September's Cutting-Edge Tech and the Sports Festival (Continued)

But this concerns the future, and there's no way to avoid it. If we incur public wrath, the four students who were dropped out will serve as a cautionary tale.

Meanwhile, a small number of students, such as Sudo, who had absolute confidence in their athletic abilities, became excited.

Their feelings were like those of Tetsuya Yamagami walking up to Prime Minister Abe with a homemade shotgun—success was just a trigger away!

However, Shuichi Kanda didn't have time to pay attention to them; he was quietly reading the materials that Chabashira-sensei had given him.

However, most students were not aware of this, so Chabashira-sensei began to explain the rules, or rather, precautions, for this Sports Festival.

"Those who have looked at the data should have noticed that this Sports Festival adopts a competition format that divides all grades into two groups."

Class D has been assigned to the Red Team, and Class A will also participate as part of the Red Team. This means that during the Sports Festival, the Student Council of Class A will be your partners.

After September, Ichinose's Class B became Class A with 969 Class Points, while Class B temporarily remained in Class B with 842 points.

Therefore, according to the rules, Class D's ally this time is Ichinose's class. This time, the students of Class D will form the Red Team with the students of Class A and the White Team composed of Classes B and C to compete against each other.

Yes, that's possible.

I always felt that they would be very reliable in these kinds of situations.

Furthermore, Class B was betrayed by Ryuen in the past. If Ryuen hadn't tricked them, they probably wouldn't be Class B now. So it would be difficult for them to cooperate.

Yes, that's another piece of good news.

In addition, Class 2-A and Class D, and third-grade Class A and Class D will also be members of the Red Team.

Seeing this lineup, Shuichi Kanda didn't know how he could lose.

However, the collaboration surprised the students in the class, because they had almost always taken the exams alone, and even in the VIP Exam, they were usually grouped with students from other classes.

However, this sudden cross-grade collaboration left them somewhat at a loss.

So, this time they'll be collaborating with Nagumo and President Horikita?

Thinking of this, Shuichi Kanda turned his head and looked at Horikita Suzune behind him.

Horikita, noticing Shuichi Kanda turn around, also looked up, and Shuichi Kanda saw the panic in the other's eyes.

So what if you're in the same group as your brother at the Sports Festival? Why are you panicking like this?

What are you looking at?

"It's nothing, I just thought I should congratulate you?"

"Shut up!"

Pshaw! Such a tsundere! Just like your brother!

"I don't intend to explain the results of this Sports Festival several times, so please listen carefully all at once."

Chabashira-sensei gently tapped the materials, telling everyone the key points they needed to pay attention to.

The rewards for this Sports Festival were outrageous. First, there was a match between the Red Team and White Team. The losing team had 100 points deducted from each class, while the winning team didn't lose any points but received no reward.

In addition, each grade will be ranked separately within its own grade. The class that ranks first in the overall score will receive 50 Class Points, the second place will receive the same number of points, the third place will have 50 points deducted, and the fourth place will have 100 points deducted.

Simply put, even in the best-case scenario of achieving first place in the grade and winning the group competition, the class would only receive fifty points.

However, if the class ranks last and the group loses, then 200 Class Points will be deducted.

This Sports Festival is all about going against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind!

This Special Exam was rather abstract; it didn't seem like it was held to earn points for the class, but rather to reclaim the Class Points held by the students.

Is the school short of money and planning to squeeze more from students' living expenses?

That's so low-class!

Next comes the score presentation for each item.

The Sports Festival has two types of events: one type is events that everyone must participate in.

Each group has eight students. In the individual competition, the class of the student who wins first place gets 15 points, the class of the student who wins second place gets 12 points, the class of the student who wins third place gets 10 points, and the class of the student who wins fourth place gets 8 points.

Each place below fifth place will have one point deducted in turn, while the winning team will receive 500 points.

In addition to the mandatory events, there are also optional events with limited spots, but someone must still participate, as the scores for these events will also be included in the class score.

"The winning group doesn't get any points? There's really no benefit at all!" The students groaned, their motivation to participate waning once again.

"But if we really lose, we might lose two hundred Class Points!"

"I don't want that. I don't want to go back to those impoverished days."

"Don't worry, this exam isn't entirely without its benefits."

