Capítulo 130: Chapter 130 – Cannon fodder
After learning about the sports festival, all the classes started to make their respective moves. During the lunch break, the students of Class D were planning to disperse, but they were suddenly stopped by Hirata, who proposed to hold a meeting to discuss the sports festival, asking for a bit of their time.
Due to Hirata's popularity as a good-natured person in Class D, everyone was willing to stay and listen to what he had to say.
Hirata took the podium and said, "Everyone, for this sports festival, I want to ask for your opinions. Do we want everyone to participate actively and enjoy themselves, or should we select students who are good at sports to compete for rewards?"
"That's obviously going to be someone as capable as me!" Sudo immediately stood up and declared, "Hehe! I'm going to participate in all the events of the sports festival and aim to win a large number of points to give back to you all! After all, the first place in each small event of every project can win thirty thousand points!"
"Wow, not bad, Sudo!" Some students in Class D cheered for him, appreciating his initiative to take on the responsibility. They all understood that though Sudo might not be the brightest, his physical ability was top-notch, making him a strong contender for accumulating points.
However, some other students seemed discontented, coveting the reward points for each small event.
Seeing that there seemed to be no objections from everyone, Hirata was about to finalize the decision. He had come up to ask everyone considering that there might be students who wanted to participate in the sports festival despite not being very athletic. Now that it seemed there were none, he was ready to settle the matter.
But just then, Horikita stood up and said, "Sudo's right. The sports festival is indeed a stage where students with strong athletic abilities can shine, but I'd like to add something."
"Of course," Hirata paused his step down from the podium. "Horikita-san, please go ahead."
Horikita looked around the class as if searching for something, her eyes cold and carrying a hint of impatience and disappointment. "That is, this sports festival has a little setup!"
"Every individual event will involve all twelve classes across three grades! And then, every individual event will have five small rounds!"
"To strive for the rewards available in those rounds, we must do our intelligence work well. We need to ensure that Sudo, Hirata, and I, who have good athletic abilities, can face the weakest possible opponents in those rounds."
"And then have those among you with the weakest athletic abilities face off against the strongest from other classes. Only by doing so can we maximize our gains."
"Of course, regarding intelligence, other classes will surely guard it closely. It's difficult for us to gather information, and even if we occasionally find out about one class, the rest remain unknown, making the information not very useful. However, there is a common psychology we can exploit"
"And that's to start with a bang!"
"For the first small round of every event, other classes will definitely want to secure a win to boost their morale, so they will surely send their strong players. At that time, we can just send out those with weaker athletic abilities."
"This way, in the later rounds, Sudo, Hirata, or I will likely face weaker opponents from the other classes!"
Although Horikita made sense with this strategy, presenting it almost as if ordering "You useless cannon fodder, just go and die for me" wasn't going to win anyone over.
She didn't possess the kind of authoritative approach that Yukio or Ryuen had to unite the class, and her words sparked an uproar among the Class D students.
"You're pushing it too far, aren't you?! Just because Hirata can tolerate you doesn't mean we all can!"
"Some people really are shameless, aren't they? Completely leading the class into disaster during the deserted island and VIP tests, and now you want to take charge during the sports festival? Don't you understand your own limits?"
"Why should those with weaker abilities have to go and 'die'? Besides, students with poor abilities might still win rewards if they encounter similarly challenged students from other classes!"
The class was filled with voices of resistance against Horikita, turning chaotic as if she was a rat everyone wanted to chase off the streets.
This reaction wasn't just because Horikita was off-putting; the whole class had already seen many instances of her lack of tactfulness. They were simply no longer willing to be easily provoked.
Their reaction stemmed purely from Horikita losing too much support within Class D; almost no one wanted to back her up anymore.
Initially, they were impressed by her cool intelligence, thinking she could lead Class D forward. But what was the result? Nothing but a measly 20 class points after a whole summer of effort, plus a monthly payment of 300,000 private points to Yukio's class!
Such outcomes, without considering the process, essentially put them in a situation where anyone could have done just as "well."
That's why there was such a significant backlash from the Class D students against Horikita, filled with frustration towards her decisions. Anything Horikita planned to do was met with reluctance and refusal.
Class D, due to Horikita's personality and the accumulation of many failures, was on the brink of collapse, plunging into chaos.
Horikita's face turned a livid shade of blue, her gaze colder than ever. These people! Hopeless, all of them! Her proposal, clearly in the best interest of the class, was dismissed without thought, opposed simply for the sake of opposition. How childish!
Horikita was not one to swallow insults quietly. She coldly swept her gaze over the crowd, rebutting each objection: "I don't need your endurance. I'm doing this for the class, for our advancement to Class A. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother dealing with the likes of you."
"And about the previous special exams where I was outperformed by Yukio, that was just because I wasn't as skilled. But I've improved. I can win back my place. What about you? Do you think you're better than me?!"
"Why should those less capable be cannon fodder? If you trained properly and enhanced your abilities, naturally you wouldn't end up as cannon fodder, right?"
Horikita's retorts silenced Class D momentarily, before igniting an even more frenzied discussion full of complaints and accusations, unending and loud.
"Wait, wait! Quiet, everyone, please!" Hirata desperately called from the podium, urging his classmates to calm down and not verbally attack a fellow student so aggressively.
Kushida, watching the drama unfold, was bursting with laughter inside, though she appeared confused on the outside. To think Horikita, usually so aloof, could have such a moment! Where was that arrogant air now? Why not keep up that act?
Despite the amusement, Kushida maintained her guise, showing concern as Hirata took control: "Let's not blame Horikita-san. Actually, her proposal does benefit the class."
This was followed by reluctant agreement, phrases like "If not for Hirata's sake" and "Since Kushida says so," further infuriating Horikita.
Horikita wanted to retort, but the classroom was filled with too many discussions; her voice couldn't rise above the din.
Finally, she clenched her fists: "Regardless, I'll be participating in all events. I'm confident in my athletic abilities. Hirata-kun, make sure to add me to the list." With that, she left without looking back, inciting further anger from the crowd.
Meanwhile, the mention of the register caught the attention of Sakura, who had been quietly bowing her head, not engaging in the debate. D Class's list should be of great help to Yukio, shouldn't it?
In the front row, Karuizawa, bored and resting her face in her hand, seemed unconcerned to the class's quarrels, even yawning at the mention of the list. 'Yukio would probably need that, right?'
***
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