Just moments ago, Ichinose had been desperately trying to make conversation. Now, she had gone completely silent.
Even without seeing her expression, it was obvious—after losing three consecutive matches, she was likely no longer able to maintain the composure and confidence she was supposed to have.
The most devastating blow had been the recent defeat in the English test, which had completely unsettled her—and perhaps the entire Class A as well.
Not only had their verbal assault failed to achieve anything, it had even backfired.
That much should've been obvious with just a little thought.
When it came to their attitude toward the class, Hikigaya and Ichinose were polar opposites.
So how could someone who never cared about winning or losing be affected at all?
Besides, verbal harassment wasn't something a good girl like her was any good at in the first place... She wasn't shameless like Sakayanagi or Ryuuen.
Rather than awkwardly trying to mimic others, she would've been better off focusing her efforts on stabilizing her own mindset.
At this point, a few more sarcastic remarks from Hikigaya might be all it took to completely shatter Ichinose's mental defenses.
But he wasn't a demon or anything, so he decided to let it go.
Then, in the center of the room, the large screen once again displayed the words: "Now Drawing".
Ichinose stared intently at the screen, hands clasped together as she silently prayed.
The next event would determine the overall outcome of this special exam.
But it seemed the goddess of fortune had not chosen to favor her.
[Typing Ability]
Required Participants: 1
Time Limit: 30 minutes
Rules: Out of the three typing categories—Words, Short Passages, and Long Passages—the side with the faster speed and higher accuracy wins. The commander may point out one mistake to their participant during the exam.
This was Class D's event—and a true one-on-one duel.
For Ichinose, this was undoubtedly bad news.
Even though two of Class D's written exams had already been drawn, with the current momentum, sending out Kanzaki alone could likely secure a win.
But typing ability was a complete unknown.
A pampered rich kid like Kanzaki? Sure, saying he learned piano, painting, or horseback riding since childhood sounded perfectly believable—but saying he'd seriously practiced typing? That felt unlikely.
Of course, Class A might have had some hidden typing expert.
Everything was up in the air.
Regardless, Hikigaya had already decided who he would send out. He moved the mouse and dragged Hideo Sotomura's photo onto the screen.
No one in Class D could match his typing speed. Since they hadn't been able to gather any intel on Class A in this area, there was no other choice but to trust in his abilities.
Now, it was Ichinose's turn to hesitate.
Would she send Kanzaki after all?
If Class A had a hidden ace, there'd be no need to hesitate.
But it was also possible Ichinose had considered that this was the deciding round—rather than focusing on typing skill, it might be more reliable to choose someone like Kanzaki, whose mentality wouldn't easily waver.
And so, at the final second of the countdown, the name Kanzaki Ryuuji appeared on the screen.
It looked like she was going all in.
This choice couldn't be called a mistake—but if it were Hikigaya in the same situation... thinking about it, he'd probably forfeit the typing round altogether.
In other words, just give up.
As discouraging as that word might sound, sometimes surrender was a strategy in itself.
This special exam consisted of all seven events being played out. It wasn't like the first four wins would end the exam.
In the current situation, rather than aiming for an outright win, minimizing damage was the more prudent approach.
If the result was 4–3, they'd only lose 30 points. But if it ended 5–2, they'd lose 90.
Still, that was just Hikigaya's own opinion—there was no need to bring it up with Ichinose.
Before long, the two participants arrived at the designated classroom.
Their conditions were visible through the monitor.
Sotomura kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve—nervous, without a doubt.
Though he had built mental strength during the joint training camp and matured considerably, this was still the decisive round.
Just the thought that he carried the hopes of the entire class was enough to weigh heavily on his shoulders.
Well, all he could do was give it his best.
In contrast, Kanzaki appeared exceptionally composed and calm.
Arms crossed and eyes closed, he sat quietly at his desk, waiting for the exam to begin, looking completely at ease.
As expected of someone with real experience.
Soon, the match began.
For this event, the commander couldn't do much—Hikigaya couldn't think of any helpful strategies either.
He carefully reviewed Sotomura's answers, casually picked out one error, and pointed it out—and that was it. Then he went back to reading his light novel.
Now it was just a matter of waiting for the results.
And then—
"Class A, Kanzaki Ryuuji: 79 points.Class D, Sotomura Hideo: 88 points.That makes it four wins for Class D. With this, Class D has won the special exam."
With Mashima-sensei's announcement, Ichinose finally understood what it meant for her world to go completely dark.
