Chapter 32

[A/N: The new Cote fanfiction is out; check my profile, and then go to original works. I chose Yuichi because I wanted to experiment with an evil main character in classroom of the elite.]

While Ryuen angrily walked up the ship's plank, Class D celebrated and ran around in circles like circus animals.

Seeing that my suspicions about Ayanokoji were confirmed, I exited the deck and headed back toward my coffee bar reading spot. Seeing Class A's performance, I knew that transferring to Class A right now could be a mistake, so I had just wasted 5 million private points for no reason.

It wasn't that bad, though. Having 20 million private points at all times took a lot of stress off my mind, as I now had insurance if I ever were to be expelled for some unknown reason.

As I ordered some tea and began reading my book, I heard some people approaching the bar, which was weird as it was in a relatively obscure location. Turning around, I saw Ryuen and his lackeys approaching me.

Ryuen sat down on the barstool next to me, where his servants stood to the left, giving off an imposing aura.

Waiting for Ryuen to talk would take too long, so I broke the silence.

"Quite the performance during that exam."

"Hah, my performance during the exam was just extra. I already got what I wanted from a contract."

Ah, so he signed a contract with Class A. Since Ryuen was using the 0-points strategy, he must have sold off some of his exam points for private points with a contract.

"So you were Class's mystery supplier."

"Indeed, Katsuragi was desperate for a win to shut down the other faction, so he was quite easy to convince."

Seeing that this conversation didn't end soon, I provoked Ryuen into leaving.

"So, looking for Class D's mastermind, are you?"

"Do you have any idea? I'm willing to pay 100,000 points. I don't like people who get in the way of what I want."

"Where would the fun be if I just told you the mastermind's identity? They say the reward is not the finish line, but the journey you took to reach it."

"PFFT* I guess so."

Ryuen got up from his barstool and prepared to leave. However, a sudden announcement from the school interrupted him.

"Attention, students, We have an important announcement. The second special examination will begin shortly. All first-year students on board will receive an email from the school administration. Please ensure that you read it carefully and follow the instructions."

I wanted to let out a groan, but if I did in front of Ryuen, I think he would actually hit me regardless of any security cameras. That guy spent a whole 5 days on the island alone, and now he's hit with another special exam out of nowhere. Honestly, I felt for him.

Ryuen and I pulled out our phones and checked the email.

[Regarding the Special Test]

Make sure you arrive at your assigned room at the time indicated below. Students who are more than 10 minutes late will be subject to penalties.

Come to room 507 by 6 P.M. today.

------------

Seeing the email, Ryuen left with his posse to make some announcements to his class, so I finally sighed. Thoughtfully, they even added in part about penalties if you didn't show up. Was the student council president targeting me by doing this? I know he has some power over the special exams as he knew about the island, but surely, he wouldn't put that sentence in to target me, right?

-*- (6 hours later)

[A/N: I added Ichinose to the dragon group cause the group would be much funnier with her in it ngl]

I opened the door and entered the room. It seemed like I was the last to enter as I saw Kanzaki and Ichinose sitting next to the Class D homeroom teacher. She gave me a quick glance, and I sat down.

"Ahem, now that everybody is here, I'll explain this special exam.

Looking at the serious expression on the Class D teacher, I realized she was the polar opposite of the playful and friendly Hoshanomyia. How did those two get along so well if they're so different?

"The test will be administered among 12 special discrete groups, each named after a zodiac symbol in the alphabet. Each group will include a sampling of students from each class."

As she said this, she laid a couple of papers before us and continued explaining.

"4 students from Class D and C, and three from the other two, totaling fourteen students per class. From now on, you will not be acting as a member of Class B but as part of the Dragon Group. And our test result will be assigned to the group as a whole."

So they're forcing us to cooperate with the same classes that we just fought against not even three days ago? Why the sudden switch-up?

"The testing period is three days long, and there will be one day of rest in between. At 8:00 AM, the school will send an email declaring one group member a "VIP." Twice each day, a discussion will be held within the group, where the group will attempt to discover the VIP's identity."

Ahh, two meetings a day for three days; who do they think I am?

"Thirty minutes after the sixth discussion concludes, you will mail your answer to the school. Each person can only send one answer."

After saying this, the teacher gestured towards the papers on the desk, so Ichinose picked them up and began reading to us.

