Nine o'clock arrived.
[Discussion time has arrived. Every day from 9 AM to 10 AM and 9 PM to 10 PM is your discussion time. Now announcing the room numbers for each group to proceed to.]
Teacher Majima's voice immediately came through the broadcast.
[Rabbit Group to 2204, Dragon Group to 2303, Snake Group to 2205, Horse Group to 2343, Sheep Group to 2222… ]
Taking their black spare phones, the students of Class C walked to the announced rooms according to the groups they were assigned to.
But everyone was very relaxed.
Because this exam seemed to be about finding out who the benefactor was, which required individual observation skills, but they weren't flustered at all, because at least they had no problems; they themselves didn't know if they were benefactors, and if they found benefactors from other Classes, could they get extra points?
They could report to Hikigaya and Horikita first.
Unconsciously, the students of Class C now relied on someone else; their first reaction was no longer to find Hirata.
However, there was one student among them who was still holding a white phone, and that was Hikigaya Hachiman.
He was worried if the School would have any other notifications, because everyone's phones were confiscated, and if there was information transmitted that no one knew about, it would be a pitfall, so someone had to hold a phone.
And the reason was also very direct.
[I'm sorry, you were not selected as a benefactor, but please continue to work hard in the exam.]
He was not chosen as the VIP.
This was news already known at eight o'clock.
And this time, they bet correctly; among the confiscated phones, the VIP information they obtained was… 3 people.
In other words, there was indeed a pattern to the VIPs.
As for all the students' phones, he had already confirmed the VIPs' identities, and then all the phones had paper slips with student names affixed to their backs, and they were all placed in the ship's safe. He was the only one with the safe's key, and it was only in his hand.
…
Hachiman was in the Rabbit Group, so the place he needed to go was Building 2, Room 204. This was quite a coincidence, as yesterday evening's rule explanation had been held here.
"Hikigaya-kun, this is a big deal this time," said Yukimura, the top student, upon realizing that Hachiman was also preparing to go to Room 2204, as they were in the same group.
His academic ability was high; he could rank third in the Class.
This was his advantage.
He was also one of the few in the Class who cared about Class honor and wanted the Class to improve.
Originally, he had wanted to perform well on the Uninhabited Island and even advocated for saving initial point, but in the end, the score the Class obtained exceeded his expectations.
This showed that Hikigaya was better than him.
So, he also began to trust Hachiman now.
He also felt that Hachiman's handling of the situation this time was excellent, because everyone was unaware if they were the VIP, which reduced the number of unhelpful teammates. At the same time, without phones, they couldn't answer quickly, and naturally, they wouldn't guess the wrong VIPs from other Classes and get point deducted. This was a very stable plan.
There was absolutely no need for the Uninhabited Island Exam to have such a high score deducted because of unhelpful teammates.
So, this exam plan was indeed very good.
"My intelligence is limited," Hikigaya said modestly, "so I can only come up with such ordinary methods."
"But this is good too," said the slightly plump VILLAGE, "This way we won't get point deducted."
He bought a notebook in his first month of enrollment, but as a fat otaku, he certainly wanted more than just that. So, if he could earn 100,000 living point next month, it would be a great thing for him.
"Is Karuizawa still not here?"
Yukimura had already arrived at 2204, but he found that the Class D students and Class A students of the Rabbit Group had arrived, but Kei Karuizawa had not yet come.
Hmm.
Although he usually instructed Karuizawa to do things, Hachiman was not taking the blame this time.
She was late on her own.
"Ha—"
And Karuizawa was truly late.
Then, even though she was the only girl from Class C in the Rabbit Group, after spotting Hachiman and the others, she went ahead and sat down alone in an empty seat inside.
She seemed to keep some distance from everyone.
But she also seemed to have nothing to say to them; although they were in the same Class, Karuizawa's relationship with them was indeed just average.
In fact, it should be said to be bad.
Not long after enrollment, she had a falling out with the boys in the Class.
The cause was that Ike accidentally bumped into Karuizawa's desk, causing her pencil to fall to the ground, and she immediately started yelling at Ike.
