Terrifying Insight (Continued)

Kitagawa Ryo carried a pot of stew to the group of people who were chatting enthusiastically and said with a smile:

"Ryuen had foreseen this long ago; he took action on it from the very first day of the Uninhabited Island Exam."

"However, the reason he dared to act so recklessly on the first day of the exam was simply because of the [Resurrection] card in his possession; that's the only advantage of being in a solo group."

"Here, everyone, eat as much as you like tonight."

When Kitagawa Ryo was distributing the bowls and chopsticks, he gave Horikita Suzune a wink.

"Does 'cold' mean I have a big appetite?"

"I remember the night before last, Suzune seemed like she hadn't eaten enough."

Kitagawa Ryo swallowed a mouthful of hot food.

"Anyway, there are no outsiders here, so we don't need to worry too much about these things. Besides, it's really tiring to be on Uninhabited Island."

Since they were camping on Uninhabited Island, they didn't bother with the separate serving system. Kitagawa Ryo directly put a piece of tenderly cooked beef on Horikita Suzune's plate. In the short time they were talking, he had already finished a bowl and was licking his lips, looking like a child, as if he was still not satisfied.

"Speaking of which, how many points did tonight's meal cost?"

Ichinose Honami asked the question seemingly casually.

"After the 40% discount, it only cost less than 500 points, so don't worry."

The ingredients, worth roughly a thousand points, would be an amount that would be difficult for any student group on the Uninhabited Island to afford.

"I remember that after the [Discount] card reaches level three, each subsequent level only increases the discount by 5%."

"Yes, after all, a 10% increase at level one does disrupt the balance a bit."

"But it's not bad now."

Kitagawa Ryo happily picked up another piece of food with his chopsticks, placed it on his rice, and stuffed it into his mouth.

"... I feel like something's not right?"

Ichinose Honami's tone suddenly became puzzled:

"Ryo has gotten three upgrade opportunities so far. I got one through a trade with Ryuen, one from Karuizawa, and then another from Amasawa this afternoon."

"There were six times in total, which means the 'Discount' card should now be at level seven, offering a 40-50% discount."

Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu were also taken aback. They hadn't really noticed this detail. After all, Kitagawa Ryo's card had been leveling up too quickly these past two days, and the higher the level, the better the effect. Everyone was benefiting from it, so the two of them naturally didn't pay much attention to the specific source of these leveling opportunities.

Now that Ichinose Honami has analyzed it this way, it seems that there really is an extra level.

"If I told you that I participated in some research project during the time I was separated from you this morning and got this promotion opportunity, would you believe me?"

I'm afraid not.

Ichinose Honami shook her head, put down her bowl, sat down, and said very seriously:

"If Liang received this upgrade opportunity this morning, then it doesn't quite match yesterday's payment."

"Liang rented a Jet Ski yesterday morning, and I happened to notice the deduction of points. The daily rental price for Jet Ski is 2,000 points. According to Liang, your [Discount] card should have offered a 40% Discount at that time, but instead, 1,100 points were deducted, resulting in a 55% discount."

"Therefore, Liang's upgrade must be before the third day, and specifically after nightfall on the second night."

Ichinose Honami her ideas clearly and logically, with all the data presented flawlessly, which sent chills down the spines of Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu.

"Because we ran into the Matsushita team that night, we spent some extra points to exchange for ingredients. At that time, the discount was exactly 65% off."

"Yesterday morning, Ryo only participated in the [Piano Performance] task and then rented Jet Ski. Besides Ryo, the only other person who participated in the task was Ishizaki from Class C. He is not a special card holder, so naturally he couldn't give Ryo a face-to-face transfer upgrade opportunity."

"Wait... how did Honami know that it was just me and Ishizaki there at that time?"

Ichinose Honami shook her head in equal confusion:

"Didn't Ryo ask Ishizaki to pass on a message to Shiina? The whole Class C knows about it. I also know some girls in Class C. We bumped into each other during our assignment this afternoon and exchanged a few words, which led to this conversation."

Kitagawa Ryo rubbed his slightly aching temples. The other person really hadn't heard him say "don't exaggerate." No wonder Ryuen Kakeru had that kind of expression when he saw him and Shiina Hiyori together last night.

"Don't change the subject, Liang."

"You still haven't told me who gave you that extra upgrade opportunity."

