After Hashima Hikaru fully shared his thoughts, Ichinose Honami and the other students of Class A fell into deep contemplation.
Everyone understood that to earn more class evaluation points in this exam, they would undoubtedly need to participate in the final phase of guessing the class leaders. After all, even if they managed to occupy several strongholds, the points they could earn after seven days wouldn't be substantial.
Guessing the leaders of other classes offered extremely high rewards, but the risks were equally high. A wrong guess would result in point deductions.
"Is this Hashima's core plan?" Kanzaki Ryuji mentally reviewed the idea and asked aloud.
"Yes, I've already thought it through. To help Class A gain an overwhelming advantage in this exam, the best approach is to guess the leaders of other classes."
Hashima Hikaru nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over everyone gathered there. Naturally, the most influential students in the class—Kanzaki Ryuji, Shibata, Ando, and Ichinose Honami—stood at the forefront.
"Of course, if anyone has a better plan or wants to add something to mine, feel free to speak up now. After all, this is just my personal idea. This exam concerns everyone's future, so I can't force you all to follow my plan."
"What about the choice of leader? How should we handle that?"
Ichinose Honami reviewed the boy's reasoning in her mind and asked this crucial question.
"Regarding that, I was actually just about to tell you all that I'm not really suited to be the leader, and neither is Ichinose."
Hashima Hikaru shook his head and explained to everyone, "Don't forget, during the first month of school, Ichinose and I were quite active."
"When we went to sell the rules, we visited three other classes together. They all know that Ichinose and I are core members of Class A. If we were to become the class leaders, wouldn't we be giving away the initiative?"
"After all that's happened, students from other classes might pay special attention to Ichinose and me during this exam. Even if the key cards aren't exposed, if they blindly guess us at the end, the chances of being guessed correctly would be quite high."
"We can't predict the internal thoughts of other classes, so it's best not to take chances in this regard. Choosing other classmates is the best approach."
After this explanation, the students immediately understood the concern. If they wanted to firmly hold the initiative, they indeed couldn't choose the two most attention-grabbing students in Class A as leaders.
"That's true, Hashima's reasoning makes sense."
"Yes, no matter what, we can't predict how students from other classes will choose. What if they decide to take a gamble?"
"So, who does Hashima think would be a good choice?"
"Yeah, since Hashima and Ichinose aren't suitable, who should be our class leader?"
After accepting Hashima's answer, everyone looked around, thinking about who would be the most suitable candidate.
"Who does Hashima think is suitable?"
The pink-haired girl had already moved closer to Hashima Hikaru. After agreeing with his reasoning, she intended to support his idea.
"Ideally, someone who isn't very noticeable in class, but this person must be capable and not too reckless, or they won't be able to safeguard the key card properly." Hashima Hikaru rubbed his chin, his gaze sweeping over the classmates, thinking about who would be the most suitable candidate.
"In that case, I think Nanfang-san would be a good choice."
Ichinose Honami mentioned a name, referring to a usually quiet girl in Class A named Nanfang Shao. Because she had few hobbies and wasn't very enthusiastic about socializing, she didn't have many classmates she could talk to regularly.
However, as a class leader, Ichinose had chatted with her several times. Although she preferred quietness, her academic and athletic abilities were decent, and she wasn't the type to be silent and shy. She simply enjoyed being alone.
After hearing the girl's explanation, Hashima Hikaru thought this was indeed a good choice.
Under Ichinose Honami's guidance, he glanced at the girl named Nanfang Shao. She had short hair, a delicate appearance, and was currently wearing a sports uniform, standing in the crowd without drawing much attention.
"Not bad, I think she's very suitable."
Hashima Hikaru snapped his fingers. While everyone was still thinking, he spoke up directly.
"Regarding this, there's actually a very good candidate. Can everyone hear me out?"
"Eh, has Hashima already decided? Who do you think is the best choice?"
"Yeah, who does Hashima think should be the leader?"
As everyone's attention turned to him, Hashima Hikaru didn't answer directly but gestured for Ichinose Honami to take action. Upon receiving his signal, the girl quickly walked over to Nanfang Shao.
"Nanfang-san, Hashima thinks you're the most suitable candidate to be our class leader."
"Eh, me?"
After being taken by the arm by Ichinose Honami, Nanfang Shao was visibly stunned. After all, she thought such an important matter should be handled by the more active and prominent figures in the class, and it was unlikely to fall to her.
