The first night on the uninhabited island fell rapidly, bringing with it a pitch-black darkness broken only by the sound of crashing waves and the singing of forest insects.
While Class 1-C had established a functional and moderate Base Camp near the river, the situations at the other classes' camps were like two extreme sides of a coin: Hell and Paradise.
Class 1-D's Camp (South Beach)
There were no tents. No warm campfires. No aroma of cooking food.
There was only cold sand, piercing sea wind, and a group of students shivering in the dark.
"Ryuen-san... I'm thirsty," a female student whimpered, her voice hoarse. "The water we brought from the ship is all gone."
On top of a large boulder jutting out into the sea, Ryuen Kakeru sat cross-legged, his silhouette illuminated by the dim moonlight. He was chewing on a piece of dried jerky he had smuggled in his pocket—the only visible food in the entire camp.
"Thirsty?" Ryuen pointed toward the dark jungle behind them. "There's a river in there. Go drink."
"B-but... aren't we supposed to boil it first? We didn't buy any cooking equipment..."
"Don't be spoiled," Ryuen cut her off coldly. "Our ancestors drank raw water for thousands of years and survived. If your stomach hurts, it means your body is weak. Just throw it up, then drink again until your body adapts."
That sheer cruelty forced the Class D students into silence.
Ryuen had implemented an insane strategy: The Zero Point Strategy.
He strictly forbade the use of their 300 S-Points starting capital. No tents, no portable toilets, no instant food. The goal was simple yet brutal: To preserve the entire 300 points so they could be added to next month's Class Points, plus whatever points they earned from guessing the opposing leaders.
To Ryuen, comfort was the enemy. Fear and suffering were the glue that would bind his class together—or break the weak until only the strong remained.
"Ishizaki," Ryuen called out.
"Y-yes, Ryuen-san!" Ishizaki Daichi emerged from the darkness, his face exhausted and covered in dirt.
"How did your scouting go?"
"Class B (Sakayanagi) has built a fortress on high ground. They have tight security; it's hard to penetrate," Ishizaki reported. "Class C (Horikita) is near the river. They're pretty standard. But..."
"But?"
"Class A... Ichinose's class..." Ishizaki gulped, his eyes flashing with deep-seated envy. "They're having a party."
Ryuen stopped chewing. His eyes narrowed dangerously.
"A party?"
Class 1-A's Camp (Open Forest Area)
In stark contrast to the suffering of Class D, Class A's camp was brightly illuminated by battery-powered LED lights hung from the trees. The delicious aroma of instant curry wafted through the air, tickling the noses of anyone within a one-kilometer radius.
Large tents were neatly arranged in a circle. In the center stood a sturdy, large-capacity clean water tank—a luxury item that cost dozens of points.
"Go ahead, go ahead! Don't be shy!"
Ichinose Honami's cheerful voice could be heard welcoming guests.
Not guests from her own class, but two students from Class B who looked exhausted after spending the entire day carrying firewood under Katsuragi's orders.
"I-Ichinose-san... are you sure we can have some water?" the Class B student asked hesitantly. "Katsuragi-san is very strict about our water rations."
"Of course!" Ichinose smiled sweetly, pouring cold water into plastic cups. "On this island, we are all victims of a cruel school exam, right? We have to help each other out."
The Class B students drank the water greedily. It tasted like heavenly nectar.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"You're very welcome," Ichinose said gently. She sat beside them, resting her chin on her hand. "By the way... Katsuragi-kun looks like he's working really hard. He must be tired leading all by himself. Is Yahiko-kun helping him out?"
"Ah, yeah," the student answered thoughtlessly, his guard lowered by gratitude. "Yahiko is always sticking to Katsuragi. He's the one holding the map and... oops."
The student quickly covered his mouth.
Ichinose didn't press the issue. She merely smiled wider. "Ah, Yahiko-kun sure is loyal. Glad to hear it. Please, have some of these biscuits before you head back."
As the two students left with full stomachs, Kanzaki Ryuji approached Ichinose.
"Did you get it?" Kanzaki whispered.
"Yahiko is always sticking to Katsuragi," Ichinose murmured, her bright blue eyes flashing sharply—the glint of a merchant who had just turned a massive profit. "Their movement patterns indicate that Yahiko is holding something important. Likely the key card."
