Chapter 292 Hikigaya is Sabotaging Unity Again
"It seems you've finally found a bit of motivation.
If it's rewards you're after, I suggest you increase the number of classes and people in your mixed groups.
I've already posted the details in the group announcement. See for yourselves."
Compared to her slacking in the first semester, Chabashira Sae finally looked like a proper teacher. At least she was preparing materials in advance and providing as much information as possible within the school's restrictions.
Hikigaya opened his phone to take a look.
According to the documents, if a group consists of members from two classes, the rewards remain unchanged. If it consists of students from three classes, the private point rewards and Class Points are doubled. If it consists of students from all four classes, the rewards are tripled.
In addition, the multiplier changes based on the size of the group.
For the minimum 9-person group, the reward is only 90% of the original. A 10-person group is 100%, and so on, up to a maximum of 160% for a 16-person group.
In short, the theoretically optimal combination is a group of 16 students mixed from all four classes. The maximum reward would be 3*3*1.6, resulting in 144,000 private points. Rounded off, the Class Points would be 14 points per person.
Finally, for the class the group leader belongs to, all rewards are doubled!
At first glance, the rewards were quite tempting. But reality was a different story.
First, the four classes are naturally in a competitive relationship. The more classes represented in a group, the lower the unity. Trying to integrate the group to aim for the top three would only be more difficult. Especially for the leader, managing students from four different classes would be a massive challenge! Ultimately, the risks involved would be far greater.
"That concludes the exam explanation. Ask any questions you have now," Chabashira Sae said.
The students of Class D looked at each other. With their collective IQ, they hadn't yet processed the complex content.
Hirata Yousuke's mental faculty, however, was quite excellent. He quickly understood most of the rules.
"Since no one has questions, may I say a few words?"
Hirata walked to the front and took the microphone from Chabashira.
"Before the exam, I have a proposal regarding the distribution of rewards that I'd like to discuss with everyone..."
The moment he spoke, Hikigaya read Hirata's mind. Here he goes again. It was the same pattern as the "Safety Net Strategy" from the Sports Festival!
"My idea is that the private point rewards obtained from the exam should be divided equally among everyone.
Because we don't know which group will rank in the top three, or which group will end up in the bottom three."
Students in the bottom three groups would each have 10,000 to 30,000 private points deducted. For Classes A, B, and C, most could scrape that together. But for the students of Class D, who lived hand-to-mouth every month, most had less than 10,000 points in savings. If they couldn't pay the fine, they'd be expelled—this was Class D's specific "execution threshold."
Hirata's proposal was essentially "share the rewards, shoulder the fines together." On the surface, it sounded fair, but given the level of Class D students, the probability of falling into the bottom ranks was high. It was essentially using the top students to provide a safety net for the underachievers.
Hikigaya was 100% against it.
'Why should I? Why should I provide a safety net for these abstract clowns?'
But before he could speak, someone else jumped out to object.
"The beautiful me only spends points on equally beautiful girls."
Good grief. To be able to describe a "transaction" in such a dignified manner—only the "Beautiful Guy" could pull that off!
Actually, that wasn't quite right. According to Koenji Rokusuke's habits, dating expenses were usually handled by the girls. It was only under Hikigaya's sharp criticism that Koenji had been willing to pay for "protection" (contraceptives).
"Koenji! It's you again, playing the contrarian!"
The Class D students immediately voiced their disgust. Hirata frowned, his tone carrying a hint of a threat: "Koenji, if you act so willfully, it will be hard for you to join a group."
"No matter. According to the rules for mixed housing, those who haven't joined a group within the time limit will be randomly assigned by the school."
"The beautiful me remains beautiful in any group~"
Koenji looked at Hirata with interest.
"The 'Blackened' Hirata-boy has actually learned to threaten others. Not bad, but you've picked the wrong target!"
Hirata tightened his fists, his gaze suddenly turning fierce. Koenji continued to look back with a provocative stare. It would be a spectacle if these two actually fought! Unfortunately, it wasn't likely.
"That's enough, Hirata."
Horikita Suzune stepped in at the right time to break the standoff.
"Your safety net strategy will seriously damage the motivation of students aiming for a high ranking."
Most people are selfish. Personal gain is always the greatest motivator. Once their own benefits have to be shared with others, that drive will be significantly discounted.
"Horikita-san, are you saying we should completely abandon the students at the bottom and let them be expelled?" Hirata glared at her with cold eyes.
"If you don't want to be expelled, work hard on the exam. Isn't that common sense?" Horikita countered.
"Reality isn't something where you succeed just by trying. Especially with this mixed housing, we have to consider the groupings of the senpais. The uncertainty is too high. Even the best students in class could end up at the bottom because they were assigned to a poor large group."
Just like the previous Sports Festival, Class D's performance was nothing to brag about; they only won because they were carried by the senpais in the Red Team. Conversely, if an elite student was unlucky enough to be paired with poor-performing senpais, they would suffer the consequences.
"That said, I have already prepared myself for failure," Horikita said, leading by example and leaving no room for rebuttal.
If the honor students aren't afraid of being dragged down, what right do the rest of you have to complain?
However, Hirata wouldn't let it go. "Be that as it may, if anyone is expelled, Class Points will be deducted. As someone aiming for Class A, surely you wouldn't want to see that, Horikita-san?"
"That is true. But to move forward, I believe certain risks must be taken..."
Horikita's words clearly failed to convince the Class D crowd.
"Hirata-kun is right! One expulsion means a 100-point deduction!"
"I definitely don't want that!"
"My monthly allowance is already small enough. I don't want to eat the mountain vegetable set every day!"
Based on self-interest, the public opinion of Class D quickly swung to Hirata's side. Horikita bit her lip, falling into a predicament.
