Chapter 253 The Ruin of Yamauchi Haruki / The Final Conclusion of the VIP Exam
Shimizu Akira naturally noticed Horikita Suzune's gaze, which was a mixture of surprise and shock.
In reality, he hadn't interfered in this matter at all.
Yesterday afternoon, he had simply received a short message from Kushida Kikyo.
[After 6:00 AM tomorrow, there will no longer be a place for Yamauchi Haruki in Class D.]
Looking at it now, everything had become very clear.
This was likely a trap carefully laid by Kushida Kikyo for Yamauchi Haruki.
As for the anonymous message notifying Horikita Suzune and the others to come and watch the show, it was likely her using an alternate account.
Even if Kushida's actions carried a hint of a "bad girl's" calculation and framing, Shimizu Akira had no intention of interfering. He was even already thinking about how to help her smooth things over.
After all, it was Yamauchi Haruki who first spread rumors about him during this exam, which led Kushida to feel loathing toward him.
Everything she did was ultimately for the sake of venting his frustration for him.
Shimizu Akira didn't consider himself a saint, and he had his own grievances with Yamauchi Haruki. This time, Kushida had truly helped him solve a major headache.
At this moment, if she appeared before him, he really wanted to kiss her several times, pick her up, and spin her around.
However, the reactions of the others in Class D were completely different.
"Yamauchi... it's actually him!" Sudo Ken's face instantly turned ashen. "I didn't expect the one betraying the class would be this bastard!"
"Yamauchi... how could he do such a thing?" Ike Kanji was even more in disbelief.
To him, although he had long distanced himself from Yamauchi, and the other did indeed have many flaws—boastful, arrogant, and lecherous—those were, in the end, just minor skirmishes.
But this time, the nature of it was completely different; this was blatant betrayal.
Hirata Yosuke's expression was the most complex: "This... why on earth? Yamauchi-kun..."
"Please wait!" He spoke up, still holding onto a sliver of hope. "Currently, Yamauchi has only appeared here. He hasn't had further communication with Ryuen and the others. Could it be... just a coincidence?"
"Keep listening and we'll know." Although Horikita Suzune was also puzzled by the development, she believed that gathering more information was the key.
The group, with varying expressions, pricked up their ears.
From the other end of the phone came the sound of a chair being pulled out.
"You must be Ryuen-kun, right! I heard you want to buy information on Class D's VIPs," a voice rang out, unable to hide its excitement. "I have definitive evidence in hand. I've already received the 200,000 personal point deposit. How do you plan to transfer the remaining 800,000 personal points to me?"
"Hmph! Looking at your shifty eyes and rat-like features, I didn't think you'd actually betray your class!" Ibuki Mio's tone was full of disgust.
"Oh, isn't this Ibuki-chan!" The voice carried obvious pleasant surprise.
"Anyway, this exam is an anonymous report. Why should I care about the class? I might as well take the opportunity to make a fortune!"
This voice was all too familiar to the few people from Class D.
Especially to Ike Kanji—he had known Yamauchi the longest and had confirmed it almost the moment the other spoke. "That's right, it's his voice... sigh."
"Now you hear it clearly, Hirata!" Sudo Ken clenched his fists, his rage almost uncontrollable. "Now that things have come to this, do you still want to defend and protect this traitor?"
The old grudges from the deserted island hadn't faded, and now new ones were added.
He really wanted to teach the other a lesson—the kind where he settled all old and new accounts together.
Hirata Yosuke's face dimmed immediately, and he fell into a bitter silence.
At this point, what other reason could he find to excuse the other?
"What I'm more curious about is exactly what information he has to sell." Although Horikita Suzune was shocked by Yamauchi's betrayal, she was even more puzzled about where his confidence came from.
"He shouldn't know the identities of all the VIPs in the class."
"You should still remember the third VIP in the class who never showed up," Shimizu Akira, who had already cracked the VIP rules, spoke calmly.
"Yamauchi Haruki is that person."
These words were like a thunderclap, leaving everyone stunned again.
Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji, not being fully aware that the class only possessed information on two VIPs, were momentarily dazed and failed to immediately grasp the deep meaning of these words.
However, Hirata Yosuke's face suddenly became extremely ugly.
The third VIP... was it actually him?
