<h4>Chapter 52: 3.2</h4>


    "A special exam on an uninhabited ind for the second year in a row. Although it''s not like I haven''t thought about this..."


    "I thought it wasing, and it really has."


    After returning to the ssroom, the routine conversation to prepare for the special exam began.


    Everyone, along with Yosuke, gathered around the front row seat of Horikita, sorting out the current situation.


    Kouenji also returned to his seat, using his usual mirror to look at himself, revelling in it.


    "The particrly important part of this exam is, although there are certain conditions, we can form groups with anyone in the same year at will."


    This was a new rule that had never existed in the special exams up to now.


    And in the end, the appearance of such a rule was beyond what had been expected.


    "But, what about the distribution of ss points when you win? Although I understand the reason behind it, there''s no benefit in grouping up with other sses. It just feels like we''d be messing around if we do that."


    Exactly. Sudo''s thoughts were just a matter of course, as he delved into the point. This special exam was not just apetition across the year groups, but also a battle between sses of the same year. Forming groups consisting of members of just your own ss was the only way toplete this exam efficiently.


    Even so, the school had prepared some interesting rules.


    Grouping up with strong students within the school year would make it easier to get into the upper rankings. Low risk, but low reward. On the other hand, grouping up with only members of the same ss would present a high risk, high reward opportunity.


    The ideal situation would be forming groups of 2 or 3 within the ss, and then converging into the big groupster.


    However, it was not easy to form big groups after the special exam began. If there was no guarantee of being able to form a big group before freely, then the danger of failing would be great. But despite this, it was also true that this special exam hid previously unimagined destructive power. If one ss took all three top spots, they''d receive 600 ss points. If ss 2-D achieved this goal, it''d be an express ticket to ss 2-B.


    "But if we rely on only our ss, there are some talents that can''t be offset. And if it''s only our ss that forms groups within our own ss... What if the other sses join forces? The worst-case scenario would be that only ss D falls behind as the gap widens."


    It would be ideal to win with only ss D, but at the end of the day, that is just an ideal situation.


    If any ss chose to challenge the special exam alone, that ss would run the risk of getting targeted by all the other three sses working together. If that ss lost, there wouldn''t be any sort of high reward waiting for them.


    "If it''s just that we can''t win, that''s a different story, but if we withdraw too early, we''ll run the risk of expulsion. In other words, if we have enough self-confidence... No, if we can''t be certain of victory, then we''ll have to form groups of 6 with the other sses."


    A special exam like this one, in which the other sses were bothrade and enemy, had never existed until now.


    When considered this way, wasn''t it also an important part of a strategy to form groups with the students in the other sses right from the start? However, there was no easy guarantee that the pace of the other sses would be in line with each other. Although in terms of results, there''s not much advantage in grouping up within your own ss, since there could be arge change in ss points this exam, you''d want to try to outperform the other sses as much as possible. Not to mention the sses that are at the bottom.


    And so, under the premise of having to form groups, which direction to turn the rudder to start with?


    "How will Sakayanagi, Ryuuen, and Ichinose act?"


    In order to decide on the groupings, Horikita used Yosuke''s words as a basis to speak to everyone.


    "ss A, who is in the leading position, probably wouldn''t be troubled by the mixing together of the sses. It doesn''t matter which group wins, as long as the gap of points between their ss and the other sses does not be narrower. On the contrary, the next three sses that rank below them, including us, would like to narrow that gap."


    "Then how about an alliance between the three sses? If the gap is extended by ss A, let''s first establish an alliance from ss B to D. To be able to narrow that gap with ss A wouldn''t be bad."


    Sudo, who was listening to the conversations, came up with a good idea.


    Joining forces with which we have amon enemy, to attack ss A together.


    "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, is what you mean. It''s not a bad objective to iste ss A. If it is Ichinose, she probably will ept this proposal."


    "But if we propose to iste ss A, we have to be prepared for ss A''s hostility. Considering Sakayanagi''s character, I think that, even with our ss D, the bottommost ss, she''ll still mercilessly use her resources to deal with us."


    In general, ss A''s energy would be focused on the 2nd ce ss B that is trying to catch up.


    But, as Yosuke said, Sakayanagi tended never to let the prey she decided on escape.


    "We still need to quietly get closer to the top sses as much as possible."


    "Even if the three sses are to fight together, it''s better if it''s not us who makes that proposal."


    Allowing the other proposers to ept Sakayanagi''s hostility.


    Easier said than done.


    The most troublesome thing about this special exam is that only negotiating within your ss couldn''t solve all the problems.


    No matter how heated the discussion got here, nothing would get done. If we couldn''t grasp what ss B and ss C were actually thinking, if there would be no unified guidelines being implemented, then it''ll end up as nothing more than a theoretical n, useless in practice.


    That being said, it wasn''t so easy, getting the three sses to talk with each other without any trouble.


    Ichinose aside, it''s hard to imagine Ryuuen would readily agree to it.


    If Sakayanagi became aware of this information, she would naturally make her move as well.


    "Seems hard to make a judgement..."


    Although there was more than a month to form the groups, there was no way to stay calm as groups formed around us, one by one.


    "It would be of great help if another ss raises a simr proposal..."


    The students of ss D were having a hard time with this.


    "Just forming a group by itself is quite a headache."


    Besides forming a group, there was another important thing.


    That is the existence of cards with various effects. Tomorrow morning, the school would give all students each a unique card that couldn''t be transferred between ssmates. And because cards that have been transferred once would be locked in ce, they couldn''t return to the original owners'' hands. In other words, you could only simply trade, or buy, or sell them with students outside of the ss.


    "Actually, most people will probably start to act tomorrow."


    "Yeah. Gathering effective cards into a group is also a key point."


    The day when the prohibitions of forming a group for the next special exam were lifted.


    Of course, there would ur a significant change in the situation of the sses, including ss D.