A Traitor's Actions Are Always Hard to Imagine / I'm Concerned That Rumors About Me, Which I Know Nothing About, Are Spreading Like Wildfire Among the Students

What was the real purpose? This wouldn't improve the class's unity at all, and there was no conflict of interest. Several questions flashed through my mind, but they were quickly erased by Teacher Mashima's next words.

"Finally, once this Special Exam ends, all the points each class has left will be added to their Class Points. The results will be reflected at the end of summer break."

"What?!"

The students, who had just calmed down, were shaken once again by those words.

With three hundred Class Points, if we didn't spend a single one, we'd close in on Class A at an overwhelming pace. That also meant a conflict was bound to arise between students who wanted to save points and reach Class A and those who wanted to spend them on necessary bodily needs.

Managing those conflicts would be the key to passing this exam.

"That concludes my explanation. Each class's homeroom teacher will give you a special briefing on the additional rules for this exam. I'll warn you in advance: anyone who withdraws from the Special Exam due to illness or other physical reasons will incur a thirty-point penalty for their class. The student absent from this trip is from Class A, so their exam will begin with two hundred and seventy points."

Before we could even recover, Teacher Mashima unilaterally ended his speech. His final words had undoubtedly shocked us so much that we didn't snap out of it until a teacher reminded us over a loudspeaker to go hear the additional rules from our homeroom teacher.

"If we can just endure and hold on to those three hundred Class Points..."

"Then we'll close in on Class A at an overwhelming pace."

"But..."

"Okay, okay, everyone, settle down. Teacher Mashima only covered the basic rules. What I have to tell you is much more important." Teacher Hoshinomiya clapped her hands to get us to quiet down.

"What? I'm already having a headache just from what Teacher Mashima said. Is this what you meant when you said the overall experience would be great? You were obviously just trying to trick us."

"Haha, as long as you make good use of those three hundred points, you'll be fine. All right, don't dwell on that. Listen up."

After that, Teacher Hoshinomiya handed out the supplies Teacher Mashima had mentioned, then gave each of us a watch. It displayed various information: body temperature, pulse and heartbeat, satellite positioning, and emergency alerts.

"Wait, Teacher Hoshinomiya, what does 'emergency' mean?" After learning about the watch's functions, Hosaka seemed uneasy.

"It means that if you suddenly get bitten by a snake, or break your leg and can't walk, you can press the emergency button."

"T-there are snakes?!"

"Who knows? I'm not sure either." Teacher Hoshinomiya playfully rolled her eyes as she answered.

"Come on, Teacher, tell us more!"

"Don't worry, the school will ensure your safety. Besides, I can't influence the exam. Also, repairing or replacing a damaged watch will cost points, so be careful with them."

"Ugh, Teacher Hoshinomiya!"

"I can't hear you, I can't hear you. All right, next is the guidebook."

"How can you do this to us!"

Teacher Hoshinomiya ignored the girls' protests and handed the guidebook to our class representative, Ichinose.

"Now, please turn to the last page of the guidebook. This page is very important. It lists the penalty conditions, which are crucial information for this Special Exam. Make sure you understand them, and ask right away if you have any questions."

Following Teacher Hoshinomiya's instructions, we turned to the last page. Since there was only one copy, we formed a group and passed it around.

By the time it reached my group, it had already been passed around three times. I turned the page with anticipation.

It read: Anyone who meets the following conditions will receive the specified penalty.

[If a student is obviously unwell or seriously injured and the school determines they cannot continue taking the exam, their class will lose thirty points. The student will also withdraw from the exam.]

[Twenty points will be deducted for any act that pollutes the environment.]

[For each student who misses roll call at eight a.m. or eight p.m., five points will be deducted.]

[If a student commits violence, theft, or vandalism against another class, their class will be disqualified immediately, and all of the offender's personal points will be confiscated.]

Chapter 51: A Traitor's Actions Are Always Beyond Imagination

The ends justify the means.

Some say that is human nature, a conclusion drawn from humanity's willingness to fight to the bitter end.

Whether that truly deserves to be considered part of human nature no longer matters. Once someone is willing to do anything to achieve their goal, once they have gone that far, their mind no longer belongs to humanity.

It belongs to them alone.