Quite fierce.
This resulted in her being quite unpopular among the boys in the Class.
Even though… she was quite cute.
And even people like Yamauchi, who only looked at faces, would keep their distance from her.
But this was before.
During the old exam, she used the convenience of being a Student Council member to "secretly photograph the test papers," allowing everyone to pass and earning the goodwill of the Class students.
So the boys in the Class no longer had such great resistance towards her.
However, her cute appearance was genuine, as boys from other Classes almost entirely focused their attention on her, probably comparing her to the girls in their own Classes.
And this slightly awkward atmosphere was changed when the Class B students arrived.
"Ya-ha—everyone."
"And Hikigaya-kun. And Yukimura, you're here too."
This was a cute and energetic greeting, and this girl, who was showing a charming smile like an angel, was the most popular girl among the First Year students.
Ichinose Honami.
It wasn't just because she was cute, nor because she was well-endowed, but also her temperament and aura, which made everyone want to approach her.
She was the only student who had good relationships with students from all four Classes.
"Hello, Ichinose," Hachiman nodded.
He noticed that when Ichinose looked at him, she seemed a bit strained.
Indeed, sending her that message had put her in a difficult position.
"Ichinose, you actually still remember me." This was Yukimura. He seemed very happy. Then he quickly explained why Ichinose greeted him.
"Even though I just picked up a key chain from a student in your Class before."
It seems Ichinose's charm is strong; even this kind of academic genius who seems to only study would be attracted.
However, to remember someone simply because of such a small matter, Ichinose is indeed a kind person.
But.
For his own Class.
"..."
Hachiman had previously thought that Yukimura might be a cold, academic genius, but now it seemed that was not the case at all; he had the potential to become a sycophant.
[Now, let the first group discussion begin!]
The ship's loudspeaker blared.
This meant the meeting had begun.
"..." Hachiman said nothing.
But someone pushed their chair back and stood up, "Alright, everyone pay attention."
It was Ichinose Honami.
This girl with excellent learning ability and leadership qualities stood up, "We have instructions from the School. The teacher last evening also suggested that we introduce ourselves during the first meeting. So, I think we should start by introducing ourselves, after all, many people here don't know each other, right? Um… if anyone else wants to be the host, please say so."
Ichinose was indeed very qualified.
If she were thrown into a new place, she would quickly integrate.
However, there were also people who were dissatisfied with her.
"At this point, is it really necessary to introduce ourselves? Can't those who want to just do it?"
It was someone from Class A.
The current list of 14 people in the Rabbit Group is as follows:
Class A: Takemoto Shigeru, Machida Koji, Morishige Takuro.
Class B: Ichinose Honami, Hamaguchi Tetsuya, Beppu Ryota.
Class C: Hikigaya Hachiman, Kei Karuizawa, Hideo VILLAGE, Yukimura Teruhiko.
Class D: Ibuki Mio, Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, Yamashita Saki.
The person speaking now was Machida Koji. Class A's Class point is currently 1258, while Class B's is 1121. For Class A, this is a pressing situation, so naturally, they are unwilling to get along peacefully with Class B.
In other words, they wanted to cause trouble.
But this was truly childish taunting.
Hachiman thought to himself.
"Machida-kun, you can do that if you want, but I don't know if what happens in this room will lower Machida-kun's evaluation if it reaches the School's ears."
Ichinose said unhurriedly, "Moreover, it will be disadvantageous for Machida-kun, but it might also drag down the entire group."
Therefore, aside from Sakayanagi, the people in Class A were probably Katsuragi; they weren't completely excellent, and some people were not smart enough and could only follow orders.
"Understood…" Machida-kun immediately backed down.
So, because Class A's Machida had backed down, everyone else began to introduce themselves.
"Ibuki Mio of Class D."
"I am Manabe Shiho."
"I'm Yabu Nanami, nice to meet you."
"I am Yamashita Saki."
"I'm Hideo VILLAGE, nice to meet you."
"Yukimura Teruhiko of Class C, nice to meet you."
"Kei Karuizawa."
"..."
