Chapter 291 Mixed Training Camp
"Arisu, why are you joining in on the fun too?"
Hikigaya looked at the latter with a slight sense of surprise. Given her frail constitution, she was strictly restricted from participating in physical activities.
"My, my~ thank you for your concern, Hachiman-kun.
This special exam doesn't involve many physical fitness projects, so I am able to participate in the forest activities with Hachiman-kun. I'm really looking forward to it."
Sakayanagi Arisu's voice was soft, giving off a "soft and cute" vibe. However, after two semesters of class warfare, everyone knew that at her core, she was the fierce and aggressive leader of Class A.
"Hmph!
No matter how nice you make it sound, the positions of Class A and Class B are antagonistic to our Class D!"
Horikita Suzune took a step forward, shielding Hikigaya from Ichinose Honami and Sakayanagi Arisu.
"She's right!"
"Stop coming over to our class to stir up trouble!"
Karuizawa and her two friends stood up to show their support. When it came to rejecting outsiders, their stance was unanimous!
"Heh! As soon as I arrive, I see a colorful array of women gathered around those dead fish eyes again."
Ryuen Kakeru's arrival made the scene even more chaotic.
"Hachiman-kun." Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio waved to greet him. Hikigaya completely ignored Ryuen's sarcasm and nodded back to the two girls as a response.
"Tch! I can't even say a couple of words? What a boring guy." Ryuen Kakeru pursed his lips in annoyance.
"Is Ryuen-kun's health alright lately?"
"What are you trying to say?"
Sakayanagi Arisu's sudden concern was obviously not out of the kindness of her heart. Ryuen Kakeru's face darkened.
In the battle on the rooftop—four against one—they had been beaten severely. Ryuen and the others had suffered significant injuries.
Fortunately, it happened during the winter break, allowing them to hide in their dorms to recover. By the start of the semester, they had basically healed. But as the saying goes, there are no walls without cracks.
Ryuen and his group, who were usually high-profile, had suddenly vanished during the winter break, which inevitably sparked outside speculation.
"It's nothing; I just heard some rumors.
That Ryuen-kun lost a fight and was taught a very painful lesson." Sakayanagi's gaze instinctively drifted toward Hikigaya.
"Why are you looking at me?
I don't have the 'boxing champion' strength to take on four people at once." Hikigaya denied it.
"One against four?
I see." A flash of realization crossed Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes.
"The only person capable of reaching that level would be someone from that place." Her peripheral vision swept toward a certain person hidden within the Class D ranks.
"Tch! Acting like you're so great.
I lost, but that doesn't mean you're strong, Sakayanagi!"
Ryuen Kakeru's face turned grim. He suddenly stepped forward and kicked at Sakayanagi!
Thump!
Sakayanagi Arisu's expression remained unchanged as a figure appeared behind her. It was Hashimoto Masayoshi from Class A, who raised his arm to block Ryuen Kakeru's kick. Then, he conveniently fell over...
Hikigaya looked at him with a strange expression. This guy's physical specs were not inferior to Ryuen's; he wouldn't go down from a single strike. He was definitely faking it.
"Sakayanagi, you've certainly raised a good dog," Ryuen mocked.
"If you're willing, I wouldn't mind raising one more," Sakayanagi bit back.
"Shorty, do you have the guts to say that again?" Ryuen Kakeru glared at her fiercely, looking like he might explode at any moment.
"Hachiman-kun, they're about to fight. Aren't you going to do something?" Ichinose Honami reached out and tugged at his arm.
"Do what? I didn't see anything just now." Hikigaya's dead fish eyes flickered, as if he had seen through everything long ago.
"Oh my~ you saw through that? As expected of the Disciplinary Committee Chairman." Hashimoto Masayoshi stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Eh?!" Ichinose Honami was completely bewildered.
"Seeing isn't necessarily believing. The actors in this school are everywhere," Hikigaya said.
"Ohhh! I don't quite understand, but I feel like Hachiman-kun understands everything." Ichinose Honami grabbed his hand with eyes full of admiration.
"Ichinose-san, how long do you plan on holding that?" Horikita Suzune snorted coldly.
