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

"You chickened out just because someone as weak as Yukimura threatened you? Are you even a man?"

"Right, right, you're even afraid of Xin Cun?"

Seeing that the villager was shrinking back and planning to become a turtle, Yamashita from Class C tried to provoke him, and Yabu also chimed in to his defense.

Of the three in Class C, only Manabe, the former leader, remained silent like a ghost. The red swelling on his cheeks was quite noticeable, but the other students, remembering his previous arrogance, dared not cross him.

"I'm not afraid of that bespectacled frog Xincun, I just... I just..."

Upon hearing their words, the villager was furious and lowered his head without daring to finish his sentence.

"He said you're a four-eyed frog, Xincun."

Machida stirred things up, and Shinmura could no longer pretend to be dead and not hear anything, so he retaliated against the other village. During their exchange of insults, Yabuna and Yamashita would occasionally stir things up to let the two know that there were girls watching them.

Whoever loses will lose face big time.

"If you dare to show your phone to anyone, I'll make sure Hachiman expels you from school!"

Although Yukimura is a top student, his vocabulary and level of swearing are no match for that of Soemura, an old otaku who is addicted to online games and anime. When he was scolded and his defenses were broken, he could only bring up Hikigaya again.

This time, however, the blushing Tomonura didn't keep quiet like before. Instead, he quickly took out his phone, opened the text message interface, and showed it to Hime. Shinmura thought to himself, "This is bad," but it was too late to stop him.

“You’re the real man, classmate from another village.”

"Xin Cun is no match for you at all."

While praising the actions of the outsider, Yabuya Yamashita from Class C surrounded them, and the students from Class A also squeezed in front of the outsider's phone.

The phone held by the person from another village displayed a text message from the school that clearly stated the owner of the phone had been selected as a recipient of preferential treatment.

After confirming this, the students outside of Class D immediately looked at each other with scrutinizing eyes, each of them hesitating whether or not to fill in the names of the villages outside the class.

Despite the commotion, wasn't this preferential treatment revealed to be too simplistic?

"Himeno, what are you doing?"

"What are you doing? What if we don't post our names now and the students from Class C and Class A beat us to it?"

While rapidly typing on her phone, Hime answered Kanzaki's questions, her face showing a mixture of excitement and anxiety under everyone's gaze.

"We can't be sure yet. What if the phone belongs to someone else?" Kanzaki firmly rejected Hime's impulsive actions, and the others calmed down after hearing Kanzaki's words.

As Shinmura angrily berated the pale-faced outsider who was terrified by Hime's actions, the phone that the outsider was clutching under his limp arm suddenly rang.

"I got the phone number of the girl from the other students." Tetsuya Hamaguchi, the usually taciturn member of Class B, pushed up his glasses. "Himeno-kun, you can send it now."

“Don’t send it.”

Kanzaki quickly stopped Himeno, but Himeno only gave him a helpless look.

"It's already been sent." As she spoke, Himeno showed Kanzaki the email that had already been sent and included the name of the outlying village, not caring that the students from Class C and Class A were secretly watching and confirming it.

When most people in the room thought the exam was over, there was no notification that the exam was finished for a long time.

Chapter 116 Class D Makes a Huge Profit

"Even if I guessed wrong, the exam should be over by now," Yabuna muttered to herself.

Once a text message is sent out asking who the recipient of the special treatment is, the Rabbit Group exam will generally end at that time, and all members will receive a text message announcing the end of the exam.

"That's because of the rule that if a classmate of a student receiving preferential treatment answers incorrectly, the answer will be considered invalid and will not be accepted. Am I right, Kanzaki-kun?"

After pressing the send button, Machida smiled confidently. While others were wondering why the exam wasn't over yet, he quickly connected the dots and confirmed that the privileged student was in Class B.

Given that both Himeno and Hamaguchi agreed to send the text message, while only Kanzaki consistently opposed it, it's quite obvious who the recipient of the preferential treatment is.

He's going to steal the spotlight this time.

"This must be Hachiman's strategy, it's a pity that the three of you are a bit too slow to react." After mocking Kanzaki, Machida looked at Shinmura, who had just taken out his phone to type.

Although he hesitated for a moment about why the phone that the other villager had was able to call him, when he saw Shinmura looking at Kanzaki with a sudden realization and taking out his phone, he decided to take the lead in the time-sensitive situation.

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this strategy? If they had told me beforehand, I would have realized it much sooner."

Shinmura's regretful expression was like that of someone who had lost 20 million points. He hadn't received a single word about it and was puzzled for a long time before he remembered what Machida had just said in the exam results.

Seeing Yukimura's remorseful expression, Machida's unease lessened a bit. It must be because of the discord between Yukimura and the otaku Sotomura that the Hachiman Plan was not executed perfectly, allowing Sotomura to steal the fruits of victory.

He is right.

[The Rabbit Group's exam has ended. Rabbit Group students do not need to take any further exams. Please be careful and do not disturb other students.]

Within seconds of Machida sending the text message, all students received a text message informing them that the Rabbit Group exam was over.

