Volume 11, Chapter 4: Intro - What the Class Lacks

Translation by Graze and Confused Translations

The day after the class matchups were decided

Class C had arranged to hold another class-wide discussion once school was out for the day, so we were free to do what we wanted during the lunch break.

As a result, the Ayanokji Group gathered to eat lunch together, just like usual.

We all met up at the back of the classroom once lunch started and headed off to the cafeteria.

How did yesterdays discussion go?

Wasting no time, I asked my friends about what the class had discussed the day before.

It had taken about an hour for the commanders to determine the class matchups and go over everything, so by the time I had gotten back to the classroom, everybody had already gone back home for the day.

You didnt hear about it from Horikita-san? I guess that might make sense.

Airi responded with a vague answer, but after faltering for a moment, she spoke up again.

There was an event manual, right? Ultimately, everyone was having a hard time understanding the rules

There wasnt even a discussion in the first place. It was a complete waste of time.

Keisei let out an exasperated sigh.

Apparently, our discussion during yesterdays lunch break hadnt been enough for everyone to get a grasp of the rules. From the looks of it, the discussion after school yesterday ended once everybody had gotten on the same page. If thats what had happened, it wouldve been fairly typical of Class C.

Besides, the problem isnt just our class.

Whats that mean, Yukimuu?

There are only so many places on campus where a bunch of students can meet up, right?

Well, its definitely impossible for forty people to meet up at karaoke or some place at the mall. What of it?

I was the first person to leave the classroom after the discussion finished yesterday When I walked into the hallway, there were some Class A students lingering just outside the door.

Haruka and Airi exchanged confused glances with each other.

At first, Akito didnt seem to understand what Keisei was getting at either, but after a moment, he realized it.

Youre saying they were spying on us?

Thats exactly what Im saying. During this exam, important information will be spoken verbally, right? Even if they were only listening in on our discussion, its more than likely that they picked up on something.

Information like which types of events might get chosen, or who was good at what.

Without a doubt, it would be beneficial to obtain information like that, even if only a little.

In other words, the battle had already begun.

Looking at it from that point of view, Class C has already fallen behind.

Scary! Sakayanagi-sans already made her move.

Trembling in fear, Haruka began to rub the back of her arms.

Then, shouldnt we start to gather information about Class A? Kinda like that one guy said, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Quickly changing her tone, Haruka then proposed we fight back against Class A.

However, there was no way Keisei would agree so easily.

If it were that simple, it wouldnt be a problem in the first place.

Ehh?

Im probably not the only one who thinks this either. Even Horikita should understand that theres no point in doing that. Do you really think Class A is going to gather up in a classroom and hold a forty-person discussion?

Class C struggled with its lack of unity and cooperation, and these attributes were the first thing we needed to focus on.

This was completely different from Class A, where top students like Sakayanagi decided on everything.

Who the commander is. Who comes up with the events. Whos in charge of collecting information.

They had already decided on everything the moment the exam began.

Besides, even if they were to hold a classwide discussion, they would probably have two or three people stand guard to prevent us from eavesdropping.

But, like, wouldnt it be fine to at least try? We might even be able to catch them off guard at some point. Who knows, maybe theyll meet up in their classroom to talk about the exam.

If that happens, Id be afraid instead. Id suspect any information wed manage to get our hands on.

If the information we overheard ended up being fake, we wouldve just been wasting our time. Keiseis concerns were spot on. Information should be hidden when possible; anything that isnt should be heavily suspected.

However, an information war is absolutely inevitable. The crucial part is figuring out what kind of method to use

Do we even stand a chance?

Airi spoke, surrendering to her feelings of anxiety.

At this point, itd probably be better to think of it as though theyre just a step or two ahead of us.

Since Class C still hadnt even decided on anything yet, we had no reason to think we were in the lead in the first place.

Still, whod have thought wed have to go against Class A.

Sorry. Its my fault for losing the lottery.

In reality, I wouldve chosen Class A even if I had won, but Id at least act apologetic about it like this.

Ah, no, I wasnt implying that! Thats totally my bad! I wasnt blaming you at all, Kiyopon!

Haruka seemed to take my apology more seriously than I had expected, as she hurriedly spoke up to correct herself.

Expecting him to win a lotto with only a one in four chance of winning is kinda harsh, Haruka.

As Akito spoke, Haruka shrunk back even further.

T-thats why I said thats not what I meant

At this point she brought something else up, probably wanting to change the topic.

