I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

Going to the infirmary isn't impossible, but the problem is that the infirmary teacher is Hoshinomiya-sensei.

How can she explain to Hoshinomiya-sensei that the area of ​​her hip pain has a palm-like pattern?

Isn't this the same as admitting guilt without being asked?

Therefore, Horikita Suzune would rather endure the pain than go to the infirmary.

"I'm fine."

"Are you really alright? What I'm about to say might be quite long. If you can't hold on any longer, you can go to the infirmary on your own. I won't stop here. Do you understand what I mean?"

Everyone sensed an unusual meaning in Teacher Chaba's words.

It seems something terrible is about to happen?

"I understand."

"That's good. Now let's begin our class meeting. First of all, congratulations on defeating Class A in the special 1-on-1 test for the first time. This shows that Class A is not invincible. We just need to win one more time, and all your dreams will come true."

At the outset, Mr. Chabashira gave a speech that he tried to uplift everyone's spirits, but since everyone sensed something was off, no one in the class was happy about their victory over Class A yesterday.

"What? Why do you all have such grumpy faces? You've all suddenly become so mature, it's a bit hard for me to get used to."

Seeing that no one responded, Ms. Chabashira spoke with a hint of helplessness.

Just then, Hirata raised his hand.

Teacher Chabashira nodded slightly, signaling Hirata to speak.

"Tea Pillar Teacher, is there something more important you want to say?"

"Hirata, why do you think I have something else to say?"

"Because Mr. Chabashira, your complexion looks very bad."

……

Upon hearing this, Mr. Chabashira's smile vanished, replaced by a somewhat weary expression.

"Hirata guessed correctly, I do have something to tell you. I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Of course, I want to hear the good news first!"

Karuizawa replied in a lighthearted tone.

Compared to good news, Tianyin believes that people are probably more interested in bad news.

"The good news is that you'll be moving up to second grade soon."

"Huh? Is that all? What's the bad news?"

"The bad news is... starting today, you will be taking your last special exam as first-year students."

Chapter 181: The Command Tower

The last special exam for first grade?

Regardless of what's different about this last special exam for first-year students, why does having two special exams in a month feel like a rushed job?

Horikita Manabu had told her before that the graduation date for the third grade was March 24th, which meant that the special exam for the first grade would also end on that date.

This means that first-year students are taking special exams almost all of March, which puts a lot of pressure on them.

If it were a regular exam, it would be like taking midterms and finals back-to-back with no breaks in between.

"This is really bad..."

Tianyin lay listlessly on the table, her eyelids drooping and she had no interest in listening to what was to come.

Regardless of the type of special exam, Class B will definitely have to overcome Class A this time. Amane, who knows Sakayanagi's personality very well, knows very well that Sakayanagi will not fail to find a way to avenge his defeat. And it will be much more difficult to win against Sakayanagi a second time.

With Koenji neglecting class affairs and Ayanokouji busy with his love life, she was the only one who could fight.

Just thinking about the personalities of Horikita, Ichinose, Katsuragi, and Hirata gives me a headache.

When dealing with opponents like Ryuen or Sakayanagi, kindness, morality, and even empathy are unnecessary.

Tianyin had never heard of a loser being able to empathize with a winner.

If they don't change, she will still have to face Sakayanagi, which goes against her original intention of slacking off.

Just as Tianyin was reminiscing about her past carefree days of slacking off, complaints began to rise in the class.

"Another special exam? The last special exam just ended yesterday! Is the school really not kidding us?"

Sato was surprised by the school's inhumane treatment of students. Even the most heinous corporate system of voluntary overtime should at least give employees a break.

These special exams are being held non-stop; are they really not worried about students' studies being disrupted?

"I can tell you very clearly that the school is not joking with you. Although I understand how you feel, since it is the school's arrangement, you have no way to refuse. Of course, you can choose to abstain, in which case you will only have 310 class points deducted."

Abstain?

There's no need to even think about it; any student with a sound mind wouldn't choose to forfeit before the competition.

