Hikigaya glanced at his phone for a moment before putting it away. When it came to Karuizawa, this was probably all he could do.
At first, he had really hated Karuizawa. To him, her behavior was disgusting—picking on the weak, bullying those who were alone. Back then, Sakura had been one of her victims.
But after learning that Karuizawa had once been bullied herself, he didn't feel angry. Instead, he felt a deep sense of sadness.
Someone who had been a victim of bullying had now become a bully. Of course, that was awful, but more than anything, it was just sad. It was frustrating to see how bullying could completely change a person's life and break their sense of right and wrong.
Back in middle school, the serious incident he got caught up in had also started because of bullying. He just couldn't stand by and watch, so he stepped in. That led to a huge mess that couldn't be undone.
Karuizawa's actions were, at their core, a form of revenge. She was venting the pain she had suffered by doing the same thing to others. At the same time, it was her way of establishing authority.
At least she still had a way back. Hikigaya had only given her a chance—it was up to her to take it. In the end, the only one who could save you was yourself.
"You really love making things hard for yourself, huh?"
Hikigaya muttered to himself with a bitter smile. Doing things that brought him nothing but trouble—it was just like him. He had been hurt before too, but… for some reason, he just couldn't turn a blind eye.
On the fourth and final day of the Special Test, the 1 PM discussion session was the same as always. Everyone just did their own thing.
Then came the final discussion at 8 PM. At first, it felt no different from the previous ones, but as it got closer to 9 PM, people in the room started to lose focus.
"Hikki, who do you think the VIP in our group is?"
After spending these past few days together, Hasebe and Hikigaya had gotten more familiar with each other. Outside of these discussions, they would just nod in greeting when they passed by. But during group discussions, Hasebe was always unusually chatty, talking non-stop. Most of the time, Hikigaya just listened.
"I… I don't know."
Hikigaya answered casually.
"You liar!"
Hasebe pouted and glared at him. "Hikki, do you not trust me? Is that why you won't tell me?"
"Uh… why are you so sure I even know?"
"It's a woman's intuition!"
"..."
Hearing that, Hikigaya suddenly felt a dull pain in his foot.
"We'll find out when the test ends anyway, so there's no need to—"
Before he could finish, Hasebe interrupted him. "Hikki, have you ever bought a New Year's lottery ticket?"
"Uh… minors can't…"
"Oh, come on, don't tell me your parents never bought one?"
Hasebe continued, "Even if you know the results will be announced later, the real excitement is in the time before that, when you're still imagining the possibilities!"
"…Fine."
Hikigaya more or less understood what she meant. Rather than just waiting for the final answer, she enjoyed the thrill of figuring it out herself.
"In our group, everyone is so cautious that it's hard to figure out the VIP just by observing. But do you remember what I said at the beginning?"
"You mean information warfare?"
"That's right. Since I'm close with Hirata, I found out who the three VIPs in Class D are. And from that, I think I've figured out how the school picks the VIPs."
Hikigaya then explained the pattern he had discovered. Hasebe immediately pulled out her phone and started working through the puzzle.
With less than ten minutes left before 9 PM, her expression suddenly brightened. She grabbed Hikigaya's arm in excitement.
"Hikki, I figured it out!"
But in the next moment, she realized she had spoken too loudly. Now, everyone was looking at her.
At the same time, Hikigaya could feel a certain purple-haired girl's displeased gaze, along with Shiranami Chihiro's sharp glare.
Hasebe quickly covered her mouth and leaned in close to Hikigaya, whispering in his ear.
"Is it that big guy?"
Hasebe's eyes unconsciously drifted toward Albert, and she couldn't help but say, "So weird. He's wearing sunglasses indoors… is he squinting all the time or something?"
"Why don't you go ask him?"
"Damn it, why don't you ask?"
Hasebe puffed up her cheeks in frustration. Hikigaya chuckled, which only made her even more annoyed. She clenched her fist and playfully hit Hikigaya on the shoulder.
To others, though, the scene looked strangely intimate.
A certain purple-haired girl's face darkened. Shiranami Chihiro widened her eyes in anger. Then, as if she had just thought of something, she quickly took out her phone and secretly snapped a photo. A sly smile appeared on her face, as if saying, You're done for. Honami-chan will definitely give up on you now.
—
With five minutes left before the special exam for VIP students ended, everyone instinctively glanced at the envelopes on the table. When the broadcast announced the end of the exam, they stood up, each picking up an envelope before leaving the meeting room.
Since communication between classes was prohibited for the next 30 minutes, everyone dispersed. Hasebe and Hikigaya waved goodbye and lifted their phones slightly, signaling they'd chat through messages later.
Back in his room, Hikigaya opened the envelope. As expected, it contained the name of C-Class's Albert. At the same time, he received a message from Hasebe.
Miyake and Hondou soon returned as well. They wasted no time opening their own envelopes to find out the hidden VIP in their groups.
As long as they did nothing during the 30-minute window from 9:00 to 9:30, neither Result Three nor Result Four would occur. Then, after 9:30, they only needed to email the VIP's name to the school. If everyone in the group answered correctly, they would achieve *Result One*, earning each member 500,000 private points, while the VIP themselves would receive 1 million private points.
—
Because of the contract they signed, no one would dare risk expulsion by betraying the agreement. On top of that, Haruno had put multiple rules in place to prevent loopholes. Even someone as crafty as Ryuuen would struggle to find a flaw, especially since many of Haruno's strategies were designed to counter him specifically.
Time ticked by. At exactly 9:30, no one had received a message from the school, meaning there had been no betrayals in any of the twelve groups.
With that, things became simple.
All twelve groups in the VIP exam achieved Result One.
Each class gained 21.5 million private points, and their class rankings remained unchanged.
—
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