Why We Lost

At eleven that night, the day the exam ended, the school emailed the results to every student.

"Rat Group—Every member answered correctly before the exam ended. Result One.

Ox Group—Every member answered correctly before the exam ended. Result One.

Tiger Group—Every member answered correctly before the exam ended. Result One.

Rabbit Group—The traitor answered correctly. Result Three.

Group Dragon—The traitor answered correctly. Result Three.

Snake Group—The traitor answered incorrectly. Result Four.

Horse Group—The traitor answered correctly. Result Three.

Sheep Group—The traitor answered incorrectly. Result Four.

Group Monkey—The traitor answered correctly. Result Three.

Rooster Group—Every member answered correctly before the exam ended. Result One.

Dog Group—The traitor answered incorrectly. Result Four.

Boar Group—Everyone answered correctly before the exam ended. Result One."

Changes to points:

Class A: No change.

Class B: No change.

Class C: +250 Class Points; +29 million Private Points (20 million for Sawahara and 11.5 million for the class members).

Class D: -250 Class Points; 9 million Private Points (not including points earned through contracts).

Sawahara's expenditures: 750,000 points for the deal with Koenji; 900,000 points to bribe three Class D students.

As for the contracts, Class A had to pay Sawahara 2.2 million Private Points each month, while Class B had to pay him 2 million each month.

Class A also had to pay Ryuen 50,000 Private Points each month.

"You really raked it in this summer, didn't you?" Ryuen said, surveying each class's points and roughly calculating how many Sawahara had. Even though he'd been prepared for it, the numbers were still astonishing.

The so-called ticket to Class A, which the teachers had once described as beyond reach, was already in Sawahara's hands. What's more, he'd get another ticket every five months.

"You made a pretty good haul yourself. That's 50,000 points a month," Sawahara replied, catching the envy in Ryuen's voice.

"..."

A steady income of 50,000 points a month might have sounded enviable coming from anyone else. But coming from Sawahara, it had an entirely different ring to it.

Ryuen couldn't imagine Sawahara ever being more irritating than he was right now. Looking at the contract he'd kept, Ryuen wished he'd never signed it. This was the first time he'd ever been annoyed about making money.

"Get down there!" Ryuen sprang his attack on Sawahara, punching the floating platform beneath him and sending him straight into the pool.

"Cough, cough!" Sawahara hadn't been prepared for it. He swallowed a mouthful of pool water and choked.

"What was that for, Ryuen?"

"Hmph." Ryuen merely snorted and left the pool. If he stayed in there, that bastard would definitely catch him off guard and do the same to him.

After the exam ended that night, the Class C students had thrown a party in the ship's pool to celebrate another victory.

Some were celebrating, while others were reflecting on their defeat.

Class A

"Another failure, Katsuragi." Nomoto, once a member of the Katsuragi Faction, looked at Katsuragi with a complicated expression. Sawahara had met him before.

At first glance, Class A's points hadn't changed at all. But they'd lost a huge amount of Private Points, and the gap between them and the former Class C had shrunk to less than a hundred points.

"..."

Katsuragi had no answer. If they'd lost the Uninhabited Island Exam because of the Sakayanagi Faction's behind-the-scenes meddling, what about this time? Sawahara had confirmed that no one from the Sakayanagi Faction had betrayed the class this time, yet they'd still lost.

"This proves you're only capable of this much, Katsuragi." Hashimoto offered his "comfort" at just the right moment. "After all, someone like Sawahara from Class C is way beyond what an ordinary person like you can handle, isn't he?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Totsuka exploded at Hashimoto's words. "Would we have won even if Sakayanagi had been here?"

"Who knows? At least our princess hasn't lost yet, has she?" Hashimoto paid no attention to Totsuka's anger. In the end, he was just a dog relying on his master's authority. Now that the master had fallen, what did it matter if the dog barked a little louder? He was just waiting to end up in a dog-meat hot pot.

Seeing the undisguised disappointment in the eyes of the classmates who'd once been in his faction, Katsuragi felt utterly helpless. That was right. In the end, he wasn't their match.

The former members of the Katsuragi Faction and the neutral faction silently walked over to stand behind Hashimoto.

"You..." Totsuka stared at them in anger and disbelief. "Have you forgotten what they did during the Uninhabited Island Exam?"

"Yeah, that princess is spoiled and reckless. She doesn't even care about the class's interests." Nomoto looked irritably at Totsuka and Katsuragi. "But at least she might lead us to victory, right?"