Over these past few days, he and Kushida Kikyo had repeatedly appealed in the group chat, hoping that the mysterious VIP would take the initiative to reveal themselves.
Kushida had even paid out of her own pocket, sending nearly 10,000 personal points in "Red Envelopes" in the group chat to try and coax the other into showing up, but that VIP remained silent.
Later, because Horikita Suzune was busy cracking the rules, Kushida specifically sought him out to discuss it, and the two acted separately.
He was responsible for asking all the boys, while Kushida was responsible for the girls.
He had spoken to the boys in the class one by one, and many had even proactively shown their phone emails to prove their innocence.
When asking Yamauchi Haruki, the other had only hurriedly excused himself with "urgent business," casually tossing out "It's not me" before leaving in a rush.
He had thought at the time that the other really had something to do.
When he cross-referenced the list with Kushida Kikyo afterward, neither side could lock onto a clear suspect.
Kushida had even comforted him warmly, saying that perhaps Horikita-san had misunderstood the rules initially and Class D might have only had two VIPs to begin with, telling him not to suspect the people in the class.
Gradually, the group stopped being obsessed with finding that third VIP.
And now, this sudden truth caught Hirata Yosuke off guard.
He never would have imagined that the person he once trusted and defended was currently sitting just a wall away, bargaining away the class's interests like a commodity.
Is he worthy of the good words Kushida-san spoke for him time and time again?
Even for someone as mild-tempered as Hirata Yosuke, his hands were itching for the first time in a long while.
A nearly reason-breaking impulse to throw a punch.
"Hey! I can't take it anymore!" Sudo Ken suddenly stood up. "If we let him leak the VIP identity, the class will have 50 points deducted! Shimizu, shouldn't we go out now?"
Although his face was full of irritability, he still subconsciously looked at the most composed person in the room.
"Let's go." Shimizu Akira put away his phone. "It's indeed meaningless to keep listening. Remember, don't use your hands; it's not worth getting a disciplinary record for this kind of person."
While turning on the speakerphone earlier, he had already pressed the record button, completely preserving Yamauchi's traitorous statements.
When the group walked out of the partition and into the main hall, Shimizu Akira saw at a glance that Yamauchi Haruki was looking down at his phone, seemingly preparing to show Ryuen Kakeru something.
"Yamauchi! You traitor, stop right there!" Sudo Ken charged forward in one stride, suppressing the urge to throw a punch and glaring at the other with death in his eyes.
Yamauchi Haruki trembled all over from this roar, almost dropping his phone.
When he saw clearly that the newcomers were Sudo Ken, along with Shimizu Akira, Horikita, and others walking out from behind him, all color instantly drained from his face.
"Y-you, why are you here..." His voice wouldn't stop shaking.
"We should be asking you that." Horikita Suzune stepped forward coldly.
"Contacting Class C privately with the intent to sell class information—Yamauchi-kun, what else do you have to explain?"
"I just... I just happened to run into them!" Yamauchi Haruki forced himself to stay calm, but cold sweat kept seeping from his temples.
"Right! It was just a chance encounter!"
"Chance encounter?" Horikita Suzune stepped forward slowly and calmly took her phone from the napkin box on the dining table.
"My phone recorded it too. Do I need to replay your wonderful speech about '800,000 points' and 'anonymous reports'?"
Yamauchi Haruki's legs went weak, yet he still argued excitedly: "Wait! Th-this wasn't my original intention! Someone contacted me on the second day of the exam and transferred 200,000 points to me; even this meeting was arranged by the other party! I was set up!"
Horikita Suzune was slightly startled upon hearing this. Someone had proactively contacted and planned this meeting?
But even so, she didn't plan to let Yamauchi off the hook just like that.
After all, this guy had indeed come to trade with the intention of betrayal; that was an indisputable fact.
From the start of the school year until now, while everyone around him was gradually improving under Shimizu Akira's influence, he alone had always remained in place, even constantly dragging the class down.
With the bottom-tier grades and poor conduct, and just now publicly declaring that he didn't care about the class's interests at all.
What role could one expect such a person to play if they stayed in the class?
"The premise of being 'set up' is that you already had evil thoughts in your heart." She pierced through the other's excuse without mercy. "If you had never entertained the thought of betrayal, how could you have fallen into the trap so easily?"
