Utsunomiya Riku thought for a moment, then handed over the walkie-talkie.
"Is this Tsubaki? I'm Hamaguchi from Class 2-A. I'm here to pass on a message from Shiraishi."
[What does the president want to tell me?]
"The president wants you to stop. In return, we second-years will stop attacking the first-years. If this continues, the first-years will definitely be the ones who suffer."
Hamaguchi Tetsuya was right. If groups from the two years became locked in a stalemate, both sides would lose the same number of points. The first-years, whose scores were already at the bottom, certainly couldn't outlast the second-years.
[Understood. We'll stop here.] Tsubaki Sakurako seemed to sigh on the other end of the walkie-talkie.
The groups at the bottom were generally only around ten points behind those ahead of them. If they were lucky enough to earn an arrival-order bonus once or twice over the final few days, they could get out of danger.
If she stubbornly pushed ahead and caused those students to be targeted, they would certainly turn their resentment toward her.
After delivering the message, Hamaguchi Tetsuya left.
[You should come back too, Utsunomiya.]
"Right." Utsunomiya Riku answered, but a faint smile appeared on his face.
After receiving a reply from Sakayanagi Arisu, Shiraishi Makoto felt relieved.
Through this collaboration with Tsubaki Sakurako, Shiraishi Makoto had cleared all the uninvolved first-years out of the picture in one fell swoop.
Ishigami Kyo, Takahashi Osamu, and the others in Class A had never been interested in this matter. Tsubaki Sakurako and Utsunomiya Riku from Class C were his collaborators, while Hosen Kazuomi from Class D had withdrawn from the exam after Ryuen Kakeru seriously injured him. Over the next few days, only the two White Room students, Yagami Takuya and Amasawa Ichika, would make a