How Can There Be Betrayal Without Ever Having Been Loyal?

Why can only a maximum of fifteen items be selected on any given day?

"Before explaining the rules of the match, there is one more very important thing you need to know."

As he spoke, Chabashira-sensei wrote a few more large characters on the blackboard.

Commander.

"In order to coordinate a large number of students, this Special Exam requires a 'Commander.' Students serving as the Commander cannot directly participate in any competition events."

So that's why Chabashira-sensei took my student card out separately?

Shuichi Kanda seemed thoughtful. Did he think I would definitely become the Commander of Class C?

"Just like the literal meaning, the Commander can intervene in all projects and provide assistance, such as replacing students or solving problems they cannot solve. The specific methods of intervention are also up to you to decide."

For example, regarding the Rock Paper Scissors mentioned earlier, you can set the methods of intervention: 'The Commander can participate at any time and make a single, one-time Rock Paper Scissors move' or 'Replace the student making the Rock Paper Scissors move'.

"So, this is considered an additional rule that can be added to the project, right?"

"That's right, you can understand it that way."

In short, interventions that are based on equal conditions from both sides are generally accepted, and depending on the situation, the Commander's intervention can be a very important part of the game.

"Finally, while the Commander may receive individual points when the class wins, he also bears corresponding responsibility when the class loses... That's right, if the class loses, he will be expelled from school to take responsibility."

No wonder they took out my personal card; they were waiting for me there.

Even without the clause about dropping out, Shuichi Kanda didn't intend to let anyone else take Commander; after all, that's not how you send someone to their death.

However, if that's the case, then the Commander of all four classes might all be people with Protection Point.

"Remember, the Commander is indispensable in this Special Exam," Chabashira-sensei emphasized. "Without the Commander, the exam won't begin. If you can't reach a conclusion, the school will randomly appoint one for you."

"There's no need to worry about that, Chabashira-sensei. I can take over the position of Commander right now."

Shuichi Kanda his hand and volunteered for the position of Commander.

Shuichi Kanda's words were met with no opposition. If anyone in the class was capable of taking on the Commander, it would undoubtedly be Shuichi Kanda.

Moreover, he has Protection Point above his head, so no one would refuse Shuichi Kanda's proposal.

Chabashira-sensei nodded, indicating that she understood.

"But what exactly are the most crucial rules of the battle?"

Speaking of this, Chabashira-sensei's expression turned sour.

"Regarding the final battle rules... On the day of the exam, the Commander of the four classes will be gathered in the Multipurpose Classroom."

Then, starting with Class A, they will choose one of their prepared projects, and then Class A's Commander will choose the opposing class.

Then, in the same manner, projects are drawn from Class B, and then opponents are assigned.

As the designated party, each party has one opportunity to refuse in each round, and the designating party may not designate another class that has been rejected before all classes have been rejected.

If all three other classes refuse, the next assignment will proceed directly to the exam.

Furthermore, the same class cannot be assigned twice consecutively.

That's easy to understand. For example, if Class A initially chose Class C, then Shuichi Kanda, as the Commander, had the right to refuse the project.

If Shuichi Kanda refuses, then the Commander for Class A must be chosen from either Class B or Class D. Only if both Class B and Class D refuse can Class A designate Class C again. And this time, Class C has no room to refuse and will begin the exam immediately.

Furthermore, if Class A designates Class C for the first exam, then when it's Class B's turn in the second exam, the Commander of Class B cannot designate Class C and can only choose one class from Class A and Class D to compete against.

If that's the case, choosing projects will be a bit tricky. We must try to select projects that we can beat all three classes, otherwise other classes might get the better of us.

I have no idea who came up with these combat rules; they're absolutely outrageous.

Then, Chabashira-sensei took out some chalk and continued writing on the blackboard.

