Vol. 4: Chapter 24 - The Mind of an Elite

Final Day, 7:05 PM.

After getting separated from my groupmates, a little over five hours ago, I immediately entered the room that I was assigned to.

The first thing I did was rest for a couple of hours. Despite my eagerness to work as soon as I got inside, my body gave in to exhaustion.

Honestly, if I knew that my efforts for an all-nighter would amount to nothing, I would've slept the third night off. Running around the ship to investigate during the rest day already put a toll on my body. It's especially tough given how hard it was for me to conduct a quick yet proper interview.

No one was inside, but I assume Mori-san and the others came and left when I was asleep.

Anyway, I got to work the moment I woke up. I cast aside the heap of notes containing information on possible VIPs. While I did a lot of it, most of the specific details were obtained thanks to Hirata-kun and Kushida-san's efforts.

However, after the fifth meeting, I figured that all of those might've been unnecessary.

This time, I may have just realized the last— No... the only clue that was needed to crack the code. In other words, our previous efforts may have amounted to nothing. But if this last piece hit the mark... I win.

I sat at the desk, taking my phone along with a pen and paper. I scanned my memory and remembered how my list evolved these past three days.

Firstly, I separated everyone's names accordingly for the sole reason of sorting convenience. I then marked the names of the VIPs that I knew.

In our class, Class B, the three VIPs are Karuizawa Kei, Minami Setsuya, and Kushida Kikyou. And thanks to Kouenji-kun's reckless yet fruitful endeavor, we managed to get Minamikata-san's name. Her being the VIP was already confirmed by our allies, Class C.

On the second day, while the groups were still ordered according to their briefing time, I decided to remove the class separation (on the columns), so I tallied their names in alphabetical order (Gojūon).

All of it was for the sake of convenience, and I didn't really think much of it... That's because all this time, everyone— every single one of us thought that the VIP was decided by a certain qualification with respect to the briefing time. That conclusion was universal for all of us first-years. The elaborate briefing time indicated the ordering and that argument was strengthened by the Dragon Group, a group where all class representatives are pitted against each other, coming in last. And of course, the emails that decided our roles were worded strangely, indicating that the VIP assignment wasn't done at random— that there was a qualification to become the VIP.

We were all working under those premises, using the "clues" that the school had given us. And we slaved away at figuring out what that qualification is. Even the most ridiculous deductions about a student's personality traits were accepted as possible answers as long as they led us closer to the truth.

During the rest day, while I was trying to figure out that certain qualification, I created a duplicate list that grouped the same class together with respect to their briefing time. I didn't really mind whatever changed since all I wanted was to improve my sorting.

Now, the first three groups were the ones with the three VIPs from Class B. Next to them were the Monkey Group, whom we already knew about, and the Cow Group whose VIP identity was narrowed down to us by Ryuuen-kun.

Again, this list alteration was done only for the sake of my own convenience. At that point, we hadn't even gotten a clue as to which classes the other VIPs belonged to. My progress was steady but I thought I was going to fail again.

Now... Just past 7 o'clock in the evening, and I think I can finally see what I had been missing— what everyone had been missing. It was all thanks to the conversation our group had after Ryuuen-kun approached us.

The school was distracting us the whole time.

"I'll alter the list for a bit, with the same format as yesterday, but..."

My chest suddenly tightened. This feeling of finding what I've been looking for...

The answer is within my reach. I just have to do things right.

"It's the same classification, but this time, I'll..."

The reason for my initial ordering was still with respect to the briefing time, so the Dragon Group came after the first two groups from Class B.

Now then. While the Rabbit Group's position stayed the same, I decided to switch Minami-kun's group with Kushida-san's group... That's when things became clear.

"Goodness... This is..."

Now, the reason why I put the Dragon Group right next to the Rabbit Group wasn't too complicated. In fact, it was very simple. I thought back to the name of this special exam— the "Zodiac Test". The Rabbit came before the Dragon, and the Horse came after them.

I used the Zodiac Order and it made a lot of sense. The only problem was the fact that I didn't think about it earlier.

"So... If I remove the separation by class entirely and arrange them purely by Zodiac Order..."

I was baffled.

"They all lined up..."

I knew it... Karuizawa-san is the fourth member of the real fourth Zodiac group and Kushida-san is the fifth member of the real fifth Zodiac Group. Those factors made them VIPs. This pattern was properly applied to both Minami-kun and Minamikata-san's groups, as well.

There was no "qualification"— or at least, not in the context that the school made us believe. The last piece— They were the students' surnames this whole time.

I marked the VIPs and completed the final list.

This was the code...

There weren't any qualifications needed... nor was the briefing order relevant.

It was so simple. It was so easy. Even an elementary student would've figured this out... But given how this was all laid out to us right from the start, it became borderline impossible.

Unless they kept a list of all the members of each group and marked the VIPs as I did, there wouldn't be any way for them to even start finding the pattern.

We were all hung up on the initial "clues".

The purposely inefficient briefing method and the grouping order in which they were conducted were done to distract us from the original Zodiac Order. The wording on the school's emails implying some sort of qualification to become a VIP was done to distract us from looking at our names as a clue. It was literally a pattern— a visual pattern.

The clues were nothing but a farce. All of them were done to make us look away from this childish and basic answer.

It was so simple, almost as if we were being treated like ignorant kids.

I could only scoff at myself. We were all so thoroughly done in... by the school.

"Since everyone who's trying to figure out the pattern is stuck on the same rut, then the school must've been pretty successful with the exam."

"Just don't overthink things too much. They've given us instructions on how to finish the exam, right? Maybe you should come back to that. It might help."

"If the pattern isn't showing itself, maybe you need to look at it from another perspective."

"You just have to use your eyes."

"Trying to find the pattern means you're going up against the school itself. If you think about it from that angle, maybe the answer would get clearer."

Ayanokouji-kun's words echoed in my ears.

I tried to remember the core purpose of this exam. We were required to exercise prudence since the school was testing our "thinking".

"Not only did he figure it out before anyone else... He also indirectly gave me all the clues that I need..." I muttered under my breath.

It's extremely frustrating.

Ayanokouji-kun already warned me about the pitfalls of this exam. "Don't overthink". If I didn't take the clues too seriously, I could've figured it out earlier. The same goes for everyone. We all fell prey to the school's scheme.

"It's time for things to end now."

I carefully selected representatives from each group. They will be the ones who'll submit the answers and take the private points. Of course, they will divide the prize money with their group mates.

The last group discussion was near. As I walked out of my room, I thought about the person called Ayanokouji Kiyotaka...

"He's done something else other than this, hasn't he...?"