First, there are the rewards for individual competitions. In the individual competitions, the top three students in each event will receive 5,000 points, 3,000 points, and 1,000 points respectively from the school.

If you don't need personal points, you can choose to receive a point reward based on your written test score: five points, three points, or one point.

The points awarded for the written test can be used for the Midterm Exam after the Sports Festival.

Of course, with rewards come penalties. The last place in each project will have 1,000 personal points deducted. If you do not wish to have personal points deducted, and you do not have enough personal points, they will be deducted from your Midterm Exam score at a rate of one point per 1,000 points.

In addition, the student with the highest score in all individual competitions will receive 100,000 personal points from the school, while the three students with the highest scores in each grade will also receive a reward of 10,000 points.

However, such things are destined to be out of reach for Shuichi Kanda, and he will not even aim for them. In fact, he has already prepared himself to come in last place in every project.

But then he suddenly thought of someone—that guy might not even be able to participate in the competition, after all, heart disease... hehehe...

Meanwhile, in the classroom of Class B, the white-haired loli who was listening to Tomoya Mashima explain the rules of the Sports Festival suddenly sneezed, which was extremely cute.

Sure enough, when someone who is in a terrible situation discovers someone who is even worse off, they immediately feel that their situation has improved considerably.

Meanwhile, the students in Class D were clearly also very interested in the prizes for the top three in this individual competition.

"Teacher, Chabashira-sensei! This special reward for getting into the top three! What does it mean to get a good score on the written test?!"

Does this mean that this written test score can be used for any subject?

Taking advantage of the opportunity, a student who wasn't doing so well immediately asked Chabashira-sensei a question.

"That's right. If you're not good at English and you fail the Midterm Exam, you can make up for it with the points you get in the Sports Festival."

Of course, this is on the condition that the total score is high enough to pass, and the reward cannot be stored; it can only be used in the next Midterm Exam.

"Yay!"

After receiving a detailed explanation from Chabashira-sensei, Sudo, who excels in sports but not in academics, immediately cheered.

There are several individual competitions. If Sudo can win first place in all of them, he will have a buffer of about 30 points in the next exam.

This is undoubtedly good news for him.

Of course, as the saying goes, there must be rewards for those who perform well, and there must also be punishments for those who perform poorly.

Just as the last-place finisher in an individual competition is punished, the ten students with the lowest overall academic performance in the entire school will also be punished accordingly.

After all the competitions are over, the school will tally the scores across all grades, and the bottom ten students will be punished. The details of the punishment will vary from grade to grade, so you need to confirm with your homeroom teacher.

"Teacher, what is the punishment for the bottom ten students?"

"Leaving aside the other grades, the punishment for you first-year students is that points will be deducted from your scores in the next Midterm Exam. Student Council overall grades rank in the bottom ten will have ten points deducted."

"As for how the deductions will be made, I will explain again closer to the exam date, so I will not accept questions now. Also, the list of the bottom ten students will be announced in the exam instructions."

As she spoke, Chabashira Sae glanced at Shuichi Kanda.

Damn it, I admit I'll probably be punished, but isn't that look a bit too blatant?

"Teacher, were the last ten places counted together for both boys and girls?"

"That's right, all students are treated equally."

Oh, I see. Luckily, some people are destined to be at the bottom; I'm not last. I feel like I've already won.

Achoo!

"What's wrong, Your Highness? Do you have a cold? You've sneezed twice already."

The soft sneeze caught the attention of the students in Class B next to Sakayanagi.

"No, it's more like someone's talking about me," Sakayanagi said with a light laugh, taking a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his nose.

Then Sakayanagi turned to Katsuragi: "Katsuragi, could you take care of the arrangements for this year's Sports Festival? I'm really not able to participate in this condition."

"I understand, I will do my best."

Katsuragi did not refuse; instead, he answered Sakayanagi seriously.

"Then I'll leave the girl to you, Masumi- san."

Upon hearing Sakayanagi's words, Kamuro frowned and then nodded in agreement.

On the other side, after explaining the rules, Chabashira-sensei from Class D began to explain the plans for the competition events.

First, there are nine projects that everyone participates in.

