In early July, the warm summer air had already started settling over ANHS. Even with the shade from all the greenery, it couldn't fend off that steamy, sealed-in heat—like being trapped in a massive sauna with no escape.
Cicadas screamed. People melted. And even though the school uniforms were made with decent fabric, the moment you broke a sweat—combined with the school's coastal climate—that sticky, humid heaviness got under your skin fast.
But Yukio's class had grown.
Even when their homeroom teacher, Sakagami, threw up a photo of a luxury cruise ship on the projector… nobody cheered. Nobody groaned. They just stared at it with the calm expression of people thinking, Yeah. We knew it.
Sakagami looked genuinely surprised. "Huh. Not bad. I thought showing you a luxury cruise ship would have you either screaming your heads off or whining like your lives are over."
He was here today to give them advance notice—how the school planned to handle their summer break.
And the moment Yukio's classmates saw that familiar cruise ship, they naturally remembered last year's deserted island exam.
That had been a ridiculously fun memory.
While other classes were suffering on the island—rationing food and pinching points just to survive—these guys were riding water dragons, tearing around on jet skis, grilling meat, chugging cold drinks, and after two days of messing around they went right back to the ship.
Compared to everyone else, it was basically heaven versus hell.
So seeing it again this year? They were used to it.
Even Ishizaki—who was never exactly the deep-thinking type—scratched the back of his head when Sakagami made that comment. "Honestly… it's kinda whatever."
"Like… yeah. Of course the final's gonna come. Not hyped, not complaining. It just is what it is."
"Little brat," Sakagami said with a grin, scolding him like it was a joke. "What do you think the school's plans are, some kind of seasonal event? Alright—listen carefully. You're not wrong. This summer is also a deserted island special exam."
"But this second one is completely different from anything you've seen before. The rules are more complicated, it runs longer, and it's the first of its kind since this school was founded. Burn it into your brains."
With Sakagami making it sound that serious, nobody dared treat it lightly. They straightened up, eyes locked on the board.
Sakagami didn't mess around. He worked the projector properly and displayed the full details for them to read and memorize.
[Deserted Island Special Exam (2nd) — Rules]
1) All three grades participate together. Same-grade teams are allowed. Cross-grade teams are prohibited.
2) Each team must have 1–6 members. If a member suffers an accident and must return to the cruise ship, the remaining members may continue the exam. The returning member will receive the same result as the teammates who remain. However, solo teams become invalid if their only member withdraws.
3) The exam runs for two full weeks on the island. Teams earn points through various evaluations. Main categories include academics, physical ability, cohesion, individual ability, and general knowledge quiz events. Exact events will be announced closer to arrival.
4) Score bonuses by grade: First-years +20%, Second-years +5%, Third-years +0%.
5) Rewards: The top 3 teams will steal from the bottom 3 teams' grade:
Class points stolen: 1st place 400, 2nd place 300, 3rd place 200Private points stolen: 1st place 6,000,000, 2nd place 4,000,000, 3rd place 2,000,000 (If insufficient, the school will cover the difference.)
Additional rewards:
Teams ranked 4th–10th: 1,000,000 private pointsTeams ranked 11th–30th: 800,000 private points
6) Penalty: The bottom 5 teams receive expulsion for all members.
7) Expulsion mitigation: Any team facing expulsion can cancel it by paying a total of 6,000,000 private points.
1-person team: that one person pays 6,000,0002-person team: 3,000,000 each…and so on, up to a 6-person team: 1,000,000 each
Even in a 6-person team, if only one person can pay 1,000,000, they alone can save themselves—while the other five still face expulsion.
Six rules that looked simple… but were already complex enough to make everyone's eyes hurt.
Kaneda immediately pushed his glasses up. "Sakagami-sensei, if teaming is only allowed within the same grade, and rewards involve stealing points from other grades… isn't the school basically encouraging each grade to cooperate internally, while the three grades compete against each other?"
Sakagami tapped the rewards line. "That's for you to decide. The school's always encouraged you to think and expand your options."
"See the wording about 'stealing' from the bottom teams' grade? That stolen amount gets distributed evenly."
"Example: let's assume a standard four-person team. Say first place is won by a second-year team—one elite student from each second-year class, all teaming up specifically to win."
"If last place ends up being a first-year team—doesn't matter which first-year class they're from, as long as the team is a first-year team—then you can steal 400 class points from the first-years."
"Meaning: each first-year class loses 100 points, and as the winners, your team's grade gains it evenly—each second-year class gains 100 points. No internal gap change, but every class benefits."
"But if that winning team includes one student from our class, then we get an extra share. The other three classes only gain 80 points each, while our class gains 160."
"Or—if the first-place team is made entirely of our class members, with no one from other classes, then our class takes the full 400 points alone."
After that explanation, the class got visibly fired up.
Right—if you can take all 400 for yourself… why split it?
But Ryuen immediately spotted the problem. "Hah. Sounds tempting, sure. But if we try to hog it all, the other three classes—and even other grades—could team up to block us from scoring."
Ryuen basically dumped a bucket of cold water over everyone's enthusiasm. And it worked.
"Yeah… we're leading by a lot right now. The other three classes teaming up to target us is totally possible."
"And with this exam being this complicated—plus first-years and third-years mixed into the same island—whether we go solo or cooperate with the other second-year classes… it's hard to decide."
While everyone else was busy thinking, Ishizaki looked completely lost. "Wait—why are you all thinking so hard again? Didn't we already say this once?"
"Yukio-aniki is obviously gonna have a plan."
"…You," Yukio said, looking at Ishizaki—and for some reason, he really wanted to laugh.
And suddenly he understood exactly why Sakagami liked calling him little brat.
Yukio kind of wanted to do it too.