COTE: Hikigaya's Classroom of the Supreme Being

The short yet enjoyable winter break was over in the blink of an eye. It was short—barely two weeks had passed before it was time to return to the school prison.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, mere days into the third semester, the dreaded special exam had already begun.

"Sigh... I wanna go home."

Hikigaya let out a long sigh, slouching lazily in his seat, feeling as though his future had never looked bleaker.

At this moment, a bus carrying all the students of Class 1-D sped along the highway. Most of them were still in the dark about what lay ahead. The only instructions they had received so far were to change into their sportswear and to bring extra clothes, which the school strongly recommended.

It made sense—they would be there for an entire week, after all...

For Hikigaya, who already knew the truth, there was no way this would be a fun trip.

"Hachiman, what's wrong?"

Sitting next to him, Kushida glanced over with concern, lowering her voice. "Are you feeling motion sick? You can rest on my lap if you want."

"...Not happening."

"It's fine, no one will see."

They were seated in the last row, with Horikita and Matsushita beside them. But was she sure no one was watching?

Hikigaya could already feel the sharp stares drilling into him from nearby.

Seriously, was it such a big deal to be sitting next to the class idol, Kikyo-chan?

"Kushida-san, that's enough," Horikita said, setting down her book with a sigh. "The exam is about to begin. Focus on that instead."

"Tch, such a goody-two-shoes."

Kushida glared at Horikita before pulling a box of Pocky from her bag. She offered one to Hikigaya and even asked if he wanted to play a little game.

Uh, Kikyo-chan?

Food isn't meant to be played with, you know?

Since the bus ride was expected to last around three hours, students were allowed to bring personal items, such as books, playing cards, snacks, and even game consoles.

But Hikigaya had a feeling these weren't just for the bus ride. There was a good chance they'd be allowed to use them at the camp as well.

Entertainment might solely rely on what students bring with them.

That's why, besides his usual stash of novels, he had also packed his Switch. …Mm, thanks again, Horikita-senpai.

The uncertainty of the situation had everyone in high spirits, and the bus was bustling with excitement. Unsurprisingly, the loudest ones were the usual idiots in the front seats.

"I saw the message in the group chat and rushed to the rooftop immediately! I kicked the door open, and guess what I saw?"

Yamauchi animatedly described the scene to his audience, though with some creative liberties.

"Wasn't it just Ayanokoji beating up those Class C guys? It's all over the forums."

"That's fake news! The truth is, Ayanokoji got his ass kicked!" Yamauchi shamelessly fabricated the story. "He was on his knees, begging Ryuuen for mercy! Good thing I arrived in time and sent Ryuuen flying with a single kick, saving him!"

…Oi, oi, oi. The person in question is right here, you know?

Even Hikigaya was stunned. If you're going to make things up, at least make them somewhat believable.

Then again, maybe Ayanokoji was intentionally letting Yamauchi spread misinformation to throw people off his trail… No, even that seemed unlikely.

Of course, no one believed Yamauchi. They laughed it off, teasing him for a bit before moving on.

Still, while no one voiced it, deep down, they all had lingering doubts about Ayanokoji.

But after a long winter break and given that most of them weren't particularly close to him to begin with, they had no idea how to bring it up.

As a result, Ayanokoji had become even more isolated within the class, with everyone subconsciously avoiding him.

It was like something straight out of Another...

Hikigaya knew all too well—this was simply how an anomaly was treated.

Similarly, Chabashira-sensei seemed to have noticed the odd atmosphere. She observed the students with an amused expression as they spoke somewhat awkwardly.

After the bus passed through a tunnel, she suddenly stood up.

"Sorry to interrupt your fun, but I need everyone to be quiet."

Seeing Chabashira pick up the microphone, Hikigaya immediately understood—it was time for the special exam briefing.

Glancing to the side, he saw that Kushida, Horikita, and Matsushita had already steeled their expressions. As expected of them, no need for a reminder.

"Some of you may have already noticed that a new special exam is about to take place. But don't worry—compared to the uninhabited island exam, this one is much simpler in terms of daily life. You can even think of it as a school trip."

…Yeah, right.

After being tricked so many times, no one was about to fall for Chabashira's sugarcoating.

That said, no one made a fuss. Instead, they silently perked up their ears and listened.

At least in this regard, the class had grown a little.

"Now, let me explain the general details. In less than an hour, you will arrive at a mountain retreat. The shorter my explanation, the more time you'll have to 'hesitate.'"

By "hesitate," she probably meant time for the class to discuss things.

Seriously, why not just say that outright?

Typically, training camps like this were held in the summer, but that slot had been taken by the uninhabited island exam.

A winter survival exam on an uninhabited island would've been even harsher… This setup was more reasonable.

