Chapter 5 : The Watcher, The Watched

THE SECOND DAY of the exchange meeting began at 9 a.m.

Today and tomorrow, given that students had to complete seven games each day, those who were ordered to participate in as many games as possible by the leader would have a slightly busier time.

However, what they had to do was no different from the previous day.

When the time came, they followed the delivered instructions, met up with the opposing group, and played the game.

On the other hand, those who didn't participate were free to do whatever they wanted during their free time.

Students with a high chance of winning should probably just go through the experiential learning and make sure to collect the stamps to receive the reward.

The sixth game was 'Sculpture Experience.'

It was a full-fledged activity where you could use professional tools to carve a stone, which was obviously different from what you would do in a school art class. It was truly an exciting experiential learning activity.

For me, who was determined to participate in all the games, I didn't have much time to have an experience on my own. So, there were still many things left to learn that I hadn't experienced yet.

If I could, I would've liked to stay there for a week or two, not just these three days.

I was lost in thought as I looked at the uncarved stones and tools prepared for the students.

However, the two groups that had gathered were not interested in the raw stones of the works—that were full of charm—but were busy chatting about this and that.

For ordinary students, this experiential learning is just a part of their school life...

Well, it was easier for us to do it if it was a bit more relaxed, right?

If a specific person continued to participate in the game consecutively, it would seem to stand out a bit, but it didn't attract attention at all.

This was because experiential learning was always taking place here and there, and the school didn't disclose information as to who the participants of each group were.

Since there were no students who were eager to gather information, no one cared whether I won or lost.

Even if I participated in all 19 games, the only one who would know this fact would probably be Nagumo's group, who never missed a chance to scout individual performances.

"It seems that your group had a good start with five consecutive wins yesterday, Ayanokōji-kun."

Kushida said while she approached me. She was assigned to the first opposing group of the day.

"It's just that the first-year students are doing their best. You also have four wins, so it seems you're doing well too."

I found out that the only game they lost was against Nagumo's group, who were among the top contenders for first place.

"We decided not to worry about winning or losing. But that's because we decided to do our best and enjoy ourselves. But everyone just wanted to take it easy and kept asking me for favors. This is my sixth consecutive participation."

After saying that, she revealed her true feelings without breaking her smile.

"It's really stupid. Experiential learning is so lame. I wish this training camp would end soon."

"What you say and what you do are completely opposite."

It was impressive that she could spit venom without moving her facial muscles much.

"I just do it because I don't want to lose out if I don't put on a good face. Honestly, I don't think we need to take this exchange meeting seriously. There are people's eyes everywhere, in the shared room, in the large bath, at meals, and I don't have time to relax."

She seemingly wanted to be sent home as soon as possible, not needing any rewards or anything.

It appeared that she felt extreme stress from having to act like a good girl in an environment that was smaller than school.

"Don't let the stress build up and explode."

"I think I'm okay for now. Lately, I've been able to let off steam by dealing with those two."

It went without saying that 'those two' referred to Horikita and Ibuki.

"It seems you lost to that Horikita group."

"Since sincerity is their only merit, isn't it because they're working on various things with a straight face? Yesterday, Katsuragi-kun seemed to be immersed in practicing glasswork because he couldn't do it well, and he lined up many times."

When it came to making things in experiential learning, many people couldn't participate at once due to the number of instructors, equipment, and other problems. If it overlapped with the game time of the exchange meeting, they could hardly use the free participation slots, and a waiting line was inevitably formed.

"Nagumo is determined to win, and his members are serious, so he won't hold back."

"Do you think they will win as expected?"

"If we don't take action, there's a high chance of that happening."

When I answered, Kushida asked back with a curious look.

"But, even if you say 'take action,' all we can do is practice and hope that the game we can perform well in is chosen, right? Maybe the leader can choose the right person, but..."

"There are various other ways to increase your winning percentage to become a first-place candidate. For example, you could buy off the opposing group and have them give us the win. If you ask with a certain amount of money and sincerity, there should be plenty of room for negotiation, right?"

Of course, efficiency was another matter.

It was just one example of a way to increase the chance of winning.

Kushida imagined a scene where she was approached by an opponent for consultation.

"Indeed, if they give me 10,000 points, I have less reason to refuse, and I would be happy to give them the win. But if I keep doing that, won't I be in the red?"

Of course, it depended on how much you negotiated with them. If you gave 10,000 points to five opponents, it would be 50,000 points, but you could also use a bribe to the leader to settle it for 20,000 or 30,000 points.

