COTE : Backed By Black Technology System

As mentioned earlier, Kanda Shuichi and the others' quarters were on the third floor of the ship, while the meeting place was on the second floor. Therefore, they didn't use the elevator but chose to take the stairs instead.

"Ayanokouji?" After they came down the stairs, Hirata spotted Ayanokouji Kiyotaka standing at the hallway entrance. "Could it be that Ayanokouji is also in this group?"

Hirata's misunderstanding was understandable because he didn't know Ayanokouji was in the 6 o'clock group.

"Uh, no, Horikita asked me to come over."

"You're really not having an easy time, huh?"

Seeing Ayanokouji being sent around by Horikita, Kanda Shuichi couldn't help but feel for him.

"Exactly, you're already here, but she still made me come."

Damn, I take back what I just said!

You don't want to be bossed around, so you let her boss me around? You're really a dog!

While the three of them were chatting casually against the wall, familiar faces began to show up one by one.

The first to appear was Katsuragi Kohei from Class A. He seemed to have recovered from his previous disappointment, but when he passed Kanda Shuichi, the wariness in his eyes was clearly visible.

"Katsuragi, you don't need to be so cautious around me. According to the information, we're supposed to cooperate this time."

Actually, Kanda Shuichi didn't have much hostility towards Katsuragi, but since you're in Class A, it's just a matter of different positions.

"As for that, I don't plan to cooperate with you, even if it's something required by the exam. My stance remains the same."

Katsuragi stopped and looked at Kanda Shuichi, his wariness not easing at all.

"Is that so? That's too bad." Kanda Shuichi smiled, not getting angry, and instead looked behind him. "Then, Ryuen, do you still want to cooperate?"

"As long as the benefits are enough, of course, I won't refuse," 

came the sly voice of Ryuen from the end of the corridor, with two unfamiliar male students following behind him.

Compared to Katsuragi, who came alone, Ryuen Kakeru and Kanda Shuichi already had the upper hand in terms of presence.

Hearing Ryuen's voice, Katsuragi's face immediately darkened.

If losing to Kanda Shuichi could be explained by Kanda Shuichi being too strong, then losing to Ryuen was because he himself had been blind to Ryuen's schemes, failing to see through Ryuen's betrayal.

This change in expression made it clear that Katsuragi really hated Ryuen.

"Hmph, now Class A has fallen to Class B, and the class is in Sakayanagi's hands. Are you happy now?" Katsuragi's face showed some displeasure. "That guy is nothing like me; she's very aggressive."

The implication was clear: that person would soon come after you, so be careful.

"Exactly because I know she's tougher than you, I wanted to strike first and weaken you before she officially takes over Class A," Ryuen said, giving his reason before Kanda Shuichi could speak.

That's right. While Katsuragi was also a strong opponent, there's a saying: "A position held for too long is bound to be lost."

In this school, defense can't keep Class A's position forever. It's not that Katsuragi lacks ability, but Sakayanagi is just more suited to lead a class here.

As for the struggle within Class A, anyone with eyes could see that Sakayanagi Arisu winning was only a matter of time.

So, as the competitors from other classes, what they could do was exhaust Class A's strength and morale as much as possible before Sakayanagi officially took over.

Although doing this would speed up Sakayanagi's control over Class A, in comparison, these things seemed insignificant.

Ryuen saw this very clearly, which is why he agreed so quickly when Kanda Shuichi proposed the collaboration. Although he didn't know why Kanda Shuichi was so focused on targeting Class A, he had no doubt about his partner's strength.

As for Ichinose's Class B, sorry, Ryuen had never taken them seriously. In his view, the indecisive Ichinose was not a suitable leader at all.

Even though Class B was about to be promoted to Class A, Ryuen didn't care at all, and he even found it a bit amusing.

On this point, Kanda Shuichi and Ryuen shared the same view. If Class B were placed in an ordinary school, they could definitely be considered a model class, but in this school, they just seemed a little out of place.

At this moment, the members of Class B arrived. It was the usual trio: Ichinose Honami, Kanzaki Ryuji, and a girl Ryuen didn't recognize.

"Eh? Are you all in the same group? You're here early."

When Ichinose arrived and noticed the tense atmosphere, she quickly greeted everyone to ease the tension.

"This group is full of familiar faces."

When Ryuen saw Ichinose, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

By now, everyone understood that this group probably consisted of the elites from each class.

"Suzune isn't in this group? She talks big, but it seems like the school didn't recognize her strength."

Clearly, Ryuen hadn't forgotten the girl who had once provoked him in front of his face.

"Really? I find it strange. Even someone like you got put in this group. Looks like the school's review committee really made a mistake."

Horikita Suzune came down the stairs, obviously having heard Ryuen's words loud and clear.

"Also, can you not just call me by my name? It disgusts me."

Horikita Suzune stared at Ryuen without fear.

"Fight! Fight!" Kanda Shuichi, always eager for drama, nearly jumped out of his seat, hoping for some action while he snacked.

"Don't say that, Suzune. I quite like you. How about coming to my room tonight to chat?" Ryuen wasn't bothered by Horikita's comment and even made a very crude suggestion.

Those who knew him were aware that this was his way of showing disdain for someone. He would never make such low jokes about people he actually respected.

"Alright, Ryuen. Are you planning to send Horikita over, then report her for staying out past curfew to deduct points from Class D?"

Kanda Shuichi, of course, understood what Ryuen was hinting at. But if he addressed it directly, it would make the girls present uncomfortable, so he chose a more suitable way to put it.

"Heh, you're really protective of her, huh?"

"Not at all, not at all."

Kanda Shuichi quickly explained, no one wanted to be the "father" of the student council president.

"Ryuen, watch your words. Can't you see that Horikita is already getting annoyed?"