Ichinose Honami spoke, Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu nodded in agreement, their three pairs of eyes fixed on Kitagawa Ryo.

After all, the four students currently known to hold special cards are Ryuen Kakeru, Karuizawa Kei, Shiina Hiyori, and Amasawa Ichika.

Ryuen Kakeru only signed a cooperation agreement with Kitagawa Ryo last night, so it's absolutely impossible for him to transfer the upgrade opportunity the following night.

If we exclude this possibility, and add to that the hidden setting that 'upgrade opportunities must be transferred face-to-face'...

In other words, one of the remaining three girls sneaked into their group's camp late on the second night, and most likely even entered Kitagawa Ryo's tent.

This is an absolutely huge event!

They had been in the same group as Kitagawa Ryo for a while now, and none of them had ever been to Kitagawa Ryo's tent. The three of them slept in one tent and kept an eye on each other, but unexpectedly, someone else beat them to it.

Having figured this out, the three men's gazes suddenly sharpened even more.

Kitagawa Ryo felt a lot of pressure.

Although he knew that Ichinose Honami had a strong sense of observation, he did not expect that the other party would remember every single point expense and discount, and even analyze the specific time through various clues.

What's worse, the idea he came up with—that 'upgrade opportunities can only be transferred face-to-face'—seems to have backfired and screwed him over.

"Okay, it's Amasawa. I did meet with her that night."

Now that things have come to this, Kitagawa Ryo had no intention of making any more excuses and simply told the truth.

However, once the name was uttered, Ichinose Honami's hostility seemed to subside considerably:

"That's alright. I guess Amasawa subconsciously discovered this hidden setting, so he rushed over to discuss it with Liang."

Sakayanagi Arisu looked at Ichinose Honami, who had suddenly relaxed her guard, speechless. It seemed that Amasawa Ichika's usual disguise was indeed successful. If she really had to choose the girl most likely to climb into Kitagawa Ryo's bed from the three of them, Amasawa Ichika's danger ranking would definitely be above Shiina Hiyori and Karuizawa Kei.

After all, given Shiina Hiyori's personality and Karuizawa Kei's consistently effortless demeanor, the most they could manage was a simple confession.

Amasawa Ichika...

Sakayanagi Arisu still remembers the scene when she first went to the White Room and saw the other party fiercely defeat all the Fifth Generation in the fighting event, and then calmly pick up the blood-stained hair tie from the ground.

"Ichika really does look like Ryo's younger sister, especially the color of their pupils, they're both fluorescent yellow."

On the other side, Ichinose Honami was still chatting casually with Kitagawa Ryo about her younger sister.

As for Horikita Suzune...

She was eating.

After all, she wasn't very familiar with Kitagawa Ryo's family situation, unlike Ichinose Honami who was as close to Hotaru.

Rather, she was the only one still eating at the table, and as she ate the delicious food spoonful by spoonful, her happiness index soared.

Just when Kitagawa Ryo thought this little incident was about to pass, Ichinose Honami suddenly spoke with a smile:

"Since Amasawa has already been inside the cool tent, it means the school's management doesn't seem to be very strict."

"How about we come over to our tent tonight and play some board games? I redeemed a set of Truth or Dare cards."

As she spoke, Ichinose Honami pulled a box of brightly packaged, colorful playing cards commonly used at parties from her bag.

Sakayanagi Arisu's eyes lit up, and she quickly nodded in agreement:

"Yeah, it's really boring to go to bed too early at night, and you can't fall asleep."

Horikita Suzune, unusually, put down her chopsticks and spoke as well:

"I think it's pretty good too."

Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami, but there was no reason to refuse at this point, so he simply raised his hand:

"I'm fine with it, but is there enough space?"

"No problem."

Seeing that Kitagawa Ryo had agreed, Ichinose Honami happily pointed to the three-person tent beside her:

"Our tent is quite big."

Karuizawa Kei Birthday Special - The Birth of K&K

(Note: This chapter contains supplementary information about past events that occurred in the present day, which is part of the main storyline.)

In the spacious theater, the [Chenxi] Theater Troupe's performance of <King Lear> was packed to capacity. The first half of the play had reached its climax, with Kitagawa Ryo delivering King Lear's monologue in the pouring rain.

Even though he deliberately aged himself with makeup and a messy white fake beard, when Kitagawa Ryo's 'King Lear' took to the stage alone, the audience still erupted in deafening cheers and thunderous applause.

