The First Discussion Concludes

"Good afternoon, everyone." Upon arriving at the classroom designated by the school, Sagara casually found a seat and greeted the others.

"I'm sorry, but seeing you has already made my entire afternoon feel terrible." Horikita Suzune felt a deep loathing for that smile on Sagara's face; it was the same expression he wore when he threatened her brother.

"Heh, I was just thinking your face is disgusting, and it seems Suzune shares the same opinion." Hearing Horikita Suzune's words, Ryuen Kakeru laughed.

"Who gave you permission to address me that way? Do students from Class C lack even the most basic manners?" Horikita Suzune frowned, as she held no affection for Ryuen either.

"It seems you aren't very well-liked either, Ryuen." Sagara chuckled, finding an inexplicable sense of satisfaction in watching Ryuen get shut down.

"While I don't wish to interrupt your reunion, don't forget there is still one thing to be done during this first discussion." The staff member in the room interjected into their conversation.

During the first discussion, everyone was required to introduce themselves. The school had mentioned this when explaining the rules; to prevent groups from failing to follow protocol, a staff member was stationed in each room to supervise, and they would only leave once everyone had finished their introductions.

"Then I shall begin." Katsuragi Kohei stood up from his seat and said expressionlessly, "Class A, first year, Katsuragi Kohei."

"Class A, first year, Nishikawa Ryoko."

"Class A, first year..."

"That's certainly concise. Is your class really that unwilling to speak, Katsuragi?" Ryuen mocked as he stood up. "Class C, first year, Ryuen Kakeru. I like interesting things and hate routines, rigidity, and studying."

"Class C, first year, Sagara Zoya. I see, so this is Katsuragi-kun's strategy. It certainly fits your style." Sagara had already grasped Katsuragi's intent: to forgo discussion entirely and implement a purely defensive strategy. Unfortunately, what you see in this exam isn't the whole picture, Katsuragi-kun.

"That's right." Katsuragi didn't find it strange that Sagara had seen through his plan; after all, he had witnessed the other's capabilities in the previous exam. "It isn't just in Group Dragon; in every other group, the students from Class A will not participate in the discussion."

"Whether you want to discuss things is your business. This time, Class A will defend to the end. We won't let you find a single Target."

Hearing Katsuragi's words, Kanzaki Ryuji and Horikita's expressions shifted instantly. How could they not understand what Katsuragi was planning?

Class A currently held the advantage in Class Points. They didn't need to gain more; as long as they prevented others from scoring, they would win.

"Class B, first year, Kanzaki Ryuji. It seems only the three of us will be able to discuss anything." Seeing Katsuragi begin to close his eyes and focus, Kanzaki felt helpless against the situation.

"Class D, first year, Horikita Suzune. Could it be that the Target for Group Dragon is in your Class A, which is why you're using this tactic?" Horikita asked coldly.

Sagara raised an eyebrow. He knew perfectly well that the Target was Kushida Kikyo from Class D. It was obvious that Horikita Suzune was trying to use Class A's attitude to mislead the others. She had improved, but her methods were still too crude.

Once the self-introductions were complete, the staff member left the room, leaving the time entirely for the students to manage.

The four members of Class A, led by Katsuragi, did not engage in discussion, simply sitting there motionless like statues.

Meanwhile, Sagara and his three companions from Class C were busy playing games on their phones.

"What are you doing..." Kanzaki was stunned to see this. Katsuragi wasn't discussing because they held the lead, but what was the situation with Class C?

"Oh, we in Class C aren't participating in the discussion either," Sagara said, looking up at Kanzaki after noticing his gaze.

"You must have some guesses of your own. Our goal in Class C is to collect Private Points. Even if we do nothing in this exam, we can still earn a large amount of Private Points, so why not?"

No one in the room believed a word of Sagara's statement. Would someone who had secured a contract worth hundreds of millions of points in the last special exam suddenly have such a small appetite? Yet, even so, there was nothing they could do; after all, they couldn't control what others said.