Ichinose looked around her luxurious camp. She had spent nearly 150 points on the very first day. To most people, this was an insane waste.
But Ichinose remembered the lesson from Seiji Koroizumi: If you need something, create value.
She had created "value" in the form of comfort amidst hell. And she was selling that comfort for the price of "information."
"This water and food is an investment, Kanzaki-kun," Ichinose said quietly. "The longer this exam goes on, the more desperate the other classes will become. And when they get desperate, they will come to me. And when that happens... I will buy all of their secrets."
Class 1-C's Camp (Riverbank)
The night grew deeper.
Seiji Koroizumi sat on the branch of a large tree shading their logistics tent. From this vantage point, he could monitor the camp's perimeter while enjoying the night breeze.
Below him, Sudou, Ike, and Yamauchi were already snoring loudly inside the boys' tent. They were exhausted after a hard day's work building the toilet and gathering firewood. Seiji's strategy of making them feel "useful" had successfully silenced their complaints.
"Reporting, Shadow Commander."
A whispered voice came from below. Kushida Kikyo stood by the tree roots, looking up at Seiji. In the darkness, her "angelic" face was faint, replaced by the serious expression of a spy.
Seiji dropped down silently, landing with bent knees to absorb the impact.
"How was your evening stroll, Kushida-san?"
"Interesting," Kushida smirked. "I dropped by near Class D's territory. They're pathetic. Ryuen is forcing them to drink river water. Some are already getting stomach aches. Their morale is in the gutter, but their fear of Ryuen is keeping their mouths shut."
"Terror tactics," Seiji commented. "Effective in the short term, fragile in the long run. What about Class A?"
Kushida's face soured slightly. "That's the dangerous one. Ichinose has opened a 'charity stall'. She has a water tank, a generator, even a comfortable portable toilet. She's handing out resources to passing students from other classes."
Seiji chuckled. "Nurufufufu... So she actually did it."
"Did what?"
"Market monopoly," Seiji explained. "She knew Ryuen and Katsuragi would play stingy. So she positioned herself as the 'savior'. A starving man will trade anything for a piece of bread—including their class's secrets."
Kushida gave a small shudder. "That girl... beneath her innocent smile, she's quite terrifying too. She's weaponizing her kindness."
"That's the exact evolution I was hoping for," Seiji said proudly, though his eyes remained vigilant. "Class A is our biggest threat in this information war. We have to make sure none of our students go 'shopping' over there."
"Don't worry," Kushida said. "Kei has already locked down the girls' mouths. And as for those idiot boys... as long as their stomachs are full of Horikita's cooking (which was actually cooked by Hirata), they won't go wandering off."
Suddenly, the bushes across the river rustled.
Kushida instantly shifted her expression back to that of a cute, frightened girl. Seiji pivoted his body, adopting a relaxed yet alert stance.
A shadowy figure emerged.
Ibuki Mio from Class D. The girl was soaking wet, having apparently just waded across the river. She carried two empty water bottles.
Ibuki was startled to see Seiji and Kushida. She immediately fell into a martial arts stance.
"Oh, Ibuki-san?" Kushida greeted her with a sweet, trembling voice. "Are you... going to attack us?"
Ibuki clicked her tongue. "Tch. Move aside. I just want to get some water upstream. The water near our camp tastes like mud."
Seiji observed Ibuki. Her lips were chapped, her eyes sunken. Mild dehydration.
Ryuen was truly torturing his subordinates.
"Go right ahead," Seiji said, stepping aside from the path leading to the river. "The river water belongs to nature. We haven't claimed it."
Ibuki eyed Seiji suspiciously, then hurried to fill her bottles from the clear stream. Once full, she turned to leave, but her footsteps halted.
She stared at the pile of dry firewood and the comfortable-looking tents in Class C's camp. There was a fleeting look of longing in her eyes, before she quickly masked it with a sharp glare.
"Don't think I owe you anything," Ibuki snapped, then vanished back into the dark jungle.
"Pathetic," Kushida commented, her tone flat after Ibuki left. "She's loyal to the wrong king."