Just as the atmosphere was starting to get awkward, another familiar voice rang out.

"Eh? Hirata? Horikita and Kanda are here too. Why is everyone gathering together?"

Kushida Kikyo. When Kanda Shuichi saw her, he was briefly surprised but quickly calmed down.

"Kushida, are you in the 8:40 group too?"

"Hmm? Group? I'm not sure. But the email said to come at this time..." Kushida glanced around at the people present. "But it feels like this group has a lot of strong people."

Are you complimenting yourself indirectly?

So cute!

"It looks like this exam is going to be quite interesting," Ryuen said with a wicked smile, then walked into Room 205.

Next, Katsuragi entered Room 207, and after waving at Kanda Shuichi and the others, Ichinose also entered Room 204.

"Let's go, don't keep Sensei waiting," Kanda Shuichi said, and the four of them entered Room 206 in turn.

Just as Kanda Shuichi had said, the person in charge of this room was the Class C homeroom teacher, Sakagami Kazuma.

"Nice to see you again, Sakagami-sensei," said Kanda Shuichi.

"Since you're here, please take a seat," Sakagami Kazuma replied. His voice was slightly hoarse, and on the table in front of him was a cup, likely filled with throat-soothing tea.

Following the instructions, the four of them sat down in turn.

"Although you may already know the content of the exam, according to the rules, I'll read it again," Sakagami-sensei said, then took a sip of water. "I've said this many times before, and my throat is a bit strained, so I ask that you don't ask questions before I'm finished."

"Understood," Kanda Shuichi responded on behalf of the group, and the other three nodded.

"This special exam will divide all first-year students into twelve groups, each corresponding to one of the twelve animals of the zodiac. We will conduct the exam within these groups. The purpose of this exam is to test your Thinking ability."

"In society, the basic abilities required can be roughly divided into three categories: Action, Thinking, and Teamwork."

"Only those who possess these abilities are qualified to become outstanding talents. If you think about the previous deserted island exam, it focused on Teamwork. This time, the focus is on Thinking."

"This is an exam that requires thinking skills. In other words, it tests your ability to analyze the current situation and identify the key issues. It's about clarifying the process to solve problems, preparing accordingly, and using creativity to create new value—these are the abilities the school expects A-class graduates to have."

"Therefore, this exam will be conducted in twelve groups."

"First, although it's obvious, the four of you here are in the same group. At this very moment, other rooms are also briefing the members who will be in your group."

Sakagami took out four cards and placed them on the table, pushing them toward the students.

"You've been assigned to the group Dragon. Here's the list of your group members. When you leave the room, please return this sheet, so if necessary, you can take a note of it here."

Hirata stood up, took the card, and then distributed it to the other three students. The card listed all the members of the Dragon group.

Dragon Group

Class A: Katsuragi Kohei, Nishikawa Ryoko, Shinji Matoba, Yano Koharu

Class B: Ichinose Honami, Kanzaki Ryuji, Tsube Hitomi 

Class C: Suzuki Hidetoshi, Sonoda Masashi, Ryuen Kakeru 

Class D: Kanda Shuichi, Kushida Kikyo, Hirata Yosuke, Horikita Suzune

Seeing this card, Kanda Shuichi remembered something. During the midterm exams, he had earned first place in several subjects.

Although there were several students who scored full marks, Kanda Shuichi's name was listed at the top because it was arranged alphabetically in the Japanese order, and his name started with a "K".

Now, this card was similar; the students from the four classes were also listed in order according to the first character of their names in the Japanese alphabet.

For example, in Class B, Ichinose Honami's "i" comes before Kanzaki Ryuji's "ka," while in Class D, Kanda Shuichi's "ka" comes before Kushida Kikyo's "ku."

This kind of ordering is really common. I wonder if this exam will be related to such a sorting system.

While Kanda Shuichi was thinking, Sakagami-sensei continued speaking in his somewhat hoarse voice.

"From now on, you will no longer be treated as Class D but as the Dragon Group. The result of whether you pass or fail the exam will be decided individually for each group."

"There are only four possible results for the special exam groups. The exam is designed so that it will result in one of these four outcomes. There will be no exceptions. To help you understand, the school has also prepared materials outlining these results. However, these materials are not allowed to be taken out or photographed, so please make sure to confirm the information here in advance."

Kanda Shuichi and the others were then given the paper outlining the exam results. The paper clearly explained the method of the exam and how it would conclude.

[Summer Group Special Exam Instructions]

This exam is based on the "VIP participants" assigned to each group. Using the specified method to answer questions to the school will guarantee one of the four possible results.

- The school will send an email notification to all students at 8:00 AM on the first day of the exam. The students selected as "VIP participants" will also be informed that they have been chosen.

- The exam schedule runs from tomorrow until 9:00 PM four days later (with one completely free day included).

- Group members must gather in a designated room twice a day at specified times for one hour of discussion. (Any member who is late or leaves early will have 50 class points deducted each time.)

- The discussion content will be decided by the group itself.

- Regarding answering the questions, the school will only accept answers from "privileged participants" between 9:30 PM and 10:00 PM on the last night of the exam. Each person can only submit an answer once.

- The school will only accept answers submitted via email from students' own phones to the designated email address.

- "VIP participants" cannot submit answers via email.

- Answers submitted for groups other than the one you belong to will be considered invalid.

- The school will email all students the detailed results of the exam at 11:00 PM on the last day.

These basic rules are clearly written on the paper. It also includes more detailed information, such as explanations of rules and prohibited actions. Compared to the deserted island exam, this one has more rules and detailed points to watch out for.

Next, the paper outlines the four possible "results."

Although a lot of space is devoted to explaining these four results, Kanda Shuichi felt that anyone with normal intelligence should be able to understand them.

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