Unexpected

Sakura's little face had been flushed for nearly an hour.

Zhuge Linghao wondered if she was suffering from heatstroke.

Sakura suddenly pointed at something. "Th-there seems to be a path here, leading to... that cave?"

Zhuge Linghao followed the path with his eyes. The view opened up at the end, where there really did seem to be a man-made cave.

Sakura guessed, "Could this be the so-called stronghold? Sh-should we go take a look together?"

Zhuge Linghao nodded. "Probably, but we don't know if anyone's inside. Let's wait ten minutes before going in."

Sakura blinked her big eyes. "Y-you're right. We should wait a bit."

As soon as she finished speaking, two people walked out of the cave!

Bald-headed Katsuragi Kohei and green-haired Totsuka Yahiko!

Zhuge Linghao hurriedly pulled Sakura Airi behind a large tree!

At that moment, Zhuge Linghao remembered what Chabashira-sensei had emphasized.

[Each time a stronghold is occupied, the class earns 1 SP. A stronghold can only be occupied for 8 hours.

Only a class's Leader can declare a stronghold occupied.

The Key Card needed to occupy a stronghold will be given to the Leader.

Additionally, before roll call on the seventh day, if a class correctly guesses another class's Leader, it will earn 50 SP. If the guess is wrong, it will lose 50 SP.]

Zhuge Linghao smiled confidently. He seemed to remember this part of the story!

The Key Card in the bald guy's hand was a decoy. The real Leader was Totsuka Yahiko!

But Zhuge Linghao seemed to have forgotten someone!

Because Zhuge Linghao had moved a little roughly and there was barely any room to hide, Sakura Airi was now frozen in an extremely compromising pose.

Zhuge Linghao was crouching in front, while Sakura Airi was half-crouched, leaning over him!

Her ample chest trembled, hovering right above Zhuge Linghao's head!

Bald-headed Katsuragi swept his sharp gaze over the area. He thought he'd heard something just now.

Totsuka Yahiko exclaimed excitedly, "We're so lucky! We occupied a stronghold as soon as we got to the island!"

Bald-headed Katsuragi denied it. "Lucky? I picked our target before we even landed. Coming here was inevitable."

Bald-headed Katsuragi continued scanning their surroundings. "We need to be careful. Someone might be listening nearby. You too—don't make even the slightest mistake."

"Before we landed, the cruise ship deliberately circled the island. That was the clue!"

"From the ship's deck, we could see the paths cleared through the forest. After that, we just had to take the shortest route!"

Totsuka Yahiko looked at him admiringly. "You saw through the school's intentions? That's amazing! Now even Sakayanagi won't have anything to say!"

After bald-headed Katsuragi and Totsuka Yahiko left, Zhuge Linghao stood up and realized that his head seemed to have bumped into something soft!

Sakura let out an "Ahhh!" and toppled to the ground. She curled up like a hedgehog, her body twitching awkwardly.

Zhuge Linghao was startled and asked worriedly, "Sakura? Are you okay?"

Sakura's face grew even redder as she made an incomprehensible sound. "Eek, eek, I-I-I'm fine!"

Inside the cave, Zhuge Linghao and Sakura Airi inspected the electronic equipment.

Zhuge Linghao said, "This really is a stronghold. Look at this device. It says, 'Class A, 7 hours and 50 minutes remaining...'"

Sakura Airi nodded. "Mm-hm. Zhuge-kun, you saw it too, right? C-could the bald guy with the Key Card be the Leader? We seem to have stumbled on a huge secret!"

Zhuge Linghao smiled at Sakura Airi. "Looks like you really are our class's lucky charm! I'll tell Hirata about your huge contribution to the class!"

Zhuge and Sakura returned to the rest area.

Hirata asked them, "Thanks for your hard work, you two. Where's Koenji?"

Zhuge Linghao blinked and replied helplessly, "If I had to guess, he's already withdrawn from the exam!"

As soon as Zhuge Linghao said that, the whole class started talking at once!

"This guy's so irresponsible!"

"Seriously, we're going to lose 30 SP on the first day?"

"Are you kidding me? What's Koenji's deal?"

"Damn it, he doesn't care about the class's honor or interests at all!"

Ayanokoji pulled Zhuge aside and spoke quietly with him.

Ayanokoji said without emotion, "Did you make Koenji withdraw from the exam? I remember Chabashira-sensei's goal was to get us into Class A, right? In theory, saving SP should be the most important thing."

Zhuge Linghao replied, "I'm not that capable! But his withdrawal should actually save the class quite a lot of SP, shouldn't it?"

Ayanokoji looked at Zhuge Linghao's delicate profile. "What do you mean?"

Zhuge Linghao prompted him, "What kind of person do you think Koenji is?"

Ayanokoji didn't answer. He launched into some rapid-fire deductions and offered one possibility.

"Koenji is naturally unruly, so there's a good chance he'll miss the 8 p.m. roll call. Each absence costs 5 SP, so just six absences would cost him 30 SP. I can't even imagine how much we'd lose if he missed every roll call..."

"Then there's his unpredictability. He might pollute the environment one day without even realizing it, and each instance of pollution costs 20 SP. So you figured that letting him withdraw would save the class more SP, right?"

Zhuge Linghao nodded, then emphasized, "That's right, but you got one thing wrong! I really didn't make Koenji withdraw from the exam. I'm not capable of that! He was going to withdraw on his own!"

Ayanokoji had an expression that said, I get it, I get it.

Zhuge Linghao sighed. Ayanokoji's getting carried away with his assumptions again!

Just then, Hirata Yosuke said excitedly, "Ike and the others found a stronghold with a water source. Let's hurry over!"

Kanji Ike had taken off his shirt. He emerged from a small river and asked the others, "What do you think? This would make a pretty good base, right?"

Karuizawa Kei approved. "Not bad! The water's really clean, and there are lots of fish and shrimp over there!"

The other students from Class D joined in, praising Ike and the others.

Hirata walked over to a waist-high device and read the words on it aloud. "Only the class that occupies this stronghold may use it."

Then Hirata called everyone over and asked, "Should we set up camp here? Should we occupy this stronghold?"

Kanji Ike replied confidently, "Of course we should! Once we occupy it, we'll be able to use the resources here, right? And we'll get bonus points every eight hours."

Hirata nodded. "That's right. The Leader will need to refresh the stronghold every eight hours."

Karuizawa Kei, standing nearby, said, "Right. We can't let the other classes see who the Leader is, can we?"

Yamauchi Haruki had a good idea. "Then we can all stand in a circle and hide the Leader!"

Hirata asked those around him for their opinions. Most of them voted in favor!

Seeing how united the class was, Hirata Yosuke smiled brightly. "Great! Let's do what Yamauchi suggested. Now we just need to decide who'll be the Leader!"

Just then, Kushida stepped forward!

She waved to everyone. "Follow me. Let's find a quiet, secluded place to discuss it!"

She found a grassy patch where the grass was about half a meter tall and asked everyone to crouch down and whisper.

Kushida Kikyo quietly suggested, "Hirata and Karuizawa would both make good Leaders, but the other classes could easily guess them. So how about choosing someone who's harder to guess? What do you think?"

Hirata, Karuizawa, and the others nodded in agreement.

Then Kushida Kikyo pointed at Horikita Suzune... and the Zhuge Linghao behind her. "I nominate Zhuge Linghao for Leader!"

Zhuge Linghao was utterly shocked. Kikyo-chan! Are you seriously changing the plot on your own? What am I supposed to do now?