The students stared in surprise at the materials they received. It was the same document from last night.
"Isn't this the rules document we couldn't understand last night?"
"But the teacher said no photos or taking it with us... how did you get this, Kushida-san?"
The students were amazed. Though most had seen the document before, none had fully grasped its contents.
"I memorized it, cross-checked with other students, then printed it out." Kushida said with a smile.
She didn't realize how remarkable her words were.
The previous night, students had gone to different rooms after receiving text messages about the rules. Though given 15 minutes to read and memorize them, they had struggled.
The rules had been too complex to understand, let alone memorize.
Having a printed version now was invaluable.
"Kushida-san..."
"That's incredible!"
"You've saved us again!"
Though some had been drowsy from the early morning wake-up call, the students now felt energized and relieved.
Unlike a game show where you could guess randomly, being called for an exam without understanding its rules had been nerve-wracking.
Now that tension melted away.
"Let me explain the exam rules." Yōsuke said in his gentle manner.
Kikyō had contacted him at six that morning to gather everyone. He'd gone door to door, waking students and bringing them here.
She explained that Suzune had memorized the exam rules and believed they could use this to their advantage.
The three discussed and agreed to inform the students of the exam rules, hoping Class D would refrain from participating in the answering portion to maintain their current advantage.
Yōsuke supported this plan. From the class's 730 Class Points, 530 had to be allocated to Suzune and Rokusuke.
The remaining points would be distributed as follows: Class A's monthly Base Points of 800,000, plus 200 points (730-530) worth 800,000 points. This meant each student would receive 40,000 points.
This amount would cover basic living expenses — exactly what Yōsuke wanted to see.
After explaining the exam rules, he glanced at Suzune, who had been waiting patiently.
When he finished, she stood up immediately.
"It's 7:45 now. In 15 minutes, the school will send messages about privileged student selection." Suzune said, "Everyone must hand in their phones. You'll use backup phones during these three days of the exam."
Backup phones?
Students noticed her carrying a large bag containing black-cased phones, similar in style to their usual white ones.
"What are those?" Mei-Yu asked from the front row, curiosity in her voice.
"These are backup phones I obtained permission to use by paying 400,000 points to Chabashira-sensei. They have identical functions to our regular phones, and you'll use them throughout the exam period." Suzune explained.
"Why do we have to do this?" Haruka Hasebe protested, "I prefer my own phone."
She was beautiful, with long blue hair and a beauty mark under her eye, but her strong personality showed in her resistance.
Suzune's face remained expressionless.
She declared firmly, "Hirata just explained the exam rules to you. Answering questions can affect our Class Points — both positively and negatively. These points were hard-earned. If they get deducted... can you accept that? I need to protect my 330 points at minimum."
"Oh? Then protect my 200 points too." Rokusuke who sat in the second row, spoke up too.
He had been curious about how these Class D students would handle this exam, and now he saw that Suzune had taken decisive action.
Collecting everyone's phones meant having everyone skip the exam entirely. After reading the exam rules, he understood this was essentially a game of finding the mole — one where the moles knew their own identity from the start. Such a setup would require acting skills, something Class D students likely couldn't manage.
Rather than forcing Class D students to act, it was better if no one knew who the beneficiaries were from the start. By collecting all phones, nobody would know if they were a beneficiary, eliminating the need for deception.
This approach would lead directly to Outcome 2 of the plan. The exam would continue until its conclusion, and if the beneficiaries weren't discovered or were guessed incorrectly, only the beneficiaries would receive their 500,000-point reward.
This way, although Class D students would participate throughout, they wouldn't take any action. They could ensure no points would be deducted or added, maintaining what was currently the most stable situation for Class D.
In other words, it was a conservative strategy — and quite a clever one.
Rokusuke stood up and said, "I agree with Horikita's approach. I can't trust that you won't do something stupid. If you guess the beneficiaries wrong and Class Points get deducted, it'll definitely come out of your share."
