Chapter 137: Chapter 2 Part I
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Geppu, geppu. If you eat three heavy als for lunch you'd naturally be full. I thought of going on a diet but it seems like a failure". Sotomura ca up to
while rubbing his belly that had swollen up from all the food he'd eaten earlier. It conveyed a completely different image from soone who claid to want to go on a diet. He ca to the location
and Yukimura were waiting in front of. "It is troubleso that the exam has started, I've barely eaten". "Is that a 'I'm currently unable to use my full strength' flag?". "...I've been wanting to say it for a while now, but can't you cut it out with that weird way of speaking?" Yukimura retorts to Sotomura. Of course, from the perspective of soone who doesn't quite understand Sotomura, his words may seem almost like witchcraft. But you just have to get used to it, I guess. On the contrary, sotis talking in an unusual manner like that can be interesting. But if I speak out now, I might incur Yukimura's wrath and so I let him continue on with his tirade. "Pofu~ Did you not like my way of speech? What would suit you then, Yukimura-dono?". "Just speak normally" Yukimura replies to Sotomura.
"Ok, from this point onwards I'll be the weakest, strongest protagonist. I'll normally have no motivation to do anything but the truth is, I have a power capable of destroying the world worthy of naming
Cheat-kun. As is the current trend". Yukimura, having given up on convincing Sotomura, simply starts walking ahead of us. Since we were slightly late, we started walking in a hurry towards our destination. "Ayanokouji, there's sothing I wish to ask you, answer ". He's speaking in a tone befitting a protagonist type character. "What would you like to ask?". "I was wondering what your favourite type of dialect is, since you'd surely be happy if a cute heroine were to speak in such a dialect". The way he said it itself sounded cool, but the content of the dialogue was always the sa with him. "No...there's no particular dialect I like". Since I was born and raised in Tokyo, there's no way I would know about such dialects. "Have you not yet had the chance to experience the dialect of 'moe'?" he asks . Just how many students in this school does he think possesses the attribute of such a dialect? I could just shut him off now but until we reach our designated eting room I suppose I could kill so ti by talking with him. "Do you have a favourite dialect?" I ask him.
"Of course, I'll tell you via my own ranking system for dialects. In third place would have to be the Kansai dialect. It gives off a strict yet rough impression. Second place would be the dialect of the beauty in the snow, the Hokkaido dialect. The use of the dialect in the 2D world is also widespread so it's a surekill moe dialect. I did say I wanted to kill ti by talking with him, but none of this made any sense to . But before I could reply in any manner, Sotomura started whistling a strange onomatopoeia sounding like 'doururururururu'. "The number one in my dialect ranking would have to be the dialect that lolis to Onee-sans all use in a versatile manner, the Hakata dialect. It's said to be the ultimate dialect with a wide variety of slangs. These three dialects are my best 3" Sotomura continues on. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand what he wanted to tell
although I did realize he was quite passionate about the subject. But it seed it at least succeeded in killing ti since by the ti we finished the conversation we had arrived in front of the designated eting room with the na of our group (Rabbit) written on a plate in front of it on the second floor. Since the exam was already underway, students crowded the corridor and gave
a sense of claustrophobia.
"Playti ended yesterday. From here on out, expect to fight for yourself and for the sake of your class". Yukimura mainly directed those words at Sotomura, but I also nodded at him in acknowledgnt. "Haaa...no matter how many tis I look at it this is a sorry team I have". That statent ca from one of the girls who entered the room, looked at us and sighed. It was one of the pretty girls of Class D (although a bit gaudy). Karuizawa Kei. Including her, 11 people were currently in our room sitting in chairs arranged in a circular formation. Given the number of chairs still left empty, I thought we were probably the last ones to arrive. I wouldn't be able to identify them from the list alone but there were several students besides Ichinose and Ibuki in the room that I recognized. There was a male student from Class A who approached
during the island test to propose an alliance to sabotage Class D. But I don't recognize most of the other male and female students in the room. It seems like we, who were rivals just yesterday, were going to be forced to cooperate in this exam.
Naturally, it's not only our class but the other classes that were also feeling confused and awkward from this sudden arrangent. We opted to sit in the chairs since standing would just make us stand out even more. Students almost instinctively sat in groups based on classes, but Karuizawa and Ibuki both sat further out from the circle of students almost as if they were both isolated from the group. "Hmm...what's wrong?". "Did you notice sothing, Ayanokouji?". "...no. It's nothing". I had thought Karuizawa would confront Ibuki the mont she saw her. After all, it was Ibuki Mio in front of us who was responsible for stealing her underwear back on the island test. I thought she'd go for revenge imdiately, but perhaps Karuizawa is more mature than I expected, or was it that she'd finished with her revenge already. In either case, the fact that Karuizawa did not even seem upset was unnatural. But before I could voice those questions, an announcent ca from the onboard speakers installed in the rooms of the ship. "From this point onwards, we will begin with the first group discussion". Just that. A short announcent, but since no one in the group from different classes know each other well, there was no one willing to take the initiative in starting the discussion.
