After school on Monday, in the Student Council room.
Hikigaya was handling the handover work; now the person basically handling Student Council affairs was Hikigaya Komachi.
Originally, it was planned for Nanase Tsubasa to take over the Student Council, but Komachi expressed a desire to try, so that was abandoned.
Basically.
If it was just the Student Council President.
Most people didn't even know the President's name.
Let alone what the so-called President was like.
It mainly depended on reputation and influence within the school, so Year 1's Hikigaya Komachi served as the President.
Although it was somewhat difficult, it wasn't impossible.
In short.
Hikigaya and the others were not very busy right now.
In the Student Council room, Katsuragi's face was heavy, and Horikita Suzune also had her head lowered, looking somewhat unwilling.
"Katsuragi... how on earth did you convince Yukimura?"
Horikita Suzune was a bit dejected.
In this exam.
She and Yukimura were naturally in the Group A elite group, competing against the ordinary group of Katsuragi's class.
Ayanokouji also went to the ordinary group alone to duel against the elite group of Katsuragi's class.
Although she didn't know what Ayanokouji was trying to do, Horikita Suzune believed they had a fighting chance against Katsuragi's class on their side.
Her, Yukimura, Hirata, Wang Meiyu, and others.
Facing the ordinary group of Katsuragi's class, they absolutely had a fighting chance.
However.
As soon as the exam began.
Yukimura quickly buzzed in to answer, which wasn't a problem, except that he intentionally answered incorrectly on several obviously simple questions.
Only then did Horikita Suzune and the others react.
They began to buzz in to answer.
However, such haphazard buzzing still interfered with everyone's arrangements.
Encountering areas they were not good at, they answered several questions incorrectly.
Ultimately.
They only managed to secure a victory by a little over ten points.
Facing the opponent's ordinary group, their own elite group only achieved such a small advantage.
On the other side.
Facing Katsuragi and Sakayanagi Arisu, Soto-mura and the others would likely be even more pathetic.
She originally thought it would be a major defeat.
Unexpectedly, they achieved a crushing level of victory.
Winning the exam was naturally a cause for happiness.
However.
Compared to the exam, Horikita Suzune now cared more about.
Why Yukimura would leave the class.
Although she had a rough answer, her heart was somewhat unwilling to admit it.
"Hmm?"
Hearing this.
Katsuragi didn't hide anything, though his tone was somewhat heavy.
"I didn't say anything special..."
It was the truth.
He didn't put in much effort; he simply showed Yukimura the class savings and offered a choice.
Yukimura easily chose to leave the class.
It couldn't be called betrayal.
After all, he had never been loyal.
It was originally for a better choice to reach Class A, so leaving was only natural.
Horikita Suzune kept her head low, still somewhat unable to accept it.
In three years.
Their class had not built an unbreakable bond.
Perhaps there had once been one.
It was just that her actions had dissolved it.
Even if Katsuragi used the same method again, it would likely be equally effective.
As a leader, one must consider a question.
That is, why must people like Soto-mura follow them and do things for them?
Clearly.
There was no reason they absolutely had to follow them, and the bonds they had built were far from enough.
"Katsuragi..."
Seeing the two of them silent, Hikigaya was also somewhat interested.
Although he had chatted with Karuizawa and others for a bit, he still wanted to hear Katsuragi's more truthful thoughts.
"If it's convenient to ask, what exactly happened with your exam?"
"..."
Hearing this.
Katsuragi's expression became even heavier.
"I also want to ask, Horikita, what is the situation with that Ayanokouji in your class?"
He originally thought he was just an ordinary student with some specialties who was hiding his strength.
Only this time.
He truly dealt Katsuragi a deep blow.
"I'm not very sure either..."
Horikita Suzune was a bit conflicted, as she naturally knew the exam situation.
Whether she truly didn't know or was avoiding revealing class intelligence, Katsuragi didn't plan to ask further.
"Complete defeat..."
"In this exam, every question was answered by Ayanokouji alone. Whether it was reaction speed or knowledge reserve, we were completely not his match..."
Katsuragi was somewhat bitter.
Even now, he couldn't understand how he had lost.
The entire exam seemed like a solo show for Ayanokouji, with every question snatched up by him.
Even.
Before the question could even be seen clearly, Ayanokouji had already buzzed in.
It was as if he knew everything and was capable of anything...
"No, no, no... Katsuragi-senpai, how could that be possible?"
Hikigaya Komachi waved her hands repeatedly, somewhat disbelieving...
"I heard from Onii-chan that the questions in this exam covered many fields, right? How could someone know all of them?"
"I think so too..."
Katsuragi nodded, also suspecting whether Ayanokouji had cheated.
Or perhaps he bribed the teachers and obtained the exam questions in advance.
On the other side.
Hikigaya's brows were tightly furrowed.
If he didn't know that Ayanokouji originated from the White Room, he would likely think so too.
After all.
A person's energy is limited.
Setting aside academics and sports, it wouldn't be strange for there to be an all-around talent.
But this exam also included music, art, outdoor knowledge, and even questions related to animation.
Reasonably speaking.
It was impossible for someone to be proficient in all fields simultaneously.
Furthermore, it was like Ayanokouji, who buzzed in before even hearing the question; it was truly too inconceivable.
Katsuragi really found it difficult to accept and was more inclined to believe the other party was cheating, but he couldn't find a shred of evidence.
However.
If viewed through Ayanokouji's identity as the so-called "Masterpiece."
Perhaps it wasn't impossible.
Even for some fields he previously couldn't access, there were over two weeks of preparation time for the exam.
Ayanokouji could have completely engaged in intensive advance study.
Though.
It still felt somewhat beyond imagination.
For example, with animation, could Ayanokouji really just watch it once and remember the title of every episode?
It was truly somewhat inconceivable.
But Hikigaya could only try his best to imagine it.
To be honest.
Katsuragi's approach wasn't bad.
Winning was indeed difficult, but sabotage was very simple.
As long as one could randomly defect one person to deliberately underperform and sabotage the exam, it was almost a hundred percent victory.
Maintaining a low profile and saving money until now.
Now was the time for Katsuragi to shine, yet he encountered the outrageous Ayanokouji.
Hikigaya looked at Katsuragi, who was still somewhat heavy-hearted.
One can only say it's bad luck...
The next ones to possibly encounter Ayanokouji might be them...
What kind of facility was the White Room exactly?
Could it be.
That Ayanokouji is truly invincible?
Thinking of this.
Hikigaya couldn't help but feel a headache.
Although Katsuragi served as cannon fodder this time, if they wanted to rise to Class A, Ayanokouji would undoubtedly be an unavoidable hurdle.
It would be their turn sooner or later.