There are many ways to attract people, and many people can use this opportunity to improve their self-evaluation. Just look at their self-introductions.
Polite ones, ones that want to highlight their personality.
And… cold ones.
Those who are not good at interacting with people.
Hachiman provisionally remembered everyone's names and faces. As a human camera, he also analyzed their personalities.
Perhaps infected by the surrounding students, his self-introduction also became unique and refined.
"Hikigaya Hachiman, a student of Grade 1 Class C. Although my focus is on academics right now, if anyone takes a liking to me, has a very superior family background, and meets the standard of a rich woman, please support me.
I wish to become a house husband and refuse to work as a corporate slave."
"..."
Oh, this.
"Hmm… that's a truly creative statement." Even the very optimistic Ichinose was stunned by Hachiman.
"Hehe—"
And there were girls laughing; it was the girl with light green short hair from Class D, whose self-introduction earlier was Manabe Shiho. However, she was an acquaintance.
Previously, during Rika's incident at School, Hachiman and Karuizawa had interacted with her.
But then it ended with Karuizawa getting the position of Student Council Disciplinary Committee member, which was like a fox borrowing a tiger's prestige.
After all, Manabe didn't dare to provoke a Student Council member.
So, this was also why Manabe and the others hadn't come over despite discovering that Karuizawa was also in the Rabbit Group.
However.
Hachiman noticed that the blue-haired Ibuki Mio kept staring at him.
Ibuki also seemed to have a poor relationship with the other Class D students, because even though there were four of them, Ibuki sat a little distance away from Manabe and the others. And Manabe and the others didn't include Ibuki in their whispers.
But Ibuki kept staring at him?
Ah.
Oh.
She was probably told by Ryuen about how he had tricked them in the just-concluded Uninhabited Island Exam.
Ryuen really couldn't keep anything secret, or rather… he didn't hide things from his small team.
"Anyway," Ichinose finally took back the floor, "Since everyone knew the rules last evening, my personal opinion is that it would be better for everyone to choose the first outcome."
"In other words, everyone reveals the identity of the Benefactor together between nine and ten o'clock on the third night, so that each of us can receive five hundred thousand point. And our Class evaluation score won't be deducted. What do you think of this proposal?"
Because Machida-kun of Class A, who had just jumped out, was directly silenced by Ichinose's few words, Ichinose Honami now held the dominant position.
And the choice she made was quite brilliant.
No one would suffer. Everyone would get 500,000 personal point, and the Benefactor would get 1,000,000. Everyone would have money to spend.
However.
It needed to be doubted.
Because no matter how one looked at it, the plan she chose likely meant the Benefactor was in her Class, and choosing such a plan would prevent her Class's Benefactor from being discovered and Class B from being penalized.
And as soon as she said that, the students of Class A immediately became wary of her.
It was just that Hachiman needed to be wary that this might be the psychology of the seemingly gentle Ichinose.
If the Benefactor was in her Class, then her choice of this method to protect her Class and the Benefactor was understandable, but what if the Benefactor was not in her Class?
She proposed this suggestion, which was very favorable to the Benefactor, so for that Benefactor, this was a good plan, and he might show his joy on his face.
And Ichinose's serious expression now was probably to observe this point.
So, what seemed like a kind proposal actually contained a trap.
Perhaps she finally understood how unique the position of her Class B was now, being very close to Class A, and also very close to Class C where Hachiman was. So she wanted to work hard to do something for her Class, for example, to find the Benefactor of the Rabbit Group now.
And as soon as this proposal appeared, the first person to speak might be the Benefactor, or an accomplice who knew the Benefactor's identity.
Thus, it became a test.
The atmosphere instantly became a bit tense. Everyone around remained silent.
"I agree. After all, the chance to get 500,000 point isn't common." Hachiman immediately said, "Yukimura, what about you?"
"Me? I agree too, I guess."
This time, Hachiman's plan was to let them play freely without knowing if they were the Benefactor, but now that he saw Hachiman nodding, he also nodded.
So.
Ichinose focused on him. Hikigaya was the first to respond. So, could Hikigaya be the Benefactor or the Benefactor's companion?
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