Chapter 125 Karuizawa is Cornered!
"Regarding the early-guess mechanism: anyone can submit an answer at any time. You simply need to send the name of the VIP to the school's official email address.
Once an early guess is made, the exam for that group is declared over, but the results will not be announced until the entire exam period has officially concluded."
Hoshinomiya Chie explained the answer to Tokito Hiroya's question.
"Ah? If that's the case...
It's almost impossible to achieve Outcome 1!"
The "goody-two-shoes" of Class B had originally been leaning toward Outcome 1, which benefited everyone.
"Eh? Why?"
Class D asked a stupid question, which was par for the course.
"Tch! Are you morons?"
Yahiko seized the opportunity to mock them.
"To achieve Outcome 1, the VIP first has to reveal their identity themselves, and then every member of the group has to submit the answer at the end of the exam. Who can guarantee that no one will secretly submit an early guess midway through?"
This was the honest truth. On the surface, Hoshinomiya-sensei told everyone to temporarily set aside their class identities and cooperate as a group. In reality, class confrontation was impossible to avoid.
"Especially people from Class C—you treacherous bastards aren't worth trusting at all!" Yahiko suddenly aimed his spear at Class C, clearly still furious about being severely screwed over by them during the uninhabited island exam.
"Heh~ being easily deceived only shows that your Class A is nothing special," Tokito Hiroya shot back without hesitation.
"You!"
The parties were hostile toward one another; the air was thick with the scent of gunpowder. It was hard to imagine any cooperation being achieved.
"Hoshinomiya-sensei, I want to know if it's possible to obtain someone else's phone through certain means?"
The one asking this time was Himeno Yuki. When she spoke, her gaze was wary of Class C. She hadn't forgotten how the Class C students used a "staged accident" to frame her, nearly landing her a disciplinary record.
"No, you cannot!
That is a prohibited matter explicitly stated by school rules."
Hoshinomiya Chie nodded inwardly; it was good that they had learned from their mistakes. She then continued her explanation: "Stealing another person's phone, using coercion or intimidation to extract VIP information, or using someone else's phone to submit an answer without permission... all such violations are strictly forbidden!"
Hearing this, Tokito Hiroya's brow furrowed tightly, as if his plan had been blocked before it could even be implemented.
He had indeed considered using violence to directly force out the VIP's information.
"Additionally, it is forbidden to copy, forward, or tamper with the VIP information sent by the school."
As she said this, Hoshinomiya Chie gave Hikigaya a subtle, hidden glance. In the island exam, Hikigaya had severely screwed over Class A by swapping out the medical kit at the base.
That maneuver was truly unexpected; even the Class A advisor, Mashima Tomonari, couldn't help but call Hikigaya a "cunning brat." The method wasn't exactly high-level, but upon reflection, it was incredibly practical! For instance, if two companies were bidding on a project and everyone else was thinking about how to suck up to the client, you just went ahead and swapped their bid proposal.
"In other words, as long as you show the text message on your phone to someone else, that is 100% proof of being the VIP," Hikigaya muttered to himself, not bothering to lower his voice.
The others were stirred by this and secretly took note. Kamuro Masumi gave him a strange look; based on her understanding of Hikigaya, he wasn't the type to give away information so freely.
Or was he doing it on purpose?
It was a smoke screen Hikigaya put out on purpose. Being able to prove that the person who received the text is the VIP is 100% true. But he never said the phone had to belong to that person...
The VIP would only need to swap phones with someone else to mislead the other group members.
Of course, this deception was a bit too simple; as long as the other members weren't idiots, they wouldn't believe it so easily. After all, a phone is a private item, especially easy to identify by people who know each other.
For example, Sotomura Hideo's phone had a 2D loli sticker on the back, as if he were afraid people wouldn't know he was a lolicon... The flaws in a direct phone swap were too large. At the very least, anyone could just call the number to expose the lie.
The SIM card being bound to a student ID was a place where one could maneuver. One could use points to buy the authority to unlock a SIM card from the school; that way, they could even fool the "phone call" test.
However, Hikigaya didn't think he was the only one who would think of such a method. After all, after a semester of life here, everyone understood the rule that "anything can be bought with points at this school."
Whatever, why think so much? He wasn't interested in class competition anyway. As for points, his current savings were more than enough; they didn't have much of an attraction.
"Does everyone understand all the rules of the exam?"
Everyone nodded. The few from Class D followed suit, looking like they only half-understood. Hikigaya was too lazy to even complain.
"If there are no other questions, please return the materials and then disperse."
Hoshinomiya Chie announced the dismissal.
A flash of realization crossed Hikigaya's eyes. As expected, there was something wrong with that list! Not allowing people to take the materials was to prevent students from going back, overthinking it, and eventually figuring out some kind of pattern.
Fortunately, Hikigaya had a good memory; in that short amount of time, he had memorized the names of everyone in the group.
Time had passed unnoticed until it was noon.
"Hikigaya, want to eat together?" After walking out of the room, Kamuro Masumi suddenly issued an invitation.
Hikigaya had intended to refuse, but remembering that Kamuro had helped him investigate in the shadows during the island exam, he owed her a favor for the "legwork." It's hard to refuse when you owe someone.
"Fine. But I'm waiting for someone."
Hikigaya went to Room 304. After waiting for about ten minutes, the briefing for Room 304 ended, and students from various classes began to file out.
The first Class D student to emerge was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. When he saw Hikigaya standing at the door, his paralyzed face showed a slight ripple: "Hikigaya, are you waiting for me?"
"Ha? What kind of disgusting thing are you saying?" Hikigaya looked repulsed. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka returned to his poker face.
Following behind were Yukimura Teruhiko and Sudo Ken.
"Tch~ normie!" Yukimura Teruhiko immediately noticed Kamuro Masumi beside Hikigaya.
'Who are you calling a normie?'
Normies are supposed to explode! I haven't exploded, which means I'm definitely not a normie!
"Hey, Hikigaya."
Surprisingly, Sudo Ken actually stepped forward to greet him proactively. One must remember that during the first month of school, Hikigaya had first beaten him up twice and then forced him to kneel before the entire class in public. It was a double blow, both physical and mental! Since then, Sudo Ken had always taken the long way around whenever he saw him.
"Um, Karuizawa seems to be arguing with some people from Class C. Why don't you go over and take a look?"
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