"And the rest of you?" Long Lu asked the class. "Surely you've seen how horribly we lost in the previous exam. Luckily, that was just a diagnosis and wasn't worth all that many points, but with this, we now know just how weak we are compared to the other classes. If we want to have a shot at winning, we have to work together. There's no way out of this."

All the classmates gathered around nodded in response, a serious look on their faces.

​​

"We'll all listen to your instructions, class rep."

Long Lu smiled. "Good. Now that I've made sure everyone is on the same page here, we can begin actually preparing for the exam. The flags are being sent out tonight, according to Ms. Cai, so we have now until then to familiarize ourselves with this forest. The more advantageous locations we know about, the better. It'll give us an edge when the exam actually begins."

"What about the actual battle plan?" Han Xiao Bing asked impatiently.

"Give me some time," Long Lu replied. "I have something in mind, but I need to work out the details still. I want everyone to group back here at 7 PM tonight. I'll have everything figured out by then. For now though, just split into groups of four and explore the forest. Combat is forbidden until they announce the start of the test tonight, so you needn't worry about anything."

"Alright, whatever, man." Han Xiao Bing snorted and headed off, dragging Da Bao with him. The other classmates hurried off as well, now more motivated than before to actually give these exams their best shot.

With last time's defeat, they now knew remaining in this school wasn't going to be an easy task. I had no doubt there were still hidden rules to this exam yet to be revealed, such as those concerning expulsion. Ms. Cai herself had said at the beginning of the school year that expulsions were going to be frequent in the special exams, apart from the first one which was a mere diagnosis.

I doubt the school would just expel whichever class that came last, but there had to be some sort of way of determining who would be kicked out.

Once everyone else had left, it was just Long Lu, the girls, and I left in the room.

"Okay… I hope you have a plan, Xuan Kai," he glanced at me briefly, raising an eyebrow.

I closed my eyes. "Relax. I have a general idea of how to win this."

"E-Eh? Win? Aren't we going for third or second at most?" Feng Mian asked, confused.

I smiled wryly. "I have a way to win this competition with the other classes unable to believe the results when they are announced. In the end, the number of flags we'll have will seem impossible."

"But… how?" The girls were still perplexed, so I sighed and put it in a simpler way.

"Essentially, what we'll do in this exam is not all that different from the last. We completely give up on winning and use all our efforts to help Class A instead — at least, on the surface."

"…?"

"We will completely abandon this temple, and lodge at Class A's instead. We'll essentially merge classes with them, helping them gain as many flags as possible. With the power of two classes together, we can raid any of the two other ones, who won't stack up together like us. After getting the flags, we will then move them all to Class A's temple. But on the final day…"

"… We'll take them back to our abandoned base, is that it?" Obsidia finished.

I shrugged. "Kind of. Rather than physically bringing them back, all we have to do is touch them. Don't ask how I know that, because I don't want to explain it at the moment. Given our performance in the previous exam, Class B and C will both think we are once again just helping Class A win this one as well. They won't even consider the flags to belong to Class D in the end."

"But… even if we abandon the Base, every night, flags will still spawn in there. Wouldn't that just be free points for the other classes…?" Lan Xiao Su asked, raising her hand.

I nodded. "That's why I asked whether or not we could steal back stolen flags. We will have Class A take all of our flags as soon as they spawn in. That way, the other two classes can't get them. It'll also help contribute to the whole act of us supporting Class A with everything we have."

"I see… but will Class A agree to this? They'll most likely fall in last because of this," Yu An Yan analyzed.

"They will," I chuckled. "In fact, they'll even be grateful, most likely. This is still only the second exam of the school year — it won't be worth all that many points. Them not being first by the end of the exam will make Class B and C so shocked that they'll think it's some sort of miscalculation on the school's side. Naturally, I'll have Ming Hao cooperate with me to make shocked expressions when they announce the results. As for the rest of our classmates and Class A's students, well… they don't need to pretend."

"So… you don't want me to tell the class of the full plan?" Long Lu asked.

I nodded firmly. "Now that you have their full support, they can't back out now. Even if your plan seems like a total mistake, they have no choice but to go with it. All you have to do is insist they see it through to the end. As for how much you'll be able to convince them, well… that's up to your charisma."

"But when we turn out as first in the end… they'll think I'm some sort of genius…"

"That's the point," I replied with a chuckle. "As long as all the credit goes to you, I can remain inconspicuous. Sorry, I have my reasons."

"… Right. I won't ask. The whole plan still seems a bit hazy to me, but I'll do my best to relay it to the others when they get back."

"Good." I stood up from my chair and began heading for the door. "The rest of you can go explore the forest as well, since more information on the land could never hurt for the raids we'll be launching. As for me… I have some preparations to make."

*****

- Several Minutes Later -

"You alone right now?" I asked through the phone.

"Yeah. Wussup?"

"I want to discuss our strategy for this exam. Can we talk in-person to make sure there aren't any… eavesdroppers?"

"Sure! When and where?"

"Now. Come to my class's Base. No one else is around at the moment."

"Got it. On my way."

He hung up after that, and I lowered my phone.

Back there in the meeting room, I hadn't told the girls and Long Lu everything. Mei Gui probably understood thanks to our telepathic connection, but that was fine since I knew she wasn't going to tell anyone else without my permission anyway.

For one, Qian Hua had specifically said your class's own flags had to be placed inside the Base — not the ones stolen. In other words, the stolen ones could be placed anywhere on the map. Because of this, I assumed the school calculated the ownerships of the flags based on who touched them last — hence why I said earlier that we didn't even need to bring the flags back to our Base.

I also predicted Class B and C to join forces sometime during the exam and launch a full-scale attack on Class A's Base, but given the results of the short four-way duel between the four class reps last week, I wasn't too worried about that. No matter the outcome, victory or defeat, I would still win in the end.

Even if Class A's defenses fail, it was fine — because of a few certain moves I would be making behind everyone's back.

*****

Soon after, Ming Hao met up with me by Class D's Base, within a sound barrier I put up.

"Alright. I'm here. I'm assuming you've already thought of something, huh?"

I nodded. "This exam, Class D will take first."

At this, he blinked in surprise. "H-Huh? Woah, back up. I wasn't expecting that at all."

Clearing my throat, I continued. "The plan is this: on the surface, Class D will abandon our Base completely and join your class in wholeheartedly defending Class A. But on the last day, I will turn all of the flags into Class D's."

"How…? By moving them back to your Base discretely?"

I scanned our surroundings, then looked at him in the eyes. "Before that… can other people read your mind?"

Ming Hao laughed boldly. "Ha! You're so overly cautious, Xuan Kai. Though I guess that's part of who you are. But to answer your question, my family gifted me a little Magic Artifact that prevents any and all mental attacks from affecting me — including mind reading. Maybe a Divine God or something could break past this Artifact and invade my mind, but our fellow schoolmates? Heh. No shot."

I sighed in relief. "Good… this saves some trouble. In that case… I'll tell you the most essential part of my plan — the hidden detail to this exam no one else caught."