She's the One Stringing Me Along

Asakusa Toru was unaware of what happened after he left, and was completely oblivious to Kito Hayato's impulsive actions.

Without a doubt, in his eyes, this was something Ryuen Kakeru did to frame Sakayanagi Class.

This certainly fits Ryuen Kakeru's habits.

Provocation, setting traps, framing, and entrapment.

These are, of course, what Ryuen Kakeru likes to do most.

However, he made a mistake this time.

"Hahahaha--" Hearing Asakusa Toru's words, Ryuen Kakeru finally burst into laughter. "As expected, even you have things you can't predict!"

"You're mistaken. This sabotage wasn't some frame-up; it was done by Sakayanagi's men themselves!"

Of course, Ryuen Kakeru didn't actually see Kito Hayato throw a punch.

Even before bringing Asakusa Toru along, he wasn't entirely sure that this mistake could be exploited.

Perhaps Asakusa Toru accidentally struck it while capturing a stronghold.

... If that's the case, he might have to suppress his disgust and team up with Sakayanagi Arisu to report Asakusa Toru's violation.

After all, if the destruction was carried out during a battle for a stronghold, then the ownership of the stronghold at that time should still belong to the Sakayanagi Class.

However, judging from its current performance...

Asakusa Toru was unaware of the situation, and all the students in his class were under his control, leaving no room for them to go out and cause trouble. It was clear that only the Sakayanagi Class could have been responsible.

Moreover, the sabotage was carried out after the ownership of the stronghold had changed.

Ryuen Kakeru didn't care what their feelings were when they threw that punch, nor did he want to know.

He only cares about one thing.

"Report it." Stopping his laughter, Ryuen Kakeru looked directly into Asakusa Toru's eyes. "Report their violation, demand the review of the security footage from in front of the base, and disqualify them from the exam immediately."

"Then, I will lead everyone in the class to voluntarily withdraw from the exam, leaving only one 'winner' in this Uninhabited Island Exam."

"Then, as the designated winner, you can join forces with me to put pressure on the school to end the exam early."

Ryuen Kakeru frankly revealed his entire plan.

Asakusa Toru: "..."

The plan sounds great, but frankly, it has very obvious flaws.

One is evidence.

The damage to the screens at the outpost facilities was irrefutable evidence, but it also proved that the perpetrators had recorded footage from their cameras, which they had not obtained.

He can report it, and the school can cooperate with the investigation.

But if Ryuen Kakeru's assertion that "the school is biased towards Sakayanagi Arisu" is entirely true...

The school may not choose to provide the video recording, nor may it confirm this violation.

Even if the exam rules clearly state that anyone who damages the equipment will be disqualified from the exam, the school may not necessarily impose a swift punishment.

After all... who told you that a terminal screen device is necessarily a 'tool'?

Another method is to pressure students into ending the exam early.

The conditions for ending the exam early were ultimately just their speculation. They speculated that if the other three classes all left, leaving only the last class, the school would accept the option to end the exam early, since it was no longer meaningful.

But in reality, this is just pseudo-logic that appears to make sense.

The school's standards of conduct never conform to students' expectations; they only do what is appropriate for their own status.

No one said that the focus of this Special Exam was class competition; from beginning to end, the school only talked about letting them survive on Uninhabited Island.

It is euphemistically called a "Special Exam based on real corporate training" and "highly practical and realistic."

If the school says that the purpose of the exam is not class competition, and that your training ends just because other classes withdraw from the exam, you still have to continue surviving on the island until the exam is over.

What should you, Ryuen Kakeru, do next?

"Let's just leave it be." After Asakusa Toru pointed out these two flaws, Ryuen Kakeru shrugged casually. "What else can I do when he's like this?"

"Just comply and you'll be fine."

The notice that the punishment would be postponed until after the exam already showed a clear bias, but Ryuen Kakeru was not convinced of this and planned to overthrow the power of authority through his own efforts.

That's why this meeting and this plan came about.

This was the only opportunity he could seize during the entire Uninhabited Island Exam.

If what Asakusa Toru said is true, and the school simply shrugs off, then they've completely lost all sense of shame.

Then he would be completely certain of one thing.

This Advanced Nurturing with government backing is nothing more than a playground for the powerful.

The reason they were able to attend this seemingly wonderful school, which offered free tuition and living expenses and a promising future—a bright future called graduating from Class A —was only for one reason.

The Little Princess of the Sakayanagi Family is starting school, so they've hired these people to accompany her.

How interesting!

It was so funny that Ryuen Kakeru laughed until he cried.

What could he do?

Of course, he would obediently follow the little princess around like Kamuro Masumi, Kito Hayato Hashimoto Masayoshi, serving tea and water to the short Little Princess until she finally told her 'father' to reward him with a seat in Class A.

What? You're thinking of catching someone off guard like you did in middle school, shoving a bag over their head in an alley, and beating them up?

