Mid-July. Blue seas and open skies. The students of ANHS once again left the campus behind and headed out onto the vast ocean.
Aboard a super-luxury cruise ship, staring up at a sky that felt even higher than it did in the city, your heart naturally loosened with the sheer openness of sea and heaven.
It was instinct—escaping the steel forest and returning to nature.
This time, to host a three-grade special exam, the school spared no expense. They'd booked a ship even more extravagant than last year's.
Restaurants everywhere, entertainment facilities, multiple pools—those were the basics.
What was rare was this: the cruise ship actually had two small gardens at sea.
Packed with greenery, they somehow made the middle of the blue ocean feel lush and alive. And compared to last year's measly two helicopters, this time they'd loaded six—proof the school was truly going all-in.
The living arrangements were upgraded too. No more three-person rooms—every staff member and student got a private cabin. Compared to Yukio's cruise last summer, this was a full-on glow-up.
Because the school wanted everyone well-rested, they'd boarded the previous night and slept during the first stretch of sailing.
So by morning, the students were refreshed. On the multiple decks, every level was dotted with students from different grades and classes, all gazing out at the sea.
Yet there was an unspoken, almost eerie coordination:
First-years stayed on the first deck and didn't go higher—at least not right now. Second-years occupied the second deck. Third-years claimed the third.
Only Yukio's class didn't care. They went straight up to the fourth deck, taking the high ground and looking out over everything. The entire deck belonged to them alone.
"About time," Ryuuen muttered, checking the time on his phone. The school had sent a message: when the time came, a new rules briefing would begin.
Everything they hadn't been told back on campus—the detailed contents of the island exam, and what exam points could be exchanged for—would finally be explained.
"Then let's move." Yukio pulled his gaze back and waved them on. The whole class followed behind him and Ryuuen in tidy formation, heading to the second-floor main conference hall.
Each grade had their briefing in a different hall on a different floor.
It was like a big university lecture room—semi-circular seating so that every seat had a clear view of the stage.
Mr. Sakagami, the homeroom teacher of Second-Year Class A, was the one running today's briefing. Compared to Mr. Mashima, who'd handled last year's island briefing, Sakagami looked downright energized.
Once the other three homeroom teachers arrived and nodded to confirm their classes were present, Sakagami turned on the large screen so everyone could clearly see the rules displayed.
The special exam lasts for two weeks in total. Movement Scoring: The massive uninhabited island is divided into 100 fixed zones. Students will receive instructions to move from their current zone to a designated zone.Instruction Pattern: The next destination will always be randomly chosen from the zones within two squares up/down/left/right, or one square diagonally from the team's current zone.Instruction Timing: Except for Day 1 (the first day the exam officially begins) and the final day (the day the exam ends), instructions will be issued three times per day. On all other days, instructions will be issued four times per day—once every two hours—with a two-hour break at noon.Points for Arriving (for teams receiving the same destination): 1st place team earns 10 points, 2nd earns 5 points, 3rd earns 3 points.In addition: If the entire team arrives first, extra points are added based on headcount. For example, a six-person team arriving first earns 16 total points. A solo team earns 11.
If a six-person team arrives but not all members make it in time, the team receives only the headcount points and no placement points.Movement Penalties: The first three failures to arrive on time carry no penalty. The 4th failure deducts 1 team point, the 5th deducts 2 points, and so on.Note: Zones located entirely over the ocean (such as B1, C1, etc.) will not appear as instruction destinations.Task Scoring: Staff will appear in fixed zones at fixed times across the island to assign tasks. Each task has limits on number of participants and time. Winning teams earn points and can obtain resources such as food and water.Safety Watch: Each student receives a watch with satellite tracking and health monitoring. If the student's condition is deemed dangerous, it will sound an alarm and the school will dispatch the fastest helicopter rescue.
It is also the device used to receive movement instructions and record points. If it is damaged, the student cannot earn points until returning to the cruise ship to replace it.
The watch can only be worn/removed with a special tool; it cannot be removed by hand—only deliberately destroyed.Mini Tablet: Each student receives a palm-sized tablet that provides a satellite map and real-time location tracking, allowing precise confirmation of distance to the destination zone. It also shows the location of all tasks in real time, along with required人数 and time limits.
In case of emergencies—summer typhoons, thunderstorms, etc.—the school will notify every student via the tablet about changes during the exam.
After Day 6, the tablet can display real-time data only for the top 10 teams and bottom 10 teams; other teams cannot be viewed.
Battery life is typically 12 hours. Students may exchange for spare batteries via supplies, or return to the cruise ship to recharge.Supply Exchange: Each student starts with 5,000 exam points to exchange for supplies. Holders of the "Wealth" card start with 7,500 exam points.]
"All right." Sakagami raised his phone. "For the full list of exchangeable supplies, open your phones. The school's already sent it to each class group chat. Decide what you want to exchange for yourselves."
"You've got one hour. We're scheduled to dock at 8:55 a.m., and at 9:00 sharp, the large-scale uninhabited island special exam begins."
The students were still staring at the island map on the screen—this massive island chopped into a hundred grid zones—feeling their scalps go numb.
This exam was going to be far more brutal than they'd imagined.
"All right, quit freezing up." Sakagami, who'd been on stage, came straining over with a huge box in his arms, breathing hard. "Move, move—time's short. Line up. Come get your mini tablets, and I'll fit your safety watches."
"Anyone still in line—check the supply exchange list while you wait."
"Don't waste time. Faster, faster!"
With that, the members of Yukio's class—still drowning in the complexity—snapped into motion. They formed an orderly line and threw themselves fully into what was clearly going to be anything but a simple special exam.