Chapter 107
After leaving Kushida, Aragaki Shun began to stroll through the various decks of the cruise ship, carefully observing every facility inside.
Just as I reached the poolside, a voice that profoundly highlighted one's will suddenly entered my ears.
After arriving at the Advanced Nurturing, he recalled that there was only one person in the entire grade who spoke in this way and in this tone.
Following the sound, the figure lying by the pool was indeed Koenji Rokusuke.
"In terms of beauty, you are far inferior to me."
Aragaki Shun doesn't appreciate men's beauty, and having reached the limits of all human attributes, even though he has never invested Source Power into his charm, he is confident that his appearance is second to none.
Excuse me, Beautiful Brother, where do you get the audacity to say such things to me?
Seemingly sensing Aragaki Shun's speechlessness, Koenji stood up and carefully examined him for a while, finally nodding in satisfaction.
"Judging solely from appearance, even someone as beautiful as me must admit defeat."
"But beauty is not just about appearance; it's also related to various internal and external factors. Even if my rival is Aragaki- boy, I believe I'm more beautiful."
"Then keep thinking that way," Aragaki Shun rolled his eyes. "There's no point in arguing about this. Just do what makes you happy."
"I'm in a really good mood today!" Koenji opened his arms as if embracing the whole world. "After being at this school for so long, I finally have a chance to have a good match with Aragaki- boy."
"There will never be anyone more beautiful than me in this world; I've always believed that."
With his eyes burning as he stared intently at Aragaki Shun, Koenji changed the subject, "But ever since I met Aragaki- boy, I've actually started to yearn for the beauty of others. It's an experience that I can't help but take seriously."
Aragaki Shun: "..."
Don't you think what you're saying is a little strange?
"Let's have some fun, Aragaki boy! Let's use the upcoming Special Exam as our stage and show off our beauty!"
175. Failure becomes a habit; conflict on a cruise ship
As expected, Koenji Rokusuke has accepted Katsuragi's invitation and joined Class B.
Of course, they were using Transfer Ticket worth 2 million Private Points, which was only valid for a temporary period of one month.
If he is unable to renew his subscription a month later, Koenji will still have to return to the garbage dump of Class D.
This transfer method will only become permanent once the full 20 million has been paid and the subscription fee is continuously renewed.
Prior to this, if there was an interruption in payment due to inability to pay, all the efforts of the Transfer Ticket user would be in vain, and they would need to start accumulating 20 million all over again.
Koenji Rokusuke, of course, didn't care at all.
According to his statement--
Compared to the worthless students in Class D, the group in Class B was more interesting; at least they could appreciate some of his beauty.
It sounded a bit nonsensical, but Aragaki Shun was actually able to understand it.
Simply put, as the only son of a zaibatsu (wealthy family), Koenji was raised from a young age to be the heir and head of the family.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will undoubtedly rise to the pinnacle of the conglomerate in the future, and his every word and action will influence the development of countless people under his command.
In this situation, Koenji can lack many things, but he absolutely cannot lack the qualities of decision-making and managing subordinates.
So he still quite liked the people in Class B.
As a former member of Class A, he possesses considerable overall abilities and is adept at navigating social situations, making him an excellent tool by all accounts.
Needless to say, Koenji wants to defeat Aragaki Shun, and the members of Class B want to reclaim their positions in Class A. To some extent, their goals overlap significantly.
Given that each party has their own needs, it's only natural that they would unite.
Aragaki Shun didn't seem too concerned about the challenge, giving it a casual reply before leaving the pool area to continue his own activities.
If he had been assigned to Class D as soon as he entered school, he certainly wouldn't have been interested in leading a group of people who were holding him back.
It was normal for Koenji to give up at first, and it's also normal for them to become competitive now.
However, after a semester of competition, the situation in the four classes is vastly different from when the semester began. Is it too late to challenge him now?
You can have anything in your dreams, so I suggest you go to bed early.
After touring all the facilities on the cruise ship, Aragaki Shun returned to his room.
Incidentally, the school had already assigned dormitories, which were normally arranged by class, with boys and girls separated, and three or four people per room.
However, Aragaki Shun didn't like sharing a dorm room with other men, so he simply used his Private Points to rent a larger single room from the school.
Pushing open the door, the first thing you see is two suitcases. Towards the inside, Shiranami Chihiro is humming a song while tidying up her clothes and sheets.