As such, an awkward air ca over the room. Then, the girl nad Ichinose Honami stepped up with a glowing smile and after confirming that no one else would be taking the initiative. Spoke. "I do know most of the people here, but I suppose in accordance with the school's instructions, we should introduce ourselves firstly. Since there are also people who might not know each other yet" she spoke to the group. It's definitely not easy being the leader of a group like this, one must be able to inspire students, so of whom might even be from opposing classes, and bring them all together as one to clear the exam. But Ichinose didn't seem to dislike it, in fact, she seed to be having fun leading the group. So students from Class A could not hide their surprise at her unexpectedly taking the lead. "I don't think there's any need for that. The school's just saying it as a formality. Only the ones who want to introduce themselves should do it" it was Machida who said that to Ichinose. "If Machida-kun doesn't wish to do it, then I certainly can't force you to. But there may be a recorder hidden sowhere in this room. If we blatantly disobey the instructions from the school, it may not just be you but the whole group that gets punished, you know?" Ichinose quickly replies to Machida. Basically, being selfish here may cost the entire group. Putting it like that, she made it so even the guy nad Machida from Class A cannot help but accept her reasoning.
She then started the self-introductions by introducing herself. I think back to the first day of high school and how I ssed up my self-introduction back then. But when my turn to introduce myself to the group ca, it ended up being the sa, dull and monotonous introduction as that day. "Yaa~ho Ayanokouji-kun. It seems we're in the sa group. Let's get along" Ichinose called out to
with a friendly and consoling voice as I get back to my seat. Once everyone's self-introductions were over and done with, Ichinose once again stepped up to speak. "So, we've done as the school instructed. How would you guys like to proceed from now on? If any of you object to
being the leader, would you please tell
so?". Ichinose spoke in a tone as if asking if anyone would like to take the leadership position from her. Of course, saying it in a way like that ensured that no one would ever wrest the leadership spot from her. There may be students among us who are not satisfied with the way Ichinose does things, but fearing the possibility that the responsibility of leadership would be thrust on them, none would speak up now.
"Since no one would like to take the leader spot, can I proceed? Firstly, I believe we should discuss aspects of the exam so don't quite understand yet, or any other questions and concerns you might have regarding it. Otherwise, this ambiguous situation will continue on as it is" Ichinose said as she proposed the first topic of discussion. There was no resistance from the group to her suggestion and there were no hands or voices raised against her. Things like that can often happen when strangers gather together as a group and the fact that one can act without fear of such opposition is the mark of a true leader. Ichinose then put her hands on her hips and smiled resolutely. "I'd like to ask everyone here sothing and I'm going to ask everyone assuming that no one here is the "target". I'd like to ask if everyone here would like to work together to clear this exam through outco 1. I'd like to ask you if you all think this is the best course of action or not?" Ichinose asks us. "Huh? What do you an? Isn't that obvious?" Karuizawa was the one who replied to her question. She acted like she understood yet more likely than not she didn't, but in a situation like this, the first one who speaks their mind can decide their place in the group hierarchy, whether it be superior or inferior. Yukimura, and a girl from Class C nad Manabe also seed to realize this, replying in the sa manner as if to be in sync with Karuizawa. Obviously, if at all possible, it makes sense everyone here would want to aim for the first possible outco.
As if to agree with Ichinose's statent, one of the male students from Class B raised his hands. If I recall, the na he gave during his self-introduction was Hamaguchi Tetsuya. "I agree with her, of course, cooperating with each other as a group is the obvious course of action here" he said. It wasn't a bad question to start the discussion out with, I must admit. It seems quite a few of the students haven't noticed it yet, but by asking a seemingly casual and obvious question like this, it may be possible to discern who is not the "target" while fostering a positive attitude amongst the mbers of the group. If one plays it right, they may even be able to narrow down the list of suspects for the "target" at this stage. It might still be difficult to decide black or white for certain with this one question. Ichinose, the one who asked the question. Karuizawa, who first answered her. Then Yukimura and Manabe who followed up on Karuizawa's answer. And Hamaguchi of Class B. It wouldn't be surprising if the "target" were among them and boldly answered the question without missing a beat.
I went along with them so as to not ruin the atmosphere they had right now. "We're a group after all, and our private points are all low right now anyways, I'd like to cooperate if possible. How about Sotomura?" I ask. Sotomura, whose stomach seems to now be in pain from eating too much, was rubbing his belly when I called out to him all of a sudden, causing his shoulders to jump in surprise. "Of course, I'll also cooperate since I get points from doing so too" he replies. It seems Sotomura is still trying to keep up his cool, mysterious character act. And observing all of us, were the students of Class A who only consisted of male students.
They seem to be calmly observing us to see what direction the group's discussion will take. "Ichinose, that question is unfair isn't it? If you're not the "target" by saying that, you manage to gather the entire group up as one against the "target
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