Mashima-sensei went on to say that the special exam would begin at ten o’clock, and then went over the finer points. Considering it was currently just past 8 a.m., it seemed like there was too much time allotted for us to be here for just a simple explanation. It was highly likely that we would undergo further preparations of some sort before the special exam properly began.
“First of all, I would like to announce the names of the final three students from each class here as representatives today.”
Class 2-A Representatives
Vanguard: Sanada Kousei
Center: Kitou Hayato
General: Sakayanagi Arisu
Class 2-B Representatives
Vanguard: Hirata Yousuke
Center: Horikita Suzune
General: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka
Class 2-C Representatives
Vanguard: Nishino Takeko
Center: Katsuragi Kouhei
General: Ryuuen Kakeru
Class 2-D Representatives
Vanguard: Hamaguchi Tetsuya
Center: Kanzaki Ryuuji
General: Ichinose Honami
The first thing that appeared on the room’s monitor was a list of the representatives from each class, along with their roles on their respective teams. As stipulated in the rules, each class was organized into a team of two boys and one girl. There was no mention of absences or substitutes, though whether that was because the rules didn’t require disclosure of such information or because there simply weren’t any was unclear.
However, at this point, the twelve representatives were set in stone. If anything rendered a student unable to participate, they would automatically be treated as though they had failed the exam. Without taking any questions from the representatives, Mashima-sensei continued the explanation.
“This is where the representatives will take to the stage. You will likely notice that the classroom is furnished with several monitors, desks with two chairs each, and two tablets. In this classroom, classes A and C will face off against each other, and there is another classroom in the special building with this exact same setup, wherein classes B and D will face off against each other,” explained Mashima-sensei.
As long as it was a one-on-one arrangement, it seemed safe to assume that the setup would be similar to the final special exam we had in our first year.
“When the special exam begins, the vanguard representatives of each class will take their seats and the representatives assigned to the center and general positions will be held in a separate waiting room. Let’s go over the exam flow.”
Mashima-sensei displayed the exam summary on one of the monitors.
Special Exam Flow
Students will engage in discussion after being cast in one of the following roles: average student, model student, teacher, graduate, underclassman, upperclassman, or traitor.
Preliminary Preparation
Representatives from each class will create five groups of seven students of their choosing.
The same group cannot be used consecutively and must be given a break once.
If there are fewer than thirty-five participants, the same person will be allowed to join a second group if necessary.
Each class’s representative will select one group to participate in the discussion on their tablet.
The discussion will involve a total of fourteen participants, seven from each class, and will be observed on the monitor.
Each singular round of discussion will last for five minutes.
At the end of each round, both representatives are entitled to nominate one participant and declare the role they believe the participant is playing.
Nominations are limited to one participant per round. If there is no nomination, you may choose to pass. Representatives must enter their selections on their tablets within one minute.
The Life Points of the representatives will fluctuate depending on whether or not they were correct in determining the role of the selected participants.
Teachers and graduates exercise the effects of their roles at this time.
If one or more representatives pass, a model student will eject one participant from the room. (The representative’s Life Points will not increase or decrease even if one of their position holders is chosen at that time.)
The discussion ends for the one to two students chosen by the representatives or model student, and that student or students will be ejected from the room. (If the representative correctly identifies the participant’s role in their nomination, the participant’s role will be disclosed; however, the role will not be disclosed in the case of the nomination of a model student.)
The discussion ends when all of the average students or model students leave the room.
If the representative runs out of Life Points, the discussion ends, regardless of the timing.
The exam ends when a general runs out of Life Points.
If the generals from both classes run out of Life Points at the same time, they will fight again with one Life Point each. This process will be repeated until a conclusion is reached.
There will be an interval at the end of each discussion and when the representatives change.
As the details of the special exam were revealed to us, the full picture of the exam slowly came into view. Meanwhile, Mashima-sensei observed the representatives as he continued going through the explanation on the monitor.
“The fundamental flow of this special exam is repeated in steps one through five. I’m sure that there are a few items that might have attracted your notice, and I will explain them in order. First, the ‘participants’ are all of the remaining students other than you, the representatives. The core of this exam is that you will have those students engage in discussion. I will now go over the content of those discussions. Please have a look,” said Mashima-sensei.
Discussion
Discussion will be held in order to determine the roles that were assigned to the fourteen participants individually.
The discussion ends when the number of either average students or model students is reduced to zero, or when the representative runs out of Life Points. (In that case, all remaining students in the discussion will receive 5,000 Private Points.)
Representatives can nominate average students, model students, and traitors under the broad category of “position holder,” but in that case, their specific position will not be disclosed because it does not count as a correct nomination.
Students other than the representatives waiting on standby can observe the discussion on the monitor.
If both representatives make successful nominations in the same round, the Life Point offset process is resolved first.
List of roles assigned to participants and the number of participants:
Average students
Between six and eight people
Students who have not been given any special authority of any kind. In the event of an erroneous nomination (including nomination as position holder), the nominating representative loses one Life Point.
Model students
Two people
If you are successful in identifying a model student, you reduce the Life Points of the opposing representative by three points per nomination. In the event of an erroneous nomination (including nomination as position holder), the nominating representative loses two Life Points. Model students are aware of each other and have shared presence. If one or more representatives pass, one participant is nominated at the end of the round and removed from the room. (In the event that two participants remain, the right to nominate is granted at random. Also, a model student cannot nominate a model student.)
Teacher
One person
A successful nomination as position holder reduces the opponent’s Life Points by one point, and a successful nomination as teacher reduces the opponent’s Life Points by two points. In the event of an erroneous nomination (including nomination as a position holder), the nominating representative loses two Life Points.