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Chapter 132 Part 1

Quiz Championship (5) ~Back-and-forth match~

The fourth round was an alternating forward quiz.

As with the first three rounds, the quiz would be carried out in two halves.

Though, here, as opposed to in pairs, they would have to answer the questions individually, and each correct answer would allow them to move on to the next white line.

The goal was to reach the third white line, but the condition was that they reached there as a group.

In other words, each person had to answer correctly three times, so it was expected that the groups that had been relying on one member up until now would have a hard time in this quiz.

In this round, the number of groups would be narrowed down from 10 to 3 in both the first and second halves.

The result was that Sairyou and Sairei were once again tied with 3 groups each, but one of Sairei’s groups was a teacher group. In accordance with the prior agreement that teachers could not advance to the finals, they had to drop out here, but no groups were to succeed their spot.

The total points were dead equal, 802 to 802.

Thus, the outcome of the school competition would be decided by this final round.

The stage for the finals was set in front of the headquarters.

As if to imitate quiz shows, five desks wrapped in white cloth were lined up side by side, and answer buttons were placed on the desks.

The contestants were sitting on the two chairs arranged at each desk, waiting for the finals to begin.

Placed in front of the contestants was a mobile whiteboard with nine large squares drawn on it.

Written inside the squares were the genres that would be the topic of the quiz: history, economics, science, language, literature, music, art, drama, and sports.

It was a so-called panel quiz, in which nine difficult questions had been prepared.

The ranking would be decided by the total points they obtained here.

With the teacher group dropping out, Sairyou had 3 groups, including Riko’s, while Sairei had 2 groups, one of which was Li Weifei’s. Which meant, it would also be a showdown between the vice-presidents of the student councils of both schools.

Given how difficult the questions would be, the number of groups might not matter much.

Thunderous cheering was rising from both schools until just before the final round began.

Since the match had reached this point, they wanted their alma mater to win, by all means.

『Now then, let’s start the finals round. The group that wins the rock-paper-scissors game will get to choose the first genre, the topic of the question. The group that answers correctly will get 2 points and also the right to choose the next genre. If they get it wrong, they will get minus 1 point. And of the four other groups, the first to push the button will get the right to answer next.』

It would be great if they could get the correct answer before anyone else did, but if they were not confident, not answering would be the safer option.

As a result of the rock-paper-scissors game, the right to choose the first genre went to a group from Sairyou.

「Then… let’s go with economics.」

『Now then, here is the economics question. In Keynesian economics, the model that analyzes a closed economy of a country using the IS curve, which shows the combination of national income and interest rate, and the LM curve, which shows the demand and supply of money, is called the IS-LM model. Then, what is the model that extends the IS-LM model to an open economic system that takes into account the foreign sector called?』

「Uhh…」

「Mmm…」

Even Yuu, who was listening, had no idea about it. Everyone around him also had a blank look on their faces.

This might be essential knowledge for college students from the department of economics.

However, for an average high school student, knowing Keynes’ name and the outline of his theory would already be a commendable thing, and they probably had no detailed knowledge of the subject.

In fact, not only the group of contestants who selected the genre – smart-looking third-year students dressed in their school uniform – but the other four groups also seemed unable to answer right away.

Though, while there were some who were at a complete loss, there were also those who were racking their brains desperately with their hands on their foreheads, or muttering to themselves as they tried to call back the keyword from the depths of their memory.

There was a one-minute time limit for answering each question.

At times like this, one minute seemed to pass surprisingly quickly.

『30 seconds left.』

『20 seconds left.』

『10 seconds left, 9, 8, 7.』

Ding-dong!

Riko pressed the answer button.

She seemed to have remembered at the last second, and she had a refreshed look on her face.

「Mundell-Fleming model.」

『C… Correct! Two points for the Hanmura-Iida’s group from Sairyou.』

「Nice!」

Before anyone else, Yuu stood up and praised Riko.

A moment later, the surrounding Sairyou students, both male and female, cheered and applause rang out like thunder.

After that, the genre that Riko chose was literature.

『I will now read a tanka poem from the Man’yōshū, so please guess the author.

In comparison to

The love of ordinary man

Mine is simply too much

So much that

I would die from it.』

*Liberal translation: The words 『I love you』, which everyone says, are simply not enough to express it. As right now, I’m already so close to dying from love.

This time they were quick.

They all appeared to press the answer button at almost the same time, but it seemed Sairei’s group was slightly quicker.

It seemed that the person Li Weifei had teamed up with had pressed it.

「Otomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume.」

『Correct! Two points for the Li-Kijima group from Sairei.』

Ooh! Cries rose from both schools, but in contrast to Sairei, who immediately let out cries of joy, Sairyou’s side let out cries of disappointment.

This was because Iida-senpai, who had teamed up with Riko, was the president of the Literature Club, and literature was her area of expertise.

Riko comforted her as she hung her head, looking very frustrated.

It seemed Vice-President Li’s group had not come this far by pure luck, either.

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After that, they went through the questions one by one, with both Sairyou and Sairei unwilling to concede to the other side.

It turned into a back-and-forth match with a difference of 1 to 2 points (as you got minus 1 point for an incorrect answer).

At the end of the eight questions, the results were as follows.

The Hanmura (Riko)-Iida group from Sairyou got 2 correct answers, earning them 4 points.

The Li-Kijima group from Sairei also got 2 correct answers, so they were tied for first place with 4 points.

The other groups from Sairyou both got one correct and one incorrect answer, earning them one point each.

As for the other group from Sairei, they got two correct and two incorrect answers, so they got two points.

In terms of total points, by then, Sairyou and Sairei were tied with 808 points.

In the end, the school showdown went all the way down to the last question.

『Now then, here is the question for the last genre, language. There are various theories about the origin of the Japanese language we normally speak, and it has not been clearly established linguistically. Among those, what is the language that is said to differ in grammar and morphology, but similar in phonology, and has been identified to have some similarities in basic vocabulary to Japanese? 』

As soon as the question was read out, one group from Sairyou and Sairei assumed a giving up pose with a resigned look on their faces.

Even after looking into the space and thinking about it, it seemed nothing came to mind, so the other group from Sairyou also hung their heads in disappointment.

Only Riko and Weifei’s groups were racking their brains with a serious look on their faces.

Frankly, Yuu had no idea.

All the students from both schools also fell completely silent, and as they harbored a feeling akin to a prayer, time slowly ticked away.

Even if they were to answer based on hunch, if they got it wrong, they would end up getting minus one point.

As this would decide not only their ranking, but also whether their school would win or lose, they had no choice but to be careful.

『30 seconds left.』

As everyone watched with bated breath, letting out not even a word, the announcement from the moderator informed them of the remaining time.

『20 seconds left.』

Riko and Li’s groups appeared to be racking their brains frantically as they looked down and pressed their fingers against their forehead, or looked up and muttered something quietly.

『… Err, 10 seconds left. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Zero! We got no answer even until the time limit was up… Umm, do you really have no idea? 』

Riko and Weifei shook their heads in unison.

『W, what should we do?』

The executive committee member, who was acting as the moderator, was also flustered.

It was partly because, thus far, they had always gotten an answer within the time limit.

The five groups had made it to the finals, but as the winner had remained undecided until the very last question, it might have put them under some pressure.

『P, please stay where you are for a bit.』

Apparently, along with the student council presidents of both schools, they would discuss the matter at the executive committee headquarters.

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