Class 1-A (Sakayanagi Arisu): 907 points

Class 1-B (Ichinose Honami): 904 points

Class 1-C (Shuichi Kanda): 898 points

Class 1-D, Grade 1 (Ryuen Kakeru): 335 points

"Then, regarding the changes to Class Points... each item will have an increase or decrease of fifty points, which will be transferred from the 'opponent's class.' The first class to suffer four defeats will be eliminated, and the class remaining at the end will receive a reward of one hundred Class Points from the school."

As soon as Chabashira-sensei finished speaking, Shuichi Kanda immediately calculated the optimal score under ideal conditions: 700 points.

If the other three classes all attack Class C and then all lose to Class C, then Class C can gain a maximum of 700 Class Points.

However, this is an ideal situation and is basically impossible to happen.

Moreover, if this is the rule, then even if you don't survive to the end, as long as you're lucky, you can still get a lot of Class Points.

However, as the first Class A will have a slight advantage in this exam.

However, Class C may not necessarily lose. In short, nothing can be concluded before the project is completed.

"By the way, teacher, what would happen if two classes submitted the same project?"

"It will proceed as a normal project."

"So, is it possible that there will be two matches?" Shuichi Kanda countered.

"That's right." Chabashira-sensei nodded and gave the answer. "You should already have a pretty good understanding of the basic rules. Now, think about how to approach this exam."

After saying this, Chabashira-sensei left the classroom, giving the students a little time before class started.

Chapter 261 Without loyalty, how can there be betrayal?

After Chabashira-sensei left, Kushida, who was sitting in the front row, immediately took the paper with the project rules written on it that was placed on the lectern during the short time before class started.

She immediately took a picture of what was on the screen with her phone and shared it in the class group chat.

Shuichi Kanda naturally learned the specific details about the exam through the chat group.

First, there are the facilities that can be used in the relevant projects.

On the day of the Special Exam, the Commander will conduct the exam in the Multipurpose Classroom.

In addition, most school facilities, such as the Gymnasium, playground, music classroom, and science classroom, are generally available for use, although there are some exceptions.

Secondly, there's the project content.

If projects are deemed to have the same content, each class can only use one of them. In addition, projects that are too long in duration or have no time limit may also be rejected.

The required number of test takers, excluding substitutes, must be different for all five test takers applying for.

The minimum number of participants is one person, and the maximum number is twenty people.

Upon seeing this, Shuichi Kanda frowned. In other words, this one project directly eliminated the possibility of five solo projects.

In addition, including substitutes, a class can register a maximum of two events with more than ten participants.

In principle, each student can only participate in one event and may not participate in more than two events.

However, if all students have participated in the exam, then the students can participate in the second round. But to participate in the third round, all students need to have participated in both rounds of the competition.

As the Commander, it can intervene in ongoing competitions. How to intervene will be decided by the class that submitted the project, and the intervention will only be carried out after approval from the school.

"The school really prepared some interesting Special Exam."

"Interesting?"

Horikita, standing to the side, was somewhat puzzled. Shouldn't this kind of exam be very disadvantageous for Class D? Yet this person actually said it was interesting?

Of course it's interesting; this exam can be described as a comprehensive confrontation in all aspects.

First, it is necessary to gather information on all students in the class, not just your own strengths and weaknesses, but also to understand what other classes are good at and not good at. If possible, you should even find out what the other classes have chosen beforehand.

Then comes the test for the Commander on the day of the exam, where the right people must be assigned to the right tasks.

The exam went well at the beginning, but the number of available personnel dwindled towards the end, so it became necessary to abandon one or two projects to weed out those who were not needed.

So Shuichi Kanda is already considering whether or not to start a large-scale project with twenty people.

In addition to luck, it's also important to have good luck. If you're unlucky and another class beats your class's project, it will be a devastating loss.

However, the most important thing is that the students in the class have strong academic abilities, but Class C is not good at this, so they can only make up for it through tactics.

In addition, using off-field tactics is also a solution, such as sending cannon fodder players from the class to disrupt the opponent's sleep the day before the exam.

Or, to put some kind of interference on the enemy, create psychological pressure on them and cause them to underperform, these are things that the school has no control over.