He wouldn't dare.

It could trigger a heart attack.

Given the deadly nature of the poison, Ryuen Kakeru wouldn't dare gamble on the possibility that Sakayanagi Arisu.

What is congenital heart disease?

Asakusa Toru: "..."

Ryuen Kakeru spoke with great ease, and his gesture of spreading his hands was also quite magnanimous.

But Asakusa Toru knew very well that this was clearly not because he was broad-minded enough to smile even in the face of the most unfair treatment.

It's simply for very practical reasons.

He was out of ideas.

Looking back carefully, although it's only been two days since the incident on the Uninhabited Island, Ryuen Kakeru has indeed exhausted all his methods.

Reminded by Shiina Hiyori, she realized the true nature of the exam and managed to take her personal belongings off the island.

Realizing the importance of the stronghold, they decisively chose to directly compete with themselves for it.

The moment the starting gun fired in the turnaround sprint, he realized his plan had caught up with him and found a way to turn around and deal with Sakayanagi.

In the end, after his own stronghold was captured by Sakayanagi, he racked his brains to come up with a new scheme to use as leverage to threaten himself, and even seized on the miscalculation made by Sakayanagi Arisu to launch a final assault.

They used every means at their disposal.

If that still doesn't work, then he's truly out of options.

Do whatever you want.

"You've been working pretty hard." With a soft sigh, Asakusa Toru looked at Ryuen Kakeru with pity.

He could somewhat understand Ryuen Kakeru's psychological journey.

However, it is clear that Ryuen Kakeru does not expect to receive pity from others.

"Damn it, stop sighing and just tell me if you're going to finish this or not." He cursed and urged, "If you're not going to do it, I'll start taking over your strongholds. Don't think that I'll obediently follow your orders if you don't cooperate with me."

"I'd rather you didn't agree to it. I haven't even finished using the supplies I bought from Class D yet."

He pretended to provoke him instead.

Although the performance was rather clumsy, watching Ryuen Kakeru's posture Asakusa Toru's was strangely funny.

"Don't rush." He shrugged, raised the camera hanging on his chest, took a picture of the crack in the base, swiped his key card at the base where the countdown had ended, and then turned around. "Let's go to the next base first."

"Your mother!"

With perfect ease, Ryuen Kakeru unleashed another curse.

But this time, he felt much more at ease.

Because this guy's attitude wasn't a rejection.

As expected, after arriving at the next base, Asakusa Toru turned around and extended his hand to the panting Ryuen Kakeru:

"Happy to cooperate!"

Just as Ryuen Kakeru straightened his bent-over waist and raised his head to grasp the hand.

Asakusa Toru then promptly withdrew his hand.

"As expected, I still find shaking hands with men unpleasant," he said. "So, I'll skip the handshake, but the collaboration will continue as usual. After I finish this round, I'll go report the violation to our homeroom teacher."

"Go back and wait for good news, or rather, bad news."

After waving his hand and pausing for a moment, Asakusa Toru swiped his key card at a base that had refreshed somewhat more quickly than the previous ones.

The name 'Class A' and an eight-hour countdown reappeared on the screen.

Chapter 219: She's keeping me hanging on.

Ryuen Kakeru is right.

Asakusa Toru's route for taking photos does have its flaws.

It's about time.

So far, his checkpoint route is divided into two parts.

One section is a coloring game that we did on the day we arrived on the island, while exploring the map.

The entire trip took a little over an hour, with most of the wasted time spent moving between different terrains.

It's Uninhabited Island, not a perfectly flat colored grid.

Relatively speaking, this route takes a long time, with a considerable amount of time spent between each checkpoint.

In other words, it is relatively 'safe'.

Even if you are slowed down by a few minutes, you can still successfully swipe the key card before the outpost refreshes.

However, the situation changed in the second half, starting with the capture of the Class B stronghold in the early hours of last night.

Time was running out.

After spending some time replanning the route, Asakusa Toru took action when faced with the remaining strongholds that he had almost secured but had to reunite and end the countdown.

It's a quick attack.

The optimal route, relatively easy yet faster than the first half.

This has led to the current outcome.

If he had maintained his leisurely strolling attitude, he would have been able to complete the check-in within the very time limit.

Even the slightest oversight or delay will result in the stronghold being in a period of 'unclaimed' status.

There are risks involved.

This risk is surprisingly significant.

Even if Ryuen hadn't reminded him, he would probably have realized it after checking in again, but Ryuen's reminder clearly made him aware of the problem sooner.

Speed isn't always better the faster it is.

In the very first coloring game, speed is the top priority. The one who conquers the territory before all the enemies enters the field will gain the greatest advantage.

However, this situation will change after eight hours, starting from the first time the stronghold refreshes.

Instead, he needs to leave enough space between each checkpoint to ensure consistent attendance.

... Their thinking hasn't changed yet.

Fortunately, it wasn't fatal.