I'm the Chosen One

However, amidst these major changes, the situation of one particular group inevitably drew everyone's attention.

[Ryuen Kakeru's group scored zero]

With even the second-to-last group having 200 points, the undisputed last place has emerged.

Immediately afterwards, the first place in the group rankings also changed, with Kitagawa Ryo's group being pushed down to second place.

Katsuragi Kohei's group once again came in first place.

"... It's finally starting."

Kitagawa Ryo took a big bite of the incredibly hard baguette, but the more he chewed, the more fragrant it became.

Although it's only the second day, it seems quite a few people have already started taking action.

"Cough cough."

"The water is here."

Upon hearing Sakayanagi Arisu cough after choking, Kitagawa Ryo reacted quickly, pouring a glass of water from his water bottle and handing it to Sakayanagi Arisu's lips.

"Don't force yourself to eat if you can't. That's not how you're supposed to eat a baguette."

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head as he looked at the bite mark on the round end of the bread.

Kushida Kikyo is heading alone to the nearby [Literature Knowledge Test] project. In this Uninhabited Island Special Exam, she and Katsuragi Kohei, the class representative of Class A, formed the ace team of Class A. However, in order to maximize their scoring efficiency, they would occasionally split up.

This time was no different. Katsuragi Kohei went to the other side of the rope skipping Kamuro Masumi, while Hirata Yosuke went to the more distant impromptu speech area, as he had the best stamina in the group.

Although Kushida Kikyo always felt that her group's lineup was among the best in the grade, she didn't think she could definitely secure a top-three position. However, the group leader Katsuragi Kohei, seemed very confident, and his words implied that he had already secured first place, not just the top three.

Thirty minutes earlier, Kushida Kikyo had finally grasped a bit of the truth of the matter.

Since none of the four had obtained enough food from the project by lunchtime, it seemed they would have to exchange points for it. Just as Kushida Kikyo was about to make a suggestion, Katsuragi Kohei suddenly returned with a large amount of food and drinking water.

"We've reached a cooperation agreement with Class 1-C, and this was sent by Ryuen Kakeru."

Katsuragi Kohei said the following at the time.

The fact that Ryuen Kakeru's team has fallen to last place in the group rankings confirms Katsuragi Kohei's statement.

But he didn't seem to intend to reveal the whole plan, simply indicating to the group not to be shy and to use the food and drinking water without worry.

However, Kushida Kikyo didn't care much about these things. In any case, she was just pursuing a certain status in interpersonal relationships as fervently as before. The so-called Class A and Class D were not very important to her.

If it weren't for the need to maintain a good image in the class, she wouldn't even have bothered to agree to Katsuragi Kohei's group.

"Tsk."

The path through the woods was difficult to walk on, and she tripped over it again if she wasn't careful. Although she didn't fall, she was still a bit disheveled, and Kushida Kikyo clicked her tongue in displeasure.

After rounding another bend, Kushida Kikyo suddenly spotted someone fishing by the river ahead.

Ryuen Kakeru.

Seemingly noticing Kushida Kikyo's approach, Ryuen Kakeru turned his head and grinned, revealing his teeth:

"Isn't this Kushida from Class A? Were you satisfied with the food I brought you earlier?"

It would have been better if they hadn't brought it up, because Ryuen Kakeru's mention of it reminded Kushida Kikyo of the fear she had felt being dominated by the baguette earlier. She stopped in her tracks and, trying her best to appear gentle as usual, smiled:

"Thank you so much for the food, Ryuen! I just wonder what Ryuen had for lunch?"

As you can see.

Ryuen Kakeru curled his lip in disdain. A small fish was swimming in the bucket next to him, and there were traces of a campfire not far away.

Kushida Kikyo frowned and looked around, but she couldn't see any tents or large backpacks. Even though Ryuen Kakeru was traveling alone, this situation was still too unusual.

Aside from the fishing rod in Ryuen Kakeru's hand and the bucket next to him, the only other items that seemed to belong to him were a pot next to the campfire ashes and a small backpack.

Compared to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka in groups of one, Ryuen Kakeru's backpack was pitifully small.

"You haven't been drinking boiled river water all this time, have you?"

After a short while, Kushida Kikyo hesitantly stated her conclusion.

"Of course, otherwise where would we get the points to send resources to your Class A?"

Ryuen Kakeru sneered; he was clearly very confident in his physical abilities.

"I'm really looking forward to your group's performance, so give it your all and get first place!"

He added another sentence, this time with a fierce tone.

"What... happened?"

"Huh? Didn't Katsuragi tell you?"