That's right, after he moved out by himself, Chihiro also brought her luggage with her.
The two are officially boyfriend and girlfriend. As long as no one dies, the school won't care whether they live together or not.
This was a rare Luxury Cruise Ship trip, and to create more wonderful memories with her lover, Chihiro naturally chose to stay in the same room.
"Aragaki-kun is back?" Shiro-nami looked up at the person who had arrived, then looked down and continued with what he was doing. "Wait a moment, I'll be done packing these things soon."
"How much is left? I'll help too."
"No need, it'll be quick. Please sit here for a while."
Seeing how hard the girl was working, and that there wasn't much left to tidy up, Aragaki Shun nodded and didn't try to take away Chihiro's small achievement.
Two minutes later, the girlfriend had her hands free and was about to snuggle into her lover's arms when suddenly there was a knock on the door.
Aragaki Shun went over and opened the door, only to find that the visitors were Kobashi Yume and Amikura Mako, who were looking at their room with curious expressions.
"You actually moved in! Chihiro, you really don't want to leave Aragaki -kun even after all this time."
Kobashi Yume sighed and rubbed her forehead in dismay.
As originally planned, the three of them were supposed to share a dormitory with Ichinose, but as soon as they heard that Aragaki Shun had moved out to live alone, this roommate immediately abandoned them.
She's a friend who forgets her friends for the sake of a pretty face; I can't keep this best friend.
"There's no problem with that, right? After all, we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend, so living together is perfectly normal."
Aragaki Shun invited the two in, poured them each a glass of water, and then spoke without changing his expression.
"Exactly! Exactly! Is there a problem with me living with Aragaki-kun? There's absolutely no problem!"
Shiranami Chihiro, standing to the side, gave her approval and winked, subtly hinting at something to her two friends.
"If you're envious, I can move back sometime and let you stay for a day or two."
"Cough cough~" For some reason, she understood Chihiro's implication and almost choked on her water. Meeting Kobashi Yume Aragaki Shun's strange gaze, she could only wave her hand to indicate that she was fine. "Okay, I've never been in a relationship before, so I don't know how normal boyfriends and girlfriends get along. Maybe I'm overthinking it."
Amikura Mako's face flushed slightly, and apart from her hand trembling slightly as she held the cup, she showed no other reaction.
"Class monitor, I heard from Honami-chan and Hiyori that the school will probably have other arrangements after the cruise ship arrives at the Uninhabited Island. It seems that the First Special Exam is coming up soon?"
Is this true? What should we prepare in advance?
Hearing Amikura's question, Aragaki Shun met her flickering gaze, watching her shyly look away, knowing she was deliberately changing the subject.
The boy smiled and, instead of exposing the other person, naturally gave instructions:
"I've already sent Kanzaki to lead the boys to search for camping information. As for the girls, you'd better prepare some clothes that are suitable for living in the wilderness, since you'll be living on Uninhabited Island for seven days."
"Is it really a wilderness survival trip?" Kobashi Yume's cute face fell, and she muttered resentfully, "The school is such a rip-off, they actually lied to us and said it was an easy trip."
"Based on past experience, the school's style has always been half-true and half-false."
Aragaki Shun squinted and speculated, "If nothing unexpected happens, and we don't have to worry about class competition, then we should really be able to play happily and freely."
Just like the recruitment advertisements of Advanced Nurturing, the benefits such as tuition waivers, living allowance waivers, and advantages in further education and employment are basically true; they just don't mention the costs involved.
"But the key point is, how could we not consider class competition!"
Kobashi Yume pouted, "Everyone in the class has worked so hard for so long, we can't just throw away all our advantages for a trip."
"That's no problem!" Leader of Class A said confidently, "I've been at the Advanced Nurturing Center for a semester now, when have you ever seen me lose?"
"Relax, Class A is strong enough to overwhelmingly defeat the other three classes. After the exams begin, I will quickly come up with a reasonable plan so that everyone can enjoy this Summer Vacation Trip more easily while achieving victory."
"That's right! Aragaki-kun is the strongest!" Shiranami Chihiro clenched her little fist, firmly believing in this. "As long as we follow Aragaki-kun's instructions, we will definitely be the final victors."
"We've never doubted that."
Amikura Mako initially agreed, then changed the subject, "But the students in Class A aren't delicate flowers either. The class monitor doesn't need to worry too much about our feelings. If there are any difficult tasks, just bring them up and give them to us."
