The Obvious Pattern / Speculation About the VIP

Class D: Ryuen Kakeru, Shiina Hiyori, Ibuki Mio

Upon seeing the members of the four classes assigned to the "Dragon Group," both Kushida Kikyo, who had gathered around, and Hirata Yosuke, who was holding a camera and taking pictures of the paper, gasped in shock.

"This list is something else!" / "Yeah!"

"That's right, this list has serious problems."

Hoshino En rested her chin on her hand and sighed deeply.

"The Dragon Group has a total of 13 people, but in the end there were only 4 boys: Katsuragi, Hirata, A-Sho, and me. The gender ratio is seriously unbalanced!"

"Didn't the school consider the possibility of a socially awkward boy like me being unable to speak in front of girls?"

Is that the key point?!

Whether it was the three students in the same class or a teacher in another class, whether it was the three people who had a good relationship with Hoshino Yui or the one person who was in tit-for-tat with him, their complaining energy had reached the peak of their lives at this moment.

And besides, this isn't social anxiety at all!

You dared to grope a female teacher like that? You're clearly socially awkward!!

First Semester of First Year:

Chapters 177 and 168: Obvious Patterns

"Cough cough!!"

Hoshinomiya Chie steered the building back from its erratic descent.

"Please disregard your class affiliation for this exam; this will help you find a shortcut to pass."

She took back the list of members and then took out a larger piece of paper with many words written on it.

"This Special Exam will only have four possible outcomes for each group. The exam is designed so that it will definitely result in one of these four outcomes; there will be no exceptions."

"Here is the detailed information about the exam results."

Upon hearing this, Hirata Yosuke once again pointed his camera lens at the piece of paper and recorded the words on it without missing a single detail.

Summer Group Special Exam Instructions:

1. The school will send an email notification to all students at 8:00 AM on the day the exam begins (July 13th). Students selected as "VIP" will also be informed of their selection.

2. The nine-day exam period will begin tomorrow (July 13th) and continue until 9 PM four days later (July 17th).

3. Each group member must gather in the designated room at the designated time each day for one hour of free discussion. The discussion topics are to be decided by each group.

4. After the exam, the school will only accept answers to "Who is the VIP?" between 9:30 PM and 10:00 PM on the same day (July 17th). Each person can only answer once.

5. The school only accepts answers submitted by students using their own mobile phones to send emails to the designated mailbox.

6. "VIP" are not allowed to answer questions themselves, and even if they do answer, their answers will be treated as invalid.

7. Answers from groups other than your own will be considered invalid.

8. The school will inform all students of the detailed exam results via email at 11 p. m. on the last day (July 17).

Then, what follows are those four predetermined "outcomes":

Result 1: If everyone in the group correctly identifies the "VIP" during the answering time, all members of the group will receive a Private Points reward of 500,000 points each, while the "VIP" will receive double the reward, which is a Private Points reward of 1 million points.

Result 2: Apart from the "VIP", if any member in the group fails to answer or answers incorrectly during the answering time, only the "VIP" will receive the 500,000 Private Points reward.

Result 3: Apart from the "VIP," if any member of the group answers correctly outside of the designated time, their class will lose 50 Class Points from the "VIP's " class. The respondent will also receive a Private Points reward of 500,000 points, and the exam will end immediately. Answers from members in the same class as the "VIP" will be invalid.

Result 4: Apart from the "VIP," if any member of the group answers incorrectly outside of the designated time, the class of that member will have 50 Class Points deducted from the class of the "VIP," and the "VIP" will receive a Private Points reward of 500,000. The exam will then end immediately. The answers of members in the same class as the "VIP" will be invalid.

The rules and results are simple and easy to understand, and the reasoning is also very clear.

"I see. VIP, as the name suggests, means that only by giving preferential treatment to 'VIP' can one obtain the greatest benefit."

"Hoshinomiya-sensei, if I'm not mistaken, the optimal solution for this exam should be that all 12 groups achieve result one, right? The entire grade can obtain 86 million Private Points, averaging 21.5 million Private Points per class, which is enough to save a life."

