Chapter 364: Class C's Great Victory; Simple Chess
Third Project: Typing Skills Number of People: 1
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Rules: A comprehensive competition of speed and accuracy across three segments: "Word Input," "Short Article Dictation," and "Long Article Copy Typing."
Commander Privilege: May inform the participant of one obvious mistake discovered during the competition (limit: once).
This was a one-on-one duel. Sakayanagi Arisu sent out Yoshida Kenta. Shimizu Akira didn't know much about this person, but on the screen, as the two sat side-by-side at computers, Yoshida's keystroke speed was indeed quite impressive.
Thirty minutes flew by. The results were announced:
Class C: Sotomura Hideo, comprehensive score 90 points. > Class A: Yoshida Kenta, comprehensive score 83 points. > Class C Victory.
"Quite capable," Sakayanagi's voice came over, sounding surprised.
"I remember Sotomura Hideo-kun being a drag on your class during the Sports Festival. I didn't expect him to have such a specialty. Our class's Yoshida is a coding expert."
Akira was unimpressed.
What was a coding expert? Sotomura Hideo was proficient in all kinds of electronic equipment and mechanical knowledge; it was said he could install surveillance cameras and dismantle precision parts with ease.
There was a reason he was called "Professor." In a sense, he was a rare professional technical talent for Class C.
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In the Class C Classroom.
Matsushita Chiaki, Karuizawa Kei, and Sato Maya sat together, watching Sotomura Hideo being surrounded by classmates like a returning hero.
"Sotomura! Well done!"
"Another win for our class!"
"Hahaha! I told you to just leave it to this Sotomura-shi!" The "Professor" himself beat his chest excitedly, his long-unused catchphrase slipping out.
"Why is he back? Isn't he finished?" Kei whispered.
"Even if they're finished, they have to come back and stay on standby," Matsushita explained.
Not just Sotomura, but Onodera Kayano, Kushida Kikyo, and Sakura Airi, who had already participated in swimming and English, were all in the classroom. School rules dictated that students must remain on standby until all projects concluded.
"We've had three rounds and taken two wins. It looks like we really have a chance to win!" Sato exclaimed.
"Not necessarily," Matsushita said cautiously. "We still don't know what the seventh project is."
Being confined to the classroom, they knew nothing about the seventh project being Boxing, nor did they know exactly which five projects Class A had chosen.
At that moment, Hirata Yosuke clapped his hands. "According to the alternating order, the next project will be either Chess or Flash Mental Arithmetic."
"Exactly! Class A probably didn't expect it, but we already know."
"Mmm, we owe this to Ike Kanji, Sudo Ken, and Ayanokoji."
About a week ago, Ike took Sudo and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka to privately meet Class A's Totsuka Yahiko and Katsuragi Kohei. Taking advantage of the resentment these two held toward the current Sakayanagi faction leading Class A, they teased out Class A's two mandatory projects: Chess and Flash Mental Arithmetic.
Horikita Suzune looked toward the main force chosen for Mental Arithmetic—Matsushita Chiaki, Yukimura Teruhiko, and Koenji Rokusuke.
"How is your preparation?"
"I've put in three hours of practice every day," Yukimura pushed up his glasses.
"Mmm, should be no problem," Matsushita nodded.
Koenji Rokusuke, as usual, was holding a small mirror admiring his own appearance, giving no reaction.
"Hey! Koenji! I'm talking to you! How's your practice?" Sudo asked irritably.
"Heh, Sudo Boy, you must remember that only the weak need to practice." Koenji flipped his hair, speaking as if it were a matter of fact.
"The strong do not require practice."
"Wait! You mean you haven't practiced at all?!" A classmate caught the implication and was speechless.
"Heh, you were only given a week to prepare after the projects were made public, yes? Flash Mental Arithmetic is not a skill one can improve by cramming for a mere week. It requires the 'Strongest Brain' trained deliberately since childhood—just like myself. So, to repeat, I do not need so-called practice." Koenji was full of confidence.
"You guy—!"
"You're just making excuses to be lazy!"
"Alright, alright," Hirata stepped in to mediate.
"Koenji-kun means he's confident he can win without practicing, right? Then, can I count on you to show your true ability in this exam?"
"Who knows?" Koenji's answer remained ambiguous. "If the content of the exam satisfies me, perhaps I'll exert my full effort."
Many classmates rolled their eyes. In Akira's absence, there was truly no one in the class who could command this self-indulgent lord.
Ike clapped his hands, trying to boost morale.
"Katsuragi Kohei promised me a few days ago that he would go easy on us. So, our chances in this project are very high."
"That's right!"
"Katsuragi has always disliked Sakayanagi Arisu!"
"As long as the other two perform normally, we're good!"