That was the reason. When choosing between an incapable leader and one who was capable but flawed in character, which side should they choose?

For Class A students who prided themselves on being elite, the answer was obvious.

"You—!"

"Stop, Yahiko." Totsuka tried to speak again, but Katsuragi stopped him. "It's already over."

Class A's era of division had come to a complete end, at the cost of two crushing defeats...

As he left, Katsuragi asked himself a question. Where had he gone wrong? Had he been a step too slow, or was it something else?

Class B

"I'm sorry for putting our class in a difficult position."

After the exam, the Class B students gathered together, and Himeno Yuki apologized to them. She was the VIP of Group Monkey.

By the time the exam ended, they'd also learned that Koenji had indeed guessed her identity as the VIP.

If Koenji had guessed wrong, Class B would have gained 100 Class Points and become the runner-up behind Class C. Unfortunately...

"It's fine. We didn't lose any points, did we?"

"Yeah, that weirdo was just lucky. It wasn't your fault."

As they had last time, her classmates came over to comfort her.

Kanzaki watched in silence. This wasn't right, was it? They'd lost, after all. They'd paid out a huge amount of Private Points to protect their Class Points. That alone meant they'd lost.

Why could they all act as though it didn't matter?

They'd lost, but they weren't discouraged. Everyone was united... But was that really enough? Could Class B have a future if they continued like this?

What was he supposed to do?

There was someone among the teachers who was just as heartbroken.

"Waaah, Sae, I'm so sad. Our class is going to become Class C at the start of next term." Hoshinomiya buried her face against Chabashira Sae's shoulder and cried.

"I'm going to drink until I drop tonight."

"Don't call me that."

"You'd get drunk anyway, even if this hadn't happened. Can't you at least set a good example for the students?" Mashima sat nearby, sighing helplessly at Hoshinomiya's unprofessional behavior.

"Aw, it's fine, it's fine. Honami and the others won't mind." Hoshinomiya waved a hand.

"That's exactly the problem, isn't it?" Mashima felt even more exasperated. The students were already used to their teacher getting drunk all the time. Was that really appropriate behavior for a teacher?

"Honestly, I'm already this upset, and you're still lecturing me. No wonder people think you're cold." Hoshinomiya pouted unhappily.

"Still better than someone who keeps changing outfits." Mashima knew what people thought of him, but he didn't care.

"You've got a new boyfriend again." Though it should have been a question, he said it as a statement. He was already used to Hoshinomiya's chaotic love life.

"I got bored of the old one." Hoshinomiya then turned to Chabashira. "Sae, have a drink with me."

Chabashira usually shoved her away in annoyance, but after a moment of silence, she replied, "All right."

They'd done so much, even resorting to threatening students... And yet everything had still gone back to where it started.

Reality was truly cruel.

Class D

As the biggest losers of this exam, most of the Class D students were nevertheless smiling.

About half of them had received hundreds of thousands of points. They'd barely seen any points since the end of April, so they were ecstatic.

Those who hadn't received any points looked enviously at their classmates and asked their friends if they could borrow some.

At last, they wouldn't have to spend their days eating grass after the new term began.

But not everyone was happy with the situation.

"What are you all so happy about?" The speaker was Yukimura, one of the few top students in Class D. "Our Class Points have all been deducted, and the gap between us and the other classes has grown even bigger. How can you still smile?"

"What's with you? Are you jealous because you didn't get any points? He was in Group Rabbit, wasn't he? And he doesn't have any friends, either." Ike wore a smug expression. His group had achieved Result One, and now he had 500,000 points.

"Looks like you'll have to keep eating grass next month."

"You!" Yukimura's face turned red with anger.

"Why did you betray the class?" Horikita looked at the three students who had received 300,000 points from Sawahara.

"Don't put it like that, okay? What do you mean, 'betray the class'?" One of the girls glared at Horikita, looking annoyed. "Why should we let you talk to us like that?"

"You caused our Class Points to—"

"Who cares if they get deducted? They weren't bringing us any benefits anyway. What's wrong with trading them for some points?" The girl spoke without a care. "If you want to move up a class, earn the points yourself. You only need 20 million to move up, right? Why should we have to eat grass along with you?"

"Exactly. I heard Sawahara from Class C already has over 20 million points."

"Seriously?"

"If you're capable, why not do what he did?"

