With Chabashira-sensei's additional explanation, this exam caused significant unrest in the class.
Some students were deeply troubled by it.
That was only natural—after all, for those who believed they would receive critical votes, this was a terrifying test.
Especially for those who had contributed little to the class, the pressure must have been immense.
"Everyone, please calm down. It's still too early to despair."
Hirata attempted to dispel the unease as he turned to Chabashira-sensei.
"Sensei, every exam so far has had a way to avoid expulsion. Even during the first midterm, Sudo-kun was announced to be expelled, yet there was still a way to save him. That means there must be some loophole this time as well, right?"
Indeed, this school enjoyed playing word games, setting up pre-planned escape routes for students to find.
But considering the intent behind this additional special exam, it was unlikely they would be so fortunate this time.
"Though it won't be easy, there is indeed a way to prevent expulsions."
At that moment, Horikita suddenly spoke up. "Since praise votes and criticism votes cancel each other out, if the entire class unites and controls the voting, the final result could be zero. That way, no one would end up in last place, right?"
"Y-Yeah! As expected of Suzune!"
Sudo immediately voiced his admiration—not just because he liked Horikita, but also because he was a strong candidate for expulsion.
Even though he had improved recently, his behavior at the start of the school year had been too extreme—constantly clashing with others, not to mention the fight with Class C.
It was no surprise that some students still held negative opinions about him.
But just as Horikita suggested, if the class could truly unite, they might have a chance to survive this ordeal.
Though it wouldn't be easy, at least it was a glimmer of hope.
However, that hope was quickly shattered.
"Unfortunately, Horikita's idea of controlling the votes is meaningless," Chabashira-sensei said flatly. "This exam cannot end without a first and last place. Whether intentional or not, if the voting results in everyone having zero votes, a revote will be held. This process will repeat indefinitely until a result is reached. …But I'd advise you to give up. No matter how united your class is, the probability of pulling this off is close to zero."
"May I ask why?"
Indeed, theoretically, it wasn't impossible.
Setting aside Class D, if Ichinose's Class A attempted this, they might succeed.
"The reason is… you must select and vote for one student from the other three classes whom you find deserving of praise. That vote also counts toward the final result. In other words, even if a student is disliked within their own class, they could still receive around 80 praise votes from the other classes, offsetting the criticism votes."
I see. That explains why it's nearly impossible.
Trying to manipulate the entire grade's voting outcome would be pure fantasy.
Not even Nagumo could pull that off… at least, not against Kiryuin.
"Sensei, but I remember you just said 'probably,' right? Doesn't that mean there's a chance no one gets expelled? Is there no way to save someone?" Hirata still refused to give up.
"If you're asking about a way to save someone, there is one." Chabashira-sensei nodded lightly. "After the mixed training camp exam, you should have this awareness… That's right, you can use personal points to cancel an expulsion."
"How much…?"
Hirata already knew the number but still asked in hope.
"20 million. If someone can provide that amount—enough to transfer classes—the school will have no choice but to cancel the expulsion. Also, due to the special nature of this exam, the additional 300 class points won't be required."
For the financially struggling Class D, this was an astronomical figure… well, except for a certain someone.
Even after deducting the five million he lent to Nagumo last month, Hikigaya still had 28 million personal points.
However, while people knew he was wealthy, they didn't know just how much money he had.
With this, the full picture of the additional special exam was revealed.
In less than a week, students had to secure praise votes by demonstrating their "abilities."
Or they could accumulate "wealth" through exams to purchase votes.
Alternatively, they could rely on "teamwork" by rallying their friends to vote for them out of loyalty.
Possessing any one of these qualities meant they could pass the exam.
Conversely, for students who lacked all of them, their fate was likely sealed.
"Anyway, I've said everything that needs to be said. The only way to fight this exam is to produce 20 million points. Any other attempts to exploit loopholes will be futile—I can guarantee that. The rest is up to you."
With that, the morning meeting ended, and Chabashira-sensei left the classroom.
As soon as she did, some students, overwhelmed by anxiety, erupted in panic.
"What do we do? This is the worst exam ever!"
"You guys are too noisy!"
"What do you mean, 'too noisy'?! Why are you staring at me? Are you planning to vote against me?!"
The classroom descended into chaos, with students glaring at each other like wary opponents.
Aside from a select few, no one could guarantee they would be completely safe in this exam.
At that moment, a student who suspected they might become a target began to take action.
"Heh, how pathetic."
Kōenji, who had always been an outlier in the class, spoke in a condescending tone, further stoking the flames. "You should all quiet down. Panicking now won't change anything, you know?"
"You're one to talk! Acting all smug—do you even realize how much trouble you've caused the class?" Sudo approached Kōenji, confronting him.
