Hikigaya doesn't want to be a force of strength

Therefore, after returning to the original path, Karuizawa once again got used to this path dependence. In this cruise ship exam, he instinctively looked for the best individual in the group to protect himself.

If it were in a normal class, this might be a very good approach, which could quickly help her eliminate the enemies around her and establish her own advantages.

But in this exam, Karuizawa's strategy was destined to fail.

The reason is simple. The Rabbit Group is not a harmonious and stable group, but a gathering of four classes with various forces and ulterior motives.

In such a group, no one has the ability to influence the surrounding environment, which is doomed to be a divided group.

For example, Ichinose and Katsuragi from the Dragon Team have great influence in their respective classes, and can even drive the atmosphere and centripetal force of the entire group. However, these two people cannot influence people outside of their class within the group. This is the biggest feature of the cruise ship exam.

To sum up, the people that Karuizawa relies on, whether it is Yosuke Hirata or Koji Machida, are unable to truly protect her in the Rabbit Group, nor can they keep her safe.

Her further move to seek protection from Machida would even further anger the students in Class C, causing dissatisfaction and attacks from the Class C group.

At the same time, Karuizawa's decision to join Machida will also trigger resistance from the students in Class D. To the students in Class D, Karuizawa's behavior is no different from that of a traitor, and they are unwilling to cooperate with her.

Amid such external troubles and internal turmoil, the situation in Karuizawa will only get worse.

And the most important thing is that Ayanokouji, another hunter in the Rabbit Group who was eyeing the group, might have already judged the truth that Karuizawa was strong on the outside but weak on the inside through various details.

If Ayanokouji really adopts some evil plan in the future, the collapse of Karuizawa is almost inevitable.

All I can say is that Karuizawa made the worst possible move.

If the other party did nothing, or simply accepted Hirata's help, perhaps the worst thing could be avoided...

After all, in this school, being targeted by that monster Ayanokouji, Hikigaya didn't think anything could be worse than this.

"Is it true that Manabe and the others in your class have no follow-up actions?"

"This……"

After hearing Hikigaya's question, Ibuki hesitated. She finally said silently: "That's not the case. They seem to be planning to take certain actions against Karuizawa."

"A certain action?"

"Although I don't know the specific situation, based on the personalities of Manabe's group, there is a high possibility that they will directly surround Karuizawa privately, and may even resort to violence."

"Tsk tsk, you guys in Class C are really a bunch of violent people. I thought only Ryuuen and you were this type of people..."

"Who are you calling this type?"

Ibuki seemed very angry about Hikigaya's reaction, and his brows were furrowed.

Upon seeing this, Hikigaya quickly shut his mouth to prevent himself from further angering the other party and getting beaten up.

And Ibuki Mio didn't seem to be really angry. It was more like an act of hiding shyness. She quickly shook her head and said, "Anyway, these are the only things that happened in the afternoon meeting."

"Didn't Ayanokouji from our class take any action?"

"Ayanokouji? Who are you talking about?"

Ibuki was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that there seemed to be someone with this name in the group, "Are you talking about the boy who has no sense of existence? Apart from talking to Manabe and the others last time, he hardly took any special actions the rest of the time. But the one in your class named Yukimura Teruhiko, he was very active in trying to find the preferential treatment, but the actions he took were all stupid. It's a pity that he still wants to be in Class A."

"..."

Regarding Ibuki's behavior of looking down on everyone, Hikigaya really wanted to advise him not to be so sharp-tongued to avoid offending people who should not be offended.

But considering that if he opened his mouth, the other party might criticize him as well, he silently closed his mouth as he wanted to say something.

"Okay, then I'll ask you to continue observing the Rabbit Group. If you have any special information, you can contact me directly by phone."

"Oh."

Ibuki Mio nodded silently, showing a submissive attitude.

As a subordinate praised even by Ryuen Sho, Ibuki Mio's ability and character are unquestionable. She knows what to do and when not to do it.

