Hearing Sakagami's explanation of the rules left everyone on the bus completely dumbfounded.
"Hey, hey—seriously? Academics and physical ability, fine, but copying Buddhist sutras? What the heck?"
"Teacher, I'm not even Buddhist! Isn't the school basically forcing a religion on us? That's not fair or maybe even legal!"
"And what's with this personal ability part? The chosen person is separated from us, right? Are we staying in the same lodging or not? We still need Yukio-san to direct us. If that person's away, doesn't that lower our overall strength as a class?"
Sakagami seemed prepared for such questions. Holding the mic in one hand, he pressed his other palm down in a calming gesture. "Don't panic. One thing at a time. Just think of copying sutras as memorizing an extra passage of text – nobody cares whether you truly believe it or not."
"As for the Personal Ability segment, that person can't participate in the normal categories. They'll be separated and face a different competition. The specifics are undisclosable, so just choose someone strong."
At that point, Sakagami even had the leisure to joke, calling on the class's most clueless member. "Ishizaki, since you're so loud, how about you do it?"
"Huh?!" Ishizaki seemed stunned, pointing at himself with an index finger, then shaking his head vigorously. "No way, Teach! I'd just be handing them a free win. I'm okay at fighting, but this personal ability definitely isn't about brawling!"
Many students chuckled at Sakagami and Ishizaki's banter. The initial tension eased, the mood growing lighter.
"All right, I'm not forcing you," Sakagami said, waving Ishizaki off with a smile. "I haven't finished explaining. Let me go on, and then you can decide who to pick."
"Third: For this special exam, final rankings on Day Eight will be aggregated from all events. Only the first-years receive a 20% score boost. It was originally going to be 30%, but after you dominated the Workplace Special Exam, the school decided to nerf it to 20."
Speaking of that, Sakagami's wrinkled face almost blossomed with laughter. The other students were equally delighted, feeling genuine pride at not needing as big a handicap from the upperclassmen.
"Fourth: The prize/penalty system. The class that takes first place in the overall rankings gets +300 class points. Each rank after that is 50 fewer, so sixth place gets only +50."
"From seventh place on, you lose 50 class points, and each rank below loses an additional 50. Twelfth place loses 300. It's practically the same as how we handled rewards and penalties back during the sports festival, so you should be used to it.
"Of course, I'm sure none of you will drop into the bottom six. Work hard."
"And fifth: Because this is a forest school, follow all their usual rules—cleaning up, doing laundry, cooking, no littering, etc. Anyway, we'll hand out a manual so you can read for yourselves. I won't bother reciting it."
Sakagami was apparently too lazy to elaborate. He glanced over the main points, then began distributing manuals to the front-row students. He trusted this current group enough not to worry much about housekeeping issues. Had it been right after enrollment, he might have lectured them about tidiness, but after all they'd been through, he no longer needed to remind them; they'd do it reflexively. Such habits were exactly what grew out of the school's ever-present surveillance.
Those up front passed the manuals back. Ryuuen suddenly stood from the last row. "Yukio, let me handle that personal ability thing. I'm curious to see how each class chooses their representative."
He had evidently mulled it over: for the general class competition, Yukio could direct their class just fine, while Ryuuen went off to see who other classes would send to the personal-ability match.
"Sure," Yukio agreed. He had already intended that arrangement—way back in the Student Council discussion, after Horikita suggested the idea. Having Ryuuen handle the personal track while Yukio stayed with the class minimized risk and maximized gains. That division of labor was the optimal approach.
Over in Sakayanagi's class, once they heard Mashima's explanation, many eyes turned toward Sakayanagi. Without question, they needed to pick one outstanding student for the personal-ability category. But Sakayanagi herself was clearly not suitable. She needed to stay put and command, plus her weak constitution meant she'd be outclassed in any all-round test. She was the type to remain seated, devising strategy.
Sure, that might sound blunt, but her classmates dared not voice it openly. Still, it showed in their eyes. Sakayanagi wasn't bothered in the slightest—she'd endured such looks for over a decade. Her frailty was a fact, and she had no intention of competing in that segment. "As for personal ability," she said, "I wonder if Katsuragi-kun would be willing to step up for the class?"
Katsuragi? The entire class stared, taken aback at the tall, bald guy. Once the first semester ended and Sakayanagi established control, Katsuragi had been thoroughly sidelined, bordering on ostracism. Most simply ignored him, a kind of silent bullying. Yet all this time, he'd carried out his duties without complaint, giving his best whether it was the sports festival or the Workplace Special Exam. Everyone noticed—though also felt complicated, remembering how in earlier exams he had cost them quite a bit. It was a mix of anger and pity. He was also the loser in the struggle for class power, so no one dared chat with him for fear of displeasing Sakayanagi.
Nobody had expected her to nominate Katsuragi for the personal-ability track. Didn't she fear that if he excelled, it might shake her leadership? But as they watched her calmly propose him, many felt deep respect. Only Sakayanagi could put aside personal grudges so readily for the class's benefit.
"If it's Katsuragi, we have no objections."
"Yeah, his individual ability really is impressive."
Katsuragi froze for only two seconds before nodding. He realized Sakayanagi's decision was indeed best for the class. "Understood. I'll do my utmost."
Sakayanagi smiled gracefully, like a noble lady delegating a task to her butler. "I look forward to good news from you, then."
They resumed discussing the other three categories, and only then did Sakayanagi lower her voice. "They're all looking at Katsuragi's bulky frame. None of them notice his sports skills are pretty mediocre, hmm?"
Around that moment, Hashimoto edged behind Sakayanagi's seat, quietly whispering with Kamuro and Kitou: "You guys might not know, but aside from decent stamina, Katsuragi's not that physically gifted. I'm skinnier than him but probably more athletic."
In Ichinose's class, the situation resembled that of Yukio's. After learning the exam details, Kanzaki volunteered himself to go solo on the personal-ability track, leaving Ichinose to focus on leading the class. Nobody objected—Kanzaki had both the brains and the athletic skill, effectively a well-rounded star. If Ichinose didn't have her top-tier people skills, perhaps Kanzaki would've been the one heading the class…
***
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