She took a step forward.
"Furthermore—you keep saying you only received contact on the second day. Then let me ask you: on the first day of the exam, why did you hide your identity and not report it?"
Yamauchi Haruki was left speechless by the question. His face turned from white to green, and his lips trembled, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
"It seems you have nothing left to say." Horikita Suzune put away her phone, her tone icy. "I will report this recording and everything that happened today to the class as it is, and see how the class handles your betrayal."
Yamauchi Haruki frantically grabbed the edge of the table. "Wait! I... I can hand over all the points I received! Please don't make this public—"
If the whole class found out he had sold them out, he was completely finished in Class D!
In this school where strength is paramount, he would surely become the target of public criticism, a presence despised by everyone.
"It's too late to say these things now." Hirata Yosuke finally spoke, his voice saturated with deep exhaustion.
"From the moment you decided to sell out the class, you should have thought of such consequences."
As if grabbing a last straw, Yamauchi Haruki suddenly turned to Hirata.
"Hirata! You clearly gave me so much food and protected me on the deserted island... you won't just abandon me like this, will you?!"
On the side, Shimizu Akira also cast his gaze toward Hirata.
If Hirata still insisted on shielding Yamauchi after all this, then he would have to think that Hirata's unconditional kindness had become a form of pathology.
"I'm sorry." Hirata Yosuke closed his eyes. His voice was light yet firm.
"This time, you really went too far. I won't interfere with Horikita-san's decision... you truly betrayed everyone's expectations."
With that, he eventually turned around and left the restaurant without looking back.
Ike Kanji gave Yamauchi one last look full of disappointment: "Yamauchi, you really are... beyond help."
Having said that, he also turned and left.
"Yamauchi, you'd better remember this! Now even Hirata can't protect you! I'll settle the score with you when we get back to school!" Sudo Ken glared at him ferociously and also turned to leave.
Yamauchi Haruki was ashen-faced. He staggered to his feet and moved out of the shop door like a walking corpse.
Shimizu Akira watched this scene quietly and shook his head lightly.
This time, Yamauchi Haruki had truly played with fire and burned himself.
Although his behavior didn't violate school rules to the extent of direct expulsion, once the label of "betraying the class" was pinned on him, he would no longer have any friends in Class D.
Hirata Yosuke would most likely not protect him anymore either.
He was completely ruined.
From now on, his status in the class would plummet, and he would fall to being the lowest presence.
Perhaps his only value would be to be pushed out as a "discarded pawn" when necessary, becoming a sacrifice to protect the class.
The source of all this was nothing more than Yamauchi Haruki speaking ill of him behind his back, which happened to be heard by Kushida Kikyo.
"Hey!" Ryuen Kakeru's voice, suppressed with anger, broke the silence. "Have you forgotten we are still present here?"
His brow was tightly furrowed, his face gloomy.
This group of people suddenly appearing and then leaving as if no one else were there simply treated them as air.
Horikita Suzune had actually used a phone hidden in a napkin box to eavesdrop. He had completely become the other's tool for dealing with Yamauchi, used as a "gun" from beginning to end!
Last time on the deserted island, he had fallen for Shimizu Akira's recording pen; this time, he had actually suffered a second loss to the same trick!
"Oh? You're still here." Shimizu Akira turned back, as if only just noticing him, and said nonchalantly, "Thanks for the cooperation."
If it weren't for Ryuen's group acting as a backdrop, Yamauchi Haruki's end wouldn't have been so miserable.
"Pffft... Hahaha!" Ibuki Mio couldn't help but laugh out loud.
For her, being able to watch a good show and witness Ryuen's setback with her own eyes could be called the best entertainment of the day.
"Ryuen," Horikita Suzune spoke calmly, "the person who contacted you shouldn't be Yamauchi Haruki, right? Who exactly is that person? Tell us about your chat content."
"What kind of attitude is this?" Ryuen Kakeru sneered. "Asking someone a question and being so self-righteous?"
He suddenly revealed an ill-intentioned smile: "However... this show of yours is quite interesting! Shimizu, from what you're saying, could it be that Yamauchi Haruki is Class D's VIP? Hehehe... finally, I've caught a flaw!"
