Lesson over.
By the time Chris and Ichinose Honami had changed back into their regular clothes and returned to the courtyard, the crowd that had been gathered in the shade of the trees — Class D and Class B's combined forces — had already largely dispersed.
Only a handful of stragglers remained, trading whispers in small clusters.
"Ichinose!"
Shiranami Chihiro, who had been pacing anxiously not far from the entrance, rushed over the moment she spotted them. Her eyes swept quickly between Chris and Ichinose — running a rapid damage assessment on her precious best friend — and only after confirming that everything was, in fact, intact did she let out a quiet, relieved exhale.
"Where did everyone go?" Ichinose asked, glancing around.
"Headed toward the multimedia classroom," Shiranami Chihiro said, gesturing toward the academic building. "The preliminary test's time limit is almost up — everyone wanted to go check the results..."
Before she could finish —
From across the courtyard, Ikebe Koji came stumbling into view at a panicked sprint, gasping for breath and howling as he ran:
"Something's wrong — something is seriously wrong!"
"The people in the test — Ayanokoji and the others — they vanished! Right out of the classroom! Into thin air!!"
The news hit the remaining students like a shockwave. The clusters erupted into noise.
Chris and Ichinose exchanged a glance.
"It sounds like..." Ichinose Honami's brow furrowed, something heavy settling into her expression. "...the preliminary test has ended. The real Black Sphere exam is about to begin."
Chris rubbed his chin slowly, playing up the air of deep contemplation:
"All four of them disappeared..."
"If even the winner got pulled in — does that mean the outcome of this preliminary test didn't matter at all? Win or lose, everyone ends up drafted into the Black Sphere exam anyway?"
"...Most likely," Ichinose Honami sighed. "For now, all we can do is take it one step at a time."
She paused, then added: "Come to think of it — aside from Shiranami-chan and Shiina-san from Class C, there shouldn't be anyone from Class A or Class D sitting in the negatives yet, right?"
"Mm."
Chris gave a casual nod of agreement, his gaze already drifting elsewhere.
Not far from where they stood.
Chabashira Sae was leaning against a tree trunk with her arms crossed, an unlit cigarette tucked between her fingers. She looked like she was watching something she found vaguely entertaining.
In front of her, Sudou Ken — flanked by his usual crew of Class D delinquents — was squaring off against Horikita Suzune in what was very clearly a standoff on the verge of becoming a shouting match.
Hirata Yousuke and Ayanokoji had already done a thorough job explaining how terrifying the monsters were. That much was true.
But humans, as a species, had a remarkable talent for failing to feel the weight of suffering that hadn't happened to them personally.
Especially after watching Ichinose pop a basketball one-handed. After a demonstration like that — who wouldn't want to slip into the suit and feel like a superhero for a few hours?
"Hey, Chris-kun."
Just as Chris was weighing whether or not to wander over and enjoy the spectacle, Ichinose Honami stopped walking and spoke up, her voice soft:
"About the random conscription mechanic... since those participants count as additional support during the exam..."
"Is there any way we could... set aside individual needs, and pool all the points we earn from hunting monsters into a shared fund?"
"Distribute them to whoever needs them most, one by one — until every person who gets pulled in has managed to scrape together the ten points needed to exchange for a combat suit?"
The more she spoke, the brighter her eyes got:
"That way, even if someone new gets drafted in at random, they'd at least have a fighting chance of making it out alive, right?"
Chris listened to the whole thing — and then, without ceremony, pricked the bubble clean.
"Beautiful idea. Completely unworkable."
"Even if we took individual self-interest out of the equation entirely — which we can't — the point yield from the monsters in these exams simply can't sustain a communal distribution model."
"Too many mouths, not enough food. If you try to feed everyone equally, the only outcome is that everyone starves."
Ichinose Honami lowered her gaze. She fell into a long, quiet silence.
Chris used the pause to look over at Class D's ongoing argument and called out:
"Horikita."
"Why not just let them enter once?"
Horikita Suzune's brow pinched. She opened her mouth to object —
"Think about it," Chris continued, unhurried. "Once they've genuinely stared down a life-or-death situation... I doubt anyone will be fighting you over the slots after that."
At those words — pointed enough to draw blood — Chabashira Sae glanced over at Chris with an amused expression, but made no move to intervene. She had the look of someone watching a particularly good play unfold.
The group being casually talked about as though they were furniture, however, did not share her composure.
"Ha?!"
Sudou Ken shoved his sleeve up immediately. "You bastard — you think we can't handle it?!"
"Exactly!" Yamauchi Haruto jumped in right behind him. "If this is for the class, why does Horikita always get to be the one? Am I not part of Class D too?!"
Horikita Suzune gave Chris one long, measuring look.
Then she relented.
She valued recognition and honor above almost everything — but she also knew that digging in and blocking them outright would only make these idiots think she was hoarding glory for herself.
"Fine."
Horikita Suzune stepped aside, her voice crisp and cool:
"If you're so determined. The slot is yours this round. I hope you can do what you're claiming — and come back with a better ranking than mine."
