“Well? Isn’t the content exactly the same aside from the group allocations?”

  Uesugi Gen smirked as he looked at Kanzaki Ryūji, who had spent the entire night listening to recordings and now resembled a sleep-deprived panda.

  "Haah~ You guys are really heartless,” Kanzaki said with a massive yawn.

  “Just like you said, aside from the group assignments, everything else is exactly the same. I’m starting to wonder if she just memorized the speech beforehand and recited it verbatim when we arrived.”

  At first, everyone in the dorm had been paying close attention to the recordings. But by the time they got to the second one, that bastard Uesugi had already run off to py video games. Not long after, Shibata had snuck away as well.

  In the end, after sitting through a total of six identical recordings, even Hamaguchi couldn’t hold on any longer and colpsed onto his bed, leaving only Kanzaki—who refused to accept defeat and was probably the only reliable one—listening all the way to the end.

  And the most frustrating part? The recordings were literally the same!

  “So why the hell did the school even bother splitting us up to expin the rules?”

  Shibata Sō, completely baffled by the school’s logic, groaned in frustration.

  Uesugi Gen, who was casually lying in bed pying games, responded nonchantly.

  “Maybe the school just got tired of watching Hoshinomiya-sensei and the others waste their days drinking, so they threw this task at them to keep them busy.”

  …Huh?

  That level of rexed indifference from Uesugi gave Kanzaki Ryūji a strange sense of déjà vu.

  The st time he had seen him like this… was back on the uninhabited isnd… right before he got taken down by Uesugi’s culinary atrocities.

  Thinking about it, Kanzaki shuddered. Don’t tell me he’s pnning some crazy scheme again…?

  At that moment, everyone’s phones vibrated simultaneously.

  [System Notification]After thorough adjustments, you have not been selected as a VIP.Please act with the awareness of a group member and face the exam with determination. The exam will begin today at 1 PM and will st for three days. Students in the "Dragon" group should gather in the Dragon Room on the second floor.

  “Tch, the school really has no taste, not choosing me as a VIP.”

  Uesugi Gen clicked his tongue at the message on his screen, then turned to the others. “What about you guys?”

  Without hesitation, Kanzaki and the other two held up their phone screens.

  “Not me.”

  “Same here.”

  “Same.”

  This result wasn’t particurly surprising. With only 12 VIPs, and considering the school’s usual insistence on fairness, it was likely that the four csses had been evenly assigned three VIPs each.

  “In that case, we’ll just have to wait for Ichinose to figure out who in our css—”

  “No need, Uesugi-kun, I already know who the VIPs are.”

  Ichinose Honami entered the room at that moment.

  This was something they had already agreed upon in their css chat st night—whoever was selected as a VIP would immediately report it to Ichinose, and then around 8 AM, she would meet with Uesugi Gen to discuss the strategy.

  “Since that’s the case…”

  Uesugi Gen climbed out of bed and rummaged through his belongings. After a moment, he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

  “Oh, here we go.”

  “This is…?”

  Shibata Sō took a closer look at what Uesugi had just pinned up. “A list of all students’ group assignments?”

  Hamaguchi Tetsuya furrowed his brows. “But it looks a little different from the one the teachers gave us.”

  Unlike the school’s version, Uesugi’s list did not dispy css affiliations, only the group names and the students' names.

  Rat: XXX XXX XXX...Ox: XXX XXX XXX...Tiger: XXX XXX XXX...Rabbit: XXX XXX XXX...

  “Obviously. That’s the only way we can figure out who all the VIPs are.”

  That one simple statement hit like a thundercp, stunning everyone in the room.

  Kanzaki Ryūji shot up from his seat, staring at the paper in shock.

  “You mean… the VIPs can be identified like this?”

  “…Is it because of that phrase, ‘thorough adjustments,’ Uesugi-kun?”

  Ichinose Honami frowned in thought.

  The term “thorough adjustments” implied that the selection of VIPs wasn’t purely random—there had to be specific conditions that determined who was chosen.

  “Well, that’s part of it.”

  Uesugi Gen didn’t deny it. “But what really convinced me that there’s a pattern to the VIP selection… is the theme of this exam.”

  “…Thinking?”

  “Bingo.”

  Uesugi Gen nodded and turned to Kanzaki.

  “Kanzaki, when trying to find the liar among 12 people—or when trying to hide your identity among 12 people—what’s the most important skill?”

  Kanzaki pondered for a moment before answering.

  “…Probably verbal communication skills and logical reasoning ability.”

  Strong communication skills would allow the VIP to blend in naturally, while solid logic would help them avoid contradictions that could expose them. Conversely, these same skills would also help someone detect inconsistencies in others.

  Uesugi Gen snapped his fingers.

  “Exactly. Language skills and logical reasoning are the core of this game. Aside from that, quick thinking and the ability to read others are also important. And of course, Thinking—the ability to analyze the current situation—is another key factor.”

  “However—”

  His tone suddenly shifted.

  “While this exam does test our analytical abilities, the weighting is suspiciously low. In fact, it’s almost negligible. Doesn’t that seem a little off for a so-called ‘theme’?”

  “So what you’re saying is… the real exam isn’t about that at all? That this whole thing is just a smokescreen to mislead us?”

  Kanzaki’s expression sharpened in realization.

  Uesugi Gen smirked. “Bingo. The school has deliberately worded the rules vaguely, restricted our ability to ask for crification, and made it so we have to figure everything out ourselves. The real challenge is something else entirely.”

  The others weren’t fools either. With Uesugi’s hint, they quickly caught on to the bigger picture.

  Now that they understood the true nature of the exam, the next step was figuring out who the VIPs were.

  “Ichinose, mark down the names of our css’s VIPs. Let’s see if there’s a pattern.”

  “Got it.”

  Ichinose nodded and stepped forward, circling the names of B-Css’s three VIPs.

  “…Wait a second.”

  Shibata’s eyes widened as he stared at the paper. “It’s that simple?”

  “I think we should double-check a few more VIPs before jumping to conclusions.”

  Kanzaki’s face twisted into an odd expression.

  On the paper Uesugi had brought out, the three VIPs from B-Css perfectly formed a straight line—a diagonal line across the 12×12 grid of VIPs.

  “Yeah, good point.”

  Uesugi scratched his head. “Three is a bit too small a sample size. We need at least one more to confirm the pattern.”

  As he spoke, his eyes casually drifted toward another suspected VIP along the diagonal.

  Then suddenly—his gaze froze.

  His expression shifted as he locked onto a specific name.

  A slow, knowing grin spread across his face.

  At that exact moment, a new message appeared on Uesugi Gen’s phone.

  ---

  T/N: Accomplice!!! to the rescue!