[Correct answers: A. "Lonely, Guitar, and Blue Planet"; B. "That Band"]
Since the quiz graded each question immediately after submission, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka instantly realized he'd answered incorrectly. His earlier cautious reasoning now felt utterly futile in the face of the correct answers.
The sun, in its final stretch before setting, was still releasing intense heat. Perhaps because of this, Ayanokouji felt slightly dizzy, though he quickly steadied himself and focused on the second question.
[Category: Anime Knowledge]
[Question 2: Who sang the opening theme for the first season of the anime "Demon Slayer"?]
[A. LiSA]
[B. YOASOBI]
[C. Yonezu Kenshi]
[D. FLOWER]
Reality proved harsh once again.
Though he recognized two of the names from overhearing classmates' conversations, Ayanokouji had no idea which artist had sung the opening. In fact, he had no clue what any of them had performed.
He guessed B.
[Correct answer: A. LiSA]
Two consecutive losses.
Just as Ayanokouji began to wonder if some anime-obsessed staff member had rigged the quiz, the third question finally shifted to a new category.
[Category: History and Humanities]
[Question 3: In what year did the Taika Reform occur?]
[A. 625 AD]
[B. 635 AD]
[C. 645 AD]
[D. 655 AD]
Relieved, he quickly selected C.
[Correct answer: C. 645 AD]
[Category: Literary Knowledge]
[Question 4: Three of Shakespeare's four great tragedies include "Macbeth" and "Hamlet". What are the other two? (Multiple Choice)]
From this point on, Ayanokouji breezed through the questions. He reached the twentieth and final question having only missed the first two.
Now, he hoped the last question would be difficult enough to help him pull ahead and make up for earlier mistakes.
[Category: Literary Knowledge]
[Question 20: In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince," what are the first words the rose says to the prince?]
Good—challenging enough.
He quickly accessed the "memory palace" in his mind, flipped to the relevant passage, and found the correct quote.
[Congratulations! You've completed the quiz. Final accuracy: 90%]
He waited patiently for the other participants to finish.
Given Kitagawa Ryo's presence, Ayanokouji figured he likely wouldn't place first. Still, he held onto hope for a top-three result. There were no participation rewards, so leaving empty-handed would mean wasted effort and energy.
In just two minutes, all four groups—seven students—completed the quiz. The proctor reviewed the results and began announcing the top three.
"First place: Kitagawa Ryo. Accuracy: 100%. Reward: 800 points and a Normal Card upgrade."
"Second place: Karuizawa Kei. Accuracy: 95%. Reward: 600 points."
"Third place: Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Accuracy: 90%. Reward: 400 points."
Ironically, the B-Class team of four, led by Kanzaki, earned nothing—but they still congratulated Karuizawa Kei on her second-place finish.
As B-Class surrounded Kei, Ryo quietly opened his watch and checked his card:
[Discount: When using points to exchange for items, the cost is reduced by 25% (Lv. 2)]
An upgrade from Level 1, which had offered a 15% discount. Now, Ryo could trade resources at three-quarters the standard cost—an excellent improvement.
He mused about how high the card could be upgraded. If each level added 10%, maybe someday he could buy from the school with zero points.
While Ryo pondered this, Kanzaki Ryuji quietly approached.
"Need something, Kanzaki-san?" Ryo asked, curious.
Only recently had he learned that Kanzaki was heir to Kanzaki Heavy Industries. But unlike Kouenji Rokusuke, Kanzaki preferred playing a support role.
He had served as vice leader under both Ichinose Honami and now Karuizawa Kei.
"Nothing much," Kanzaki said with a wry smile. "Just... if you happen to come across our class leader tonight, I'd appreciate it if you could look out for her."
He sighed.
"To be honest, B-Class wasn't initially in favor of Kei acting solo with the [Reinforcement] card. Soloing an uninhabited island is extremely tough. We care more about her safety than potential gains."
"Understood. Even if you hadn't said anything, I'd be watching over her anyway."
Ryo smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Seems like she's well cared for in B-Class. That puts me at ease."
"If you're that impressed, how about transferring to B-Class?" Kanzaki joked.
Ryo chuckled awkwardly.
"It'd cost 20 million personal points, y'know. Not something you can just casually suggest."
He checked his watch.
"Anyway, I should get going. My team's waiting."
After waving to Kanzaki and Kei, Ryo headed off.
