It was June 22nd, 9:30 AM.
The first-year students' Island Exam was drawing to a close, with results to be announced at 10 AM sharp.
All classes were engaged in final cleanup — dismantling tents and removing any waste from the island.
At 9:50 AM, specialized staff would check for environmental contamination. Failing to meet standards would result in a 10 Base Point deduction.
Class A students were diligently cleaning their campsite. At this crucial stage, no one wanted to risk losing points unnecessarily.
Though Houtarou felt well enough to help with the tents, Kōhei and the others insisted on handling it themselves. Instead, they assigned him to clean a small area of general waste with Masumi.
Masumi swept vigorously with a large broom, her hair tied back in a ponytail — unusual for her.
"..."
The sight of her neckline, usually hidden behind flowing straight hair, was striking.
Houtarou found his gaze drawn to her more than once.
Masumi focused on her work, having only asked him to hold the garbage bag while she did most of the labor.
It was impressive to watch.
"You're quite efficient at this work." He said, "You seem very skilled."
"... Don't you feel any guilt saying things like that?" Masumi replied with a stern face.
Though her tone was casual rather than angry, it hinted at her past — she had lived comfortably before falling under his control and then Arisu's, where she became relegated to menial tasks.
This school life had made her question her very purpose.
Neither of her two masters truly wanted her; she'd come to study but ended up as someone's servant.
Yet she couldn't refuse.
Class A's success depended on both of them — Kōhei alone wouldn't be enough.
Masumi possessed natural athleticism and excelled in PE classes, suggesting prior training in elementary or middle school.
Yet in high school, she had chosen to join the art club.
According to Arisu, Masumi's artwork had even been selected for display alongside the official club members' works — clear evidence of her artistic talent.
Class A students employed various methods to boost their performance on the first month's Behavioral Assessment Test. Excelling in studies, social skills, sports, and club activities all earned valuable Points.
As a result, Class A received not only the exceptional 200-Class Points bonus but also avoided deductions and gained an additional 30 Points after the first assessment.
Joining a club earned Points and offered opportunities to connect with upperclassmen across grades — convenient for gathering information and seeking guidance.
Masumi's conduct after entering school perfectly embodied Class A's standards.
Houtarou watched her sweep while lost in thought.
But then…
"This exam—" She hesitated, starting and stopping several times.
Yesterday, on the exam's sixth day, Class B had uncovered two spies — Mio and Satoru, whom they had previously accepted into their group.
Simultaneously, Class B's leader's identity was exposed, leaving their students visibly demoralized.
That rainy afternoon, someone spotted Class B's representative, Honami Ichinose, standing in the drizzle as if punishing herself — a pitiful sight.
The consequences were clear to everyone: with their leader's identity leaked, Class B would lose both their carefully preserved Base Points in the leader-guessing phase and all their occupied base Reward Points.
They would end up with just 250 Class Points — a mockery of their efforts.
Worse still, they faced an external debt: 600,000 Private Points in monthly living expenses owed to Class C until graduation, the cost of exchanging Class C's 150 Base Points for supplies during the exam.
{T/N: Just a reminder that this amount might be exaggerated, but here's the calculation: 670 (current Class B Points) x 100 = 67,000 x 40 students = 2,680,000 Private Points. It's as if each student had to hand over 15,000 PP every month, which equals the 150 Base Points spent by Class C.}
Though Class A hadn't received any information from Class C, Class B's situation could worsen if Class C revealed their leader's identity to Class D as well.
"Our class's score for this time—" She finally managed to ask.
Houtarou explained, "For Base Points, we should have no deductions, maintaining our 270 Points. We'll get 50 Points from the leader-guessing phase. Additionally, discovering Base #41 and having Yahiko swipe his card there yesterday earned us a 50-Point bonus, confirmed by Mashima-sensei.
The 5 bases we've occupied provide 90 Reward Points, and with Kōenji's 600 Points maxed out this morning, the 10 bases they provided can each be swiped once for 100 points total.
So we should end up with around 470 points."
"Oh—" Masumi nodded silently.
This score was already higher than the 400 Points initially discussed. It exceeded expectations — every Class A student would accept this.
Masumi glanced sympathetically toward Class B's direction.
Though she had caught a spy and brought them back to Class A, Houtarou had immediately redirected that spy to Class B instead.
Therefore, Class A remained spy-free and safe!
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The secure Class A gathered for the 10 AM exam announcement.
As all remaining students assembled on the beach, they were surprised to see Kakeru appear in Class C's area — the class that had supposedly forfeited.
The leaders of all four classes had just finished the leader-guessing phase ten minutes earlier.
Strangely, upon seeing Kakeru, students from Classes A, B, and even D all visibly relaxed.
Noticing these peculiar reactions, Kakeru frowned, an unfamiliar uneasiness settling over him.
Class C's forfeit had been partly strategic and partly deceptive — hiding the fact that he remained on the island while dispatching Mio, Satoru, and Daichi to gather intelligence on other classes.