[Case 1: If everyone besides the VIP and the VIP's classmates gets the correct answer, all group members will be awarded 500,000 private points, with the VIP receiving an additional 500,000 private points.]

Jesus, they're giving the VIP 1 million private points. If every class ended with this case, then each receive 7.5 million private points, and the school would have to hand out 90 million private points. I get my hands on those 90 million private points. Such an amount was too much to pass up no matter how much work I needed to do.

[Case 2: If at least one person, other than the VIP and the VIP's classmates, fails to answer or guess wrong, only the VIP will receive the 500,000 private points.]

Ah, so case 2 is when the VIP hides their identity instead of revealing it like in Case 1, so one person gets it wrong. However, that's only a measly 500,000 private points per group, not even close to the total of 90 million.

[Case 3: If someone other than the VIP emails the school before the exam is over and gives the correct answer, that student's class will receive 50 class points, and the student who answered will also get 500,000 private points.]

So this is the downside to Case 1: if someone betrays the class after the VIP reveals their identity and guesses it, they will gain class points. Speaking of class points, why does only this one give you class points? Isn't the whole reason for these special exams to gain class points?

[Case 4: If someone other than the VIP emails the school before the exam is over and gives the wrong answer, that student's class will lose 50 class points while the VIP's class will gain 50 class points, and the VIP will get 500,000 points.]

Isn't this particular exam just asking for a traitor? If someone from Classes C, D, or A paid me off, I would purposely submit the wrong answer and give their class 50 class points. However, this still does interest me. I wanted 90 million private points in total, and a plan began forming inside my head.

[Additionally, if someone from the VIP's class gives an incorrect answer, their answer will be declared invalid and be denied.]

Ah, never mind, this rule really just nullified all of that. It seems this school sometimes hurts the traitors or helps them.

Seeing that we were finishing reading, Chabashira once again spoke up.

"For this test, the school will preserve your anonymity. after the test concludes, only your group results and changes in class points will be announced."

They specifically added a rule to hurt traitors, and now they suddenly gave us another rule that protects them. Make up your mind!

Seeing that the discussion was over, Ichinose and Kanzaki immediately got on their phones and began texting in the class group chat about the rules and cases. I gave the two a quick wave before exiting first. I wouldn't be able to act at all until I got the email at 8 tomorrow, so I decided to head back to the dorm room and get some sleep.

During this exam, I doubted I would get much sleep.

This exam definitely used my style more than the previous one, as all I had to do was think rather than worry about my survival, hunger, thirst, and sleep.

-*- (8:00 AM the next day)

Last night, most of Class B held a strategy discussion; however, I decided there was no point in attending it. If I had wanted to get a total of 90 million private points from Case 1, I would have inevitably betrayed or blackmailed my own class into giving me those points, so there was no point in cooperating now.

*BING*

My smartphone went off, signifying that I received an email, so I checked.

[After a careful selection process, you have not been selected as the VIP]

My identity as VIP or not didn't matter to me, but the words at the start caught my attention.

"careful selection"

That means that the VIP selection was not random, and that, of course, means there is some pattern that determines whether you are a VIP or not. Seeing that there are 12 groups, I would have to get the identity of at least 5 VIPs to figure out this pattern. This may seem difficult, but at the same time, with the identity of every Class VIP, I could do anything I wanted.

After a few minutes, I pulled out my second phone and sent a message to Kushida.

[Need the identity of your classes' VIPs; I will send you 100,000 private points per identity. Do not even think of giving me false names, or the video will be immediately released.]

After the deserted island exam, I didn't know whether Kushida was still mad at me for showing her up, so I added that threat in at the end if she decided to do something stupid.

*BING*

[Kushida: I am the VIP of the dragon group]

Oh, how lucky I am. I already have 1 out of 5 identities. Also, she was the VIP of my dragon group; if I really wanted to do it, I could send in the guess immediately and end all the discussions. However, the thought of having over 100 million private points was too overwhelming for me.

After sending 100,000 private points anonymously to Kushida, I began thinking of other ways to get identities. Since there were 4 identities per class, I could try to convince Kanzaki or Ichinose to give me the identity of their VIPs. They would definitely give to me as I had some level of trust with them, but at the same time, I was going to blackmail them with those names.

Eh fuck it, I'll take 90 million private points in exchange for having a bad reputation.