Quick announcement!
For this week only, all tiers are 50% off, including the one that gives you access to all of my translations. The discount runs until December 14, so if you've been thinking about joining, this is the perfect time!
Use code SANTA for 50% OFF!
...
March 8th—an international holiday. But at the ANHS, many students could faintly sense that the year-end special exam might arrive today.
It was the same for the Yukio Class. The room was quiet, no idle chatter—everyone was poised, waiting for their homeroom teacher, Sakagami, to arrive.
Before long, Sakagami walked in with narrowed, smiling eyes, clearly in a great mood. After all, no matter how you looked at it, this special exam had to be a lot better than the "additional vote" one that guaranteed expulsions.
Seeing how silent the class was, Sakagami didn't waste words. "Looks like you've already caught on. This year-end special exam—being the capstone of the entire first year—is going to be quite complex.
"You could say it will comprehensively test you in every aspect: academics, physical ability, teamwork and cooperation, and so on—even your luck might be tested."
The Yukio Class stared blankly. Ishizaki raised his hand, feeling the format sounded familiar. "Sakagami-sensei, the more you say, the more this sounds like the old training-camp exam, doesn't it?"
The others, including the brainy Kaneda, nodded in tacit agreement. It really did sound the same—academics, athletics, teamwork—things they'd already seen.
Maybe because of that familiarity, no one seemed particularly worried. Faces relaxed across the room.
"No, no," Sakagami waved off Ishizaki's guess. "It may sound similar, but it's a world apart in practice.
"The biggest difference is this: the camp exam's four events were all set by the school. This time, in the Project Selection Exam, you—the students—will set the actual content of the events."
"Put simply, first you'll choose a class in your grade to face off against, and you'll also choose one class member to act as a commander who won't personally compete in the events."
"Second, both you and your opponent class will each decide on ten events. Finally, you'll compete using those events. The commander can intervene in any event—and the manner of intervention is up to you."
Everyone looked at one another. Ishizaki leaned toward Kaneda, whose brain always worked fast. "Well? Sensei says it's simple. Did you get that, Kaneda?"
"Uh…" Kaneda grimaced. "It is simple—this might be the simplest rule explanation we've had all year; you could summarize it in a single sentence.
"But it's also complicated. There's a lot we still don't know and need to ask about inside that one sentence."
"Hey!" Ishizaki slapped Kaneda's skinny back. "If you don't get it, then ask!"
"Ugh!" Kaneda bared his teeth, silently cursing Ishizaki's heavy hand. Still, he'd gotten used to these guys; he knew Ishizaki had no ill intent—just a pure blockhead.
"Hahaha." Even Sakagami laughed at the sight. "For once, Ishizaki's right. If you don't understand, ask."
"Heh-heh!" Ishizaki beamed, as if he'd just earned an A in thinking skills, then looked around like he wanted to brag about his suddenly useful brain. The mood in class loosened into hearty laughter.
When the laughter faded, Yukio looked to Sakagami, curious. "So we can decide any events we want?" He had only changed the number of events during the student council meeting; he didn't know what the content would be like.
Sakagami nodded. "That's right. It's entirely up to you.
"Whether it's academics—Japanese, math, physics, chemistry—or physical events like long-distance, sprints, long jump. Pick things where you have an edge, or that you're sure you can win."
"Of course, for academic events like math and physics, the school will randomly pull equivalent questions from a test bank for both classes to answer and compare results."
"You can even decide the scoring rule for an event. For example, in an academic event, you could set the rule to 'higher score wins' or 'lower score wins'; other events are similar in flexibility."
"The one thing to note: in each event, each student may only participate in one event for their class."
"Whoa!" Ishizaki reacted first. "Then who'd compare grades? We should go athletic! Yukio-aniki, let's set a street-brawl event. I guarantee we take that one!"
That woke the room up. The Yukio Class's brawlers got fired up. "Yeah, aniki, let's line up some fighting events!"
"For once, Ishizaki's actually right—good brain today, Ishizaki. Let's give the other class a free-style combat event!"
Fortunately, despite the heat, a year's growth had given them some restraint—no one dared jump up and shout, "I'll take on ten!"
They were simply discussing; everyone felt stacking more combat-type events would be advantageous.
Yukio blinked. Events we can tailor this freely? With no restrictions, he could think up all sorts of niche events to outfox opponents. "Sakagami-sensei, anything that exists in the world is fair?"
"Not quite." Here, Sakagami looked a little sorry. "All events must pass school review. Something vague like 'a brawl' won't pass because it's too broad—though 'kickboxing' with precise rules would be okay."
"In short, rules that are too vague—or events so niche that only the proposer stands a realistic chance of winning—will not be approved."
"For example, if it's an obscure, niche game and your class just happens to have a specialist while the other class is guaranteed to lose, the school won't allow it."
"And the rules must have a clear win condition. For instance, in an academic event, if both sides get the same score, or in a physical event, if the 1,500-meter times are exactly equal, the school won't adopt that event as-is."
"Unless you add tie-breakers—like 'if scores tie, the faster total time wins' for academics, or 'if times tie, run an extra distance' for the track event."
"Lastly, this special exam lasts only one day, so events that take too long will be rejected."
The finer rules set many students thinking. Ishizaki leaned toward Kaneda again. "Wait, Kaneda—you said the rules were super simple, but Sensei keeps adding more and more. Isn't this getting complicated?"
"…" Kaneda made a pained face, wanting to explain—but after a look at Ishizaki's guileless expression, he could only sigh. "Forget it. Just follow Yukio-aniki's decisions. Isn't that simple?"
"Oh. That's very simple."
Kaneda removed his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on. Tiring… When can we reshuffle the seating chart? Please move Ishizaki next to Yukio-aniki—please.
Principio del formulario
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.
Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [patreon.com/METARLN]
Use code SANTA for 50% OFF!