"Good afternoon, everyone." Sagara casually picked a seat in the classroom designated by the school and greeted the others.
"I'm sorry, but seeing you has already made my whole afternoon worse." Horikita Suzune despised the smile on Sagara's face. He'd worn the same expression when he threatened her brother.
"Hah, I told you your face was disgusting. Looks like Suzune agrees." Ryuen laughed at Horikita Suzune's words.
"Who said you could call me that? Do students from Class C not understand even basic manners?" Horikita frowned. She had no fondness for Ryuen either.
"Looks like you're not very popular yourself, Ryuen." Sagara chuckled. For some reason, seeing Ryuen get shut down always gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.
"I hate to interrupt your catching up, but don't forget there's one more thing you need to do during the first discussion," a staff member in the room interjected.
During the first discussion, everyone had to introduce themselves. The school had explained this when it went over the rules: to make sure no group broke them, staff members had been assigned to supervise each room. They would leave only after everyone had introduced themselves.
"I'll go first, then." Katsuragi stood up, his expression blank. "Class 1-A, Katsuragi Kohei."
"Class 1-A, Nishikawa Ryoko."
"Class 1-A..."
"Wow, you're concise. Does your class just not want to talk, Katsuragi?" Ryuen stood up with a mocking grin. "Class 1-C, Ryuen Kakeru. I like interesting things. I hate convention, rigidity, and studying."
"Class 1-C, Sagara Zoya. I see. So this is Katsuragi's strategy. It certainly suits you." Sagara had already figured out Katsuragi's plan: skip discussion entirely and go straight on the defensive. Too bad you haven't seen the whole picture in this exam, Katsuragi.
"Exactly." Katsuragi wasn't surprised that Sagara had seen through his plan. After all, he'd already witnessed Sagara's abilities in the previous exam. "Not just in Group Dragon. The Class A students in the other groups won't take part in the discussions either."
"If you want to discuss things, that's your business. This time, Class A will stay on the defensive. We won't let you find a single VIP."
At Katsuragi's words, Kanzaki and Horikita's expressions changed at once. How could they not understand what he was up to?
Class A still had the lead in Class Points. They didn't need to earn more; they only had to stop the others from earning any.
"Class 1-B, Ryuji Kanzaki. Looks like only our three classes will be able to discuss things." Katsuragi had already closed his eyes to meditate, and Kanzaki could do nothing about the situation.
"Class 1-D, Horikita Suzune. Could the VIP in Group Dragon be in your class? Is that why you're using this strategy?" Horikita asked coldly.
Sagara raised an eyebrow. He knew the VIP was Kushida Kikyo from Class D. It was obvious Horikita was trying to use Class A's stance to mislead them. A little progress, but the method was far too clumsy.
Once the introductions were over, the staff member left the room, leaving the students in control of the rest of their time.
Led by Katsuragi, the four students from Class A didn't discuss anything. They just sat motionless, like statues.
Meanwhile, Sagara and the other three from Class C played games on their phones.
"What are you..." Kanzaki was stunned by the sight. Katsuragi wasn't taking part in the discussion because his class already had the advantage. What was Class C's reason?
"Oh, Class C isn't taking part in the discussion either." Sagara noticed Kanzaki looking at him and glanced up.
"You can probably guess why. Class C's goal is to collect Private Points. We can earn plenty of them in this exam without doing anything, so why not?"
No one in the room believed Sagara. Someone who'd just secured a contract worth nearly a hundred million points in the previous Special Exam suddenly had such modest ambitions? Even so, there was nothing they could do about it. He could say whatever he wanted.
Horikita felt slightly relieved. Whatever Sagara's reason for refusing to take part in the discussion, as long as Class B didn't find out, the VIP in Group Dragon was safe. If they weren't discussing anything, how could they find any clues about the VIP?
Katsuragi, meanwhile, had a bad feeling. Sagara wasn't the sort to simply sit back and finish the exam quietly. There had to be a reason. Was there something he'd overlooked?
Kanzaki frowned. Was there some special reason Class A and Class C were using the same strategy that he hadn't considered?
The first discussion in Group Dragon fell silent.
"Why not just end this boring exam now?" Kaneda couldn't understand Sagara's choice. Their class already knew who the VIPs were. If they sent the list to the school, their class would gain 450 Class Points and move straight to Class A.
"You're absolutely right." Sagara knew that. Even if the other classes figured out the pattern later and broke through their defenses, they would still earn at least 300 Class Points.
"But have you thought about what comes after? Do we have what it takes to hold on to the Class A position?"
Sagara answered his own question before Kaneda could respond.
"By my calculations, the chance of us holding on to the Class A position is zero."
"How could that be!" Kaneda couldn't accept Sagara's assessment. "We've won every exam so far."
"No one can keep winning forever, especially when they don't have the ability to back it up. That makes it even more impossible."
Holding a position you weren't suited for was just gambling. There was a saying that gamblers couldn't lose forever. Didn't that mean they were bound to lose eventually?
"What advantages do you think our class has over Class A and Class B?" Sagara looked at Kaneda's unwilling expression. "Academic ability? Athletic ability? Or maybe self-management?"
"But don't we still have you?" Kaneda knew Class C fell behind the other two classes, but as long as Sagara was there, they'd be fine...
"Me?" Sagara gave a light laugh. "Even God can lose, let alone me. I'm not against using Class Points to move up to Class A. But you need to understand that it isn't the Class Points that make us Class A. We'll be Class A because our class has the ability to match. Do you understand what I mean?"
