In the Team Leader guessing segment, if another Class guesses correctly, 50 points are deducted.
At the same time, any base points already earned are reset to zero.
And if the Team Leader information is shared with other Classes, even more points are deducted.
So now, Class B's efforts to save initial points would be useless.
Therefore, for a moment, the atmosphere around them seemed to freeze.
However.
"First, let me clarify," Hachiman said, knowing his question was rash.
"Our two Classes will not guess each other's Team Leaders."
"Oh."
This made Ichinose and Kanzaki breathe a sigh of relief.
Because Class C had a significant advantage in this exam, when Hikigaya and his group came to investigate just now, they were a little worried if their Team Leader information had been leaked.
And now.
Since they were allies, they wouldn't guess each other's Team Leaders.
That was truly reassuring.
"Oh, about that," Ichinose pondered for a moment, then, like an innocent girl, she said without any guard, "It's Shirabo Chihiro.
Hikigaya, you should know her, right?"
"Ichinose!"
Kanzaki Ryuji hesitated, his heart filled with alarm, losing his composure, and for a moment, he didn't know what to do.
Because even if the two Classes were allies and wouldn't guess each other's Team Leaders, there was no need to expose their Team Leader's information.
He quickly looked at Ichinose, who still maintained her smile.
He suddenly realized.
He knew that Ichinose saying Shirabo Chihiro was the Team Leader was true, but Ichinose saying it so directly might be a trick.
Because Hikigaya had suddenly asked about their Class's Team Leader.
So.
She said a name.
And the name she said was Shirabo-san's, and she wasn't lying.
But.
What is real is false, and what is false is real.
Ichinose told Hikigaya and the others, but would they dare to believe it?
They couldn't be sure, could they?
Look at Horikita's expression.
"Shirabo Chihiro? Is it bait?"
Horikita clearly thought along the same lines as Kanzaki Ryuji, lowering her head and falling into deep thought.
She didn't believe that Ichinose would so easily tell them the Team Leader's information.
Moreover.
Although Ichinose looked like a pure white lotus, like an angel.
But this was important information for her own Class; there was no need to self-destruct just because of Hikigaya's question.
Moreover.
Because Kaneda was taken in by Class B, her evaluation of Class B had dropped slightly.
Her own Class taking in Ibuki meant some people were beyond saving, a bunch of saints.
Were they like that in Class B too?
Horikita felt that being too saintly was not good for survival.
However, Ichinose was, after all, a representative of Class B, so she couldn't be completely underestimated.
Hikigaya had said more than once that she looked down on others too much, so she had to be careful.
So.
Carefully observe Ichinose now.
If you think about it carefully, if Shirabo-san was the Team Leader, then she had just let Kaneda go help Shirabo-san.
That was utterly ridiculous.
She didn't believe Ichinose's words at all.
So the information about Shirabo-san being the Team Leader might be false.
But.
"Thank you for your honesty," Hachiman said.
"Then you should find an opportunity to change your Team Leader."
"The rules state that you cannot change the Team Leader without cause; understand that."
"Because I think your Class's Team Leader information will be leaked," Hachiman said.
"Eh?" X2
These words startled both Ichinose and Kanzaki simultaneously.
"You mean..."
"I just said, didn't I? My Class took in a student who opposed Ryuen, named Ibuki, and now your Class has also taken in a student who opposed Ryuen."
"I believe they are both spies," Hachiman said.
As he said this, Hachiman looked at Horikita.
Horikita still seemed to be in a daze, so he looked at Kushida.
Kushida noticed Hikigaya's gaze and said, "Actually, before we came here, we went to a place and dug up a camera and a walkie-talkie."
"When we found Ibuki yesterday, her hands were very dirty, covered in mud, not like she fell, but more like she was burying something."
"So today, we dug around the place where we found her and dug up this evidence," Kushida said.
"Is that really how it is...?"
Kanzaki Ryuji also began to recall Kaneda's condition when he was taken in.