"Exactly."

They made no effort to keep their voices down. If anything, they deliberately raised them.

They knew their actions were questionable, so they had to put themselves on the moral high ground first.

"..."

Horikita didn't know how she'd left the noisy gathering. Her head felt like a complete muddle.

"Horikita, are you all right?" Ayanokoji's voice finally brought her back to her senses. Only then did she realize that, at some point, the two of them had ended up alone in a private room.

"I don't know what you're planning, but I'm not some helpless girl." Horikita crossed her arms over her chest, looking ready to beat him up if he tried anything.

"..."

Ayanokoji fell silent. An unusually subtle change crossed his face, as if he were troubled. "Wasn't it you, Horikita, who said we should review the exam?"

"Right, yeah. I think I did say that." Horikita remembered that she'd said it before the class gathering. Come to think of it, she'd only gone because she thought the class was getting together to reflect on the exam. She hadn't expected it to be a party.

"Why do you think our class lost so badly this time, Horikita?" Ayanokoji looked at her, wanting to hear her thoughts.

"Because no one in our class even thought about earning points." As she spoke, Horikita clenched her fists. She couldn't understand how her classmates had behaved earlier.

"..."

That's not quite right, Horikita. What a shame. Still, you've made some progress.

"Horikita, don't you think our class is too disorganized?" Ayanokoji said. "We don't have a strong leader like Classes B and C, nor do we have any rules or restraints. Why do you think they wanted points earlier?"

"They wanted... Private Points." Horikita pondered it.

"Exactly. So when Class C took that incentive away entirely, the class had no motivation left." Ayanokoji rarely said so much.

"Does that mean we never had a chance from the beginning?" Horikita looked frustrated. They'd lost this time, and they'd lose again next time, too.

"No, we did have a chance. We just didn't take it." Ayanokoji sighed. If they'd gotten the information about the VIP Koenji had guessed, along with the three VIPs already known to the class, they could have identified all the VIPs.

If they'd done that before Class C made its move, they'd have had a chance to turn things around.

"In that situation, who could say for sure that Koenji's guess was right?" Horikita shook her head, unconvinced by Ayanokoji's argument.

This is your limit for now, Horikita. You don't care about the people and things around you. Do you really understand what your classmates are thinking? Do you know what kind of person Koenji is? Would he really do something 'unseemly' without being sure he'd succeed?

But Ayanokoji didn't say anything more. In the end, she had to think about it for herself.

"Why do you think Classes A and B lost?" Horikita asked, voicing her confusion.

"Class A lost because of arrogance. Class B lacked motivation." Sawahara answered Ryuen's question.

"Class A's arrogance about its status was the root cause of its failure. You must have noticed, right? Class A knew very little about Class D." Sawahara sat in a deck chair, drying his hair after Ryuen had soaked him.

"Even on the day the exam was explained, Katsuragi and the others didn't care about Class D at all. Because they didn't care, they thought they were superior just because they were in Class A. They looked down on Class D, and even saw our class that way."

"That's not an incorrect assessment. Class D really is full of trash." Ryuen didn't think Class D had anyone impressive.

"Don't imitate the worst part of Class A, Ryuen." Sawahara sighed. His classmates seemed on the verge of letting victory go to their heads.

"Putting aside the guy who almost gave me trouble last time, Koenji is pretty capable, too.

"But Class A's biggest problem was that it gathered no information about Class D at all. It didn't understand that Class D had no motivation to win, so it misjudged the situation. Otherwise, Katsuragi would have bought off Class D students on the first day of the exam and ended it for his class."

"That defensive approach does sound like him." Ryuen clicked his tongue. If it had been him, he'd have bought the information about the VIP in Class D and gone for the grand prize.

"Horikita helped with this, too." Sawahara smiled faintly. For her, nothing could have been more painful.

"What!" Horikita stared at Ayanokoji in disbelief, wondering if she'd heard him correctly.

"Because you took the exam seriously, Horikita, you gave Classes A and B the impression that Class D cared a lot about it," Ayanokoji explained. That created an information gap between Classes A and B and Class C.

Sawahara had noticed the gap and used it to deliver the final blow.

It was also because of that information gap that Sawahara hadn't been satisfied with Class Points and had set his sights on a much bigger payoff.

"But there's one thing I still don't understand. Why did he deliberately target Class D?"

That was the only thing about the exam Ayanokoji couldn't figure out.