Time passed, and the exam officially began.
At this time.
The Special Teaching Building.
Hikigaya led Nakanishi and the others to the designated classroom.
That's right.
The group they were in was Class A Group B, and their opponent was Ryuen's Class Group A.
In terms of strength.
Hikigaya naturally had the qualifications to enter the Group A elite group.
He just felt he could play a greater role in Group B, so he volunteered to enter Group B.
Arriving at the examination hall, he noticed Ishizaki and the others walking toward them.
Hikigaya immediately frowned.
It meant they had been targeted by Ryuen.
The school had given hints.
Elites enter Group A, and ordinary students enter Group B.
The ones appearing here were people like Ishizaki, who were not good at studying.
Then.
Ichinose and the others' opponents would be the duel between elites like Ryuen, Ibuki Mio, and Shiina.
Normally.
This wasn't a bad thing.
After all, the raw strength of Ryuen and the others was far inferior to their class.
However.
Only by matching the strong against the weak is it possible to narrow the gap; such a match of strong against strong suggests Ryuen has some sort of scheme.
Entering the classroom.
Everyone was seated according to the school's arrangement, separated by one person, with someone from the opposing class next to each individual.
The ones responsible for proctoring were two teachers they didn't know.
One in the front and one in the back.
As well as four monitoring devices overhead.
"Nice to meet you, I am Yamamoto Takuto, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, in charge of this exam. If you feel unwell or have any other situation, please raise your hand at any time. Now, this exam officially begins."
As he spoke.
the teacher named Yamamoto operated a tablet.
The screen behind him immediately displayed the content of this exam and the question count 1/300.
Question 1: In what year did the Meiji Restoration occur?
A: 1878; B: 1868; C: 1866; D: 1880.
Hikigaya was about to press the buzzer.
Although it was Group B, everyone had already arranged their roles.
He was responsible for Japanese and history, while others were responsible for English, sports, animation, music, games, and other fields.
It was just that the average level was not as high as Group A.
Quickly.
A "thud" was heard from nearby; Nakanishi had already stepped forward to press the buzzer.
Since it was the first question, and very simple.
As long as one studied seriously, they would basically know it; it was considered a "free point" question.
Class A did not lack students with academic ability, so it was normal for responsible fields to overlap.
However.
"As expected of A?"
Ishizaki tilted his head and suddenly spoke.
"Ishizaki, are you an idiot? This is clearly C... You don't even know this?"
"No... no matter how you look at it, this is B. Are you two idiots?"
"No, no, it's clearly D. Only a dumbass would pick anything else, right?"
Suddenly, several members of Class C chimed in, starting to argue as if it were real.
Several people were red-faced and arguing intensely.
However.
The two teachers on stage.
Were calmly watching the scene.
Although it clearly interfered with the student who needed to answer, this seemed to be within the scope of the rules.
How to maintain one's focus under interference.
Answering correctly.
Was also one of the contents of this exam.
Fortunately.
"The answer is B, 1868."
Nakanishi stared at them and said.
Do they think he's an idiot? He wouldn't know such a simple question?
"Correct answer, next question."
However.
For the next few questions.
Ishizaki and the others also used various ways to interfere, such as shaking their legs, tapping the table, spinning pens, picking up erasers, arguing, and mocking.
Hikigaya couldn't help but sigh.
He had to say.
Ryuen's way of thinking was somewhat similar to his own.
Although Hikigaya didn't mind improving himself, he was also more inclined to interfere with his opponents.
Compared to answering questions properly.
He was more inclined to interfere and make the opponent make mistakes, or directly lead the opponent to run out of time and lower their score.
Question 36: On what day did World War II begin?
A: September 1, 1939; B: October 1, 1949; C: November 11, 1938; D: January 1, 1951.
"A."
Hikigaya answered.
The gap in raw strength could not be made up.
Ryuen not only failed to correctly guide the class's growth, but his petty cleverness had actually become an obstacle to the class's development.
To the point that.
Now they had no choice but to continue playing petty tricks.
It wasn't that Ishizaki and the others were good at these despicable petty tricks, but that they had no other choice.
In terms of raw strength, they were far inferior to other classes.
Just participate in the exam calmly!
When encountering a question they were unsure of, simply passing was also fine.
Quickly.
Ishizaki and the others obviously noticed this too.
They suddenly became a bit panicked.
Even if they continued like this, at most they could only interfere with Nakanishi and the others, resulting in only a few points lost.
It wouldn't change the fact that they would be defeated.
Unless Ichinose's side was stimulated by Ryuen and the others, and ultimately suffered a crushing defeat, there might be a chance to win.
But that seemed highly unlikely.
The growth rate of Ichinose and the others was also far above that of Ryuen and the others; they just needed to ignore the interference and answer calmly.
Quickly.
Ishizaki and the others also started answering questions.
However, if their raw strength wasn't up to par, it simply wasn't up to par.
Furthermore.
Ryuen's method of interfering with the opponent wasn't particularly sophisticated either.
Question 167.
At which level does marriage reside in Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
A: Physiological needs; B: Belongingness needs; C: Esteem needs; D: Self-actualization.
"Thud..."
Without thinking much.
Kondo, sweating profusely, didn't hesitate to press the buzzer.
Setting aside whether he knew the answer, pressing the buzzer first was the priority.
This was also one of Ryuen's contingency plans.
Regardless of whether they could answer correctly.
As long as they seized all the answering opportunities, the opponent would have no questions to answer.
In any case, the score wouldn't become negative.
This could also avoid being pulled too far apart in score.
Looking at the question in front of him, Kondo was a bit hesitant, feeling like every option could be correct.
Just then, Hikigaya lowered his voice and said:
"Physiological needs..."
"..."
Kondo was a bit hesitant.
He felt he was definitely being tricked, but marriage is for satisfying physiological needs, so that seemed like it wouldn't be a problem?
It felt quite correct.
"Physiological needs..."
"Pfft..."
Nakanishi couldn't help but laugh while covering his mouth.
Brainless and simple people like Ishizaki and Kondo were very easy to trick; they would easily fall for such ambiguous questions!
Even though they knew the other party might be fooling them, they still felt it was right!
Following Ryuen.
Accustomed to playing petty tricks, but without solid strength to back it up.
Naturally, this would be the result; how could it possibly be physiological needs?
Hearing the laughter around him.
This laughter didn't contain mockery, it was just purely finding it funny.
But it couldn't be helped that Kondo and the others would think that way.
That's how people are.
The more they are deficient in something, the more they will feel the other party is mocking them for what they lack.
To the point that.
Kondo and the others even became timid when pressing the buzzer.