Bab 156: The More Obedient, The More Disadvantaged
Hikigaya prided himself on having a decent memory. If needed, he could memorize the entire student body in a short time. However, after being told that this habit was creepy, he stopped doing it.
But in a place as unique as Advanced Nurturing High School, where some students required extra caution, he made it a point to remember those worth paying attention to.
Yet, the list in front of him…
Hikigaya didn't recognize a single name.
So, what was the criteria for these groups? Could it really be random?
At this point, there was no discernible pattern or commonality among the names on the list.
"So, that's the explanation. Do you have any questions?" Mashima-sensei asked.
Although the question hung in the air, no one was eager to speak up. It wasn't that they had no questions—there were simply too many, and they didn't know where to start.
Finally, Matsushita, who had been sneaking glances at Hikigaya since the beginning, decided to break the silence. "Um, if I'm not mistaken, does this mean the four of us will be grouped with students from other classes?"
Mashima-sensei nodded slightly. "Correct. At this moment, students in other rooms are being briefed on the same thing."
In other words, those gathered at the same time were in the same group.
No matter what the premise of this exam was, since they were from different classes, it would undoubtedly lead to internal conflict within the groups.
Hikigaya thought it was necessary to find out who was grouped with Ayanokoji.
"Wait, you're saying we have to team up with students from other classes?" Sudou, visibly displeased, ran a hand through his hair. "This is ridiculous! We've been rivals up to now, especially with those guys from Class C. No way am I cooperating with them."
His frustration was understandable. After all, Ryuen had coerced Class D into signing an unfair contract and sent spies to disrupt their efforts during the island test. They were nothing short of devious.
Mashima-sensei responded calmly, "Don't forget the saying: 'Today's enemy could be tomorrow's friend.' Your school life has only just begun. Don't be so quick to judge. Besides, aren't you in the basketball club? Just because someone is your opponent on the court doesn't mean they can't be your teammate."
"Uh… I guess that makes sense."
Sudou, his irritation tempered by the mention of basketball, fell silent. The teacher knew exactly how to disarm him.
"But I understand your confusion," Mashima-sensei continued. "I'll explain the points you might be questioning. First, as a general premise, for this exam, you should disregard the relationships between Classes A through D. From this point on, you're not acting as members of Class D but as part of the Rooster Group."
The twelve groups were named after the twelve zodiac animals, probably to make it easier for students to remember.
"Let me clarify," Mashima-sensei added, "this approach could be a shortcut to passing the exam. However, whether you pass or fail will be determined by you as members of your respective groups."
Disregard class relationships… and a shortcut? Mashima-sensei's words were laden with meaning.
On the surface, it seemed like they were being encouraged to set aside inter-class rivalries and work together to achieve high marks in this exam. But Hikigaya couldn't shake the feeling that the school wouldn't give them such an inspirational task. After all, if everyone did well, no one would stand out.
This went against the school's philosophy.
So, "disregard the relationships between Classes A through D" probably had a different interpretation.
"This special exam has only four possible outcomes," Mashima-sensei explained further. "The exam is designed so that one of these outcomes is inevitable. To help you understand, the school has prepared detailed materials outlining the rules and possible results. However, these materials cannot be taken out or photographed, so please review them carefully here."
With that, he handed out the four sets of materials.
Hikigaya flipped through his copy. The rules were meticulously detailed, likely to prevent anyone from finding loopholes.
The gist of it was that each group would have a "VIP" selected by the school, and a notification would be sent to them tomorrow at 8 AM.
The exam was set to last three days, during which the team members had to gather in a designated room at specific times for discussions, held twice daily for an hour each. The content of these discussions was unrestricted.
As for answering questions, participants could only submit their guesses on who the "privileged person" was between 9:30 and 10:00 PM on the last day of the exam. Each person could only answer once and only for their own group. The privileged person themselves, however, had no right to submit an answer.
The school would then announce the detailed results to all students via text message at 11:00 PM on the final day.
These were the basic rules. Although there were more minor details, the key lay in the four potential outcomes of the exam.
Outcome One: If all members of a group, excluding the privileged person and students from the privileged person's class, correctly identified the privileged person, the school would award personal points to all members of the group. The students from the privileged person's class would receive the same amount of points as well.
Outcome Two: If any group member, again excluding the privileged person and students from the privileged person's class, either failed to submit an answer or answered incorrectly, the privileged person would receive 500,000 personal points.
Though it was said there were four possible outcomes, the explanation stopped there on the page. Looking at Outcomes One and Two, it seemed like nothing more than a pointless game of handing out money—hardly worthy of being called an exam.
Hikigaya was puzzled. The bottom of the page had a lot of blank space left. It didn't look like the writer ran out of space…
"What the hell is this supposed to be?"
Faced with the dense rules and explanations on the page, Sudou was the first to throw up his hands in defeat, while Sakura had a similarly confused expression. Matsushita was slightly better off, though she too was deep in thought with a furrowed brow.
Seeing the reactions, Teacher Majima was about to continue his explanation when he noticed Hikigaya flipping the document over to the back.
"Hikigaya, hold on a moment." Majima quickly stopped him. "I need to give some additional explanations. Please wait a bit before looking at the back."
"Why? Is there a rule against looking?" Hikigaya immediately retorted.
"No, but to help you understand better—"
Hikigaya interrupted bluntly, "Then it's fine. You can keep talking. It's my own fault if I don't understand."
