The commotion at the campsite didn't last long. The school soon ordered all the students to return to campus, where they would have three days to rest. During those three days, each of the four classes had its own thoughts. Everyone expected a peaceful break, but no one anticipated that an exam would soon begin without warning.
At five thirty in the afternoon, every student received an email from the school at the same time. With no advance notice, the brief, chilly message announced that the Special Exam—the VIP Exam—had officially begun. The attachment detailed the exam rules, group assignments, and relevant requirements. Right after that, a text message appeared on Yoshikage Kira's Student Terminal. The words were neatly arranged, but their tone brooked no argument: [Please report to the designated room within the allotted time. Anyone more than ten minutes late may be punished. Please gather in Room 404 by 18:40 today. The process will take around twenty minutes, so please take care of any personal matters and set your phone to vibrate or silent. Alternatively, turn it off before arriving.]
Kira lightly swiped his finger across the Student Terminal screen, a sharp glint in his eyes. After reading the message several times, he determined that he had about an hour left.
He opened his Student Terminal and contacted Honami Ichinose. "Did you get the school's email?" Ichinose didn't reply directly. A little while later, she sent him a copy of the email, which was nearly identical to his. But the students in Class B's group chat had found that the text messages gave different students different locations and times.
A vague sense of unease grew. This information only added to the many troubling questions surrounding the message from the outset.
First of all, this was clearly an exam for the entire first year, and there was nothing wrong with dividing the students into groups and assigning them to different rooms. But having different gathering times was absurdly unfair.
Students who learned the questions in advance could leak them to those still waiting. That left two possibilities: either leaked questions would be useless because each room had a different exam, or the exam was designed on the assumption that students would leak answers to one another. For now, he'd go see the meeting place.
After making a few preparations, Kira set off for Room 404 in the teaching building. He had always been meticulous and never allowed himself to make a basic mistake like arriving late. When he reached Room 404, it was exactly 17:58, with only two minutes left before the appointed time.
He pressed the doorbell. Its clear chime echoed down the hallway, and the door slowly opened. Ichinose stood on the other side. She already had a warm smile on her face, and when she saw Kira, it brightened at once. Her voice turned especially cheerful. "Kira, you're here! Come on in. You're the last one."
Kira nodded slightly and stepped inside, quickly surveying the room. It was spacious and bright, with a round conference table and several chairs scattered around it. Several people had already taken their seats. At that moment, the room held only Ichinose, two other Class B students, and him.
As he pondered this, a voice that sounded somewhat languid yet still carried authority rang out. "You're just in time, Kira. Now that everyone's here, let's get started."
Everyone turned toward the voice. Hoshinomiya Chie stood at the head of the conference table, still wearing her school staff uniform. She held a stack of documents and wore an expression that was half serious, half teasing. They were the materials for the VIP Exam. She was usually casual, but extremely conscientious at work. Though she was smiling now, her eyes made it clear that no one should let their guard down.
Hoshinomiya walked over to the conference table and handed a document to each student present. Her tone softened a little, but she read out the contents and rules of the Special Exam clearly and firmly, making sure everyone could hear her. "This Special Exam is the VIP Exam. Here are the rules. Listen carefully, and don't miss a single detail."
For this Special Exam, all first-year students had been divided into twelve groups named after the animals of the Chinese zodiac. They would take the exam within their groups. The purpose was to assess their ability to think. Working adults needed three basic skills: initiative, critical thinking, and teamwork. Only those who possessed all three could qualify as excellent talent.
The Uninhabited Island Exam held earlier had placed teamwork first. This time, however, the exam would test critical thinking—the ability to consider things carefully. It would assess students' ability to clarify the process of solving a problem, prepare to solve it, and use their imagination to create new value.
The results of this Special Exam could only fall into four categories. No other outcome was possible. In the end, only one of these four scenarios could occur. That was how the exam was structured.
The challenge for this exam centered on the VIP assigned to each group. By submitting their answers to the school using the prescribed method, the students would inevitably produce one of the four possible outcomes.
To make the rules easier to understand, the school had prepared documents explaining the possible outcomes. However, students were forbidden from taking the documents away or photographing them, so they needed to read them carefully here.
○ At eight o'clock on the morning the exam begins, all students will receive a text message. Those selected as "VIPs" will also be informed that they are VIPs.
○ The exam will run from tomorrow until 9 p.m. four days later, with one full day off in between.
○ Group members will gather twice a day at the designated times and locations and talk for one hour. They may decide what to discuss among themselves. From 9:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the final day of the exam, students may submit their answers by text message. Each person gets only one chance to answer.
○ Answers will only be accepted if sent by text message from the student's own phone to the designated email address.
○ The "VIP" is not allowed to submit an answer by text message.
○ Answers concerning zodiac groups other than the one assigned to a student will be considered invalid.
○ At 11 p.m. on the final day, all students will receive a text message detailing the exam results.
Result 1: Everyone in the group except the VIP and the VIP's classmates answers correctly. Private Points will be awarded to every member of the group. (The VIP's classmates will also receive their teammates' Private Points.)
Result 2: One person in the group, excluding the VIP and the VIP's classmates, either fails to answer or answers incorrectly. The VIP will receive 500,000 Private Points.
Result 3: A student who is not the VIP submits an answer to the school before the exam ends and answers correctly. Their class will gain 50 Class Points, and the student who answered correctly will receive 500,000 Private Points. Conversely, the class of the student whose identity as the VIP is revealed will lose 50 Class Points. The group's exam will also end at that point. If one of the VIP's classmates answers correctly, the answer will be considered invalid, and the exam will continue.
Result 4: A student who is not the VIP submits an answer to the school before the exam ends and answers incorrectly. Their class will lose 50 Class Points, and the VIP will receive 500,000 Private Points. At the same time, the VIP's class will gain 50 Class Points. The exam will end as soon as someone answers incorrectly. If one of the VIP's classmates answers incorrectly, the answer will be considered invalid and will not be accepted.
This exam would be completely anonymous. When it ended, the school would announce only the results for each group and the changes to each class's Class Points. In other words, it wouldn't reveal the names of the VIPs or the students who submitted answers. As long as they kept quiet, no one would be at risk of being found out after the exam.
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