Special Exam 4

The atmosphere on the sports field was thick with gunpowder, as if a fight could break out at any second.

Ryuen stood in the distance, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly.

Ishizaki stood to the side, saying with a sarcastic tone: "The people in Class D really are idiots. A little bit of manipulation was all it took to get someone to interrogate Sudo."

Ryuen shook his head, his hands tucked into his pockets: "The internal conflict in their class won't last long, but all I need to do is plant a seed in their hearts."

Just as Ryuen had predicted, under Hirata's desperate mediation, Shinohara and Sudo were finally willing to communicate.

"Look, isn't this proof!" Shinohara took out her Student Terminal and displayed the screen.

[Anonymous Chat System]

Number 449: "I just saw Sudo go over to Class C. He wouldn't reveal anything, would he?"

Number 200: "Why would Sudo go to Class C for no reason? Doesn't he have a grudge against them?"

Number 248: "Don't tell me... he's already revealed the secret key?"

At this moment, Shinohara asked with a hint of accusation: "Sudo! What else do you have to say for yourself! I saw you go to Class C just now too!"

Karuizawa Kei, who was in the crowd behind them, suddenly thought of this as well. She pushed through the crowd and said:

"I saw it too. Didn't you walk over there with your arms around the shoulders of someone from Class C? And why did you win that last basketball game so easily?"

"I didn't reveal the class secret key! And I don't even know why the people from Class C called me over! They didn't say anything! At first, they said they wanted to apologize to me, I never expected it was to frame me!"

Even if Sudo was slow-witted, he had reacted by now. His gaze searched the perimeter.

Finally, he saw Ryuen with the corners of his mouth turned up.

"It's him! Ryuen, if you don't believe me, go ask Ryuen!" Sudo pointed at Ryuen on the sidelines and roared.

Everyone's eyes turned toward Ryuen.

Ryuen simply shrugged his shoulders and said with an honest expression: "That's right, I did call him over, and we really didn't say anything."

"See? I told you, I didn't say anything at all." Seeing Ryuen tell the truth, Sudo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been afraid that Ryuen would frame him, but he was quite surprised to hear Ryuen tell the truth; he even felt a little bit like Ryuen was a good guy.

However, what he didn't expect was that precisely because Ryuen told the truth, Shinohara became even more convinced that Sudo had reached some kind of deal with Ryuen, and that Ryuen was covering for him!

Hirata let out a long sigh of relief once he felt both sides had calmed down slightly.

"Since it's already been proven that Sudo was framed..."

"Hirata, I don't think Sudo was framed," Shinohara interrupted at this moment: "If he were being framed, why wouldn't Ryuen, as a rival class, take the opportunity to slander Sudo?"

"You guy, are you just determined to find me an eyesore!" Sudo clenched his fists, his heart burning with rage.

"This..." Hirata fell into hesitation. He wasn't hesitating over whether Sudo had actually made a deal with Ryuen, but rather how to explain to Shinohara that Sudo was being framed.

"Hirata..." Karuizawa Kei came up and grabbed Hirata's arm, whispering: "I also saw Sudo walking over with his arms around someone from Class C earlier, and don't you think the last basketball game was won too easily?"

As the second person to see Sudo go to Class C, Karuizawa naturally had her own doubts. Furthermore, she had never liked Sudo to begin with, so she was even more convinced that Sudo had leaked the class secret key.

Hirata fell into silence. He was exhausted, and at this moment, he wished someone would step forward to take control of the situation.

"What's the point of saying all this now?" As if she had heard Hirata's inner thoughts, Horikita Suzune interjected.

The crowd cleared a path, and Suzune walked over slowly.

When Hirata saw Horikita Suzune, a hint of relief appeared in his eyes.

Suzune first glanced at the furious Sudo, then turned to look at Shinohara:

"You think Sudo and Ryuen reached a deal, which isn't surprising, because even I was suspicious of Sudo based on everything you've said."

With that one sentence, everyone in Class D looked at Sudo with an "I knew it" expression.

"However!" Suzune said: "Shinohara, are you implying that Sudo used the victory in the last basketball game as a condition to trade away the class secret key?"

"Isn't that what happened?" Shinohara said, feigning composure.

"Point one," Horikita Suzune held up a finger: "This basketball game had no meaning other than physical exercise. Why would Sudo use the secret key as a trade?"

"Point two! If Sudo really had traded the secret key, wouldn't this special exam have already ended?"

For a moment, several gazes turned toward Shinohara, hoping she could provide an explanation.

"Regarding your first point, what if Sudo just wanted to show off in front of his classmates for the sake of his pride? And for your second point, if someone learns the secret key and wants to end it now, it has to be submitted by the spy. But since the spy was chosen by an anonymous class vote, no one knows who it is. Even if Class D knew the secret key, we couldn't end the exam right now, could we?"

Shinohara explained, stumbling over her words.

In the eyes of the crowd, the situation had shifted. It wasn't just that Shinohara's words were too far-fetched; her momentum had suddenly weakened.

Horikita Suzune said: "If it were really as you said and Sudo did it for his pride, then why was he beaten so badly in the first basketball game? And the halftime break was less than 10 minutes, right? Did you see him go over to Class C to negotiate?"

Then, Suzune scanned the crowd and said: "Although it's said that the spy was chosen by anonymous vote, what if the class internally forced everyone to show their Student Terminals?"

Everyone thought of Ryuen's violent face; he seemed like the type of person who could do such a thing.

For a moment, Shinohara was rendered speechless by the retort.

Sudo looked at the slender figure in the middle, and for some reason, a warmth welled up in his heart.

Suzune... is she speaking up for me?

"A-alright, then maybe I misunderstood." Pressed by the pressure, Shinohara turned her head away and said this unwillingly.

If she didn't admit it now, she felt that Suzune might even pin the blame entirely on her.

I can't win an argument against this Horikita person...

Unlike the resolution of the conflict on the Class D side, Ryuen over at Class C was having a headache.

Horikita Etsuka had arrived at the Class C gathering spot at some point, draping his arm over Ishizaki's shoulder as if they were just chatting about daily life.

"Yo, you guys framed that quite well."

"By the way, did you bribe someone in Class D?"

"Oh come on, tell me about it, we're all bros here."

Ishizaki gave a sheepish laugh while trying to brush it off, casting a look of distress toward Ryuen for help.

Ryuen, however, had a grave expression and a confused mind; he couldn't understand what kind of medicine Horikita Etsuka was selling in his gourd.

This was completely unconventional, wasn't it?

What kind of sane person walks up and starts probing for class secrets? And asking such private questions, no less?

Wait! Ryuen suddenly thought of something as he looked at the human sun standing before him, acting like a social powerhouse.

Isn't Class B in class right now? How did he end up at my Class C?!