Terrifying Insight

Horikita Suzune seemed to have some memories stirred up by the question, and she perked up a little:

"When I first started learning to cook, I sometimes made a mess and caused the oil pan to catch fire. For many kitchen beginners, the Matoba flames shooting up into the sky is quite frightening, and it's common to be so scared that you freeze in place."

"But after I learned how to handle it, I wasn't so scared anymore. Some people seem to deliberately make it look like the oil pan is on fire, as if they think it looks cool?"

Ichinose Honami nodded in agreement.

"I often see my mom encounter this situation when cooking at home. As long as she stays calm and puts the lid on the pot to cut off the oxygen, it's fine."

"But Hiyori might not know."

Kitagawa Ryo tilted his head back and replied:

"She probably knew more about how to set fires silently, using hungry cats to knock over fish tanks and let quicklime come into contact with water; putting unprocessed methanol in bottles and then using the angle of the sunlight and windows to focus it; or smearing white phosphorus on blankets and using the temperature of the air conditioner to make the low-ignition-point white phosphorus spontaneously combust at night... Hiyori never went to the kitchen."

Shiina Hiyori had never cooked before. Although she had studied for a long time for Karuizawa Kei during their second simulation, that memory now only remained in Kitagawa Ryo's mind.

"There's a strange chill running down my spine..."

"That's how mystery novel fans are, but it's all just an idealized version of reality."

Kitagawa Ryo waved his hand and explained.

As expected, Shiina Hiyori hesitated for a long time. Although she noticed the problem with the water and oil, the scene of the oil pan catching fire was only a word in her mind, and she couldn't explain it in detail for the time being.

Time quickly passed, and then Sakayanagi Arisu smiled and revealed the specific answer:

"Do not use water to extinguish a fire in a frying pan, because water will rapidly vaporize when it encounters high temperatures. This violent vaporization process will cause the oil to mix with the air, forming an oil-water-vapor mixture that will create a larger flame. However, oil is the opposite. If you pour cold oil into the pan, because oil is lighter than water, it will create an oxygen barrier, allowing the fire to slowly extinguish."

Unlike Shiina Hiyori, Sakayanagi Arisu had cooking experience in her first simulation. Although she is currently in the stage where her brain works well but her hands don't, she still speaks fluently on the theoretical level.

Kitagawa Ryo reasonably suspected that if Sakayanagi Arisu were to face the frying pan on fire right now, she wouldn't be completely at a loss, but she would still find herself in an awkward situation.

For the reason, please refer to the answer to the previous question by Shiina Hiyori.

Although Kitagawa Ryo's group was chatting and laughing in the audience, creating a relaxed atmosphere, Shiina Hiyori's situation suddenly became difficult. If Sakayanagi Arisu, according to the rules, she would lose to Sakayanagi Arisu.

However, Sakayanagi Arisu's choice of question made Shiina Hiyori realize that if she wanted to stump Sakayanagi Arisu, she should target Sakayanagi Arisu's blind spot.

With this in mind, Shiina Hiyori chose the following question:

Police were tracking a wounded armed criminal whose arm was bleeding profusely from a bullet wound. Following the trail of blood into a forest, they soon heard gunshots and the cries of deer. Upon closer inspection, they discovered the trail of blood had split into two lines extending deep into the forest.

[Undoubtedly, this was a trap deliberately set by the criminal to confuse the police, but the officer used a very simple method to determine the criminal's true escape route. What was this method?]

"Oh, Arisu might not be able to answer this question."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded, making his own judgment, while Ichinose Honami and Horikita Suzune beside him both looked puzzled.

"This can't be considered a riddle anymore; it requires some professional knowledge, but Arisu relatively little experience in this area."

Human energy is limited. Sakayanagi Arisu was indeed a genius, but he couldn't be omniscient. Questions involving related knowledge are different from general questions that test logic and imaginative thinking. If you don't know, you simply don't know.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo had predicted, Sakayanagi Arisu found herself in the same predicament Shiina Hiyori, but considering that Shiina Hiyori had also failed to answer her question correctly this round, she simply gave up on it.

The answer is that the salt content of human blood is different from that of animal blood. Human blood has a much higher salt content than animal blood, so you only need to taste two bloodstains.

Shiina Hiyori visibly breathed a sigh of relief before revealing the answer to the question.

Then, the two of them entered the third, fourth, and fifth rounds together...

Aside from both failing on their second question, they continued for ten rounds, with Shiina Hiyori and Sakayanagi Arisu answering all of the other's questions correctly, resulting in a near-stalemate that lasted for almost an hour.

The teacher in charge wiped the sweat from his brow. The school hadn't anticipated this situation when setting up the project, but they had other projects to assign later, and to determine a winner in this one as quickly as possible, they made the decision. He waved to Kitagawa Ryo and said:

"You come over here too. Now, the three of you will each give each other ten questions, and then you'll work together on the twenty questions given by the other two. One point will be awarded for each question, and the top three will be determined by their scores."