However, none of the leaders of classes A, B, and C would do something so shameless, but Ryuen certainly doesn't care about saving face; as long as he can win, he doesn't care.

Therefore, this must be guarded against, and Ryuen's conspiracy must not be allowed to succeed.

"Before we begin the discussion, I'd like to confirm one thing."

Before class started, Sudo stood up and looked towards Ayanokoji.

"Why did Class A's Appreciation Vote for Ayanokoji go? Did he betray the class?"

After Sudo reminded them, the students in the class also remembered the incident.

When the exams ended on Saturday, Shuichi Kanda analyzed the voting results, and Chabashira-sensei confirmed that Ayanokoji's final vote count was exactly seven.

However, as a candidate for withdrawal, he certainly received a lot of critical votes, which also means that he received Appreciation Vote from other classes.

Meanwhile, the Appreciation Vote from Class B and Class D were taken by Shuichi Kanda and cast for Kamuro from Class A.

Therefore, Ayanokoji's Appreciation Vote could only come from Class A.

But why did Class A inexplicably Appreciation Vote for Ayanokoji?

Therefore, everyone suspects that Ayanokoji betrayed Class A, and even that Yamauchi's betrayal was orchestrated by Ayanokoji.

Sudo's question startled Shuichi Kanda, who then looked at Ayanokoji with interest, eager to see how Ayanokoji would explain.

"Actually, I don't know either."

Faced with the questions from her classmates, Ayanokoji looked bewildered.

Although his expression was no different from usual.

Unfortunately, Ayanokoji couldn't come up with a good reason.

Are you suggesting I say something like, "Sakayanagi doesn't want me to drop out because he wants to have a showdown with me"?

Don't joke around, Ayanokoji doesn't want to reveal his abilities; he just wants to quietly slack off at this school for three years.

Although he was forced to reveal some of his strength this year, he no longer wants to attract attention.

Therefore, at this point, you should do what an ordinary person would do: play dumb. After all, even if Shuichi Kanda doesn't speak up for him, Hirata and Horikita won't stand idly by.

Sure enough, when his classmates didn't believe him, Hirata was the first to stand up. "I don't think Ayanokoji is a traitor. He contributed to the class during the Sports Festival, didn't he?"

"I can also testify on this point: Ayanokoji did nothing during the previous exams; it was all Sakayanagi's scheme."

Following Hirata, Horikita also stood up to speak for Ayanokoji, and incidentally pushed Sakayanagi out as well.

"A conspiracy? What does that mean?"

"Don't you understand? What would happen next if I Hirata didn't speak up for Ayanokoji?"

Horikita's words startled the students in the class, who then asked blankly, "What... what will happen?"

"If I Hirata don't speak up for him, then Ayanokoji will be isolated as a suspect. If there's a similar dropout exam next time, you'll definitely abandon him without hesitation, right?"

Knowing he's about to be expelled, will Ayanokoji do something irrational? With his classmates not believing him, what do you think he'll do?

"He... he wouldn't go and seek refuge with Sakayanagi, would he?"

"That's right. Back then, even if Ayanokoji wasn't a traitor, you guys forced him to become one." Horikita said, glaring at Sudo. "Sakayanagi almost threw our class into chaos with just a little trick. And if Ayanokoji really was a traitor, do you think Kanda would have let him off the hook?"

Holy crap?

If you're going to stand up for him, then stand up for him! Why drag me into this?

However, Horikita's words had completely drawn the attention of the students in Class C, so Shuichi Kanda had no choice but to make a statement.

"I believe Ayanokoji is not a traitor, but I hope you can do your best in this exam, because that's the only way to clear your name."

Trying to use me? Are you kidding me!

If you take advantage of me, then I have to take advantage of you in return. Anyway, if you keep slacking off, the students in Class C will definitely become suspicious of you.

After all, everyone knows that Ayanokoji is not only fast but also very good at fighting, and this exam will be a good opportunity for him to show off his skills.

Ayanokoji did not object, so he must have agreed.

Meanwhile, Class A's discussion meeting ran into trouble.