Return Trip (Continued)
That's a very childish way of thinking.
Of course, the little Horikita Suzune does have its advantages.
She was considered a good student in Class D who could be recycled after some modifications.
She has decent cooking skills, and although her social isolation stems from living alone, she has the demeanor of a true housewife.
Extreme self-discipline is a talent, but I genuinely can't maintain it; asking me to be self-disciplined would be worse than death.
So, aside from using it briefly at the beginning when he lacked strength, Asakusa Toru Tetsu simply couldn't muster the energy to tie on the Tenacity Headband and do anything else.
Exercise? He doesn't need to exercise anymore; his physical abilities have already reached the limits of human capability.
Studying? The cost-effectiveness is too low. He doesn't think he has the talent to become a scientific research master, and forcing himself to study would be a painful experience for him.
After a while, the headscarf was put aside.
But what if we were to give him some kind of extraordinary power, like cultivation techniques, spells, magic, or battle aura, that requires training to become stronger?
Perhaps he will muster a thousand times more determination, ignite a raging fighting spirit, and once again tie on his Tenacity Headband.
Anyway, that's it for today's diary entry.
[Today's record completed, this record is rated 'C', currently drawing rewards]
[Draw successful! Congratulations on obtaining the Skill 'Mastery of Painting']
The familiar settlement notification sounded; today was another day without any major surprises.
But...
Are you proficient in painting?
I've acquired another Skill, and it seems to be a relatively good Skill at that.
In this era before AI has even emerged, one can already beg for food.
At the very least, he can now illustrate the light novels he copied.
... Pah, at this point, why bother writing novels or drawing illustrations?
It's definitely going to be used as illustrations for future diaries!
[Name: Master of Drawing]
[Category: Skill]
[Effect: Your drawing skills will be greatly improved, and you will possess a certain level of aesthetic and creative ability.]
[Note: "I will never paint again in my next life."]
A sense of control over the paintbrush began to emerge in my hands, and basic painting skills gradually became part of my being.
Out of the blue, Asakusa Toru opened the product details page.
... So, aesthetic sense and creative ability are also improved as a side effect?
Casually, Asakusa Toru reopened his Diary, opened the message from Shiina Hiyori confessing her love, and found the reply section.
Then, in a few quick strokes, a delicate portrait sketch was formed.
"... Surprisingly good."
Portrait sketches can be simple, but large-scale landscape sketches seem to be an option as well.
Once you hold the pen, you seem to have the illusion that you have the world at your fingertips.
Painting, writing, singing.
These three Skills have always been highly Skill by young people.
He was already good at writing, had Absolute Pitch in Diary, and now he's mastered painting.
It could be said that Asakusa Toru has now realized his childhood dream.
More importantly, he seems to be still young.
Instead of sending the reply, Asakusa Toru quickly cleared the draft board by canceling the confirmation.
He wanted to save his response to Shiina Hiyori and this confession for a moment when it was more worthy of his response.
And so, the final day arrived.
On August 14th, the cruise vacation will come to an end.
The VIP Special Exam is also drawing to a close.
As stated in the rules, there was no individual explanation from the class teacher; at 11 p. m., the school sent a text message to everyone's Personal Terminal.
[The Rat (子) – Due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is four.]
The ox (丑) – due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is number four.
Yin (Tiger) – Due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is four.
The Rabbit (卯) – Due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is four.
Chen (Dragon) – All group members answered correctly after the exam, therefore this is result one.
The result is four because the traitor answered incorrectly.
Noon (Horse) – Because the traitor answered correctly, the result is three.
The result is three because the traitor answered correctly.
Shen (Monkey) – Due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is four.
The rooster (酉) – due to the traitor's incorrect answer, the result is four.
Xu (dog)──Because the traitor gave the wrong answer, the result was four.
Hai (Pig)──Because the traitor gave the wrong answer, the result was four.
Based on the above results, the increases and decreases in class and Private Points in this exam are as follows.
The points will be followed by the units cl and pr, which are abbreviations for Class Points and Private Points, respectively.
Class A... plus 300cl plus 7.5 million pr
Class B... plus 150cl plus 3.5 million pr
Class C... plus 150cl plus 3.5 million pr
Class D... deduct 600cl and add 1.5 million pr]
The result was consistently four, with only two results of three, and the extremely conspicuous result of one.
