Room 1-C was quiet when Kiyotaka arrived — five minutes early, as usual.
He knocked once and entered after a muted "come in."Inside sat Mashima-sensei, Class A's calm and stoic homeroom teacher, a man whose every movement carried a sense of quiet authority.
Beside him were two D-Class students: Hideo Sotomura, glasses gleaming faintly as he muttered something about probability equations, and Teruhiko Yukimura, arms crossed, posture stiff and serious.
Two seats remained empty.
Kiyotaka silently took one of them.Mashima acknowledged him with a slight nod. "You're early, Ayanokōji. Take a seat. We'll begin once the last person arrives."
Kiyotaka sat, glancing briefly around the room.Sotomura seemed to be calculating something under his breath already — perhaps analyzing possible group arrangements or guessing the theme of the test.Yukimura, ever the rationalist, looked calm but slightly impatient, his fingers tapping lightly against his arm.
The air-conditioning hummed quietly. The ship creaked beneath their feet.
Time moved slowly.
At exactly 18:00, the door slid open.Karuizawa Kei stepped in, slightly flustered, hair tied in a neat ponytail but her expression uncertain.
"Um… sorry," she said quickly. "I couldn't find the room right away."
Mashima's eyes sharpened. "You're late, Karuizawa. Five minutes before a test meeting is already too late. Punctuality is part of discipline."
Her shoulders shrank slightly. "Y-Yes, sir…"
She slipped into the empty seat beside Kiyotaka, giving him a quick, uneasy glance.He didn't respond, merely watched quietly as Mashima placed a thin digital tablet on the desk in front of him.
Mashima clasped his hands together.
"Now that everyone's here," he said evenly, "I will explain the contents of the next special examination.It is called—"
He paused for effect.
"—The Zodiac Test."
The name alone caused Sotomura's muttering to stop instantly.Even Yukimura straightened slightly.
Kiyotaka merely blinked once, already storing the name away for analysis.
Mashima continued."This test will span several days and focus not only on deduction, but also on social cooperation, deception, and information management. Your objective is to identify certain VIP students hidden among the participants."
He tapped his tablet, projecting a list of bullet points onto the nearby monitor.
ZODIAC TEST – RULES AND STRUCTURE
The exam will begin at 8:00 AM on the first day.
At that time, each group will receive an email announcing that a VIP student has already been selected from among them.
The test's main activities will take place daily between 1:00 PM and 9:00 PM.
Students are otherwise free to act as they wish outside those hours.
Each day, groups must gather twice for a one-hour discussion.
The content of the discussion is left entirely up to each group.
On the final day, between 9:30 PM and 10:00 PM, each group must submit their guess identifying the VIP student in other groups.
Only one answer may be submitted per group.
The VIP themselves cannot send the answer.
Each group must only submit the identity of the VIP within their own assigned zodiac group.
Results and scores will be distributed by 11:00 PM on the final day.
Mashima turned toward them, expression as unreadable as ever.
"These are the basic parameters," he said. "Now listen carefully to how you may succeed — and fail."
He swiped again, revealing a new screen.
POSSIBLE OUTCOMES
1. Cooperation – Shared Victory:If the VIP's identity is shared within the group by mutual agreement and correctly submitted, all members of that group, including the VIP, receive private points.
Each correct answerer: 500,000 private points.
No class points are exchanged.
2. Betrayal – The Traitor's Advantage:If someone outside the group — or someone within, acting early — submits the correct VIP identity before the designated time, that student's class gains +50 class points, and the answerer personally gains 500,000 private points.However, the class of the identified VIP loses -50 class points.
Once this happens, that group's exam ends immediately.
3. Failure – Incorrect Answers:If the answerer guesses incorrectly before the designated time, their class loses 50 class points, while the class of the VIP gains 50 class points.However, the VIP themselves will still receive 500,000 private points.
If the incorrect answer comes from a member of the same class as the VIP, it will be considered invalid and ignored.
4. Silence – The Passive Outcome:If a group fails to submit an answer or submits an invalid one, only the VIP receives the reward — 500,000 private points.
Mashima let the words sink in.
A quiet tension filled the room.Even Karuizawa, who'd barely understood half of it, felt the weight behind every number.
"Think of this as a psychological game," Mashima said, lowering the tablet. "You must deduce, persuade, and possibly deceive. The goal is not simply to guess, but to decide when and how to act."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"Your victory or loss may depend entirely on how well you understand human nature."
He then took out a printed sheet — rare, in a school that handled most things digitally."The groups are based on the twelve zodiac signs," he explained. "Each group contains students from all four classes. This ensures balance and encourages inter-class dynamics."
He handed each of them a laminated card.
