4.2
At 10:00 AM, the monitor in the participants’ waiting room lit up.
[First Discussion]
Participants:
2nd Year Class B
Sotomura Hideo, Makita Susumu, Minami Hakuo, Yukimura Teruhiko, Azuma Sana, Karuizawa Kei, Satō Maya
2nd Year Class D
Shibata Sō, Nakanishi Jirō, Moriyama Susumu, Andō Sayo, Yamagata Hina, Ishimaru Yuriko, Ōnuki Nagisa
‘Students whose names are displayed, please head to the discussion room.’
“Ah, I’m first... Maya-chan too...”
Karuizawa, who had been sitting bored with her phone confiscated, hurriedly stood up.
Satō, who was also set to go first, quickly ran down to join Karuizawa.
While many students still hadn’t fully grasped the rules, they stepped out into the hallway and began to move.
“Hey Yukimura-kun, what should we do?”
Satō approached Yukimura, who was walking nearby, and asked for advice.
“Just follow the instructions. After all, this discussion is not directly related to the class. If our roles are divided between ordinary students and honor students, it means we will become friends and foe.”
Although Yukimura’s words were cold, he added that this was the nature of the special exam this time.
“The examiner said it too. It’s best to follow the rules and tackle it to the best of your abilities.”
“That’s true, but... we still don’t quite understand what ‘best’[4] means...”
Seeing Satō and Karuizawa fidgeting nearby, Yukimura sighed. He found their way of thinking, which he thought was typical of girls, unpleasant.
However, Yukimura was no longer only thinking in the self-centered way he did when he first enrolled.
Nowadays, he spent time with Hasebe and Miyake whenever possible and learned to get along with people.
“Maybe... it’s not just you guys who are nervous and panicking. The other class must be in a similar state as well. Maybe the first step is to get used to the atmosphere of this exam, yeah? You’ve played the Werewolf game before, right?”
“I have a few times. So should I think of this in the same way?”
“I haven’t... Is there a trick to it?”
“Well... even if you’re chosen as an honor student, it’s better not to carelessly look at the other honor students. You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll be noticed and found out.”
Although he wasn’t used to it, Yukimura gave them advice which also helped calm himself down. He was aware of the magnitude of this end-of-year special exam. Despite his dissatisfaction with the secretive rules and the fact that they didn’t even allow updates on the progress of representatives, he had no choice but to put his mind into doing his best as a participant.
“Ah, I can see that. Where you’re looking and so on is important after all.”
Karuizawa seemed to vaguely understand the point and began explaining it to Satō.
Seeing this, Yukimura thought they would be fine for the time being.
“...I’m fine...”
He whispered so that no one could hear him.
Helping calm down the two girls who were unrelated to him, ended up being a benefit for himself as well.
He thought about this as headed towards the discussion location.
The classroom door opened, and all 14 students stepped in.
Karuizawa and Satō exchanged glances, indicating that they wanted to try and sit as close to each other as possible, sandwiching Shibata from Class D in between them. The idea was to sit as close to each other as possible, even if they weren’t able to do anything together.
The other students also sat in their preferred designated seats.
Some preferred to sit closest to the entrance, while others preferred to sit at the farthest seat possible. Their opinions varied.
As soon as the 14 students were seated, the start of the discussion was announced.
‘The end-of-year special exam will now begin. The roles of each student will be displayed on their respective tablets. Please check before starting the first round of discussion.’
Every student looked down at the tablets placed on their desks. The screen momentarily switched to display the roles of the 14 students.
Ordinary Students: 8
Honor Students: 2
Teacher: 1
Graduate: 1
Underclassman: 1
Upperclassman: 1
As explained in the rules, each student was assigned to a role of some kind. While everyone seemed hesitant to speak first, Yukimura Teruhiko from Class B was the first to act.
“Let’s get to it. Can you confirm that you aren’t an honor student, Nakanishi?”
“Why me all of a sudden? Why would I be an honor student?”
“Sorry, but you were the first one I made eye contact with.”
Since he became a regular student, Yukimura, hoping for an opening, launched an offensive attack.
He spoke, naming someone from another class despite knowing that it would cause a commotion.
From here, the discussion began to unfold rapidly.
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[4]: The word “best” (最善) is a Japanese saying that is hard to get across in English with the same nuance in this case. That is the reason for the emphasis on the word.
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