"Eh? Oops! Sorry, sorry~ I wasn't paying attention." Ichinose Honami quickly let go of Hikigaya's hand and playfully stuck out her tongue.
'Tch! This damn pink-haired girl acts better than me!' Kushida Kikyo watched, stunned.
"Ichinose-san, it seems you shouldn't be underestimated," Sakayanagi Arisu said with a kind smile.
"Of course. I am the leader of Class B. I will also view Class A's Sakayanagi-san as a rival!" Ichinose Honami responded with a sunny smile.
Screech—! The sharp sound of a megaphone turning on rang out.
"Hey, hey. Everyone, listen up. Line up according to your classes.
The explanation for the forest exam will begin now!"
The examiner was the homeroom teacher of Class A, Mashima Tomonari. His strong physique and booming voice were very intimidating.
"First, the Mixed Training Camp." "The main purpose of this special exam is spiritual growth through a group stay. In short, it's to see if you can establish relationships with people you don't normally interact with. This is a vital survival skill for when you enter society in the future!"
Dealing with strangers... are you kidding me? That was exactly what Hikigaya hated most! From elementary to middle school, Hikigaya had always been alone. If it weren't for this school's various insane rules, Hikigaya wouldn't have gotten involved with so many troublesome people.
"Mixed training camp?"
"Could it be... co-ed housing?"
"Wow! Is there really such a good thing?!"
The person who would voice such a bizarre thought was, without a doubt, from the eccentric Class D. This was exactly why Hikigaya refused to the death to integrate into Class D.
"Shut up!"
"No interrupting while the sensei is speaking. If you have questions, ask them later!" Mashima Tomonari coldly reprimanded the Class D group.
"The so-called mixed training camp means the entire grade will deliberate and divide into six groups, separated by gender.
Each group must have at least nine people and a maximum of sixteen."
The variation in group sizes was adjusted based on the number of expulsions in each grade.
"During the forest exam, you must team up with students from other classes to pass the special exam together.
Furthermore, the rules of the mixed camp state that each group must contain students from at least two different classes."
As soon as Mashima Tomonari said this, someone in Class D couldn't help but mutter again. "A camp with other classes?"
"That's too reckless. Won't people start fighting?"
"..." The complaints from Class D were silenced by Mashima Tomonari's death stare.
"Aside from the exam, all activities during the camp—including classes, cooking, laundry, and sleeping—will be conducted on a group basis!
Your homeroom teachers will distribute the specific daily schedule later.
Finally, the calculation of exam scores.
After the first years are divided into twelve groups, you will merge with the second and third years, who are divided similarly, to form twelve 'Large Groups'.
The results of the exam will be determined by the average score of all members in the Large Group."
Hearing that they had to team up with upperclassmen, the first years couldn't help but exchange looks of concern. After all, until now, the special exams they had experienced were limited to competitions within their own grade. Not just the first years, but even the second and third-year students showed expressions of surprise. Clearly, they hadn't experienced a cross-grade exam before either.
Could it be... Hikigaya turned his gaze toward Nagumo Miyabi of Class 2-A. Meanwhile, Nagumo Miyabi was staring intently at Horikita Manabu of Class 3-A.
The Student Council had the power to participate in formulating special exams! Of course, the content and rules of the formulated exams needed to be approved by the school. Looking at the current result, the school had approved Nagumo Miyabi's proposal.
"The Large Group with the lowest average score will receive a severe penalty.
I think you can guess what it is—expulsion!"
As Mashima Tomonari's words fell, a commotion broke out among the first-year classes. The first to lose their composure was the highly united Class B.
"Wait a moment, Mashima-sensei!"
"A Large Group has nearly forty people. Expulsion for everyone is too severe!"
Expelling forty students at once seemed impossible. It was surprising that Class B would ask such an irrational question. However, considering Class B acted out of concern for their comrades, it could be seen as a positive trait.
"There is no need to worry. Only the person from the group with the lowest average score within that Large Group will be expelled.
The person designated as the 'Group Leader' will be the one expelled."
In other words, only the leader would bear the risk of expulsion. Following the logic of high risk, high reward, there would surely be high-yield compensation.