"Why?!" Ken looked over.
"Because those are points I earned, and I won't do anything stupid." Rokusuke said, "So I can guarantee I won't lose points for the class, but can you?"
"But what if we could gain points?" At this point, Teruhiko, who had stayed for the island exam, suddenly spoke up, "Wouldn't it be a waste to miss that opportunity? And at a time like this..."
Kikyō maintained her smile but looked toward Suzune.
This lone girl had become friends with her last night, and the price was gathering everyone here today to collect all their phones.
Though Kikyō had only agreed to assist, the task of persuading — and potentially offending — people still fell to Suzune herself.
And she didn't back down.
"Think about it — if you found out you were a beneficiary, could you really hide it from other classes? And who would take responsibility if the class lost points? Would you? For instance, if you're discovered as a beneficiary and the class loses 50 points because of you, you'd have to personally bear half the loss — that's 25 points, multiplied by 100 and 40 people, meaning you'd owe 100,000 points to the class every month. If you're willing to accept that responsibility, then go ahead and participate in the answering portion." Suzune declared firmly.
"Hey..."
As a fellow high achiever, Teruhiko had always paid attention to and trusted her.
But now she was confronting him like this?
And more importantly — take responsibility for what? Pay 100,000 points monthly for making a mistake? Where would he even get that kind of money?
After all, Suzune had only just set the precedent of contributing to the class and getting a share of Class Points.
And if they had to take responsibility for point deductions too... Though it wasn't clear if the school would hold physical education exams, Teruhiko's athletic ability was his biggest concern. So he decided to stay quiet.
Seeing him fall silent, others also began questioning whether they should take this risk.
If they guessed correctly, they could get 100,000 points worth of evaluation points at 25 points per month, but if they failed, they'd have to pay 100,000... The pressure was overwhelming.
After that confrontation, the opposing voices grew quiet.
"But what if someone among us is chosen as a beneficiary—" One of the students still had one concern, "What about the school's reward?"
"If no one discovers your beneficiary status, the school will automatically deposit the reward points into your private account. Wouldn't it be nice to simply find an extra 500,000 in your account after the exam ends?" Suzune said expressionlessly.
500... 500,000!
"Plus, since no one else will know about this 500,000 and we won't announce it, you can keep it secret."
Ohhh! Just like winning the lottery jackpot!
Better yet, the class was divided into 12 small groups, with each group having one beneficiary. All 12 beneficiaries could potentially be in their class!
That would mean a 12/40 probability, right?
The winning odds were quite favorable.
And based on what they learned from consulting Yōsuke about the island exam, they would each receive 40,000 in living expenses going forward.
But winning now meant 500,000 points — equivalent to a year's worth of living expenses at once.
"Or would you rather have a systematic exam where deductions are shared by everyone, and the beneficiary rewards are also split evenly? If we have four beneficiaries in our class, we could get 2 million points in school rewards, divided equally that's 50,000 points per person—"
But Suzune's words were interrupted.
"No thanks." Haruki quickly said, "Horikita-san, I'll give you my phone!"
"Me too!"
"Me as well—"
Soon, both boys and girls were swayed by the potential points.
Most of them owed points to either Kikyō or Kei from before the island exam. With 500,000 points, they could pay off their debts and have plenty left over.
Better yet, since these points could be kept secret, the money would be entirely their own.
The girls submitted their phones without further protest.
After all, who would want their potential 500,000-point reward reduced to 50,000 through equal distribution?
Everyone received their backup phones.
"What's wrong?" Suzune noticed one male student hesitating to submit his phone.
"Nothing." Kiyotaka shook his head.
As he was about to hand over his phone, he had suddenly realized the best strategy for this exam — one that could have earned them 20 million points.
But it was too late now. The opportunity had slipped away.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
Meanwhile, in Class C.
Kakeru forced everyone to hand their phones over to him. He wanted to verify the information one by one.
⍟⍟⍟
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