I think itd be nice if Class Ad go a little easy on us. Theyve got it easy going up against Class C. Dontcha think so too, Miyatchi?

"Go easy? Does Sakayanagi really seem like that type of person to you?

Not at all. She completely crushed Yamauchi-kun, and she could prolly flatten the rest of us too.

Disheartened, Haruka looked up and began to stare at the ceiling.

Anyways, it just keeps going wrong for you, doesnt it Kiyotaka? What with being commander under these circumstances.

Keisei patted me on the shoulder as if to console me for the trouble I was going through.

Well, I do have that protection point though. I didnt really have any other choice this time. I dont want to lose or anything, but Im pretty thankful that nobody has to worry about getting expelled.

For now, this was the only thing I could say to them.

Whatever the reason, I was the one selfishly leading us into the confrontation with Class A.

Our opponent is Class A. It wouldnt be your fault if we lose.

Plus, their commander is Sakayanagi-san.

In this situation, ninety-nine percent of people probably think Sakayanagi will win. In which case, my position in the class wouldnt change even if I were to lose. On the other hand, if I end up winning, the victory would be credited to Horikitas excellent leadership and the elaborate strategy she comes up with.

Yeah Winning this is probably going to be difficult.

Keisei crossed his arms and let out a defeated sigh.

At this point, however, Akito said something nobody was expecting.

Just because were up against Class A doesnt mean itll be impossible to win.

Really? Well, its not like I actually wanna lose, but

This isnt some secret plan or strategy, Haruka. Think about it carefully. Theres a way to snatch victory away from Class A, isnt there?

With that, Akito began his explanation.

Back when Chabashira announced the exam, I thought it was unreasonable to ask us to go up against the upper classes. But something Ike happened to say made me think of a way we could make it happen.

Something Ike-kun said? Wait, are you talking about when he brought up rock-paper-scissors?

Reminded of something, Haruka spoke up, causing Akito to nod in agreement.

At first, I thought it was kind of a stupid suggestion for an event. But, then I realized that, if we pick an event that revolves around luck, wed always have around a fifty-percent chance of winning, no matter who were up against. I dont think itd be a bad idea to come up with five events like Old Maid or Daifugo that rely on luck for the day of the exam.

Having heard Akitos explanation, Harukas eyes lit up.

With a strat like that, wed be on totally equal footing with anyone!

Yeah! I dont think its a bad idea either!

No It wouldnt be that simple.

While the three of them were getting caught up in their excitement, Keisei calmly criticized the idea.

I wont know for sure without actually doing the calculations, but the chances of us winning with that strategy are something like 5 to 10%.

What? Thats it? Im not saying our chances would be like, exactly 50% or anything, but it should be like at least 20 or 30%, right? How hard could it really be for our five events to get chosen and for us to win four of em?

Wed have to be incredibly lucky for everything to play out that way, Haruka.

All five of Class Cs events would have to end up getting selected, and wed have to get lucky enough to win at least four of them. If our odds of winning were an even 50% for each of those five events, our overall probability of winning the exam was

I took a moment to run the calculations in my head.

There was an 8.33% chance of all five of our events being chosen, and at a 50% win rate, the probability of winning four times would be 18.75%.

Considering that wed have to make it past both of those conditions, wed be left with a mere 1.56% chance of coming out on top.

In other words, it wasnt even close to 5%. Its hard to say that relying on luck to win would be a good idea.

That being said, this was only considering everything from a simple, standardized viewpoint where luck was the only thing supporting my calculations.

In reality, various other factors would affect our true chances of winning, but ultimately its far too detrimental to call this an effective strategy.

This meant we should choose events based on what were good at, even if it bears somewhat more of a risk.

The fewer events that revolve around luck, the better.

Its that bad? It was just a thought I had, is all.

Having realized how naive his suggestion was, Akito scratched at his cheek.

At this point, I noticed Airi was looking at me with concern, and her expression became all the more worried once I turned to face her.

Kiyotaka-kun Uhm, are you alright? Being the commander

It seemed like Airi had been getting more and more concerned as the difficulty of beating Class A became more and more apparent.

Yeah Kiyopon. You dont need to push yourself just cuz you got a Protection Point.

Haruka spoke up, finishing Airis sentence before she could come up with the words.

Harukas right. At the very least, none of us thought there was something going on between you and Sakayanagi. Right guys?

Everyone nodded. It didnt feel bad being trusted like this.