"As long as we can contribute to the class, it doesn't matter if we're a little tired. There will definitely be other opportunities after the Summer Vacation Trip, so we can't fall behind others just to enjoy ourselves."
"Yes, yes, yes! I also want to help everyone; I can't let the class monitor shoulder all the burden."
Kobashi Yume nodded in agreement. Even if she could only offer a little help, she would do her best to complete any task assigned to Aragaki-kun.
Definitely!
"Yes, that's natural. As a leader, I do need to make good use of the strength of everyone in the class."
"Don't worry, I'm not the kind of paranoid person who tries to shoulder everything alone."
On the contrary, Aragaki Shun actually prefers to be lazy.
Kanzaki Ryuji certainly understands this deeply.
After all, in the past, after making decisions, he would delegate the specific execution work to this class fund administrator.
The group was chatting about exams in the room when, not long after, the cruise ship's loudspeaker suddenly began playing a reminder--
[This is to inform all students that if time permits, please assemble on the deck.]
[We are about to see the islands, and you will surely see some very interesting sights in a short time.]
Upon hearing this news, Aragaki Shun immediately stood up, took out his phone, and sent several messages in the class group, notifying everyone to bring the necessary equipment and head to the deck area.
"Let's go, it seems the Special Exam is really about to begin. The school is playing their favorite little hinting trick again."
What does "a very meaningful view" mean? You have to go up to the deck to see it?
While pondering the school's reminder, Aragaki Shun led Shiro-nami and the others to the assembly point.
A few minutes later, almost everyone in Class A arrived at the gathering point, and many students from other classes also arrived, some smart and some obedient.
Meanwhile, the cruise ship continued its journey as usual, and the island on the horizon could gradually become clearer in everyone's view.
"Hey, you're in the way. Get out of the way, you defective products."
Suddenly, a noisy sound came from beside him. Aragaki Shun looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the students from Class D had taken up better spots. Someone from Class B couldn't stand it and wanted to drive them away by force.
The target of this scare was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was forcefully pushed away by a group of boys from Class B. He almost fell to the ground if he hadn't grabbed the deck handrail in time.
Aragaki Shun: "..."
This disguise is a bit overdone.
He understood the other party's desire to avoid the limelight, but was it really necessary to continue playing this subservient, bullied role?
You see, if you play the fool for too long, you might not actually get to eat the tiger in the end; more likely, you'll just end up being the fool yourself.
Aragaki Shun watched the conflict between Class D and Class B speechlessly. In the end, Class D lacked the confidence to back down and gave up the better viewing spot in a cowardly manner.
This shows that, compared to Class B, which had already taken action, the group in Class D didn't connect the matter to the Special Exam at all.
Ayanokoji might have ideas, but he won't voice them; Hirata and Kushida probably have channels to obtain information from upperclassmen, but they haven't considered this possibility at all; Horikita Suzune could get information from the Student Council, but she's already decided to go solo...
In short, no matter how many talented people are in Class D, the amount of ability they can actually utilize is practically nonexistent.
Shaking his head, Aragaki Shun looked at Katsuragi Kohei had a serious expression on his face.
"Hey~ Katsuragi, I thought you were an upright person, but it seems I was wrong."
The Baldy calmly watched the island draw closer, and without turning his head, said, "The class competition has already begun, and Class D is completely unprepared. That's what I didn't expect."
In other words, Katsuragi's decision to have his classmates drive out the students from Class D was not merely to secure better positions; it was also a test to see if the other students in Class D were prepared for the upcoming exam.
He just hadn't expected that the people in Class D would actually give up their seats so readily.
"Koenji Rokusuke once told me that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from Class D might be hiding something. I'm a bit suspicious of this, since he doesn't seem to have any intention of participating in the class competition at all."
Hearing Katsuragi's nonchalant remark, Aragaki Shun smiled but didn't respond. He simply gestured to Kanzaki Ryuji and Shibata Sou, who were approaching from a distance.
They were carrying small binoculars and cameras, tools specifically requested for use on the cruise ship.
"Here, we've taken all of these things from the cruise ship. The school probably won't have any more stock in the short term."
Upon hearing this, Katsuragi Kohei's expression hardened, realizing that he had fallen behind again.
What frustrated him was that, after repeated defeats, he had subconsciously come to believe that this situation was normal.