After Hirata finished taking the picture, Hoshino En pushed the paper back to Hoshinomiya Chie and asked her for confirmation.

But before Hoshinomiya Chie, who was unsure how to react, could say anything, Hoshino En faced opposition from her classmates.

"Hoshino -kun, I don't agree with your idea. With 12 groups, on average, besides our Class C, there are 9 other VIP. If we find them all, get those 9 groups to achieve result three, and get our class's VIP group to achieve result four, then we'll get 12 x 50 = 600 Class Points. Those points are enough for us to jump straight to Class A."

Riki Horikita Suzune stared intently at Hoshinomiya Chie across from her, her gaze never glancing in Hoshino En's direction, seemingly not wanting anything strange to influence her judgment.

Hedgehog, but Hoshinomiya Chie, who was being stared at, found it very annoying.

4. Isn't it a bit much for you to bring up the topic of promotion to Class A in front of me, the current homeroom teacher of Class A?

"Horikita, I told you you cared too much about Class Points and exam results! You can earn more Class Points through exams, but Private Points... It's rare for the school to be so generous with its resources. If we don't take this opportunity to make a killing, I won't be able to sleep soundly tonight!"

"Moreover, before entering the third year, Class A is a huge pitfall; whoever steps into it is doomed—look at Katsuragi, how glorious he was at the beginning of the school year, and how pathetic he is now; I think Ichinose isn't far from that fate either!"

Buying this is even more outrageous!!!

: Hoshinomiya Chie spent a lot of effort to suppress her complaints and stabilize her professional ethics.

However, from his words, she roughly understood that Ichinose's impression of Hoshino had seemingly plummeted.

What should we do then? Should we let Shiranami take her place? She noticed that Hoshino seemed to care about that child quite a bit, and it was because of Shiranami that Hoshino and Ichinose had their falling out.

But that girl was too weak-willed. It felt like in the end, it wasn't her who had the upper hand over Hoshino, but rather she who was tamed by Hoshino.

Lin Ke couldn't possibly let her do it herself, could she?!

Hoshinomiya Chie: "..."

Maybe... perhaps... possibly... is that possible?

Recalling the tender care and gentle comfort that Hoshino En had given her before she started talking about it, her pretty face flushed.

Luko's attack power is a bit too strong...

With his face, she felt that she wouldn't be able to control herself until she could truly master Hoshino En.

While she was distracted, Hoshino En and Horikita Suzune's argument gradually came to an end.

"Horikita, you're underestimating the value of Private Points! In Kodo Ikusei, Private Points, which are equivalent to 'yen yen,' are used for much more than just making a living; they can buy many things you can't even imagine!"

"I think your vision is too narrow! The benefits from Class Points are clearly much greater. With 600 Class Points, our class can earn an extra 2.4 million a month, and an extra 28.8 million a year. How can that compare to a one-time payment of 21.5 million?"

"That's because you're aiming too high!"

You're clearly short-sighted!

"Hmph!!" ×

Kushida Kikyo & Hirata Yosuke: "..."

What kind of expression should we wear?

First Semester of First Year:

Chapters 178 and 169: Speculation about VIP

The discussion among Class C's Dragon Group concluded with a "friendly exchange" between Hoshino En and Horikita Suzune.

As soon as he stepped out of the room, Hirata Yosuke left first: he wanted to export the photos he had taken with his camera and send them to Karuizawa Kei, the current class representative of Class C.

--Because of Hoshino En's previous "violent behavior" and "overbearing attitude," a large part of the outstanding results in the Uninhabited Island Exam were attributed by the students of Class C to Karuizawa Kei's excellent leadership and her unique vision in choosing Hoshino En, which made her dominance over Class C even stronger.

Aside from gaining nearly 27 million extra Private Points each month, Hoshino En received nothing.

"So, did you figure anything out?"

After getting out of Hoshinomiya Chie's sight and watching Hirata Yosuke leave, Horikita Suzune immediately went to Hoshino En's side and asked.

Her actions left Kushida Kikyo completely bewildered.

"No, she performed too well, she was practically a ProMaxPlus version of Kushida, there wasn't a single flaw on that mask."

