Hachiman Hikigaya, who returned from his studies after completing his training.

Don't try to pin this on me, you male version of Horikita.

Kushida smiled on the outside but cursed Kanzaki inwardly. She didn't want to speak up for Kanzaki, that sycophant, but speaking up for Ichinose now would make it seem like she wasn't acting in the best interests of Class B.

Last night, after Hachiman left, Ryuen secretly met with the leadership of Class B and presented them with a cooperation proposal that they could hardly refuse. For Class B, this was practically a direct victory.

However, Ichinose temporarily refused, while Ryuen said that if Class A came to him, then the cooperation he had proposed with Class B would be called off.

"I also think Ryuen-kun's suggestion is very appealing." Under the watchful eyes of Ninomiya and Kanzaki, Kushida had no choice but to reluctantly agree with Kanzaki's suggestion.

Class B has three privileged students. The benefit of cooperating with Longyuan is that Longyuan will allow the groups of two of the privileged students to finish the exam with a result of 4. In return, Class B only needs to provide the names of the three privileged students and promise not to reveal who their class's privileged students are.

Moreover, even if the pattern cannot be deduced, Ryuen promised not to fill in the name of the last person receiving preferential treatment in Class B.

This is equivalent to giving Class B 100 class points at the start, providing them with a safety net.

This is a huge gamble for Class C.

Chapter 108 The Game of Drawing Jokers

The first day of the exam, at 1 p.m.

At the stroke of the hour, Hikigaya and Shiina Horikita entered the examination room marked with the character "dragon".

Nine of the twelve chairs arranged in a circle in the room were already occupied, leaving only three empty seats. As Hachiman and his friends sat down, the room's loudspeaker announced the start of the exam.

"According to the exam, everyone has to introduce themselves first. Who wants to be the first?"

"Then I'll be the first one, Katsuragi Kohei, Class A."

After Ichinose made the suggestion, Katsuragi was the first to respond, and after that, each student gave a brief self-introduction, except for Kushida, who added that he wanted to be friends with everyone.

Kushida still doesn't want to give up on cultivating her angelic persona.

"Now that we've finished introducing ourselves, let's first determine which group the students with special privileges from Class A will be in."

While Katsuragi watched coldly, Hikigaya took out nine tags. After giving three to each of Ryuen Ichinose, he wrote down the group of the Class D privilege recipient. After the three of them wrote down their names and mixed them together, it was immediately clear which group the Class A privilege recipient was in.

"Oh ho, so the Dragon Group's special treatment goes to the students of Class A, Katsuragi." Ryuen looked at the three students from Class A with a mocking expression.

Ge Cheng remained unfazed. "Then guess which of the three of us is the best, and which class is best. You can take a 1/3 chance."

“Nishikawa-kun.” Ryuen shifted her gaze from Katsuragi to the girl among the three from Class A who seemed the easiest to bully. “You are the one who gets preferential treatment.”

"Well, I am."

Facing Ryuen's sinister gaze, Nishikawa's expression didn't change much. It can only be said that he deserved to be assigned to the Dragon Group. He wouldn't lose his composure so easily. Seeing this, Ryuen 6 (1) and 1 "Scar" did not have any intention of giving up.

"Alright, take out the preferential treatment email and let me see it. Make sure it's the real personal points you filled in."

Holding her own phone and opening her personal terminal to display her millions of personal points, Ryuen walked up to Nishikawa, looked down at her, and handed her the phone, saying, "Take my phone if you agree."

"That's enough, Ryuen. From now on, Class A will no longer speak to you."

When Nishikawa looked troubled, Katsuragi decisively stepped in front of Ryuen and showed him his own way of dealing with the situation. When he couldn't get an answer from Katsuragi and the others after repeated questioning, he could only return to his seat.

After taking out his phone, Ryuen, following Hikigaya and Ichinose, also sent orders to the other students in the group that included the privileged members of Class A to attack Class A.

"What do we do now that Class A is curled up like a turtle shell?"

