Chapter 216 Koenji Rokusuke: I Will Not Withdraw from the Island Exam
Within a few minutes, almost all the students in the class had gathered.
On the other side, Horikita Suzune, Kushida Kikyo, Karuizawa Kei, and a few other girls responsible for cooking had already properly processed the five pieces of wild game.
Shimizu Akira had observed closely earlier: not only had the fur been completely removed, but the internal organs had been cleared after gutting, and the cavities were rinsed repeatedly with fresh water until all blood and impurities were washed away.
The prey had been sliced into relatively uniform chunks with a kitchen knife.
However, the girls requested that the boys provide a few dozen suitable tree branches to serve as meat skewers—you need skewers to grill meat, after all. Since everyone had picked up plenty of branches while out earlier, they specifically selected a portion to use.
Additionally, they needed to build two simple hearths. With so many people, two grilling stations were clearly more appropriate. Yet, a portion of the group struggled for a long time, finding even the act of starting a fire to be a challenge.
Although the school provided matches, starting a fire was far from simple: choosing the right size of stones, how to build a stable hearth that wouldn't collapse, and even how to arrange the firewood were all matters of expertise.
But for Shimizu Akira, this was no difficult task. He specifically found some suitable large rocks by the shore and easily built a sturdy hearth; Class D's first campfire finally roared to life. As for the second campfire, Ike Kanji took charge of lighting it—after all, he possessed knowledge of outdoor camping.
The two immediately earned a round of praise from their classmates. Shimizu was unfazed, but Ike scratched his head sheepishly, clearly unaccustomed to such a scene. Having contributed almost nothing to the class in previous months, he felt somewhat awkward now that he was finally being useful.
Afterward, everyone split into two groups, with boys and girls interspersed sitting around the campfires. Horikita Suzune had already picked up the prepared skewers and was flipping them over the fire; fat dripped onto the charcoal, instantly sending up small bursts of flame.
From time to time, she picked up the BBQ seasoning packets nearby, lightly shaking her wrist so that cumin and chili powder evenly coated the meat, making the aroma even richer.
On the other side, Kushida Kikyo and Karuizawa Kei were not idle. The former smiled as she distributed plastic bags to serve as disposable gloves, while the latter carefully placed skewers on the other grill, occasionally letting out a soft "ah" when a spark flew, before continuing with a smile. Several girls helping out surrounded them, chatting and laughing while passing seasoning or water; it was quite lively.
After another ten minutes, Horikita finally picked up a skewer grilled to a crispy fragrance and specifically handed it to Shimizu among the crowd: "You eat first."
Shimizu had actually been hungry for a long while, so he couldn't wait to take a large bite. The meat juices instantly exploded on his tongue; the fatty but not greasy texture wrapped in a salty, savory, and slightly spicy flavor made him squint his eyes in satisfaction: "Delicious! Very good!"
These words seemed to act as a signal, and everyone collectively swallowed their saliva. The only flaw was that there were forty people in the class, so when split up, each person could only get one skewer at most. However, the portion of this one skewer was quite substantial—it was easily equivalent to three or four skewers of the BBQ they usually ate. At this time, everyone took out the food packages ordered from the school and ate them along with the BBQ; it tasted exceptionally sweet.
The meat Horikita grilled was the most fragrant, though she handed over the task after a few skewers, much to the disappointment of the others. After finishing the grilling, she unconsciously sat down next to Shimizu and asked, "Since when did you know how to hunt? Kushida-san said you've been a hunter since you were a child?"
"I saw it in books; I don't have a father who was a hunter," Shimizu answered honestly after thinking about it. How could he have a so-called "childhood"? He was clearly sent directly to this world by the system.
In other words, he was a man without a past—though that sounded way too "chunibyo," so a direct denial was more appropriate.
"You guys..." Horikita Suzune frowned slightly. She wanted to ask about the two of them going out at noon, but then realized she had no standing to pry into such private matters, so she swallowed her words.
Shimizu didn't mind this and instead looked at her, suggesting on a whim: "Horikita, why don't we cooperate? You help me grill meat from time to time, and I'll pay you extra private points, plus all the grilled meat you can eat. What do you think?"
He recalled the five BBQ seasoning packs he had specifically exchanged for. Although hunting wasn't hard for him, he wasn't skilled at processing the prey or grilling the meat—the best he could do was make it edible, but the taste was far inferior to Horikita's. He certainly wasn't full yet; this meal was at most an appetizer, leaving him only half-full. To him, he'd need to eat at least one whole rabbit to feel comfortable.
