Meanwhile—
At the waterfall spot, the one closest to the camp.
Ryūen handed the flashlight he was holding to Nishino, crouched in front of the card reader, took out his phone, turned it on, and prepared to connect a Bluetooth device.
"This is…" Nishino glanced at the small lens on the card reader, recalling the one back at the camp, and asked with some uncertainty, "Is that a pinhole camera?"
Ryūen replied calmly, "Yes. All spots have them, except for Class B's campsite."
"I admit this method is viable…" Tokitō hesitated for a moment before retorting stubbornly, "But that still doesn't explain why you're not occupying the spots."
"I don't do pointless things." Ryūen gave him a dismissive glance, scrolled through the empty audio files on his phone, then stood up and left without another word.
He was already planning to sell out his leader, so why would he swipe the card? If someone saw him doing it, it would be a total loss, wouldn't it?
With that, the three of them—one in front, two behind—walked for a while longer and soon arrived at the well spot.
This spot was currently occupied by Class D. It had a well as a water source, but its disadvantage was that the surrounding trees were very dense, and the area wasn't very spacious.
When the three arrived, the members of Class D were each holding a set of mineral water and nutritional supplements. However, they hadn't started eating yet. Instead, they were gathered together in a heated argument:
Sudō roared furiously, "Are you kidding me! That bastard Kōenji!"
"Seriously, that guy is just too reckless!" a girl complained.
Having just finished distributing dinner, Kushida walked into the crowd and asked with a hint of confusion, "What's wrong?"
Teruhiko Yukimura explained through gritted teeth, "Kōenji said he wasn't feeling well and went back to the cruise ship!"
Hirata sighed, rubbing his forehead. "In short, based on the review, Class D was penalized 30 points. According to the rules, Kōenji must remain on the ship for treatment or on standby until the exam is over."
"My, my," Ryūen said with a smile as he emerged from the woods, shining a flashlight. "Looks like we've come at a bad time."
"Ryūen! Are you here to cause trouble?!" Sudō rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to fight at a moment's notice.
Ryūen sneered, "Get out of my way. I don't particularly enjoy talking to red-haired baboons."
"Ryūen! You bastard!"
"Sudō, calm down!" Hirata didn't dare let him start a fight and quickly grabbed his arm, trying to persuade him with a hint of exasperation. "You still haven't paid off those 500,000 points from last time. Do you want to eat the mountain vegetable set for three years?"
"!!!" Sudō froze as if someone had hit his pressure point, his aggressive aura completely deflating. He had already been eating the mountain vegetable set for three whole months; just hearing the words made him want to vomit. Three years of that? Unthinkable.
Seeing the red-haired baboon restrained, Ryūen snorted and casually glanced at their campsite, where not even the tents were properly set up. With his hands in his pockets, he looked at Hirata and teased nonchalantly, "From the looks of it, are you all planning to sleep out in the wild tonight?"
"We have other plans, for the time being," Hirata said, calmly changing the subject. "Ryūen-kun, is there something you need from us?"
Ryūen pulled a keycard from his pocket. Pinching it between two fingers, he showed the blank side to the Class D students and said casually, "Let's make a deal. I'll sell you the identity of our class's leader. You get the score, I get the points."
As he finished speaking, the Class D students looked at each other in confusion. Tokitō, in particular, felt his vision go dark and nearly lost his footing, shouting, "Ryūen! You…"
"Shut up."
Ryūen shot him a sideways glance before turning to Hirata. "You should understand," he said calmly. "The number of Class Points at stake in this exam is frighteningly high. This might be your only chance to turn things around. I'm offering you fifty points right now. Are you going to refuse?"
He left little room for argument, but in truth, Ryūen himself wasn't entirely confident. His sales pitch would be a guaranteed success with Class A or B, but it wasn't certain to work on Class D—who knew if they even wanted to reach Class A.
Across from him, Hirata did indeed hesitate. He turned to look at his classmates, only to see that Yamauchi had already approached. Hirata couldn't help but smile and ask, "Yamauchi-kun, do you have something in mind?"
"Huh? No, no! I just thought…"
Haruki Yamauchi waved his hand dismissively. Under Ryūen's somewhat amused gaze, he knocked the keycard from his hand to the ground. He then crouched down, picked it up, glanced at the name on it, and said with a laugh, "What's this? So it's that big oaf Albert!"
Click~! —The sound of a camera shutter.
The smile on Yamauchi's face froze instantly.
Ryūen glanced at the photo on his phone, focusing on Yamauchi's frozen smile to confirm it was clear enough, then casually put the phone back in his pocket. He waved his hand and smiled. "Since you wanted it so badly, you can have the keycard. See you all in a week."
With that, Ryūen left the dumbfounded Yamauchi and Hirata behind and turned to leave without hesitation.
Meanwhile, in a corner of the camp, Ayanokōji turned to look at Horikita sitting beside him, a rare hint of exasperation in his eyes. According to the rules of this exam, forcefully taking another person's belongings would result in the entire class being disqualified. Now, they had no choice but to buy the information on that keycard.
Beside him, Suzune Horikita had clearly realized this as well. She stood up and said coldly, "Stop! We'll buy it."
"Alright. The price is now 100 points," Ryūen said calmly, without turning around.
Suzune Horikita replied composedly, "Class D only has 200 Class Points in total. The most we can offer is 50."
"Then the price is now 150 points," Ryūen said, casually extorting them.
Yamauchi, furious and ashamed, yelled, "Hey, hey, this is blackmail! Worst case, we just forfeit the exam!"
"..." Suzune Horikita fell silent for a moment. After some thought, she decided Yamauchi had a point and said calmly, "You should know that it's difficult for Class D to earn that many points in this exam. For 150 points, we might as well just withdraw."
Ryūen sneered. "And how is that my problem?"
Ever since he lost out in a negotiation with that old geezer from the shopping district, he had learned a valuable truth—when you're extorting someone, you can't be soft-hearted, and you absolutely can't consider how much money they have. Just stick to your price, and you can't go wrong.
Suzune Horikita rubbed her forehead in defeat. "100 points. You delete the photo, and we'll call Chabashira-sensei over to sign a contract."
Ryūen finally turned around, a rare, unrestrained smile spreading across his face. "Alright. A pleasure doing business with you."
The right time and place are nothing compared to the human factor.
Plans can never keep up with change.
—On the first day of the special exam, a certain god-tier individual delivered Ryūen a little taste of the Class D experience.
How gratifying~!
...
_____
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