Horikita Suzune immediately understood his intention; this guy clearly intended to have the Class C people report Yamauchi, the VIP.
Although they had successfully ruined Yamauchi Haruki in the class this time, they had also accidentally let Ryuen Kakeru grasp the key information that Yamauchi was most likely the VIP.
The gains and losses in this were truly difficult to measure simply.
However, she glanced at Shimizu Akira and found that his expression hadn't changed. She immediately felt much more at ease.
Since this person had already known all the VIP situations in advance since yesterday, he should have made complete preparations.
Ryuen Kakeru had just taken out his phone and was about to contact the other members of the group where Yamauchi Haruki was.
At this very moment—
Everyone's phones on the scene simultaneously received a new message:
[The exam for Pig Group has ended. Students of Pig Group do not need to participate in the exam further. Please act carefully and do not disturb other students.]
"Big brother Ryuen, Pig Group... isn't that the group that guy Yamauchi is in?!" Ishizaki Daichi cried out.
Ryuen Kakeru's pupils shrank abruptly, and the corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
"You...!" Ryuen Kakeru glared death at Shimizu Akira, his voice almost squeezed out from between his teeth, "You actually told other classes about Yamauchi's information in advance?!"
This move completely disrupted his plan.
He never expected that the opponent would not only anticipate his actions but also strike first to block his path of retreat.
This hand both prevented Class C from reporting and did another class a favor—it could be called killing two birds with one stone.
"Calculating and far-sighted." This term might carry a hint of being seasoned, but using it on Shimizu Akira at this moment was perfectly appropriate.
Shimizu Akira, however, completely ignored his gaze, which was almost spitting fire, and calmly picked up his phone to dial a call.
"Is it Hasabe-san?"
"Mhm, according to what we agreed before, you can report now. Class C was already planning to move. It's Kaneda Satoru.
No need to be polite. You can just keep those 500,000 personal points; consider it a reward for trusting me."
Ryuen Kakeru's heart sank suddenly. Wasn't Kaneda Satoru the VIP of their class?
The moment his eyelid jumped, his phone rang with a new message notification right on time:
[The exam for Dog Group has ended. Students of Dog Group do not need to participate in the exam further. Please act carefully and do not disturb other students.]
"Shimizu—you bastard!" Ryuen Kakeru almost ground his teeth to pieces, the swear words already at the tip of his tongue.
Before Ryuen Kakeru could even have time to act against Class D's VIP, he never expected Shimizu Akira to strike first, taking an "eye for an eye" approach to counter him.
"Ryuen, you are too flamboyant; someone needs to blunt your sharp edge," Horikita Suzune picked up the conversation flatly.
"This time it was you who first tried to act against Class D. The current situation is merely you reaping what you sowed. Shimizu-kun has done nothing wrong."
'Damn it!'
Ryuen Kakeru roared in his heart.
He was flamboyant? He had clearly been suppressed everywhere by Shimizu Akira since the start of the special exam! Who exactly was more aggrieved?
Also, who said he initiated the contact with Class D?
It was clearly that mysterious anonymous account that suddenly came to his door! He had lost 200,000 points for nothing and gained nothing.
Shouldn't the person most entitled to cry grievance be him, Ryuen Kakeru?!
The more Ryuen Kakeru thought about it, the more annoyed he became—that anonymous guy as well, just because he casually said one thing against Shimizu Akira, he was given a tongue-lashing by her.
Now, look at this. Before he could even finish speaking, this woman was impatiently defending Shimizu Akira.
How exactly did he train her? To be able to keep someone so obediently in line?
Shimizu Akira glanced at the time. It was now approaching 7:00 AM.
Three figures walked into the shop one after another—Ryuen Kakeru's pupils constricted slightly. The newcomers were actually Ichinose Honami, Katsuragi Kohei, and an unremarkable ordinary student.
His gaze instantly locked onto Shimizu Akira. Such a formation was likely entirely arranged by this person.
Ichinose Honami spoke first, her words startling: "I propose that all remaining groups jointly achieve the Outcome 1 ending."
"Outcome 1? Interesting." Ryuen Kakeru raised an eyebrow. "You want to achieve a win-win for everyone?"
