"Hello all, and welcome to the General Knowledge quiz! I'm your host for today, Hiden-sensei, and I'll be testing just how well you know the game of Vanguard!"

Mitsuba and Akihiro were wearing confident smirks on their faces while Matsushita looked worried.

"This rules for this quiz are simple! After I'm done reading a question, press the buzzer if you want to answer. The group who's buzzer goes off first will get priority to answer, but the window is only fifteen seconds! If they get the answer right, it's a point to their team! If they don't get it right or fail to answer, the other groups get a chance to answer, with priority being passed to whoever buzzed after the first group!"

Assuming you knew the answer but another group beat you to the buzzer, it was still advantageous for you to press it anyways to try and fight for second place, in case they got it wrong.

"However, do note, if a team gets to steal an answer from you, they'll get double points! Triple if the question goes around all three teams! So make sure to get the answer right, or else you'll be giving the other teams a huge chance~!"

That was a lot of pressure on us to get things right on the first try. For this challenge, you'd need a delicate balance between having an answer ready and pressing the buzzer before everyone else.

"If no one answers the question right, we'll move on to the next one. No second chances! If you press the buzzer before I finish reading the question, your team will lose a point! However, you'll still get to answer, so you can make up for it by getting it right. Chances are however, you'll get it wrong, then I'll repeat the question, and the other groups will get double or triple points from your stupidity, so be careful~!"

Mitsuba gulped, pulling the neck of his shirt. Was his intended strategy buzzing before Hiden-sensei finished saying the question so his group could answer first?

"Finally, there are twenty questions in total! You'll receive a payout equal to the amount of points you've gathered throughout the game, but the winner of the quiz will earn an additional 25,000 private points on top of that!"

All the groups looked in awe after learning of that hefty award. Since we have two hours before the auction starts, if we assume each quiz lasts about twenty minutes, then it was possible to gain up to 150,000 extra private points just by winning alone.

If we went through the quizzes fast enough, there might even be potential to earn 175,000 or 200,000 private points. Basically, there was an incentive to go fast and not waste time.

In some ways, I'm glad our competitors were from Akihiro's and Mitsuba's groups. If our group were facing Shimada's group or Shigeru's group, they'd probably try to sabotage us by slow playing or rigging the game with help from another group.

"With all that out of the way, let's begin! Good luck, contestants! You're going to need it..."

Hiden-sensei chuckled before grabbing a stack of cue cards from his pocket. The screen behind him lit up, showing a large number "1" circled in the middle. Looks like we're jumping straight into it.

"Question one! We'll start you off with a nice and simple one. As you may know, the mulligan we all know and love today wasn't always like this. In the past, how would players mulligan before starting a game of Vanguard?"

I hit the buzzer, but Akihiro managed to get it a split second before me. His panel lit up green while mine lit up orange. At the very least, if he got this question wrong, I'd get priority to answer it next, but since it was so simple, I was sure he'd get it.

"Instead of putting the cards you didn't want on the bottom of your deck, you'd return them back into your deck, shuffle it, and draw a new hand!"

"Correct! One point to King Crimson-kun's team!"

"Alright!"

Akihiro and Imaishi shared a fist bump. They were one up on us and Mitsuba's team.

"Question two! Not counting trial deck reprints, what is the first ever RRR card in Vanguard's history?"

A history question. Akihiro's team was left stumped, while both me and Mitsuba reached for the buzzer. I pressed down, but our panel lit up orange once more. Once again, I was too slow.

"You suck at buzzing..." Matsushita muttered.

"It's the grandmaster of cock himself, King of Knights, Alfred! I should know, I own a PSA 10 copy of him from the original set, which was released nearly four decades ago."

"Weird flex, but okay. That's one point for Saboten-kun's team!"

Great, their teams now had a point while we were still on zero. To minimise the time necessary to press down, I set my hand to hover over the buzzer. Hopefully, we'll get to answer the next question before everyone else.

"Question three! In the V series, there is one card which has the ability to restand all your units. Which card is that?"

I buzzed. Akihiro's buzzer also went off. However, my panel flashed green, while his flashed orange. I had just made it before him.

"Master of Fifth Element."

"Correct! That's one point for Yuu-kun's team, bringing you all tied with a score of one each!"

I breathed a sigh of relief while Matsushita chuckled to himself.

"Are you sure you can handle this? You looked stressed out."

"As long as I increase my reaction time, I'll be fine."

There was a fifteen second time frame between answering and moving onto the next group. My brain worked faster than my hands, so all I had to do was get into a rhythm of mindlessly hitting the buzzer after Hiden-sensei finishes speaking, since I could figure out the answer within those ten seconds.

"Question four! In the past, there used to be a special rule stating you could run four Shadow Paladin cards in a Royal Paladin deck. However, prior to that, how many Shadow Paladin cards were allowed?"

