Real Cult: Welcome to Paradise of Freedom

Soon, everyone gathered on the deck, and each student was issued an electronic wristwatch. The homeroom teachers from each class stood to the side, counting heads.

The cruise ship had already docked. Gazing into the distance, one could see many figures on the island ahead setting up tents and various electronic devices.

"What are they doing?"

"No idea. They're not making us live here, are they?"

Staring at the lush green island before them, the students had long lost their earlier mood for admiring the scenery. Instead, unease grew with every tent that was pitched.

A man stood before them. Once he confirmed everyone was present, he picked up a megaphone and announced loudly.

"Next, we will begin this year's first special exam!

For the coming week, you will live on this uninhabited island in class-based teams!"

Chapter 28: The Uninhabited Island Special Exam

"What? We have to live on an uninhabited island for a week? We can't even go back to the ship?"

As soon as Ike heard the special exam involved living on an uninhabited island, he broke down and shouted.

"Shut up! Listen quietly."

Chabashira's tone was stern as she cut off Ike's outburst, then continued to stand with her arms crossed, eyes closed in repose.

"For this special exam, each class will receive two tents, one fire-starting kit, toiletries for the number of students, unlimited sunscreen, and unlimited sanitary products for the female students. Aside from that, you will have to secure your own drinking water and food."

The teacher on stage paid no attention to the commotion below and calmly explained the rules.

"Teacher, how will the results of this special exam be determined?"

Honami Ichinose raised her hand and asked.

The teacher glanced at her and continued.

"Each class will start with 500 points to allocate. For any reason, if a student leaves the uninhabited island, the class loses 20 points per person.

These points can also be used to purchase anything you need for daily life. The required points can be checked on the wristwatch you've been given."

At this point, a strange smile crept onto the teacher's face.

"One final rule: each class will be issued a [Ghost Card]. You may freely decide who holds it. Once the [Ghost Card] holder is chosen, they cannot be replaced unless forced to withdraw from the exam.

Only the student holding the [Ghost Card] can occupy the designated territories on the island. A class that occupies a territory and checks in will earn 1 point per hour, with each occupation lasting eight hours.

When the week ends, each class may guess the [Ghost Card] holder of the other classes. A correct guess earns 50 points; a wrong guess loses 50 points. Abstaining results in no gain or loss.

If a holder is correctly guessed by another class, their class loses 50 points, and all bonus points earned are forfeited."

After the teacher finished explaining the rules, the students below did not erupt into noise again. The flood of rules and point systems left their minds blank.

But the teachers didn't care whether the students understood. As soon as the rules were announced, they began arranging for the students to disembark in class order.

At that moment, however, Kiyotaka's mind was not on the rules at all. He stared intently at Horikita, whose face was flushed with an unhealthy redness. As their class prepared to disembark, he took the chance to move close to her.

"Are you sick? Was it from the wind when we were chatting on the deck last night?"

Horikita paused, then shook her head and said, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Kiyotaka frowned slightly. He knew Horikita was definitely sick, but given her personality, leaving now would mean losing points—she wouldn't agree to it.

"I hope she can tough it out. If not, I'll have to fix it..."

Soon, all the students filed onto the island in an orderly manner.

"Now, the uninhabited island special exam officially begins!"

The students of Class D were gathered together by Hirata, who held some sway in the class.

"Everyone, this is the situation. What we have is what you see before you.

This exam might be tough, but I hope everyone can persevere. Who knows—this could be our chance for Class D to turn things around."

At first, with Hirata's encouragement, everyone set off full of confidence.

But less than two hours later, some of the physically weaker girls began to complain, though it was still within manageable limits.

Soon, however, the fragile peace was quietly shattered.

"Hey, Hirata, we trusted you and let you lead. But out here in the wilderness, you can't even solve basic hygiene issues for us girls?"

"What's wrong with you girls? So fussy. Just squat anywhere for a toilet, and find a pool to wash up!"

"Who are you calling fussy?"

Before Hirata could speak, the hot-tempered boys and girls had already started bickering.

To put it bluntly, these students, long accustomed to comfort, had zero experience with wilderness survival. This was an emotional outburst born of panic and insecurity.

Kiyotaka watched coldly from the sidelines. Aside from keeping an eye on Horikita's condition, a few individuals caught his attention.

One was Koenji. Usually a lone wolf, he displayed astonishing athleticism and survival skills in the wilderness. Like Kiyotaka, he completely detached himself from the group, lounging leisurely on a tree branch for a nap.

The other was Ike. Among this crowd, his wilderness knowledge was noticeably richer, barely managing to salvage the group from utter helplessness.

For example, the reason they had time to argue right now was that Ike, based on his own judgment, had led Class D to find a position near a water source.

"Everyone, stop arguing. Points are important, but keeping life running smoothly is also a big part of this. Let's vote on exchanging for some daily necessities, and then we need to decide who holds the [Ghost Card]. How about it, everyone?"

Hirata Yosuke, seeing the situation escalating, could only choose a more moderate approach to handle things.

"Well, since it's you, Yosuke, saying it, I'll reluctantly agree."

Kei Karuizawa flicked the ends of her hair lightly as she spoke.

"I'm in favor."

In the end, the group voted to exchange 20 points for a simple portable toilet and 30 points for two tents, and only then did the farce barely settle down.

"Alright, everyone, next let's discuss who should hold this [Ghost Card]."

Hirata Yosuke clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention.

"Since you're the one making the decisions, Yosuke, why don't you just take the card yourself?" As Hirata's girlfriend, Kei Karuizawa supported him as always.

