In the gym, while Yukio wasn't present, Ryuen led the Yukio Class, taking up half the second-floor seating. Opposite them, Sakayanagi's class occupied the other half.
Enemies' eyes burn red when they meet. Strictly speaking, maybe they weren't quite "enemies," but after days of prep during which Yukio Class pestered them nonstop, Sakayanagi's class took it very personally and had all worked themselves up, determined to get payback in this exam!
Now that they were face to face, they were anything but polite. "Ryuen! And Ishizaki! We're not afraid to tell you—no matter how many times you interfered with us, we're definitely winning today's exam!"
"Hmph! All you can do is pull little insignificant tricks—what's the point? The winner is always the side with true strength!"
Yukio Class wasn't polite either. "What a joke. You're the ones who needed girls to 'escort' you into the library—how do you get so loud the moment the exam starts?"
"Save the 'true strength' talk. Win first, then brag!"
Watching on the screen, Yukio could also hear both sides trash-talking through his headset. He nodded to himself. Mm, that's the right pre-game trash-talk vibe.
When the time arrived, the on-site faculty serving as judges in the gym raised a hand to stop the quarrel. "The Project Selection special exam… begins now!"
The gym had a giant screen, already in use; you could see the two classes' twenty total event names flashing rapidly.
Very soon, it froze on a single game—rock–paper–scissors.
[Rock–Paper–Scissors
Required participants: two.
Rules: infinite rounds. At the judge's signal, both sides must throw as fast as possible; the slower one loses that round. You may forfeit.
Win condition: first to win ten rounds.
Commander intervention: may call a time-out and give guidance for the next throw; limited to ten seconds—exceeding the limit counts as a loss.]
Sakayanagi's class couldn't help cursing when they saw the draw. "They're so lucky—the first one is from their list!"
"Rock–paper–scissors? How childish. It's all luck, which is a pain—there's no way to guarantee a win."
"No, that's the wrong way to think. I actually feel confident in rock–paper–scissors. Once I learned the Yukio Class had this event, I trained hard for a long time." The speaker was a boy in Sakayanagi's class named Machida.
He looked like a gentle, bookish boy. As expected, he was the one Sakayanagi had assigned. In the special teaching building, Sakayanagi clicked her mouse, and Machida's portrait lit up on the gym's big screen.
Machida stepped straight into the arena—and his body gave a sudden jolt.
Because Ryuen was walking in opposite him with a fearsome grin. That thug-like aura pressed down on Machida so hard his mind slipped for an instant, and a reflex of fear welled up!
Sakayanagi watched the screen with interest, her voice echoing in the sealed special-classroom. "So this is your strategy, Yukio-kun? Rock–paper–scissors looks random, all luck, but it actually isn't."
"The real outcome depends both on luck and on mentality. Luck is uncontrollable; mentality is the one thing we can control."
"Having Ryuen take this event is to seize the initiative with sheer presence, scare the opponent, break his mentality, and raise your odds of winning, yes?"
Yukio wasn't wearing his headset; he just chatted idly with Sakayanagi. "Not exactly. In fact, Ryuen himself is very good at 'rock–paper–scissors.'"
"Then I must enjoy this," Sakayanagi said, sounding like she relished such conversation. "But please don't underestimate Machida. In our class, when rock–paper–scissors decides who buys drinks, he seems to have—"
"—never lost," Yukio finished with a shrug. "Let's just watch."
Down in the gym, the judge stepped between the two. It was plain to see: Ryuen looked utterly at ease, brimming with confidence; Machida, by contrast, already had sweat beading at his brow.
The judge couldn't help shaking his head. Forget it—that wasn't his business. He simply raised his hand and chopped it down. "Start!"
Both Ryuen and Machida already had their hands clenched. At the judge's signal, they threw as fast as they could—Ryuen: scissors. Machida: rock. One point to Sakayanagi's class.
At that, Machida's previously tense face completely relaxed. He even looked a bit radiant. "As I thought—you're no match for me, Ryuen."
"Oh? Trash talk?" Ryuen felt like laughing. Win one round and Machida's already this cocky?
"No, I only realized you're not skilled at RPS, so I have nothing to fear." Machida smiled with confidence, even wearing that "honor student explaining the exam paper to the dunce" look. "You probably don't know this, right?"
"People who often play RPS find that the probability of throwing scissors or paper on the first throw is higher. At root, it's because both sides are holding a fist before they throw."
"And at the instant of throwing, people's minds shift—the first reaction is to change, rather than keep the fist as rock. That's a psychological response."
"Also, psychologically, people tend to think scissors is 'stronger' than paper. With your proactive, attack-loving personality, Ryuen, I figured you'd throw scissors first!"
Hearing this, the members of Sakayanagi's class all jumped up cheering. "Nice! An opening win, Machida!"
"Amazing! No wonder you're always reading psychology books—putting it to use!"
"That's how it should be! Let the Yukio Class see our strength!"
Over in the Yukio Class seats, Ishizaki was getting anxious. "Ryuen-nii isn't really gonna lose, right? That's a bad start."
Kaneda pushed up his glasses. "Have faith in Ryuen. With Yukio-boss away, Ryuen is the strongest in our class."
"True." Ishizaki sat back down and watched seriously. He'd never realized rock–paper–scissors could be this nerve-wracking.
The judge didn't stop the shouting from the stands. He raised his hand and chopped it down again—the next round began.
This time Machida brimmed with confidence and threw rock again. Haha, got you pegged, Ryuen! A guy like you won't accept losing; you'll definitely throw scissors again… Hm? Where are the scissors? Wait—where's Ryuen's hand?
In this round, Ryuen didn't throw anything, leaving everyone dumbfounded. Just as Machida turned his head, about to tell the judge that Ryuen's slow throw should count as a loss, Ryuen struck like lightning!
Both hands together clamped tight around Machida's right wrist—and with a particularly skillful twist—
A crisp, faint sound made Machida's eyes fly wide. What—dislocated wrist?
In the next second, searing pain exploded from his wrist. He couldn't help staggering back several steps. "Aaah!!"
He could only cradle his right arm with his left. Sweat the size of soybeans sprang out across his forehead in an instant; his face went chalk white, his whole body hunching over from the pain!
Only then did Ryuen laugh out loud. In the special teaching building, Yukio was also watching the screen, chatting with Sakayanagi. Different places, same moment—the two of them spoke in perfect sync:
"I'm—Ryuen's—very good at taking apart fists."
....
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