Ryuen Kakeru found Kushida Kikyo's attitude strange, and he frowned as he added:

"All the [Free Ride] cards in our class were specifically for Katsuragi Kohei, so wasn't the [Double] card he drew?"

"Each member of the team ranked first in the group will receive one million Private Points. The Level 1 [Double] Card doubles the reward, while the [Free Ride] Card doubles the reward by 25%."

"Even if Katsuragi can't upgrade his card, as long as he gets first place, one of our class's [Free Ride] will still earn 500,000 points."

At this point, Ryuen Kakeru rolled his eyes. If the class hadn't been so desperate to put together an elite team to compete for the top three in the group, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to collect Private Points.

He had already devised a strategy before going to the island, and the guarantee that he dared to carry it out, besides his rich wilderness survival skills, was the special card he had drawn.

[Resurrection].

This is the real reason why Ryuen Kakeru dares to team up alone and doesn't care about the score at all.

However, the thought of having to endure eleven more days of such hardship made even the resilient Ryuen Kakeru sigh.

But he quickly rallied his spirits.

If Katsuragi Kohei gets first place.

Everything will be alright!

I'm going back to school today, so I'm taking a day off.

School has started. After staying at home for more than two months, I was getting tired of it. Although it's the last semester of my senior year, I still have to go back to school as usual.

While writing these past two days, I realized that I'm actually not very good at intellectual battles. No matter what I do, it's like drawing a target based on bullet holes. Therefore, the focus of this book in the later stages probably won't be on the intellectual battles of class competition. I've decided to play to my strengths and avoid my weaknesses by writing about what I'm good at.

Attached is an official Valentine's Day greeting illustration by Sakayanagi Arisu.

Chapter 148: I Am the Chosen One

The second day of the Uninhabited Island Exam, in the evening.

After completing two physically demanding challenges in the morning—the [Beach Flag Capture Challenge] and [Open Water Swimming] —Kitagawa Ryo's team slowed down in the afternoon. While moving towards the center of the island, they only managed to complete three nearby challenges, securing two first-place finishes and one second-place finish.

Aside from losing first place in the [Kyudo] subject to Miyake Akito from their class, Kitagawa Ryo's group had a decent scoring efficiency this afternoon. It was just a pity that they didn't encounter any other subjects nearby with rewards of ingredients or opportunities to upgrade common cards. Subjects with such rewards were often too far away for them, and even if they could manage to get there, other groups might have already filled up their spots. Therefore, after much consideration, the group decided to give up.

Since it's only their second day on the island, many students are moving quite quickly, busy running between one rewarding task after another. However, it's estimated that starting tomorrow, some teams will be forced to slow down.

Fatigue accumulates. The students who arrived on the island yesterday afternoon were full of energy and in high spirits, so they did not feel uncomfortable the next day. However, after running dozens of kilometers through the mountains and beaches all day the next day, it is almost predictable that a considerable number of students will experience muscle soreness as a lingering effect tomorrow morning.

The third day happened to be the same time when the first circle of the Uninhabited Island was closed.

While cooking, Kitagawa Ryo pondered the rules of the exam. Tonight, they had chosen to camp on a narrow, shallow stretch of sand not far from the river. The location was quite secluded, and it seemed that Horikita Suzune and the others had gone to great lengths to prevent Karuizawa Kei from finding them again.

Although in the end they still didn't achieve their initial goal.

"--This is really troublesome."

Not far away, a girl with short hair and a sporty look was smiling and greeting Horikita Suzune and the others with her hands clasped together.

"It's just a meal, and I also have some questions for Xiao Chiaki."

As she laid out the floor mat Sakayanagi Arisu answered casually. After finishing her work, she stood up and gave Matsushita Chiaki a look. The latter understood and walked with her into a small grove of trees in the distance.

This is a group that Kitagawa Ryo and Sakayanagi Arisu Class D while fetching water by the river. The group leader is Onodera Kayano, the second best athlete among the girls in the class after Horikita Suzune, especially skilled in swimming. Her partners are Wang Meiyu and Matsushita Chiaki. In terms of both academic and athletic abilities, they are quite complementary and a pretty good group.

Before promising to change Class D with their homeroom teacher, Mashima Tomonari, Kitagawa Ryo didn't pay much attention to the other students in the class. He didn't even recognize their names very well. For example, he thought Wang Meiyu, who was in this group, was called Wang Xiaomei for a long time. Later he found out that "Xiaomei" was an affectionate nickname her friends used to call her, not her real name.

Wang Meiyu is a China exchange student whose grades are comparable to Yukimura Teruhiko's in Class D. She is particularly outstanding in English, perfectly inheriting the competitive spirit of the East Asian "monster room." In the English test that Ichinose Honami had not previously registered for, she came in first place.