------------------

"We've made a fortune!" Hikigaya, who had received a call from Karuizawa in the Dragon Group, whispered to Shiina, sharing his joy at the windfall.

The third result is that the class with preferential treatment is misjudged. Class A loses 50 class points while Class D gains 50, and the class with preferential treatment itself can still get 500,000 personal points.

Compared to the preferential treatment recipient hiding until the end and achieving result two, which only results in the preferential treatment recipient receiving a reward of 500,000 personal points.

According to his plan, if none of the students in Class A and Class C fall for the trick, Karuizawa will then stand up and openly mock Kanzaki for exposing the reason, and then arrogantly send a text message with Kanzaki Ryuji's name on it to the school in front of everyone.

Meanwhile, when everyone's attention was drawn to Karuizawa, Hamaguchi would secretly take out his phone, write Karuizawa Megumi's name on it, and send it to the school to create the illusion that the privileged student was not in Class C but in Class B, specifically Kanzaki Ryuji.

To protect the status of those receiving preferential treatment, the results of each group's exam will only be announced on the day the exam ends, and only the results will be published. Changes in class points will be tallied across all twelve groups before being announced.

Therefore, the current students cannot possibly know the results of the Rabbit Group's exam.

In this way, as long as Class A and Class C believe that Kanzaki is the recipient of preferential treatment, then Class A and Class C will absolutely not be able to find a pattern in the selection of the recipient of preferential treatment.

"Then how do we make up for the class points we promised to give to Class B? We've already told Ichinose that Karuizawa is a privileged student. If we give them another privileged student's name, they'll know there are five."

"Now that the Dragon Group has confirmed that the preferential treatment recipients are from Class A, if we use the assumption method to add the names of Katsuragi and the others one by one to deduce, then it is possible to determine the pattern of the preferential treatment recipients based on the names of the six preferential treatment recipients."

Shiina's meaning is more understandable than Kikiya's. If another preferential treatment name is given to Class B, then Class B's chances of deducing the pattern of preferential treatment selection will be greatly increased.

During the small meeting, when several people were discussing the pattern of the selection of preferential treatment recipients, they also speculated from the school's perspective on how many names of preferential treatment recipients would be needed to deduce the pattern. Their final guess was around six, with a maximum of no more than seven.

If it takes eight people to deduce the answer, that would be too difficult, and the reward for only four groups that failed to deduce the answer would be too small, which is unreasonable.

"Then let's arrange for Ichinose to tell us the group of students whose names we already know to try another method. If we can make Class A and Class C take the fall like this time, that would be best. If not, we'll deliberately guess wrong and then announce to the outside world that the group receiving preferential treatment is our Class D."

"There's a reason why Hachiman and Ryuen get along so well, with all these tricks going on." Shiina smiled sweetly and sat a little closer to Hikigaya, her long, smooth silver hair emitting a pleasant fragrance.

"How dare you mock me, this tyrannical and ruthless dictator? Hiyori, you have quite the nerve."

The faint fragrance made him restless. Shiina was within easy reach of Hachiman. It had been a long time since he had last stroked Shiina's soft, long hair back in their dorm room.

He missed the relaxed and pleasant atmosphere of that time.

Under the guise of playful fighting, Hikigaya couldn't help but place his hand on her head and stroke it a couple of times with a slightly heavy, almost punishing force. Her skin still felt so delicate and smooth.

"So what if he's a dictatorial, fierce-eyed tyrant? He was still chased by Suzune this afternoon and had pillows thrown at him." Shiina pouted, but her expression softened.

Because Horikita was unhappy with Hikigaya for betraying the class's interests, she chased after him with a pillow and threw it at him for quite a while in the afternoon. Since Hikigaya needed Horikita's help from time to time, he could only endure it.

So what if it gets smashed? It's just a pillow, it doesn't hurt at all, it's just a little embarrassing.

"I didn't expect the Rabbit Team to be the first to finish. Hachiman, you really did a good job. It's a pity that Class A got the credit."

With a grin, Ryuen leaned over and put his arm around Hachiman's shoulder. When the Rabbit Team finished their exams, everyone received a text message. They only needed to talk to their own students a little to find out what happened in the Rabbit Team.

"Yes, it's a pity. The students in Class A are really quick to react." As the party whose interests were harmed, Hachiman appropriately put on a regretful expression.

"Katsura, aren't you going to give a victory speech? This is the first time Class A has ever gotten the better of Class D."

"The exam results won't be announced for another three days, so it's hard to say whether Class A will have an advantage." Katsuragi didn't show a hint of happiness in response to Ryuen's words.

Machida's decision to send a text message to the school without informing him shows that Machida still doesn't trust him.

Although the situation was faster at that time, Ryuji Kanzaki was really favored by the Rabbit Group.

The speculation is reasonable and well-founded, and Katsuragi doesn't seem to have any problems, but is it really that easy to take advantage of Hikigaya?

"Machida Koji guessed wrong. The Rabbit Group was a scheme orchestrated by Class B and Class D."