Sotomura was shown on the screen leaping up in excitement, while Kanzaki hung his head—his expression unreadable.
He was probably filled with regret.
"Pfft—"
Hikigaya nearly burst out laughing when he saw the score.
Just as he thought—there was no way someone from a wealthy family like Kanzaki would've ever seriously practiced typing. It's not like he'd grow up to work at an IT company or something.
At most, he probably crammed a little last-minute this week.
Honestly, it must've been exhausting for him to put on that composed act all this time... and for what?
"Ugh…"
At that moment, Ichinose, across from him, let out a soft, pained whimper—apparently thinking Hikigaya was laughing at her.
…Crap.
He wanted to explain that it wasn't like that at all, but trying to clarify now would only make it sound like he was mocking her.
Better to just shut up.
"Though the exam has already been decided, the remaining matches must still be taken seriously," Mashima-sensei suddenly reminded them."Remember—every single event affects your class points. Now then, moving on to Round Five."
Smack—!
At those words, Ichinose slapped both her cheeks hard, trying to bring herself back to her senses.
Just as the teacher had said—even if the exam had been lost, they had to fight to the very end.
Even a single point's difference could reduce the class's losses.
That was all she, as the leader, could do now.
Seeing Ichinose regain her fighting spirit, Mashima-sensei nodded to himself in approval.
A student with such a strong sense of responsibility, one who wouldn't give up easily, any teacher would surely admire that.
By contrast...
Mashima-sensei glanced nonchalantly at Hikigaya. Despite winning the class match, the guy didn't look the least bit happy—he just yawned with a bored expression.
Honestly... Mashima didn't even know what to say about that.
Meanwhile, the next event was revealed:
[Japanese Language Test]
Required Participants: 19
Time Limit: 50 minutes
Rules: Questions will be drawn from the first-year curriculum. The team with the highest total score wins. The Commander may pose one question worth 10 points to the opposing team (excluding the essay portion).
Another Class D event—and the one Hikigaya had been looking forward to the most.
The only downside was that it came too late.
The exam was already won. The rest of the matches? They were just for show now.
Moreover, he didn't particularly care about the outcome of this event.
The main reason was that there was simply no one left in the class to send out.
Setting aside Kouenji, the only remaining student with the lowest grades was Sakura.
Is this what they call, "When there are no generals in Shu, Liao Hua becomes the vanguard…"?
So, should he gamble on Kouenji?
Even though that guy had promised he would contribute to the class in the future, and Horikita's strategy had accounted for him, no matter how Hikigaya thought about it, he still felt uneasy.
Especially for this Classical Japanese test.
If it were something that just required moving his hands a little and Kouenji happened to be in a good mood, there was indeed a possibility of pulling off a win.
But expecting him to voluntarily and earnestly complete an entire exam without any coercion or punishment in place… yeah, now wasn't the time for daydreaming.
In the end, Hikigaya decided not to give Kouenji even the opportunity to let him down.
Also, considering the possibility of a girls' swimming event coming up later, plus the fact that Onodera's grades weren't great either, she was excluded from the roster this time as well.
With that, 34 students from Class D had now participated.
It seemed a reshuffling was inevitable—and those few SSR cards were back on the table.
Once he finished selecting the participants, Hikigaya immediately started typing on the keyboard, inputting the pre-prepared test question.
It was a Classical Japanese passage, excerpted from Records of the Grand Historian, with reference provided by Wang Meiyu from the class.
No need to even talk about the difficulty level—just reading it gave Hachiman a headache.
Let's hope the students from Class A can… wait a second.
Staring at the images of the students on screen, he suddenly realized something.
Just like Class D, Class A had already exhausted its top-performing students.
Though their class average was higher, meaning the remaining students probably didn't have terrible grades, they also wouldn't be performing far above average like before.
At best, their scores would be around the grade average.
And Sakura was about on par with them… in other words, there was still a real chance to win this round.
…Whatever, not his problem.
Hikigaya wasn't in the mood to worry about it anymore. Besides, he'd already done everything a strategist was supposed to do—might as well get back to reading his novel.
As for Ichinose, she kept switching between the students' test screens. Whenever she saw someone answering incorrectly, she looked like she wanted to jump in and take the test herself.
Just like that, fifty minutes passed in a flash.
Grading was completed quickly—
"Next is the announcement of the Classical Japanese results. Class A's highest score is 72, and Class D's highest score is 76. Therefore, Class D wins this round."
