Because of that one line from Ishizaki, the classmates who'd still been arguing paused—then all turned to him with heavy, heartfelt expressions.
"Ishizaki, you're absolutely right. With Yukio-aniki here, we don't need to stress ourselves out like this."
Someone else chimed in from the side, "Yeah, but… Yukio-aniki can't take care of us for the rest of our lives. Talking things through, building experience, getting smarter—no matter how you slice it, it's a good thing."
Even Kaneda took the chance to lecture him. "If you go too long without using your brain, it really does start to rust. When you can think for yourself, think a little longer. It won't hurt you."
Yukio, Sakagami, and Ryuen all shared a quiet, in-sync smile.
After more than a year of growth, the class had finally started to click. Compared to who they were in their first year, they'd improved by a mile.
The more Yukio looked at them, the more he liked them.
And Sakagami? He was practically glowing with pride. Teaching a class like this in his lifetime—wasn't that basically the peak of being a teacher? Even if it wasn't, he was more than satisfied.
Ishizaki glanced left, then right. Seeing everyone was on the same page, the "dumb puppy" look faded off his face, replaced by rare seriousness.
"…So that's how it is."
Kaneda looked genuinely pleased—because Ishizaki choosing to think was a small miracle in itself. "What we're discussing is basically risk versus reward."
"The school's arrangement makes sense. Higher risk means higher payoff. Lower risk is more stable… but your returns are smaller."
Ishizaki blinked, then answered from the heart. "Then I'd rather take the high risk for the high reward. If you ask me, going for the full solo payout sounds way more satisfying."
Nomura added calmly, "But if we do that, then at minimum we'd need Yukio-aniki, Ryuen-san, and you, Kaneda, on one team—so we can build a championship squad."
"And that means the rest of the teams our classmates form won't just have to deal with other classes and other grades trying to block them… they'll also score lower because they're weaker. Some teams might even fall into the bottom five and risk expulsion."
Ishizaki instantly short-circuited.
But when he thought about it, it made sense.
If you gather all the class's top firepower into one squad, yeah—you might take first place. But then the lower end teams are guaranteed to place poorly… maybe really poorly, to the point of hitting rock bottom.
Because this time, the three grades were all direct opponents. And if Yukio's class tried to hog everything for themselves, they'd basically be making enemies of the entire second year—meaning they'd be challenging everyone at once.
Yukio and Ryuen didn't say a word. They just watched quietly as their classmates peeled the situation apart thread by thread, analyzing every angle.
And Yukio felt something surprisingly soft in his chest.
A year ago, these guys were just low-academic delinquents who only knew street fights.
Now they were steadily turning into people who could stand on their own.
"Alright, alright," Sakagami said, grinning so hard his face looked permanently stuck that way. He clapped his hands—half applause for the students, half to pull everyone's focus back. "That's enough discussion for now."
"I told you the rules are complicated—and we're not even done. Keep reading."
The projection changed again.
[Personal Cards for This Special Exam]
Normal Cards:
Prosperity: At the start of the exam, the holder's special-exam points are multiplied by 1.5.Double: The holder's final private points reward is doubled.Halve: If the holder ends up in the bottom five, the required personal points to pay is halved.Replica: The holder chooses one team they are not on; after the exam ends, the holder receives half of that team's earnings.Rest: The holder may return to the cruise ship to rest for one day, without affecting the team's score.
Special Cards:
Reinforcement: The holder may join a team as a 7th member.No Penalty: Even if the holder places bottom five, they receive no punishment.Trial: All rewards are doubled after the exam ends—but if the holder's rank is below 20th, then even if their team is not bottom five, the holder's team will still face expulsion punishment.
Cards will be distributed randomly to individual phones tomorrow. Normal cards have no limit. Special cards: only one of each type per grade each year.
Trading is allowed within the same grade, but strictly forbidden across grades.
The class collectively froze.
"What the hell is this now…? The school's adding more and more random junk."
"Forget everything else—just that Replica card sounds insane. We were literally just saying that if Yukio-aniki and Ryuen and Kaneda team up, the other squads might end up at the bottom…"
"But with Replica, you can target Yukio-aniki's team and get half the profits! If their team takes first, that's six million personal points—half of that is three million for whoever holds the card! And if you also have Halve, you can totally cover expulsion mitigation even if you fall into the bottom five!"
"And it's not just that—look at the last line. Full random distribution, and each special card only has one copy per grade… so if we get lucky, tomorrow our class might wake up with all three special cards!"
"Bro, stop dreaming. You pull one good thing in a mobile gacha and now you think you're the chosen one?"
While everyone else obsessed over doubling and halving, Yukio barely cared about those effects. His eyes stayed on the first card—Prosperity.
He looked up. "Sakagami-sensei. The 'special-exam points' mentioned on Prosperity…"
"Is that the same kind of special-exam-only currency from the first deserted island exam? The points used to exchange for supplies—only usable during the exam?"
The room went dead silent.
The sudden quiet was so sharp that even Sakagami felt weird for a second.
Then he mentally praised Yukio again—of course it's Yukio who immediately zeroes in on the real lever. If Sakagami got a student like that, he'd say his luck for this entire lifetime had been spent.
He answered cleanly, "Of course. The school can't just dump you on an island and tell you to survive like it's wilderness training."
"It's the same as the first deserted island special exam. Before it starts, each of you will receive a certain amount of special-exam points. Those points can only be spent during this exam, for supplies—food, water, and so on."
"What exactly you can exchange for, and how many starting points each person gets… that'll be announced when you board the ship and get close to the island, just like the exam content itself."
"But here's what I can tell you: spend them freely this time. Unlike last year, you cannot convert leftover special-exam points into class points."
"So when the time comes—use them all."
Yukio blinked once.
And somewhere behind his eyes, a plan began to take shape—one that would let him strike first and take the initiative over all three grades.