Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

That doesn't fit in with the Lone Ranger's self-satisfaction principles and aesthetics.

Therefore, how to make Long Yuanxiang willing to take action is the next problem to be solved.

……

The test is at 1pm.

Time once again passed in silence in Class A.

Although the other classes had their own ulterior motives, they still showed the most basic harmony on the surface and played various games in the Dragon Group's room.

"Waaaaa! I drew it again! I'm too weak to draw the joker card!"

Ichinose scattered the remaining cards and fell down hard in front of everyone.

Even when facing another discussion, Ichinose still brought up playing poker. Even if he wanted to blame this behavior, he couldn't stop it because no one could bring Class A into the conversation.

The most important thing is that Ryuen Sho from Class C is for some reason very keen on this time-wasting behavior, so that the other students in Class C have no choice but to join in.

The remaining members of Class D, Kushida Kikyo and Horikita Suzune, had to join in due to the atmosphere.

Of course, the latter is mainly to cover up the identity of Kushida's favored person, so even if he is not willing to participate in such a group activity, he does not want to easily reveal his flaws.

Although Hikigaya himself was not very accustomed to this kind of gaming activity, due to the pressure from many parties present, mainly Ichinose and Shiina, he had no chance of escaping.

During the exam, Hikigaya became more and more worried about Kushida Kikyo's condition. It seemed that the closer the exam got, the more anxious she became.

Becoming a traitor was too risky for her. The psychological pressure of this matter alone was enough to make her almost collapse.

Looking at Kushida like this, Hikigaya was inexplicably reminded of Karuizawa.

The guys in this class really like to keep secrets, but at the same time they are tortured by the secrets they keep and fall into endless torment.

The right choice is right before their eyes, but they have always turned a blind eye to the path leading to the light and would rather stay in the darkness.

Hikigaya was indeed a little upset about all this, but he was unwilling to blame them.

After all, human beings are essentially similar. Even if they differ greatly on the surface, they are still the same in essence.

Everyone's seemingly different thoughts will gradually become similar under the influence of environment, experience, and interpersonal relationships.

Ultimately, everyone is bound by the past.

Therefore, the so-called free will and individuality do not exist at all.

Under the influence of memory and experience, people are unable to make choices beyond their capabilities.

So-called free will is just that.

However, this also made Hikigaya realize that the way to solve the problem is indeed to borrow external forces.

No matter where the external force comes from, as long as it can forcibly push an individual who is bound by his own will off the cliff, it can create a choice that his personal will cannot make.

……

After the exam, Hikigaya called Horikita Suzune and took the initiative to invite her to a coffee shop to chat.

"It's really surprising that you would come to me on your own initiative."

Horikita found this situation very new, so she had no intention of refusing and followed Hikigaya to the cafe on the cruise ship.

"What did you think of the test?"

"It will win."

In response to Hikigaya's question, Horikita spoke without hesitation.

"Do you think the situation is foolproof?" Hikigaya stared at the other party and asked, "Is it true that Kushida Kikyo's identity as a favored person will not be discovered by anyone?"

"I don't think anyone can see through this at this point."

Due to the poor performance of Class A, the Dragon Team has not organized a proper discussion so far. Ryuen Sho and Ichinose have been obsessed with playing cards from beginning to end and have no intention of gathering any intelligence.

Faced with such a situation, Horikita Suzune should be extremely confident and not believe that anyone can see through Kushida Kikyo's identity as a favored person.

Unfortunately, Hikigaya himself knew very well that Horikita's idea was wrong, and Kushida Kikyo's identity as a favored person had been leaked.

"Okay, let's take a step back. Do you think that Class D can really win the exam if it continues like this? Can this class win the exam just by relying on the victory of the Dragon Team?"

Hikigaya did not expose Kikyo Kushida's traitorous behavior and chose to persuade Horikita in other ways.

"This……"

After hearing what Hikigaya said, Horikita Suzune fell silent.