"Loyalty born from suffering is strong, Kushida," Seiji said. "But it's also highly explosive. We'll just let Ryuen pile up gunpowder in his own class."
Seiji looked up at the night sky.
"Tomorrow, we begin our move to claim the Spots. Is Matsushita ready?"
"She's sleeping hugging her key card," Kushida replied. "She's an excellent actress. Earlier today, she was complaining about breaking a nail in front of everyone, but her eyes never stopped tracking Ibuki's scouting movements."
"Good. Our Invisible Hydra is safe."
Seiji climbed back up the tree with the agility of a monkey—or an octopus.
"Get some sleep, Kushida. You'll have to put your angel mask back on tomorrow. That must be exhausting."
"Better than being a zombie like Ryuen's class," Kushida muttered, then walked toward the girls' tent.
Up in the tree, Seiji closed his eyes, though his hearing remained active.
This survival game wasn't about who was physically strongest. It was about who was smartest at managing basic human needs.
Ryuen suppressed those needs. Ichinose fulfilled them at a high price. Sakayanagi ignored them for the sake of defense.
And Class C... Class C was attempting to balance them.
Let's see which philosophy survives until day 7, Seiji thought, before allowing his consciousness to drift into a light sleep.
The Next Morning - Spot 1 (Shaded Cave)
The sun had just risen, but Class C's special unit was already on the move.
The team consisted of Horikita Suzune, Hirata Yosuke, and of course, Matsushita Chiaki, who blended into the middle of the group as an "escort."
Their target was a small cave on the northern cliff, marked as a Spot on their map. Controlling this Spot would grant them 1 bonus point every 8 hours.
"Area clear," Hirata reported after checking the surroundings of the cave. "No one is around."
Suzune nodded. She stood in front of the card scanner machine embedded in the rock wall.
"Matsushita-san," Suzune ordered without turning her head.
With a swift, practiced motion, Matsushita pulled the key card from inside her jersey. She didn't hand it to Suzune. She swiped it against the machine herself.
Beep. The indicator light turned green.
[Spot Claimed: Class 1-C]
Matsushita immediately hid the card back away.
"Done," Matsushita whispered. "That was easy."
"Don't let your guard down," Suzune warned. "Now we have to guard it. The rules state we must maintain ownership. Hirata-kun, set up a watch schedule."
Just as they were about to leave the cave, the nearby bushes rustled.
Katsuragi Kohei from Class B emerged, followed by Yahiko.
Katsuragi's face grew stiff when he saw the green light on the scanner machine.
"I see you beat us to it," Katsuragi said, his voice heavy. "Horikita. You move fast."
"Good morning, Katsuragi-kun," Suzune greeted calmly. "First come, first served. That is the basic principle."
Katsuragi's eyes stared at Suzune, then shifted to Hirata, and briefly glossed over Matsushita, who was busy tying her shoelace (a perfect performance of an "ordinary girl").
"So you're the one holding the key, Horikita?" Katsuragi asked, probing.
"Perhaps," Suzune answered ambiguously. "Or perhaps it's Hirata-kun. Or maybe we gave it to a forest monkey."
Katsuragi didn't laugh. He signaled to Yahiko. "Let's go. We'll find another Spot."
As Class B walked away, Matsushita stood back up. A faint smile was carved onto her face.
"He didn't even look at me twice," Matsushita whispered to Suzune. "Seiji's strategy worked. I am completely invisible."
Suzune let out a sigh of relief. "Good. But this is only one Spot. The real war has only just begun."
In the distance, hidden behind the dense jungle foliage, a pair of eyes was watching them. It wasn't Katsuragi, nor was it Ryuen.
It was Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, carrying a bucket of water.
They're playing a tight game, Ayanokouji thought to himself. Matsushita is playing her role perfectly. But...
Ayanokouji looked at the footprints in the mud left by Katsuragi.
Katsuragi brought Yahiko with him. Always.
That pattern... was too obvious.
Ayanokouji continued his walk back to the river. He didn't need to intervene. Not yet. He only needed to gather data, just like he always did.
The island exam was beginning to heat up, and Ichinose's "black market" of information was starting to open branches in every corner of the forest.
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