Ryuen, having returned empty-handed, looked at Hachiman. Hachiman was also at a loss when faced with Ryuen's question; he couldn't very well force the students of Class A to speak.

"Now that things have come to this, let's play cards first."

Under Ryuen's speechless gaze, Hachiman took out a deck of cards.

Each exam lasts an hour, and it's a bit strange for twelve people to sit together silently playing on their phones, so he brought a deck of cards with him.

"I only know how to play Joker."

"I don't play, it's a waste of time."

After Shiina expressed her desire to play, Horikita refused, and a girl named Ando from Class B also refused, while everyone from Class C refused.

This resulted in only one boy, Hachiman, participating. To be honest, he wanted to say he didn't want to play anymore, but seeing Shiina's excited expression, he didn't want to disappoint her.

After confirming the number of participants,

Four people slide their stools to form a circle facing the card direction (east, south, west, north). After the cards are dealt in Hachiman, the game of drawing the Joker officially begins.

"How about we play a game with a prize, like Truth or Dare?" Kushida asked with a cheerful smile after receiving the cards.

"I reject."

Hikigaya made a quick decision. He wasn't confident of winning the Joker game. He couldn't say for sure that he could beat Kushida's face-changing skills, and Ichinose and Shiina were not easy to deal with either.

"I think it's more fun to play if there's a prize involved."

"I also think Ichinose-san is right."

“Three to one, the majority must submit to the minority, Hikigaya, you can just accept your fate.” Kushida threw out three pairs of cards.

Since there were four participants, there were a total of forty-one cards, and Hachiman received eleven cards.

So Kushida started the game with only four cards left.

After Kushida threw out three pairs, Ichinose and Shiina also threw out two pairs.

Looking at the eleven cards in his hand, Hachiman wanted to just give up. Not only did he not have any pairs, but he also had jokers. What was he going to do?

"How unfortunate, Hachiman." Shiina chuckled lightly as she casually drew a card from Hikigaya's eleven decks, then her smile froze for a moment.

Shiina happened to pick the Joker card out of the eleven cards, and Hikigaya immediately smiled, which Ichinose and Kushida noticed.

"Hachiman is so wicked."

"Who told Hiyori to laugh at me just now?"

Knowing that the Joker was already in his hand, Shiina shuffled the cards in his hands before revealing them to Ichinose to draw. There was a one in seven chance that Ichinose would not be affected and might even draw a card that could form a pair with his own.

“Lucky.”

Ichinose happily played a pair, and then Kushida also drew a pair, leaving him with only three cards in his hand after playing his cards.

"Are you guys in Class B cheating? How come you're so lucky?"

After complaining, Hikigaya randomly drew a card from Kushida's hand and finally played his first pair.

After a few rounds, when Hikigaya drew the Joker from Kushida's hand, Kushida only had one left, while Shiina and Ichinose each had three.

Despite drawing the Joker from Ichinose's hand, she remained completely unfazed. Kushida is truly a terrifying woman.

"You tricked me, Kushida, I'll remember this." After he took the Joker, Kushida grinned and promptly revealed that the Joker was in his hand.

After shuffling the cards, Hachiman deliberately placed the Joker in the best draw position, slightly higher than the other cards.

What is virtual is real, what is real is virtual.

He's going to increase the intensity of Shiina's training.

Kushida has the best chance of winning right now. Whether it's Truth or Dare, Hachiman doesn't want Kushida to name him, so Shiina will have to take his place.

"Hachiman, you're not trying to lie to me, are you?"

He pinched the corner of the Joker card between his fingers, and Shiina's large purple eyes stared straight at him.

"How could that be? I'd rather lose than let Hiyori lose."

"Really?"

"Really." Hikigaya's tone was firm, while Ichinose, who was directly opposite him, pursed her pink lips slightly, looking a little unhappy.

After receiving Hikigaya's assurance, Shiina nervously drew the Joker card and put it into his hand, replacing it with a relaxed smile.

"Hachiman didn't lie to me after all." The adorable silver-haired literary girl didn't even blink when she lied.