Asakusa Toru wasn't sure if the school had held a meeting to discuss the outcome, but at least from the text messages, it was clear they had decided to follow the rules.
Whatever the outcome, that's the outcome.
As a result, the Class Points changed once again.
Class A jumped from 2006 points to 2306 points.
Class B recovered from 800 points to 950 points.
Class C recovered from 670 points to 820 points.
Class D, reduced from 80:00 to 0:00.
The total Class Points the first grade is 4076.
The total monthly allocation is 16,304,000 points.
There are 31 months left until graduation.
"Waaaaah--"
With a whoosh, the cruise ship headed back in the direction of its return journey.
In the final stretch of the night, the cruise ship will offer its last service before re-entering Tokyo Bay.
"Splash splash splash--"
The raindrops pattered down as dark night clouds gathered, and the drizzling raindrops gradually grew larger, soaking the wide deck.
The wind howled from the sea onto the deck, and from the deck into the cabin.
Speaking of which, it seems like it rained last week too.
If the Uninhabited Island Special Exam doesn't end early, it will probably start raining on the night of the fifth day. But this rain will only be the beginning; it will gradually intensify on the night of the sixth day.
If the students had stayed on the island to play wilderness survival games back then, I imagine many of them would have gotten sick.
However, the exam ended early, and the sick guy eventually returned to the ship healthy.
I wonder if the training I did before summer vacation contributed to this.
The Luxury Cruise Ship is located a long distance from Tokyo Bay, and the return journey would take at least several hours.
Although the results of the Special Exam were a mess, the cruise ship will still sail around the world according to the agreed-upon, planned route.
Therefore, the return trip will not be brought forward, but will only be delayed.
Although the students wanted to make the most of their last moments, they couldn't resist the patter of the rain and grew increasingly drowsy.
Asakusa Toru did a quick calculation.
The results of this Special Exam will yield a total of 16 million Private Points.
It goes without saying that Class A deserves their share, and Class D doesn't deserve the final 1.5 million points.
As agreed, Class B will only receive their Class Points, giving up their Private Points.
As for Class C...
Ryuen was very reluctant to transfer the money.
Even after the money is in their hands, there's still a possibility of transferring it out?
Three and a half million! It's heartbreaking to see it transferred out.
That's basically their Class C's total monthly income.
But not sharing it is definitely not an option.
The value of 3.5 million is not enough for him to decisively choose to betray the partnership.
Ryuen Kakeru wouldn't say he would never betray the partnership, but betrayal is contingent on sufficient benefit, not betrayal for the sake of betrayal itself.
If he could get ahead of Asakusa Toru in this Special Exam, or even if he didn't need to be ahead, being a step later would be fine, and see through the patterns of the VIP before Asakusa Tetsu made his move.
He would simply and decisively tear up any cooperation that had no contract.
Unfortunately, no.
After Asakusa Toru crushed Class D, during the few days that the Dragon Group continued its exams, Ryuen Kakeru also pondered for a long time the names of the three VIP.
But he still couldn't figure out how the selection was made.
... It wasn't until the very end, when he filled in Kushida Kikyo's name to achieve result one, that he suddenly realized what was going on.
Damn, so this pattern is hilarious!
The Japanese syllabary (五十音)! It's amazing that the school even came up with the idea of using the Japanese syllabary!
This is perhaps what is meant by "the darkest place is under the lamp."
Everyone felt that since it was a school, it wouldn't be sorted by alphabetical order or the Japanese syllabary.
Who would have thought the school would actually do that?
Perhaps we shouldn't overestimate the school in the future, after all, the Uninhabited Island Exam has already proven that the school's rules are riddled with loopholes.
"..."
Letting out a long breath, Ryuen Kakeru took out his Personal Terminal and looked at the eight-digit number starting with 2 in his account, his eyes flashing.
Class A graduates.
He has already obtained such a ticket and can transfer to Class A at any time.
It can be said that the future is already secured.
Even if he simply abandoned his 39 classmates and let them graduate as Class C, allowing them to freely choose their future after graduating from Class A, these students who failed to graduate from Class A would not affect him in the slightest.