The "Eagle Catches the Chicks" Strategy

People are inherently shameful, and those who lacked shame have already dropped out of school. It can be said that it was thanks to Mashima Tomonari's efforts that Class D was able to maintain its collective form to this day, despite having zero Class Points.

"So, let's first toast to Mr. Mashima."

"Of course, it's water."

Kitagawa Ryo touched Mashima Tomonari's plastic bottle with his own. They didn't have that many cups, and no one was going to make do. In this lively atmosphere, even the drinking water filtered by the water purifier didn't seem to have any strange taste.

Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, stripped of all its accolades and formalities, is ultimately just a high school, a school.

The purpose of school is to learn knowledge and make friends.

After experiencing two simulations with Sakayanagi Arisu, Kitagawa Ryo finally understood the selfish intentions his grandfather had as an educator when he founded the school.

Class D has never surpassed any previous class to graduate with the grades of Class A.

However, they still received a full three-year education at Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

As Sakayanagi Arisu said, taking Class D of this year as an example, among the forty students initially admitted to Class D, there were students from single-parent families whose high schools had their admissions revoked due to violent incidents; there were students who were the worst students in their class during junior high and only knew how to brag; there were students with extremely poor physical fitness but great talent in electronics; and there were students from ordinary families who were unremarkable and excelled in no aspect during junior high.

The vast majority of students in Class D would have absolutely no chance of getting into a high school of the same caliber as Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School if they went through the normal college entrance process.

Therefore, Class D can be called the "defective class" because most of the students assigned here have experienced varying degrees of harm in the past, either in their families of origin or in their school life, and are people with certain defects.

But from another perspective, this is also another opportunity given to them by Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

If ANHS hadn't accepted Ken Sudō, he would most likely have dropped out of school and ended up on the streets after his impulsive violent incident led to his expulsion from school. He might have played street basketball, but he was more likely to become a scumbag and a hoodlum.

Education is the social welfare that most needs to be made as fair as possible, or at least appear to be fair.

Because it is a platform for broadening horizons; it is also a springboard for upward social mobility.

Most of the thirty-four people sitting here probably didn't have the experience of taking a cruise to an artificial island overseas when they were sixteen, unless they had entered Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

Only when everyone realizes this can they turn their attention away from that distant Class A and focus it on themselves.

Then, make full use of and enjoy ANHS's educational resources.

"Cheers!"

Everyone excitedly raised their plastic bottles, and the various dishes prepared in advance were brought to the table. After a hard week on the Uninhabited Island, almost everyone, men and women alike, ate heartily without any manners.

Although Class D's score was still at the bottom of the four classes, many groups had made it into the top 50% of the group rankings. Ken Sudō's group even showed signs of making a run for the top three. The students of Class D were having a great time chatting and eating about the various events, strange topics, and winning strategies that had occurred over the past seven days.

Kitagawa Ryo sat next to Mashima Tomonari, seemingly to show off his status as the Leader Class D, but the real reason was that he just wanted to avoid the chaotic and disorderly girls. After all, sitting next to or opposite someone wouldn't satisfy the others.

"It seems you still remember the promise you made back then."

Mashima Tomonari affectionately put his arm around Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder, referring to a conversation the two had late at night on the first floor of their hotel during one of their outings.

"It was your inspiration."

Kitagawa Ryo replied with a smile.

In fact, before that heart-to-heart talk with Mashima Tomonari, he didn't really have any feelings about Class 1-D, and it might not even be as strong as Class C, which he had been in during the simulation.

Although Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu seem like complete social outcasts in front of Ichinose Honami, the former joined the Student Council and the latter became close friends with Matsushita Chiaki. In truth, he was the one most estranged from Class D.

Even the help he gave to Ken Sudō at the time of enrollment was merely a preemptive remedial measure, as he didn't want Class D to fall into the abyss in the first month of school because of his stupidity.

Just like how, despite possessing the golden talent of "Eidetic Memory," Kitagawa Ryo could mistakenly remember his classmate Wang Meiyu's name as Wang Xiaomei, his social circle at that time was still the same group as before.

It was after communicating with Mashima Tomonari that Kitagawa Ryo finally accepted himself into Class D. His original plan was to have Ichinose Honami or Horikita Suzune become the apparent Leader of Class D.

And now, I have indeed made many classmates who can be called friends.

"Although I don't know how far you'll end up."

Mashima Tomonari squinted, looking at the scene before him as if he were slightly tipsy, even though he had only drunk water.

"But it would be best to continue on this path."

"It would be wonderful if, ten or twenty years from now, I could look back on this summer with a smile."

Later that evening, Kitagawa Ryo left the dinner party. He took some of the food he had saved in advance and walked alone to the other side of the forest, where Ryuen Kakeru from Class C was already waiting.