The three of them were slightly taken aback, realizing that the school was implying they had spent too much time on this project, and they couldn't help but chuckle.

The school's question bank was indeed quite extensive. Fifty questions appeared on the tablet that Kitagawa Ryo had received in no time. What he needed to do now was to select ten of them to use as the test papers he would give to the other two.

After a cursory glance, Kitagawa Ryo didn't find any particularly interesting questions. He randomly selected ten that seemed somewhat amusing and then submitted them.

About three minutes later, the twenty questions selected by Shiina Hiyori and Sakayanagi Arisu were sent to his tablet.

[Question 1: Before Mount Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?]

Mount Everest.

Kitagawa Ryo types incredibly fast.

[Second question: When is two greater than five but less than zero?]

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Kitagawa Ryo decided to retract his assessment of the school's extensive question bank.

It turned into a simple riddle again, and not only Kitagawa Ryo, but also Sakayanagi Arisu and Shiina Hiyori on the other side seemed to handle it with ease.

[Question 20: Is KISS a verb, a noun, or some other word?]

The last question was a classic riddle, even older than Kitagawa Ryo.

The twenty questions were quickly answered, and all three seemed very confident. In fact, their final results were quite consistent.

The teacher in charge stared at the three test papers with perfect scores of 20 points, feeling a chill run down his spine. He quickly went back, seemingly to speak with the person in charge of the next level, before returning and saying weakly:

"Alright, alright, the prize for the top three will be split among the three of you. Each of you will receive 1200 points and 1.5L of drinking water. Go get them yourselves."

"We need to move on to another area to set up the next round of research topics."

After saying that, the teacher in charge shook his head helplessly.

"So far in the Uninhabited Island Exam, you are the first team to remain tied until the end of the project without a clear winner."

"That's the school's problem, isn't it? Or rather, we students are the ones who suffer because we can't decide a winner. I think if we played a few more rounds, I would definitely win."

Sakayanagi Arisu crossed her arms and glanced at Shiina Hiyori. She had a very strong competitive spirit, and this forced draw was actually more painful for Sakayanagi Arisu than losing.

"If Classmate Sakayanagi's really what you think, then we'll meet again later, and then I'll finally beat you."

Shiina Hiyori seemed to have gotten a little heated from the dozen or so rounds of fighting, and her tone was unusually emotional.

"... It's getting late. We've indeed spent too much time on this topic. For the sake of the next round of research, it would be better to leave as soon as possible."

Kitagawa Ryo took the drinking water reward for all three of them and offered his suggestion.

It's already past 3 PM. Considering the time spent moving around, I can only find one or two more research topics at most.

The other groups participating in this project had already left, except for Kitagawa Ryo's group and Shiina Hiyori Group, a total of six people, who were still waiting here. The teachers also began to pack their things.

"..."

Sakayanagi Arisu took a deep breath, then turned around again to take the 1.5-liter bottle of drinking water from Kitagawa Ryo's hand. She then squatted down and began to unzip her backpack, preparing to put the water in.

Meanwhile, Horikita Suzune and Ichinose Honami also started carrying their bags, looking at their watches together as if discussing their next direction and the choice of their next task.

Ibuki Mio also picked up Shiina Hiyori's reward bottle of drinking water. Her bag was a little further away, so she turned around with the water and prepared to put it into her own backpack. Because of the difference in physical strength, Ibuki Mio always tried to help Shiina Hiyori reduce some of the pressure in these small details.

In that short span of about thirty seconds, Shiina Hiyori felt all eyes shift away from her and Kitagawa Ryo.

Is there anything that, if spoken aloud, will break it?

This is one of the brain teasers we just did.

Its answer is [silence].

Once he opens his mouth, whatever he says will immediately attract everyone's attention.

And it was only for this brief moment.

So Shiina Hiyori didn't intend to speak; she just subconsciously looked at Kitagawa Ryo's face.

The Matoba last night inexplicably reappeared in her mind, stimulating her actions as if she had tasted its sweetness.

So Shiina Hiyori and, beside Sakayanagi Arisu who was tidying her backpack, kissed Kitagawa Ryo's lips coolly and quietly.

Kitagawa Ryo widened his eyes slightly. Unlike last night, now that it was daytime, he could clearly see more details, including the very short downy hairs unique to young girls and the fluttering eyelashes like black butterflies on Shiina Hiyori's face, which were clearly visible under the sunlight.

Is KISS a verb, a noun, or some other word?

This is the topic chosen by Shiina Hiyori.

Its answer is simple.

It is a conjunction.

Because a kiss is an action that connects two people.

From the lips to the heart.

I have something to do today, so I'm taking a day off.

