Do you remember when I told you that we would only have a few days of vacation? Well... it seems I was wrong. Or rather, I was blatantly deceived. The truth is, we do have a vacation, but only partially. Because guess what:
We have another special exam!
Yes, another one.
Does this school ever get tired of torturing us, or what? Two exams in a row... Are they trying to kill us? Or are they training us to survive college? I don't know anymore.
Anyway, let me explain what this new exam is about. It's called The Zodiac Exam. Sounds mystical, right? But no, we won't be reading horoscopes or finding out if your crush will ignore you this month. None of that.
Here's the summary, get ready:
First, they divided all of us, from all classes, into 12 different groups. Each group has roughly 12 people, and we were assigned a special room where we'll have to meet for one hour daily over several days. Attendance is, of course, mandatory. Because if there's one thing this school loves, it's trapping us in weird activities, no exceptions.
The interesting part is that the groups aren't organized by class, so your usual classmates won't always be with you.
For example, in my case, I'm in the Snake Group. Unfortunately, neither Chiaki nor Sato are with me. I guess fate decided it was time to socialize with other human beings... although I'd rather not.
Now, the rules.
Each group has one person chosen by the school as the "VIP."
What's special about the VIP?
Well, they could be the key to glory or ruin, depending on what happens.
The exam has four possible outcomes, and believe me, things can get really good or catastrophically bad.
The Four Outcomes of the Zodiac Exam
Outcome 1: Share the VIP's identity and pass the exam together as one.
✅ Everyone earns private points.
✅ The exam is successfully completed.
(The dream scenario: everyone happy, everyone wins.)
Outcome 2: Someone who isn't the VIP answers incorrectly or doesn't answer.
✅ Only the VIP gets 500,000 private points.
❌ The rest get nothing.
(Basically: the VIP sails off on a yacht while the rest of us row a leaky boat.)
Outcome 3: Someone who isn't the VIP answers early... and is correct.
✅ That person gets 500,000 private points.
✅ Their class gains 50 class points.
❌ The VIP's class loses 50 class points.
❌ The group's exam ends immediately.
(But note:)
👉 Exception:
If the person who answered early belongs to the VIP's class, this outcome is canceled, and the exam continues as if nothing happened.
(A technical tie. Everything resets like you pressed "retry" in a video game.)
Outcome 4: Someone who isn't the VIP answers early... and is wrong.
❌ That person's class loses 50 class points.
✅ The VIP's class gains 50 class points.
✅ The VIP receives 500,000 private points.
❌ The group's exam ends immediately.
(But again:)
👉 Exception:
If the person who failed belongs to the VIP's class, the answer is invalidated, and the exam continues normally.
(It's as if the school says, "It's okay, we forgive you because you're on the same team.")
...
Well, those are the rules.
Complicated? Yes.
Tedious? Also.
And the worst part? Now I have to talk to people I don't know. Ugh, what a pain.
I already struggle with socializing, but to make things worse, even the few classmates who ended up in my group... aren't really my friends. We only talk as much as needed, like when you ask someone if they submitted the homework just to make sure you didn't either.
So, in short: I'll probably remain completely silent for the next few days.
A rock would be more talkative than me in this situation.
Unless, of course, tomorrow I wake up to the little surprise that I've been chosen as the VIP.
Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that small detail.
Tomorrow at first thing in the morning, the school will send an email to each of us.
That email will clearly tell you whether or not you're the VIP. No room for doubt.
Most importantly:
The email is unalterable.
No forwarding, hacking, editing, or deleting. The school has everything covered.
If you try anything shady with the email, the school will punish you. And knowing them, I don't think it'll be just a warning.
(With this school, you never know if the punishment will be cleaning hallways or being dropped on a deserted island.)
So, well...
That will be my exciting life for the next few days:
Uncomfortable meetings.
Awkward silence.
Uncomfortable people.
Wish me luck. I'll need it.