Like, some of our classmates seemed to be kinda suspicious of you still, but Horikita-sans explanation seemed like it convinced pretty much everyone. I mean, at first I totally thought having a Protection Point would be great, but now it seems like itd be troublesome to have one, ya know?

Im a little jealous of everyone who got Protection Points, but after seeing the situation Kiyotaka-kuns in, I feel like Id just end up losing it right away if I had gotten one

At the end of the day, only one person was safe. Everyone else was left to fend for themselves. It wouldnt be easy to maintain safety like that without fully resolving yourself.

In contrast with Airis timid self-evaluation, Keisei crossed his arms and disagreed.

For me, I wouldnt give up my Protection Point no matter what anybody says.

Even if you end being resented or hated because of it? Because of their jealousy?

Youre missing the point here. I wouldnt want to give in to stuff like that just because of something that I rightfully won. Instead, Kiyotaka shouldve done what he could to keep it to protect himself.

As if he had become the victim here, Keisei indignantly kept his arms crossed.

Akito, who had been silent until now, looked at me and spoke.

The truth is, fighting against Class A is gonna be tough, so its probably better that Kiyotaka agreed to take the risk. If it had been anybody else, we might be seeing our second expulsion here soon, right? Or are you saying that you couldve been the commander, Keisei?

That Well, I dont really think so.

Though, its not like I didnt understand Keiseis frustration. He had probably just wanted to emphasize that wed have an easier time winning with a more capable student as the commander.

Its unfortunate that we have to avoid expulsion during this exam too, but I wonder who wouldve been the best fit as commander without it? Horikita-san?

Airi tilted her head as she carefully thought about all of the options.

Huh, Horikita-san seems about right to me? Or maybe someone like Hirata-kun or Kushida-san? Yukimuu mightve done pretty good too.

She listed off a bunch of students whod have probably gotten consistent results as the classs commander.

Hirata, huh I wonder what his deal is.

At this point, Akito seemed to think that continuing to talk about going against Class A would only dampen the mood, so he changed the subject.

Hey Keisei, how do you see the Class D versus Class B matchup playing out?

In particular, he brought up the other teams thatd be waging war during this special exam.

Chances are Class Bs gonna win. Their teamwork is on another level, and overall, theyre a strong class to have to match up against.

Yeah! Plus, their commander is Kaneda-kun, not Ryen-kun.

They probably thought that there was no need to be afraid of Class D without Ryen.

However, Ishizaki and the rest of Class D had been looking to fight Class B from the very start. While its unexpected, it isnt something to make light of. If I were in charge of Class D, I wouldve chosen to fight Class B as well. Class A is led by Sakayanagi, and has a number of tough opponents like Katsuragi and Hashimoto. Whats more, their class as a whole has the best academic abilities out of our entire school year. When it comes to Class C, they probably dont like the idea of going against me. Of course, one could also argue that theyd expect me to keep my presence hidden, but either way, Class Ds specialty is their physical ability, not their academics. In order to make the most out of their strong points, Id still probably choose Class B. Though, this wouldnt give them the upper hand or flat-out win the exam for them. It was just their best choice to avoid defeat.

Whether or not Class D can actually win would depend on their decisions moving forward, along with a little bit of luck.

It was nothing more than a small glimmer of hope at this point.

Hey guys, look at that.

Haruka whispered to us, motioning over to the entrance of the cafeteria where Hirata had just walked in.

At a glance, his steps were aimless and heavy, kind of like a zombie or somebody possessed by a ghost.

His eyes lacked ambition. The difference between the person we were looking at and his bright, usual self was striking.

Hes like seriously ill or something.

Haruka muttered a few words, but there was simply nothing more to say. Hirata was somebody who had done more for our class than anybody else. The class had gotten through this past year without losing anyone, and Hiratas actions had undeniably played an important part in that.

Hiratas pretty much useless in this special exam. Going up against Class A was already hard enough, but now weve also gotta deal with such a large handicap right from the start.

Keiseis words sounded a little cold.

There Theres nothing we can do, is there?

Other students have already attempted to approach him plenty of times.

So far, it didnt seem like anybody had managed to get through to him. Nothing they did seemed to have an effect.

Instead, the situation seemed to be getting even worse because of everyones excessive prodding.

Nobody in the Ayanokji Group was particularly close with Hirata either, so its only natural that our voices wouldnt be able to reach him.

For that very reason, none of us saw the need to overreact to what Keisei was implying. It was somebody elses problem.

(Introduction End)