Time passed.
Soon, it was March 22nd, the day of the Selection Event Exam.
Year 1 Class B.
A middle-aged teacher sat at the podium wearing a dedicated headset, with several headsets of the same style placed in front of him.
Ichinose, as the "Commander," had already gone to the multi-media classroom alone. Hachiman and the others sat in their seats, ready at any time.
At this moment, everyone's expressions were very grim.
From the start until now, three matches had already taken place, with a total of one win and two losses.
If it was just that, there wouldn't be much to worry about.
The main point was that each class had five main events, totaling ten, from which seven were randomly selected for the competition.
Of the three matches, two were Class B's events.
This meant the probability of picking Class B's events in the future would be smaller; the scales of victory had already tipped toward Class C.
And the main reason for all this was...
"Ninomiya-san."
Looking at Watanabe, whose face was pale, Shibata handed a cup of water to him, appearing worried:
"Are you okay? Drink some hot water first."
"Thank you, I'm fine."
The girl named Ninomiya managed a forced smile and shook her head. Many others were as pale as she was.
"What on earth is going on?"
"It must be Ryuuen's doing."
A boy lay on his desk in pain:
"Yesterday while we were studying at the karaoke bar, Ishizaki and the others suddenly burst into our room for some reason. They must have done something to the drinks then."
"Yeah."
Hamaguchi also said in pain: "I spent all last night in the bathroom. My stomach still hurts now. I can't do it, Teacher. I need to go to the bathroom again."
"Sigh..."
At the podium, the middle-aged teacher sighed and nodded: "Go ahead."
After all, the scene before him couldn't be faked.
But one couldn't speak nonsense without evidence.
He was just sitting there as a supervisor and a messenger.
Watching Hamaguchi leave the room, Hachiman felt somewhat helpless.
He and Shibata, along with some others, seemed to have escaped because of club activities.
However, was Class C full of idiots?
Whether it was Ryuuen or Kaneda, they both liked to use these low-handed petty tricks.
As long as one checked the pharmacy's sales records, it would be extremely easy to trace it back to Class C. Medicine couldn't be obtained elsewhere so easily.
Even if Class C made some cover-up...
For example, using excuses like stomach aches or constipation.
But as long as this matter was reported to the school authorities, even if evidence wasn't found, it would become a constraint on Class C in the future.
This method was simply too stupid.
However, looking at the missing people in the class, Hachiman felt even more helpless.
Though the teacher was very considerate and basically didn't refuse their requests, time waited for no one.
Under such circumstances, it must be very difficult for Ichinose. Without enough subordinates available, no matter how smart Ichinose was, it would be to no avail.
Even more troublesome, Hachiman sat in his seat, completely in the dark about the overall state of the exam.
At that moment, several people returned to the classroom after participating in the third event, the Chemistry test.
As soon as they entered, Kanzaki's expression was very grim.
They had actually lost on one of Class B's main events, and to a class that wasn't good at studying.
It was a complete failure of duty on their part.
"Sorry, everyone..."
"It's not like that."
Shibata quickly tried to soothe him: "After all, Hamaguchi and the others aren't here. There wasn't much you could do on your own, Kanzaki."
"Phew."
Kanzaki took a deep breath.
Since they had already suffered a defeat, there was no point in dwelling on the past, but his expression remained grim as he spoke:
"More importantly, I saw Kaneda at the chemistry test just now."
Upon hearing this, the people of Class B were stunned, and Hikigaya was also somewhat surprised.
"Wait a minute, who did you say?"
Shibata asked nervously, "Then who is the commander for Class C right now?"
"I don't know..."
Kanzaki shook his head with a heavy brow:
"However, I saw that Kaneda's face was a bit red; he should have been hit by someone. The only one who would use such methods is probably Ryuen, right?"
"How is that possible?"
Shibata said in shock, "That guy doesn't seem to have any protection points. If he loses, he'll be expelled immediately. Could I have remembered wrongly?"
"No, Ryuen indeed has no protection points."
Kanzaki shook his head, clearly remembering it well.
Hearing their conversation, Hikigaya sat in his seat and frowned. They had originally thought Class C would have Kaneda as the commander.
He hadn't expected it to be Ryuen.
It was truly unexpected.
Moreover, looking at the pale faces of everyone in the class, judging by these small tricks, Ryuen clearly wasn't acting out of desperation.
He was clearly going in with the certainty of victory.
In that case...
"Um..."
Hikigaya raised his hand and asked in confusion, "I heard you guys imply earlier that Hamaguchi was the main force for the chemistry test?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"Nothing..."
Hikigaya shook his head bitterly.
Hamaguchi had just gone to the restroom.
Even though it was a core subject for Class B, it was understandable that they lost when their main force wasn't there.
However, even knowing the main force was absent, Ichinose still sent an all-rounder like Kanzaki onto the field.
While her desperate desire to win was not incomprehensible, it was clear that Ichinose was also becoming shaken.
Just then, the middle-aged teacher heard an instruction through his earpiece. He picked up the walkie-talkie on the podium and said:
"The next match is the Math Test. The venue is Gymnasium No. 1. Participants: Ando Sayo, Tsube Hitomi, Beppu Ryota, Moriyama..."
The teacher listed several names before saying:
"One of you should step forward as the leader, put on the headset, and head to Gymnasium No. 1."
"I'll do it."
Without hesitation, a girl stepped forward and took the headset. She looked back and smiled:
"As expected of Honami-chan! If we all participate together, it's impossible for us to lose."
She then led the group out of the classroom toward the gymnasium.
Although Hikigaya didn't know the girl, he could see she had a certain level of leadership and prestige among the girls.
But such reassurance was likely meaningless.
Hikigaya looked up at the ceiling with a sense of helplessness.
This exam was like this.
As mere pieces, they could only sit in the classroom and wait for instructions, then head to the designated exam site.
They couldn't do anything.
Even the opportunity to speak with Ichinose was limited to only a few people.
Providing advice was even more difficult.
Speaking of which, that idiot Ryuen.
Why does he always like doing these unreliable things? Does he enjoy targeting the kind-hearted Ichinose so much?
Does everyone like bullying the little angel Ichinose?
These people are truly wicked.