As Yukio listened to Sakagami explain the details of the newly imposed special exam, he quickly pieced things together. No wonder everything had been so quiet lately—it turns out that Ayanokouji Atsuomi had sent someone to temporarily fill in as chairman after all. This Tsukishiro must be his last resort to replace Chairman Sakayanagi.
And this unreasonable special exam—one that must eliminate a student—though its specifics weren't yet clear, was obviously designed to target Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, the White Room's finest masterpiece. The purpose was to expel him within the rules of Advanced Nurturing High.
To Yukio, this was a double win—both outcomes were beneficial:
First, even though Ayanokouji Atsuomi had sent Tsukishiro to substitute as chairman through backroom deals, he still couldn't override the school's rules. That meant Yukio and Tsukishiro were playing by the same game board—there'd be no flipping the table.
Second, with Chairman Sakayanagi out and Tsukishiro temporarily in, Yukio now had a far easier target. If he could just amass the full three billion points, he could forcefully remove and replace Tsukishiro without needing to worry about personal relationships. Sakayanagi was his fiancée's father, after all—dismissing him would be awkward. But Tsukishiro? No emotional strings attached. Taking him out would achieve Yukio's goals and be a nice little act of vengeance for the Sakayanagi family. Perfect.
With those two thoughts firmly in mind, Yukio was already preparing to confront Tsukishiro.
The reason was simple: this new special exam posed a serious threat to student welfare. And as the student council president, Yukio had full authority to challenge it.
"Sakagami-sensei," Yukio said, rising from his seat, "I'm going to speak with Tsukishiro."
The news might be good for him, but he couldn't just let Tsukishiro take Kiyotaka. Ayanokouji was also part of his own mission—he couldn't allow interference.
Even now, insults against Tsukishiro were still flying freely across the room. Part of it was because the exam was so infuriating, and part of it was that Sakagami was clearly enjoying the students' verbal roasting of his superior.
Honestly, if the surveillance cameras weren't rolling, Sakagami might've even applauded their creativity.
But the moment Yukio stood up and declared his intention to confront Tsukishiro, the classroom fell silent. All eyes turned to him—their leader. Their hope.
That's when it hit them. Of course! They had Yukio. This unfair special exam might just be overturned entirely.
Ishizaki was the first to react. "With Yukio-aniki stepping in, this'll be a piece of cake!"
Sakagami was momentarily stunned but quickly understood where Yukio was going. "You're planning to use the student council's authority?"
Naturally. Sakagami wasn't some clueless teacher. He knew the student council had broad powers. And if Yukio acted in his official capacity as president, he really might be able to block this additional exam.
His expression lightened immediately. Why hadn't they thought of this before?
Was it pride? Had years of teaching conditioned them to underestimate students, to think they were powerless just like them?
No, that was completely wrong. The student council existed precisely to protect student interests!
"Of course," Yukio replied calmly. "Regardless of what the special exam entails, if the student council doesn't approve it, then it shouldn't proceed. At the very least, we never received any prior notice of this emergency exam."
"Wonderful! That's great news!" Sakagami's mood visibly lifted. "Then hold on—don't go just yet. Let me first explain the exam's contents clearly. That way, you'll be better prepared to argue with Tsukishiro."
At last, the specifics of this temporary additional exam were revealed.
Sakagami, suddenly much more animated, said, "I'm sure you've all played 'Werewolf' or done some kind of murder mystery game, right?"
"Back during the summer's VIP exam, you got some basic exposure to that type of gameplay. This special exam is similar. It's called: Class Vote."
"Three days from now, each of you will receive three praise votes and three criticism votes. You'll vote freely among yourselves."
"Each praise vote is worth +1 point. Each criticism vote is worth –1 point. At the end of the vote, the student with the highest total score will receive one Protection Point. The student with the lowest score… will be expelled."
Yukio immediately understood—this was very much like a vote-to-eliminate game, where the lowest-scoring person gets voted off the island.
But something didn't add up. Even with this structure, how could Tsukishiro guarantee that Class D's Ayanokouji would be the one eliminated?
Sakagami didn't know what Yukio was thinking—he simply believed this brilliant student was already working out a strategy to counter Tsukishiro.
He turned back to the rest of the class and explained further.
"A Protection Point is something that cancels out an expulsion penalty."
"Previously, you believed spending 20 million private points could directly cancel a penalty. That's not quite accurate. The actual rule is: 20 million points buys one Protection Point, which can then cancel an expulsion."
"But this kind of point is extremely restrictive. It can't be transferred, traded, or exchanged back for regular points. It's strictly for personal use only."
Yukio wasn't surprised. When he took over as student council president from Horikita Manabu, the latter had already explained this in detail.
The rest of the class, however, was shocked. They hadn't expected the school to have such precise fine-print rules for such a critical function.
And Protection Points weren't to be underestimated. Imagine a future exam where your class was on the verge of losing—one could use it to unleash chaos, go all-out against the enemy class, and still walk away unscathed thanks to the Protection Point. It could easily become a class's trump card.
Sakagami then turned to the chalkboard, rapidly scribbling out a list of supplementary rules to help the students better understand the structure.
"Also, to prevent loopholes, Tsukishiro's design is extremely airtight."
Rule 1: Voting is mandatory. You must use all six votes. No blank submissions.
Rule 2: You cannot vote for the same person multiple times. All three praise votes must go to different people. Same with the criticism votes. And no, you can't vote for yourself.
Rule 3: All three criticism votes must be cast within your own class. The first two praise votes must also go to classmates, but the third praise vote must be cast for someone from a different class.
Rule 4: In previous years, when a student was expelled, their class was penalized as well. This time, that won't happen. Even if a student is expelled, the rest of the class receives no punishment.
From these rules alone, it was clear: Tsukishiro's system was designed to eliminate someone, no matter what. Every possible loophole had been sealed.
But after hearing everything, Yukio's expression turned… intrigued.
He saw potential.
Not just potential—a massive opportunity for profit.
...
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