She then glanced at Hikigaya silently and left.

……

Hikigaya walked all the way to the dormitory.

Ibuki Mio's words just now kept resurfacing in his mind, making him realize that he had to do something as soon as possible.

However, he was still somewhat hesitant about what specific strategy to adopt.

After all, Hikigaya has always been good at resolving conflicts by focusing hatred on himself and using his own negative influence.

Karuizawa's current enemies are Manabe and the others from Class C, and these guys have nothing to do with Hikigaya at all, so it is difficult for Hikigaya himself to influence their actions.

The only course of action might be to seek help from Ryuuen and Shiina. With the influence of those two in Class C, they should be able to easily stop the behavior of Manabe and the others.

However, Hikigaya still hesitated about doing so.

The reason is very simple. You can avoid the first day, but you can’t avoid the fifteenth.

If he helps Karuizawa solve the problem this time, what kind of trouble will he get into next time the other party causes trouble?

Given the poor condition of this school, it is hard to imagine that situations like the cruise ship exam, where different classes are intentionally mixed together, will not happen again.

By that time, will Hikigaya have to help Karuizawa solve problems every time?

This is not the right choice no matter how you think about it...

If you want to truly solve Karuizawa's problem, the right approach is not to become the other party's protector, but to let Karuizawa have the ability to protect itself.

Only in this way, the same mistakes will not be repeated again and again, and Karuizawa will not develop unnecessary dependence on himself.

In this case, there is no doubt that my approach is certain.

We must make Karuizawa fall from grace and become a lone ranger!

Chapter 375: Only people can save themselves!

Now that the decision has been made, Hikigaya begins making preparations to capture Karuizawa Megumi.

Although he had established a certain degree of trust with Karuizawa in the first semester, that trust had basically disappeared with the occurrence of the uninhabited island incident and Hikigaya's subsequent indifference.

Even if Hikigaya went to persuade Karuizawa now, he would most likely not get the other party's agreement and approval.

In this case, there is only one way to do it, and that is to use the tactics that Hikigaya is best at, to uncover Karuizawa's inner trauma and actively stimulate the other party's self-esteem.

Since the problem now is that Karuizawa's own psychological fragility has forced her to rely on others to survive, the only way to solve this problem is to make it disappear.

As long as the problem itself is not a problem, there will be no problem!

……

The afternoon passed quickly.

Hikigaya had barely had a short break when he felt like he had to attend a new round of discussions.

At this time, he was really envious of Koenji. Not only did he envy the other party for being able to guess the traitor directly and leave early, but he also envied Koenji for being able to do whatever he wanted without having to worry about the people around him.

If Hikigaya just wanted to be a lone ranger, but always went around in circles in staying alone and interacting with others, lacking the courage to truly risk it all, then Koenji can be said to be the lone ranger in his prime, without any weaknesses or concerns, and can be said to be the true strongest.

Compared to Koenji, Hikigaya felt like a half-baked fake, just a hypocritical loner.

However, he also knew that he could never become Koenji.

In every aspect, Hikigaya lacks the ability to be compared with Koenji, so naturally it is difficult for him to replicate the actions taken by the other party...

"The air is getting more and more depressing."

In the Dragon Team's discussion room, Horikita Suzune muttered unconsciously as she looked at the scene where there had been almost no effective conversation so far.

Hikigaya sat next to her, watching everything calmly.

Although the structure of this exam is not particularly simple, there are still traces to follow.

The three classes are responsible for attacking and finding the class that is hiding the favored person, while the class that is hiding the favored person is responsible for defending and hiding the identity of the favored person.

To use what Koenji said before, this is just a simple game of finding the liar and playing the liar.

It should be like this...

But the reality now is that due to Class A's bad behavior, the other three classes are wary of each other and even suspect Class A, so no one dares to take action.

