Vol. 4: Chapter 11 - Scriptwriter

2nd Day, 12:55 PM.

It was almost time for our 3rd discussion.

Sigh... To be honest, I'd rather have lunch with my friends forever... Everything just got more intense because of Kouenji's antics.

"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun, hello!" I was greeted by Ichinose's cheerful smile.

I was then noticed by the rest of the people in the room.

"Hey, Kiyotaka-kun!" waved Kikyou.

Hirata and Horikita greeted me as well. My classmates were early as usual. In fact, it seems like I was the last person to arrive. Ryuuen and his entourage could be found glaring at me on the other side of the room. I wish he could stop that.

[The third group discussion begins now.]

"Well, it doesn't seem like Katsuragi-kun and his classmates are interested, so I guess it'll be just Class B through D again." Ichinose opened the discussion with a bitter smile.

"Hey, Ichinose, can you tell me the point of discussing anything?" Ryuuen grinned as he asked.

Ichinose briefly looked at him before sighing...

"Frankly speaking, there's no point," she replied. "At the end of the day, we're competing against each other. Our so-called 'discussion' will just go around in circles, repeating things that everyone already knows. After all, if you're holding some useful information, you won't share it with your rivals. Some might even take things further and spout lies to mislead everyone."

Amazing... She instantly recognized the pitfall that Ryuuen set up for her. If she tried to act like the usual group leader, Ryuuen would be the one saying all of those words, making Ichinose look like nothing but a hypocrite.

Well, I guess that's to be expected of her.

"Kuku. Exactly. So what do you suggest we do?" asked Ryuuen.

"Well, our class is always willing to talk with anyone. But if you're not interested in that..." Ichinose took out a little something from her pocket. "Ta-dah~! I brought cards!"

Ryuuen snickered in his seat.

"It's not like there's anything we can do during this hour. I don't mind playing some games," said Hirata.

"Me too! Let's have some fun, Honami-chan, Hitomi-chan!" cheered Kikyou.

I looked at Horikita, who seemed a bit troubled by the current development.

"Do you wanna play? I'm down," I said.

"Hmm... I'd usually decline, but if I try to work on analyzing the code right now, it might bring some unnecessary attention. So perhaps I can participate..." replied Horikita.

How uncute and cute at the same time.

The seven students of Class B and Class C played cards during the hour. Ryuuen and his lackeys approached Katsuragi. Due to the noise that we were making and their considerable distance from us, nothing could be made of their conversation.

I wonder if they decided to cooperate with each other. Since Katsuragi can't ally with either of us, he'd have no choice but to work with Ryuuen again. That shouldn't be the case unless he's desperate.

"Kiyotaka-kun, it's your turn." Kikyou called out to me.

"Ah, my bad."

In the end, we played a bunch of Daifugō and Old Maid. They were simple games, but if your opponents know what they're doing, things are bound to get complicated. Even the calmest of players would get fired up at times.

"Whew~! That was quite fun, wasn't it?" asked Ichinose.

We barely noticed that an hour had already passed.

"Yes! I'd love to play with everyone again," replied Kikyou.

"You were playing really well, Ayanokouji. I never expected you to be a beginner." Kanzaki complimented me with a nod.

"Well, it's true that I've only learned about these games in high school, but some of my friends have played with me before."

Namely; Haruka and the others.

"You're really competitive, Horikita-san. Playing with you was so much fun," said Ichinose.

"I was just playing by the rules. If I ended up winning, then I guess I got lucky with the card draws," she replied.

"Stop acting all cool and just admi- Ouch!" I tried to tease her which didn't end well for me. Horikita mercilessly struck my side with her elbow.

When we finished fixing things up, the students of the Dragon Group finally got ready to leave.

"How is everything going, Horikita? 'Got any leads?" I asked.

She looked at me and pouted for a split second. Adorable...

"You're finally done joking around? Well, that aside, I believe I'm making progress. I'm trying to piece the clues together. Why were these students chosen as the VIPs? I'm sure there's a common factor that everyone is missing..."

