-220- Deadlock

Finally, the Rabbit Group's discussion ended in deadlock.

With Hori's reckless intervention, the policy proposed by Machida Koji gradually came into question among the students from other classes, making them hesitant and less supportive than initially.

Ichinose Honami, not one to be underestimated, outlined the advantages of Class A's strategy and the disadvantages for lower-ranked classes, who would lose the chance to catch up with the higher-ranked ones. This immediately helped the hesitant students from other classes make their decision.

Yukimura Teruhiko, eager to catch up with the higher classes, was the first to overturn his previous agreement and no longer intended to pass this special exam peacefully.

As a result, Class A's strategy couldn't be implemented within the Rabbit Group.

Of course, the three members of Class A were no longer paying attention to such matters.

Especially Machida Koji, who couldn't stay calm after seeing Hori's indifferent demeanor, playing with his phone.

Unable to find a solution, Machida Koji had no choice but to take out his phone and report the situation to Katsuragi Kouhei.

This was truly a last resort.

After all, Katsuragi Kouhei was currently in the Dragon Group, competing with the elites from other classes.

If possible, no one wanted to disturb Katsuragi Kouhei in the midst of such intense competition.

The anxiety in Machida Koji's heart after making this move was unimaginable.

After learning about the situation, Katsuragi Kouhei remained silent for a long time.

It wasn't until several minutes later that Katsuragi Kouhei, in his usual steady voice, gave his instructions.

"No matter what, we should stick to our agreed approach for now. If we lose our composure, we'll fall into others' traps. We'll discuss the rest after the meeting."

After saying this, Katsuragi Kouhei hung up.

Only then did Machida Koji calm down and announce to the Rabbit Group.

"Our Class A policy remains as I stated earlier. Even if you don't agree, we will continue to execute it."

In other words,

"From now on, we won't participate in any further discussions within the Rabbit Group. You can do whatever you want."

Leaving these words, Machida Koji, along with Takemoto Shigeru, moved to a corner of the room, distancing themselves from the others.

Morishige Takuro also followed but kept a distance from the two of them, clearly indicating his neutral stance.

The three members of Class A thus withdrew from the discussion, erecting a solid barrier and isolating themselves from the rest of the group.

"This is really troublesome."

Ichinose Honami showed a troubled expression.

Even if only three members of Class A left the discussion circle, it would have a significant impact.

Although Hori hinted that there were other ways to identify the VIPs besides discussions, everyone present, including Ichinose Honami, believed that dialogue was necessary for progress.

With the three members of Class A completely out of the discussion, if any of them were the VIP, finding them would become very difficult.

Even if they could narrow down the VIPs to Class A, there were still three people to guess from, which was problematic.

Moreover, they hadn't even identified which class the VIPs were in.

Without Class A's participation, classes B, C, and D would still have to probe each other, making it extremely difficult.

Unless all three classes declared that the VIP was not among them.

But who would believe that?

This exam didn't prohibit lying.

Just like in the special exam on the uninhabited island, unless the key card was shown to verify the name, no one would believe someone just claiming they weren't the leader.

They might be lying, right?

Therefore, unless everyone showed the email sent by the school.

But who dared to do that?

If the VIP was indeed in their class, openly showing the email would put their class at a disadvantage.

If someone refused to show it, they would be suspected.

If guessed correctly, the class would lose points.

So, no one dared to do it.

Even someone as magnanimous as Ichinose Honami wouldn't dare.

This was also out of consideration for other groups.

Even if Class B had no VIPs in the Rabbit Group, revealing this would still impact Class B.

People would know there were no Class B VIPs in the Rabbit Group.

Since one class had three VIPs, this was certain.

Confirming there were no VIPs in the Rabbit Group would direct attention to other groups, suspecting VIPs among Class B students in other groups, gradually identifying the VIPs through elimination.

Thus, even if Class B had no VIPs in the Rabbit Group, Ichinose Honami couldn't reveal the email, needing to cover for classmates in other groups.

So, it all ended in deadlock.

The first discussion in the Rabbit Group was thus stuck in a stalemate.

Presumably, other groups were in similar situations, right?

Regardless of whether other groups agreed with Class A's strategy, as long as Class A refused to cooperate and participate in discussions, a deadlock would ensue.

Katsuragi Kouhei's defense was indeed thorough.

Generally, with the situation developing like this, there was no solution but to disband and reconsider.

However, the meeting had a time limit; without spending an hour in the room, no one could leave.

Hence, everyone, like hitting a wall, took their seats, occupying the four corners of the room and starting separate discussions.

Of course, only Ichinose Honami was actually discussing with her classmates.

Class C didn't have a proper discussion due to Ibuki Mio's aloofness, with three girls straying further from the topic.

Class D was even worse; only Yukimura Teruhiko kept questioning Hori, who ignored him. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was unresponsive, and Karuizawa Kei ignored Yukimura Teruhiko, playing with her phone, making Yukimura Teruhiko want to bang his head against the wall.

Yet this situation gradually changed over time.

The change came from Class C.

For some reason, the three girls from Class C started paying attention to Class D, whispering and pointing.

"What are they doing?"

"...No idea."

Yukimura Teruhiko and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka seemed to notice, one puzzled, the other observing quietly.

Hori also looked up, glanced unintentionally, and frowned.

Hori, with his keen senses, naturally noticed.

The three from Class C weren't pointing at everyone in Class D but targeting one person.

Soon, the person seemed to decide something and approached.

"You're Karuizawa, right?"

Manabe Shiho questioned.

The target was none other than Karuizawa Kei.