Chapter 122: This Isn't Werewolf Kill, It's Cat and Mouse!
Well... compared to other classes, Class D truly hadn't evolved to the point where they would gather as a group or have class representatives meet to discuss countermeasures immediately upon encountering an exam.
After all, Class D currently didn't even have fixed class representatives; they basically just did their own thing.
However, that wasn't to say they were completely indifferent to the exam.
For example, the Year 1 Class D group chat was currently quite lively.
Students from Class D were gathered in small groups of two or three, staring at their phone screens. Messages were popping up one after another at a dizzying speed.
[Ike Kanji: Holy crap, this exam actually requires groups! We have to team up with people from other classes! Aren't we supposed to be competing?]
[Yamauchi Haruki: You just realized? You must have been asleep when they explained the rules just now, right?]
[Ike Kanji: You're the one who was asleep! I just didn't hear clearly!]
[Yamauchi Haruki: What's the difference between not hearing clearly and not listening?]
[Ike Kanji: Haruki, you're crossing the line! Aren't we best friends?]
[Yukimura Teruhiko: Enough, enough, stop arguing.]
Unfortunately, Yamauchi Haruki refused to let it go and sent another message.
[Yamauchi Haruki: Speaking of which, this exam is really important, right? The point values are so high; if we screw up, we're finished.]
As soon as the message was sent, someone replied immediately.
[Anonymous User: Did you even understand the prompt?]
Yamauchi froze for a moment, then flew into a rage, his fingers tapping the screen frantically.
[Yamauchi Haruki: Who sent that? Have the guts to not be anonymous!]
[Anonymous User: Who cares who I am? I asked if you understood the prompt.]
[Yamauchi Haruki: I... of course I understood! Isn't it just grouping up and guessing people? What's so hard about that!]
[Anonymous User: Then explain what "manage" means?]
Yamauchi went silent.
The group was quiet for a few seconds, then erupted into a burst of laughter.
[Ike Kanji: Hahahaha, Haruki, you idiot!]
[Anonymous User: Dying of laughter. You don't even understand the prompt and you're here acting like a big shot. Get out of Class D! Just get out!]
[Yamauchi Haruki: Who! Who exactly is it! Have the guts to step forward!]
No one paid him any attention.
Messages continued to flood the screen, but the topic quickly shifted to serious business.
[Shinohara Satsuki: Speaking of which, how are we actually going to play this exam? Does anyone have a strategy?]
[Hasabe Haruka: Don't ask me, I definitely don't. By the way, where's Hirata-kun? Is Hirata-kun there?]
[Hirata Yosuke: I'm here.]
[Hasebe Haruka: Great! Hirata-kun, do you have any thoughts? How should our Class D handle this exam?]
Hirata Yosuke's reply came quickly, but the content was unexpectedly conservative.
[Hirata Yosuke: The rules for this exam are quite complex, and the point spread is very large. I think we need to think it over carefully; we shouldn't make hasty decisions.]
[Shinohara Satsuki: Eh? Even Hirata-kun hasn't figured it out yet?]
[Hirata Yosuke: After all, it's a suddenly added exam, and we just found out the rules. Everyone, don't panic; let's calm down and analyze it slowly.]
[Sato Maya: What about Horikita-san? Is Horikita-san there?]
[Ike Kanji: Yeah, Horikita-san is so smart, she should have an idea, right?]
[Yukimura Teruhiko: Actually, my academic ability is pretty good too. But if you ask me to think, I don't have a plan yet. @Horikita-san? @Horikita Suzune]
[Sato Maya: @Horikita Suzune]
After Yukimura, other students also recalled the island exam where Horikita proposed the "distribution according to work" plan, which resulted in Class D selling their base points to Class B to secure two years' worth of living expenses. So, what about this exam? Could this one be sold too?
If they could obtain more points...
However, no matter how much they @-ed her, Horikita Suzune's avatar remained grey, without the slightest response.
[Sato Maya: Strange, is Horikita-san not online?]
[Shinohara Satsuki: Maybe she's busy.]
[Ike Kanji: Busy with what? This exam is such an important matter, there's no way she hasn't seen the group messages, right?]
[Anonymous User: Maybe she's thinking of a strategy?]
The group started a new round of discussion, but Horikita Suzune never appeared.
At the same time, in a certain Class D dormitory.