I've been busy with my graduation thesis lately. My supervisor wants it to be finished as soon as possible, so he's been pushing me quite hard. I chose a topic on classical Chinese novels from the Song Dynasty, and I've been reading novels by Song Dynasty writers for the past few months. I've discovered that what our ancestors wrote a thousand years ago is quite similar to what we write today.

In the realm of supernatural tales, translated, it's basically about peach blossoms, fox spirits, female ghosts, and cripples. There are also many shocking historical stories, such as one in "Qingsuo Gaoyi" where a madman meets the ghost of Xiang Yu and directly discusses why Xiang Yu lost to Liu Bang, leaving Xiang Yu greatly shocked and praising the madman's great talent. There are also similar stories about meeting Qin Shi Huang; the imaginations are quite wild.

By the way, Yang Guifei is the most frequently fantasized-about character in the Song Dynasty novels, roughly equivalent to Huang Rong's status in today's martial arts fanfiction. _(:з"∠)_

Chapter 162: Terrifying Insight

Einstein once explained his theory of relativity in a joking way:

When you sit next to a beautiful girl for two hours, it will feel like only a minute has passed. But when you sit in front of an extremely hot stove, even if only a minute has passed, it will feel like two hours.

Kitagawa Ryo's current feeling is pretty much like this: it was an incredibly short yet incredibly long kiss, Sakayanagi Arisu could see this scene simply by looking up.

But Shiina Hiyori quite casually took a small step back at the last second, smiling and pursing her lips:

See you next time, Liang.

"... Okay, see you next time."

Just like the answer to that riddle, a kiss is essentially a connection between two people and an exchange and fusion of breath. Kitagawa Ryo felt the lingering warmth of Shiina Hiyori still on the tip of his nose and lips. Sakayanagi Arisu had already tidied up her things and stood up again, so Kitagawa Ryo nodded in response.

Before long, Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio disappeared into the depths of the forest. Judging from the direction they were heading, they were probably heading towards the more central area of Uninhabited Island. Tomorrow would be the fifth day of the Uninhabited Island Exam, which would be the second time the circle would shrink. Based on the pattern of the first time the circle shrank, the school hoped to gradually force each group into the central area for the final showdown.

Therefore, most groups were consciously moving towards the central area of the island, but many groups had the opposite idea and chose to wander around the restricted area while other students moved inward, sweeping through the topics along the edge of the shrinking circle.

Kitagawa Ryo's group's modus operandi is actually more like an intermediate state between the two: they maintain a steady pace, searching for interesting topics in the vicinity while avoiding restricted areas.

After the [brain teaser quiz], Kitagawa Ryo's group split into two groups in the remaining afternoon to complete two [academic ability] tasks: a [comprehensive test of humanities knowledge] and a [comprehensive test of art encyclopedia knowledge]. They won first and second place respectively, bringing the group's total score to 1,500 points.

As darkness fell, the fourth day of the Uninhabited Island Exam came to a close.

Having easily found a campsite, Kitagawa Ryo's group quickly set up their tents. Although they hadn't received any ingredients from the project's rewards today, Kitagawa Ryo still managed to get a considerable amount of fresh ingredients from the resource exchange station thanks to the super low price of 40% off with the Level 8 [Discount] Card.

"Finally, everything's alright tonight."

Ichinose Honami spread out the floor mat, let out a long sigh, and exclaimed in amazement.

On the first night of the Uninhabited Island Exam, they encountered Karuizawa Kei; on the second night, they met Matsushita Chiaki's group; last night, during the Tempest night, they experienced Kitagawa Ryo's disappearance; tonight—the fourth night—finally looks like a peaceful night.

"Even though it's only the fourth day, it feels like so much has happened."

"It's probably because of all the different topics. To be honest, each topic is like a mini- Special Exam."

That's not wrong.

While rubbing her sore calves and arms Sakayanagi Arisu chatted with Horikita and Ichinose.

"But there are still ten days left. If the area available for movement keeps shrinking, then joint camping will probably become more and more common in the end."

"It's not just camping; the various groups will also gradually gather according to their classes to share information and resources in the later stages of this Special Exam."

Horikita Suzune nodded and added:

"There will even be situations where one's own group sacrifices itself to help the top groups in the class strive for a top-three finish."

"It's not 'even', it should be 'definitely' going to happen."

Sakayanagi Arisu shook her head, lying flat on a mat, and replied:

"Although the middle-level teams can also receive Private Points rewards, the majority of Class Points still go to the top three teams. As long as you don't end up at the bottom, there shouldn't be any problems."

"The school must have taken this into account, which is why they prohibited the transfer of scores between groups."

There are only two ways to improve your ranking: improve yourself or drag others down.

"In this Uninhabited Island Exam, the key to self-improvement can be summed up in four words: increase income and reduce expenditure, which means earning more points while spending fewer points."

Ichinose Honami also picked up the conversation:

"So what the middle-level teams can do for the top teams is help them increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and also help them compete with other class teams."