Kaneda's hands were also covered in mud.
If he had been beaten, there would only be a little mud, but the mud marks on Kaneda's hands reached his wrists.
It really looked like he had been burying something.
"This information is very important," Kanzaki quickly said.
Then his expression turned very bad.
Because no one had expected that the kind Class B, out of pure goodwill, would take in a student from Class D, only to receive a spy.
And Kaneda had been in the camp for a day, so their Class's Team Leader information might have already been leaked.
So, would all their hard-earned initial points now be deducted?
"If you can change the Team Leader, then you can safely confirm that you won't be deducted points," Hachiman said.
"And now, here's the important part."
"Aside from coming to investigate and tell you that Ibuki and Kaneda are spies this time,"
Hachiman said, "I'm also here to make a deal with you."
"On the night before the exam ends, I will provide the Team Leader information for Class A and Class D."
"Then you participate in the Team Leader guessing segment, and you can receive a 100-point reward."
"And then,"
Hachiman said, "I want those 100 points."
"What do you mean?"
Ichinose and Kanzaki had just been somewhat disheartened by their saintly actions leading to a spy, and now, hearing Hikigaya's words, they were confused.
Because if their Class guessed the Team Leader correctly and gained points, shouldn't those points be theirs?
"I have the Team Leader information for Class A and Ryuen Class," Hachiman said.
"If you obtain it, you can get the points for guessing the Team Leader."
"These points can be yours, but you need to give me private points worth 100 Class evaluation points until graduation."
"Of course, you can refuse.
You can choose to obtain the Team Leader information for Class A and Class D yourselves."
"Or," Hachiman said, "you can give up this opportunity to gain 100 points for free."
"By the way."
"Ryuen Class's people said before retreating to the ship that they would give up because they sold their initial points to Class A, providing Class A with ample supplies," Hikigaya said.
"How could this be…?" Ichinose murmured in shock.
Because didn't that mean Class A could save their initial points in this Uninhabited Island Exam without spending them?
Although Sakayanagi didn't come, Class A would only have 300-30 = 270 points.
270 points was still a terrifying number.
As students of Class B, Ichinose and her classmates also had the ideal of working together to aim for Class A.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen to ally with Hachiman's Class in the first place.
So, what Hikigaya was saying now was that if they didn't accept this condition, the distance between them and Class A would widen further.
"Think carefully. There's nothing to say about Class D having 0 points, but as long as you correctly guess Class A's Team Leader information, you'll shorten the distance with them by 100 points, and then I will also guess Class A's Team Leader information. So Class A will be deducted another 50 points."
In other words, even if Class D provided supplies, and Class A could save their 270 points, they would still be deducted 50x2 points.
And because Class A was deducted points, Class B could even gain 50 points if they guessed correctly.
Therefore.
The gap between them could be greatly reduced.
This was an opportunity presented to Ichinose and Kanzaki.
Meanwhile, Kushida and Horikita followed Hachiman.
Horikita had already sobered up; she no longer cared about the truth of Shirabo-san's Team Leader information that Ichinose had mentioned earlier.
Instead, she began to focus on whether Ichinose and her classmates would agree.
What Hikigaya had just said was that he could get 50 points from Class B, but now he was offering 100 points.
It was more expensive.
But she remained silent.
Because if she could get more rewards, then she could also get more.
Previously, Hikigaya said that if they worked together to aim for Class A, he could give her the 1 million points he got from Chabashira Sensei.
However, Horikita felt that she hadn't been useful, so she didn't take it.
Moreover, she also considered being promoted to Class A as her mission to gain her brother's approval.
So there was even less reason for her to take Hachiman's 1 million points.
But now it was different.
Through normal trade, she could get a portion.
Horikita didn't have a strong desire for points, but having some was better than none. And, if she could accumulate 20 million, she could go to the Class she wanted.
Even graduate from Class A.
She originally thought this 20 million was very difficult, but this time, Hikigaya proposed that Kouenji get 300 points, then give Kouenji 100 points, and if converted to private points, it would be 10 million over three years.
