Having been rebuffed by "Hiyori Shiina," Horikita and Ayanokōji didn't linger and quickly left the Class C camp.
On the way back to their camp, Ayanokōji looked at Horikita, who was forcing herself to walk beside him, and asked calmly, "Are you feeling all right?"
"So you noticed," Horikita stopped, letting out an almost inaudible sigh, her tone complicated.
Does a weak body make one's personality weaker, too? Ayanokōji wondered, looking at her state. After a moment's thought, he pointed out, "Your subconscious movements are a bit too obvious. That student, Shiina, probably noticed as well."
"How would you know that?"
Horikita tilted her head in confusion, not understanding how he'd reached such a conclusion.
"You just said something that was practically a provocation. Given her usual personality, she wouldn't have answered you so gently," Ayanokōji replied casually, then asked as if it were an afterthought, "So, are you going to retire from the exam?"
Suzune Horikita shook her head and continued walking, her tone firm. "It's fine. It's just a slight fever. It won't affect this exam."
"I see..." Ayanokōji murmured noncommittally, silently following behind her.
Just a moment ago, he had noticed a subtle difference between Class C's spot terminal and the one in their own camp. He also had a good guess as to the purpose of the smartphone in Ryūen's hands.
Moreover, for Class C to so brazenly abandon a spot... If his suspicions were correct, this exam probably wouldn't end peacefully.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere—
Outside the tower spot, Ryūen looked at the two boys blocking his way and said with a cold smile, "If I recall correctly... you're Morishige and Machida from Class A, right? Did Katsuragi tell you to stand guard here? This stakeout strategy is such a boring trick."
Although his own surveillance plan was more or less the same, that didn't stop him from commenting.
Across from him, Morishige held a branch, pointing it at Ryūen like a weapon as he retorted mockingly, "A simple strategy doesn't stop it from being effective."
As he spoke, Morishige gave Machida a look.
Machida hesitated for a moment, seemingly intimidated by Ryūen's reputation for violence, but still stepped forward. "This is a Class A spot. I need to confirm you haven't taken any of our usable items. You should understand, right? This doesn't count as an act of violence."
This was their pre-determined strategy: use the pretext of checking for items to confirm whether the person scouting them out was a class leader.
With that, Machida reached for Ryūen's jacket pocket. Under Ryūen's slightly strange gaze, he pulled out an island map.
"What's this?" Machida unfolded the paper, confused. Staring at the meticulously detailed map of the island, he said, stunned, "No way! There's something like this in the exam?"
"What is it?" Morishige asked, not understanding his reaction, and curiously shifted his attention to the map in his hands.
Seeing this, Ryūen silently took out his phone, opened the camera, and started recording—from the wooden stick nearly touching his neck, to Morishige holding it level, and then to Machida, who was unfolding and looking at the map...
His thumb released—click~!
"I have to admit, you were right just now."
Ryūen held out his phone to show the video, teasing them with a smile, "A simple strategy really is quite useful. So useful, in fact, that it doesn't stop me from using it twice."
He was already surprised by that mastermind in Class D, but he didn't expect another surprise from Class A. Should he say he had overestimated Class A? This was a bit too careless of them.
Morishige and Machida: The smiles on their faces gradually vanished.
A while later, outside the cave spot, Ryūen pulled the same stunt. He accepted a contract worth 100 class points from Katsuragi, then thought for a moment before saying, "Since you're being so cooperative, I'll give you a piece of intel for free."
As he spoke, Ryūen glanced around, his gaze lingering for a moment on Hashimoto and Kamuro. A sly glint flashed in his eyes as he sneered:
"Before this special exam began, I sold 200 temporary class points to Class B. Are you prepared? To fall from your position as Class A."
"Temporary class points can be traded?" Kamuro asked, confused.
"No way? You can do that?" someone said in disbelief.
"The rules certainly didn't mention it," Hashimoto said nonchalantly, folding his arms.
"There must be a limit. If you could really do that, then two classes could just cooperate and easily get several hundred class points. Class A would have no chance of winning," someone analyzed calmly.
The person who said this was a girl with delicate features. Her black hair was tied in a braid that fell over her chest, and she had a conspicuous mole by the corner of her mouth, giving her a sly, fox-like look—Ryōko Nishikawa of Class A.
Ryūen gave her a brief glance, silently making a mental note of her.
At the same time, Teacher Mashima, who had come over to witness the contract, thought for a moment and explained calmly, "Regarding that point, the school has a supplementary clause—at the end of the special exam, a maximum of 300 base class points will be calculated."
"Even the full score is outrageous!" Yahiko was clearly not convinced.
Teacher Mashima glanced at him, his expression unchanging, and shook his head. "The school's reasoning is simple—if you can't even overcome this small difficulty, then the position of Class A can be given to another class."
His words were harsh, and intentionally so.
He had long noticed that some students used their Class A status to belittle the lower-ranked classes, acting with a degree of recklessness. His words today were both a warning and a reminder—if they were [unqualified], the school would never mind replacing Class A.
Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of many students in the group changed—some were confident, some frowned, some were unfazed, and others simply couldn't accept it.
Clearly, not everyone in Class A was outstanding enough to deserve the head start the school had given them.
Meanwhile, Katsuragi remained unmoved. After a moment of thought, he stepped forward and asked, "Ryūen, what are you trying to say?"
If what Ryūen said was true, then Class B would gain at least 300 class points by the end of this exam. That number far exceeded the score he had anticipated for Class A and was something he absolutely could not accept.
"Looks like you get it now," Ryūen said with a smile, waving the 100-point contract in his hand. "Then let me give you another piece of intel—I've signed a contract like this with both Class B and Class D."
Katsuragi frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Tch~!" Ryūen scoffed. Looking at the slow-witted Katsuragi, he pulled out Class C's key card from his pocket, showing the name "Albert Yamada" on it, and said calmly, "You should know this, right? All a leader has to do is retire from the exam, and they can be replaced."
Katsuragi's pupils contracted—he truly hadn't thought of that.
Noticing his expression, Ryūen sneered and continued, "At the same time, according to the exam rules, guessing the leader incorrectly results in a deduction of 50 temporary points."
"And my meaning is simple—how many points do you think you'd have to pay to make me betray my allies, sell out my credibility, and help you stab them in the back!"
As his words fell, a chill went down the spines of the Class A students. They looked at Ryūen, alarm bells ringing wildly in their minds.
Now came the question:
In this special exam, Class A's only chance to turn the tables was right in front of them. Would they buy this dagger?
...
______
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