"Huh? Miss Alice, why didn't you open the door when I knocked this morning?" Tadokoro Megumi asked curiously, looking at Satou and Alice Nakiri walking in together.
"Uh, I left a bit early today," Alice Nakiri explained, her face flushing.
"Oh, is that so? I wanted to go out for breakfast with you," Tadokoro Megumi smiled slightly.
"After sleeping all night, I really feel much more energetic," Yukihira Soma also laughed heartily, feeling full of energy.
"Yukihira-kun, you can't keep bothering Satou in the future, do you understand?" Erina Nakiri admonished him.
"Huh?" Yukihira Soma looked bewildered. What was Miss Erina talking about?
He had slept all night yesterday.
"But Miss Erina really cares about Satou," he said.
"Of course," Kobayashi Rindo said from the side. "She's his girlfriend, after all."
"Senior Kobayashi, what are you talking about? I'm just concerned about my team member," Erina Nakiri said, her face immediately turning red.
"Alright, let's begin the second round of the exam now," Gin Dojima walked over and said with a smile.
"The second round of the exam is to operate the House of Snow!"
"House of Snow? What's that?" Everyone looked confused.
"The House of Snow refers to a hot spring inn," Gin Dojima said with a slight smile.
"Next, each group will be assigned a hot spring inn. Over a seven-day period, you need to manage your inn well, achieving an occupancy rate of 90% or higher."
"Now then, let's go."
So, everyone followed Gin Dojima to the designated location.
On the edge of the ski resort, there were dozens of hot springs of varying sizes. The Totsuki Hotel had established a hot spring inn street here, with dozens of hot spring inns in total, each with its own hot spring.
However, the staff of these inns had been sent away because this place would serve as the exam venue for the students.
The second round of the exam for other students who drew the "Snow" theme was also to operate the House of Snow.
However, their standards were clearly much lower than the Elite Ten's, only requiring an occupancy rate of 60% or higher.
"But I have a bad feeling about this," Tadokoro Megumi said, her face pale and trembling.
"That's right, it definitely won't just be this standard." Ryo hung his head, clearly feeling that the Elite Ten's standards wouldn't be so easy.
Indeed, Gin Dojima led everyone on a long winding path, finally arriving at the entrance of three somewhat dilapidated and desolate hot spring inns. Their signs were tattered, indicating they hadn't been inhabited for who knows how long.
"Because this is at the very end of the street, guests usually don't walk this far, so there have never been any guests staying here, and it officially ceased operations three years ago," Gin Dojima explained.
"Just as I thought." Tadokoro Megumi felt her vision go black and fainted directly.
"Thank you all for your continuous care."
"How can we achieve a 90% occupancy rate in a place like this?" Eizan Etsuya asked, equally displeased.
"That's your problem," Gin Dojima said with a smile. "By the way, let me remind you, the occupancy rates of these three inns in previous years were all below 10%."
Upon hearing this, Tadokoro Megumi, who had just woken up, fainted again.
"Well, there's nothing for it. Let's just pick one," Eishi Tsukasa said with a smile.
"Hmph, this time we won't lose to you first-year brats," Eizan Etsuya snorted lightly.
Then everyone chose an inn, as their locations were pretty much the same.
"Let's first check if this inn can be used normally," Erina Nakiri said.
Everyone nodded and began inspecting the inn.
Half an hour later.
"The hot springs are fine, but there are a lot of fallen leaves floating on them, and a lot of weeds around. We just need to clean them up," Tadokoro Megumi said.
"The wiring and appliances inside are also fine. Although the bedding is a bit old, it's surprisingly fresh; there must be staff who regularly come to check the wires and air out the quilts," Alice Nakiri said.
"The kitchen utensils can also be used normally, and the staff just delivered a batch of fresh ingredients, which will be delivered every day from now on…" Hayama Akira said.
"The only problem is that there's a bit too much dust in the rooms. So, we'll be responsible for cleaning the rooms, and the girls will take care of the courtyard and hot springs," Satou said, assigning the relatively easier tasks to the three girls.
Everyone nodded and then began to get busy.
After three hours of work, the entire inn became much cleaner and tidier, and was ready to officially open for business.
However, unfortunately, not a single guest checked in until nine o'clock at night.
"This won't do," Yukihira Soma said, sitting cross-legged on the floor, deep in thought.
The others were also frowning with worry.
The location was too remote; guests simply wouldn't walk this far.
"If we compare guests to fish, then we are the net. Guests walk all the way from the hot spring street to here, but they're basically all caught by other nets; no one will walk all the way here," Satou said.
"Hey, are you all here too?" At this moment, Eishi Tsukasa walked in from outside the door and greeted them.
Behind him followed Isshiki Satoshi, Akikubo Momo, and others; it seemed everyone had come.
"How's business for the two seniors?" Satou asked.
"There hasn't been a single guest so far." Eishi Tsukasa sighed, slightly annoyed, "So, I want to discuss countermeasures with everyone." After all, the three establishments were very close, so they could cooperate to come up with solutions and increase their popularity.
"Alright then, everyone please come in." Satou smiled and invited them in.
"Excuse us." Kobayashi Rindo smiled slightly and walked in.
Then, the others also walked in one by one.
Eizan Etsuya's face showed displeasure; he clearly hadn't expected that the three groups, previously in competition, would now have to transition to a cooperative relationship.
"Satou, what are your thoughts?" Eishi Tsukasa asked with a smile.
"Let's analyze it first. What ability does this exam intend to test us on?" Satou smiled faintly and said.
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