The crowd's confidence rose slightly. A few minutes later, the supervising substitute teacher's walkie-talkie chirped: "The fourth project is determined: Flash Mental Arithmetic! The Commander has selected the participants: Koenji Rokusuke, Matsushita Chiaki, Yukimura Teruhiko. Please follow me to the competition site."
The planned trio stood and followed the teacher out of the room.
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At the Competition Site.
The teacher briefly explained the rules.
Flash Mental Arithmetic > Number of People: 3
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Rules: Using the abacus mental calculation format, competing for accuracy and speed. The class with the student who achieves the highest individual ranking wins the event.
Commander Privilege: May change the final answer of any one question (limit: once).
Matsushita's trio took their seats on the left; Class A's three participants sat on the right. Yukimura looked up and indeed saw Katsuragi Kohei.
"Katsuragi-kun!" He felt relieved. With the other party secretly helping, their chances should skyrocket.
However, Katsuragi's expression was poor, and he gave a slight shake of his head. Matsushita and Yukimura's hearts sank.
'The plan changed? He's going to be serious?'
Matsushita looked closely at the other two from Class A: Tamiya Emi and Nishikawa Ryoko, both girls. Being unfamiliar with them, she couldn't judge their depth.
"Regardless, let's give it our all and not be distracted," Yukimura whispered.
"Okay," Matsushita agreed. She hadn't put all her hopes on the other side "throwing" the match anyway.
"There are ten questions in total, increasing in difficulty and point value. In the event of a tie for first place, a tie-breaker will be held. The questions involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Scratch paper is permitted. We begin in thirty seconds. Two pieces of advice: plan your answer space reasonably, and if you can't solve a question, give up decisively and move to the next."
Matsushita held her forehead. The teacher's words sounded like a joke. If they got stuck early on, they might as well give up the whole thing. She glanced left and right: Koenji had his eyes closed, looking perfectly composed. Yukimura had already partitioned his scratch paper.
The countdown ended. The first question appeared: "One digit, three numbers, one-second limit." The numbers flashed: 6, 9, 1. The answer was 16. Matsushita wrote it down instantly.
Question two: "Two digits, four numbers, one second." — 23, 15, 8, 41. Matsushita calculated: 87. Pen down, answer formed. She glanced at Yukimura; he wrote the answer at the same time. On the other side, Koenji still had his eyes closed, as if he hadn't filled in an answer at all.
In Class A, Katsuragi wrote steadily. Tamiya and Nishikawa were also focused and fast.
The difficulty ramped up through questions three and four. More numbers, but the time didn't significantly increase.
Question five: "Three digits, five numbers, two seconds." — 128, 256, 73, 489, 312. This was already a challenging mental calculation. Matsushita felt the pressure spike. She forced herself to focus and deconstruct the numbers: 1258. Done!
Yukimura was half a beat slower. After writing, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, clearly drained. And Koenji... he opened his eyes, but the paper in front of him was blank.
"What is that idiot doing?!" In the Class C classroom, Sudo nearly jumped up seeing this on the broadcast. "He hasn't written a single answer?!"
"Koenji-kun..." Hirata frowned.
Horikita bit her lip, staring sharply at the screen.
'Is he really planning to just slack off?'
Question six, difficulty up again: "Four digits, three numbers, three seconds." — 4021, 1589, 7364. This time, even Katsuragi paused for a moment. Tamiya's brow was furrowed; Nishikawa bit her lip. Sweat rolled down Yukimura's forehead; he blinked hard, feeling his brain grow dizzy.
Matsushita felt her temples throbbing. She cast aside distractions and rearranged the numbers in her mind.
12974! She wrote it down, though she wasn't 100% sure.
At that moment, the silent Koenji suddenly moved. He picked up his pen and, on the blank scratch paper, rapidly wrote a single number: 12974. It was identical to Matsushita's.
"What?!" Class C erupted in shock.
"He... he calculated it? How?"
"We didn't see him use the pen at all!"
"Has he been doing it all in his head?"
Not just Class C—even Sakayanagi, watching from the partition, was surprised.
Questions seven, eight, and nine grew with geometric complexity. The numbers were massive and irregular, while the time limit only increased by two or three seconds. Yukimura's face was pale, his speed dropping. Matsushita felt she was at her mental limit.
Finally, the tenth and final "boss" question:
"Seven random large numbers (three digits), five seconds. Complete continuous addition, subtract a specified number, and multiply by a coefficient."
"Question: Add: 532, 784, 129, 605, 893, 106, 347. Subtract: 250. Multiply: 2."
Yukimura and Matsushita had long since given up. In Class A, Tamiya, Katsuragi, and Nishikawa also put down their pens.
