Mission Complete

"Announcing the results: Shiranami Chihiro and Sima Zhenglong have tied. The scores for classes A, B, C, and D are 1:0:0:2. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will lead the next round."

"I chose wrong just now. This card I'm picking now is the 8."

Machida scratched the back of his head with one hand, correcting his play with an apologetic look before selecting the black 8.

"Whatever, I can't win anyway."

Though Shiranami spoke of giving up, her actions remained disciplined. She was waiting for the next opportunity; no one had played the 7 yet, and she still had a chance to turn the tables using the mechanics, just as she had in the ninth round.

Shiranami chose the white 3.

"This is an exam, not a casual game. If you aren't prepared for that, you shouldn't have stepped onto this stage."

I chose the black 4.

"Right, this is a competition. My performance this time was decent, I suppose. It preserves the hard work Airi put in."

Hasebe stood in place, deep in thought for a while, before finally selecting the black 8.

This was the sixth round. As long as she tied with Machida here, she could keep an eye on the situation for the final three rounds and play her 7. Even in the worst-case scenario, she would secure second place.

For her, this was already the best possible outcome; no one in Class D could blame her.

"Announcing the results: Machida Koji and Hasebe Haruka have tied. The scores for classes A, B, C, and D are 1:0:0:2. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will lead the next round."

"If I don't play this 7, Class D might lock in first place. I have no other choice—damn this turn order."

Machida chose the white 7. If he hadn't played the white 7 and instead played the black 6, Shiranami certainly wouldn't have played her 7.

Although having Sima Zhenglong in the rear meant playing the 7 wouldn't grant Hasebe any points, playing the black 6 would have failed to bait out Shiranami's 7.

If Shiranami's 7 wasn't baited out, both she and Sima Zhenglong would be left with 6s and 7s, inevitably resulting in a draw between them.

During their secret coordination, he had been told to force Class B into last place if the opportunity arose. Now that the chance was here, he had to bait out Shiranami's 7. Besides, he had the 9 in his hand; the objective was already guaranteed.

"Machida-kun has no choice, and neither do I."

Shiranami gave up completely at this point. From the moment Machida called out the 7, her last shred of hope vanished. She could only play her own 7 and hope for a miracle.

If a miracle occurred, the four of them could continue to the next round; if not, it would be Classes B and C moving on.

"A restart for all four is impossible. Only two classes will advance to the next round."

When Shiranami selected the white card that all four of them knew was a 7, the result of this exam was essentially set. The only remaining suspense was whether Hasebe would play a 7 or a 5 in the next round. If she played the 7, there would be a tie-breaker between A and D; if she played the 5, it would be a tie-breaker between A/D and B/C.

I chose the black 6.

"Announcing the results: Machida Koji and Shiranami Chihiro have tied. The scores for classes A, B, C, and D are 1:0:0:2. Class D is in the lead. Machida Koji will lead the next round."

"Well, everyone knows what cards are left in their hands now. Congratulations to Class D this time."

Machida Koji chose the black 6 without hesitation.

"The last card you have left is either a 5 or a 3. You played a 6, but it doesn't matter to me anyway. There are still two 7s on the field."

Shiranami chose the black 4.

"Then I'll play my 7 first."

I chose the white 7.

"It makes no difference to me anyway."

Hasebe felt she had already secured the win. She didn't believe Sima Zhenglong would pass up the chance to score in this round; fighting for second or third was better than fighting for third or fourth.

"Announcing the results: Sima Zhenglong wins. The scores for classes A, B, C, and D are 1:0:1:2. Class D is in the lead. Sima Zhenglong will lead the next round."

"Finally reached the end. Princess, This Humble One's mission is complete!"

After choosing his final card, Machida reported his mission status to Sakayanagi with excitement, publicly revealing his allegiance.

"Mission complete? What mission?"

Shiranami, standing next to Machida, looked completely bewildered. Was the goal of Class A simply to ensure they didn't lose class points?

After selecting her final card, Shiranami stepped off the stage.

She was greeted by her supportive classmates from Class B, who comforted her and told her not to take the win or loss to heart. Everything would pass, and she should treat it as gaining experience.

"Hasebe, go recommend Ayanokouji to come up next. That guy controlled his entrance exam scores to exactly 50 in every subject, and he knows Sakayanagi well. He has a chance of winning. Don't tell anyone except Sakura—consider it paying back a favor."

After I finished choosing my card, I walked over to Hasebe and whispered the recommendation for Ayanokouji before stepping off the stage as well.

"Hm? Didn't I win? Why—?"

"Announcing the results: Machida Koji wins. The scores for classes A, B, C, and D are 2:0:1:2. Classes A and D are tied. Next, Classes A and D must send out a student who has not participated in the previous ten rounds."

After selecting her card and stepping off the stage, Hasebe was stunned to hear the news that she had lost the final round.

"It seems Machida-kun was hiding a 9. He must have stolen a point earlier using a 3 or a 5."

Horikita, who had been recording the match from off-stage, deduced the cause of Hasebe's defeat after gathering the match information from her.

"Who should we send next?"

"Don't look at me! I can't do it! I'm allergic to card games."

As Hirata searched for the next participant among the students of Class D, Hasebe walked over to his side.

"Let's send that follower of Horikita, the one called Ayanokoji. Wasn't he present the entire time during our internal drills? It's better to send someone with experience than someone without, and the opponent might not be that strong either. We're already ten rounds in; the truly formidable ones should have mostly exhausted themselves by now."

"That makes sense. Then let's do that. Ayanokoji-kun, I'll leave it to you. Don't feel too much pressure; we're guaranteed second place, so just do your best."

"Alright, fine."

With Hasebe's recommendation, Hirata agreed to let Ayanokoji take the stage to face Sakayanagi.

Ayanokoji had originally intended to stay out of these affairs, but the problem was that he was sitting right next to Horikita, sandwiched between her, Hirata, and Hasebe, leaving him with no way to escape. Furthermore, faced with Hirata's request, Ayanokoji had no room to refuse, so he had no choice but to go up.

At this moment, Sakayanagi was not yet the leader of Class A, and her reputation among the first-years was not that resounding. On top of that, there was no database of her previous performances.

Therefore, no one actually knew Sakayanagi's true level at this point; otherwise, Hirata likely wouldn't have decided to send Ayanokoji up so easily.