It wasn't that he hadn't considered this plan, but there were always two concerns.
First, he couldn't completely trust other classes, especially opponents like Shimizu Akira and Sakayanagi Arisu.
Second, Class D's class points were currently at the bottom. He needed to take this opportunity to strive for more advantages and wanted to be the first person to get the VIP rules.
"The risk is too high; I'm afraid I cannot cooperate," Katsuragi Kohei said, frowning.
He had been temporarily called over by this student beside him named Ayanokouji and hadn't expected to face such a proposal at all.
Ichinose Honami cast a grateful glance at Shimizu Akira and continued: "Actually, Shimizu-kun has already cracked the distribution rules for the VIPs."
Ryuen Kakeru narrowed his eyes sharply.
He wasn't surprised by this result.
After all, the other had accurately pointed out Kaneda Satoru from their Class C just now.
Katsuragi Kohei, however, looked at Shimizu Akira in shock: "Since you grasp the rules, why don't you directly report us? Do you have to wait until 9:30 tonight to act? And why inform us of this matter?"
If it were him, he would surely report all VIPs in one breath before the deadline.
Acting in advance is easy to alert the enemy, but if one drags it to the last moment, it can instead ensure maximum profit.
"Because by now, each party should have already grasped the information on at least four VIPs," Shimizu Akira explained calmly. "By noon, everyone will most likely have derived the rules."
"Heh, interesting." Ryuen Kakeru sneered. "Our Class C indeed knows the fourth VIP. You certainly trust Shiina's analytical ability."
"Class B has also mastered the fourth VIP," Ichinose Honami followed up. "The Pig Group just now was reported by us."
"You all actually..." Katsuragi Kohei couldn't hide his surprise.
He didn't even have information on three VIPs collected in his hand. If there were four VIP spots, it would indeed be enough to reverse-engineer the rules.
This also meant that even if Class D reported the VIPs of other classes, the other party similarly had the ability to counterattack.
The VIPs within one's own class also couldn't be kept!
Taking everything into account, the profit would actually be very small.
"Wait, I didn't..." Katsuragi Kohei tried to object.
"Don't be in a hurry," Shimizu Akira raised a hand to interrupt. "Our meeting is still missing one person."
He picked up his phone to connect to a video call and turned the phone screen toward everyone.
In the picture, Sakayanagi Arisu was leisurely sitting in a campus cafe, sipping a milk coffee.
"Everyone, you're all here." She smiled and shook the coffee cup in her hand.
"Shimizu-kun has already explained the sequence of events to me." Her gaze turned toward Katsuragi Kohei.
"Katsuragi-kun, could it be you forgot my existence? Although you only have one spot in your hand, over here... I hold four VIPs."
"Sakayanagi!" Katsuragi Kohei's expression changed abruptly. "It's not hard to understand that the two remaining VIPs of Class A are in your hands, but where did the other two spots come from?"
"Well—" Sakayanagi Arisu looked toward Ichinose with a beaming smile. "Naturally, they were deduced from Class B's VIPs."
Ichinose Honami's expression was calm: "Shimizu-kun already informed us of this matter in advance."
"Tch..." A flash of displeasure crossed Sakayanagi Arisu's face.
But at this moment, everyone's attention was already no longer on her subtle change in expression.
A key question surfaced: since all four classes already mastered information on four VIPs, in a state where information was nearly transparent, mutual reporting had become meaningless. Not a single class's VIP would be able to escape.
"Let me state in advance that I am in favor of letting the remaining groups achieve Outcome 1." Sakayanagi Arisu suddenly chuckled.
"The more personal points the class gains, the easier it will be to advance the human recruitment plan later."
"I agree as well." Ichinose Honami nodded without hesitation. Her three VIPs had all been wiped out; this win-win plan was most beneficial to Class B.
"But..." Katsuragi Kohei still appeared hesitant. "What if a class secretly violates the agreement?"
While Outcome 1 is good, it is also the most fragile cooperation model.
"The number of people who could pull small tricks should not be many anymore." Sakayanagi Arisu smiled meaningfully.
"At least from my perspective, people like Koenji Rokusuke and Yamauchi Haruki of Class D—their groups have already ended early."
"Please wait a moment." Ayanokouji, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly spoke up.
