Classroom of the Elite: Free Will

V4: Chapter 2 - The New Exam

Hashimoto Masayoshi POV

I entered the room my message indicated just as the clock showed 20:29 on my phone. I had found the hallway of the second deck deserted as ever, but I suppose it was because I had arrived a bit late.

I knocked.

Entering just like that would have been impolite.

I quickly received permission to enter and did so.

Inside the room Class D's homeroom teacher, Chabashira-sensei was sitting in a chair before two other students. Both were my classmates from Class A.

"Yo!" I greeted waving my hand.

"Hello, Hashimoto-kun, it seems you arrived just in time," Nishikawa commented with an amused smile. "A minute later and you may have been penalized."

"I suppose I have a lucky star," I replied. "You know Kamuro is quite impolite of you to ignore me like that."

"Tch... Can we get this done with?" she asked Chabashira-sensei.

I sat on the only free chair that was next to Kamuro, Nishikawa on our right and Chabashira-sensei in front of us. In between us, on a small table were laid some materials.

I had asked Hayato and my other friends who had their meetings at an earlier hour what the exam was about, but their answers were vague. When I asked Hayato why those vague answers he replied that Tomori had sent everyone a private message telling them not to share the information of their meeting with anyone, not even with friends. Everyone was supposed to give her, and report and she would in turn report everything to Sakayanagi.

Since I hadn't received that message, I had gone to talk to Tomori and see what information I could get. Therefore, I asked Tomori what she thought about the exam, but she had limited herself to smile and told me to give her a report after my meeting.

I couldn't understand why such secrecy but it's not like I would question it.

The small size of the groups intrigued me. Wouldn't have been better to explain everything once to everyone like on the island?

How different this test could be?

"Let's begin then," Chabashira-sensei stated after studying the three of us for a second. "For this special test, all first-year students will be divided into twelve groups based on the signs of the Zodiac. Everyone will participate within their respective group. The purpose of the exam is to test your thinking—I will not take questions for now, Nishikawa... Action, thinking and teamwork are the three fundamental qualities society needs to progress. On the island your teamwork was heavily evaluated. Now, it is time to test your thinking. We will do it in four ways: your ability to thoroughly process information, which is an essential component of this test. Your ability to analyse your current situation and clarify the task at hand. The ability to solve the problem after you've clarified the process and identified the task. And finally, the ability to utilize your imagination, and the ability to create new values. Those are the qualities you'll need."

Even if the explanation seemed clear enough, I had several questions that had formed in my head adding to the ones I already had when I entered the room. Nishikawa and Kamuro seemed to be on the same state.

"Regarding the groups," she went on. "The three of you belong to one of those twelve groups. Right now, other students are receiving this same explanation."

Chabashira-sensei paused for a second and look at each one of us as if expecting us to interrupt her. We just kept silent attentive to her explanation.

"Each group has thirteen to twelve participants selected among the four classes. In other words, each group consists of three to four people from each class."