She was obviously well aware that even if Class D could win in the Dragon Team, it would only be a tiny part compared to the result.

If this continues, Class A will become the ultimate winner and gain the final victory without paying any price.

"So, Hikigaya, what exactly do you want to say?" Horikita finally gave up thinking, "You never took the initiative to talk to me about the exam before, why did you suddenly show such enthusiasm this time?"

Seeing Horikita Suzune's incomprehensible expression, Hikigaya realized that his attitude was a little too persistent.

But in order to achieve his goal, he ignored Horikita's doubts and said calmly: "I just feel that if this continues, Class D will definitely lose miserably, so I want to give you a suggestion."

"What advice?"

"Go find Long Yuanxiang to cooperate."

"what?!"

Hikigaya's words left Horikita Suzune dumbfounded.

The latter had never expected the other party to make such a suggestion, so his expression instantly changed from cold to confused, and then from confused to cold.

"Are you trying to humiliate me?"

"I just want to offer sincere advice." Hikigaya spoke silently, ignoring the surprise on Horikita's face. "If this continues, Class A will undoubtedly win without a fight. If we want to change this situation, the best way is to cooperate with Class C and share information about the favored people."

Except for the conclusion, Hikigaya's words were correct, but the reasoning process was all made up by him to fool Horikita.

"You mean by cooperating with Class C, Class D can win?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

Hikigaya shook his head. He couldn't guarantee that Class D would win with this approach. The only thing he could guarantee was that they wouldn't lose.

"I don't trust Ryuen Sho." Horikita was silent for a moment, and finally shook his head silently, "That guy may betray us at any time, we must not hand the handle to him."

"Are you unwilling to cooperate with Ryuen Sho?"

"Even if it's your suggestion, I won't believe it easily."

Horikita Suzune looked at Hikigaya with a cold gaze.

She obviously still remembers that during the uninhabited island exam, Hikigaya forced her back to the cruise ship.

Although in fact, Hikigaya's behavior prevented her from falling completely ill, for Horikita, it was basically an act of betrayal.

And in the end, Class D did fail completely in that exam, and Horikita couldn't help but suspect that Hikigaya was behind it.

Therefore, regarding the content of the exam, Horikita showed a clearer vigilance than Kigaya.

"That's it..."

Although Hikigaya was mentally prepared when Horikita Suzune rejected his proposal so directly, he still felt somewhat helpless.

There is no doubt that this was because of the results of the uninhabited island exam, which made Horikita Suzune lose confidence in herself.

Before the uninhabited island exam, every action Hikigaya took was more or less to help Horikita. Although it was not necessarily to help Class D, it did solve problems for Horikita.

Because of this, until the uninhabited island exam began, Horikita Suzune treated herself as a collaborator and maintained relative trust in her.

However, during the uninhabited island exam, in order to fulfill his promise to Sakayanagi, Hikigaya chose to use despicable means to trick Class D.

Although Horikita didn't know what she had done, she must have felt the discomfort of the process, which led to a decrease in her trust in herself.

Therefore, even if Horikita was unwilling to accept his proposal at the moment, Hikigaya did not feel dissatisfied with it.

You reap what you sow. This is just him reaping the consequences of his own actions.

However, coincidentally, Hikigaya really wanted to help Class D this time.

If things continue like this, even if Class D doesn't lose the exam, it will at least suffer a relatively large loss. If they adopt his proposal, Class D can at least avoid this loss.

It's a pity that Horikita believed him when she shouldn't have, but doubted him when she should have believed him.

Alas, fate sometimes likes to play tricks on us.

Hikigaya himself was unable to forcibly change Horikita Suzune's will, so he could only give up asking her for help and seek other solutions.

In fact, he already had a backup plan in case Horikita rejected him.

If Class D lacks the courage to cooperate with Class C, then find another class.

Compared with Kigaya, although asking Ichinose to do this kind of thing feels a bit like relying on personal connections and forcing the other party to take action, but things have come to this point, he has no choice but to find Class B and obtain the trading materials with Ryuuen.

