"Because I am the Dragon Group's VIP."
That single statement was more than enough to reveal his abnormality.
This exam has several possible strategies, but every one of them revolves around the VIP.
In essence, it's an exam won by the class that identifies the VIP. Keeping the VIP's identity hidden is merely the major premise.
"…W-what are you saying?"
"I'm not saying anything particularly difficult."
"I'm not asking if it's easy or hard! Do you have any idea how ridiculous what you're—"
It had been a long time since I'd felt myself raising my voice like this. That was how rattled I was.
The one responsible for it sat deeply in his chair, a faint change breaking through his usual expressionless face.
He looked solidly prepared to field the barrage of questions about to come his way.
"Calm down, Horikita-san. Isn't it a bit early to conclude he's definitely the VIP?"
"Hirata-kun. But he himself just—!!"
I had lost my composure. It was something I should have realized with ordinary thinking, but my agitation had blinded me to it.
"…A lie. That's a possibility too. That's what you're saying, isn't it, Hirata-kun?"
"Yeah. Suddenly revealing you're the VIP is practically suicidal. I can't imagine him doing that. So I think there's something behind it."
Hirata-kun, viewing the situation objectively, calmly analyzed what had just happened and grasped the circumstances.
Regaining my own calm, I began considering what could be done assuming he was lying.
"Kamukura-kun, could it be that you're…"
"Trying to guide this exam to Outcome 4? Unfortunately, that guess is incorrect."
Outcome 4. It's a method available only once the VIP is identified. The ability to send the VIP's information to the school at any time during the exam makes it a double-edged sword with only one use. A means fraught with danger.
If the submitted VIP is correct, it becomes Outcome 3; if wrong, Outcome 4.
The details of Outcome 4 is the class of the student who sent the wrong answer receives a -50 class point penalty, while the true VIP gains 500,000 private points, and their class receives +50 class points.
"It's a lie. You're waiting for someone to send a wrong answer, aren't you? Hiding the other VIPs in Class C and aiming for a solo victory."
Kanzaki-kun stated it flatly. Assuming the real VIP was one of the other three from Class C led naturally to the conclusion of using Outcome 4.
A bold strategy. Extremely effective in the first discussion, where the VIP's identity is completely unknown. The timing was perfect—concluding that his claim of being the VIP was a lie made far more sense.
But was that really the case?
"Though… we can't completely rule out that it's true, right?"
"No way. If it were true, he'd be a total madman. There'd be no benefit."
Nishikawa-san from Class A shot down Kushida-san's faint hope.
As Nishikawa-san said, if Kamukura-kun's words were true, he would indeed be a madman. Equivalent to a hindrance that produced only disadvantages.
Yet the other Class C students sitting near him looked just as stunned as we did. It didn't seem like they had anticipated this situation.
If it truly were a strategy to lead to Outcome 4, they should have been informed in advance. Acting unilaterally would be far too risky.
Were their stunned expressions calculated acting, or genuine reactions to Kamukura-kun's independent move?
With my analytical ability, it was hard to judge.
"Summarizing the information, what this guy says is a lie. He's deliberately trying to make us err, aiming for Class C's solo win.
Don't let him fool you, everyone. Never send his name to the school."
Katsuragi-kun conveyed it loudly, emphasizing the importance.
"You failed. Trying to induce panic is pointless now. We won't dance on your palm so many times."
"Failed? Me?"
"Don't bluff. Your strategy has been exposed. As a result, it's revealed that Class C has the VIP. As you know, in this exam, the VIP is the reins to victory.
With it narrowed to one in three, if you don't call this situation a failure, what would you call it?"
"Boring."
"…Let's see how long you can keep that composure."
Katsuragi-kun glared with anger unlike his usual self.
There was no sign of remorse in Kamukura-kun. The hate continued to pile up. The microcosm of "Class C versus everyone else" was already formed.
The one who had drawn the hate remained expressionless. That calm likely came from his predictions up to this point being correct.
Thinking that, I tried to observe his behavior.
That was when it happened.
"…I'm sorry."
Suddenly, the typhoon began moving again.
And strangely, it started moving in a completely different way from before.
"Could you please stop doubting me already? I've only been telling the truth."
"…Huh?"
I let out a ridiculously dumb sound.
His usual androgynous voice had lost all vitality, like flowers on the verge of wilting. He hung his head, murmuring words haltingly.
If I had to describe that voice in one word... a whimper. Hearing emotion laid bare like this felt deeply unsettling to me.
"I just… wanted to guide this to Outcome 1. I don't want anyone to get hurt in this exam. That's why I took action, yet…"
"Pathetic. No one's falling for that acting."
