Starting in class C: not completely defective.

Arc 10 chapter 1: even selection exam explanation

"Yes, I suppose that they can play that role, too. Of that narrowed-down list of ten events, the school will select seven at random via an automated system. That's how this all works," replied Sakagami, not disregarding but rather affirming Ryuuen's suggestion.

It seemed this special exam was going to be more drawn-out than the ones we'd had thus far. I imagined the school was going with seven events to ensure a clear winner. With no chance of a tie, whoever won four of the events would emerge victorious.

"Even if the outcome is already decided before all seven events are complete, the test will continue until the final event. This is because the events will affect class points. So, regardless of whether your class might definitely win or definitely lose, you will be seeing these events through to the very end. Applications for the first list of ten events will be accepted until the end of the day on Sunday the 14th. Because your events will need to be evaluated for approval by the school, you're better off finalising each event as soon as possible," explained Sakagami.

"What happens if we don't finalise ten events by the end of the 14th?"

"Then the school will fill in the gaps with alternative events that they've prepared. But don't expect these to be the best events for your class. While you may not necessarily be at a disadvantage in them, you probably won't be at an advantage, either," replied Sakagami.

It seemed it would be wisest for us to work on finalising our own ten selections, no matter what.

"It's also important to note that the same class cannot register the same event twice. Let's suppose a class were to submit a soccer event, with a best-two-out-of-three-rule. If you then tried to submit another soccer event where the outcome was decided via a penalty kick, it would be rejected. Please be mindful of this."

"Can we retract an event once it's been finalised?" Asked Ryuuen.

"No, you cannot."

"Then...can any student participate in the seven events? And is it possible for students to participate as many times as they wish?" Asked Ryuuen.

"Some of the rules regarding these events are difficult to communicate verbally therefore, the school has prepared this handout with more detailed information. Feel free to make copies of it later. The answers you're looking for are printed on the handout, Ryuuen."

It would have been nice if the school had just made enough copies for everyone, but I supposed it was possible they'd intentionally done things this way. If we only had one copy of the handout, everyone in class would come together to read it over, which would make it easier to prompt discussion among our classmates.

"Just as I wrote on the blackboard, the ten events each class decides on will be relayed to the opposing classes on the 15th. After all, it's hard to call it a fair competition if you don't know what events and rules your opponents have chosen."

That meant we had almost one week to study, practice, and come up with plans for these events. It was also likely that the day of the exam itself would become a battle for each class to figure out what events the opposing class preferred.

"Once the exam had concluded on the 22nd, the 23rd will be a vacation day. After that, the graduation ceremony will be held on the 24th, and then the closing ceremony on the 25th. Once those events are out of the way, you'll officially be on your spring break."

I supposed our levels of motivation would depend on whether we won or lost. At any rate, after hearing all of that, I felt I had a fairly good grasp on how the event selection exam worked.

However...

The look on Sakagami's face seemed to suggest he still had something major to explain to us.