The room wasn't large, with three beds, three desks, and some clutter piled in the corner. Hirata Yosuke sat at his desk, his phone screen showing the class group chat interface. His gaze fell on the constantly refreshing messages, but he did not participate further.
Ayanokouji Kiyotaka lay on his bed, hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling, wondering about something.
Yukimura Teruhiko sat at the other desk, holding a notebook, writing something quickly. He wore black-framed glasses, had a thin build, and a refined appearance—the typical look of a nerd.
However, he was among the top three in Class D's academic ability.
Well.
First was Koenji, second was Horikita Suzune, and he was third in comprehensive subject strength. At least on the surface.
"Ayanokouji." Yukimura suddenly spoke, without turning his head. "Do you have any thoughts on this exam?"
Ayanokouji turned his head slightly, looked at him, and didn't speak.
Yukimura seemed to have adapted to his taciturn nature and continued, "In the last deserted island exam, our Class D secured stable living expenses. We don't have to worry about points for the next two years. But having living expenses alone isn't enough."
He turned around, his gaze falling on Ayanokouji.
"We could totally push for a higher rank. You brought 50 points to the class during the deserted island exam. If you work hard again this time, maybe we can raise Class D to Class C."
Ayanokouji was silent for a few seconds before slowly asking, "What are you trying to say?"
Yukimura pushed up his glasses and said seriously, "I'm saying this exam is an opportunity. If you have an idea, I can cooperate with you."
Ayanokouji raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised.
He had originally thought the students of Class D were just a bunch of rabble—idiots like Yamauchi, brainless ones like Ike, or someone like Sudo who only knew violence. He didn't expect someone to actually come forward and offer to cooperate with him.
"Do you remember your group list?" Ayanokouji asked.
Yukimura blinked, then nodded, flipping open his notebook to read: "I'm in the Rabbit Group. From Class D, we have Horikita Suzune, Karuizawa Kei, myself, and Sotomura Hideo. From Class A, there's Takeyama Shigeru, Machida Koji, and Morishige Takuro. From Class B, Amakura Asako, Hamaguchi Tetsuya, and Beppu Ryota. From Class C, Manabe Shiho, Yabu Nanami, Yamashita Saki, and Rika."
Having finished reading, he looked up at Ayanokouji.
Ayanokouji was expressionless, but his mind was spinning rapidly.
Manabe Shiho.
He had specifically investigated this name a couple of days ago. She was the leader of the Class C "gal" group, had a flashy personality, liked to cause trouble, and had a grudge against Karuizawa Kei—starting from a minor friction while waiting in line, but Manabe's side had been brooding over it and had even threatened to deal with Karuizawa.
And Karuizawa Kei.
Ayanokouji's gaze lowered slightly.
He had been tracking Karuizawa for the past two days and confirmed one thing—her joining the Student Council was no accident; she was indeed one of Hikigaya Hachiman's people. Just as Sakayanagi arrived at the ship and received news, Karuizawa immediately ran to report to Hikigaya.
What a loyal dog.
So, that Karuizawa, who looked like a gal who only cared about dressing up, was actually closely connected to Hikigaya's circle and was also quite close to Horikita Suzune and Kushida Kikyo.
Naturally, if she were just an ordinary Class D girl, he might simply win her over to increase his authority within Class D. But Karuizawa was Hikigaya's person, which gave her much more value. If he could turn someone close to Hikigaya and make her his pawn, it would be far more useful than simply utilizing an ordinary girl. Moreover, Karuizawa had a grudge with Manabe. If manipulated correctly, he could use Manabe and the others to create pressure, forcing Karuizawa to proactively seek his help.
The "hero saves the beauty" trope, while old-fashioned, was effective.
"You're in the Rabbit Group," Ayanokouji said slowly. "Manabe Shiho is in the same group as you."
Yukimura nodded. "Yes, what about it?"
"She's the type who likes to cause trouble," Ayanokouji said. "And she has a grudge against Karuizawa. During the group discussions, pay attention."
Yukimura froze for a moment, then understood his meaning. "Are you saying she might target Karuizawa in the group?"
Ayanokouji didn't answer, but silence itself was the answer.
Yukimura frowned, thought for a bit, and said, "If trouble really starts, I'll stop it. After all, she's a classmate; I can't let her be bullied."
Ayanokouji looked at him and didn't follow up.
Stop it?