Sato knew that the school wouldn't easily give them time off, so he just complained.

"Why is it 310? It has whole numbers and fractions, which makes it seem like it was calculated beforehand. It's very strange."

Tianyin, who was lying on the table, spoke softly.

The previously noisy classroom fell silent instantly, and all eyes turned to Tianyin.

This strange behavior made Katsuragi and Ichinose, who had only been there for a short time, feel a little uncomfortable. It seemed that the whole class was now acting around Amane.

"Why are you looking at me? Chabashira-sensei will explain later. I'm going to take a nap first... Ah~ I'm so sleepy."

As soon as Tianyin finished speaking, a thud was heard.

Amane collapsed onto her textbook and fell asleep so quickly that Ichinose applauded in surprise.

However, Tianyin is probably the first person to say in front of so many people that she is going to sleep in class.

To Ichinose and Katsuragi's surprise, Chabashira-sensei merely glanced at Amane, who had already logged off, and didn't say anything more.

This kind of thing would be unimaginable if it happened in Class A or Class D. Even if Majima-sensei, who is very fair to students, were to encounter this situation, he would probably make Amane stand outside the door to listen to the lesson.

However, Chabashira-sensei only glanced at Amane before looking away from her and instead took out a piece of paper and began to read.

"This special test is called 'Command Tower.' As the name suggests, someone needs to step forward and act as the 'brain' of the entire class to direct the rest of the team to complete the competition."

Teacher Chazhu dropped a bombshell right from the start.

This special exam actually has someone who can command it? So if Tianyin becomes the command center, wouldn't they be invincible?

"If we let Miyako act as the commander, I believe we can pass any exam smoothly."

After witnessing firsthand the incredible power of Amane, Katsuragi, like Hirata, began to unconditionally believe in her.

"That's right, having Miyako as the commander-in-chief can indeed solve many problems, but... there's more than one competition. How are you going to win a competition if you put your top general on the command platform?"

Teacher Chabashira's words made everyone realize that this special exam seemed to be something special.

"More than one competition?"

Hirata felt somewhat worried when he heard Chabashira-sensei say that there was more than one competition, which was different from his usual approach of asking and answering questions.

The Q&A session is just a competition between the elite students in each class; other ordinary students basically don't have a chance to participate.

This time, the command tower seems to be tasking a strategist with directing other students to participate in various competitions. With the command tower's help, the participating students will undoubtedly perform better than usual. However, the more people participate, the greater the probability of failure.

After all, it's impossible for every student to be like Tianyin. Although Class B has a high class score, its overall level is rather disappointing. At least half of the students in Class B are currently at or below the average level.

If we disregard outstanding students like Amane, Horikita, and Ichinose, Hirata believes that the average students in Class B are probably a level below those in Class D.

Therefore, whenever a special exam requiring a large number of participants is encountered, Hirata is always on edge, as he does not want any more dropouts to appear in the final special exam of the first year.

"That's right. First, let me introduce the time of this special exam. It starts today. This afternoon, the students selected as commanders will go to the designated location to draw their battle classes. However, this time the draw is the same as the Q&A. The class that draws the designated symbol can specify the class to challenge."

"Then you can start preparing for the competition events. Any type is fine, but try to choose events with common rules. Select ten events and submit them to us for review. Only events that pass the review can proceed to the next stage. If any events are rejected, we need to come up with a solution on the same day. So when you are preparing for the competition events, try to prepare several alternative events."

Ten competition events.

Many people felt a dull ache in their stomach just from seeing this number.

"Any kind of competition is acceptable? Does that mean problem-solving competitions are also acceptable?"

The one who raised the question was Yukimura, who considered himself to be very excellent, but unfortunately, he had almost no sense of participation in the special exams throughout his first year, except for the preferential treatment exam.

The reason is simple: his ability points were misplaced. His physical abilities were completely lacking, and his performance at the Sports Festival and Forest School was disastrous.

Some tests that test intelligence include questions and answers.

Tianyin can handle it herself; there's no need for him to appear.