Horikita Suzune nodded without hesitation: "Fine. However, I don't need private points—as long as I get to eat grilled meat every day, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement for me. But you have to provide me with extra BBQ seasoning packets." Being able to eat BBQ for every meal on a deserted island was already a rare luxury; having enough seasoning was sufficient
for the effort of cooking. "However, when you went out the first time, you caught more than just two pieces of prey, didn't you?"
"Eh?"
"I looked at those three pieces of prey you just brought back; they didn't look like they died within the last two hours," Horikita Suzune replied after a thought.
"I see... you even noticed that." Shimizu was stunned, only then realizing that his attempt to hide the food had been seen through so easily. Had she actually noticed details like the time of death of a rabbit?
"...Who do you think I am?" A faint, shallow curve rose at the corner of Horikita's mouth. After all, this was a rare "defeat" for Shimizu Akira. He was someone who was very stingy with praise; just like her brother, he spent most of his time picking apart the logical loopholes in her words and pointing them out incisively. It wasn't often he'd bluntly admit to being stumped by her.
Horikita then asked when she should go to find him and the specific time for cooking.
"Around twelve noon tomorrow, just come to my tent to find me." Shimizu set the time according to his usual meal schedule, though one meal of grilled meat a day was enough—there was no need for it at breakfast; eating some wild fruit in the morning would suffice.
Horikita unconsciously pursed her lips. What did he mean by "come to his tent to find him"? Those words sounded vaguely concerning for some reason.
After another ten minutes, while everyone was eating heartily, Yamauchi Haruki smelled the food and slunk over, thick-skinned enough to try and beg for a skewer.
However, he was directly driven away by a sharp-eyed Sudo Ken, leaving Shimizu not knowing what to say.
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After the whole class had eaten and drunk their fill, Hirata Yosuke finally brought up the key issue—the election of the Leader.
As soon as he finished speaking, Kushida Kikyo chimed in, stating that Shimizu Akira, Hirata Yosuke, Karuizawa Kei, and herself were not suitable to be leaders.
Her reasoning was that the four of them were quite high-profile in Class D; if they took the role, it would be easy for other classes to guess the identity of the Leader. Regarding responsibility and ability, she personally felt Horikita Suzune was more suitable and proposed her for the position.
Although Horikita gave Kushida a surprised look, she showed no intention of refusing and accepted the role with great confidence. Of course, they still decided to choose several "decoy" leaders to clock in at the device three times a day at fixed intervals—other classes, unless they were stupid, would likely adopt this strategy as well.
Hirata Yosuke also took the opportunity to report the Special Exam Points spent throughout the day. Class D's expenses today were quite high: 20 points for the temporary toilet, 20 points for two eight-person tents, 20 points used by Shimizu Akira, 25 points for walkie-talkies, the cooking set, seasoning, and the water heater, plus 10 points for a basic water and food package for the whole class. Altogether, Class D had spent 95 Special Exam Points in a single day.
This made Shimizu realize that today's spending was indeed significant, and his share seemed quite large. Overall, however, these points were spent out of necessity—toilets, tents, and walkie-talkies were essential for survival and coordination. Spending would definitely be highest on the first day, and things would likely improve afterward.
Excluding the seventh day, there were five days left. Fortunately, Kushida had already mentioned a drinkable water source, and since everyone received a bottle of mineral water in the first basic package, bottles were no longer in short supply. Now that they had a kettle to boil water, they wouldn't need to buy extra mineral water in future basic packages.
The manual stated clearly that if food or water were ordered individually by the class, each meal would cost 6 points each; but if they chose a package, 10 points per meal would solve both food and drink. Thus, they could just buy the food package from now on, and with Shimizu hunting from time to time to provide meat, they could save even more on food points. Shimizu calculated that by the seventh day, they could save about 150 Special Exam Points. Of course, this was assuming no accidents. If someone in the class fell ill and withdrew, it would cost a 30-point deduction.
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After eight o'clock, Shimizu quickly left after signing in, saying only that he had an important matter to handle. No one found it strange, assuming he went for a night hunt. However, Horikita Suzune felt his movements were suspicious—with Shimizu's ability, why would he need a specific night hunt? What was the "important matter" he mentioned?
Before she could think further, Hirata Yosuke walked over and proactively handed her a card. It was the key card for the camp. Horikita raised an eyebrow; as the Leader of Class D, she naturally took the key card. Then, together with several other students pretending to be leaders, she went to the clock-in device to complete the class check-in. She glanced at the
screen, which clearly displayed the "D" identifier and the corresponding occupation countdown.
