"Th-This… Yukio-aniki, aren't we playing a little too big this time?"
"N-No kidding… Yukio-aniki, can this even work?! Isn't this way too risky?!"
"That's so damn cool, Yukio-aniki! I never thought I'd get to ride one of these in my lifetime! Let's gooooo!"
"Careful—here, I've got you. Don't fall. This isn't some joke."
"Can Hiyori Shiina even do this?! Oh my god, I thought Ryuuen was the one handling it—geniuses live in a world I don't understand!"
…
After the three grades finished their briefings, everyone had already received their safety watches and mini tablets, and—after a lot of second-guessing and careful planning—finished exchanging for supplies.
Everything was ready. All that was left was the official start.
But as the time crept closer and closer to 9:00, the cruise ship was already docked… and yet the ship's broadcast stubbornly refused to announce that students could disembark.
It made a lot of people uneasy—and then outright anxious.
"Hey, hey, what the hell is going on? Did the school mess up? This is the first time, right? The school that's always obsessive about timing actually screwed up?"
"No way. We're clearly docked. I can literally see the harbor. It feels like it's only a few meters—like you could jump it."
"Bro—don't. Seriously, don't. It only looks close. One slip and you're in the ocean. If you're gonna die, at least don't die like an idiot."
"Holy—It's 9:00! My safety watch already issued an instruction! It's telling me to go to Zone D8! I'm still on the ship—how am I supposed to go?! It keeps screaming at me!"
"Same! Mine says Zone E9! What do they want me to do, grow wings?!"
The agitation spiked instantly.
Normally, a little delay wouldn't matter—everyone was still on the ship, so it wasn't like anyone was behind yet.
But if they failed a movement instruction, that still counted as one missed arrival.
Three misses were free. The fourth started deducting points.
Nobody wanted to start the exam by eating penalties for something that wasn't even their fault.
"Hold up! This is the school's responsibility! They didn't let us off—there's no way they'll count it toward penalties, right?"
"You sure? The school's brutal. If the instruction's issued, you really think they'll give you a pass just because the ship didn't lower the gangway?"
"Then what are we supposed to do?! They can't seriously be forcing students to jump into the sea! It looks close, but without the gangway, who's actually jumping?"
As the crowd grew more frantic—faces tight with panic—students flooded the first deck, desperate for anything that would get them off the ship already.
And only then did Sakagami-sensei finally appear, strolling over with the homeroom teachers from each grade like they had all the time in the world.
The moment teachers showed up, students swarmed them.
Sakagami stayed calm, completely unbothered by the sea of bodies. He lifted a loudspeaker and began:
"Students! Please remain calm! Please remain calm!"
That somehow made people even more furious.
"Are you kidding me?! Say what you need to say! 'Remain calm' my ass—who's calming down right now?!"
"Shut up and listen! He's talking—can't hear!"
Sakagami looked like he was this close to laughing out loud. He had to keep it in, because honestly? This delay was perfect.
The first step of Second-Year Class A's plan—or rather, Yukio's plan—was so outrageous it was practically art.
Behind him, the teachers from other grades stared at Sakagami like they wanted to eat him alive.
Sakagami didn't care in the slightest. He waited until the crowd quieted down, then leisurely raised the loudspeaker again.
"So, here's the situation. The students of Second-Year Class A… accidentally damaged three of the ship's gangways while roughhousing."
"They can't be lowered for disembarking."
"The crew is currently repairing them. Please wait patiently. Once the gangways are fixed, you'll be able to get off immediately."
The first deck went dead silent—like an invisible hand had grabbed everyone by the throat.
Then it exploded.
"HUH?! You've gotta be kidding me! The gangways were damaged?! Where are they?! Where are the people from Yukio's class?!"
"Wait—no—Yukio's class isn't even on the deck! They're gone!"
"Ahem! Quiet—quiet!" Sakagami continued, loudly and cheerfully. "As the homeroom teacher of Second-Year Class A, I'm obligated to apologize on behalf of my class… for our naughty, troublesome students."
"Because besides 'accidentally' damaging the gangways, they also 'accidentally' lowered two lifeboats."
Lifeboats—escape boats—call them whatever you want. Every cruise ship has them.
Sakagami even pointed toward both sides of the ship, making a helpful little gesture. "To make up for their mistake, the entire class went down onto the lifeboats to see if they could return them to their original position."
"Unfortunately, no matter what they tried, they couldn't get them back into place. So they had no choice but to head for shore first."
"Once the ship's gangways are repaired, the crew will tow the lifeboats back."
"Of course, the school will punish such reckless behavior. However—because our 'good' students turned themselves in, confessed everything, and because it was a 'careless accident'…"
"The school has determined that our class will bear a repair cost of two million private points as disciplinary action."
"We're informing you now as a warning, so you'll be careful and won't repeat their mistake."
And then Sakagami sighed, sounding weirdly poetic.
"Ah… my class is just so careless."
"..."
The deck went silent again—only this time, you could feel fists clenching so hard they might crack.
Accidentally damaged gangways. Accidentally lowered lifeboats. The whole class boarded them to put them back.
Give me a break.
If Yukio's class tried to be careful, they'd probably accidentally launch themselves into orbit.
Only now did everyone finally understand.
No wonder the school had started issuing movement instructions without waiting for disembarkation—the exam had already begun the moment Yukio's class wrecked the gangways and dropped the lifeboats.
To make sure they hit the earliest movement instructions, they'd basically trapped every other student on the ship for a while.
Absolutely insane.
…
Meanwhile, on the shore, Yukio's class was happily hauling out the food and water stored inside the lifeboats.
Those were emergency supplies—meaning they didn't cost exam points. No exchanges needed.
So of course they took them.
And with the points they'd saved, they could exchange for even more useful stuff.