In the front row, you could even see the props among the light sticks and banners for support. It was less like a theatrical performance and more like the day of a popular celebrity's concert.

On the pre-set stage, the pouring water droplets and the background music of thunder and lightning created the Tempest Matoba.

Kitagawa Ryo simply stood in the artificial downpour, the raindrops pouring down from above soaking his body, his thin clothes clinging to his equally thin frame.

"Unfortunate people who are poorly clothed, wherever you are, you must endure the onslaught of such a merciless the Tempest. You have no roof over your heads, your bellies are churning with hunger, and your clothes are riddled with holes. How can you withstand such weather?"

As the most moving passage in Shakespeare's King Lear, one of his four great tragedies, Kitagawa Ryo's performance captivated even the most complete audience members.

"Ah! I never thought of such a thing. You who enjoy wealth and luxury, open your eyes, go out and experience the suffering of the poor, share some of the blessings you cannot enjoy with them, and let Heaven know that you are not heartless!"

Strands of damp, tousled hair clung to his forehead as Kitagawa Ryo knelt on the stage, King Lear performing the most painful and bloody self-analysis before the heavens.

The audience in the front row was only seven or eight meters away from Kitagawa Ryo, and he could even clearly see the expression on the other's face.

Drama is the performance closest to the audience.

King Lear wept in the Tempest.

Without a doubt, it was an absolutely perfect first half.

But, precisely because of this --

Chenxi @ Morning Glow Theater Troupe:

"Thank you all for your support of this King Lear production. If you have anything to say, please Twitter with the hashtag Chenxi. Looking forward to your comments!"

Within an hour of this official Twitter being posted, several related trending topics quickly emerged on entertainment news platforms.

Searching for "cool" and "like", along with the hashtag Chenxi, the girl easily retrieved a large number of tweets by swiping her phone screen:

(I absolutely love Liang's acting. I never had any interest in drama before, but after watching his live performance today, I want to support him. Chenxi).

(Am I the only one who thinks that the scene in the Tempest at the end of the first half, [Liang]'s battle damage was quite bad? I [liked] it so much. When will you be able to upload the recording of this performance online? Chenxi).

(After the event, I got a chance to shake hands with her. [Cool] She's really small, I love her so much wwwww# Chenxi).

Similarly, many professional drama critics and industry insiders have also given high praise to Kitagawa Ryo in numerous fan comments.

However, when the name "Ryo" was changed and the keywords "Karuizawa Kei, like" were searched, the screen, which was originally filled with various comments, suddenly went blank.

There are no results for "Karuizawa Kei, likes Chenxi", but similar topics have been recommended for you.

"Karuizawa Kei Chenxi".

(Why do people's names always trend after every play? [Karuizawa Kei] Sang wwwww Chenxi).

(It's unbearable to watch. Compared to Kitagawa's King Lear, [Karuizawa Kei]'s Cordelia is like someone who can't act at all Chenxi).

(So many new viewers? Who doesn't know that [Karuizawa Kei] is the absolute core of the Morning Glow Theater Troupe? Hehehe Chenxi)

(This kind of Actor who can't act at all is always a flop leading lady. [Karuizawa Kei] couldn't have gotten the role by paying her way in, could she? Chenxi)

(If she had any self-awareness, she should have announced her retirement from the stage long ago. This shameless attitude is really annoying, [Karuizawa Kei]-san?)

(Disappear, ugly woman! It's a waste for Ryo to be paired with someone like you. #[Karuizawa Kei] Quitting Chenxi)

(Who put this tag? I thought they were genuinely happy for a long time wwwww #[Karuizawa Kei] leaving Chenxi)

"What's so interesting about this?"

The phone she was holding was suddenly taken away. Karuizawa Kei subconsciously looked up and saw Kitagawa Ryo, the hottest rising star in drama right now, frowning as he turned off her phone screen. Then, without any manners, he patted her shoulder, gesturing for her to sit a little to the left.

After Karuizawa Kei shifted her position, Kitagawa Ryo sat down neatly beside her, turned his head to look at her, and said:

"It was much better than during the rehearsal; you performed very well today."

"Yeah, I don't care about those things."

Karuizawa Kei pursed her lips and took the phone from Kitagawa Ryo's hand. She quietly deleted the bottom few results from the search history.

"That's good."