These include the 100-Meter Race, the 110-Meter Hurdles, the men's Pole Toppling Ball Toss Competition, the men's and women's Tug of War, the Obstacle Course Race, the 100-Meter Three-Legged Race, the Cavalry Battle, and the final 200-Meter Race.

Next are the recommended projects to participate in, a total of four.

These included Item Borrowing Race, Four-Way Tug-of-War, Mixed Gender Three-Legged Race, and a 1200-meter relay race involving the entire grade.

Looking at these events, Shuichi Kanda, especially since all these competitions had to be completed in one day. Was this some kind of scheme against him?

Let alone Shuichi Kanda, even students with slightly average physical abilities probably couldn't have lasted that long.

Since that's the case, then let's just skip some of the races where we're destined to come in last place and save our energy. At the very least, we can't come in last place in all of them, otherwise we'll definitely be laughed at by that stupid little girl, Sakayanagi.

Shuichi Kanda thought to himself.

Seeing that the class had calmed down again, Chabashira-sensei took out a piece of paper and pointed it at the students of Class D.

"What I'm about to say is very important. This is called the entry form. It contains details of all the events. You need to decide the order and list of participants yourselves. After you fill it out, hand it to me. Also, remember one thing: once the deadline has passed, no substitutions are allowed for any reason."

In a typical school, the Sports Festival is like a holiday for most students, but a carnival for athletic students. The order of registration doesn't matter, since there are no winners or losers, and everyone just needs to have fun.

However, this school is different. This entry form can directly determine the outcome of this Sports Festival. Class D, which has finally obtained more than 500 Class Points, must protect their entry form if they want to keep those points.

If someone like Ryuen finds out, then without a doubt, Class D will be targeted and suffer a crushing defeat.

"The deadline for submitting entry forms is one week before the Sports Festival, until 5 PM the day before. If you submit after the deadline, you will be randomly assigned. Please take note."

After finishing her explanation Chabashira-sensei didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, she looked at the students in the class, as if she had guessed that someone would ask a question.

"May I ask a question, Chabashira-sensei?"

Horikita, who had been quietly listening to Chabashira-sensei explain the rules from the beginning, raised his hand and said this.

"Of course you can, since you can only ask now."

When Chabashira-sensei saw her like this, a faint smile appeared on his face.

Although it's unlikely that this Sports Festival will create a significant gap between classes, even the smallest difference is still a difference. To achieve victory, you have to accumulate experience little by little.

Although she really wanted to see Shuichi Kanda perform exceptionally well in this exam, it seemed that this time, Shuichi Kanda really couldn't do it.

Because as long as they can hold onto their class's spot in the competition, the rest is just a contest of physical strength and power, which is precisely Shuichi Kanda's weakest point.

"Chabashira-sensei, you just said that once the entry form is submitted, it cannot be changed. But what if someone is absent on the day? If it's an individual competition, it will be considered a loss, but in team competitions... like three-legged races or Cavalry Battle, if one person is missing, the competition cannot proceed."

"If it's a three-legged race, you'll be disqualified because you won't have enough people for the competition. But if it's Cavalry Battle, you can compete with one less horse. So it's wiser to choose healthy and strong people as teammates."

That makes sense. After all, during the Olympics, the competition won't give you special treatment just because you're not in your best physical condition.

In sports, managing one's physical condition is also a crucial factor in determining victory or defeat.

"However, there are exceptions," Chabashira-sensei continued. "While it's impossible to change participants for competitions where everyone participates, for recommended competitions, you can change participants by paying 100,000 personal points."

"If you have enough points, you can even spread false information and then use the points to select the real participants at the last minute."

"... I see, thank you."

After Horikita thanked them, she returned to her seat, and Chabashira-sensei, seeing that no one had any questions, ended the discussion.

"Next period we'll move to the Gymnasium 1 to meet with the other classes from different grades." Chabashira-sensei then glanced at her watch. "There are about twenty minutes left in class. You're free to use the remaining time as you see fit. Whether you want to chat casually or seriously discuss strategies is entirely up to you."

With the teacher's assurance and permission, the oppressive silence suddenly erupted.

Their respective small groups began to gather and start discussing the Sports Festival as they pleased.

Shuichi Kanda patted Miyake on the shoulder and pulled him over, while he himself turned to face Horikita.