With Yukimura's personality, he certainly would try. After all, while Yukimura had poor physical ability, his academic level was high, he had his own pride, and he was fundamentally a person with a sense of justice. So he might really try to do it, but someone like Manabe wouldn't listen to him at all. When the group became chaotic, Karuizawa's pressure would only increase.
Then, she would need help.
And the person who helped her could be Yukimura, or it could be... him, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
Of course, the prerequisite was that Karuizawa hadn't completely turned to Hikigaya's side. But if she was Hikigaya's person, Hikigaya should have already warned her about Manabe. So she might be on guard.
That made things a bit troublesome.
Furthermore.
The Rabbit Group didn't just have Yukimura, Karuizawa, and the exploitable Class C gal team; it also had Horikita Suzune. Horikita Suzune was also in the Rabbit Group, so if anything happened, Horikita might take action.
Ayanokouji: "..."
So to speak, if he were in the Rabbit Group himself, he could handle it personally, but he had been assigned to the Dragon Group, and the other members of the Dragon Group were all core students from other classes.
The school must have analyzed the source of his 50 points from the island exam and realized he could have obtained 302 points.
So they treated him as a person with strength in Class D, similar to a class representative.
Ayanokouji tapped the edge of the bed lightly. His attention returned to Karuizawa.
How should he win over Karuizawa... and he had to avoid Horikita.
Ayanokouji closed his eyes and spoke no more.
Seeing his silence, Yukimura didn't press further and continued looking down at his notebook.
Hirata Yosuke finally spoke up, his tone gentle, "Ayanokouji, saying that, you already have some ideas, right?"
Ayanokouji didn't answer.
Hirata didn't mind, just smiling slightly, "It's fine, you don't have to say if you don't want to. However, if there's really anything you need help with, just say the word."
Ayanokouji remained silent, his gaze fixed on the ceiling.
Help?
He didn't need help. He only needed pawns.
And Yukimura looked like a decent pawn. He came forward voluntarily, had a brain, had drive, and was willing to cooperate with him. There was no reason not to use such a person.
As for Karuizawa...
Ayanokouji narrowed his eyes slightly.
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Time finally arrived at the next morning.
7:00 AM.
At 8:00 AM, the school would send the information regarding the 12 VIPs to the students' phones. From 9:00 to 10:00 AM, they would need to go to the rooms designated by the school for group discussions for a one-hour exchange.
This exchange could foster relationships between classes or serve as the gunpowder to intensify class competition. Of course, the most important part was having the VIP join the discussion and try desperately to guard their identity, while others tried desperately to find the VIP's identity.
Hikigaya woke up and looked at the message on his phone.
[Are you awake?] It was from Horikita Suzune.
Yeah.
He hadn't contacted her last night about how to handle the exam, but it was now seven o'clock, and Horikita likely couldn't sit still anymore. She had started proactively sending messages.
Wasn't this more proactive than when he had asked her out before?
"There is no need to do anything right now," Hikigaya replied to her quite plainly.
For this exam, there was no need to act.
But Class B had already finished their preparations.
The core of this exam was "manage"—that is, to control and manage the students of one's own class. Those who are VIPs shouldn't be reckless, and those who aren't shouldn't guess randomly.
But what was truly important was information and intelligence.
Just as his plan for Class B was to confiscate everyone's phones, the intelligence regarding Class B's VIPs was limited only to him. To the others, they didn't even know if they were VIPs, and without phones, they had no way to make blind guesses.
However, this method was only defensive, built on the premise that the VIP distribution had no pattern and was random. Otherwise, if there truly were a pattern, other classes could still deduce it by collecting info on other classes' VIPs.
So he had to wait.
Wait for eight o'clock to confirm the final result.
Wait for eight o'clock when the Class B students would not know the VIP info, but all other students in the grade would know whether they themselves were VIPs.
And this point was exactly what Hikigaya meant by "no need to do anything right now." As long as the students of other classes could confirm whether their own VIP identity was true or false, they wouldn't be able to behave normally; there would inevitably be flaws.
By then, he would just have to eliminate the groups belonging to Class B's VIPs, and then he could specifically investigate the VIP identities of other classes in the remaining groups.
So to speak, this was the response method he had come up with.
This way, even if the school really stuffed five or six VIPs into Class B, which seemed terrifying, it actually reduced Class B's workload to some extent.
So, from here on out, it wasn't a game of Werewolf Kill at all, but was transforming into a game of cat and mouse.
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