"Ha! Now we're talking!"
Yamauchi Haruto clicked his tongue with exaggerated swagger. "Who do you think you're talking to? You seriously think we'd drop below first place?"
Ikebe Koji, however, had the instincts of a man who occasionally remembered to think before speaking. He tugged at Yamauchi's sleeve, voice dropping low:
"Hey, Yamauchi... the stuff Hirata gave us didn't exactly look fake... and Chris might be an ass about how he says things, but it's not like he'd have any reason to lie to us... maybe dial it back a little?"
Yamauchi Haruto was, privately, having his own doubts.
But with the class girls watching — and Karuizawa Kei, the unspoken social queen of the girls' group, standing right there — backing down in front of Horikita Suzune was not an option his pride would allow.
He jutted his chin out and snorted. "What's there to be scared of! Sudou — you're up! I believe in you — there's no way you're weaker than the girls!"
Sudou Ken scratched the back of his head.
It had gone too far to turn back now. He was already over the fire, and there was no jumping off.
"Fine — I'm in! Who's afraid of what!"
He strode up to Chabashira Sae with all the confidence of a man who had absolutely no idea what he was walking into. "Sensei! I'm registering!"
His crew sent up a cheer. The girls offered nothing in return.
Karuizawa Kei pressed a hand to her forehead, expression somewhere between exasperated and resigned. "I have a bad feeling about this... Is there seriously no way to wait until Hirata-kun and the others get back before making any decisions?"
Beside her, Matsushita Chiaki had quietly noticed the same black material peeking out from Chris's sleeve that she'd seen on Ichinose — the same texture, the same matte sheen. She raised an eyebrow, said nothing about it, and simply nodded in quiet agreement:
"Let's hope it doesn't end up like Class C — negative points across the board... I don't have much left, and I was actually planning to pick up some makeup."
"Ha——!"
Sudou Ken opened his mouth, clearly about to fire off something impressively dumb —
And then someone let out a startled scream, pointing directly at his feet:
"Sudou — why are you disappearing?!"
"Huh?"
Sudou blinked and looked down. The blue scanning light had already crept up to his ankles.
"Wait, what's happening to me?"
"Chabashira-sensei submitted the registration. Once the roster is confirmed, the Black Sphere exam opens automatically."
Horikita Suzune's voice was ice cold. "You didn't think you'd have to walk to the exam venue, did you?"
At that, someone else in the crowd who'd been paying attention spoke up:
"Wait — Ichinose from Class B is doing the same thing. She signed up for the exam... but why is Shiranami Chihiro from their class glowing too? And — Chris?"
At the mention of Chris's name, Horikita Suzune turned to look.
She watched the blue light swallow Chris an instant after it took Ichinose Honami. Her expression settled into a cold, unreadable smirk. She didn't bother explaining.
Kushida Kikyo was an eyewitness and loved the spotlight anyway. Let her do the explaining.
Horikita had better things to do than babysit the comprehension levels of people who would drag her IQ down just by proximity.
...
The vertigo faded.
As Ichinose Honami opened her eyes and adjusted to the shift in perspective, she immediately spun in place, scanning in every direction for whoever had been unlucky enough to be randomly conscripted this time —
The first faces she registered were the Class A pair.
Katsuragi Kohei, the bald veteran, stood with his arms folded. Beside him, Sakayanagi Arisu was sitting on the ground, cheeks puffed out, lips pressed together — the very picture of someone quietly seething about something.
And standing next to Sakayanagi...
"Kamuro-san?" Ichinose blinked, genuinely surprised.
Kamuro Masumi was standing rooted to the spot with the specific expression of someone who had fully accepted that they wanted to cease to exist. She stared at nothing in particular.
Apparently, Sakayanagi had kept her word and hadn't forced Kamuro into anything — but the Black Sphere had no such compunctions.
The rest of the assembled group: Ryuuen Kakeru. Shiina Hiyori. Chris. Sudou Ken. Shiranami Chihiro.
All of them were within the expected range.
What actually made Ichinose's breath catch — what she genuinely hadn't anticipated — was the figure standing in the corner, calmly taking in his surroundings with unhurried, curious eyes.
"Kanzaki-kun?!"
Ichinose Honami couldn't stop the exclamation:
"Why are you here... Was it because of the preliminary test?"
At the sound of her voice, Kanzaki Ryuuji turned around.
Seeing Ichinose, something in his expression eased — just slightly.
"During the preliminary test, I negotiated a deal with Ayanokoji and the others."
"The terms: I would publicly share the winner's intelligence, and guarantee their protection in subsequent exams. In exchange, I was named the sole victor."
He paused for a beat.
"Though the first condition — the so-called 'public intelligence' — turned out to be more or less worthless by the time it was relevant."
"Even so, I felt I still had a responsibility to honor the rest of what I promised."
"So."
"When the reward screen gave me the choice between S-points, two uses of the exemption privilege for Class B's forced conscription, and the winner's entry slot —"
"I chose the entry slot. And along with it... partial intelligence on this exam's hidden monster."
____
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