Horikita felt a slight sense of relief. Regardless of why Sagara wasn't planning to participate, as long as Class B didn't find out, the Target for Group Dragon would remain safe. After all, without participating in the discussion, how could they find any clues to identify the Target?

Katsuragi, however, felt a sense of foreboding. Sagara was definitely not the type to sit quietly through an exam. There must be a reason; had he overlooked something?

Kanzaki frowned deeply. With Class A and Class C employing the same strategy, was there something special here that he hadn't considered?

For a time, the first discussion of Group Dragon fell into silence.

"Why not just end this boring exam?" Kaneda was very confused by Sagara's choice. Their class already possessed the list of Targets; if they just sent this list to the school, their class would immediately gain 450 Class Points and rise directly to Class A.

"You're right." Sagara certainly knew that. Even if other classes found the pattern later and broke through their defense, they would still receive at least 300 Class Points.

"But have you thought about what happens afterward? Do we have the ability to hold onto the Class A ranking?"

Sagara didn't wait for Kaneda to speak before answering the question himself.

"In my calculations, the probability of us holding onto the Class A position is zero."

"How is that possible!" Kaneda completely disagreed with Sagara's judgment. "We clearly won every single exam."

"No one can win forever, especially when the inherent quality isn't sufficient. That makes it even more impossible."

Occupying a position of power without the virtue to support it is nothing more than gambling. Although there is a saying that a gambler never loses forever, doesn't the inverse imply that a gambler will eventually lose?

"What advantages do you think our class has compared to Class A or Class B?" Sagara looked at the frustrated Kaneda. "Academic ability? Athletic ability? Or perhaps self-management skills?"

"But don't we have you?" Kaneda knew there was a gap between Class C and the top two classes, but as long as Sagara-kun was there, there shouldn't be a problem...

"Me?" Sagara chuckled. "Even gods can lose, let alone me. I'm not against the idea of rising to Class A through Class Points, but you must understand that we don't become Class A because we reached the required points; rather, we become Class A because our class possesses the strength of Class A. Do you understand what I mean?"

Kaneda was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"What about you all? Is there anything you don't understand?" Sagara looked at Ryuen, Shiina, and the others.

"Whatever, listening to Sagara is definitely the right move," Ibuki, who was simple-minded, said directly.

"You're the type who would never do a losing business, anyway." Ryuen didn't entirely agree with Sagara's words, but there was no need to rush the promotion.

"I trust Sagara-kun." Shiina wore a faint smile. She agreed with Sagara's judgment; now was not the best time for them to rise in rank.

"Then let's proceed according to the plan."

After the discussion on the first afternoon ended, Sagara went straight to Kanzaki. Class C and Class B had cooperated quite a bit in the past, and starting from here was a good choice.

"Kanzaki, do you have a moment to talk later?"

"...Sure." Kanzaki hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

This scene was also witnessed by Katsuragi and Horikita.

They arrived at an empty room, and once inside, Sawahara locked the door from the inside, which startled Kanzaki.

"Kanzaki, how much do you know about the Target in your class?" Sawahara started with this question.

"Sorry, I'm not—" Kanzaki was about to speak when Sawahara rattled off three names.

"Kobashi Yume, Himeno Yuki, Sumida Makoto. Do those names sound familiar?"

"..." Kanzaki fell silent. Of course he knew them; those were the names of the Targets in his class. Why were they exposed on the very first day?

He then spoke with a dry throat, "Who told you this?"

Sawahara was tempted to say something like, "A friend of Ichinose told me," but thought better of it. Such a lie would be exposed instantly and was pointless.

"That isn't the point, is it?" Sawahara didn't answer, leaving Kanzaki to guess for himself. "I want to make a deal with Class B.

Just like before, Private Points in exchange for Class Points. How about it?"

Just then, an announcement came over the ship's speakers.

"The exam for Group Monkey has concluded."

The Target for Group Monkey was indeed Himeno Yuki from Class B.