To be fair, Kōenji's self-serving attitude had caused quite a bit of disruption for the class.
He had abandoned both the deserted island exam and the athletic festival without hesitation.
Of course, Sudo was only making a fuss to ensure he wasn't chosen as the sacrifice. That was understandable.
But in that sense, Kōenji was no different.
Besides… wasn't Sudo's argument just a boomerang right back at himself?
"You fail to grasp the situation, Redhair-kun."
Kōenji crossed his legs and propped them on his desk, as arrogant as ever.
"Though it wasn't my intention, I did earn 50 class points in the VIP exam. Just from that alone, my contribution surpasses most of the class."
"W-What?! That was just luck!" Sudo sputtered.
Back then, Kōenji had casually submitted his answer on the first night of the exam. Since it was announced through the ship's broadcast, everyone knew immediately, and the class chat had erupted with complaints.
But when the results were revealed, everyone had been dumbfounded.
"Heh, luck is a form of ability. And you've misunderstood the true nature of this exam."
"The true nature?"
"This is a special exam that considers the next two years."
Most of the class failed to grasp his meaning, wearing the same confused expression as Sudo.
But Kōenji continued, unfazed. "Listen carefully. This exam is a unique case. Normally, a class that loses students would suffer severe penalties, correct? But this time, that's not the case. In other words, this is the perfect opportunity to weed out 'unnecessary students.'"
His words were ruthless, but Hikigaya agreed.
Not that it mattered.
For a long time, Class D had been scoring zero points. They'd had plenty of chances to do this before, but they lacked the leadership to make such a decision.
In other words, this exam would likely devolve into a purge of "unpopular students."
…Wait.
Doesn't that mean me?
Realizing this, Hikigaya felt a bit disheartened.
At the same time, he found himself detesting this exam even more.
If there had been a vote for the "most disliked student" in his elementary and middle school days, he was sure he'd have been a top contender.
But in Class D…
The competition seemed fierce.
"Kōenji, the 'unnecessary student' you're talking about—isn't that just you, the burden of this class?" Sudō argued fiercely. "Even if you got some points on a whim, there's no guarantee you'll contribute again in the future! In fact, ever since that time, haven't you just been slacking off in class?"
"That's right. So from now on, I'll turn over a new leaf." Kōenji spoke with dramatic flair. "Starting with this exam, I plan to contribute in various tests and become a student who is actually useful. Don't you think that would be a great benefit to the class?"
But no one, including Hikigaya, believed him.
No, only an idiot would believe that!
Sudō immediately shot back, "Who the hell would believe you?! You're just going to do whatever you want again once the exam is over!"
Everyone present understood that. Even Kōenji himself wasn't an exception.
Yet, he still chose to say it—because he had something else he wanted to convey.
"It doesn't matter if you doubt me," Kōenji continued, "but let me ask you this—what can any of you actually contribute to the class, even if you do take this seriously? Unlike outstanding students like me, those who have been useless so far have no guarantee of being useful in the future either, do they?"
That was an incredibly offensive truth.
"As far as written exams go, I often rank among the top in the grade. In fact, I came in second in the most recent finals by only a tiny margin. My physical abilities are also on par with anyone in this school. Even if you think I'm just spouting nonsense, compared to the others, they don't even have the qualifications to talk big. True strength lies in what's hidden, you see."
Looks like Kōenji was fired up about not getting expelled this time.
Hikigaya smirked to himself as he listened. That guy might be ridiculously rich, but he didn't want to get kicked out in this fashion. Otherwise, there'd be no need for him to waste so much breath.
Of course, whether Class D would understand or accept his words was another matter entirely.
"Say whatever you want, Kōenji, but I still think we don't need someone like you," Sudō said coldly.
"No matter how incompetent your dear friends are?" Kōenji teased.
"Incompetent…? Are you calling my friends useless? Don't joke around!"
Sudō slammed his desk and glared at Kōenji, seething.
"Calm down, all of you!"
Sensing the escalating tension, Hirata quickly stepped in to break things up.
"This isn't the time for internal conflicts. We should all talk this through calmly, right?"
This kind of scene was nothing new.
However, this time, some students weren't too receptive to Hirata's words. Scattered sneers echoed through the classroom.
The reason was simple—Hirata was perhaps the least likely student to get expelled in this exam.
Standing in a safe zone, no matter what he said, it would just sound like empty words.
…Sigh. When is class going to start?
Resting his chin on his hand, Hikigaya watched the unfolding drama with a bored expression.
For once, he wished the teacher would hurry up and enter.
What's even the point of this argument? If you don't want to get expelled, drawing attention to yourself like this is only going to make things worse.
And then, suddenly, Hikigaya found himself in the spotlight.
"Hachiman-kun, what do you think about this exam?"
Matsushita, seated at the desk next to him, leaned in with a frustrated look.