"It's Nanfang-san?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I understand Hashima's reasoning." Someone observed this usually quiet classmate and suddenly realized the logic behind the choice.
"Hehe, there's no need to hide this from you all. You should be able to understand my thinking easily."
Hashima Hikaru smiled lightly. After walking over to Nanfang Shao, he explained to the others, "Safeguarding the key card is extremely important. Based on the reasoning I just mentioned, we can't choose someone too noticeable to be the leader."
"Although it might sound impolite, Nanfang-san, you're probably the type who doesn't like socializing, right?" The boy spoke gently to her.
"Yes, but that's just my personal habit. There's no particular reason behind it." Nanfang Shao nodded slightly.
"That's enough. Over these seven days, we might encounter various unexpected situations. No matter what plan we execute, safeguarding the key card must always be the top priority."
"Since you don't like socializing, Nanfang-san, you don't need to stand out too much. Just maintain your usual rhythm and interact with everyone as normal. This way, you can minimize your presence."
"If students from other classes come to scout our camp and try to figure out who the leader is, it won't be easy for them to target you. Do you understand what I mean?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, a glint appeared in Nanfang Shao's eyes, and she replied softly, "I understand what you mean, but is it really okay to entrust such an important task to me?"
"What do you all think?"
Hashima Hikaru looked at his classmates' faces. This decision was crucial, so he wanted to hear others' opinions.
However, as an incredibly united group, the students of Class A quickly understood the boy's reasoning and readily accepted this excellent idea. Everyone trusted his decision.
"I think it's a good idea. Nanfang-san as the class leader will surely safeguard the key card well."
"Yeah, I agree with this decision."
After everyone expressed their opinions, Hashima Hikaru glanced at Nanfang Shao's expression and said calmly, "What do you think, Nanfang-san?"
"Since everyone trusts me so much, I'll accept it. I'll do my best for the class." The delicate short-haired girl nodded seriously, indicating she was ready to take on this important task.
"Great, I believe Nanfang-san will perform perfectly."
Hashima Hikaru exchanged a glance with Ichinose Honami and smiled, saying, "Ichinose-san, please take Nanfang-san to Teacher Hoshomiya to make the key card."
"Okay."
After a few minutes, the two girls returned from the teacher, with Nanfang Shao holding the key card engraved with her name.
"Hashima-kun, do you want to take a look?"
"No need. When the key card isn't in use, Nanfang-san should keep it hidden at all times and never take it out."
"Got it, I understand."
With the class leader issue resolved, the discussion returned to the plan Hashima had mentioned earlier.
"Now that our class leader has been decided, let's continue discussing the plan I mentioned earlier. Does anyone have anything to add?"
Hashima Hikaru's gaze swept over the faces of his classmates. Although he currently held significant authority in the class, he couldn't abuse it, as it didn't align with his usual way of thinking. If everyone could accept this plan, arranging personnel later would be smoother, without encountering resistance.
"I support Hashima's plan."
The first to raise his hand was Kanzaki Ryuji, who had participated in many class plans and highly recognized the boy's abilities. Moreover, based on his own thoughts, this exam was clearly an opportunity to earn a large number of class evaluation points, and they could definitely take the initiative.
"Although our class maintains first place, Class B is always close behind. If we choose a more ordinary strategy this time, we might still fail to widen the gap between us, which would waste this opportunity."
"Hashima's plan is entirely proactive, and I think it's excellent. After all, as long as we correctly guess one leader, the resulting point difference is 100 points, which is a very high return."
"Exactly, I also think Hashima's plan is great. Based on the last ranking, our main competitor is actually Class B. The scores of other classes are too far behind, so we don't need to pay too much attention to them for now. As long as we can widen the gap with Class B, we can ensure our advantage is more stable." Shibata, as a self-proclaimed die-hard supporter of Hashima, immediately followed up.
After these two influential male students spoke, many others expressed their approval of the plan.
"I also support Hashima's plan. Since he's already observed several different positions, it means we already have the upper hand. Why not make use of it?"
Ichinose Honami had actually already agreed with Hashima Hikaru's plan earlier, but she thought it was better to speak up at the right moment. Now that she saw many people nodding, she decided to voice her opinion.
Seeing that even Ichinose Honami had spoken up, the other students who were still weighing the risks and rewards of the plan naturally understood the class's internal thoughts and agreed to execute it.
Seeing everyone nodding, Hashima Hikaru smiled slightly and said, "In that case, let's start taking action now."