Last night, he had received reports from both Mio and Daichi.
The reports left him frustrated, proving that Houtarou Oreki was not to be taken lightly. When Class A's members had brought Mio to their camp, Houtarou had immediately transferred her to Class B overnight.
This meant Kakeru's potential reward for guessing three classes' leaders had diminished to just two classes' worth of Points — 50×2 instead of 50×3. Moreover, Class A remained untouchable.
His disappointment was palpable.
After a full week on the island, he had managed to secure only 100 Class Points.
Converting those 100 Points meant the school would need to pay 400,000 Private Points (100×100×40) to their class each month — which was acceptable.
He could take half of that, earning 200,000 Points monthly for free. After all, he had worked hard for this himself.
The leader-guessing rewards from Class B and Class D would have to suffice. He hadn't planned to confront Houtarou immediately anyway.
According to Mio, when they discovered her in the camp, Houtarou had immediately transferred her to Class B. Even Kakeru had to admit that move was brilliant.
Kakeru recognized that Houtarou's insight and reaction speed were incredibly sharp — he would need to proceed cautiously.
However, the situation with Rokusuke from Class D could at least provide some satisfaction.
Daichi had stolen Class D's leader card, confirming their leader's identity. Once Class D's leader was correctly guessed, all their accumulated base Reward Points would become invalid.
What did it matter if they had occupied 35 bases or accumulated 600 points in Base Rewards?
It would all vanish!
Kakeru eagerly anticipated seeing Rokusuke break down. He wondered if that egoist was like Ken Sudō — all show on the outside but a coward within.
Finally, Kakeru felt he had found an outlet for his frustration.
But then...
"Where's that Kōenji guy?"
He couldn't spot Rokusuke anywhere in Class D's direction.
Class D's students had arrived, but only six remained — two male students and four female students. The rest appeared to have forfeited.
Among them, there was no sign of that tall, blonde student who constantly proclaimed himself the most beautiful man.
Rokusuke was Class D's leader — Kakeru was certain of this.
Mio had photographed Class B's leader card, revealing Chihiro Shiranami as their leader. And Daichi had stolen and verified Rokusuke's leader card before returning it.
This evidence was irrefutable.
Though Rokusuke had been brazen enough to swipe his leader card in plain sight — quite a performance.
It had made Kakeru wonder if he wasn't the leader after all, if he had deliberately sacrificed Class D's Base Points so that subsequent rule violations wouldn't matter, allowing him to freely claim bases.
The actions seemed like those of someone maliciously trying to nullify all Base Points to prevent others from scoring.
However, what was the outcome?
This theory was proven wrong when Daichi brought back the leader card — after peeling off the tape, Rokusuke Kōenji's name was clearly visible.
In other words, he hadn't broken any rules. His actions were legitimate.
However, Rokusuke's bold card-swiping was likely a psychological warfare tactic, playing on the assumption that no leader would dare expose their identity so openly.
But in the end, you really were the leader — or so I thought.
After filling out the leader-guessing forms, Kakeru arrived at the beach area but couldn't spot Class D's leader anywhere. Something felt off.
Suddenly, he found himself surrounded.
"Surprised to see me?" Kakeru saw Yahiko approaching with Kōhei.
"Not at all." Yahiko said, "For the leader-guessing section that just ended, I wrote down your name. If anything, seeing you appear puts me at ease, since I'm a cautious man."
"Ryūen, you went too far." Said the Class B representative who had suffered from the spy attack, "For this leader-guessing section, our class also wrote down your name."
"Our Class D wrote your name too." Mei-Yu said, Class D's petite twin-tailed leader.
Huh? Wasn't Rokusuke Class D's leader? Why was Mei-Yu Wang suddenly the leader?
Kakeru stood bewildered. These people were saying bizarre things. How did they all know he was Class C's leader?
Indeed, he was Class C's leader.
Since arriving on the island, he had been hiding deep in the wilderness, away from the bases. He'd hoped to discover additional bases beyond the known forty, but there weren't any.
He'd been living a true survivor's lifestyle these past days.
As the leader, he hadn't forfeited. However, with everyone writing his name, he would lose 50×3=150 Points for having his identity discovered.
If his base points were 0, nothing could be deducted. His single Reward Point didn't matter anyway.
Still, he had participated in guessing other classes' leaders, so he could potentially gain points from correct guesses.
He had only written down Rokusuke Kōenji and Chihiro Shiranami's names.
From Honami's expression, the Class B guess must have been correct — that was +50 Points.
But for Rokusuke, the person had changed, making his guess wrong: -50 Points.
Then, since his leader identity was correctly guessed by all other classes: -150 Points.
In other words, he would end up with 0 Points no matter what.
Damn. Why had he even stayed on the island?
Wouldn't it have been better to take Honami's contract at the start and forfeit, enjoying a spa treatment back on the ship?
He had suffered through a week of hardship for absolutely nothing.
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