"Seriously, what is the school even thinking? Why do they have to force someone to get expelled? And in such an unreasonable way too! If they just made the exam harder, fine, but this is way worse than before."
"…Probably because they changed the chairman."
"Huh? What did you say?"
Since Hikigaya had spoken in a low voice—and with all the noise in the classroom—Matsushita didn't catch his words.
"Nothing." Hikigaya brushed it off. "I just think Kōenji made some good points."
"So what? Only an idiot would say it out loud," Matsushita scoffed.
In reality, Kōenji's approach was far from wise.
He was certainly as capable as he claimed, but exceptional people often attracted resentment.
Especially those with… eccentric personalities.
Not to mention, Kōenji had always looked down on others. Now, suddenly pleading for everyone not to vote against him? It was shameless beyond belief. Anyone with even a shred of humility wouldn't be able to say such things.
Well, he was the son of a powerful financial conglomerate, after all.
Of course, Hikigaya wasn't really in a position to judge others, but this time, he simply couldn't be bothered to do anything.
An exam as unreasonable as this wasn't something he had any interest in participating in—let alone one that could push a classmate to the point of expulsion.
If he ended up in last place, he'd just spend 20 million points to save himself.
But now that he thought about it… protection points, praise votes from other classes, and the ability to use personal points to cancel an expulsion.
These three rules felt incredibly off to Hikigaya.
Was that old man from the White Room trying to get rid of Ayanokoji?
Don't underestimate your own "masterpiece."
If Ayanokoji managed to obtain a protection point through this exam, wouldn't it make it even harder to expel him in the future?
Wouldn't that just be creating unnecessary difficulty for himself?
Hikigaya really couldn't understand Tsukishiro's thought process. Or was it that the guy simply didn't know Ayanokoji well enough and assumed he was just an ordinary student?
That couldn't be possible… After all, Tsukishiro was sent by the very people who created the White Room.
There was no way he was that incompetent.
"Hachiman-kun, you've been lost in thought for a while now," Matsushita asked curiously.
"Are you thinking about the exam? Worried about your safety?"
"No, nothing to worry about."
"Well, I suppose not. After all, Ichinose-san will probably rally Class A to vote you up with praise points."
There she goes again…
Hikigaya shot back, exasperated, "No way. Even if Ichinose gave me her vote, she wouldn't go out of her way to make her classmates vote for someone specific. That's just not the kind of person she is."
"Ohh~ So Hachiman-kun is confident that Ichinose-san will vote for him? How nice."
"…"
Nice my ass!
Hikigaya could only curse Matsushita's teasing in his head.
"It's just a vote, what's the big deal?" He sighed. "We all have to cast them anyway. Fine, I'll give you a praise vote too. Happy now?"
"Hehe, I'll vote for you too, Hachiman-kun."
"…Well, thanks, I guess."
Matsushita looked lovely when she smiled, but if it came at the cost of being teased, Hikigaya would rather not see it.
At that moment, both of their phones buzzed at the same time. It was probably a message from the group chat.
[Sorry to bother everyone, but could you spare some time after school? I'd like to discuss the details of this exam. Let's meet at the shopping mall.]
It was an invitation from Horikita.
She must have been feeling anxious about this exam. After all, it would result in someone getting expelled.
As a leader, that kind of mental burden was inevitable.
I'll just leave this to Matsushita and Kikyo—Can't be helped. Hachiman still had novels to read.
[Especially you, Hikigaya-kun. You have to come. Otherwise, I'll just come to your seat after school and take you there myself.]
[…Received.]
Looks like he had no choice but to go.
…Wait, why did this feel familiar?
Out of nowhere, Hikigaya recalled a certain annoying little brat.
Come to think of it, this exam… wasn't it the perfect opportunity?
A chance where even Sakayanagi could end up expelled…
It sounded impossible, but it wasn't unachievable.
The entire structure of this exam was designed to force Ayanokoji into expulsion. And in a way, Ayanokoji and Sakayanagi were in similar positions.
Both of them were extremely capable—and both were compulsive liars.
More importantly, their classmates knew that about them.
From a basic human perspective, people hated liars—especially when they were the ones being deceived.
Of course, from a rational standpoint, expelling either of them would be a huge waste for their class.
But if this exam spiraled out of control, the result might not be one dictated by reason.
After all, the more outstanding someone was, the more likely they were to be resented.
And yet…
Even in the end, Hikigaya couldn't decide whether to act or not.
At the core of it, he simply couldn't agree with such a ridiculous exam.
Even if the target was Ayanokoji, he didn't want to use something like this to push him into expulsion.
Besides, Sakayanagi's father might already be in custody.
If she got kicked out now… was there anyone out there who could take care of her?
…Forget it.
I'll think about it later.