As he jogged through the forest, he opened the team rankings on his watch. After two waves of tasks, both group and class rankings had started updating.
Since few groups had earned points so far, Ryo easily spotted his team:
[Group Rankings (Real-Time)]
[1st Place: Kitagawa Ryo's Group – 1800 points]
His recent 800-point win pushed their score to 1800—meaning the girls must've scored some points too.
But with the scoreboard updating every minute, standings shifted rapidly. Some groups spent points on supplies, causing dips.
Several groups still had zero points, all tied for last place.
He also noticed Sudo Ken's group in sixth place with 800 points—D-Class's next best-performing team.
Most other D-Class groups struggled, hovering between 30th and 40th.
As expected, second place belonged to A-Class's ace team, led by Katsuragi Kouhei.
Thanks to intel from "that person," Ryo knew their lineup: Katsuragi, Hirata Yousuke, Kushida Kikyou, and Kamuro Masumi.
No weak links—strong in academics, athletics, and general performance.
Their score: 1200 points, just behind Ryo's team.
Still, by evening, everyone's scores would drop as they redeemed items.
Meanwhile, 3,000 meters away, Katsuragi stared at the scoreboard.
"1800 points? And I heard Kitagawa Ryo got a large 3-person tent, too—saves a lot of resources."
Just as he was about to close the rankings, something on the screen made his eyes widen.
"What's wrong?" asked Kushida.
"...Maybe I was seeing things," Katsuragi muttered.
"I thought I saw a group suddenly tie for first with Kitagawa Ryo's... but it vanished before I could read the name."
"Maybe a system glitch," Hirata said, smiling. "Or you're just feeling the pressure."
Their team had done well—four tasks completed, with two first-place and two second-place finishes, totaling 800 points and a 2-person tent.
"Perhaps," Katsuragi said, nodding.
He checked the class rankings. As expected, D-Class—had only 34 members—lagged at the bottom.
The other three classes were neck-and-neck, swapping positions often, making it impossible to spot any clear trend.
-------------------------------------
"So, Arisu and Suzune took the top two spots in the Mental Math challenge?" Kitagawa Ryo asked as the group walked toward the campsite Honami had discovered.
"Yeah. Arisu got 600 points. I got 400," Horikita Suzune replied matter-of-factly.
Her calm response made Arisu, who had wanted to brag, pout and kick a stone as she walked ahead.
"If I'd been there, maybe we could've swept the top three. Though someone else would've had to take first," Ryo teased, noticing her mood.
"First off, only two people per group could enter the challenge. Second, while I agree your mental math is better than mine, the last question wasn't that hard. You would've just tied with me," Arisu retorted, raising her eyebrows.
"Too many people went to the English test. I couldn't register in time," Honami added, smiling.
"But Wang Meiyu from our class got first. Her English skills are among the best in the year."
Though she hadn't won, Honami seemed content that a classmate had.
"Look over there—that's the spot. Let's pitch the tent before sunset and then check if any challenges are still available."
She pointed to a shaded clearing and pulled out the large three-person tent from Ryo's pack.
The school-issued tent was simple to set up. In no time, the four of them finished assembling it.
Ryo nodded, hands on hips. "If we don't find a challenge that gives a single-person tent as a reward, we'll just redeem one. My Discount card is upgraded now, so the cost isn't bad."
Just as the others nodded in agreement, a rustling sound came from the woods to the right of their camp.
A figure emerged.
-------------------------------------
[Question 20: In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince," what are the first words the rose says to the prince?]
Karuizawa Kei remembered the line perfectly. In fact, she could recall every word of the relatively short tale.
Much like the fox's lesson in the story, "The Little Prince" itself had become an emotional anchor for her—a snapshot of a particular time in her life.
The rose had been lovingly cared for by the prince and wanted to present her best self.
She carefully chose her future color, groomed herself day and night, arranged every petal with care.
Finally, one morning, just as the sun rose, she revealed her face.
Yawning, she said to the astonished prince, captivated by her beauty:
[I've just woken up... I'm sorry, I think my hair's still messy...]
Kei vividly remembered her feelings when she first read those lines.
The kind of affection unique to girls—a little sly, a little tsundere, and a little self-conscious.
Awkward but sincere.
Like planning a perfect encounter in secret, then pretending it was coincidence when it happened.
Just like now.
"Hello, hello! Fancy meeting you again, Ryo!" Kei beamed, waving.
"Is your group planning to camp here too?"
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