Ryuen Kakeru Kitagawa Ryo going to give him some task or ask him for some information. He never expected that Kitagawa Ryo had come to simply chat with him.

"I made this myself, it's so much better than your salty grilled fish, want some?"

Kitagawa Ryo laid out the tablecloth and sat down to invite Ryuen Kakeru.

It would be foolish not to take advantage of a good deal, especially since the dishes looked quite appealing. Having survived on the Uninhabited Island for several days and eaten baguettes as the best food he had ever had, Ryuen Kakeru quickly sat down casually and picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

"It's a shame you're not a chef with skills like that."

While offering this compliment, Ryuen Kakeru also casually remarked:

"We, Class C, owe you a debt of gratitude for what happened in the F4 Area today."

Immediately afterwards, his expression darkened.

"The unlucky guy who dropped out of the exam by drinking untreated water was a student in our Class C. To make matters worse, he was in a duo with his girlfriend. Although the girl is fine and is still taking the exam on the Uninhabited Island, the overall situation is not optimistic."

"If it weren't for me being at the bottom, she probably would have fallen to last place in just a few days."

That is indeed quite troublesome.

Kitagawa Ryo imagined it; it was roughly equivalent to the group with Ibuki Mio and Shiina Hiyori. Ibuki Mio was forced to withdraw from the exam due to her health condition. Even though Shiina Hiyori's abilities were probably much higher than the average girl in Class C, Kitagawa Ryo still had some doubts about whether she could survive independently on Uninhabited Island and find research topics.

"To prevent her score from dropping too quickly, I temporarily added her to another group, which will at least save her some points for exchanging supplies."

Since it wasn't important information, and there was really no one else to complain to, Ryuen Kakeru Sho had a good chat with Kitagawa Ryo.

After Ryuen Kakeru ate the last bit of soup from the plate in front of him, mixing it with rice, he let out a satisfied sigh and stretched.

"Alright, I don't really think you, Kitagawa, are here to invite me to dinner. Stop beating around the bush, or I'm thinking of going out for a walk to digest."

"Actually, I just wanted to have a meal with you from the beginning. Just think of it as me fulfilling a promise I made a long time ago."

Kitagawa Ryo leaned against the tree, speaking with a sense of relief, then smiled and asked:

"What I'm about to say might just be me talking to myself, so just take it with a grain of salt, Ryuen."

"In the first semester of this year, Hui and I starred in a play called 'Youth Taboo Game.' The story is very simple: a group of students want to change their graduation grades and resort to deception, bribery, violence, and coercion to achieve their goal."

"At that time, I actually felt that many students in Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School were no different from those in the play. Everyone used all sorts of methods in hopes of becoming a student in Class A. Even the homeroom teacher was not as principled as the one in the play, and just treated the students arbitrarily according to his own likes and dislikes."

"Yesterday you told Ayanokoji Kiyotaka he went north, but actually Suzune later told me that they saw Ayanokoji in the south, and at that time you even took off your wristwatch."

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo paused, his tone somewhat apologetic:

"Actually, for the rest of that day, I was on guard against you. I even wondered if you deliberately damaged the watch to use that blank time to do something, such as attacking other students from behind and forcing them to drop out of the exam."

"But in fact, Ayanokoji was just deceiving you at that time. You didn't do anything unusual while the watch was detached. It was then that I realized that I had also fallen into that misconception and had started to get used to deceiving and manipulating others, and then giving it a nice-sounding name, calling it 'Classroom of the Elite Studio'."

"Of course, I don't intend to deny any of your ideas or actions, Ryuen. It's just that, personally, I hope you won't simply and crudely bring those street rules into this school and then take them out in their original form."

Kitagawa Ryo himself realized he had been too presumptuous. He smiled somewhat troubledly, then remembered something else:

"I remember Ryuen before this Uninhabited Island Special Exam, Ayanokoji was as follows: you would use your own points to provide supplies and assistance to Class A, and then bind all of Class C's [Free Ride] cards to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. In return, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka promised to be in the top three. This way, the [Free Ride] cards could bring a huge number of Private Points to your Class C. And if Ayanokoji's own group didn't make it into the top three, he would also have to compensate your class with a large number of Private Points, right?"

That's the general idea.

Ryuen Kakeru nodded. He himself possessed the [Resurrection] card, which meant he wouldn't be expelled even if his score dropped to the bottom of his group. That's why he agreed to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's deal.

He always pursued Private Points rather than Class Points. Regardless of whether Ayanokoji Kiyotaka could make it into the top three, Class C would gain a large number of Private Points, which Ryuen Kakeru considered a sure-fire way to make money.

"But it's not a guaranteed profit."

As if he could see right through Ryuen Kakeru's thoughts, Kitagawa Ryo nodded.

Then, he revealed the crucial information that Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had concealed from him by exploiting an information gap, the information that had induced Ryuen Kakeru to agree to the deal.