"…It's not acting. I…"
"Enough already!! If you really wanted to end with Outcome 1, there's a proper timing to speak up!! The moment you revealed it was practically begging us to send a wrong answer!!"
Kanzaki-kun raised his voice and pressed the attack, as if shaking off any compassion toward the unnaturally natural whimpering.
Kamukura-kun's shoulders jerked—it felt impossibly creepy.
The scene had shifted into something resembling bullying the weak, and no one objected.
We couldn't give an opening to the man before us whose words and actions didn't match. That was an unconscious shared understanding.
"…E-even so… Even so, I… I!"
"…!? Everyone, wait a second! Maybe he really—"
The cry wrapped in anguish carried a certain core strength.
A flashback passed through my mind.
Hirata Yousuke—this man who always tried to treat everyone equally—couldn't help reacting.
However...
"Don't be fooled."
Unexpectedly, it was Kushida-san who cut through the contradiction.
Her unusually serious expression glared with a ferocity unthinkable from her public face.
"Kamukura-kun, you showed me before… didn't you? Among your many talents, that special one… the talent of a con artist.
You're using that talent right now, aren't you? Actively deceiving people like this?"
Her cold tone was unlike her.
To me, who knew her hidden side, it was immediately clear her actions were filled with malice—but even without that knowledge, it was intense enough to risk exposing her true nature.
Regardless, this attitude confirmed he was a clear enemy to her as well. That was progress.
A common enemy meant even she would likely become cooperative.
"Kushida, by 'con artist talent,' you mean the talent to deceive people?"
"Yes. The talent to make lies and acting seem completely real. When he showed it to me once… he explained it like this."
"I see. So because Kushida had seen it once, she could see through it. Indeed, detecting his words and actions as lies is extremely difficult. Calling him a con artist wouldn't be an exaggeration."
Kushida-san nodded lightly without her usual charm. Her serious expression—so unlike the affectionate her—lent credibility.
"Vile tactics."
"Kamukura-kun, is what she said true? Was that just now acting—were you trying to deceive us?"
"No need to ask, Hirata-kun. It's just an escape route he prepared for when his strategy was exposed."
Nishikawa-san declared it firmly, but whether it was correct remained unknown.
Hirata-kun couldn't believe this situation. No—he didn't want to believe it, so he pressed further.
"Please answer. If you truly were trying to guide us to Outcome 1…"
A loud bang echoed through the room as a fist slammed the table.
The source was the clenched left hand of the eerie, long-haired male student. Hirata-kun's voice was cut off.
"…Damn it… why, why is this happening?!"
Izuru Kamukura spoke in a pathetic voice as he stood and grimacing in frustration.
His usual blank expression was nowhere to be seen. Losing composure and raising his voice, he hardly seemed the top student of the year.
Everyone recoiled at the sudden transformation.
"I… made a mistake."
"…Eh? K-Kamukura-san?"
"Sonoda, Suzuki, Nomura—I'm sorry. I'm hopelessly pathetic. My strategy was easily seen through by the other leaders."
Covering his face with his right hand, he confessed his failure in a voice overflowing with anguish. His first-person pronoun had changed, his voice shifting from androgynous to a slightly lower, recognizably male tone.
But more importantly than that—this confirmed it. I was still bewildered by his transformation, but from the atmosphere, gestures, and situation, his attitude now seemed to be telling the truth.
The "mistake" likely referred to the strategy to end with Outcome 4. From the current evidence, it was hard to consider it a lie.
"Heh, too bad, Kamukura. Your strategy wasn't bad, but you picked the wrong group.
This group has all the class leaders gathered. Everyone has at least a certain level of analytical and situational judgment ability."
Snorting derisively, Katsuragi-kun declared it with mockery.
With the facts confirmed, having secured superiority, he was in high spirits.
"Shut up! Don't get cocky just because you saw through one of my lies! Katsuragi, compared to Sakayanagi, you're nothing but trash!"
"Yet that trash saw through your strategy. By the way, is this tantrum your true nature?"
"I told you to shut up!"
His long hair swayed as he gestured wildly, a pitiful sight. Someone who was always so calm and composed, capable of reading layers ahead, reduced to this over a single failure.
No—perhaps precisely because he was so close to perfection, he had never experienced failure before.
That was why he was undergoing such a drastic change.
"I won't forgive you. I absolutely won't forgive you for mocking me, a genius."
"Genius? That word suits Sakayanagi far better than the current you."
"Shut up. If you mock me any further, I'll guess one VIP from your class. I'll end one group right here and now. If you don't want that, keep that filthy mouth shut. Never open it again."
He scattered abuse freely, his dignity crumbling in an instant.
I see. If this was his true nature, it certainly explained why he was always second best. Ryuuen-kun was far more frightening.
