So far, the special exam seems to be progressing without any major issues.

In the second question, which was math... our class obtained selection rights first and chose the correct answer as expected.

The lowest in the task... was Class C.

In the third question, which was science... thanks to the challengers’ good athletic ability, Class D obtained selection rights first and chose the correct answer.

The lowest in the task... was our class, likely because we had the only girl...

Then came the fourth question, which was art... here too, Class D obtained selection rights first, but unbelievably! they made a mistake and chose the wrong answer! In the end, Class B, who obtained selection rights second, chose the correct answer.

The lowest in the task... once again, was Class C.

So with that, the current situation of each class looks like this~!

Class A: 36 remaining.

Class B: 38 remaining.

Class C: 33 remaining.

Class D: 37 remaining.

In terms of points, Class B and Class D are leading, with Class A chasing behind them. Meanwhile... Class C is lagging behind.

'I wonder how this special exam will turn out~?'

"...Hey, Amasawa..."

"Ishigami-kun? What’s wrong?"

Right after the fourth question ended, Ishigami-kun spoke to me in a low voice.

"...Did you notice? The strategies of Class B and Class D..."

"...Hmm, I’m not sure if you can even call it a strategy, but..."

What I noticed, huh~?

First... about Class B’s [Choice Acquisition] group, it looks like two boys, Takuya and someone named Kibayashi, are taking turns challenging the tasks, while the other eighteen show no movement.

It’s probably to conserve the stamina of as many [Choice Acquisition] group members as possible for the later stages.

Also, Takuya hasn’t even been going all out yet, only displaying the minimum ability needed to avoid finishing last... that’s another point of interest~

And then... next, regarding Class D’s [Choice Acquisition] group... it’s strangely...

"It’s strange... how the members of Class D’s [Choice Acquisition] group have suddenly improved their athletic ability, isn’t it, Ichika-san?"

Tsubasa-chan, who was nearby, spoke up with exactly what I was about to say.

"That’s about right... from what I remember, the challengers from Class D so far all had OAA physical ability scores of C or lower, right?"

"That was true before. However, I can’t go into details... but you could say that Hōsen-kun and I trained the [Choice Acquisition] group members over the past few days."

"I see..."

Being trained by Hōsen-kun, who was notorious as a delinquent in middle school, and Tsubasa-chan, who was sent by Acting Director Tsukishiro... that must’ve been pretty harsh, right?

"According to Hōsen-kun, he wanted to raise the boys to the level of Sudō-senpai and the girls to the level of Horikita-senpai, but with such a short time, that was impossible... so in the end, we settled for bringing them up to a level where they wouldn’t hold us back."

"Class D really has it rough..."

Well... reaching the same level as those two in just a few days is unrealistic. Unless they were White Room students...

"The subject for Question 5 is... ‘School History.’"

While I was talking with Ishigami-kun and Tsubasa-chan, the fifth question was about to begin.

'Hm? The paper is yellow... is that some kind of sign? Could it be...'

Ichika-chan noticed that the paper the teacher was holding wasn’t white like before, but yellow. It seems several other students noticed it too and were showing confusion.

"Since a colored paper has been drawn, the next question will be a bonus question."

I knew it~! I thought so...

Then, the teacher began explaining the rules of the bonus question. The details were...

① In this question... the points awarded for selecting the correct answer will increase from 10pt to 50pt.

② However, among the four choices, one is a [Completely NG!] option, and any class that selects it will receive −50pt.

③ The [Choice Acquisition] group will challenge the task with five members per class.

By the way, these rules apply when the drawn colored paper is yellow... if a different colored paper is drawn, the bonus rules will change accordingly...

After hearing the bonus rules... the members of Class C’s [Answering Questions] group became excited.

Since they still have zero points, this is an unexpected opportunity for them~

'Our class’s [Answering Questions] group members also look happy... not as much as Class C, but still...'

Once the teacher finished explaining and the representative respondents stood ready... the bonus question finally appeared on the monitor.

[Question] In the special exam taken by the current second-years in March... which of the following four was the student expelled from Class A through the class vote?

① Totsuka Yahiko

② Yamauchi Haruki

③ Manabe Shiho

④ Igari Momoko

No way... even Ichika-chan can’t figure this one out...