This made Yukimura feel very frustrated. If you just look at his grades, he was one of the best in Class A, but he was completely useless in Class B.

So when I heard Teacher Chazhu say that any project was acceptable, I immediately asked this question.

"Of course you can, but this kind of question can't be answered by one person alone. It probably requires three to five people. You alone, Yukimura, can't do it."

Chabashira-sensei naturally knew what Yukimura was thinking, but something more practical was also before him.

The academic level of everyone in the class is really...

While it's not impossible to gather five people, it's foreseeable that even if a group of five is gathered to meet Yukimura's requirements, these individuals will be crucial to the class.

Sending them to participate in question-based competitions is a bit of an overreaction.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that classes with higher average academic ability will also use question-based competitions to counter classes B and C with lower academic ability.

The defense alone would keep Class B busy, leaving no room for Yukimura to perform.

"I understand……"

Yukimura nodded helplessly.

Compared to showcasing his individual abilities, he didn't want to be a burden to the class. As long as he could get into Class A, even if... he didn't have the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities, he wouldn't mind...

"Does that mean we should focus as much on physical fitness as possible in this competition?"

Limited by their academic abilities, Class B seems to have no choice but to focus on physical competitions as their only breakthrough.

"Instead of considering what kind of competition it will be, doesn't anyone think that twenty competition events are a bit too much?"

Sato clutched his head, making a slightly exaggerated expression of pain.

It was only after Sato reminded everyone that they realized if they were to prepare for ten matches, their opponents would also definitely be preparing for ten matches.

Does that mean we'd have to play twenty games in a row?

Whether it's a test of academic ability or physical fitness, there probably aren't many people who can persevere through twenty matches.

Realizing the staggering number, the crowd began to discuss it again. After all, these special exams were usually completed in a single day, and if there were twenty matches a day...

Even if it were made of iron, it couldn't withstand such torment.

However, Mr. Chabashira remained very calm in the face of everyone's complaints.

"You can rest assured about that. These ten events are actually pending. You need to decide on ten events by the 15th, and then choose five 'sure-win' events from them. To put it simply, these are the events where you can basically guarantee victory. Then we will randomly select seven of the ten 'sure-win' events from the ten events designated by both classes as the final events for the competition. However, we won't tell you the results until the day of the competition. Before that, the school will only inform you of the names and rules of the ten events provided by the opposing class. As for which ones are your 'sure-win' events... that's up to you to guess."

Ms. Chaba shrugged as she spoke, clearly feeling helpless about this kind of competition.

Upon hearing that this special exam was so complicated, many people were tempted to give up.

However, given the circumstances, they no longer had any chance to escape.

"In other words, the so-called ten competition events are just a smokescreen to confuse the opponent. But in return, the opponent will also create a smokescreen for us. Once we know the opponent's ten competition events, we need to start training and prepare countermeasures. But... what if we guess wrong..."

Ichinose's words came to an abrupt end.

There is no doubt that they cannot immediately train for all ten events the other side will be able to. Although they do not know when the competition will start, they have submitted ten events by the 15th.

In other words, they could not have more than two weeks. It might be possible for a genius to learn something or master a certain sport within two weeks.

But for Class B, it's basically time to just give up and go to sleep.

"In other words, the battle for this special exam has already begun today. In addition to focusing on the competition events, intelligence is also of paramount importance. If we can find out the opponent's favorite competition event in advance, we can almost declare that we have already defeated them."

Horikita's words resonated with many people.

However, Katsuragi shook his head.

"How could such important information be obtained so easily? If this kind of thing is to be discussed, shouldn't it be done in our own class or by inviting the key figures to our room for a secret meeting?"

Katsuragi recalled that when he fought with Sakayanagi, he tried to find out information from Sakayanagi's side more than once, but Sakayanagi's caution greatly exceeded his expectations.

As a result, he had not obtained any valuable information until his failure, so he did not think that Sakayanagi would be careless in the special exam that concerned the ranking of Class A.