"Ahaha, pathetic. There's no way you could do something like that now."
"Shut up, you talentless parasite!! …I've decided. You lot in Class A won't win this exam. Absolutely not."
"Is that a lie? Or whining? Or perhaps… nonsense?"
As if returning the favor from earlier, Nishikawa-san provoked him excessively.
I couldn't watch this any longer.
This was no different from bullying the weak.
"Class A, stop provoking Kamukura beyond what's necessary. His transformation is certainly surprising, but we have more important things to think about right now."
"Kanzaki Ryuuji. Are you mocking me too?"
"…I'm not mocking you. You executed your strategy in your own way. And you failed—that's all. There's no emotion of ridicule there.
Rather, disrupting the field to this extent is admirable, even from an enemy."
Kanzaki-kun directed straight, gentle eyes at Kamukura-kun—eyes that conveyed they were equals—without the disdainful gaze Class A was giving him, as if looking at something untouchable.
"…Stop. Don't look at me with those eyes. I have talent. I changed that talentless version of myself back then. That's why I—that's why I!!"
He spat lines as if confronting his own past.
Kamukura-kun shouted that and pulled out his phone. He began typing at an astonishing speed.
That unpredictable action caused a momentary delay in judgment.
"…!? Kamukura-kun, what are you—!?"
"Hah, too late!"
At those words, his hands—which had been moving like a mass-production machine in a factory—stopped.
The clock's hands ticked forward. No one made a sound. No—they couldn't.
After the second hand ticked about twenty times, the worst possible outcome became reality.
[The Rat Group's exam has ended. Members of the Rat Group no longer need to participate in the exam. Please act carefully so as not to disturb the other students.]
Without any correction, the announcement echoed that one group's exam had concluded.
The first to react was Katsuragi-kun.
Since he had been aiming for Outcome 1 across all groups, he couldn't tolerate a group ending due to reckless action.
"…What have you done!? Kamukura, do you even understand what you've—"
"I guessed Class A's VIP correctly. I said that earlier."
If Katsuragi-kun's roar had gone unanswered, it might have been better.
I hadn't understood. No—I had only thought I understood.
That the opponent this time was a monster who walked outside common sense. A true genius.
"Please do not proceed with any strategy that forces Outcome 1. Unless the Bird and Boar Groups want to end."
The monster showed no signs of agitation, wearing his usual sullen expression.
...
The tumultuous group discussion ended.
Amid the echoing end announcement, the man at the center was the first to stand.
He led his classmates out of the room with an expression reflecting no emotion.
After some time, the others besides Class C began leaving as well.
The flustered Katsuragi-kun calmed down, and reactions to it didn't escalate further, as grasping the VIP situation took priority.
What everyone did was confirm whether the Rat Group's exam had truly ended, and after contacting other students in the Rat Group to verifying the fact, they sharing the same reaction to the fact.
"Horikita, Hirata, Kushida. Got a moment?"
As Class D prepared to leave, Kanzaki-kun from Class B stopped us.
His classmates stood behind him, positioned to listen.
"I want to discuss the future a bit."
"I don't mind. And I have something to confirm too—perfect timing."
"Something to confirm?"
"About the relationship between Class B and Class D. During the uninhabited island special exam, our interests aligned, and we formed a cooperative relationship.
But the exam has changed. Naturally, that means the rules and victory conditions change too. In this exam, if we want a solo win, cooperation isn't needed.
Yet you want to talk—does that mean I can take it as friendly?"
"Personally, yes—and while there's no proof, I believe Class B wants to remain friendly with Class D."
At Kanzaki-kun's words, the two female students behind him nodded in agreement.
"I agree too. We'll likely clash eventually, but that's for later. Right now, I want to cooperate."
"Thank you. I'll convey this to Ichinose and share it with the class. I'd like the same from you… Do we need something like a contract?"
"No need. Please take this as a sign that we trust Class B."
"I see. That's appreciated on our side too."
He offered a somewhat hard-to-read but gentle smile.
He seemed strict, yet his expressions were surprisingly easy to read.
My class neighbor is similarly quiet, but lacks this side—somehow it felt strange.
"I'll pass it on to everyone, Horikita-san."
"Please do."
I can't handle things like this, so I leave it to Hirata-kun, who's exceptionally popular in class.
"So, Kanzaki-kun, what you wanted to discuss…"
"…As you guessed. About him—and countermeasures going forward."
Him. It could only refer to the long-haired one.
Class A and Class C were already gone, so no need to obscure it, but it was clear enough anyway.
"First, whether he truly knows the VIPs. That's crucial. I'm leaning toward yes—based on Horikita's reasoning and the lack of logic in his actions otherwise. Plus, from attempting Outcome 4, it's safe to assume his class has a VIP."