With a small 'ding', I received a message containing her current list. It didn't look any different from the previous one, but this time, Minamikata's name was also marked.

"Progress, huh? Care to fill me in?"

The two of us were alarmed after hearing the sound of a familiar voice from behind. Well, not really. Horikita was alarmed, but not me. We hastily turned around and saw Ryuuen's smug face.

"There's nothing for you here, Ryuuen-kun," said Horikita.

"Of course, of course. It's not like I'm interested in what you know, anyway."

"Oh? Sounds like you're confident."

"Why thank you for noticing. You see, I went all the way back to the root of this exam. After a while, I finally managed to figure out the code." Ryuuen's smile turned sinister.

However, Horikita wasn't shaken.

"Oh, I see. Congratulations to you, then. It seems like you've won the exam. Now, why don't you ask your subordinates from the other groups to submit the answers? Wouldn't that end this test once and for all?"

"Hah, don't be scared now. I'm still having fun playing around. I want to see how you'll protect the identities of your precious VIPs. And then, on the final day, right before the exam ends, I'll have fun crushing your hopes and dreams."

"Hmph, as expected, you're all talk. There's no point in playing around. If you really knew the identities of every VIP, you and your classmates would've submitted their names already. Your bluff is pitiful, Ryuuen-kun."

"Oh, relax, Suzune. There's no need to get so worked up. This exam has already been won. No amount of strategy or tactics matters at this point. You can't change anything... because you're just a part of the script." Ryuuen narrowed his eyes as he waited for Horikita's response.

"And you're saying that you are the all-powerful scriptwriter?" Horikita raised an eyebrow.

"Keh, the answer should've been obvious from the start— to you, at least." Ryuuen turned around and walked out with his classmates. "I'm looking forward to seeing how you'll do, Suzune."

"Sure. And stop calling me by my name. It feels extremely unpleasant." Horikita replied as she glared at his retreating back.

"He sure knows how to make a show out of everything." To be honest, even I was impressed.

In this case, what Ryuuen referred to as a "scriptwriter" doesn't need to think about making any plans or schemes. If you know who the VIPs are, you're basically in control of the exam. You're free to make your own winning scenario with everyone as your puppet. 

"I would love to discredit his arrogance as nothing but that, arrogance. However, it still frustrates me. If Ryuuen-kun has a lead, then he might really figure out the pattern before I do. Should Katsuragi give him the names of Class A's VIPs, then it's all over."

"Don't worry. That's impossible. If anyone's crazy enough to take that risk, it certainly wouldn't be Katsuragi."

"I know. He was already done in by him during the island exam. I doubt he'd make the same mistake and share that kind of information with Ryuuen-kun... But something's not right..."

"You already know four names. If Ryuuen was bluffing, then he would only have three names at the moment. You still have the advantage, Horikita."

"You're right. I just need to do this methodically. An answer will show itself soon enough."

"Yeah, I believe in you." I truly did. However, Horikita needed to realize some things before she could unravel the secrets of this exam.

"I won't let it come to the point where you'd be forced to lend a helping hand." She sighed before facing me. "Speaking of lending a helping hand, where were you last night? You didn't do anything to secretly help us, right?"

"I don't know if it counts, but I was searching for Chabashira-sensei on the fifth deck. I wanted to clarify something about the rules. If possible, I might be able to tamper with Kouenji's reward money."

"I see. It's certainly a valid concern. Such a large sum of private points would be wasted on someone like him, but is it even possible to do something like that?"

"Those temporary IDs interested me, but I can't be sure about anything. I didn't really find her last night, so my journey was fruitless."

After finishing my business, I contacted them via group call. That was how I managed to provide some input for our plans. Of course, most of the ideas were still theirs.

With all that's said and done, the four of us finally left the room. The third group discussion just ended, but apart from a handful of people, no one else knew about the real state of this seemingly unbreakable deadlock.