So she felt that gathering 20 million might not be an unattainable goal anymore.
As for Kushida.
She just needed her living expenses to increase a bit.
After all, her social expenses were high.
So she also remained well-behaved now.
And Kanzaki walked around twice.
Then he looked at Ichinose.
"We agree to this trade," Ichinose said.
This trade seemed to make them Hikigaya's tool for acquiring points.
However.
Class rankings were determined by the Class evaluation scores.
Although they would need to pay some of the living expenses issued by the school to Hikigaya, if they got 100 Class evaluation points, it would be added to their Class.
This score was the most important.
Just that.
Ichinose added, "If we guess the Team Leader incorrectly, there will also be losses. As for this part of the loss, Hikigaya, you…"
"No risk, no reward," Hachiman said decisively. "I cannot offer you guarantees."
What he said.
Then it was like a gamble.
Ichinose and Kanzaki exchanged glances.
Then nodded.
"We accept this trade." X2
Both said at the same time.
"Alright," Hachiman said. "As for the agreement, let's discuss it after everyone has received their points."
"Okay." Ichinose nodded.
Because Kaneda was still in the Class, she couldn't notify all the students.
She could only accept it for now.
So discussing it after the exam ended was more suitable for their Class.
"However, it's best to have Kaneda stay a few more days," Hachiman said. "Don't alert him, and according to the rules, you cannot change the Team Leader without a valid reason. You figure out how to handle it."
"We understand," Ichinose said.
Then Hachiman took Horikita and the others to leave.
…
And after Hachiman and the others left, Kanzaki finally found an opportunity to ask Ichinose.
"Was there a deeper meaning to directly revealing our Class's Team Leader?" Kanzaki asked about Hachiman's initial question, and Ichinose's direct self-disclosure of the Team Leader.
"Actually, we lost the initiative in this exam," Ichinose said. "So when Hikigaya asked that, I thought he might want to make some kind of trade with us."
"And if we didn't show sincerity, perhaps this trade wouldn't have proceeded."
So that's how it was.
Kanzaki breathed a sigh of relief.
Ichinose thought about this.
"It's just, will this exam be so exaggerated?"
Class B took in Kaneda because they found he had injuries, inflicted by Ryuen.
It turned out this was just a ploy arranged by Ryuen.
To achieve his goals in the exam, he would even resort to such methods.
This deepened everyone's understanding of the special exam.
"This school's special exams are much harsher than we imagined," Ichinose said. "Perhaps I'm not suited for this place."
"I probably am too," Kanzaki said.
Because neither of them could casually harm students from their own Class or similar acts.
Moreover.
"Then, what about Shirabo-san…?" Kanzaki was worried that Shirabo-san's Team Leader information had already been known by Kaneda.
"Hikigaya mentioned that you cannot change the Team Leader without a valid reason. This rule can be used. As long as a valid reason is created, then the Team Leader's information can be changed. If we can change the Team Leader, even if Chihiro's Team Leader information is leaked, the Class that guesses Chihiro is the Team Leader will be at a disadvantage."
"But."
Kanzaki said, "Does that mean we have to make Shirabo-san sick or injured?"
"…" Ichinose.
Hmm.
This also put a lot of pressure on them.
"Why not say, it's also possible that the Team Leader's information hasn't been exposed?" Kanzaki said.
But even Kanzaki herself wasn't confident in this statement.
Because, if there was even a slight chance that Class B's Team Leader information was leaked, then the total of 18 points gained from occupying this base would be deducted, and Ryuen Class would also guess their Team Leader information, and because Ryuen and Class A were allied, Class A might also guess them.
Then they would lose a total of 50x2 + 18 = 118 points.
Shirabo-san's health and 118 points.
Which was more important.
This difficult choice was laid before them.
P.S. Other Classes didn't know that Class A was deducted 50 points because of Yahiko, so they all calculated based on 270.
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