Speaking of which, Hikigaya had participated in a training camp before—back when he was dragged along by Hiratsuka-sensei to take care of a bunch of elementary school kids at the Service Club.

That was also where he met a girl named Rumi… Wonder how she's doing now? She must be in middle school by now.

Hopefully, Rumi-chan managed to make some friends.

Since no one interrupted, Chabashira nodded in satisfaction and continued.

"In your usual school life, you rarely interact with upperclassmen, especially if you're not in a club. However, this time, you'll be spending eight days and seven nights together in a special mixed training camp. You'll have plenty of chances to interact with your seniors. I will now distribute the exam materials."

She handed stacks of documents to the students in the front, who passed them backward.

Each document was thick—roughly twenty pages.

Hikigaya flipped through it right away.

The structure was similar to what Nagumo had mentioned:

Each group would be composed of at least two classes. If a group's score fell below the average, the leader would be expelled.

That much was expected.

However, there was one crucial addition—

If the leader was expelled, they could choose one other person in the group to be expelled as well.

Rather than sabotaging the whole group to fail, this seemed like the real pitfall.

After all, convincing someone to become the leader was a challenge in itself—there was no way the success rate would be high.

As much as Hikigaya wanted to discuss this with Horikita and the others right away, Chabashira wasn't done speaking, so he held back for now.

"I will now explain the rules of the mixed training camp. The materials will be collected before you get off the bus, so make sure you understand them thoroughly. This special exam is designed to foster mental growth. In simple terms, it tests whether you can build relationships with people you normally don't interact with. This is a fundamental skill for surviving in society."

…Yeah, right.

Just like the explanation for the VIP exam, this was mostly a bunch of nonsense.

Building relationships with strangers?

If he had any other choice, Hikigaya would much rather hole up in his dorm for the next three years instead.

"First, boys and girls will be separated. Then, the entire grade will split into six groups."

"The number of students in each group has a minimum and maximum cap. For first-year boys, there are seventy-nine of you in total, so each group will have between nine and fourteen students. First-year girls, on the other hand, have eighty students, so their groups will have between ten and fifteen."

That discrepancy was probably to account for the number of students who had been expelled.

"During the training camp, you must form groups with students from other classes to pass the special exam. You can't simply split your class into two groups. Each group must include students from at least two different classes."

"This is a mess… Aren't they supposed to be our enemies?" someone grumbled.

Chabashira merely chuckled.

"Don't worry—you won't just be working together to pass the exam. You'll also be living together. That means attending classes, cooking, doing laundry, bathing, and sleeping—all as a group."

"Wha—?! We have to live with students from other classes too?!"

Groans erupted from both boys and girls alike.

Hikigaya, on the other hand, didn't care.

He had never considered his classmates as allies in the first place.

In other words, it didn't matter who he was stuck with.

If possible, he'd prefer being alone.

"Don't rush. This arrangement isn't without its benefits, but let's leave that discussion for later. First, take a look at the general content of the exam. Check page seven of the materials—this special exam's outcome will be determined by a comprehensive test held on the final day."

The exam is divided into four categories:

[Morality], [Mental Training], [Discipline], and [Independence.]

Seriously… Why does this messed-up school always come up with these ridiculous ideas?

Just looking at this already feels like a pain. Even though the materials provided explanations for each category, Hikigaya still found himself completely lost, as if he hadn't read anything at all.

The only thing that was somewhat clear was the daily schedule:

Wake up → Morning test → Meditation and labor at the dojo → Breakfast → Classroom study → Lunch → Afternoon assignments and more meditation → Dinner, shower → Sleep.

Great. Just looking at this kind of regimented lifestyle made him want to die.

The worst part? Classes are on Saturday mornings. Only Sundays were designated as rest days.

Yeah… I want to go home.

"Once you arrive at the forest training camp, a more detailed schedule will be announced. Keep in mind that your group's cohesion is extremely important. You must work together to survive this one-week training. Additionally, under no circumstances are you allowed to leave or swap group members midway. If a student has to withdraw due to illness or injury, the remaining group members must cover for them."

In other words, if someone drops out, the group's average score will take a huge hit.

It seemed like Chabashira-sensei was warning them to choose their group members carefully. If a group was filled with people who didn't get along, they were doomed from the start.

"After the first-years are divided into six groups, you will merge with the second-and third-year students, who are also divided into six groups. That means each final team will consist of students from all three grade levels. The exam results will be determined by the average score of all members in a large group. In other words, the performance of upperclassmen will have a significant impact on your final results."

Upon hearing that they'd have to team up with older students, everyone exchanged uneasy glances.

A strange atmosphere settled over the train car.

It was understandable—most people felt somewhat uncomfortable around their seniors. And now that exam results were involved, there was also the looming possibility of being blamed by upperclassmen if things went poorly.

