[Question 5]
[A: Select one dropout; reward 300 Class Points.]
[B: Select two dropouts; reward 600 Class Points.]
[C: Select three dropouts; reward 900 Class Points.]
[After the selection is completed, the dropout(s) will be chosen.]
13th vote.
Option A: 38 votes; Option B: 0 votes; Option C: 0 votes.
Just after voting.
Ike Kanji felt his vision go dark and wanted to slap himself.
Clearly knowing that Horikita Suzune was likely saying something pleasant, yet he still voted for A.
But.
What use is it to figure it out calmly after the fact.
Thinking calmly is not difficult; making a prompt decision is the real skill.
Always following the atmosphere and being easily moved by some slanderous words, such a person is very easy to deceive.
To put it bluntly.
Ike Kanji has no real strength.
Or rather, the entire Class D, except for a few people, is just a group of rabble.
Very ordinary.
Always only being able to understand after the fact.
Maybe if I had done that, or if this would have been better at the time.
Over time, this can lead to some improvements in life attitude, but it is of no use in a Unanimous Special Exam where prompt decisions are needed.
Watching the scene before her, Horikita Suzune breathed a slight sigh of relief.
But she knew that the matter had not yet truly ended.
The next part was the key.
How to persuade Ike Kanji to drop out voluntarily.
"That... Suzune... what should we do next?"
Seeing that no one had spoken for a long time, Sudo was somewhat hesitant, naturally not wanting Ike Kanji to drop out.
How to persuade Shinohara, how to persuade Sudo.
Of course.
Being able to have Ike Kanji speak up himself to persuade them would naturally be the best and most successful method.
Until now.
Horikita Suzune finally understood.
How difficult it was for Ayanokouji to achieve what he did back then.
But.
She had to do it.
If she spoke directly based on OAA rankings now, it would surely face intense backlash.
But by other means.
Yukimura and others would surely have doubts, so she would need to consider how to persuade Yukimura and the others.
After thinking for a moment.
Horikita Suzune stood up and looked around at everyone.
"Thinking back now, it's been three years. Perhaps just as Chabashira-sensei said, there may still be shortcomings in us who haven't been able to save twenty million private points until now."
"..."
Obviously.
Horikita Suzune wanted to play the emotional card.
Perhaps it was out of sincerity, or perhaps it was just one of the calculations.
That's no longer important.
After all, making someone voluntarily drop out was not an easy task, and there was no other way.
However.
No one responded.
Only Sudo lowered his head silently, his expression complicated.
Perhaps because they failed to save twenty million, they indeed had areas where they were lacking.
But even if they did it again, they probably still wouldn't be able to do it.
Knowing and doing are two different things.
The whole world knows that smoking and staying up late are bad for the body, but more than half of the people still do it.
After all.
Parents aside.
Handing over one's own money to someone else for safekeeping is a foolish thing in itself.
Knowing that Class A has handed over private points to Ichinose for safekeeping.
They even felt that the people in Ichinose's class were just a bunch of idiots.
More than half the people must think so—no, it wouldn't be strange if everyone thought so.
After all.
There's nothing wrong with thinking that.
Class A is just a bunch of foolishly cute good children who failed to correctly understand the importance of money.
Hikigaya also felt that handing over private points to Ichinose for safekeeping was an unbelievable thing.
However.
Horikita Suzune and others still mistook the essence of the matter.
The problem was not the failure to save twenty million private points.
But.
No one in Class D had ever even thought in that direction!
That was the biggest problem.
Katsuragi and Ryuen both knew they couldn't do the same as Ichinose, yet they were both trying to find ways to raise private points.
Ryuen saved money by his own strength and took everything upon himself; Katsuragi knew it would be a loss but still spent private points to commission students.
Even.
Sakayanagi Arisu also urged Class A to save.
So that the remaining private points of Class A could be integrated when needed.
Like Ichinose.
Integrating class private points was indeed impossible.
But saving as much as possible was the goal.
Even though everyone's methods were different, and the amount of private points that could be coordinated was also different.
But.
At least they were doing it!
Whereas Class D never had, and hadn't even thought about it.
They didn't think about it when they knew about private points at the start of school.
They didn't think about it when exams like the dropout vote appeared.
When the Unanimous Special Exam appeared.
They still didn't think about it!
Even after this exam, they still won't think that way.
This is the biggest problem with Class D.
They can only regret in one exam after another, only apologize and reflect in one exam after another, only after one exam after another...
Forget...
Then move toward the next exam...
It's a matter of course.
After all.
Even during the Sports Festival.
For the few thousand private points the school awarded for individual rankings, Class D needed to argue and coordinate who would take the field in the end.
So that.
Everyone would have a fair chance to obtain those few thousand private points.
How could such a class have the thought of saving.
After all.
The higher-ups don't need to worry about the dropout penalty.
The person dropping out won't be me anyway, so wouldn't the saved money end up being spent on someone like Yamauchi Haruki?
As long as private points are saved.
When there are sufficient private points, if a dropout appears, they must be saved.
Otherwise.
It would only make one appear cold-blooded, ruthless, selfish, and disregardful of companions...
Therefore, if there is money, it must be used to save.
Otherwise, one will be subjected to moral kidnapping.
However.
Not familiar, no strength, no utility value.
Then why the hell save?
Isn't that just a waste of money.
None of them are stupid.
Why should precious private points.
Be used on people like Yamauchi Haruki and Ike Kanji?
Who exactly is the fool?
There is such a subconscious in the minds of the people in Class D.
They are unwilling to waste private points on people who are irrelevant and have no role in the class.
It is precisely this nickel-and-diming mindset.
That leads to Class D being unable to leave any savings no matter when.
Saving is equal to losing.
Even Hirata Yousuke is the same.
Talking about for the sake of the class and everyone, yet never putting in the greatest effort.
To the point that.
Falling into self-isolation during the class vote exam.
Although under Ayanokouji's clever rhetoric, an outlet was found for Hirata.
As long as one works hard forward.
There will surely still be many people left behind by graduation.
This successfully allowed Hirata to get out of the predicament.
However.
Nothing fundamental has changed.
It's just deceiving one's own conscience, making the heart numb and moving toward maturity.
As a mature member of society, there's nothing bad about this.
But is this what Hirata cared about?
Ayanokouji didn't care, as long as Hirata could pull himself together again and contribute to the class.
The result.
Was this kind of repetition over and over again.
It's just that even if another dropout appears now, Hirata won't care anymore.
So... what about now?
"Looking back carefully, I can find that in three years Ken has already grown into a person more valuable to the class than I am."
"Whether it's academic ability or physical fitness, or character, there are no shortcomings."
Horikita Suzune turned her head to look at Sudo, her gaze soft.
It was she.
Who witnessed Sudo's growth step by step, only then understanding how admirable the things Sudo did were.
"It's not like that, if it weren't for Suzune, we wouldn't have been able to make it this far."
Sudo's face turned red, and he scratched his head awkwardly.
"Thank you, Ken, and Yukimura-kun..."
Horikita Suzune nodded and turned to look at Yukimura and the others.
From the start of school until now.
Relating everyone's changes step by step.
Obviously.
She was playing the emotional card.
As early as the first-year selection exam, Horikita Suzune had already learned from Kushida about everyone's personality and what they were good at.
Therefore.
While she might not say she was very familiar with every single person in the class, she was sufficiently knowledgeable about all of them, and most clearly understood everyone's progress and growth.
Therefore.
She could do it!
No matter what, she had to successfully overcome this exam!