Then, believing Shiina's Ichinose, she easily fell for the trick in the second round.

After Kushida won first place, Shiina only had one card left in his hand, while Ichinose had two.

With two cards in his hand that don't contain jokers, the decisive battle is fast approaching.

Chapter 109 I'm sorry, I want to lose.

What are you doing, Ichinose?

While Hachiman thought he would have to fight tooth and nail to avoid finishing last, Ichinose blatantly placed the Joker in a prominent position, allowing him to easily finish his hand and secure second place.

At this point, Shiina had only one card left in her hand, while Ichinose had two.

Just before Shiina was about to draw, Ichinose, with a pleasant smile, hid the card behind her back, then turned it around and brought it back to her front.

"Has Little Kikyo decided what the punishment is?"

"I've decided. If I choose Truth, I'll tell you who my favorite student is at this school. If I choose Truth, I'll send my favorite student a date invitation via text message."

"It seems quite interesting."

As she spoke, Ichinose held out two cards to Shiina, whose expression had turned serious. One of the cards was slightly more prominent than the other.

Hikigaya, "......"

Isn't this the strategy he used before? To make the real appear real and the illusory appear illusory.

However, even so, there's a good chance that the raised card isn't the Joker, so there are also strategies that go against the grain.

This is what makes Hachiman unwilling to play the Joker card game: if everyone can control their expressions, it all comes down to luck, and he doesn't think he's very lucky.

"Which card is the Joker, Ichinose-san?"

Suddenly, Shiina's expression became very serious, and she didn't seem to be playing a game at all.

"This is a game, you know." The implication was that Ichinose wouldn't answer her question.

"Which card is the Joker? I'll draw whichever card Ichinose-kun says is the Joker."

"That way, the fun of playing the Joker game is gone."

Faced with Shiina's serious expression and relentless approach, Ichinose felt a little flustered.

"Sorry, I want to lose, Ichinose-san."

In the somewhat eerie atmosphere, Ichinose, for some reason, reluctantly pointed the Joker to Shiina, who, after receiving the Joker, refused to shuffle the deck and relinquished his chance to win.

"I lost, Hachiman." Despite losing, Shiina wore a cheerful smile. "I choose truth or dare."

After choosing the dare, Shiina took out her phone and tapped a few times.

"I've already sent the date invitation text message."

"Ding dong."

Before Shiina could finish speaking, Hikigaya's cell phone rang.

It's the sound of receiving a text message.

In the awkward silence of the four staring at each other, the sharp-eyed Hachiman noticed a faint dent in the corner of the Joker card.

"Buzzing."

In the silence, Hachiman's phone rang again.

Filled with gratitude for being saved, he took his phone and went to the corner of the room to answer it. The caller was Himeno Yuki from Class B.

"You can call me scum again next time, Himeno."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Have you lost your mind?"

Hime's tone was cold and her voice was soft, so Hikigaya guessed that she was secretly calling him from a corner.

Because he didn't want to ask Kanzaki for help, he had no choice but to exchange a favor for Himeno's assistance. As long as Himeno stood up for Karuizawa, even if he was at a disadvantage, Kanzaki would take the initiative to stand up for Himeno.

"What trouble has Karuizawa run into?" Hikigaya asked in a low voice. This was the only reason Hime would call him.

Since it concerned the students of Class C, Hikigaya didn't want Ryuen and the others to hear it.

"I regret agreeing to your request." Hime's tone was full of dissatisfaction. "Karuizawa is so infuriating, as are that otaku named Sotomura and that four-eyed guy Shinmura."

"........"

Let's go back thirty minutes.

Because she had agreed to Hikigaya's request to look after Karuizawa and the three delinquent girls in Class C, Himeno dragged Kanzaki and Hamaguchi, two boys, into the Rabbit Group's room ten minutes before the exam.

After dissuading several boys from Class A with her eyes, she reserved a seat next to her for Class D, so that Karuizawa could sit there whenever he came and it would be convenient for her to protect him.