"Before this Uninhabited Island Exam began, I signed a contract with Class A."

The contents of the contract are --

"All Private Points earned by all students in Class 1-A during this Uninhabited Island Special Exam belong entirely to me."

"In other words, even if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka gets first place in the group rankings, your Class C's [Free Ride] card won't be able to get a quarter of the one million Private Points reward for first place in the group."

"Because a quarter of zero is still zero."

Chapter 193: The Eagle Catches Chick Style

The contract with Class A was actually an unintentional act by Kitagawa Ryo. At that time, he had no idea that the summer Uninhabited Island Exam would be modified into what it is now by Miyabi Nagumo and the school.

Since the school's arrangements from the start of the semester to the end of the first semester were exactly the same as those of Karuizawa Kei in Kitagawa Ryo's memory of the second mock exam, he naturally assumed that the Uninhabited Island Special Exam during the summer would also be similar to that one, with each class as a group, and the four classes competing by capturing points and guessing the Leader.

With little change in the timeline, Kitagawa Ryo also speculated that Ryuen Kakeru from Class C would still use the so-called [800 Million Points Plan] promotion plan, proposing a trade of supplies to Class A in exchange for a large number of Private Points.

He initially only aimed at this portion of the points.

[Kitagawa Ryo is entitled to all Private Points earned by Class 1-A through any means during the Summer Special Exam.]

This is the specific content of the contract that Kitagawa Ryo signed with Class 1-A at that time.

Unexpectedly, the Uninhabited Island Special Exam during the summer vacation turned into a battle royale game, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka cleverly used this information gap to trick Ryuen Kakeru.

He was definitely confident that he could break into the top three in the group, and the Private Points obtained by the top three in the group would be directly allocated to Kitagawa Ryo. So it was as if Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had just talked his way out of it and directly fooled all the [Free Ride cards] of Class C, and even found Ryuen Kakeru as an outside helper for Class A.

Moreover, this move was quite clever, because Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt that even if Kitagawa Ryo noticed this, he wouldn't point it out.

From a rational perspective, ultimately it is Class C's interests that are harmed, while Class D can be considered a direct beneficiary.

But to his surprise, Kitagawa Ryo exposed the lie.

Ryuen Kakeru also realized this, and he unusually put away his usual exaggerated smile, squinting his eyes thoughtfully.

"All right."

He finally straightened up, his tone sounding like a sigh, but the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile:

"After the days on the Uninhabited Island, I was no longer a double agent."

"Whether you can stop Ayanokoji or not."

"I'll help you with everything, okay?"

Kitagawa Ryo also responded with a smile:

"Then it's a deal."

Day 8 of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, early morning.

As the exams entered their second week, although Kitagawa Ryo had anticipated some of the changes the school might make, the students in Class D still felt considerable pressure when they saw the updated lesson plans for the first time that morning.

The school's attitude was even firmer than Kitagawa Ryo had imagined. It wasn't a matter of 60% or 80% at all. Starting from the first round of projects on the eighth day of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, the number of projects was drastically reduced compared to before, and they all became large-scale projects that were to be participated in by groups.

What shocked everyone even more was that every project had the same penalty: the group that ranked last in that project would be forced to select one person to withdraw from the exam.

In other words, each task will directly eliminate one person on the island.

"Then we just need to avoid falling to last place."

"Believe in your team members, we will win."

For the first time, Kitagawa Ryo gave a speech in front of the whole class, speaking as if Leader.

Not far away, the homeroom teacher Mashima Tomonari, smiled as he watched each group that had chosen their topic leave one after another. He stood there for a long time, as if he could never get enough of the sight.

"Sudo, let's go over to this topic."

After encouraging the class, Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward, patted Ken Sudō on the shoulder, and pointed to a topic on his watch.

[Topic: Four-Person Cavalry Battle]

[Topic Type: Sports]

[Project Description: Participation is by group. Registration closes when four groups have registered or one hour after the project is announced.]

[Three players act as 'horse riders' and one as 'rider'. Both the horse rider and rider must wear a headscarf. The team must protect their own headscarf from being taken by others while simultaneously capturing as many headscarves as possible from other teams. When both the 'rider' and 'horse rider' have their headscarves taken, that team is eliminated. At the end of the allotted time or when only one team remains, the two teams with the most headscarves win.]

[First Place: 2500 points]

[Second Place: 2000 points]

The group that wins the fewest headscarves will be ranked last in this project. The group must choose one member to withdraw from the exam within the allotted time. If no choice is made by the end of the time limit, the school will randomly select one member from the group to be eliminated.

"This seems to be Sports Festival event. I've seen a similar topic before, I think it was [Two-Person Cavalry Battle]?"

Ken Sudō scratched the back of his head and asked, somewhat puzzled.