Book 15: Chapter 4: Intro - Surrounded on All Sides – Kōenji Vs. The Free Group
It was just after 5:00 PM on the tenth day of the exam, right around the time when the students were freed from their obligations for the day. The leader of Class 3-B, Kiriyama, quietly shut his eyes after having finished up with a conversation on his walkie-talkie.
Even though the second half of the exam was now in full swing, Kōenji still showed no sign of slowing down any time soon. Throughout the past several days, he had been racking up enough points to stay neck-and-neck with Nagumo’s group. When the top ten groups were first revealed on the fourth day of the exam, it had been somewhat surprising to see Kōenji’s name included on the list. At the time, however, neither Kiriyama, Nagumo, or just about anyone else had given it much thought.
After all, anyone could tell that a one-man group like Kōenji would be reaching his limit soon enough.
“Kiriyama, don’t you feel like Nagumo’s response to this has been too, y’know, passive? Wasn’t he supposed to run away with the lead once the second half of the exam started? He’s put off dealing with this Kōenji guy for so long now that it’s already day ten and their scores are still pretty much the same.”
Mikitani, also a Class 3-B student, spoke while looking at the current state of the leaderboards on his tablet. Nagumo’s group had an overall score of 236 whereas Kōenji’s was 230, a difference of only 6 points. Kōenji was in a prime position to turn things around; it would just take a single first-place Early Bird Bonus.
Nagumo’s group had dramatically increased in size thanks to the special ‘More People’ card, and as such, they could reliably earn 7 points per Arrival Bonus just by having everyone make it to a designated area before the time limit.
Kōenji, on the other hand, would only be able to earn 1 point per Arrival Bonus, but at the same time, it would be easier for him to earn Early Bird Bonuses. This was even more impactful given that he alone boasted the highest number of first-place Early Bird Bonuses out of every group in the exam.
“Even if Nagumo manages to lock down first-place, with the way things are going, you’re just gonna end up in third. Man, if you end up losing to a lowly second-year, then your reputation with all your supporters’ll go right down the drain.”
Kiriyama’s group currently had a total of 188 points. The difference between their score and Kōenji’s had only been growing larger and larger as the days passed.