Right before the Paper Shuffle, immediately after the mini test ended—in other words, right after the attack and defense pairings were decided, I was called to the rooftop by Ryūen.

Yamada, Ibuki and Ishizaki were there as well, and on the stairs leading up to the rooftop stood Komiya, who seemed to be acting as a lookout.

This wasn’t exactly a calm group you’d expect for a negotiation.

Though I don’t know if Ryūen’s class even has calm students…

“A deal. You’ll buy the right to create the questions for your class for three million.”

The moment I stepped onto the rooftop and approached Ryūen, those were the first words he threw at me.

What a roundabout greeting.

What Ryūen offered—the right to create the attacking side’s questions for his own class—was one of the strongest possible cards in this Paper Shuffle.

Chabashira-sensei had clearly stated: ‘As long as the school approves the questions, it doesn’t matter if they’re easy or difficult.’

And in Paper Shuffle, whether you’re attacking or defending, the comparison is based on the total class score.

If you create questions easy enough for the entire class to score full marks, victory is almost guaranteed.

On the flip side, the seller is almost certain to lose, taking a −50 class point penalty.

Considering that, three million is a fair price. But…

“1.5”

“Are you kidding me? It’s three million .”

“I’ll throw in a bonus, so let’s call it 2.”

Our class doesn’t have the luxury to pay three million points right now.

It’s not that we can’t, but since I’m handling this special exam on my own, I want to keep expenses as low as possible.

I was planning to propose the same deal anyway, but I’d like him to accept two million at most.

“A bonus? Hah, what, you gonna give me the right to mess with your precious Matsushita?”

“Sorry, I wouldn’t agree to that even for eight hundred million.”

When I responded like that to his crude provocation, Ryūen’s eyes sharpened instantly.

Looks like I hit the mark.

“You bastard…”

“If you’re gathering money, you should be more discreet.”

If you’re aiming for twenty million, that is.

That still wouldn’t be enough for eight hundred million, so Ryūen has been making flashy, reckless deals.

His goal wasn’t to escape class competition alone with twenty million points, but to raise the entire class to A with eight hundred million.

He’s insane. People might joke about it, but actually doing it is something else entirely.

“Tch. What’s this bonus? Say it.”

“Three subjects’ worth of test questions from our class. You could sell them to Class A.”

Since Ryūen realized I’d seen through him, he seemed willing to consider my proposal.

So I suggested handing over the questions Horikita prepared.

Sakayanagi herself probably wouldn’t buy them, but others might.

Class A has money to spare, so we could probably pull in around 300,000.

Not all subjects of course, if they memorized everything we’d lose.

And we have Koenji as an unpredictable factor.

Selling fake answers would be fraud and get us expelled, so only real ones can be sold.

Besides, most classes split subjects when creating questions, and saying we stole or bought a few would sound realistic.

“What a pain. You go negotiate and get the money yourself.”

“My class would be on guard.”

“That goes for me too.”

“No, you’ve got a connection in Class A. That guy might buy it pretty easily.”

“Tch… you’re a pain to deal with.”

“Hey, how do you know about Hashimoto?”

Ibuki let it slip.

So Hashimoto was the spy in Class A.

“You guessed their leader in the island exam. There’s no way Ryūen could’ve known otherwise. With Class A’s leader not being naive, sending spies like Ibuki wouldn’t work. Katsuragi would’ve been guarding terminals too. So either it was luck or a traitor.”

“…I see. Not bad.”

Ibuki praised me condescendingly.

Though I only figured it out because she slipped.

“Shut up, Ibuki. Your strength isn’t your mouth.”

“What do you mean? I can—”

“Honestly, leaving it to Ryūen is smarter.”

“Hah? Who are you to say—mmph.”

Yamada covered her mouth before she could slip further.

Must be tough dealing with her.

“If it’s Hashimoto, he’ll buy your questions for a decent price. Class A is being chased hard right now. He’s probably panicking after selling info during the island exam.”

“Yeah, that bat bastard’s been contacting me more. Acts carefree, but inside he’s freaking out.”

“Then he’d pay around 300,000 for three subjects?”

“I’ll squeeze 500,000 out of him.”

The issue would be if Hashimoto asked Sakayanagi and got denied, but since he’s acting independently, there’s a chance.

“I’ll take your bonus… but 2’s still too low.”

“Then don’t take it. We started at 0 class points, cut us some slack.”

“Don’t give me that crap. You’ve got bonus points from the cruise exam, right?”

“…Things happened.”

Of course he wouldn’t believe that.

The tension rises, and Yamada releases Ibuki.

“We’re helping you beat Class A, you should at least pay up.”

“We don’t have the money. And even if we did, it’s not spare change, it’s what Chiaki worked hard to earn.”

“Hah. Keep playing dumb then. Guess you’ll have to learn the hard way.”

The four of them surround me.

Finally, the main point.

“Ryūen, that was a long setup.”

“Hah?”

“You gathered this group, set a lookout, destroyed cameras, and you’re saying you weren’t planning violence?”

I noticed the cameras were disabled the moment I arrived.

From the start, he intended to test me, either to measure my strength or out of curiosity.

“Ku, hahaha! So you figured it out from the start!”

“More or less.”

“And you thought you could talk your way out? Idiot. I’ll teach you, words can’t beat fists. Violence is the strongest force.”

“I’ve done some karate and judo.”

“You think that’s enough to beat four of us? This isn’t the sports festival.”

At his signal, all four attacked.

I grabbed Ishizaki’s arm and threw him into Yamada.

Yamada wouldn’t dodge, he’s too kind.

While he was occupied, I knocked Ibuki out with a strike to the jaw.

At the same time, I avoided Ryūen’s attacks, kicked his knee to break his balance and followed with a kick to his face.

Lastly, Yamada.

Ishizaki went down in one hit, but Yamada’s tougher.

I dodged his strike and hit him with a crescent kick, dropping him.

“Guh…”

“Ayanokōji…”

“What are you, a monster…”

Within seconds, all four were down.

“Sorry, but the four of you can’t beat me. So, how about 2?”

“Forget the money! I’ll crush you!”

He tried again, but it was useless.

After a few counters, he collapsed.

I caught him before he hit the ground and slapped him awake.

“Don’t pass out yet.”

“Y-you monster…”

“…Three subjects included, so 2… no, 1.5 is fine, right?”

“…Do whatever…”

Got his word.

I laid him down gently.

And that’s how I bought the question rights for 1.5 million points.

* * *

Looking back on it, I eliminated as much randomness as possible.

The key factor in Paper Shuffle is simply: which class attacks which.

Most importantly, ensuring Ryūen targeted Horikita’s class.

That was almost guaranteed from the start.

Ryūen knew I’d target Sakayanagi.

Even though I told the class otherwise to maintain morale.

The expected targets were:

Sakayanagi → Horikita

Horikita → Sakayanagi

Ichinose → Ryūen or Horikita

Ryūen → Horikita

If targets overlapped, it’d be decided by lottery.

To remove that randomness, I bought a special rule from Chabashira-sensei:

The defending class chooses the attacker instead of drawing lots.

It cost 500,000 points.

But since I bought Ryūen’s rights for 1.5 million, it evens out.

“But using class funds without permission… that’s dangerous.”

“It was for victory. People will value the results more.”

“That’s true… but 2 million is still a lot. If anything happens, don’t worry, I’ll comfort you.”

I appreciate Chiaki’s kindness, but now I need to figure out how to explain this to the class.