Group Name: RABBIT
Members:
Class A: Shigeru Takemoto, Kōji Machida, Takuro Morishige
Class B: Honami Ichinose, Tetsuya Hamaguchi, Ryōta Beppu
Class C: Mio Ibuki, Shiho Manabe, Nanami Yabu, Saki Yamashita
Class D: Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, Kei Karuizawa, Hideo Sotomura, Teruhiko Yukimura
"Memorize this," Mashima instructed. "You will not be permitted to keep the list once you leave this room. The less evidence available, the greater the need for memory — and trust."
Karuizawa stared at the list, her eyes wide. "W-Wait, Honami Ichinose? Ibuki too?"
Yukimura adjusted his glasses. "This is… quite the mix. Strong leaders, unpredictable elements, and even hostiles."
Sotomura nodded, muttering quickly. "A 14-member group, four classes, multiple variables. Probability of immediate betrayal is… roughly forty-two percent."
Kiyotaka said nothing.But his eyes paused on two names — Honami Ichinose and Mio Ibuki.
Both potential game-changers in very different ways.
As Mashima continued outlining logistical details, Kiyotaka's mind was already at work.
A test involving hidden identities, timing, and limited communication.Unlike the island, this was not about survival or endurance — it was about psychology.
The "Zodiac Test" encouraged two main behaviors:
Cooperation — trust, negotiation, unity.
Deception — manipulation, betrayal, timing.
But the real battle would be inter-class strategy.
If a student betrayed their group for class points, they'd be branded untrustworthy — but their class would gain a massive advantage.If everyone cooperated, they'd all profit — but only in private points, not the standings.
For D-Class, still at the bottom, the risk was obvious: they couldn't afford to be naïve, but couldn't afford to isolate themselves either.
Kiyotaka's gaze shifted briefly toward Karuizawa, who was fidgeting beside him.She looked nervous, yet determined.
I wonder what kind of mask she'll wear this time, he thought.
Mashima dismissed them after fifteen minutes of silence for memorization."Return the lists before leaving," he said. "From now on, you are not to discuss the exam outside your group unless otherwise instructed. Your first group meeting begins at 1:00 PM tomorrow. Dismissed."
Yukimura handed his list back neatly. "Understood."Sotomura bowed slightly, murmuring, "Fascinating… so it's essentially a prisoner's dilemma structure…"
Karuizawa, however, looked lost. "Wait, so… if we guess right, we win, but if we guess wrong, we still… kind of win?"
Mashima sighed. "Think of it this way — the more you act rashly, the worse the consequences. Learn when to trust, and when not to."
"O-okay…" she said meekly.
As the others left, Kiyotaka lingered for a moment.
Mashima spoke quietly to him. "Ayanokōji. This exam will test something different from before. Observation alone will not be enough. You'll need to act — or someone else will act for you."
Kiyotaka looked up. "Is that advice, or a warning?"
"Both," Mashima replied simply.
The corridor outside was buzzing with similar meetings ending across the ship.Groups were forming — Leo, Virgo, Capricorn, Rabbit, and others.
I was waiting near the vending machine when Kiyotaka stepped out."Yo," I said, sipping a soda. "You were in Room 1-C too?"
He nodded. "Looks like it."
"So what's the deal this time?" I asked. "Another survival game?"
"Not quite," he said. "This time, it's about deduction. A hidden VIP within each group."
I grinned. "A spy game, huh? My kind of fun."
He gave me a neutral look. "Just don't get caught playing too hard."
"You know me," I said, smirking. "I only cheat a little."
Karuizawa came out right after, looking exhausted."Ugh… my head hurts already. Why can't we have a normal test for once?"
"Because this is Advanced Nurturing High School," I said cheerfully. "We nurture through pain."
She glared at me. "Not helping, Miyamoto."
"Didn't say I was trying to."
Still, she looked less nervous after that.Even Kiyotaka seemed faintly amused — which, for him, was basically a smile.
Later that evening, back in our shared room, I flopped down onto my bed, staring at the ceiling.
"So we've got the Rabbit group, huh?" I muttered. "Cute name for a test about betrayal."
Yukimura was already scribbling notes on a pad, analyzing patterns of potential collaboration between classes.Sotomura was running probability models aloud like a mathematician at a casino.Karuizawa sat cross-legged on her bed, scrolling through her phone, still muttering, "This is so confusing…"
Kiyotaka sat quietly by the window, watching the sea.The soft reflection of moonlight painted his face — unreadable as ever.
"This test…" he said softly, "will bring out the worst in everyone."
I turned my head. "You mean lies, manipulation, backstabbing?"
He nodded once. "And fear. Fear of being discovered. Fear of trusting the wrong person."
He stood, sliding his phone into his pocket."Tomorrow, we'll see how everyone performs when the masks start to crack."