This was Suzune's limit—she had grown, but still had room for improvement.
Hikigaya, in his heart, appreciated people who strove to improve.
"Heh~ in the end, isn't it just a gamble on luck?"
Hikigaya suddenly spoke, drawing the attention of the entire room.
"Hikigaya, what are you trying to say?" Hirata's brow furrowed deeply.
"What I'm saying is, while honor students might be dragged down by a bad group... conversely, the underachievers might get lucky and be carried by a great group, right?"
Hikigaya's words successfully triggered the greed of the Class D students.
"Now that you mention it..."
"If I join a good group, it's not impossible to hit the top three."
"You could get over 100,000 private points!"
Driven by a fluke mentality, many began to fantasize about being carried and getting 100,000 points for free.
"No! Hikigaya, you're being too optimistic!" Hirata obviously had a brain. A large group that included Class D students would have a high probability of being sabotaged, losing their chance to compete for a ranking.
"What if... what if the luck is extraordinary? Like in the VIP exam, where the Ox, Rat, and Horse groups all reached Result 1, and everyone got 500,000 points!!"
Hikigaya dropped a fact that was enough to make everyone's eyes turn red with envy. A few people in Class D had received that massive sum, and since the results were private, no one knew who the big winners were.
Hikigaya started settling old scores: "If rewards are to be shared equally, please have the people who took those 500,000 points step forward and share them first!"
"Whoa!"
The moment those words came out, suspicion erupted within Class D.
"Onodera-san, I remember you were in the Ox group, right?"
"N-No, I wasn't!"
"Are you kidding? Do I look like the type to eat alone?"
"Ishikura-san, you bought a new Nintendo back then. Did you get the 500,000?"
"So what if I did? Those are my private points, why should I share them?"
"Damn it! In that case, I'm not sharing for this exam either!!"
Finding out that the people around you made a killing is more painful than suffering a loss yourself—this is the weakness of human nature! Seeing his hard-won unity easily torn to pieces by a few words from Hikigaya, Hirata was filled with fury.
However, in Hikigaya's view, if this so-called "unity" was such a fragile relationship, it was nothing more than a "genuine" fake.
"Hikigaya! Look at what you've done!"
Infuriated, Hirata stepped forward and grabbed Hikigaya by the collar.
"What's wrong with protecting my own interests?"
Hikigaya stared back with his dead-fish eyes without fear, his hand silently tensing up.
"You bastard...!" Hirata raised his fist.
"Hirata! I will never let you hurt Hachiman-kun!"
Kushida Kikyo stepped forward, spreading her arms to protect Hikigaya.
'Now it's my turn to perform!'
"Kushida, even you..." Hirata's face was grim.
"Enough, Hirata!"
Horikita delivered a hand-chop, knocking Hirata's hand off Hikigaya's collar.
"Hachiman-kun, are you okay?" Karuizawa Kei stepped forward quickly, carefully smoothing out Hikigaya's messy collar.
"..."
"You guys are too much!"
"Hmph!"
"This is our payback!"
Matsushita Chiaki and Sato Maya worked in perfect sync to block Sakura Airi and Hasabe Haruka.
Wait, is the "art style" of this scene a bit off?
"Ha ha ha!
The performance of Fish-eye-boy is always so interesting."
One sentence from Koenji successfully categorized the serious class discussion as a farce.
'Shit! This guy talks so annoyingly!'
Seeing the situation, Chabashira Sae intervened: "Your discussion time is almost up. You are about to live here for a week. Mobile phones are prohibited; turn them in now. You may only keep basic daily necessities. No food or drinks—either eat them now or throw them in the trash..."
"What?!"
The collective cry of the students filled the room at the news of the phone ban. Hikigaya had long expected this. Working in the Student Council, he had heard some rumors about the exam, so he had brought light novels and manga to kill time.
"Hachiman-kun, thank you. You've helped me again." Horikita thanked him sincerely.
"It's nothing. I just didn't want to share my points with others," Hikigaya replied casually.
"Even so, in the end, I still relied on your strength..."
Was she trying to get him to acknowledge her as a partner?
"Hey, hey! Don't act like a soft girl; Hachiman doesn't fall for that!" Kushida forcibly interrupted Horikita.
"Kushida-san, you too... your 'body shield' performance was way too fake!"
"If you weren't in the way, Hachiman-kun could have knocked Hirata down with one punch!" Karuizawa Kei launched an attack on Kushida.
"Uh, I wouldn't go that far. Hirata is actually quite a good fighter," Hikigaya felt Karuizawa was overhyping him.
"A pity. I missed the grand duel between Fish-eye-boy and Hirata-boy." Koenji sauntered over.
"I think a duel between you and Ayanokouji would be more interesting," Hikigaya glared at him.
"..." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, caught in the crossfire, was speechless.
He hadn't said a word and was keeping a very low profile.
"True. I do have a bit of interest in 'Imposter-boy' as well." Koenji looked deeply at Ayanokouji. With his observation skills, it wasn't hard to see the abnormality in Ryuen and the others. His intuition told him this had a massive connection to Ayanokouji!
The group arrived at the forest dormitory. It was a traditional wooden building built at the foot of the mountain, showing its age.
"Once inside, you must form your groups quickly. After the room assignments are finished, you can come out for lunch. The afternoon is free time..."
After brief instructions, Chabashira took the confiscated phones and left. Class D split into male and female groups and headed to their respective dorms.
The moment they stepped in, they could smell a musty odor. The wooden house was full of cobwebs, and there were even holes gnawed by insects. It was a setup where students had to clean up for themselves. Hikigaya strongly suspected the school did this to save money, but the primary goal was likely to discipline the students.
At the thought of living in a place like this for seven days, Hikigaya felt mentally exhausted.
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