Mashima-sensei didn't announce the name of the student who got the highest score—probably to prevent the losing class from directing their frustration at that person.
Though it was hard to imagine Class A doing something like that… if Class D had lost—well, best not to go there.
"Ah…"
Ichinose stared blankly at the screen, as if her soul had been sucked out of her.
That was the price of going all-in.
If she had saved Kanzaki for this round, they definitely would've secured the win for Classical Japanese.
Unfortunately, there are no "ifs" in this world.
Mashima-sensei, unable to bear watching any longer, didn't pause this time and immediately moved on with the progression of the exam, as if he just wanted to wrap things up quickly.
[Girls' Swimming]
Required participants: 2
Rules: Based on standard freestyle swimming competition rules. The commander can designate one student for a rematch.
Sighing about his decent luck, Hikigaya unceremoniously sent out Onodera.
The only Class D student who hadn't appeared yet was the lone wolf, Kouenji.
As for Ichinose, she numbly selected two girls.
She had probably already guessed the outcome.
Sure enough, Onodera, the ace of the swimming club, wasn't going to lose to any of the other girls her age—she secured the win with ease.
With that, the score was now 6–0.
An absolute victory.
Class D's classroom must be buzzing with excitement right now… hopefully those guys weren't causing any trouble for the other classes.
"Next, the final event will be drawn."
Mashima-sensei said this simply, while Sakagami-sensei let out a silent sigh.
At this point, neither teacher could bear to look at Ichinose anymore.
[Dodgeball]
Required participants: 12
Rules: Based on standard dodgeball rules. The team that eliminates all opposing players wins. The commander may, at any time, revive a player who has been eliminated.
Of all things, the final event turned out to be this.
Hikigaya wasn't even sure if he should laugh at this point.
If dodgeball had been the first event to appear, it would've been a significant challenge.
He would've had to seriously consider whether to give it up, or whether to commit precious combat power to it.
But now… it was practically a free win.
Once a certain star player was sent in, the rest of the students could be reused for a second appearance.
Without hesitation, Hikigaya selected Sudou, Hirata, Miyake, Horikita, Matsushita, Kushida, and five other athletic students—an absolute all-star team.
Though Ichinose could still reuse powerful players like Shibata and Kanzaki, let's not forget—Sudou was on their side.
That guy was practically worth three people on his own!
Before long, the screen showed Horikita and the others changing into sportswear, appearing on the field full of energy.
Just from their presence alone, it seemed impossible to imagine losing.
However, not long after the match began, reality gave Hikigaya a harsh slap in the face.
How did they manage to get four players eliminated in just a few minutes!?
Hachiman was completely stunned. These guys had no sense of teamwork. Except for Sudou and Kushida, everyone was just doing their own thing.
And Kushida was faking it. Whenever the ball headed toward Horikita or Matsushita, she would never step in to help defend.
Matsushita wasn't much better—always looking for a chance to hide behind Horikita or Kushida, trying to use them as shields.
Only Horikita genuinely wanted to win. But perhaps because she rarely worked with others, she couldn't coordinate with anyone, running around like a headless chicken.
In the end, she got eliminated by a combined play from Kushida and Matsushita.
Come on… you're supposed to be teammates! This isn't Battle Royale, alright?
Don't think I didn't see what you were up to—Teacher Hikigaya is watching everything from the sidelines!
In contrast, Class A's coordination was flawless.
With Kanzaki as the strategist and Shibata as the main force, the rest of the team skillfully supported their movements, gradually wearing down Class D's formation.
Even though Sudou fought desperately to close the gap and kept targeting Shibata…
The students from Class A willingly acted as shields, getting eliminated just to protect their ace. Again and again, they broke Sudou's momentum with that kind of self-sacrifice.
To think they'd maintain that level of morale even after losing six events… That would be unimaginable if it were Class D.
Hikigaya couldn't help but admire them. They must be doing it all to repay Ichinose's trust—fighting to the very last moment.
…Ichinose's indoctrination is terrifying.
Time ticked away, and Class D's players dwindled one by one.
Dodgeball becomes harder to defend as you lose numbers. Even though Sudou was revived once, they couldn't stop the downward spiral.
Still, even if they lost this one, there was no need to dwell on it—they'd already won six rounds.
That result was beyond anyone's expectations.
Just as Hachiman was thinking about when he could head back, and only three students remained on the field for Class D—
That man stepped forward.