COTE : Backed By Black Technology System

Kanda Shuichi, who had been frustrated by Horikita Suzune, immediately began to think about how to deal with her. Sooner or later, you'll be kneeling in front of me!

But before he could come up with a plan, the phone he had placed on the table let out a sharp ring.

Not just his phone, but Horikita's phone, which was in her pocket, also emitted the same sharp noise at the same time.

This was a special ringtone used by the school to notify students of important messages, a sound that would play even if the phone was on vibrate mode, ensuring that students would notice the message. It showed how important the message was.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on now? Don't tell me the ship is sinking?" Kanda Shuichi joked as he picked up his phone, preparing to check the new email.

"Shut your mouth," Horikita Suzune replied, annoyed, before taking her phone out of her skirt.

"Tch!"

But before Kanda Shuichi could check, the announcement system on the ship immediately started.

[Attention all students: The school has just sent out an email containing important contact information. Please check your phones and follow the instructions. If you haven't received the email, please approach a nearby staff member. This content is very important, so please be sure not to miss it. Repeat—]

The message was repeated three times before the broadcast fell silent.

Kanda Shuichi and Horikita Suzune exchanged a glance, then opened their phones to check the message from the school.

[The special exam is about to begin. Students should gather in their designated rooms at the specified time. Anyone who is more than 10 minutes late will be penalized. Please gather in Room 206 on the second floor before 8:40 PM tonight. The estimated time is about 20 minutes. Please use the restroom and set your phone to vibrate or turn it off before heading to the gathering spot.]

"Finally," Kanda Shuichi smiled, clearly interested. The school's special exams were always something he found intriguing.

After the deserted island survival test, most students didn't think the exams would just end like that. They predicted the school would come up with more challenges.

However, after three days of peace, most students had relaxed their guard, but at this critical moment, the school suddenly threw a surprise punch at them.

"A special exam?" Horikita Suzune frowned, "Can I see your email?"

Kanda Shuichi glanced at her, then placed his phone on the table and pushed it towards her.

Horikita Suzune slid her phone over to him as well.

After a quick glance, Kanda Shuichi noticed that both their messages were exactly the same—both had to gather in Room 206 at 8:40 PM.

The ship had guest rooms on the third to fifth floors. The third floor was for male students, the fourth for female students, and even the teachers were clearly separated by gender.

Some rooms on the second floor could be rented for those with enough points who didn't want to stay with others.

Of course, any impure relations between the sexes were still prohibited by the school, but it was suspicious that rooms were available for rent, so it was clear that everyone understood what that meant.

"Same thing?" Horikita said, somewhat surprised, as she returned his phone and took back her own.

"If it only lasts for 20 minutes, there's no need to specify 8:40 PM. That's strange. And if it's just one room, there's no way all the students can fit in there."

Horikita Suzune nodded. "Are you saying we just happened to be assigned the same time and place?"

"Maybe. Let's check what others are saying."

Kanda Shuichi wasn't sure, so he grabbed his phone and opened Miyake's contact info to ask.

[Did you get the email from the school?]

[Yeah, I was just about to ask you about that.]

[What time? What location? I've been told to meet at 8:40 PM in room 206, how about you?]

[I'm starting at 7:20 PM, in room 205.]

[Got it, I understand now.]

Kanda Shuichi put away his phone, then noticed that Horikita seemed to have received her results as well.

"How about you?"

"Ayanokouji will be in room 204 starting at 6 PM."

"Akito, Miyake Akito will start at 7:20 PM, in room 205."

After asking the two, it turned out that their schedules were different...

But soon, both of them learned the full picture, as the class group chat had exploded with messages.

Many people had different times, although some were the same. However, the only rooms mentioned in the messages were rooms 204 to 206.

Should I ask students from other classes?

After hesitating for a moment, Kanda Shuichi closed Ichinose Honami's chat and opened Kamuro Masumi's.

[When and where are you meeting?]

Read, no reply.

What's going on with this guy? Kanda Shuichi was confused.

Kamuro Masumi, looking at the message from Kanda Shuichi, felt annoyed. You think of me when you need something, but leave me hanging when you don't? You think I'm your plaything?

But her fingers quickly typed a reply.

[8 PM, room 207.]

Short and to the point, is she angry?

[Well done, my loyal dog!]

After encouraging Kamuro, Kanda Shuichi couldn't get more information.

But piecing together all the bits of information, it became easier to draw some conclusions.

First, the different times and locations for the students' exams meant it couldn't be a written test.

That makes sense. Even for a twisted school like this, they wouldn't schedule a surprise written exam during students' vacation, right?

From the exam times and assigned rooms, it was clear that the students were divided into groups, with each group likely having 20 minutes for the exam.

Because everyone's meeting times were either on the hour or at 20 or 40 minutes past the hour.

Judging by the messages in the class group chat, the meeting times ranged from 5 PM to 8:40 PM, but nothing earlier or later. This means there were likely 12 groups.

The group meeting at 5 PM was the first group, and the one meeting at 8:40 PM was the last.

As for the content of the exam, that remained a mystery.

However, one thing was certain: to maintain the appearance of fairness, all students would likely have the same exam.

But if that's the case, why separate the students?