"As a reward, the leaders of the top-ranking groups will receive a large amount of additional personal points..."
Sinister-minded individuals were already wondering: 'Could I intentionally sabotage the group to get the leader expelled?'
Mashima Tomonari's next words plugged that loophole: "One more thing. After a leader is expelled, they can designate one person from their group to be expelled along with them under 'joint responsibility'!"
"Tch!" Ryuen Kakeru clicked his tongue, looking like his scheme had been thwarted.
Hikigaya, however, thought of more. While theoretically no one would put themselves at risk of expulsion just to hurt someone else, Hikigaya believed that as long as the benefit was high enough, someone would definitely be willing to act as a "suicide bomber."
After Mashima Tomonari finished his explanation, he left the remaining time to the homeroom teachers.
"Chabashira-sensei, I want to know the rewards for the exam!" Horikita Suzune was as ambitious as ever.
"The top three Large Groups in terms of average score will all receive personal points and class points.
For the first-place Large Group, everyone receives 30,000 personal points and a cumulative 3 class points per person. Second place is 20,000 personal points and 2 class points, and third place is 10,000 personal points and 1 class point...
As for the bottom three: the third-from-last group loses 10,000 personal points and 1 class point per person; the second-from-last loses 20,000 personal points and 2 class points; and the last-place group loses 30,000 personal points and 3 class points per person.
Groups in the middle range neither lose nor gain points."
The rewards for the top three were as rich as the penalties for the bottom three were severe!!!
"How can this be..."
"The last group has to lose 30,000 personal points per person!"
"My entire net worth isn't even that much!!"
By immediately assuming they would be in last place, Class D had at least improved their self-awareness.
"Um, Chabashira-sensei, what happens if someone doesn't have enough points to pay the penalty?" Shinohara Satsuki asked nervously. It wasn't hard to see that her personal savings were likely meager.
"If the fine cannot be paid within the allotted time, you will be expelled." Chabashira Sae's words immediately sent Class D into a panic.
Hikigaya didn't care at all about how many people from Class D might get expelled.
His only worry was that if someone were to be expelled for lack of funds, someone in the class would propose lending points. Specifically, Hirata Yousuke would 100% do that! Even though the "blackened" Hirata was no longer weak in his actions, his original intention to protect the class hadn't changed.
"Can't you all have some backbone?
Do you have to come in last?" Horikita Suzune coldly rebuked the Class D students.
"I don't expect you to get into the top three for rewards, but staying in the middle range to avoid deductions should be achievable, right?"
"Horikita-san sure talks big.
In this mixed camp, we have to team up with other classes, and there are Large Groups with senpais. It's super complicated." Shinohara Satsuki continued with her sarcastic remarks.
"Shinohara-san, you shouldn't have such negative thoughts." Kushida Kikyo, quite rarely, stood on the same side as Horikita Suzune.
"Leaving limited ability aside, you can't always be a burden to others, can you?"
"..." Shinohara Satsuki seemingly didn't expect Kushida Kikyo to suddenly turn on her. Her face looked terrible, yet she couldn't argue back.
"Kushida-san is right!"
"Don't let the other classes look down on us!"
Driven by Kushida Kikyo, Class D gained a tiny bit of motivation. Even if it was just a little, being able to move this group of "eccentrics" was enough to showcase Kushida Kikyo's talent! This was something Horikita Suzune could not do.
"Hachiman-kun~ I'm more impressive than Horikita, right?" Kushida Kikyo turned around immediately to claim credit from Hikigaya.
"More than just impressive—you're a superhuman!" Hikigaya gave her a sincere thumbs-up. Horikita Suzune opened her mouth but found herself speechless.
'This Kushida... instead of uniting the class, she's just showing off in front of Hachiman-kun!' Karuizawa Kei bit her thumb, equally unwilling to lose.
"We can't just stand still either; at the very least, we mustn't hold Hachiman-kun back." Matsushita Chiaki's eyes were determined. She decided to show off a bit of her own strength.
"That's right! I want points. Next month is Valentine's Day; I need to prepare a gift!" Sato Maya threw out a new topic without warning!
"Eh?!"
"Valentine's Day!!"
The attention of several girls was instantly diverted.
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