When she returned to the campfire, someone suddenly spoke: "Why does it seem like someone is missing?"
Horikita then specifically counted the people present. Excluding the already departed Shimizu Akira, Class D currently had only thirty-eight people present. At this time, a classmate added: "The one missing is Koenji Rokusuke! He was in our group, but shortly after we went out, he climbed a tree and started swinging between trees like a pendulum, shouting 'I'm too beautiful!' and then he vanished! We couldn't keep up no matter how we chased."
Horikita Suzune helplessly held her forehead.
One could only say that Koenji Rokusuke was that kind of person—free-spirited and seemingly unbound by any rules. She even felt that if this guy suddenly quit the exam to go back to the ship and enjoy the free facilities, it wouldn't be surprising at all.
Just then, another classmate seemed to realize something and cried out: "Wait! When we clocked in at 8:00 PM, Koenji Rokusuke didn't seem to be here, did he? Haven't we already lost five Special Exam Points because of him?!"
"Yeah! It really seems that way!"
Only then did everyone belatedly realize that because Koenji hadn't clocked in on time, Class D had lost five Special Exam Points for nothing.
"If he doesn't show up for seven days, won't we lose sixty or seventy points!"
"No way! In that case, it'd be better if he just withdrew!"
Sudo Ken and Ike Kanji couldn't help but complain. After all, withdrawing only cost a one-time deduction of 30 points, but if someone like Koenji neither withdrew nor came to clock in every day, the loss would be even greater. It would be more cost-effective if he just quit.
However, just then, speak of the devil. Koenji Rokusuke, soaking wet as if he had just been swimming, walked out of the forest. He walked straight up to the group, tilted his head back, and laughed loudly: "The moonlight is so beautiful! Haha!"
"Koenji, why are you just getting here!"
"Our class lost five points because of you!"
"Can't you come back earlier next time? We have to sign in at 8:00 PM!"
Seeing him, the crowd immediately swarmed around, complaining to him one after another. Koenji, however, acted as if he didn't hear them, casually brushing back his wet blonde hair and saying indifferently, "It's just five points; is it worth such a fuss?"
"What?! What are you saying!"
"That's five points! In other words, five Class Points!"
Everyone spoke out, their dissatisfaction growing deeper. Meanwhile, Horikita Suzune was carefully recalling the exam rules—the rules stated that one must be unwell and verified by the school to withdraw. But since Ryuen Kakeru of Class C intended to have his whole class withdraw, it meant the threshold for withdrawing wasn't actually that strict. Rather than letting Koenji be late every day and lose points, it would be better to spend 30 points at once to have him withdraw; short-term pain is better than long-term pain. After all, this man never followed anyone's orders.
She crossed her arms and stepped forward, proposing in a calm tone: "Koenji-kun, it'd be better if you just withdrew from the exam and went back to the ship to relax. For you, staying on that luxury liner would surely be much more comfortable than eating these basic packages on a deserted island."
"Oh? Horikita-girl has made quite a good suggestion!" Koenji laughed, but his tone carried a rare hint of seriousness.
"Indeed, thirty minutes ago, I was thinking exactly that. But I've changed my mind—I will continue to participate in this island exam and will not miss any future sign-ins."
After saying this, he walked straight to the BBQ area, decisively picked up two large bags of seasoning, and ignored everyone's surprise and dissatisfaction as he carried them back into the forest.
"Ha? Is this guy for real?!"
"What's going on? He actually said he'd clock in on time?!"
"Why did he take the seasoning? Does he know how to hunt too?!"
Everyone was shocked, their eyes following his silhouette. To everyone in Class D, Koenji Rokusuke was always an enigma; no one expected him to suddenly say something like "not missing a sign-in."
Horikita Suzune pondered for a long time, then remembered something as if by a sudden realization. Back in the first month, within a few days of school starting, Shimizu Akira and Kushida Kikyo had seemingly sought out Koenji for something. Although she didn't know the details, Koenji had indeed said in front of everyone later—that he owed Shimizu Akira a "favor."
Thinking of how Shimizu said he had an "important matter" to handle—could it be that Shimizu had said something to Koenji? In this school, if there was truly one person who could make the self-centered Koenji Rokusuke listen, that person could probably only be Shimizu Akira.
'Shimizu-kun... he doesn't seem as 'lazy' as he was in previous months. Has he started to get serious about this island exam? He actually knows how to take the initiative to help save Class Points.'
Horikita's heart stirred as she suddenly realized another key issue.
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