Kaneda fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"What about the rest of you? Anything you still don't understand?" Sagara looked at Ryuen, Shiina, and the others.
"Following Sagara is always the right choice," Ibuki said bluntly.
"Either way, you'd never make a deal that put you at a loss." Ryuen wasn't entirely convinced by Sagara's argument, but there was no need to rush the promotion.
"I trust Sagara." Shiina wore a faint smile. She agreed with his assessment; this wasn't the right time for them to move up.
"Then we'll stick to the plan."
After the first discussion on the afternoon of the first day, Sagara went straight to Kanzaki. Class C and Class B had worked together several times before, so it was a good place to start.
"Kanzaki, would you be free to talk later?"
"...Sure." Kanzaki fell silent for a moment before agreeing.
Katsuragi and Horikita saw the exchange too.
They went to an empty room where no one else was around. Once inside, Sagara locked the door from the inside, startling Kanzaki.
"Kanzaki, how much do you know about the VIPs in your class?" Sagara began with that question.
"Sorry, I'm not..." Kanzaki started to say, but Sagara cut him off by listing three names.
"Kobashi Yume, Himeno Yuki, Sumida Makoto. Do those names ring a bell?"
"..." Kanzaki fell silent. Of course he knew them. They were the VIPs in his class. Why had they been exposed on the very first day?
Then he asked, his voice a little dry, "Who told you?"
Sagara was tempted to say, "So-and-so, a friend of Ichinose." But after thinking it over, he decided against it. It was a pointless lie that would fall apart as soon as anyone checked.
"That's not the important question, is it?" Sagara didn't answer, leaving Kanzaki to guess as he pleased. "I want to make a deal with Class B.
"Same as before: Private Points in exchange for Class Points. What do you say?"
Just then, an announcement came over the ship's PA system.
"The Group Monkey exam has ended."
The VIP in Group Monkey was Himeno Yuki from Class B.
"...Is this a threat?" Kanzaki's expression darkened. It was obvious he thought Class C had answered.
"No, I didn't have anyone in my class answer. How interesting. Was it someone from Class D?" Sagara narrowed his eyes. Class A was playing defense, Class C wasn't taking any action, and answers from Class B wouldn't count. That left only a student from Class D.
Had they guessed, or had they figured something out?
Sagara's thoughts raced, but for now he had to focus on what was in front of him.
"There are only two groups left. My terms are 800,000 points a month, and all the Private Points your class earns from Special Exam rewards. What do you say?" Sagara made his offer.
"No. That's too much." Kanzaki rejected it without hesitation. He could actually accept that amount, but what kind of fool made a deal without bargaining?
"That's not too much. If I guessed your class's VIP, I'd get 100 Class Points, equivalent to 400,000 points a month. You'd be losing 400,000 points a month, so 800,000 is only fair." Sagara shook his head, showing he wouldn't budge.
"Don't forget you'd also get all the Private Points our class earns in this exam. That's no small amount either," Kanzaki argued.
"Then what do you think would be fair?" Sagara asked what Kanzaki had in mind.
"500,000 Private Points a month." Kanzaki thought it over and offered a figure with room to negotiate.
"Deal." Sagara agreed without hesitation. In truth, his target price had been 400,000 Private Points a month. Opportunities to charge a premium like the previous deal were rare. He could have pushed the price a little higher, but there was no need. He wasn't greedy.
"..." Kanzaki fell silent. Had he asked for too little? He'd already cut the price by nearly half. After thinking it over, he could only assume Sagara had given him a discount because of Ichinose.
"Thank you."
The same scene was playing out somewhere else.
"Katsuragi, have you made up your mind?" Ryuen sat in a chair with one leg crossed over the other, looking at Katsuragi's grim expression.
"700,000 points a month. Tell me who leaked the information."
"1,000,000 points a month. Why would I tell you who my good friend is?" Ryuen loved this feeling. The feeling of being a winner was wonderful.
"650,000 points a month. That's my bottom line." Katsuragi drew a deep breath and continued.
"Tsk. Deal." Ryuen clicked his tongue after confirming that Katsuragi really had reached his limit, then accepted.
He and Sagara had agreed on a minimum of 600,000 points a month, with Ryuen keeping anything above that. Unfortunately, Katsuragi was too stubborn, and Ryuen couldn't make much off the deal.
"How did it go, Ryuen?" Sagara asked him about the negotiations.
"Tsk. 650,000. That guy's a real hard case," Ryuen said unhappily. He'd wanted more than a measly 50,000-point monthly bonus.
If Katsuragi weren't a hard case, why would I have sent you? Sagara kept the thought to himself.
"Kaneda, what did the people in Group Monkey say? Do we know who answered the question?" Sagara looked at Kaneda, who had just finished a call.
"We've confirmed it. The person who answered didn't even try to hide it. It was Koenji Rokusuke from Class 1-D." Kaneda had learned the person's identity over the phone.
"But I think he just made a random guess. How could someone from Class D figure out the pattern?"
"Don't underestimate any opponent, Kaneda. Arrogance is the enemy of victory." Sagara frowned slightly. It was clear his classmates needed to calm down.
"Next, I should go meet the student who might cause an unexpected problem." Sagara was about to stand when his phone suddenly received a text.
He glanced at the message and raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong?" Ryuen was lying on the bed, resting. He noticed Sagara's expression change and asked.
"I just got a special invitation from a girl."
'Sagara, are you free at seven tonight? There's something I'd like to talk to you about.
From: Kushida Kikyo'
"Ryuen, who are you texting?"
"Guess."
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