-229- A boring guessing game

"Hah..."

After connecting all the clues in his mind and uncovering the biggest secret of this special exam, Hori exhaled lightly and couldn't help but say:

"What a boring guessing game."

These words reached not only Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's ears but also everyone present.

This caused the students in the Rabbit Group room, who were doing their own things, to freeze and reflexively look towards Hori.

This included Ibuki Mio, who was leaning against the wall pretending to sleep.

This included Karuizawa Kei, who was playing with her phone.

This also included Machida Koji and his group, who had kept themselves out of the discussion circle from the start and didn't care about the exam.

Everyone showed surprised expressions as they looked at Hori.

"What's wrong, Nanaya-kun?"

Ichinose Honami blinked, her face also showing a hint of incredulity.

Seeing this, Hori realized and simply shrugged, responding:

"It's nothing, don't mind it."

Don't mind it?

How could that be possible?

In the entire Rabbit Group, the most noticeable person wasn't the group from Class A, but Hori.

Under Katsuragi Kouhei's instructions, the three from Class A showed the greatest vigilance towards Hori.

The students from Class B, led by Ichinose Honami, also had high expectations for Hori, who had greatly helped them during the special exam on the uninhabited island.

As for the students from Class C, it was even more significant. Due to Ryuen Kakeru, even Ibuki Mio showed strong hostility towards Hori, and Manabe Shiho and others were extremely fearful of him.

Even among Class D, besides Yukimura Teruhiko who had high expectations for Hori's abilities, both Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Karuizawa Kei were very mindful of Hori, more so than anyone else.

Now, Hori had made such a declaration and expected others to not mind?

How could that be possible?

"Stop playing games, Nanaya."

Machida Koji couldn't help but speak up.

"Do you think you can shake us like this? We won't fall for it!"

It seemed Machida Koji thought this was a tactic by Hori to break their defenses.

However, Hori didn't even glance at Machida Koji, closing his eyes as if too lazy to say more.

But the more Hori acted like this, the more uneasy Machida Koji and his group became.

"What... what is he trying to do?"

"Damn it..."

Reacting excessively to Hori's behavior, Machida Koji and Takemoto Shigeru seemed at a loss and hurriedly took out their phones, clearly intending to consult Katsuragi Kouhei. Only Morishige Takuro, a member of the Sakayanagi faction, frowned and stared intently at Hori.

"That guy…"

Ibuki Mio also frowned, recalling how Hori had tricked her on the uninhabited island. She bit her lip and also took out her phone.

Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, and Yamashita Saki looked confused.

Naturally, Yukimura Teruhiko felt the same.

Karuizawa Kei, however, looked at Hori with closed eyes, her expression becoming more complex, gripping her phone tightly.

"Could it be..."

Karuizawa Kei thought that her true identity might have been discovered and quickly shook her head to dismiss the thought.

Only Ayanokouji Kiyotaka remained silent, sensibly lowering his presence to the minimum.

However...

"A boring guessing game... huh?"

Many thoughts flashed through Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's mind.

Although he had identified all the VIPs in Class D and provided Hori with the final piece of the puzzle, it was because Ayanokouji Kiyotaka hadn't yet figured out the selection method for the VIPs in this exam that he took such actions.

After all, today was only the first day of the exam, and there had only been two discussion sessions.

For Ayanokouji Kiyotaka to be able to identify all the VIPs in Class D with his abilities was already impressive.

It should be noted that other groups were still struggling due to Class A's defenses, while Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had already reached this point, which was flawless.

However, in terms of insight, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had to admit that he was far inferior to the incredibly intuitive Hori. Identifying all the VIPs in all the groups on the first day was still too difficult.

Of course, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had already constructed several paths to victory in his mind.

But these tactics had not yet been deployed.

The simplest and most straightforward method was to push Hori to solve all the puzzles with his keen insight, thereby passing the exam.

Based on this idea, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka provided valuable information.

Now, this method had already been halfway realized.

Hori had undoubtedly solved all the puzzles.

Next, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka needed to let Hori win on his own or, conversely, have Hori provide crucial information for passing the exam.

The information Hori provided was this.

A guessing game.

What a terrifying thought.

Naturally, changes were also happening on Class B's side.

"What's up with Nanaya?"

"Ichinose, do you understand?"

Hamaguchi Tetsuya and Beppu Ryota looked at Ichinose Honami in surprise.

Ichinose Honami watched Hori, a faint smile appearing on her delicate face.

"Yes, it seems Nanaya-kun has thought of something."

Because that person would never play tricks.

Ichinose Honami understood this well.

In Advanced Nurturing High School, the person who interacted with Hori the most, besides Sakura Airi and Kushida Kikyou, was Ichinose Honami.

Given Ichinose Honami's understanding of Hori, that statement might mean...

"Nanaya-kun has already found the key to conquering this exam."

This was Ichinose Honami's thought.

"Is... is that so?"

"And it's only the first day..."

Hamaguchi Tetsuya and Beppu Ryota were equally astonished.

Then...

"What did Ichinose-san's boyfriend think of?"

"I'm really curious."

Hamaguchi Tetsuya and Beppu Ryota made these comments.

"Boy... boyfriend..."

Ichinose Honami's face turned slightly red, but she also showed a hint of helplessness.

There was no helping it, it was already a recognized fact.

In recent days, Ichinose Honami had been dizzy from all the fuss about this matter.

So, the girl was already used to it.

In any case, because of Hori's words, the entire Rabbit Group's situation changed once again.

The stalemate was gradually beginning to break.

As for what the others were thinking, it no longer concerned Hori.

Hori was now thinking only one thing.

Should he end this exam?

If so, how should he do it?

These were the only things Hori was considering.