Another history question. I hit the buzzer, my panel lighting up green. It seems the other two groups were stumped by this one.

"Ten."

"That's right! Well done Yuu-kun, that's a point to your team!"

"Damn, how did he know that?!" Mitsuba said.

"Maybe if you paid attention in Chabashira-sensei's history class you'd know." Matsushita said.

"It's not my fault she has a nice ass!"

I don't know what was more concerning, the fact that Mitsuba was admitting this in front of a teacher, or the fact that no one was surprised when they heard it.

"Ahem. Question five! It's no secret that Nubatama received very little support in the original series, with only two sets of support. One of them was Booster Set 1: Descent of the King of Knights, where they got four cards. Which set was the other, and how many cards?"

It was the first question asking us to give two answers instead of one. With such an obscure clan as the premise, it slowed down the other two teams down as they discussed amongst themselves what they could be.

Akihiro might be a Nubatama main, but he's not well versed in Vanguard's history. I knew that much from our time together in the same class. I pressed the buzzer, our panel lighting up in green.

"Booster Set 13: Catastrophic Outbreak, with eighteen cards."

"You're on a hot roll today! That's another point for Yuu-kun's team!"

Now we were up by two points. If we kept up this momentum, our group would win.

"Oh come on!" Mitsuba said.

"I knew it was set 13, but I had no clue it was eighteen cards..." Akihiro said.

"Don't worry Mitsuba-san, you'll get him next time!" Mikitaka said.

"Question six! On the screen behind me, a card effect will appear. Which card is this?"

The effect shown on the screen was "[ACT](VC/RC):COST [Counter Blast (2)], call a card from your hand to (RC), and that unit and this unit get [Power]+10000 until end of turn".

It looks like they were testing our memory of the card pool as well as our basic reading comprehension. The layout of the card meant it had to be from the V series, and since it superior called from hand, it was most likely a Royal Paladin card.

I swear I've seen this card before... it feels very familiar to me. I must've gone through it back when I was helping Nora make his deck centred around Hengist. It didn't make the cut though, so it must've been pretty bad...

Akihiro, Imaishi, and Mikitaka all stared at the screen in confusion. It looked like they didn't recognise the card at all. However, Mitsuba was staring intensely at the card text, squinting his eyes and pursing his lips in deep thought.

Then, a lightbulb flashed over his head. He slammed down the buzzer.

"It's Aggregate Knight, Firno! I remember that effect from when I jerked off to her! I even spunked on the card since it was a worthless common!"

"Too much information, but correct! One point for Saboten-kun's team!"

Ah... that's right, this was Firno. We all stared at Mitsuba in collective grossness.

"What? Don't you guys do it too?!"

"Ahem..."

Hiden-sensei cleared his throat, swiftly moving on from that question.

"Question seven! Dragonic Overlord is an iconic and beloved unit in the Vanguard franchise. However, being so popular meant it's gotten a plethora of new forms over the many years. Question is, how many versions of him have been printed? Name at least five!"

Before I could hit the buzzer, Mitsuba slammed his three times. Seeing as he was a collector and Overlord main, it was expected he knew the answer to this. What I was more concerned about was what would come out of his mouth next...

"There's fifteen of them! Dragonic Overlord, Dragonic Overlord the Great, Dragonic Overlord "The End", Dragonic Overlord "The TurnAbout", and my favourite, Dragonic Overlord "The X"!"

"That's another point for Saboten-kun's team! And they're all from V Series too, very well done."

With that, Mitsuba managed to close the gap between us and them. The score was now 3 to our team and Mitsuba's team and 1 to Akihiro's team.

"Hey, Aki-san, isn't this bad?" Imaishi said.

"It can't be helped... we've got some good competition."

Akihiro looked at me and Mitsuba with a thin scowl.

"Hmm..."

I don't like the sound Imaishi's making. What's he thinking of?

"Sorry teacher, can I go to the toilet? I really need to pee..."

"Oh, Otonagenai-kun, you were here? I didn't even notice!"

"E-eh? You didn't?"

Imaishi laughed awkwardly at Hiden-sensei's surprise.

"Who do you think was with Aki-san then?"

"To be honest... I didn't even notice he was alone either!"

I'm starting to think maybe Hiden-sensei needed glasses, not that Imaishi was invisible to him.

"I don't mind if you have to go, but that means King Crimson-kun would have to go solo until you return. Are you fine with that?"

"Yeah, sure. Don't kill your bladder for me, Reo."

"Thanks man. I'll be quick!"

Imaishi left the room to go to the toilets. I nudged Matsushita.

"Keep a close eye on that guy if you can."

He raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Question eight! What was the first RRR to be put on the restriction list and why?"

