Before the exam began, both sides actually knew the other's custom projects, so Yukio had prepared for this. He tapped Shiina and Kaneda—the two top scholars—and added the other three with the best math scores.
When she saw Yukio Class's lineup, even Sakayanagi found it hard to understand. "Yukio-kun, you're sending out Shiina-san and Kaneda-san this early?"
"Are you gambling that no more academic events will be drawn after this?"
Remember, in the Project Selection exam, once someone appears, they can't participate again. In other words, by sending Shiina and Kaneda—the two top scholars—into mathematics, if another academic event was drawn later, Yukio Class's chance to win would plummet.
Academics were already Yukio Class's weak point. Without Shiina and Kaneda later, their total would likely get left behind by Sakayanagi's class by dozens of points—maybe even over a hundred.
Hence Sakayanagi's question: was he gambling? If so, it was too irrational—her class had prepared six academic events. Six out of twenty, a thirty-percent draw rate—quite high.
But Yukio didn't care; he had his plan. "It's fine. If we can squeeze out one more win, we will. And you set it to total score, Sakayanagi. Even with Shiina plus Kaneda, we still might not beat your class."
"So I'm sending all our scholars at once to see if we can seize the early lead."
"Is that so?" Sakayanagi accepted the compliment with a smile as she began to size up the paper—she could multitask, even while pondering Yukio's tactics.
She didn't believe the man she'd taken an interest in was some simple gambler. There had to be some plot she hadn't noticed.
Behind Yukio's decisive choice to field Shiina and Kaneda, there had to be something. Sakayanagi believed that firmly.
To facilitate commander intervention, Mashima and Sakagami carefully took out copies of the math exam from their briefcases—identical to the one in the gym—and handed them to the two student commanders.
The scene on the screen looked odd: in the gym, the referees and assisting staff had hauled ten desks and chairs out of storage so the two classes' participants could sit and take a written test.
The previously needling, shouting Yukio and Sakayanagi classes both fell quiet at once. They could only wait for their classmates to write like the wind; no one wanted to interfere by being noisy.
The commander room, which had been chatting, sank into a ten-minute silence as the test began—then talk resumed when both Yukio and Sakayanagi simultaneously laid down their own blank copies and started to chat.
Veteran teachers Mashima and Sakagami both twitched a brow. These two students are monsters, right? Even if it's only a first-year paper—without writing a line, just by scanning it once, they'd solved the whole thing?
Mashima sighed and shook his head. Was he getting old—about to be drowned by the rising tide?
Sakagami kept smiling into his frown. In his view, even if Sakayanagi could match Yukio in academics, she couldn't in other areas, so what was there to worry about? Just let Yukio handle it—this homeroom teacher could lie back and win.
Because the rules said that if total scores tied, the shorter total time would win, Shiina and the others wrote fast. Shiina handed in at just twenty minutes; Kaneda at twenty-five.
Sakayanagi's side wasn't slow either; their average hand-in time was within half an hour. The other three from Yukio's side sweated buckets under heavy pressure, but even the last of them turned in by the fifty-minute mark.
During the test, both Yukio and Sakayanagi used their commander intervention to guide their team through one of the highest-value problems.
A few minutes of grading later, totals came out: Yukio Class 420 points; Sakayanagi Class 481. Win to Sakayanagi.
On the big screen, the overall match score flipped to 1–1.
Even with Shiina and Kaneda participating, Yukio Class could only nudge their total up; they couldn't run alongside Sakayanagi Class's average academic level. All five of their examinees averaged over ninety—it wasn't comparable; the gap was stark.
With the result out, the mood on Sakayanagi's side instantly lifted; laughter and chatter returned, the earlier heaviness under Yukio Class's pressure gone.
Yukio Class didn't let it affect them, nor did anyone blame Shiina and the others. One by one, they stayed calm, as if they had expected this result, even taking the initiative to steady those slated for event three.
"This round is mine," Sakayanagi said, without any particular joy at winning, still turning over Yukio's ploy. "If the next draw is academic again, will I see the 'trap card' Yukio-kun laid?"
Yukio was as unruffled as ever, not the least shaken by a single loss. "Or maybe the next draw won't be academic."
"Yukio-kun is very confident in his luck~" Sakayanagi smiled sweetly, like dew sliding from a pear blossom after rain. "But I'm actually quite confident in my luck too."
"If the next event is academic again—now that Shiina-san and Kaneda-san can no longer enter anything else—unless you've prepared a hidden hand, our class should win for sure."
"Then let's see," Yukio said, looking over at the monitor.
Because the third event was being drawn now—and very quickly, the result appeared.
[AV Actress Recognition. Total required participants: six. Time limit: none.
Rules: a random lifestyle photo of an actress will be shown; teams take turns answering with the actress's stage name.]
[Win condition: three students per side; the first team that fails to answer in any turn loses the match. If both sides fail in the same turn, the side with the shorter total time wins.]
[Commander intervention: may point any one teammate to answer the stage name of any one actress; limited to once.]
Seeing that, Yukio Class were instantly in high spirits, while Sakayanagi's side went red-cheeked across the board.
Because every event is announced five days in advance to allow prep time, Sakayanagi's class knew this project was… not exactly wholesome and had issues. But there was nothing they could do—they had to practice.
Even if they wanted to protest, there was nothing to protest. Yukio's rules used only lifestyle photos of actresses—it wasn't film stills or, well, those kinds of photos. There was nothing to complain about.
If it couldn't be stopped, they could only meet it head-on.
When this project came up, everyone in Sakayanagi's class wore awkward faces as they looked to their three designated boys. The three were mortified—rubbing noses, scratching heads—until, under Sakayanagi's clicks, they shyly stepped in.
They'd been given many days to practice for this exam. Besides being responsible for modern Japanese, the three were also in charge of this "actress recognition."
If Japanese got drawn, great. If this got drawn, then it was their turn—to recall what they'd "studied" these past days. The trio wanted to cry. They had watched themselves numb, watched until their thoughts were locked up stiff.
On the Yukio side, by contrast, Nomura, Suzuki, and Oda all wore confidence.
The three of them were Yukio Class's apex resource kings.
Especially Nomura—so cracked that if you gave him a license plate number, he could tell you the time stamp down to minutes and seconds. Ridiculous didn't begin to cover it.
They were the ones who proposed this project, and they were utterly confident they wouldn't lose to anyone in this field.
....
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.
Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [patreon.com/METARLN]