However, the reason such a strategy was unlikely to spread was that there was little incentive in this exchange meeting.

Even if the Kiryūin group could win 16 or 17 games in a row by repeatedly buying off their opponents, groups like Nagumo, who were determined to win first place, would naturally reject being bought off, and we would have to clash head-on. As a result, if they ended up in second or third place, they may not even be able to recover the money they used for the bribery.

"So that's why no one does it. It's not profitable."

The only one who wanted the title of victor regardless of profit and loss was probably Nagumo.

"Is there a way to do it without spending money?"

"It requires effort and isn't flashy, but there's also a method that involves sealing off some experiential learning activities and not letting your rivals practice. Popular activities, as you said, form a line."

Surrounding the students of the rival group and repeatedly delaying them was also effective.

"It sounds like something Ryūen-kun would happily use."

"Yeah, but the reason there's no such movement happening at the moment is because it causes the same problems as bribing does."

"So it's not worth it, and the risk doesn't match the reward, right?"

"That's right."

An instructor in overalls appeared and instructed the students to gather.

"I'm rooting for your group, by the way. I'd be happy if you could let Horikita-san taste defeat."

Even though they were now on friendly terms, she still wanted Horikita and Ibuki to lose.

That was probably why the relationship between the three of them was miraculously balanced.

"Does that mean you're going to give us the win in this game?"

"I wonder about that."

She had a cute smile on her face, but she didn't seem to be going easy on us.

Still, the result of the game with Kushida's group was a 3-2 victory for our group.

Thanks to my passion for artistic activities, which other students didn't have, I was able to win.

After that, the games of the exchange meeting continued solemnly without any flashy movements, both in the morning and in the afternoon.

[Trump]

[TL/N: Trump refers to the card game category]

In the seventh game since the first day, it was the first battle where luck played a big part. As a result, the whole group, including me, suffered a spectacular defeat and recorded our first loss. This meant that I could only afford to lose one more game. However, among the rather modest exchange meeting, the card games brought quite a bit of excitement, and many students were enjoying it much more than the six games we'd played so far.

[Chalk Art]

Drawing pictures on a reasonably sized blackboard with chalk. The fact that we weren't drawing original works, but copying made it surprisingly easy to tackle. Chalk was a bit different from colored pencils and crayons, which we usually used to decorate with color.

While I struggled with the unique texture, it was also a moment when I touched a new world of art.

As a result of competing for the quality of the copies, I was able to win in the individual competition, and as a group, we were able to win 3-2.

[Miniature Golf]

From the indoor exchange meeting in the morning, we went outside on a small golf course for experience.

Before the start, there were many male volunteers, and taking all that into consideration, the leader's choice led to a slightly unusual situation where all the participants were male. Furthermore, everyone was inexperienced in this game. Whether this level playing field worked against us or not, the game was just as exciting as the trump card, if not more. Although I won in the individual competition, the other four lost by a small margin, resulting in our second group loss.

[Patchwork]

It was a word you might not hear often. Patchwork was a type of handicraft where small pieces of cloth were connected to make a large sheet. How much could be completed within the time limit, and the design, etc., were evaluated. The opponent who appeared here was the Tatebayashi group, which had a dispute on the first day due to Kōenji's selfish behavior. Their record so far was one win and nine losses.

All five participants were girls and experienced sewers, a formidable enemy. Moreover, the misfortune of colliding with Inogashira, who excelled among the experienced sewers, resulted in my second individual loss. The group also suffered its third loss.

[Archery]

The 11th game, where we wanted to avoid consecutive losses, was another outdoor sport.

Even if you hadn't done it before, you could probably imagine the rules. It's a competition using a type of archery called recurve, where we aimed at a target one-on-one. Normally in recurve archery, you shoot an arrow at a target 70 meters away, but in this experiential learning, it was set at 20 meters. Each person was given six arrows, and the total points were competed for. The center of the target was ten points and the outermost part was one point.

Morishita, who volunteered to participate, entered the game but was unable to handle it well and couldn't hit the target even once, a slight accident, but both the group and I were successful in avoiding consecutive losses.

[Glasswork]

The last match of the second day was glasswork. This facility had a large workshop prepared, and the items made could be taken home, making it a popular experiential learning activity among the students. The opponent didn't care much about winning and had a low win rate, and each person made what they wanted to make, so I was able to win in the judging for the individual competition in terms of completion and speed.

On the other hand, in the group competition, Hiyori showed her skill once again and contributed to the victory.

At the end of the second day, the halfway point of the competition, the total group results of the exchange meeting were twelve games, nine wins, and three losses.