1

Once everyone had fully understood the special rules, Teacher Hoshinomiya hurried on to explain the additional ones.

"There are additional rules, too?"

"It couldn't be helped. The school had to consider a lot of things when designing the exam. If the rules were limited to what you've heard so far, the differences in ability between classes wouldn't show."

"So the rules coming up are important?"

"Of course. You could even call them the decisive move in a game of Go, so make sure you listen carefully." As she spoke, Teacher Hoshinomiya seemed anxious about something, and her pace quickened.

"The school has placed many checkpoints with an [occupation mechanism] around the island. Once occupied, a checkpoint grants its designated class exclusive use of it. Each class must elect one student to serve as its 'leader.' The school will give that student a special key card for occupying checkpoints, and only the leader can use it."

"Each occupation lasts eight hours. Every time you occupy a checkpoint, you'll earn one extra point. These extra points can't be used during the exam and will be tallied toward the results after the exam ends."

So that was what those devices I'd seen on the cruise ship were for? But weren't there far too many of them? There were over a hundred devices, spread quite far apart... As for the checkpoints, if we were only thinking about organizing and consolidating our control, they might be a good choice.

Teacher Hoshinomiya briefly summarized the rules, then had us look over the concise version in the guidebook.

[Occupying a checkpoint requires a special key card.]

[Each occupation earns one point. You may use any checkpoint you occupy.]

[Using another class's occupied checkpoint without permission will incur a fifty-point penalty.]

[Only the student elected as leader may use the key card.]

[The leader cannot be replaced without a valid reason.]

In addition,

· [After the exam ends, each class will be allowed to guess another class's leader. If they guess correctly, the class whose leader was identified will lose fifty Class Points, while the class that guessed correctly will earn fifty Class Points.]

Figuring out who the leaders were... There was no doubt the final rule could be the decisive move. A massive fifty points could instantly wipe out the points we'd earned from occupying checkpoints over the seven days—and then some.

That meant the leader had to act cautiously. The slightest mistake could even plunge us into a zero-point crisis.

"You'll choose your own leader, and the deadline is roll call tonight. If you haven't settled on someone by then, the teachers will choose at random."

"That should be clear to everyone, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Next, let's discuss the final issue: building your camp."

Teacher Hoshinomiya quickened her pace again, forcing all of us to focus immediately.

"In a little while, you'll be allowed to move freely around the island, so you'll have to decide for yourselves where to build your camp. One thing to note is that once you choose a location, you won't be able to move your camp without a valid reason. Also, I'll stay with you throughout this exam."

"That's everything you basically need to know. If you have any other questions, just ask me. I'll answer within the limits I'm allowed. Also, take a look at everything in the guidebook. I have a question about one part of the exam, so I'm going to ask the other class teachers. Before I come back, stay right where you are. It'll be a big problem for me if you wander off."

After leaving us with that highly irresponsible instruction, Teacher Hoshinomiya hurried away. I followed her briefly with my eyes, then looked away once she reached Class D's area.

After going over all the special rules, we gathered to discuss whether we could avoid spending points. However, as we looked through the guidebook, that idealistic fantasy was ruthlessly shattered.

"Tents, cooking equipment, showers... If we're unlucky, we might even have to pay for food. Just those things alone make spending points unavoidable."

"No matter how you look at it, we can't avoid spending points..."

While Ichinose and the others discussed it, I checked the supplies the school had given us.

The quantities were correct.

The tents were large enough to hold eight people each. Even so, two tents could only shelter sixteen people, which was barely enough to fit all the girls in our class.

Rather than calling this exam's theme [freedom], [survival] would be more appropriate. How to allocate our points wisely was another crucial part of the exam.

"But the guidebook really has everything, doesn't it? Pretty much anything we want is in there, even entertainment facilities."

"Anyone with half a brain wouldn't waste points on that. There's no need for any of it."

"Not necessarily. Since this exam won't have any negative impact on next term, there must have been students in previous years who enjoyed themselves."

"...I don't know about that."

As I listened to a few people bantering, my eyes settled on the guidebook they were flipping through for no particular reason. The school had set up the exam so that anything listed in the guidebook could be purchased using points earned specifically for the exam. Once we decided what we needed, we'd submit a request to our homeroom teacher, and the school would deliver it to us.