Since Sakayanagi Arisu seemed to have something to say to Matsushita Chiaki, and it wouldn't be polite to invite only one person, and since they were all classmates anyway, the three of them ended up being brought back by Sakayanagi Arisu and Kitagawa Ryo.

It's just a matter of adding three more sets of bowls and chopsticks.

While scores and the Supply tied to them are of paramount importance to most groups on the Uninhabited Island, Kitagawa Ryo doesn't seem to care much about them.

He had already promised Mashima Tomonari he would make Class D a normal class, so he naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to interact with his classmates.

Besides, camping and having a meal together sounds like a great idea, and it would be even better if it could create wonderful memories for the classmates.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was rubbing his chin, considering whether to contact the other students in his class in the days following their time on the Uninhabited Island to organize a big get-together, the girls were already chatting away happily.

Although Sakayanagi Arisu pulled Matsushita Chiaki aside, Kitagawa Ryo's group still included Ichinose Honami girl who was incredibly popular in the class. Under her guidance, Onodera and Wang Meiyu joined the conversation without any hesitation, chatting about their experiences on the Uninhabited Island over the past two days.

"Speaking of which, I met Hirata- kun from Class A this afternoon."

"At the time, he was participating in a [speech improvisation] project."

"Although I don't know the specific topic he drew, it seems to be related to the issue of school bullying. He performed exceptionally well and ended up getting first place."

Wang Meiyu's tone was slightly excited, and Onodera next to her smiled teasingly.

"I knew you'd bring this up again."

"After all, it's Hirata- kun's business."

Ichinose Honami stood to the side, offering a kind smile.

"Actually, if Xiaomei really likes him, she can try to get to know him. Hirata- kun shouldn't be that difficult to approach, right?"

Then came a series of emotional counseling sessions.

Horikita Suzune listened for a while, resting her chin on her hand, before realizing that it was because a girl Wang Meiyu in her class had a chance encounter with Hirata Yosuke from Class A during the opening ceremony, and had always harbored a vague affection for him. However, because she was a bit introverted, she didn't dare to take that step.

Speaking of Hirata Yosuke from Class 1-A, he is indeed very famous throughout the entire grade. It is said that he is good-looking, virtuous, and academically excellent. He is also an official member of the soccer club and is gentle and humble. Many girls must be interested in him, which is one of the reasons why Wang Meiyu has hesitated to make further contact with him.

Unlike Horikita Suzune Ichinose Honami guest on a relationship talk show offering dating advice, Suzune Horikita's own love life is a complete mess.

However, after hearing the keywords Hirata Yosuke and [school bullying], Horikita Suzune felt as if she had heard about this before.

"Dinner's ready. The facilities are rather basic; we only have stew."

Just then, Kitagawa Ryo's voice came over, and Onodera and Wang Meiyu thanked him repeatedly. After all, on this Uninhabited Island, a bowl of hot stew with both meat and vegetables was definitely the best meal available. Moreover, judging from the aroma and appearance alone, Kitagawa Ryo's culinary skills were certainly not lacking.

Horikita Suzune stood up to help Kitagawa Ryo, and the moment her eyes fell on the stew, she suddenly remembered when she had heard Hirata Yosuke's name before.

It must have been almost three years ago, on a winter day, when everyone was in the second year of junior high school. Kitagawa Ryo came home much later than usual because of something.

When he went to other schools for an exchange program with their Drama Club, he saved a male student who was about to jump off a building in public due to bullying. Because of his timely and proper emergency treatment, the student, who was initially brain dead, was miraculously saved by subsequent hospital care.

The person who accompanied Kitagawa Ryo to the hospital was a close friend of the student who jumped from the building, and also an eyewitness to the tragedy.

His name is Hirata Yosuke.

Horikita Suzune's eyes flickered slightly.

"What are you thinking about? It'll get cold if you don't eat it."

"If Suzune doesn't want to eat, then I'll eat it."

Kitagawa Ryo's voice pulled Horikita Suzune back from her thoughts. Seeing that the other person was really serious about reaching out to her, Horikita Suzune hurriedly and clumsily shoveled a mouthful of food into her mouth.

"..."

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, Kitagawa Ryo's cooking skills are indeed far superior to mine.

Horikita Suzune used to have some competitive thoughts, but she has long since given up on them.

Anyway, she's the one eating it.

Horikita Suzune remained calm, but her hands moved with surprising speed.

However, when she reached out to scoop some more, there was only a little left in the pot.

There are still too many people.