I hit my buzzer.

"Barcgal. It gave Royal Paladin the consistency the other clans didn't have by securing your grade 2 ride and also amassed the soul needed to use Soul Saver Dragon's effect as soon as possible."

"Correct! Yuu-kun's team is now on four points!"

"...you were scarily fast with that one." Matsushita said.

"My mom plays Royal Paladin."

"Question nine! In G era, keywords for clans were introduced! Every clan gained an exclusive keyword, except one in particular. Can you name five of these keywords as well which clan didn't receive one?"

As I was about to press down on the buzzer, Mitsuba's buzzer went off, flashing green, followed by Akihiro's, flashing orange. When I pressed mine, it flashed red.

"W-wait, but I..."

Mitsuba began panicking as he turned to Mikitaka for help.

"What's the matter Saboten-kun? Aren't you going to answer? You only have thirteen more seconds."

"Oh, snap... M-Mikitaka-san, help me out! Do you know any keywords?! All I know is Blaze and Harmony!"

"Uh... there's like... Charge for Spike Brothers, Brave for Royal Paladin, and Ritual for Shadow Paladin!"

"Well done, you've named five keywords! But what about which clan that doesn't have one?"

"Alright! Now this is the part where we fail!"

Mitsuba screeched and held his head in his hands.

"What do you mean? You know this, don't you?"

"Ha ha, about that..."

Mitsuba put a hand on Mikitaka's shoulder.

"I have no clue."

"...why did you press the buzzer then?!"

"I didn't, it went off by itself!"

"Five seconds, Saboten-kun!"

"Uwaaaaa, Mikitaka-san, helpppppp!"

"Maybe... this is a trick question? When he says clan, could Cray Elemental be one of them?"

Mitsuba blinked, before grinning confidently, slicking his hair back.

"Oh, I am a genius. It's Cray Elemental!"

He slammed his hand down, proudly claiming the answer Mikitaka came up with as his. Too bad it's wrong anyways...

"Well then. King Crimson-kun, it's your turn to answer!"

"Eh?! I was— I mean, Mikitaka-san, was wrong?!" Mitsuba exclaimed.

"Yeah, because the clan without a unique keyword is Link Joker. Lock, Delete, and Vanish Delete are special actions." Akihiro said.

"Correct! Can you name five keywords though?"

"Oh god damn it, he's gonna rattle off our answers!" Mitsuba said.

"Nah, I'll do you one better by naming five of my own. Darkness from Dark Irregulars, Afterimage and Dominate from Nubatama, Dark Device from Megacolony, and Time Leap from Gear Chronicle!"

"How impressive! Since this was the second attempt at answering, King Crimson-kun's team gets two points!"

The scores were now 4 to us and 3 to Mitsuba's and Akihiro's teams.

"Question ten! Following that question, there are also shared keywords among clans. Can you name five of them?"

Just like last round, Mitsuba's buzzer went off first while Akihiro's buzzer went off second. Their accuracy of pressing it right after Hiden-sensei finished saying the question was so clean, even I was thrown off by it. I hit the buzzer, coming in third.

"...oh god."

"Mitsuba-san, don't tell me you don't know again..." Mikitaka said.

"It's just like last time, my buzzer went off for no reason! Hiden-sensei, this thing is broken!"

"Sorry, but that's impossible. Our buzzers don't go off unless you press them. Maybe you should try keeping your hands away from it if you keep pressing it early, instead of blaming the equipment? By the way, ten seconds left."

"You're kidding me... I don't even know what a shared keyword is in the first place!"

"Yeah, I dunno either. Even if we could think of one, it wouldn't be enough. We need to name five of them." Mikitaka said.

"Five seconds left."

"...I think we firm the L for this one, Mikitaka-san."

"...yeah, that's probably for the best."

Mitsuba and Mikitaka surrendered, passing priority to Akihiro. He narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.

"To be honest, I was in the same boat as Mitsuba and Takenaka, but after thinking over it... I think I've got it. Resist is a shared keyword between all clans, right?"

"Oh my god, it is! That's so smart!" Mitsuba exclaimed.

"Yes, Resist is one of them." Hiden-sensei said.

"Then Forerunner, Restraint, and Lord must be one too."

"Why didn't we think of any of those?!" Mikitaka said.

"You're only missing one now, King Crimson-kun."

"...heh. That's easy, sensei. Sentinel's my last pick!"

"Bravo, that was a marvellous display from you! Just like the last question, you gain two points!"

With that, Akihiro's team took the lead with 5 points. We were now over halfway through the quiz, but things were neck and neck between us three. I whispered over to Matsushita.

"Has Imaishi-san returned from the toilet yet?"

"...I think so?"

"What do you mean by that? Have you seen him or not?"

"That's the thing, can you?"

"I'm busy focusing on a quiz right now, I can't exactly—"

Our bickering was cut short when Hiden-sensei started the next question.

"We're now a little over halfway! Here comes question eleven! In Vanguard, a lot of clans have access to guard restrict. Whether it be in the form of Glory, Battledore, or Sentinel Block, there are a variety of ways to make your opponent spend excess resources stopping your attacks. However, there is one elusive way to make an unguardable attack in V series. How do you do that?"

I knew the answer to this straightaway. I had faced it once before in my first ever fight with Kaido: Violence Flanger.

I hit the buzzer, but the panel flashed red.

I looked over, seeing the same outcome as last time. Mitsuba's panel flashing green, Akihiro's panel flashing orange. How are they getting their buzzes in before me...?

"...are you sure you want to be the one buzzing? That's three times in a row you've lost to them now." Matsushita said.

"Don't get distracted by me. Keep your eyes out for Imaishi-san."

"Why are you so suddenly obsessed with him?"

While the other teams were busy answering this question, I used it as an opportunity to finish my conversation with Matsushita from earlier.

"You said you thought you saw him come back. What did you mean by that?"

"Well... I heard the door open, but when I looked over to it, all I saw was the door closing. I looked around to try and see if he was in the room, but I didn't see anything."

How annoying. Trying to find Imaishi in this room is like trying to check if Schrödinger's cat is dead or alive. It's almost impossible to discern whether or not he's here without physically seeing him.

"I have an idea of where he might be, but it's a stretch."

"Did you notice something? I'll take any hint at this rate..."

"The buzzers."

Mitsuba's team answered incorrectly, passing priority over to Akihiro's team.

"You can use Violence Flanger to make an unguardable attack! Just discard a card of each grade with his skill!"

"King Crimson-kun is killing it right now! Your team has firmly taken the lead with 7 points!"

Matsushita raised an eyebrow and looked over at the other team's buzzers.

"...are you suspicious of the fact they keep going off before yours?"

"That, and the fact Mitsuba-san is never ready with an answer when his buzzes."

Our conversation was cut short once again when Hiden-sensei began saying the next question. While Matsushita focused on their buzzers, I was focused on somehow pressing mine down before theirs.

"Question twelve! This one comes from the Legion era! When you use Star-vader, Dark Zodiac's ability to omega lock your opponent's locked cards, does it affect cards that have been locked before or after the skill is activated?"

Once again, Mitsuba's panel flashed green, Akihiro's flashed orange, and mine flashed red. Matsushita's eyes widened a little.

"What's going on?!"

"You're really quick with the buzzer today, Saboten-kun!"

"I didn't even press it this time! I don't even know what card you're on about, sensei!"

Mitsuba groaned as he was forced to answer first once more.

"Do we have any lifelines? A way to phone a friend? Call the audience? Get help? Anything?!"

"You have your partner."

Mitsuba groaned, turning to Mikitaka. Mikitaka simply shook his head. Mitsuba turned back towards Hiden-sensei.

"...it affect cards that are locked before the point of activation!"

Since there were only two options presented to him, Mitsuba decided to take the fifty-fifty chance and answer with one of them. It was a fair, logical guess, but anyone who knows what Dark Zodiac does would immediately see that this was a trick question.

"Wrong. King Crimson-kun, what do you say?"

Akihiro gritted his teeth and furrowed his brow.

"...I'm gonna be honest, that was going to be my answer too. If it's not before, then it has to be after."

"Is that your final answer?"

"Yeah. It affects cards that have been locked after you use it!"

Hiden-sensei grinned mischievously.

"That's wrong. Yuu-kun, you're up!"

"What?"

Akihiro's and Mitsuba's faces turned pale.

"If it's neither of them, then what's the answer?" Mitsuba said.

"It's a trick question. It affects all locked cards, regardless of whether they're locked before or after the skill has been activated."

The exact skill of Dark Zodiac is "[AUTO](VC):[Counter Blast (1)] When this unit Legion, you may pay the cost. If you do, all of your opponent's locked cards cannot be unlocked during his or her next end phase.". I remember it well, since...

The first time I fought that card was against the Second Knight of the Diamond Table.

My head began stinging. I didn't mean to remember that, and yet...

"Correct! Since you were third to answer, you get three points for your team, Yuu-kun!"

That put us back on the map at 7 points, tying with Akihiro's team. Mitsuba's team was falling far behind with only 3 points.

"Question thirteen! Who's going to be unlucky soul answering this one? Player B has Eradicator, Vowing Sword Dragon as their vanguard, a Roaring Arm Eradicator, Ghassan behind it, and two Supreme Army Eradicator, Zuitan on their Accel circles. They call Eradicator, Sweep Command Dragon to an open front row rear-guard circle and use it's skill to bind Player A's right front row rear-guard. Vowing Sword activates, and Player A binds a copy from deck, allowing Player B give 5000 power to one of their Zuitan."

I guess the premise of this question was following the scenario and solving a puzzle to do with it.

"Player B then uses Ghassan's effect to move a back row rear-guard to the front row. Then, they call an Eradicator, Spark Rain Dragon and a Fiendish Sword Eradicator, Cho-ou, and use Cho-ou's skill to bind the left front row rear-guard, but not move the unit in the back row behind it. Vowing Sword activates, Player A binds another copy, and Player B gives 5000 power to the other Zuitan."

While trying to concentrate on such a lengthy explanation, Mitsuba looked completely lost. By the time Hiden-sensei finished explaining Ghassan's skill, his mind was already long gone. Mikitaka continued to listen intently however.

"Player B attacks with Spark Rain, and at the end of the battle, uses it's effect to bind both player's front row rear-guards and move the Cho-Ou behind it forward. Vowing Sword activates again, Player A doesn't bind, and 10000 Power is given to Cho-Ou. In total, Zuitan have gained 25000 Power from their own skills."

Akihiro was drawing diagrams with his fingers to try and keep track of everything. Despite the fact this question would've been perfect for Matsushita, since his deck was Eradicators, he was more focused on watching the buzzers on Mitsuba's and Akihiro's side.

"What is wrong in this scenario?"

Seeing our confused faces, Hiden-sensei chuckled. Mitsuba's panel flashed green, our panel flashed orange, and Akihiro's panel flashed red. Matsushita's eyes widened again.

"Did you press that?"

"Yeah. I got it this time."

The suspicion on Matsushita's face increased.

"...I think I know what's going on, Takanori-san."

"You do?"

Mitsuba, with a glossed over face, just stared at his buzzer lifelessly. As the time ticked down, Mikitaka scratched his head.

"You have ten seconds left!"

"...what is wrong with that scenario?"

Mikitaka closed his eyes and began muttering to himself.

"Spark Rain's effect was used properly, Cho-Ou's effect was used properly, Ghassan's effect was used properly, Sweep Command's effect was used properly, and Vowing's effect was used three times..."

"Five seconds left!"

"...wait, that's it."

"Three!"

Mikitaka opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Mitsuba perked his head up, eyes glimmering with hope.

"Two!"

"The answer is...!"

"One!"

"...Zuitan shouldn't have gained 25000 Power! Only three rear-guards were bound, meaning he should gain only 15000 Power!"

"Correct! Well done, Banchou-kun! Your team has earned another point!"

"Heh, all in a day's work."

"Eh? Huh?! You got it right?!"

Mikitaka rubbed the tip of his nose while Mitsuba jumped up and down in joy.

"MIKITAKA-SAN, YOU BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL MAN! IF YOU WEREN'T A GUY, I'D KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!"

"Uh, no thanks, I'm saving these lips for my best friend."

Akihiro breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like he didn't know the answer either, but he preferred the outcome of Mitsuba's team getting one point over my team getting two points. We were still tied, but Mikitaka managed to bring their team up to 4 points.

"Question fourteen! Player C boosts with Stealth Millipede and attacks with Machining Mantis for 16000 Power. The attack hits Player D, and Player C passes turn immediately after. What is wrong in this scenario?"

I pressed the buzzer. Matsushita watched closely at the others once more. Mitsuba's panel flashed green, Akihiro's panel flashed orange, and our panel flashed red.

"I saw it..."

Matsushita covered his mouth, hiding his grin. He was shaking with excitement.

"I definitely saw it this time, Takanori-san!"

"...then that confirms it. I'll leave the rest to you."

"Sounds good. Anything I need to abide by?"

"Do as you like."

With only six questions of the quiz remaining, it's imperative we deal with their "trick" as soon as possible.

"Mikitaka-san, can you help again?"

"I would... if Zyriot-san ran Stealth Millipede in his deck. I don't know what the card does besides stun by breathing."

"We're doomed... I've never paid attention to any bug cards except Gredora... I also came on her too..."

Mitsuba went back to dooming. How many Vanguard cards has he ruined...?

"Time's up. King Crimson-kun, your turn to answer!"

"Player C forgot to use Millipede's mandatory skill! Since the attack hit, they need to put into soul to countercharge regardless of if there's any face down damage or not!"

"Correct! With another two points, King Crimson-kun's team is back in the lead with 9 points! Yuu-kun's team is on 7 thanks to a miraculous 3 point comeback, but Saboten-kun's team is lacking with only 4 points!"

For this next question, Matsushita looked ready to leap.

"Question fifteen! Player E attacks a deleted vanguard with Lie-down Deletor, Given for 9000 Power and Player F no guards, taking a damage!"

As Hiden-sensei spoke, Matsushita got up from his seat and walked over to Mitsuba's station.

"At the end of the battle, Player E uses Given's skill, discarding two Pile Deletor, Jaruel from their hand as cost to restand their vanguard, Waving Deletor, Greidhol. What is wrong in this scenario?"

I pressed the buzzer.

"Caught you." Matsushita said.

My panel flashed green.

"Jaruel's skill to count as three units is only active while it's on the rear-guard circle. Player E has to discard another four cards to resolve Given's skill."

"Correct! That's another point to Yuu-kun's team!"

Now only one point separated between us and Akihiro's team. However, the other two teams weren't focused on that.

"Gah!"

Instead, they were more focused on Matsushita, who had ripped someone up from the ground.

"Oh my." Hiden-sensei said.

"Haaaah?! Oi, what the hell is he doing on our side?! Teacher, this is foul play right?! This is foul play!" Mitsuba said.

"Reo...? When did you...?" Akihiro said.

Imaishi whimpered as Matsushita clamped down tightly on his wrist.

"I... I swear I can explain...!"

"You don't have to. I figured out what you were up to last round."

Matsushita let go of Imaishi, returning to our panel.

"You left the room to make everyone would think you were no longer there, then blended into the background before reentering, concealing your presence. While you were invisible to everyone, you hid under Mitsuba-san's and Mikitaka-san's panel, pushing their buzzer straight away to force them to go first. This let your teammate, Akihiro-san, press the buzzer second, denying my team a chance to answer while also doubling your point outcome if Mitsuba-san's team got the answer wrong."

The reason why Imaishi chose Mitsuba's team to go first was because they were more likely to get a question wrong, giving Akihiro a chance to steal the question.

"Is this true, Otonagenai-kun?"

Imaishi gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Yeah... I was pressing down the buzzer for Mitsuba-san's team..."

"So that's why it kept going off...! And here I thought I was being dumb..." Mitsuba sighed.

"We've lost a lot of possible points because of you." Mikitaka said.

"I'm sorry... I just thought this would be the best way to give Aki-san a chance to win."

"Even if it resorted to cheating?"

"...well, a delinquent's gotta do what a delinquent's gotta do, right? You were the one who taught me that, Mikitaka-san."

Mikitaka raised his eyebrows in surprise before putting a hand on Imaishi's shoulder.

"You still haven't given up on that dream yet, huh?"

"I just can't betray what my friends say that easily."

"It's fine to make your own path, Reo-san. You don't have to copy the posers to stand out."

"...I don't?"

"Look around you! You're standing out right now, aren't you?"

Imaishi looked around, seeing everyone's eyes focused on him. His eyes widened a little.

"But the way you're standing out right now is bad. You need to make yourself stand out in a good way. So don't do something as stupid as this again, Reo-san!"

Imaishi lowered his head and nodded. He turned to Matsushita, scratching his cheek.

"Uh, Matsushita-san... if you don't mind me asking, how did you figure it out?"

"That guy asked me to keep an eye out for you. I didn't see anything at first, but during the last round, I managed to catch a glimpse of you."

Matsushita pointed at me with his thumb. Imaishi looked at me and sighed.

"...is that so? I guess there's one person I'm not completely invisible to after all."

"I don't know what you mean. I didn't notice you either."

Imaishi laughed a little at my words before turning to Hiden-sensei with guilty eyes.

"...I know what I did is unacceptable. What's going to be the repercussion for my actions?"

"Repercussions? What repercussions?"

Hiden-sensei tilted his head.

"...eh? I broke a rule, so shouldn't our team get punished, or something...?"

"I don't ever remember saying that sabotage was illegal."

Imaishi blinked. Akihiro's jaw dropped. Mikitaka facepalmed. Mitsuba's face lit up deviously. Matsushita deadpanned. I made a wall around our buzzer.

"W-wait, so... are you saying nothing will happen?"

"Nope! You technically didn't do anything wrong, so relax~."

Imaishi scratched the back of his head, unsure whether or not to accept this outcome. For someone who wanted to be a delinquent, he had surprisingly high morals.

"Reo, just take it and don't do it again."

"A-alright!"

Akihiro sighed, reining his partner back in. After that embarrassing moment for their team, he wanted to move on as quick as they could. After that, everyone had become more wary of each other, especially Imaishi, now that we knew "sabotage" was allowed.

Now that only four questions remained, I wanted to do a clean sweep. I couldn't afford to hold back one bit now.

"Question sixteen! Player G attacks Player H's Harmonics Messiah with Messianic Lord Blaster. Player H intercepts with Starhulk, Letaluk, and uses it's skill to check the top card of Player G's deck, which was Blaster Arrow, and bind it! What's wrong in this scenario?"

I pressed the buzzer. My panel flashed green, Akihiro's panel flashed orange, and Mitsuba's panel flashed red.

"Letaluk's effect wouldn't activate since it needs a "Starhulk" vanguard."

"Correct! And with that point, Yuu-kun's team is once again tied with King Crimson-kun's team!"

I knew this one because Yukina used to play Brandt. I've seen Letaluk more times than I'd like to admit.

"Question seventeen! How many cards would Player I get from two attacks with Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom with four usages of Press Stream Dragon's skill and Jewel Staff of Emerald, Elpida's on attack skill?"

I buzzed, the panel flashing green.

"Maelstrom would have six drive checks, meaning they'll gain twelve cards."

"Now that was some quick maths! Yuu-kun's team has taken the lead with 10 points!"

Three questions remained. Mitsuba's team was too far behind to catch up now, but Akihiro's team was still breathing down my neck with a one point difference. I had to get the next question right to gain some breathing space.

"Question eighteen! How can Player J disrupt both of their opponent's front row rear-guards with Mythic Beast, Fenrir, Reverent White Sorcerer, Veratrume, and Mythical Destroyer Beast, Vanagandr?"

Once more, our panel flashed green. I could hear frustrated groans come from Akihiro.

"Player J must have Fenrir as their vanguard, Vanagandr in their soul, and Veratrume either in their hand or on a front row rear-guard circle. They guard or intercept with Veratrume and use it's skill, soulblasting a copy of Vanagandr, replacing one of those front row rear-guards. Then, with Fenrir's skill, they counterblast to superior call Vanagandr, and use his on place skill to soulblast and retire the other front row rear-guard."

"Oh baby a triple! Yuu-kun's team is steaming ahead now, with back to back to back correct answers putting them at 11 points!"

I couldn't relax just yet. There was still a possibility for a draw, and that's if Akihiro's team gets the next question right. I had to widen the gap even further.

"Question nineteen! This one's the penultimate one! Player K starts their turn with a four card hand, with Leading Jewel Knight, Salome as the vanguard, and Explode Jewel Knight, Laile, Charging Jewel Knight, Morvidus, Banding Jewel Knight, Miranda, and Fruiting Jewel Knight, Eunice on their rear-guard circles. They draw for turn and persona ride Salome, using her skill to give the vanguard 10000 Power and drive +1!"

Like the Eradicator question, this one was going to be a long one. Mitsuba had basically given up, but Mikitaka was still listening intently to try and solve the question. Akihiro was trying to visualise the board state and what was going on.

"They then go into battle phase, attack with Laile boosted by Morvidus and Miranda boosted by Eunice. Salome attacks, but they drive check no triggers. Player K then activates Salome's skill, calling two Laile, a Morvidus, and a Security Jewel Knight, Alwain from hand. Since they called three or more, Player K soulblasts 4 to restand Salome, and resolves Morvidus' and Eunice's effects from being called over to draw one each. Afterwards, they attack with Salome, checking no triggers, followed by Laile boosted by Alwain, and Laile again, but boosted by Morvidus."

Even though there was a lot of information floating about, it was extremely easy for me to keep track of everything that was happening because I've played against Jewel Knights so often before with Shinomiya. It's because of her that I'll win.

"How many cards are in Player K's hand at the end of the turn?"

I pressed the buzzer. The panel flashed green.

"Eight cards."

A smile flickered on Hiden-sensei's lips.

"That's correct, Yuu-kun. Your team gets another point!"

Everyone looked shocked that I was able to answer it correctly within seconds after Hiden-sensei finished saying the question. The other groups were nowhere near ready, with Akihiro still counting on his fingers and Mikitaka reaching out to buzz for orange.

"We've completely failed our group..."

With only one question left and only four points backing their name, Mitsuba accepted his fate of being last and shrunk into a ball, holding his head in defeat. Mikitaka crouched down on Mitsuba's level and pat his back.

"Don't look so down just yet, partner. We may have lost this battle, but we haven't lost the war. This quiz was just a warm up for us. Next time, we'll win!"

"I wouldn't give up just yet either. You can still earn private points based on how many points you've earned in this quiz."

Akihiro, seeing his former classmate down, also said some encouraging words to them. Mikitaka nodded in agreement.

"Let's just give it our best shot in the final question man. We got nothing else to lose, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right... it's not looking good for us, though."

Mitsuba sighed, getting back up. Akihiro chuckled.

"Sorry about that. Our team did pretty much screw you over. Since we have enough points, and cuz we've already lost to Takanori's team, me and Reo ain't gonna bother answering this one. You guys can have it."

"For real?"

"For real, real."

"Thanks Aki-san... you're a real bro, bro!"

Mitsuba sniffled, bumping fists with Akihiro.

"Takanori, did you hear that? You guys've won, so at least throw them a bone."

Well, there was no demerit for me for going along with this. Mitsuba's group was primarily made up of D Class students, and if I wanted them to take a podium position again, they'd need a large amount of capital to bid in the auction.

"...yeah, they can have it."

"Waaaah, you guys are too kind! Thank you, Takanori-kun! You're the best leader ever!"

A bit of life had been breathed back into Mitsuba. Matsushita smirked a little, whispering to me.

"So you do have a soft spot after all, huh?"

"...it's just more convenient for our class if they have a bigger auction fund, that's all."

"Alright, here's the final question! Question 20! How many units have an ability with Limit Break and a cost being a Persona Blast? Name me three of them!"

Mitsuba's rejuvenated face suddenly turned dead again. I pressed the buzzer, making the panel go green.

"Oi, Takanori! What are you doing, it's their turn to answer!"

I ignored Akihiro and began to answer.

"Thundering Ripple, Genovious, Fantasy Petal Storm, Shirayuki, and Transcendence Dragon, Dragonic Nouvelle Vague. As for the amount of units, I believe it's eight."

"Oh dear. You named three units correctly, but eight... is unfortunately off the mark! Priority will pass to whoever buzzes next!"

Akihiro's eyes widened as he understood what I did. He slammed the buzzer down, his panel flashing orange.

"There's nine of them! And it's No Life King, Magatsu Storm, and Fuzencongo!"

"Ah... what's this? You've said the right amount of cards, but not the right ones! Saboten-kun, it looks like your group is up next!"

Akihiro winked and gave a thumbs up to Mitsuba's team.

"You got this guys. Earn those three points!"

"Takanori-kun... Aki-san... you guys are the best!"

Mitsuba smashed his buzzer down, his panel glowing red.

"The answer is nine! With Shirayuki, Genovious, and Nouvelle Vague!"

"Correct! And with that, Saboten-kun's team has gained a three point bonus!"

"Yoshaaa!"

Mitsuba and Mikitaka shared a high-five with both hands. Akihiro laughed a little.

"The quiz is now over, with Yuu-kun's team winning with 12 points, King Crimson-kun's team coming in second with 9 points, and Saboten-kun's team coming last with 7 points!"

In total, 28 points had been gathered between the three of us, 8 more than the baseline we could get. The screen behind Hiden-sensei flipped, showing us how many points we won over the course of the game.

The 25,000 point bonus aside, our group managed to earn 18,000 points. Akihiro's team earned 13,500 points and Mitsuba's team earned 10,500 points. It looks like the amount you earned was based on your final score multiplied by 1.5.

"Woah, we're getting 43,000 from this? That's insane..."

Matsushita looked at the device showing our group's auction fund with wide eyes. It functioned just like the one from the cooking challenge. The payout from the quiz had already been transferred, bringing us to a total of 64,000 points.

"Thank you all for participating! We will now have a short five minute break before starting the next quiz."

Hiden-sensei instructed us to leave the room so he could prepare the next round. At the same time, the quizzes for Judge Rulings and Format History had also finished.

Leaving the Format History quiz first were Kasai and Nishikori from Koishi's group and Yoshimatsu and Hiraoka from Handa's group. Following them were Yahagi and Mitsumori from Yahagi's group, both of which had satisfied looks on their faces.

Likewise, Kasai and Nishikori seemed content with the outcome, but Yoshimatsu and Hiraoka were complaining the moment they stepped outside. Judging by their reactions, Yahagi's group must've won, with Koishi's group coming a close second.

Shimada walked out of the Judge Rulings quiz with a cocky grin, ignoring everyone he passed by. Following him were Ayano and Shinra of Shigeru's group and Kirishima and Fukae of Kirishima's group. The four of them looked absolutely devastated.

Last to leave was Kawaguchi, who had his head lowered and his hands buried in his pockets. Slapped across his cheeks were two dark red marks that had began to form into bruises.

"Masaru, are you okay?"

Akihiro, noticing his friend was down, rushed over to check up on him. Kawaguchi shook his head.

"...don't concern yourself about me. Worry about your own group, Aki."

"What? How can I when you—"

"Shimada-san... is a monster."

As Kawaguchi muttered that, he shuddered. Akihiro raised his eyebrows in concern.

"Masaru...? Seriously man, are you alright? What happened? Did he kick you in the face again?"

"No... it's something even more terrifying than that."

"And that is...?"

"Shimada-san went 20-0. He solo swept the quiz."

Akihiro's eyes widened.

"None of the other groups got any points?"

"No... none. They're still stuck on around 20,000 points while we're way ahead with nearly 80,000 points..."

Looks like Shimada's going on a rampage today, huh...? Guess I better start negotiating with Mitsuba's and Akihiro's groups.