For the first time, Koenji did not close his eyes immediately after the prompt appeared. His gaze swept across the string of numbers, his lips moving imperceptibly as he muttered. Then,
he closed his eyes. Less than three seconds later, he opened them and put pen to paper. A long number appeared in the center of his otherwise clean paper.
"Time up! All participants, pens down!" the supervisor announced.
There was a brief wait as the teachers collected and verified the answers. Inside the partition, Akira watched Koenji's effortless, almost bored expression. He let out a rare smile.
Sakayanagi gave a soft
"Heh. Koenji Rokusuke... quite the unexpected variable. Shimizu-kun, do you need to use your Commander privilege?"
Akira naturally chose to use it. However, he didn't change Koenji's answer; he changed Matsushita's.
The camera cut to a close-up of the final answers for question ten:
Katsuragi Kohei: 7290 (Commander modified answer) Tamiya Emi: Incomplete Nishikawa Ryoko: Incomplete Yukimura Teruhiko: Incomplete Matsushita Chiaki: 7290 (Commander modified answer) Koenji Rokusuke: 7290 (Participant answer)
"Therefore, for question ten, Class A's Katsuragi Kohei-kun, Class C's Koenji Rokusuke-kun, and Matsushita Chiaki-san answered correctly.
Based on the overall accuracy of the first ten questions and the final results... Flash Mental Arithmetic, individual first place: Class C, Koenji Rokusuke.
Victory for this project belongs to Class C."
In the arena, Koenji simply gave a lazy stretch as if he'd just had a nap. He glanced at the grim-faced Katsuragi, then at the monitor, and laughed. "Exercising the rusty brain once in a while isn't bad, hahaha! I told you, if hard work mattered, what would be the use of geniuses?"
"Yes...!!"
The Class C classroom exploded in a deafening cheer.
"That guy! He was acting cool on purpose again!"
"Damn it! I was actually sweating for him, thinking he'd leave a blank sheet!"
"Koenji, you bastard... you make people love and hate you! Damn, I think I understand why girls like him; he's deliberately pulling at our emotions!" Sudo and Ike gritted their teeth with complex emotions.
Horikita couldn't help but sigh, holding her forehead.
She saw it clearly.
Koenji had left the first five questions blank. He only answered the last five—the most difficult ones. And those five happened to be the ones no one else could get entirely right.
The rules stated that later questions were more difficult and worth more points. She couldn't tell if he was so supremely confident that he knew no one would solve the last five and thus threw the easy ones, or if he was simply too bored to bother with anything that wasn't a challenge.
Regardless, looking at the results: he won, and he won in a way that left everyone speechless.
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Inside the Multi-Purpose Room Partition.
Sakayanagi's expression was beyond "poor." It was a mix of surprise, unwillingness, and a sense of being struck by an indescribable absurdity.
"I didn't expect... Koenji-kun to actually exert his full effort. Even though I stopped Katsuragi's betrayal... I still couldn't win?"
"The projects you can't win are still to come," Akira said, glancing at her.
Next was Class C's project—Archery. Although it was a two-person event, with Miyake Akito's stable and excellent performance, Class C met little resistance and secured the point easily.
Soon, the system moved to the sixth project—Chess.
Chess > Number of People: 1
Time Limit: One hour (lose if time runs out)
Rules: Standard international chess rules. However, after the 41st move, no additional time is added.
Commander Privilege: At any point, the Commander may use their own remaining time (up to 30 minutes) to give off-field instructions.
Regardless of Sakayanagi's current mood, this was the project she took the most pride in and had invested the most effort into. Without hesitation, she sent out Hashimoto Masayoshi. Akira, on his side, chose Horikita Suzune.
After nearly an hour of battle, Class A won the chess match without any suspense. However, there was no joy of victory on Sakayanagi's face.
Akira and Horikita were practically novices in the world of chess. To defeat beginners with a skill she had practiced for over a decade... the victory tasted of nothing but emptiness and boredom.
She turned to Akira beside her, asking with a trace of inexplicable anger: "Why didn't you send out Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? If you were pursuing a sure-win strategy, and since your class already used the trump card of Koenji Rokusuke, the only key to ensuring victory was him, wasn't it?"
Akira met her gaze and answered naturally: "Because Ayanokoji doesn't like to stand out. I won't force people to do what they don't want. Besides, Suzune practiced privately for a long time for this match. Manabu-senpai... is probably watching from somewhere too. This was her way of proving her own hard work. Why would I interfere?"
The reason was that simple. This man actually had the leisure to treat the critical chess match as a stage for his girlfriend to test her abilities and prove her growth.
Sakayanagi fell completely silent. An unnameable, extremely unpleasant feeling welled up in her heart. She had won the chess game. Why did it feel like she had lost something far more important than the game itself?
So far, the total score of regular projects: Class C 4, Class A 2.
Class C had secured an overwhelming lead.
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