It also seemed that submitting a request wasn't restricted to certain people.

In other words, if someone secretly spent points to buy something without telling the rest of the class, and the item never came to light, we'd have no way of knowing who was responsible.

Did we need to be on guard against a traitor?

From the center of Class B's group, I surveyed the colorful yet unified crowd.

Yes, we did.

Whenever a team had to work together, no matter how well I knew everyone's background or how much reassurance they gave me, I still had to be wary of the possibility that someone would betray us.

Because there was nothing betrayal couldn't accomplish.

Chapter 52: The Rumors Among the Students About Me, Which I Knew Nothing About, Were Spreading Like Wildfire—and It Bothered Me

A short while after Teacher Hoshinomiya left, we confirmed that spending points was necessary, then began discussing the election. Since Teacher Hoshinomiya had told us not to move, we couldn't change where we were holding the discussion. We could only huddle together and carefully discuss the most crucial figure in this game: the leader.

"Does anyone have a suitable candidate for leader in mind? It's fine to nominate yourself, too. You don't need to put too much pressure on yourself." After confirming that no one nearby was listening in, Ichinose spoke first.

"Since we need a leader, wouldn't Ichinose be the best choice?"

"N-no, she wouldn't." As soon as the suggestion was made, Shibata immediately objected. His decisive response left everyone confused.

That was why scholars said people could only think normally within the comfort zone of their own ideas.

"I might not be the best choice," Ichinose said, understanding Shibata's objection without getting angry.

"Would that really be a problem?"

"Of course." Shibata nodded seriously. "Everyone's seen how Ichinose acts in everyday life. She's just too outstanding, which would make other people guess that she's the leader very easily. If we ran into some lunatic who likes to gamble, the risk would be too high."

"Haha..." Faced with Shibata's half-compliment, Ichinose laughed awkwardly.

"Also, 'leader' is only a title for the person with the special key card during the exam. It doesn't mean they're actually in charge. We mustn't confuse the two."

Kanzaki followed up with an explanation. "If the leader is discovered, the class could lose one hundred and fifty points in a single blow, so we need to understand how important this role is. As for the candidate, I suggest choosing someone steady who doesn't stand out too much."

"Sorry, I guess I was jumping the gun. You're right."

"If we're looking for someone who doesn't stand out, we have plenty of options."

"A leader who doesn't stand out..."

Not standing out meant that someone didn't give a particularly strong first impression and had no remarkable reputation, making them seem unworthy of attention. That seemed like a reasonable approach, but choosing someone who was too extreme could cause the same problem as choosing Ichinose.

Just as I was absorbed in my analysis, I suddenly realized that everyone around me was staring at me.

"...Could you all please stop staring at me? I'm starting to feel pressured."

"When you say someone who doesn't stand out, Raku seems like the best choice."

Ando, I don't remember ever offending you. Even if you have a personal grudge against me, you shouldn't take revenge over something this important, should you?

"I don't think there's a problem with that..."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone from another class would even consider paying attention to Raku."

Hey, hey, hey, don't all of you act like you agree! Have you even considered how I feel?! At least pretend you have some reservations!

Just when I thought I was about to be condemned by "justice," Shibata saved me from the fire with a remark that I couldn't decide whether to take as a compliment or an insult.

"It's not impossible. But isn't Raku a little too extreme a choice? And there are rumors about him going around outside, too..."

"Wait, what rumors are you talking about?"

"Come to think of it, I forgot students from other classes know about this, too. I guess we'll have to choose someone else."

"After all, being too close to Class Representative Ichinose would also be taken into consideration."

"I've explained this already. Raku and I really—"

"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, we know what you mean, Honami-chan. So, does anyone have another recommendation?" Wakayama nodded as if she "understood perfectly," then brushed off Ichinose's protest.

The others, too, changed the subject as if they understood and didn't care. Only I was still hung up on the fact that the rumors had spread outside our class. Ichinose's face was red with frustration.

"How about this? We could use the blind-spot strategy."

"What do you mean?"

"Since we can't choose someone at either extreme, let's just pick someone who's often around Ichinose. That way, we can disguise their identity. At key moments, the leader will also be within Ichinose's sight, which should keep them from doing anything reckless."