At last, the second special exam for the first-years was only a few days away...

In Class 1-B...

"Hey, Yagami-kun? Are you really sure you’ll be fine in the [Choice Acquisition] group?"

"There’s no problem. At the very least, I won’t be a burden to everyone."

"If you say so..."

Yagami Takuya calmly answered the concern from his classmate, Dōgami Mitsuko.

Even though he’s something like the class’s coordinator... when Yagami, whose OAA physical ability rating is C, volunteered for the [Choice Acquisition] group, the entire Class 1-B couldn’t hide their surprise...

'Dōgami... I appreciate your concern... but unfortunately, this is something I won’t back down on...'

There’s a proper reason why Yagami is so fixated on the [Choice Acquisition] group...

It’s to completely take control of Class 1-B.

Ever since around the previous Partner Written Exam... Yagami had been rising within Class B, but that doesn’t mean he had secured the absolute position of leader.

So... this time, by contributing to the class in terms of physical ability—where he was intentionally underrated at enrollment—and creating the illusion among his classmates that Yagami Takuya is more capable than his OAA score suggests, he aims to lead them into fully revering him as their leader.

By the way, if he wanted a quicker method... becoming a dictator through violence like Hōsen would probably be more efficient.

However, his pride as a fifth-generation White Room student prevents him from taking that route... he doesn’t want to be treated the same as someone like Hōsen, who came from delinquency.

'Just watch me, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka!... I’ll prove that I’m superior to you! Got it? If you get expelled by anyone other than me, I won’t forgive it! With this, Ichika will also...'

Thanks to Ichika’s influence... in this world, Yagami wants to defeat Ayanokōji, but he doesn’t aim to expel him... much less take his life.

From Yagami’s current perspective... Ayanokōji Kiyotaka isn’t someone he directs hatred toward, but rather his goal... or a rival over a certain person.

This subtle change... and how he handles a certain person later would end up determining his fate... something Yagami did not know at the time.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Class 1-C...

"Alright then, Utomiya-kun, I’ll leave you in charge of the [Choice Acquisition] group."

"Yeah, I’m counting on you to command the [Answering Questions] group, Tsubaki..."

"Leave it to me."

Utomiya, who acts as the leader of Class C, was discussing things with his classmate Tsubaki Sakurako.

"And also... Utomiya-kun."

"What is it?"

"Tell Hatano-kun this. Don’t trust Yagami Takuya."

"Yagami?"

Utomiya couldn’t understand Tsubaki’s words. All he knew was that Hatano and Yagami were close as fellow Student Council members...

"From what I see, Yagami-kun doesn’t look like he’s aiming to expel Ayanokōji-senpai. If anything, it feels like he’s directing hatred toward Hatano-kun."

"Really? From my perspective, they look close... well... your insight is reliable, Tsubaki, so maybe Yagami has some kind of reason..."

"Maybe he’s planning to use the penalty actions in this special exam to drive Hatano-kun to expulsion. Yagami-kun is a leader-like figure in Class B... if he’s actually scheming beneath the surface, it wouldn’t be strange for him to think of something like that."

"I see... if Hatano gets expelled, that’s minus 100 Class Points... and in this situation... depending on Hōsen’s decisions in the special exam, there’s even a possibility of dropping to Class D... we definitely need to avoid that."

"Right... so make sure you tell him."

With that, Tsubaki left the scene...

'If Hatano gets expelled... and the truth comes out to Class C... we’d become completely hostile toward Class B... worst case, we might end up being attacked by both Class B and Class D...'

Left behind, Utomiya twisted his thoughts, considering what to do next.

With Class D led by Hōsen already causing trouble... it’s something he’d prefer to avoid if possible.

'Should we form an alliance with Class A where Amasawa is? Or if Hatano gets expelled, we could outwardly blame Hōsen and avoid conflict with Class B... or maybe, though it’d be difficult... try asking Amasawa to transfer to our class?'

When they learn Yagami’s true reason for wanting Hatano expelled, how will Tsubaki and Utomiya react?

* * *

Furthermore, in Class 1-D...

"For this special exam... Amasawa-san will likely participate in the [Choice Acquisition] group."

"Oh? Let’s hear your reasoning."

"Just like Amasawa-san... Ishigami-kun, who is a leader-like figure in Class A, is almost certainly in the [Answering Questions] group due to his low OAA physical ability score. They wouldn’t concentrate their key figures in the same group..."

"...I see!"

Here as well... Nanase and Hōsen were in the middle of discussing the special exam.

"Yeah! That’s what normal people would expect! Especially someone like Utomiya."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Heh! The opponent is that Amasawa. Just like with the petty knife incident, there’s a chance she’ll mess with us using some completely unexpected method."

Whether it was luck or not, Hōsen had already experienced being outplayed by Amasawa back in April, which made him realize she’s not just an honor student.

"We’ll deal with Amasawa later... for now, we’ll forcibly assign the bottom 20 students from the midterm scores into the [Choice Acquisition] group... and I’ll personally train them so they can improve their physical abilities as much as possible over the next few days."

"Understood. Of those 20, I’ll take charge of the girls. Since there are differences in stamina and muscle mass between boys and girls, it would be better to separate the training menus."

And so... as each class’s intentions continued to build... time passed in the blink of an eye...

And finally... the morning of the Four-Choice Mismatch Exam arrived...