This exam really was something else.

From Hikigaya's perspective, simply gathering the smartest students in one group wouldn't guarantee victory.

The key to winning this exam lay in how well each team could manage itself.

"I've explained the basics. Now, let's move on to the most important part—what this special exam means for you."

Chabashira-sensei deliberately paused here.

"First, the group that ranks last will face a severe penalty. I think you can guess—expulsion."

"Knew it…"

After hearing this threat so many times, the students of Class D had almost become numb to the word. They weren't even that shocked anymore.

"But don't worry too much. It's not like the entire losing group will be expelled—that would mean kicking out forty students at once, which would be a logistical nightmare… In short, whether or not someone is expelled will depend on the group's average score. If the score falls below the threshold set by the school, the group's designated leader will be expelled."

For some reason, Chabashira-sensei suddenly hesitated midway through her explanation. But right now, no one is too concerned about that.

"How is the leader chosen?"

"It's up to your group to decide. Just pick someone suitable, that's all." Chabashira-sensei replied flatly. "You must choose a leader before tomorrow morning. If your group fails to decide, the entire group will be disqualified, meaning every member will be expelled. I assume no one is foolish enough to let that happen. It's never happened before, after all."

If things went as planned, Tsukishiro would probably maneuver Ayanokoji into taking the leadership role.

Given his exceptional abilities, a little push in the right direction would make it difficult for him to refuse. It all depended on how well Tsukishiro played his cards.

"One more thing. If the leader gets expelled, they can designate one other person in the group to be expelled alongside them, under the 'joint responsibility' rule. However, this is only allowed if the school determines that the chosen student contributed to the group's low score. So as long as you're not deliberately failing or causing trouble, you shouldn't have to worry about this."

This was the part Hikigaya was most concerned about.

In theory, selecting a disposable leader could be a way to eliminate a key figure from another class. However, the problem was that no student would willingly sacrifice themselves just to take someone else down.

That being said… it wasn't entirely impossible.

As long as the price was right.

Hikigaya had a pretty good idea of why Nagumo's personal point balance was so low.

"Next, any class that loses a student to expulsion will also suffer a penalty. Each expelled student will cost their class 100 class points. Additionally, if the penalty exceeds the class's current point total, the deficit will carry over. The class's points will remain at zero until the debt is repaid."

Chabashira-sensei's words sent a chill through the students.

Class D had spent a long time with zero points, so losing more wouldn't have mattered back then.

But now, that tactic wouldn't work anymore.

Was this their way of patching a loophole?

At that moment, Hirata suddenly raised his hand.

"Sensei, if someone gets expelled, is there any way to save them?"

"There is."

Chabashira-sensei nodded.

"As a last resort, expulsion can be canceled by paying personal points. This applies to all grades. Saving one student requires 20 million points. However, the penalties associated with the expulsion will still apply, and an additional 300 class points must be paid."

"We can pool points from the entire class, right?" Hirata asked carefully.

"Yes, you can. But… hmm, for students as 'poor' as you, that hardly seems relevant."

At the word "poor," Chabashira-sensei shot a glance in their direction.

"Besides, you don't even have 300 class points to spare, so don't bother thinking about it. It's impossible for you."

For this exam, a rescue operation would require at least 400 class points.

With Class D currently sitting at only 100, they couldn't afford it at all.

However, the third year was a different story.

Hypothetically speaking, if Nagumo was willing to cover the 20 million points, there would likely be students willing to sacrifice themselves just to take someone down with them.

Of course, this all sounded a bit far-fetched.

After all, Nagumo was a second-year student—he had no real reason to get involved in the third-year conflict, let alone spend such a massive amount of points on it.

No matter how you looked at it, this was completely irrational.

But in the end, common sense didn't apply to someone like Nagumo.

After all, he had absolute control over his entire year.

Simply put, he had no rivals among the second years. Since personal points were meaningless to him, he could spend them however he pleased—without anyone to stop him.

On the other hand, Horikita Manabu was a serious, by-the-books honor student. He would never imagine that Nagumo would go to such extreme lengths just to deal with him.

However, as long as one could see through Nagumo's scheme, countering it was surprisingly simple.

The first method was to warn Horikita-senpai—under no circumstances should he allow his classmates to join other groups alone. They had to stick together in groups of at least two or more. That way, the chain liability rule wouldn't come into effect.

If that wasn't feasible, then the only option was for Horikita's side to form the strongest possible first-year girls' group and then merge with Tachibana-senpai's group to create a larger unit.

As long as their large group didn't place last, the risk of expulsion would be completely avoided.

All in all, as long as either of these two strategies worked, Nagumo's scheme wouldn't stand a chance.

Ah, now I could finally relax.