"...Is this a threat?" Kanzaki's expression turned grim. It was clear he believed Class C had submitted the answer.

"No, I didn't have anyone in my class submit an answer. Interesting, was it someone from Class D who answered?" Sawahara narrowed his eyes. Class A was playing defensively, Class C wasn't taking any action, and Class B answering for themselves would be invalid. It could only have been a student from Class D.

Was it a lucky guess, or had they figured something out?

Sawahara's thoughts raced, but he had to focus on the task at hand.

"There are two groups left. My condition is 800,000 points per month, and all Private Point rewards your class earns during this special exam will belong to me. How about that?" Sawahara laid out his terms.

"No, that's too much." Kanzaki refused without hesitation. He could actually accept that amount, but if you didn't haggle in business, you'd be a sucker.

"That's not much at all. Keep in mind that if I guess your class's Target, I get 100 Class Points, which is equivalent to 400,000 points per month. Since you lose 400,000 every month, 800,000 is just right." Sawahara shook his head, signaling he wouldn't budge.

"Don't forget you're also getting the Private Point rewards our class earns from this exam. That's not a small number either," Kanzaki argued.

"Then what do you think is fair?" Sawahara asked for Kanzaki's thoughts.

"500,000 Private Points per month." Kanzaki thought for a moment and offered a figure that left room for negotiation.

"Deal." Sawahara agreed without hesitation. In fact, his target price was 400,000 Private Points per month. After all, opportunities for such high premiums were rare. While he could have pushed for more, it wasn't strictly necessary; he wasn't greedy.

"..." Kanzaki was silent. Had he negotiated too little? But he had cut the price by nearly half. After a moment, Kanzaki could only assume Sawahara was giving him a discount out of respect for Ichinose.

"Thank you."

The same scene was playing out elsewhere.

"Katsuragi, have you considered it?" Ryuen sat in a chair, legs crossed, looking at the grim-faced Katsuragi.

"700,000 points per month. Tell me who leaked the information."

"1,000,000 points per month. Why would I ever tell you about my good friend?" Ryuen loved this feeling. The feeling of being the victor was truly wonderful.

"650,000 points per month. That is my bottom line." Katsuragi took a deep breath and continued.

"Tch, deal." Ryuen clicked his tongue after confirming that this was indeed the other party's limit, but he agreed nonetheless.

He had previously agreed with Sawahara that the base price would be 600,000 points per month, with the excess going to him. Unfortunately, this guy Katsuragi was too difficult to deal with, leaving him with little profit.

"How did it go, Ryuen? What was the result of the negotiation?" Sawahara asked Ryuen.

"Tch, 650,000. That guy is a tough nut to crack," Ryuen said, annoyed. He didn't want a measly 50,000-point bonus per month.

If he weren't a tough nut, why would I have sent you? Sawahara kept this thought to himself.

"Kaneda, what did the people in Group Monkey say? Do you know who answered the question?" Sawahara looked at Kaneda, who had just finished his call.

"It's been confirmed. The person who answered didn't try to hide it at all. It was Koenji Rokusuke from Class 1-D." Kaneda had already learned the identity from the call.

"But I think he probably just guessed randomly. How could a guy from Class D possibly figure out the pattern?"

Kaneda felt Sawahara was worrying over nothing. Class A and Class B were one thing, but what was Class D?

"Don't underestimate any opponent, Kaneda. Arrogance is the enemy of victory." Sawahara frowned. It seemed the people in his class needed to calm down.

"Next, I need to go meet this student who might cause an accident." Just as Sawahara was about to get up, his phone buzzed with a text message.

Sawahara glanced at the content of the message and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" Ryuen, who was resting on the bed, asked when he saw Sawahara's expression change.

"I just received a special invitation from a certain girl."

'Sawahara-kun, are you free at seven tonight? There's something I'd like to talk to you about.

Sender: Kushida Kikyo'

"Ryuen, who are you texting?"

"Guess."