War: Day Two-Thirds

The second day, Tuesday.

Just as Hoshida No expected, the resource point battle officially kicked off after the lunch break.

The locations of ten resource points were announced, covering the library, gymnasium, cafeteria, gardening area, rooftop garden, and more. Each resource point had a base output ranging from 10 to 30 CP per hour, distributed according to the ratio of students occupying the area.

Hoshida No quickly marked the three resource points most suitable for Class D to capture in the early stages.

"Hirata, contact Shibata of Class B. Propose a joint occupation of the gardening greenhouse: we provide three people, they provide two, and the output will be split in a 5:3 ratio based on headcount. Test their reaction."

Before long, Hirata reported: "Class B agrees, but they wish to expand the scope of cooperation to include intelligence sharing regarding the verification of exclusive bonuses."

"That is acceptable, provided the intelligence shared is reciprocal," Hoshida No agreed.

He had Horikita send Sudo, Onodera, and a member of the logistics team to the greenhouse to meet up with the two students from Class B.

On the other side, he had the rapid response team led by Ayanokoji wait for an opportunity to occupy the old school building's archives.

The output there was not high, but Hoshida No judged that it might trigger events related to hidden tasks or special intelligence.

Class A, as expected, concentrated their forces to occupy the main library and the gymnasium—the "highest-output resource points."

Class C, just as Shiina had suggested, had Ishizaki Daichi lead a group to violently occupy several smaller points, driving away students from other classes to test the exclusive bonuses.

The door to the old school building's archives was locked, and the system indicated that a simple numerical password was required to enter and begin occupation. The clue for the password was related to school history.

Ayanokoji glanced at it and was about to attempt a guess when Hoshida No's voice came through the internal communication: "Try 0423."

Ayanokoji entered the code, and the lock clicked open.

Miyake Akito, standing behind him, was surprised: "How did Hoshida know that?"

Hoshida No replied calmly: "The school's founding date. Basic information."

Upon entering, they triggered a hidden task.

Dusty Records: Find three old school newspapers from specific years in the archives and interpret the implied information regarding past special exam conflicts.

Reward: 80 CP and B-grade intelligence regarding the bias of the teacher referees.

Ayanokoji flipped through the papers quickly while Hoshida No provided guidance on keywords from afar via communication. In less than half an hour, the task was complete.

The intelligence obtained: Mashima Tomoya had a high tolerance for behavior that exploited loopholes in the rules without explicitly violating them, while Hoshinomiya Chie valued the spirit of cooperation, and Sakagami Kazuma reacted severely to behavior that disrupted order.

This intelligence would be crucial for subsequent negotiations and avoiding trouble.

In the afternoon, Hoshida No went to the vicinity of the small gymnasium to observe.

He happened to encounter Ibuki Mio of Class C, who was with two others, attempting to expel several ordinary Class D students who were trying to occupy the area.

"Get lost, Class C has claimed this spot," Ibuki said with a tough attitude.

The Class D students looked fearful. Hoshida No stepped forward, blocking the space between the two sides.

"System rules allow up to two classes to occupy a spot simultaneously. You do not have priority," he said in a calm voice.

Ibuki sneered: "Rules? What are those? Around here, whoever has the biggest fist makes the rules." The two boys behind her also took a step forward.

Hoshida No did not move, his gaze merely sweeping over the three of them.

"You can try. But according to Rule Article 7, initiating physical conflict that leads to serious consequences will result in the involved students being forcibly removed from the game, and their class will be deducted 200 CP. Do you want Ryuen to lose a vice-commander and 200 points on the third day?"

Ibuki's expression stiffened. She clearly knew this rule; she had just been using it as a habitual threat.

"And," Hoshida No continued, his voice lowered so only they could hear, "tell Ryuen that Sakayanagi already knows about him reaching out to Hashimoto. Tell him to be careful of trouble brewing in his own backyard."

Ibuki's pupils constricted. She stared at Hoshida No for a few seconds, snorted, and led her people away in frustration.

End of Day 2:

A: 1250 CP

B: 980 CP

C: 700 CP

D: 410 CP

The third day, Wednesday.

Class A began attempting to seize Class B's CP share at several medium-sized points.

Class C suddenly changed its strategy, beginning to harass the points occupied by Class A—especially the library annex—by sending large numbers of people to request joint occupation, thereby consuming the opponent's AP.

Hoshida No judged that this was Ryuen acting on his hint to distract Class A. He decided it was time to act.

"Today, we will capture or consolidate a point with potential for an exclusive bonus."

"According to the data from the first two days, the rooftop garden's output fluctuates abnormally when there is no competition, suggesting the existence of hidden rules," Hoshida No deployed during the morning meeting. "Rapid response team, put all your effort into capturing the rooftop garden today. I will go myself."

He had Ayanokoji, Sudo, Miyake Akito, and himself form a four-man elite squad.

At the same time, he had Hirata strengthen cooperation with Class B at the greenhouse, while intentionally leaking to them that Class C was fully harassing Class A, suggesting Class B could take the opportunity to consolidate their share at the large gymnasium.