But Hirata shook his head.

"After the week of survival ends, there's the phase of guessing the [Ghost Card] holder. If someone figures it out, we'll lose points. To pull ahead significantly in this exam, the choice of [Ghost Card] holder is very important."

"...Let me take it."

At that moment, Horikita spoke up, her voice sounding no different than usual.

"Horikita, you're willing to help?"

Hirata looked at Horikita with surprise as he asked.

Horikita simply nodded silently. As long as it was something that could give Class D a chance to advance, she was willing.

In the end, Class D decided that Horikita would be the [Ghost Card] holder. Under everyone's cover, this area near the water source officially became Class D's territory.

Once the decision was made, everyone began preparing for the days ahead. They clumsily started setting up tents and organized groups to go fishing and gather firewood.

Ike had plenty of experience with all of this, so for a time, everyone worked in an orderly fashion.

And Kiyotaka, after finishing his assigned task of gathering firewood, quietly disappeared from everyone's sight.

Chapter 29: Then Why Are You Rubbing!

"Kiyotaka, what are you doing?"

In the depths of the dense grass, Kiyotaka had been silently observing, but suddenly a voice from behind startled him.

His reflexes nearly made him take down the person behind him, but at the last moment, he realized it was Kikyo. With no other choice, he turned his punch into a flick and snapped her hard on the forehead.

"Ugh, what was that for? That hurts!"

Kiyotaka ignored Kikyo, because not far away, at the camp's checkpoint, the figure of Katsuragi from Class A had appeared.

He and another person carefully observed the checkpoint for a while before Katsuragi pulled out something like a [Ghost Card] and swiped it on the checkpoint device.

"We're lucky, Katsuragi. We've only been on the island a short while, and we've already captured a base."

"Lucky? I already scouted it out before we even landed. What do you think the cruise ship's lap around the island was for? That was our hint."

"A hint?"

"During the lap, you could clearly see the paths leading into the forest. And Yahiko, watch your tone a bit. Someone nearby might be eavesdropping."

"Yes, sorry, Katsuragi."

"Alright, as the holder, it's my duty to keep looking for new bases. Let's go."

"Kiyotaka, is that Katsuragi the [Ghost Card] holder for Class A?" After Katsuragi and Yahiko left, Kikyo poked her curious little head out and asked Kiyotaka.

"Who knows? I was just bored and happened to see it."

"Oh~ Since you're so bored, how about we do something fun!"

Kikyo's eyes lit up instantly at the suggestion.

Kiyotaka found it amusing, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he said, "Sure, how about I take you into the wild woods to experience what it's like to be bitten by a snake and starve?"

"You're so mean!"

Kikyo yelped in fright and quickly covered her own rear, then followed Kiyotaka back the way they came.

When Kiyotaka and Kikyo returned to camp, Hirata spotted them and walked over.

"Kiyotaka, find anything?"

Hearing Hirata's question, Kiyotaka casually shook his head, but inwardly, a flicker of wariness arose.

It was understandable that Kikyo was keeping an eye on his movements, but the fact that Hirata was also paying attention to everything he did was a bit unusual.

Hirata didn't seem surprised by Kiyotaka's reply and muttered to himself, "I see. Ike, Sudo, and Yamauchi have already set out to find more bases. After all, the more bases we have, the bigger our advantage in this exam."

What Hirata said made sense. To win this exam, there were really three main points.

First, because of Ike's actions, they had secured a fairly good territory, greatly reducing the consumption of water and food points. Now all that remained was to ensure the survival rate of the personnel. If anyone withdrew due to illness or injury, each person would cost them twenty points—the price was simply too high. This thought made Kiyotaka's gaze unconsciously drift toward Horikita.

Second, occupy as many strongholds as possible. Each stronghold held for eight hours earned eight points. If they occupied a large number of strongholds, as time passed, this accumulation would directly turn into a qualitative advantage.

Third, protect the identity of the [Ghost Card] holder, or deduce the holders of other classes' [Ghost Cards]. Guessing correctly earned fifty points, and hitting all three classes would be a massive bonus of one hundred fifty points. Conversely, guessing all three classes wrong would deduct one hundred fifty points. This high-risk, high-reward task was also a key criterion for determining the final ranking.

Thinking this far, Kiyotaka couldn't help but shake his head. What a hassle.

After exchanging a few words with Hirata, Kiyotaka pulled Horikita to a secluded corner.

"Are you alright? Your face is already very pale."

Horikita stubbornly shook her head.

"I haven't made any contributions in this exam from start to finish. The only thing I can do now is ensure I don't hold the class back."

Kiyotaka gently stroked Horikita's slightly haggard cheek with a hint of concern, saying nothing more.

Feeling Kiyotaka's care, Horikita docilely pressed close to him and offered a faint smile.

"Kiyotaka, things really are just as you said. This school doesn't take academics as the sole measure of ability. This exam has shown me many of my shortcomings. At the very least, I couldn't go out alone to search for strongholds like Sudo and the others."

"Ah... is that so? It's not that bad. Everyone has their own strengths."

Horikita wasn't fooled by Kiyotaka's perfunctory response and shot him a glare.

"And you? You act like you have no drive at all. But isn't the reason for entering this school to be able to choose any job you want in the future?"

"Me? I came here for you. Getting into this school to win Suzune's favor—how wonderful would that be?"

As he spoke, Kiyotaka's large hand roamed lightly over Horikita's body, making her, already sensitive, shiver.

"Cheeky!"

Horikita slapped away Kiyotaka's mischievous hand and then walked back toward the camp.