tea will do."

"It would be best if there was cocoa."

Shiina Hiyori nodded, skillfully rummaged through the cupboard to find the tea set, then went into the kitchen to get the tea canister and cocoa powder, and began to serve the guests with practiced ease.

She was just like the lady of the house.

"Then, please drink."

With Shiina Hiyori served the brewed black tea to Sakayanagi Arisu, then turned around and handed the hot cocoa to Karuizawa Kei before taking off her apron and hanging it on a clothes rack.

"It seems Hiyori- san is quite familiar with this place."

Sakayanagi Arisu blew on the foam on the surface of the black tea and said.

"Because we come here so often, we naturally know where everything is."

Shiina Hiyori completely ignored Sakayanagi Arisu's seemingly gentle but actually sarcastic remark, and happily went back to her room to carry Hotaru, who was sleeping soundly.

"And if we're talking about familiarity, this little guy probably knows this place best."

"To be honest, when it met Liang, neither of you had ever met Liang before."

Hotaru, who had just woken up, blinked her big, bright eyes and curiously looked around. This was the first time Hotaru had seen so many familiar faces gathered together.

Ying silently labeled the three people as the Pooper Scooper, and fourth Pooper Scooper in her mind.

"So, Hiyori and Ryo have known each other for quite a while now."

Karuizawa Kei took a sip of hot cocoa and asked kindly.

"I've known Liang since elementary school, but we only chatted online at first."

"Oh, so it's just a relationship between online friends."

Sakayanagi Arisu quickly picked up the conversation, emphasizing the syllables of 'netizen'.

"That's really lucky. After all, the connection between netizens is just a network cable, which is more fragile than a kite string held in your hand. You don't even need to break free; it can easily fly away to a place you have no idea about."

Shiina Hiyori naturally knew that Sakayanagi Arisu was referring to Kitagawa Ryo's disappearance for over a year, but she simply smiled calmly.

"As long as it eventually flies back into my hand, that's all that matters, isn't it?"

"Only by regaining what was lost can one better perceive their true feelings."

Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to want to argue further, but the door to the room was pushed open at that moment.

"I'm back."

Judging from the voice, it was Kitagawa Ryo, who had gone out to buy groceries not long ago. The three girls all turned their gazes toward the door, but unexpectedly discovered another figure.

"So Classmate Sakayanagi and Karuizawa really are here."

Ichinose Honami glanced curiously into the room, meeting the gaze of the three, and waved confidently.

"Excuse me."

"Everyone's here to discuss the Sports Festival, right?"

"I ran into Honami on the way, so I told her about our plans. Since everyone was there, it was easy to discuss them."

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Kitagawa Ryo quickly grabbed the groceries and hid in the kitchen.

"Honami wants anything to drink, just tell Hiyori."

Upon closer reflection, why is it that, apart from their First Year Class 1-B, all the Leader of the other first-grade classes are girls?

Katsuragi, Katsuragi, why are you so disappointing?

After mentally criticizing the Leader of each First Year class, Kitagawa Ryo quickly closed the kitchen door.

It's just to block out cooking fumes and noise.

"Ichinose, would you like something to drink?"

Plain water is fine.

With another person added to the not-so-large room, the air seemed to thicken with tension. Shiina Hiyori and poured Ichinose Honami a glass of cold water. Ichinose Honami thanked her and accepted it, then looked at Sakayanagi Arisu and Karuizawa Kei sitting opposite her:

"I heard from Ryo that Class A and Class D also want to collaborate on the Sports Festival."

Sakayanagi Arisu and Karuizawa Kei exchanged a glance and nodded in unison, confirming:

"Yes."

"Actually, I also think it's better that the First Year achieved teamwork this time."

"Actually, once you realize that the enemy in this Sports Festival is the upperclassmen, it's easy to see that the First Year have a basis for cooperation."

"Hmm, besides, I don't think second-year students are that scary, but in terms of athletic ability, First Year aren't that far behind."

With Shiina Hiyori in, the three of them chatted warmly, showing no trace of the earlier misunderstanding.

"If Ichinose joins, the First Year teamwork will no longer be a pipe dream, but a real plan with the potential to be implemented."

"If you're worried, Ichinose, we can let you have Class 2-D as our opponent. But you'd better be quick, or the third-year students might come knocking on your door and you won't be able to keep up."

Karuizawa Kei immediately showed concern for Class 1-C, almost taking on the responsibility of assigning them Class 1-C Class 2-D as their opponent.

"Um... should I say thank you?"

Feeling a little uncomfortable with Karuizawa Kei's overly enthusiastic attitude, Ichinose Honami scratched her cheek, somewhat at a loss.

"Not at all, after all, Class 1-D Ichinose year."

Shiina Hiyori also chimed in:

"Well, so Honami doesn't need to refuse everyone's kindness. After all, Class 1-C is the First Year class under the most pressure in this Sports Festival."

Of the three people present, Shiina Hiyori was the one with the closest relationship to Ichinose Honami. After all, the two had been in the same secret operation group [against Kitagawa Ryo], and their friendship was quite deep.

Although Sakayanagi Arisu wasn't as lively as the other two, she nodded and said:

"I also think it would be best to have Class 1-C face off against Class 2-D. I've already investigated the second year's information in advance. Unlike us first First Year, the athletic strength of each class in the second year is roughly ranked in the order of A, B, C, and D. It seems that they've had a few outstanding athletes before, but because they didn't cooperate, Nagumo managed to get them expelled."

"After all, Nagumo adheres to the principle of Classroom of the Elite Studio. In his view, Class D only has the strength of Class D, and people should stay in classes according to their abilities."

Sakayanagi Arisu's words dispelled Ichinose Honami's last remaining concern. She had initially worried that Class 2-D might not actually be the worst-performing class in terms of athletic ability among the second-year students, but after Sakayanagi Arisu's explanation, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that Ichinose Honami had successfully claimed Class 2-D as their opponent, Sakayanagi Arisu Shiina Hiyori, and Karuizawa Kei exchanged glances. Finally, it was Shiina Hiyori who asked the question:

"So, Honami, which of our three remaining First Year classes do you think would be the best matchup for Class 2-A on the day of the Sports Festival?"

Class 2-A, led by Student Council vice president Miyabi Nagumo, is the strongest First Year. Unlike the chaotic first-year class, Class 2-A basically represents the highest fighting force among second-year students at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, and is even comparable to the three third-year classes B, C, and D.

Perhaps before I arrived, the three classes A, B, and C had already argued about this issue. I guess none of them wanted to face this strongest opponent.

Ichinose Honami thought to herself with a heavy heart that even in this predicament, they still gave up the weakest Class 2-D, to her.

Is it because there's no way to decide who should be the most likely to fail and be sacrificed that the choice is left to someone who is already detached from the situation?

The gazes of the three people put considerable pressure on Ichinose Honami, making her hesitate and waver about choosing cannon fodder.

"It's obviously the most reasonable thing for Class 2-A to play against Class 1-A, A against A."

Realizing Ichinose Honami's predicament, Sakayanagi Arisu spoke first.

"If it weren't for the fact that the student with preferential treatment wanted to gain Private Points during the VIP Exam, they would have already fallen from Class A to Class B or Class C."

"Therefore, it is most appropriate for our Class B to face Class 2-A."