This information naturally deepened the conflict between Class B and Class A.

The rooftop garden had already been occupied by Ishizaki's group from Class C. Seeing Hoshida No and his three companions approach, they immediately went on guard.

"Yo, the elites of Class D are here? Looking to snatch it?" Ishizaki Daichi grinned.

"Let's negotiate a joint occupation," Hoshida No said.

"No way! We've got this place covered!" Ishizaki refused.

"Then, according to the rules, I am requesting an Eviction Battle." Hoshida No calmly pulled up the system interface.

The type of Eviction Battle is chosen by the challenged party.

Ishizaki chose a physical challenge: a three-on-three obstacle course. This was Class C's specialty.

Hoshida No nodded in agreement. Both sides sent out three representatives.

Class D: Hoshida No, Sudo Ken, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

Class C: Ishizaki Daichi and two other physically strong male students.

The competition took place on the obstacle course next to the gymnasium.

The process was intense; Class C was indeed full of stamina, but Hoshida No displayed astonishing physical prowess, even suppressing Sudo.

Ayanokoji, as always, maintained a level of performance that was just enough. In the end, Class D won with a clear advantage.

"What... what kind of monster is this guy?" Ishizaki panted, looking in disbelief at Hoshida No, who was barely out of breath.

"I accept your concession," Hoshida No said flatly, taking over the occupation of the Rooftop Garden.

Subsequently, after occupying the Rooftop Garden alone for three hours, the system triggered a hidden rule.

Quiet Place: When a resource point is occupied exclusively by a single class for three consecutive hours, and no other class has requested a joint occupation during that time, the output of that point increases by 50% for the next three hours.

Class D thus gained a considerable amount of additional CP.

On the evening of the third day, Class D's CP reached 620, rapidly narrowing the gap with Class C's 750 points. Class A had 1480 points, and Class B had 1150 points.

Ryuen had indeed increased the intensity of his harassment toward Class A, even engaging in a small-scale confrontation with Class A students at one point, for which he was warned by Majima Tomoya.

Hoshida No received a message from Shiina Hiyori: "Ryuen is pressuring Hashimoto, demanding more core information regarding Sakayanagi. Hashimoto seems to be wavering. Also, Sakayanagi Arisu wants to meet you privately through a third party."

Hoshida No replied: "Fine, I will contact her. Tomorrow afternoon, library, alone." It was time to meet this princess.

Library: 30 CP/h -- Max 5 people
Large Gymnasium: 28 CP/h -- 5
Small Gymnasium: 25 CP/h -- 5
Cafeteria: 22 CP/h -- 5
Rooftop Garden: 20 CP/h -- 3
Gardening Greenhouse: 20 CP/h -- 3
Old School Building Archives: 15 CP/h -- 3
Multimedia Center: 15 CP/h -- 3
Small Warehouse: 12 CP/h -- 2
Connecting Corridor: 10 CP/h -- 2

Status Display: The real-time occupying class, number of people, and current output efficiency for each resource point can be viewed via the "S System" map interface (with an approximately 10-minute delay).

Occupation Rules:
Occupation registration requires AP (usually 2-3 AP/person, depending on distance and point size).
After successful registration, the student is considered an occupier and begins to consume maintenance AP continuously (approx. 1 AP/hour).
Each resource point has a maximum occupancy limit.

Eviction Battle:
When Class A and Class B are jointly occupying the same resource point, and Class B wishes for Class A to withdraw entirely, Class B may initiate an Eviction Battle against Class A through the system.
Cooldown: Only one Eviction Battle can be initiated or accepted per resource point every 2 hours.
Cost: The initiator must prepay 50 CP as a battle deposit. If they lose, the deposit goes to the winner; if they win, it is refunded.
The challenged party (Class A) chooses one of three types provided by the system:
1. Intellectual Duel
2. Strategic Game
3. Physical Challenge
Number of participants: 3 representatives from each side (must be students from that class).

Day 2 Tasks
Basic Task: Successfully maintain occupation of any one resource point for at least 2 hours. Reward: 40 CP.
Advanced Task: In a resource point jointly occupied with another class, maintain a majority in your own party's headcount for 1 hour. Reward: 60 CP.
Special Event Task:
Eye of Prediction: Correctly predict which resource point will experience the day's high-output fluctuation period. Reward: 80 CP.

Day 3 Tasks

Basic Task: Participate in or spectate an Expulsion Battle. Reward: 30 CP.

Advanced Task: Successfully initiate and win an Expulsion Battle. Reward: 100 CP.

Hidden Tasks:

Tenacious Defender: Successfully repel two Expulsion Battles at the same resource point. Reward: 150 CP.

Action Type | Typical AP Cost | Priority --- | --- | --- Travel/Move to resource point | 1-2 AP | High Initiate/Register occupation | 2-3 AP | Medium Maintain occupation (per hour) | 1 AP | Continuous Prepare for and participate in Expulsion Battle | 3-4 AP (per person) | Medium Scout other class resource point deployments | 1-2 AP | High Internal class tactical adjustment meeting | 1-2 AP | Medium