He didn't mean to defy the teacher on purpose; it was just a lesson he had learned the hard way.
And that lesson was to never go along with the school's logic, especially when this twisted institution loved playing word games.
On the back of the page, it read:
Outcome Three: If anyone other than the privileged person submits an answer to the school before the exam ends, and that answer is correct, their class would receive 50 class points as a reward. Additionally, the school would award 500,000 personal points to the one who submitted the answer. However, if the privileged person's identity is exposed, their class would lose 50 class points, and the group's exam would end immediately. Also, if a student from the privileged person's class submits the correct answer, the answer would be deemed invalid, and the school would not accept it.
Outcome Four: If anyone other than the privileged person submits an answer before the exam ends, and that answer is incorrect, their class would lose 50 class points as a penalty. In contrast, the privileged person would receive 500,000 personal points, and their class would also gain 50 class points. The group's exam would end immediately, and if a student from the privileged person's class submits an incorrect answer, the school would deem the answer invalid and not accept it.
Hikigaya quickly grasped the key point of the exam: it was all about hiding and uncovering the identity of the privileged person. The privileged person and their classmates needed to find ways to conceal their identity, while the other group members were tasked with exposing the target.
But, of course, that was only on the surface.
"Now, I'll explain Outcomes One and Two in more detail."
Mashimima glanced at Hikigaya with a hint of exasperation, suddenly understanding why Chabashira complained about him when she was drunk.
"The key to this exam is the existence of the privileged person. The name of this person is the answer to the exam. For example… if Hikigaya was chosen as the privileged person, then the answer for the 'Rooster Group' would be 'Hikigaya.' All that remains is to share this answer with the entire group. Then, on the final day of the exam, after 9 PM, each member submits the answer to the school between 9:30 and 10 PM. This leads to Outcome One, where all group members receive 500,000 personal points. Additionally, as a reward for leading the group to Outcome One, the privileged person themselves would receive 1,000,000 personal points."
"A million?!"
Hearing such a huge reward, Sudou couldn't help but exclaim. Even Sakura showed some interest, while Matsushita remained composed, possibly because she had just received a 200,000-point reward.
Still, given the chance, anyone would want to get their hands on that reward.
"Next is Outcome Two… Let's say Hikigaya, as the privileged person, doesn't reveal this to anyone or even misleads the group into choosing a fake privileged person. If his true identity remains hidden until the exam ends, then as stated in the document, only he would receive 500,000 personal points."
"Ugh…" Whether it was just his imagination or not, Hikigaya felt like he was being singled out.
…Whatever, none of this mattered.
So far, everything Teacher Majima had said was pointless, with no value in listening to it.
But now, they were finally getting to the important part.
"Before explaining Outcomes Three and Four, let me ask you a question… Have any of you played Werewolf?"
"Yes, I actually played it just recently."
As Matsushita answered, she cautiously glanced at Hikigaya. Wait, was she misunderstanding something?
True, Werewolf was a game that required a lot of friends to play, although it could also be played with strangers, but only for those with strong social skills.
In this regard, Matsushita's concern might not be misplaced. After all, Hikigaya didn't look like someone who would be involved in such a game.
But, unfortunately, he had actually played it before.
He wasn't lying or pretending. Back in fifth grade, Hikigaya was invited to play when it was popular, and nearly everyone in the class was playing.
Though the sore losers soon stopped inviting him…
Matsushita then began explaining the game in detail, though Hikigaya was sure she wasn't speaking for his benefit. She was probably explaining for Sudou or Sakura!
"Yes, that's a good explanation, pretty much as you said." Teacher Majima nodded in approval. "I mentioned earlier that there is only one privileged person in each group. Once the privileged person's identity is exposed, Outcomes Three or Four will occur. Now, please turn your documents to the back."
All but one person flipped their documents over simultaneously.
As for Hikigaya… he finally heard what he had been waiting for.
And that was why Teacher Majima had brought up Werewolf in the first place.
Or rather, why was the exam explanation so detailed?
To put it bluntly, the content of the document alone was more than sufficient. Even someone like Sudou could understand it with a few extra readings. Unlike the sudden island exam, students were given ample time to think things over.
This pre-exam explanation was completely unnecessary.
At least, Hikigaya didn't believe the school would be so considerate as to ensure every student understood the rules.
As he had said before, not understanding was the student's own responsibility, and the school had always adhered to this principle.
Thinking along these lines, it was likely that Teacher Majima's lengthy explanation was a deliberate attempt to mislead them.
Following the original sequence of explanations, the intention seemed to be to first clarify Outcomes One and Two, then mention the Werewolf game, and finally, when discussing Outcomes Three and Four, naturally lead the students to think along those lines… in other words, the more obedient students would be at a disadvantage.
In this way, looking at the structure of the exam, the twelve groups seemed to be on their own, unable to interfere with each other's outcomes.
Moreover, combined with the earlier statement about ignoring class relations, it might make one think this was just a simple variation of the Werewolf game.
But if this was all a deception… it meant there was another way to pass this exam.
Although the exact details were still unknown, this was Hikigaya's hypothesis.
All he needed was a key piece of evidence.
That was the meaning behind the grouping—whether it was done intentionally or randomly.
If there was a way to confirm that the grouping was decided by the homeroom teachers, it would prove that this was more than just a Werewolf game, and the twelve groups were not isolated.
Everyone was still standing on the same battlefield.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone