"出る釘は打たれる" [The nail that sticks out gets hammered down] - Japanese saying


    "枪打出头鸟" [The gunshot hits the bird that sticks its head out] - Chinese saying


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    What do you expect to happen if 40 students spent 5 years of their teenage life with the exact same group of classmates?


    Would you expect a very strong bond to develop between the entire class due to their shared experiences? Multiple couples who formed in class and will spend the rest of their lives together? An atmosphere like one big happy family?


    Wrong, wrong, and wrong.


    Despite spending the entire period of middle school and high school (or lower secondary and upper secondary, whatever you call it) together, class 501 has been overwhelmed by infighting, as the aforementioned close bonds only developed among members of each faction, while the multiple opposing factions have a history of not getting along.


    On a side note, zero couples consisting of 2 members of class 501 survived until graduation, despite every one of them spending the most time with each other (other than with their own families) for these 5 years.


    Sensing an opportunity is former English teacher Mr Johnny, who spent months formulating the idea of a brand new reality TV show, and was ultimately able to strike a deal with an American TV network featuring his students from an entirely different part of the world.


    This, is the story of hit reality show Coalitions.


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    40 students, a healthy mix of male and female, can be seen in the school lobby. As they chatter around in small groups, they seem so close and distant to the fellow teenagers present at the venue at the same time.


    We get a close-up of a group of 4 girls who are chatting. The conversation is clearly led by a particularly fierce-looking one.


    <"Ah, f*ck this sh*t. I thought I can finally not see some of these losers after graduation, I''d rather be f*cking kicked by my horse than have some of these losers in my field of vision and now these suckers are my competition? F*cking hell. Can''t wait to get to the US of A to go to university once this is over."


    -Zara>


    See those triangle brackets? <> These are brackets signaling those mini interviews of reality shows that the contestants get in front of the camera away from the others. Usually you see trash talking, inner thoughts or secret strategies here.


    You might realise that Zara mentions a horse, and that''s because she''s one of the few posh ones who own a horse and take part in equestrian events in Southeast Asia. This upbringing has also made her very egotistical, and she can act very combative against everyone other than the other girls in her small group.


    This is in complete contrast to one of the boys, who is pretty much acting like a socializing master the way he hovers around the lobby and strikes up conversations.


    <"I was just chatting around, of course I''m loyal to the Wolfpack! I just wanted to get a feel of who would be nice partners to cooperate with if we need more people on our side. Unless we get horrendously outsmarted, It''ll probably be a numbers game, eh?"


    -Simon>


    Despite the class in general being horrendously fractured, some have managed to form meaningful connections with practically everyone else. Simon, for example, gets along well with the rest of the class. One of the only 2 foreigners in the class, the conventionally attractive Simon turns out to be Korean, which earned him the nickname "oppa" despite being one of the youngest when you actually look at his birth date. (For those who don''t know, "oppa" literally translates to older brother)


    Oh, and about the Wolfpack that Simon mentions, that''s just a name that a group of 9 boys came up with to refer to their own group. Almost every group of friends this age come up with a name to refer to their group, and they picked Wolfpack, can''t go wrong with that name.


    As for Zara''s group, everyone just refers to them as Zara''s group or Zara and the girls. Such is how dominant and controlling she is.


    The shot then pans to one of the boys who is mainly hanging out with girls, but seems a little like an outsider when looking at the others'' standing posture, as the others keep a distance and no one directly faces him. He seems to be irregularly jotting things down in his notebook.


    <"Everyone else is a bunch of idiots. I got this in the bag with my superior strategy. They all got nothing on me!"


    -Albus>


    Albus, regular participant in science fairs and engineering fairs where he leads his team, and one of the current class monitors. Such is why he is confident in his strategic skills and ability to lead the flow. However, could this confidence be misplaced?Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    We now zoom out and go back to a full view of the school lobby where all 40 of them can be seen, until sounds of intentional coughing to get attention can be heard.


    "Ahem." proclaimed Mr Johnny who just got to the scene, suddenly changing the atmosphere around the lobby as everyone quietened down, knowing something was up, "hello everyone, and welcome to our brand new reality show, Coalitions!"


    Sounds of clapping and cheering can be heard. The former classmates know that 1 out of the 40 of them are going to be a new millionaire very soon.


    "I know better than anyone that the 40 of you have all just graduated high school after being classmates for 5 years, I was your English teacher for 2 years after all. But in 12 days'' time, one of you will be 4 million renminbi richer!"


    The sounds of clapping and cheering escalate. One of the boys even started leading the chant "Johnny! Johnny!" Such is the power of money. The classmates are neither American nor Chinese, but listing out the prize money in renminbi makes it seem like a larger amount than its American counterpart. This is one of Mr Johnny''s ideas when he proposed this idea to the TV network, the lower required budget was one of the selling points he used.


    On a side note, 4 million renminbi would be the equivalent of 30 years worth of average annual salary where they live. Basically, don''t splurge and you''re pretty much set for life.


    "However, it is possible that not just one of you will be walking away richer," Mr Johnny elaborated. The class seem intrigued, some are already wondering how to split the prize money.


    "The way Coalitions works is simple. Every round, there will be 3 to 5 different options of coalitions to choose from which have a different risk and reward. The lowest risk would net you 5 points, while anything above 10 points means you''ve had a good round."


    Most of the contestants seem deep in thought, we see a few writing things down on paper, while the majority are making a mental note. A few seem to not be paying attention though.


    "Every round lasts 2 hours in length and we will play 2 rounds a day. Each round is split into two parts, creating and joining. Some coalitions have to be created and the first hour would be used to create these coalitions. After they are created, the creator is stuck in their own coalition and cannot join any other coalitions. In the second part of the round, coalitions can no longer be created, and everyone else is free to join any coalition there is."


    "There is no point inflation. We wouldn''t make something worth 5 points in an earlier round be worth 15 or 25 points in a later round just to ramp up the stakes at the end. You can choose to make your big risky moves early or late, fully up to you."


    "There will be a total of 24 rounds, whoever has the most points at the end of 24 rounds wins. Also, we''ll look to eliminate 20 of you after round 12 and 10 of you after round 18."


    Someone was heard booing as the shot turns to the crowd, multiple people look shocked, while a select few can be seen grinning.


    "You''re allowed to transfer anywhere between 1 to 5 points to someone else every round other than the crucial rounds of round 12, round 18 and round 24. This is to help you all come to make a deal with each other."


    "And finally, whoever has the most points at the end of 24 rounds is our winner and walks away with the prize money. However, we know that a lot of you have preexisting alliances already, so we actually allow you to split the prize pool if there is a tie at the end of 24 rounds. As a matter of fact, we''ll add 400 million renminbi to the prize pool for each of the next 5 people to tie for the win." There are a few groups who look excited, it is possible to cooperate to the end and split the prize money. In fact, the more people work together, the more money the production crew would have to spend on prize money.


    "So, for example, if 4 people tie for the most points after round 24. They will split 5.2 million renminbi, which is the base 4 million plus 1.2 million as there are 3 more people splitting the prize money. This means that each of the 4 will walk away with 1.3 million renminbi each." Mr Johnny continued to expand on his statement "But that means any sort of betrayal is going to hurt even more."


    Mr Johnny had finally finished speaking "Has everyone understood yet?" he asked the crowd.


    "YESSSSS!!!!!" was the emphatic response. They were all excited.


    "So let round 1 of Coalitions BEGIN!"


    The 3 options of coalitions for round one can be seen now.


    FRIENDS: Does not need to be created, instead just choose one person to befriend. If two people befriend each other, they get 6 points each. If friendship is unrequited, you get 0 points while the person receiving your friendship gets 2 extra points.


    EVENS: Has to be created. If there are an even number of members in an evens Coalition, everyone gets 8 points. Instead, everyone gets 0 points.


    ELECTION: Has to be created. One created, each creator become a candidate for the election and receives 40 tickets which can be given out. Each participant in the election gets 1 vote and cannot participate in any other Coalition. The candidate with the most votes gets 10 points, and each ticket given out by the creator is worth 1 point each. The losing candidate and all their tickets will not receive anything.


    In an event of a tie for the election, there will be a runoff election where every participant can cast a vote. If there still is a tie, candidates get 4 points each while every 2 tickets given out is worth 1 point.


    We''re heading into game theory territory here. But which of these options would you pick if it were you? What seems the most appealing?


    As for the contestants, someone has chosen to speak up almost instantly.


    "I will be creating an Evens Coalition," announced Albus, one of the shortest boys in the group, in a loud voice, "and I expect every single one of you to join my coalition since there are 40 of us. Whoever doesn''t do so would be announcing themselves as a threat, and we should all not work together with them and try to get them eliminated."


    Everyone else turned silent.


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    (Author''s Note: Hey all, hope you all would enjoy and be entertained by this. I''m trying something new so there probably isn''t much similar to this. Do please let me know how I can improve!)