Under the puzzled gazes of everyone, he left for a moment and returned with four metal boxes.
"Each class only needs to temporarily store the phones of all remaining members, except for the VIPs, into these boxes."
He calmly explained the plan:
"The keys will be kept according to Shimizu's arrangement. After 9:30 PM tonight, the boxes will be opened uniformly, and the voting segment will take place then."
Everyone was startled upon hearing this.
Indeed, the rules only required using one's own phone to vote.
If one didn't have a phone, they naturally couldn't perform any operations.
And the meeting itself didn't mandate having a phone to participate; only being present in person was required.
Confiscating phones indeed could effectively prevent the remaining members of the groups from acting on their own.
"To be safe," Ayanokouji added, "considering the possibility of phone swapping or SIM card transfers, each phone put in needs to be carefully inspected by each class representative."
"Additionally, according to Shimizu's arrangement, Mashima-sensei will arrive in ten minutes. The four classes need to jointly sign this agreement."
He took out a document that had been prepared long ago.
Katsuragi Kohei quickly scanned the content and found that the terms were written exceptionally clearly:
Cooperation Condition: All classes must pay Shimizu Akira 500,000 personal points as a plan design fee. Profit Details for Each Class in This Special Exam: o Class A: Guessed 2 VIPs (Class B), Guessed 2 VIPs incorrectly (Class C), Class Points +0, Personal Points +1,000,000.
o Class B: 3 VIPs guessed, Guessed 1 VIP (Class D's Yamauchi), Class Points -100, Personal Points +500,000.
o Class C: 1 set of VIPs guessed (Kaneda Satoru), 2 VIPs guessed incorrectly by other classes (Class A), Class Points +50, Personal Points +1,500,000.
o Class D: Guessed 2 VIPs (Kaneda Satoru, Shibata Souta), 1 set of VIPs guessed (Yamauchi), Class Points +50, Personal Points +1,000,000.
List of 68 members of the remaining five groups and distribution plan: o Class A: 17 people, Class B: 17 people, Class C: 16 people, Class D: 18 people.
o Calculation based on 500,000 personal points profit per person: Class A: 8.5 million.
Class B: 8.5 million.
Class C: 8.0 million.
Class D: 9.0 million.
The contract also clearly stipulates: Every remaining group member must sign the agreement, guaranteeing not to perform any extra operations. Violators must pay tenfold compensation. If any abnormality occurs in the final exam results, everyone has the obligation to cooperate in the investigation of the phone devices.
The degree of rigor of this contract was astounding. Not only was the profit distribution clear and transparent, but it also set up multiple safeguard mechanisms under the premise of having confiscated the phones.
Even the always cautious Katsuragi Kohei had to admit that signing this agreement was indeed the optimal choice at present.
When he looked at Ayanokouji with a surprised gaze, the other pointed to Shimizu Akira on the side: "This contract was drafted by me under Shimizu Akira's instruction."
Katsuragi Kohei was suddenly relieved—since it was Shimizu Akira's handiwork, it wasn't surprising.
However, on closer look, he found that Sakayanagi Arisu was indeed operating in the dark again.
But considering she had secured 1,000,000 personal points for the class, he thought about it and decided to say nothing this time.
"Class A has no problem; we can accept this contract."
In Katsuragi Kohei's view, these 500,000 personal points were entirely the reward Shimizu Akira deserved.
After all, it was he who conceived this nearly perfect contract and facilitated the cooperation between each class.
"I think this fee is very reasonable," Ichinose Honami also expressed agreement.
Now only Ryuen Kakeru had yet to state his position.
Ryuen Kakeru's face was gloomy: "Tch, I got it."
Since the opponent had already calculated everything to this extent, refusal would be the foolish choice.
"Wait!" Ryuen Kakeru suddenly lifted his head, his suspicious gaze pointing directly at Shimizu Akira. "You guy, did you miss one account? If you guide the groups to reach Outcome 1, the
school will give this person an extra reward of 500,000 personal points. Why didn't you count that in?"
"Hehehe..." Sakayanagi Arisu chuckled in the video. "Don't you understand yet? The person who can guide all remaining groups to reach Outcome 1 is exactly Shimizu Akira before your eyes. These extra reward points naturally all belong to him alone."