"I think he knows too. But we can't conclude Class C has one.
Additionally, naming the Rat Group, threatening the Bird and Boar Groups—Katsuragi-kun's panic was abnormal. It wouldn't be an overstatement to call it shock from being guessed correctly.
After all, he somehow learned the VIPs. That's how he could hit the Rat Group's VIP."
"…You think so? To me, it feels like he actually knows nothing. Not denying Horikita-san's reasoning, but his actions are too chaotic.
It seems like he's enjoying messing up the field itself. Like he was just playing around with that con artist talent Kushida-san mentioned… Intuition, though."
Hirata-kun's view couldn't be dismissed outright.
He's a madman. There's plenty of possibility he's stirring chaos for fun in this boring exam, disregarding gains and losses.
"Or maybe he knows and is still doing outrageous things?"
"Exactly—that can't be fully ruled out either, which is frustrating. We need to rethink whether his class has a VIP or not."
Andou-san's opinion might actually be the correct one.
His reason for coming out as the VIP was likely one of two... to make us misidentify him as the VIP and lead someone to Outcome 4, or simply to disrupt the field.
If this were just a werewolf game, it could be interpreted as him playing the madman role, substituting for the real werewolf. In a game for fun, either could be the case.
But this is an exam with rewards. The latter would be utterly meaningless.
"For now, let's assume he knows. It's better to act assuming the worst—we can adapt."
"True… But saying this undermines everything—if he knows, how do we even respond? The exam ends on his whim."
Exactly. If he knows the VIPs—the core of this exam—we can do nothing.
At minimum, we'd need to reach the same stage to knowing the VIPs ourselves to counter him.
"…First, we need to learn the VIPs like he did—otherwise, there's no discussion. But since he could, there must be some way. Too early to give up."
"Indeed. That means our immediate goal is finding some pattern before his mood shifts."
Exactly. To fight him, we must first stand on the same level. That's where the battle begins.
But there are only six discussion sessions total. One is already over. No time to dawdle.
We absolutely need to find the pattern before his mood changes.
"But I don't think it'll change that quickly."
Kushida-san strongly suggested a possibility, then developed her opinion.
"Horikita-san said it too—he's bored. That's why he's acting strangely and disrupting things. So… he wouldn't end the exam until it stops being fun, right…?"
Her volume decreased toward the end—likely from waning confidence.
But there was merit to it. Though it relied too heavily on luck.
"…We're boxed in. Discussing here won't yield effective methods."
"True. But clarifying what to do is major progress. We'll discuss this topic later with Ichinose and the rest of Class B."
"That's appreciated. We'll do everything we can too."
I expressed thanks, and led by Kanzaki-kun, Class B left the room.
The next session starts at 8:00 p.m.—over six hours away. But we can't afford leisure.
Truly, truly frustrating—but I need input from Ayanokouji-kun too.
In the uninhabited island exam, we lost, but I glimpsed his ability. Whether he'll lend strength is unknown, but he'll be useful.
I took out my phone and messaged to meet somewhere. He immediately sent a designated location.
I began leaving the room to head there.
It seems he'll help.
"I'll excuse myself now."
"Me too~! See you later, Horikita-san, Hirata-kun!"
Kushida-san, who had been contacting someone like me, apparently had plans to meet someone afterward too.
"Yeah, see you both later!"
Kushida-san and I walked in separate directions. Hirata-kun seemed to be meeting someone here—he stayed.
I parted from him and walked briskly down the hall. En route, I encountered Karuizawa-san coming the opposite way.
She walked while using her phone, not noticing me, but her faint smile suggested she was meeting her boyfriend Hirata-kun.
During this exam, I couldn't imagine such frivolous behavior unless something was wrong with my nerves—so beyond exasperation, I almost admired her.
"…I need to refocus."
Muttering that alone, my pace quickened.
And once again, I began thinking about this exam's pattern.
...
In the karaoke room on the lower deck of a luxury cruise ship.
About twenty minutes after the first group discussion ended, two students—a boy and a girl—were meeting secretly there.
The girl who had been waiting in the room glared as she greeted the boy who had just entered.
Gold and black. Short and long. Their hair characteristics were contrasting.
Yet unexpectedly, the boy had black long hair, the girl blonde short hair.
"I figured you'd come soon."
The boy spoke first. Showing distaste, the girl responded.
"I have a mountain of things to say, but first—I'll tell you why I called you here."
"I'll listen."
The two, seated at opposite ends of an L-shaped four-person sofa, moved closer to the corner point and sat.
And then—Kushida announced with a gentle smile that made everyone happy just seeing it.
"Kamukura-kun, I want you to cooperate with me to crush Horikita-san!"
***
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