While Katsuragi was still wondering, Morishita looked at Hikigaya with certainty.

Chapter 117 Hui is so satisfied

"Yes, yes, you're right. In recognition of your intelligence, I've decided to award Class A a prize."

If Karuizawa had stepped forward and written Kanzaki's name down, it might have made the whole thing seem more real. The fact that Hikaru Hikigaya was taken advantage of by Class A is enough to make the smart people in Class A suspicious.

But despite the doubts, there's no doubt that Kanzaki isn't a privileged student in Class A until the exam results are out.

Hikigaya guessed that Morishita might be testing him, so he decided to let this young man know the dangers of society.

"Horikita, have the students in the group of the A-class privilege recipients tell the classmates in A-class to come to me with their privilege recipient phones. If I confirm it's true, I'll give each privilege recipient five million points. Of course, I'll hide their identity. They can take the money whenever they want, I guarantee it with my reputation as a Hachiman."

"I will also vouch for Hachiman in my own name. If Hachiman doesn't give it, Class B will."

When Hikigaya put pressure on Class A, Ichinose also stepped up to help.

Exchanging five million personal points for fifty class points would definitely be a profit in the later stages of third grade, but we are in the early stages of first grade now, and the value of five million personal points is no less than that of fifty class points.

This applies to the class as a whole, not to mention to individuals.

"Hachiman, I have to criticize you for this."

While Morishita looked speechless, Shiina smiled and interrupted Morishita Ai. When everyone thought she was dissatisfied with Hikigaya's bullying of Morishita, Shiina's smile deepened.

"You should convey your message to all the groups, and also mention that it was Morishita who got this award for them. The students in Class A should thank Morishita properly. You're just too soft-hearted."

Everyone: "........."

I'm furious again. That damn Hachiman always seems to mess with people's mentality.

While everyone was wondering if Shiina had drunk some kind of drug, Morishita was already lying uncomfortably in a chair, feeling like she was about to reach the level of being hated by everyone in Class A as Sakayanagi did.

Even though Hachiman was clearly targeting Class A, he always used the excuse of offending him to make his move.

Hachiman is such a bad person.

"Hachiman, can you please stop with these underhanded schemes? Ryuen is not someone you should be learning from."

After a brief silence from Shiina, Katsuragi realized that this was Hikigaya's scheme. His words had delayed Ryuen's silence, and he felt that Katsuragi was targeting him.

"...I also want to vouch for Hachiman. If Hachiman doesn't give it to our Class C, then he will."

"That's a negative guarantee, I refuse." Hachiman gave his reply in less than a second.

"Hey, hey, hey, where did our friendship go, Hachiman?"

Suddenly, Ryuen tightly bound Hachiman's neck, acting as if he were best buddies with Hachiman. Seeing this, Katsuragi didn't say anything more and just sighed.

Despite becoming Hikigaya's ex-girlfriend, Ichinose did not distance herself from him. Ryuen and Hikigaya were in cahoots again. The alliance between the three classes centered around Hikigaya was not weak at all. Only by bleeding out Class A could they stabilize one of the classes, just like on the deserted island.

No matter which class you want to cooperate with, if you don't bleed money, no one will even look at you. But even if you bleed money, Class A won't get much benefit after the special exam, so you get stuck in a vicious cycle.

Furthermore, their new leadership team for Class A has only recently been established, and one of its members, Morishita, has already made a series of mistakes. If they were to offer further concessions to seek cooperation now, the students of Class A would revolt.

"Sigh." Morishita Katsuragi sighed after glancing at him. "Can't this silly kid do something right? I went against everyone's wishes to put you in this position, not to pull me down."

Faced with Katsuragi's sigh, Morishita's Ge You-style reclining posture became even more standard.

------------------

After the first day of the special exam, Karuizawa happily ordered the same overly sweet coffee that Hachiman had drunk last time for him in the comfortable air-conditioned private room, and ordered the same one for himself as well.

Using the excuse of needing to discuss what to do if Manabe and the others found out about her past of being bullied, Karuizawa easily arranged to meet with Hikigaya.

"Why are you drinking the same thing as me? Didn't you say it was very sweet last time?"

"Because it's something Hachiman likes, he did it without realizing it."

As she spoke, Karuizawa sat down next to Hachiman. She leaned against him without any hesitation on the two-seater sofa. If Hachiman moved in a little, she would move in a little closer, always trying to be right next to him.

"Isn't there no one sitting across from me? Why are you squeezing in next to me?"

"Because I'm afraid."

Despite not feeling scared at all, she still lied to Hikigaya because she knew that the boy in front of her would indulge her in every way once he heard her say that; he was a responsible and overly kind person.

She wrapped her arms tightly around the boy's and rested her head on his shoulder.

Even when she recalls the scene of being beaten on the lower deck of the cruise ship, Karuizawa is not afraid at all.

The moment she decided she would never betray Hikigaya, she finally understood why she always disliked Ichinose when they were in the cruise ship gym.

This is because Ichinose just abandoned what she liked and acted as if she didn't want to give it up to anyone else.