Yukio's class was unstoppable. Every question so far had been handled the same way: first-round disagreement, a quick discussion, then unanimity on the second vote.
In just a little over half an hour, they reached the fourth question.
[Question 4: Increase the difficulty of the final special exam; increase the penalties; increase the rewards. Agree / Disagree.]
Another one of those questions that could easily split people.
But this time, the vote wasn't close like the first three.
[First-round results: Agree — 37 votes; Disagree — 3 votes.]
Even Yukio was surprised.
He hadn't expected his classmates to be this confident. It had to be the confidence built from constant victories—people were willing to embrace a harder fight in exchange for higher returns.
If you asked the same group back when they'd just enrolled, a lot of them would've voted Disagree. They would've preferred low risk, low reward, rather than facing heavier consequences.
But now?
The lower-academic students had been grinding for over a year and slowly caught up.
Physical weakness was harder to patch—Shiina and Kaneda, the academic monsters, still hadn't fully closed that gap.
But Yukio's class already had a huge advantage in physical ability overall, so it wasn't a major concern.
Put simply: at this point, the class didn't have any glaring weaknesses.
And with their ridiculous private points budget, most people finally had the guts to take on high difficulty.
That was why the vote gap was so huge.
They entered the mandatory ten-minute discussion period, and Ishizaki immediately slapped the desk and stood up.
"Looks like we don't even need Yukio-bro this time—we're basically unanimous already!"
"Because me and Yukio-bro made a deal: no matter what question it is, I vote Disagree."
"So it says Disagree is 3 votes, but one of those is me. My real opinion is Agree."
With Ishizaki taking the lead, the others didn't want to lag behind.
"Yeah, even if finals get harder, it's not a big deal. We still think we'll win."
"Still, we should prep harder. I'm confident too, but whether it's academics or physical ability, we need to keep training. No one wants to eat dirt at the last second."
"W-Wait—one of those Disagree votes was me." Someone raised a hand, nervous. "I'm just worried because it doesn't say how much the penalties increase."
"What if it becomes expulsion penalties? What if too many people get expelled? The question doesn't specify the scale."
"It won't," someone countered. "No matter how hard they make it, they won't start expelling huge numbers. That goes against the school's whole goal of developing talent."
"...Yeah, that's true. Then I'm willing to vote Agree too."
And just like that, the fourth question didn't even need Yukio to step in.
After only a few minutes, the class made the call on its own—full agreement.
Everyone voted Agree, and the question passed.
Sakagami was clearly pleased. Smiling, he switched the slide to the final question but the moment he saw it, that easy, cheerful expression froze.
Then it sank into something dark.
And Yukio's class—who'd been speedrunning the exam in under an hour—instinctively held their breath too.
The laughter from just a moment ago vanished.
[Question 5: Expel one person and gain 200 Class Points. Agree / Disagree.
If the class reaches unanimous Agree, a branch will open: you will confirm the person to be expelled, then vote unanimously Agree/Disagree on that branch.
If the class reaches unanimous Disagree, the class will lose 100 Class Points.]
What a brutally cruel choice.
Expel one teammate and gain 200 Class Points.
For lower-ranked classes, that would be a moral meat grinder. To chase the upper classes, to graduate from A Class, they'd have to sacrifice someone who'd fought beside them.
But upper classes couldn't relax either. If they refused outright, maybe the lower classes would surge forward and catch up—then overtake.
No upper class wanted that future.
And the worst part?
Not expelling someone didn't mean you got out clean.
If you chose not to sacrifice anyone, you still lost 100 Class Points.
The constraint was massive.
Some of Yukio's classmates—who'd been joking and laughing seconds ago—looked even more tense than Sakagami now.
At the sight of the final question, several people stood up without even realizing it.
That was how hard it hit them.
Those who stood started looking around in panic—lost, unsure what to do—trying to find guidance from classmates who still looked calm, searching for a light in the fog.
But the second proctor quietly reminded them:
"No communication before voting is completed."
They had no choice. They exchanged helpless looks, then sat down and voted.
So it's here, Yukio thought.
He wasn't surprised.
After getting Kushida's call last night, he'd already guessed a question like this would appear.
Otherwise, how could Yagami claim Unanimous could be used to expel Ayanokoji?
There had to be a "expel a classmate" question—otherwise Yagami wouldn't have gone after Kushida, and he wouldn't have ended up getting counter-threatened.
But for a question like this, hesitation was dangerous.
The best move was to blast through it with a unanimous first-round vote. If it turned into discussion, nobody knew what kind of damage it could cause.
Yukio glanced toward Ishizaki.
But Ishizaki sat near the front—Yukio could only see the back of his head. He couldn't catch his eyes.
Yukio sighed internally.
Fine. Vote first.
A lot of classmates felt the same dread.
The pressure from that final question was like a mountain. Just imagining the discussion afterward made some people's backs sweat through their shirts.
The result appeared.
[First-round results: Agree — 0 votes; Disagree — 40 votes.
Unanimous Disagree achieved. Class loses 100 Class Points.]
[Special Exam Complete.]
The moment those final words appeared, Yukio's class froze.
For a full beat, both teachers and students stared in dead silence—then the room exploded into thunderous applause.
Unanimous.
First round.
No discussion.
They'd done it.
They couldn't achieve that on the first four questions—but on the most brutal, most dangerous last question, they did.
"OHHHH!! Ishizaki! Ishizaki! You absolute legend!! I was seriously worried you'd go full dumb loyal and throw in one Disagree vote out of habit!"
"Good job, Ishizaki! I'm never calling you a meathead again—today you were clutch!"
"Hooooly crap, that scared the hell out of me! The pressure was insane! Ishizaki, lunch is on me today!! Full luxury seafood set!! I'll buy two portions!! Eat! Eat like a king!"
...
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