Although Class A's plan is extremely bad, it is indeed very effective. As long as the other classes cannot guess the favored class in the end, Class A will be able to achieve a minimum victory.

As a result, Class D, which was supposed to be on the defensive in the Dragon Team, was forced into the dilemma of having to launch an attack. If they did nothing and silently accepted the result, they would face the situation that Class A wanted to see.

But if you force yourself to do something unnecessary here, it may arouse suspicion from others and cause the identity of the beneficiary to be revealed in advance.

Horikita Suzune must be caught in such a dilemma right now.

Hikigaya didn't have any good solution to this situation.

Because he is not a qualified liar. Apart from occasional fraud, he is not good at lying most of the time.

If Ayanokouji were in such a situation, he might be able to create a perfect lie that could not be exposed.

But anyway, Hikigaya himself is not good at this kind of thing, and he doesn't like to deceive others with lies unless it is absolutely necessary.

So even when he saw Horikita getting into a tough fight, he didn't offer any advice, and allowed the other party to fall into distress and unable to break free.

"Everyone, I have a suggestion." Ichinose suddenly spoke up, bringing some life to the gloomy room. "First of all, does it seem like Class A will not participate in the conversation this time?"

"Of course, you can discuss it as you like. Our policy has not changed."

Katsuragi Yasuhei calmly responded to Ichinose.

Ichinose then turned to look at the rest of the people and said, "I have an idea. Instead of wasting an hour in silence, why don't we play poker?"

"Poker cards?"

Ichinose's sudden proposal caused confusion among the crowd, but because silence for an hour was indeed a bit difficult, most people chose to agree, even Ryuen Sho was no exception.

Hikigaya didn't refuse in the end because of the atmosphere and most importantly the look from Ichinose.

So the people at the scene started playing poker.

It's called playing poker, but in fact it's just picking joker cards.

Due to the large number of people present, this was the only game that everyone could participate in.

After starting to play the game, Hikigaya realized the purpose of Ichinose's suggestion.

It seems that this kid still hasn't given up on passing the test head-on...

To put it in one sentence, games are something that reveals people's true nature.

Due to the competitive nature of the game and the lack of punishment in the entertainment element, most people will reveal their true character to some degree when playing the game.

For example, people with bad tempers will get angry during the process, cautious people will remain silent, and cunning people will choose to cheat...

Even someone who gives up playing games and hides in a corner reading comic books can reveal his or her inner inferiority and withdrawn personality.

By the way, Hikigaya used to be the member who curled up in a corner reading comics.

It was Hikigaya's first time participating in such a multiplayer game, and he originally thought that he was the only one troubled. But then, when Horikita Suzune looked at him with confusion and seeking help, he realized that there was another lone ranger here who was even less adapted to this atmosphere than himself.

"Well, even if you look at me like that, I can't tell you how to play..."

Hikigaya bluntly declared that he was incapable of doing anything, as he really had never played games with other people before.

"W-What are you talking about? I don't want you to teach me!"

Seeing this, Horikita showed her classic tsundere attitude and glanced away, leaving Hikigaya a little at a loss.

Before he could react, another figure came up to him. Shiina Hiyori asked in a pleading tone, "I'm not good at this kind of game either. Hikigaya-san, can you teach me?"

"This……"

I almost forgot that Shiina Hiyori is also a lone ranger who is on par with me and Horikita.

Aren't there too many weirdos in this group?

"Humph, even if it's just a game, I won't show mercy, dead fish eyes."

For some reason, Ryuen Sho in the distance showed an inexplicable fighting spirit, and even took the initiative to look at Hikigaya, showing his determination to have a one-on-one duel.

Looking at this group of weirdos, Hikigaya felt really tired and couldn't help but sigh deeply.

What surprised Hikigaya was that during the process, Kushida Kikyo never approached him to talk. She hardly even looked at him and kept her head down almost the entire time.

This strange behavior almost made Hikigaya certain that the other party had betrayed him.