Chapter 381 If I ask you to cooperate with Ryuen Sho, would you be willing, Ichinose?

After Horikita rejected his request, Hikigaya quietly returned to his room to sort out his thoughts, and went to the Dragon Team's room an hour before the evening exam.

Since Hikigaya felt that it was unlikely that anyone would come to the exam site early, this should be a very suitable environment for a lone ranger to stay, where he could enjoy the feeling of solitude.

However, his expectations were shattered after he opened the Dragon Group's room.

"That is……"

In the room, a young girl had fallen asleep on the only sofa.

In the middle of the night without any lights on, Hikigaya couldn't see the other person's face clearly. When he got closer, he found that the other person was actually Class B's leader Ichinose Honami.

For some reason, the other party came to the examination room an hour early and slept on the only sofa in the room without any precautions.

For Hikigaya, the soft and comfortable sofa is undoubtedly his best choice to relax himself, but if he sits directly on the sofa now, he will undoubtedly experience both psychological and physical torture. What's worse is that "Ichinose suddenly wakes up" and "other students suddenly enter the room". These two developments will inevitably lead to Hikigaya's moral death at the social level.

So, after complicated thoughts, Hikigaya still didn't have the courage to sit on the sofa occupied by Miss Ichinose. Instead, he found a seat on the edge and sat down to think about the next conversation.

In fact, it was good news for him that Ichinose came to the examination room early, so he could save himself the trouble of finding a reason to call the other person out alone later.

The only problem is that the other person seems to be sleeping so soundly that it is hard to imagine when he will wake up next.

It's impossible that the other party would sleep until the exam started and not wake up. For him, letting Hikigaya stay in the same room with the defenseless beautiful girl for an hour would be no different from torture.

This situation is similar to when you go to the bathroom after class or school, and come back to find a girl in a skirt sitting on your seat or table.

Although the other party is most likely unintentional, this behavior is a dangerous development that cannot be ignored for adolescent boys.

If a misunderstanding occurs later, leading to the boy's sudden confession and eventually leading to social demise, what kind of responsibility will the girl who did such a thing have to bear?

Based on the above ideas, although Hikigaya was very curious about when Ichinose would wake up, he did not dare to look at her face. But even so, his eyes would occasionally be unconsciously attracted by the faint breathing sound coming from the girl over there.

In addition, she was lying sideways, so her voluptuous thighs were more clearly visible than usual, and Hikigaya's eyes were attracted by the skirt that just didn't allow him to see what was underneath.

Damn, so this is what they call a beauty trap?

Any male facing this tactic would have no chance of escaping and would be easily preyed upon.

It's so horrible, Ms. Ichinose.

Just as he was thinking about this, Hikigaya suddenly realized that the temperature in the room was a little low. It turned out that the air conditioner was not turned on in the room before the exam started.

Because the cruise ship is sailing on the sea, there is an inexplicable chill at night even in summer.

Ichinose also seemed to be trembling a little, curled up into a ball.

Seeing this scene, Hikigaya sighed, took off his coat, walked over quietly, and covered the other person with it.

"Hmm...mmmm..."

During the process, Ichinose showed several times that he was about to wake up, which scared Hikigaya so much that he became inexplicably neurotic.

But until the end, the other party did not wake up from his sleep, which made Hikigaya feel somewhat relieved.

At least he didn't want to be regarded as a pervert who took advantage of the situation.

After covering Ichinose with his coat, Hikigaya was finally able to completely ignore him and focus on the next negotiations.

In order to resolve the issue in Karuizawa, he had to obtain negotiation conditions with Ryuen.

Before that, he needs the help of Ichinose Honami.

But to be honest, Hikigaya didn't really hope that Ichinose would agree for his sake. After all, he was the leader of Class B, and there was no reason for him to accommodate him.

If possible, he hopes to achieve an outcome where no one will be harmed.