"The only thing I'm certain of is that 'making all 12 groups' results lead to result one' is indeed the optimal solution for this 'VIP Exam,' and Hoshinomiya-sensei revealed his weakness when I asked that question."

"Wait! You guys—"

Seeing the two people who were completely different from when they were in the room, Kushida Kikyo suddenly felt an absurd sense that everything had changed.

"You two were arguing so fiercely just now, was it all because of...?"

"How could it all be an act?"

Hoshino En looked at Kushida Kikyo as if she were an idiot.

"Horikita has had a grudge against me for a long time; testing Hoshinomiya-sensei was just a side effect."

"I didn't tell you because Hoshinomiya-sensei is far more skilled than you; if you start acting, she'll see right through you, so it's better for you to stay true to yourself—as long as you exaggerate a bit, she won't notice Horikita's terrible acting."

"Whose acting was bad? I almost gave myself away because of you, didn't I??"

Hoshino En Horikita Suzune. She glanced at him, but immediately looked away, an unnatural blush rising on her cheeks.

"What happened to me? I acted exactly as we agreed! What does it have to do with me that you gave yourself away?!"

But Hoshino En felt wronged; he simply couldn't understand what he had done wrong, since he had performed so perfectly!!

"And why did you look away? Why won't you look me in the eye? Are you feeling guilty?!"

Kushida Kikyo, who always sees things more clearly from the sidelines. "..."

"Well, Hoshino, I understand why Horikita said 'It's all your fault,' but rather—why are you so oblivious?"

"Huh? Then explain yourself clearly!"

Hoshino En Kushida Kikyo turned to look at Kushida Kikyo, whose seemingly radiant face dazzled her.

Then, she also shifted her gaze.

Why aren't you looking at me? Look into my eyes! Tell me why?!

Hoshino En's doubts remained unanswered, as Kushida Kikyo unexpectedly pulled Horikita Suzune away.

"If you don't want to tell me, then don't. Why all the secrecy..."

Watching their retreating figures, Hoshino En muttered something under her breath, then shouted at the two of them again.

"You two mustn't fight when you play together!!"

His voice made them pause for a moment, and then... they fled even faster, disappearing at the end of the corridor in an instant.

Hoshino En: "..."

When did they become so close?

Forget it, I'll just ignore it.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Karuizawa Kei.

Hoshino En: [Send me a copy of the group name and the list of four students for each group. Send as many as you can, as soon as possible.]

He then quietly went up to the deck, facing the sea outside the ship, enjoying the sea breeze while waiting for Karuizawa Kei's reply, and pondering the "hint" given by Hoshinomiya Chie earlier.

"Temporarily ignoring class affiliation" doesn't mean they should truly let go of the antagonism between different classes—since it's Special Exam, the conflicts between different classes should always exist, and no rule can break this foundation.

Similarly, schools wouldn't set exam questions that violate this unspoken rule; this statement likely has another meaning.

However, the school wouldn't give a nonsensical hint. Since there's a "hint," the "riddle" must have already been revealed.

Among the exam materials provided by the school, besides the slips of paper explaining the rules and results, there was only one slip of paper with the list of students in each group.

Therefore, "temporarily ignoring class affiliation" should mean that they should ignore the "class" field on the student list and analyze the student list separately.

If we disregard the "class" designation, the remaining thirteen names—which, according to common sense, should be rearranged according to the order of the Japanese syllabary (hiragana and katakana) at the beginning of the name.

They are the "Dragon Group," ranking fifth in the twelve Earthly Branches. And the fifth position after rearranging... is Kushida.

Is this how the "VIP in each group are determined?

Tsk, it's that simple, Sakayanagi would have figured it out immediately.

Hoshino En is now somewhat disappointed that the second exam wasn't the physical challenge he initially expected.

Since a working professional encompasses three abilities—Action, Thinking, and Teamwork—and given the provision of such a large Cruise Ship, wouldn't it be perfect to use it directly to test Action skills?

Thinking skills can be tested anywhere, but such a complex and luxurious Cruise Ship is the perfect place to test action skills! Wouldn't it be a shame to miss out?

Another sigh...