Since the school did this, there must be a reason for it.

Are they afraid students might figure something out if they meet together?

This means that to pass the exam smoothly, it might be necessary to analyze the groups of students, whether by time or class.

The information was still too little, so he would have to wait until the first group returns from the exam before making further plans.

Let's see who's in the first group.

Hmm...

I don't recognize anyone!

Looks like I'll have to figure this out myself.

"Horikita, how much battery does your phone have left?"

"Battery?" Horikita Suzune paused, then checked. "80%."

80%, if we keep the call going, it should last for about 3 hours.

It's 2:30 PM now.

That should be fine.

"I'm planning to check out the exam site, want to come?"

As he spoke, Kanda Shuichi stood up, ready to head to the assigned exam location, room 206.

"Now?"

"Yeah, there's no rule saying we can't go, right?"

Although she had no idea what Kanda Shuichi was planning, Horikita Suzune decided to follow him and take a look.

Students usually don't come to the cabins on the second floor. Even though it's allowed to rent rooms here, the cost is apparently quite high.

According to Kanda Shuichi, students rarely come here.

Kanda Shuichi and Horikita Suzune were on the second-floor deck, so they could quickly find the room mentioned in the previous email, Room 206, as soon as they entered the cabin.

Knock knock knock.

Of course, Kanda Shuichi wouldn't just barge in. That would be reckless, so he decided to knock first.

If someone was guarding inside, Kanda Shuichi would try to talk his way through, pretending he hadn't been there. If no one was inside, Kanda Shuichi was ready to do something.

"Who is it?"

Oh no, someone was inside. And from the voice, it seemed like it was Class C's homeroom teacher, Sakagami Numera.

Looks like there's no way around this.

Kanda Shuichi couldn't help but shake his head.

But teachers are also working hard, guarding this room since now. Does that mean there are people in the other rooms too?

Soon, the door opened, and just as Kanda Shuichi expected, it was Sakagami Numera.

"You're Kanda Shuichi from Class D, right? Is there something you need?"

"Yeah, we received notice that we're supposed to gather in this room later, so I just came to check things out."

Kanda Shuichi didn't hide his thoughts completely, but he didn't mention his intention to bring in the phone that was in a call.

"Sorry, but from now until 9 PM, only students who've been given instructions can enter this room," Sakagami Numera answered seriously, making it clear that Kanda Shuichi's little plan wouldn't work.

"Ah, I see. I understand now. See you later, Sakagami-sensei."

With that, Kanda Shuichi turned around and left with Horikita Suzune.

Watching Kanda Shuichi leave, Sakagami Numera felt a bit sentimental. A student this good was assigned to Class D? Chabashira really got lucky!

The plan failed, so now he'd have to rely on Hirata to get information from the students who finished their exams early.

By the way, he hadn't asked Hirata about the details of the text he received—time and location.

After asking, he found out the answer: 8 PM, Room 206.

He was in the same group as himself and Horikita Suzune.

It's not Kanda Shuichi boasting, but in Class D, aside from Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, who didn't show his abilities, and Kouenji, who was extremely self-centered, the remaining students, if ranked by overall strength, would consider these three to be the top in the class.

But the school actually put all three of them in the same group. What's going on with the school?

Well, no point in thinking too much about it. He'd find out the real reason once the exam was fully revealed.

As time passed, students started entering their respective rooms in groups to begin the exam.

However, when the first group of students came out, Kanda Shuichi and the others, who hadn't yet gone in, had a rough idea of the exam content.

It seemed like some kind of game similar to Werewolf, where the winner could earn class points or private points.

The details were complicated...

Because these guys couldn't express their thoughts clearly, and it wasn't just one class; it seemed like all the classes were like this.

So, the people who went in earlier were actually idiots?

Soon, it was 8:40 PM, and Kanda Shuichi and Hirata Yosuke prepared to team up and head to the exam.

With the scattered information from earlier students to back them up, neither of them was nervous.

Hirata, being a key figure in the class, had already been approached by others earlier to discuss the exam.

As his roommate, Kanda Shuichi also got a good idea of the exam content, and that's why he was able to see through the true nature of the exam.

No matter what the school says, this exam had already started when the first group entered the room!

Why were Kanda Shuichi, Hirata Yosuke, and the others left to the end to be briefed?

No, maybe it should be asked like this: why were the outstanding students kept until the end for the briefing when the content is the same for everyone? Was this a sign that they had issues with them?

Of course not. The reason they were told in advance and made to meet the teacher last was to give them time to analyze and think about the exam.

This way, they could use the time to think of questions they wanted to ask and then raise those questions to the teacher.

"Kanda, I have something I'm curious about regarding this exam..." As they walked down the stairs, Hirata started sharing his thoughts, "Why is the school spreading out the explanations? If we consider efficiency, it would make more sense to give a general explanation first, then do the group assignments afterward. That's usually how things are done."

"Yeah, that's something I've been wondering too. Maybe we'll find out soon," Kanda Shuichi nodded. "And I have a feeling that figuring out the hidden information here might be the key to whether we can succeed in this exam."

Although Kanda Shuichi wasn't too interested in class competition, he was still somewhat excited about this puzzle game.

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You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu