Battle Royale

Ishizaki Daichi noticed that Sakayanagi Arisu had already walked towards the teacher in charge of registration, and said somewhat anxiously:

"The fact that Class A assigned three groups to this kind of project is clearly a deliberate attempt to trick people. Several groups from Class B and Class C came before, but most of them didn't dare to sign up."

"They are who they are, Arisu is Arisu; there's no problem."

Kitagawa Ryo, completely unconcerned, didn't even bother to go over. Instead, he sat cross-legged next to Ishizaki Daichi and said with a smile:

"Believe it or not, we can get first place in the group without me even playing."

"Oh--"

Ishizaki Daichi glanced at Sakayanagi Arisu Ichinose Honami and Horikita Suzune, who were rubbing their hands together in the distance, and suddenly, as if struck by a sudden realization, clenched one fist and pounded the palm of his other hand:

"Is this what it means to be a kept man?"

"Get lost, what do you mean by 'living off a woman'?"

Kitagawa Ryo was surprised that Ishizaki Daichi would come to such a conclusion, and clicked his tongue in disdain.

"Kitagawa, you don't even participate yourself, letting the girls in your group do the projects. Isn't that just being a freeloader?"

Ishizaki Daichi shrank back, but still honestly told his thoughts.

"And you ate several of them. Come to think of it, Kitagawa, you're basically living off a woman."

"Where did you learn all those phrases?"

Kitagawa Ryo and choked with emotion.

"By the way, Ryuen asked you to gather intelligence. Did you get anything?"

Not wanting to continue discussing this absurd topic, Kitagawa Ryo quickly took the initiative to bring up another subject.

"It seems there really is."

Ishizaki Daichi raised his head and thought for a moment, then said in an uncertain tone:

"Didn't your Class D have a get-together yesterday? You even invited your homeroom teacher."

"Class A seems to be planning a similar event, is it today at noon or in the evening? I heard they're also inviting their homeroom teacher."

"I guess they just want to boost morale. After all, they were tricked by you, Kitagawa, and their class ranking has dropped below Class B."

Ishizaki Daichi didn't think too much about it and said it as a matter of course.

But Kitagawa Ryo sensed something was amiss.

Because he was very clear about the past and conflicts between Class A's Chabashira Sae, and Class B's Hoshinomiya Chie.

Kitagawa Ryo could almost imagine how radiant Hoshinomiya Chie's smile would be when Class B surpassed Class A to take first place.

Her previous wish was to keep Chabashira Sae stuck in Class D forever, but this wish was unexpectedly shattered by Kitagawa Ryo, and Chabashira Sae was parachuted in as the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A.

From then on, Hoshinomiya Chie set herself a different goal.

Chabashira Sae was pulled down from her position in Class 1-A.

As time went on, she even felt more accomplished by this action than by keeping Chabashira Sae in Class D for the rest of her life.

The feeling of gaining something first and then losing it always brings a greater sense of despair.

But in reality, the fact that she could maintain a superficial sisterhood with a freak like Hoshinomiya Chie for so many years suggests that Chabashira Sae herself has a twisted side to her personality.

After all, given his past record of deliberately misrepresenting the exam scope for his classmates in Class D, Kitagawa Ryo even felt that Chabashira Sae herself didn't have much respect for the homeroom teacher or the entire ANHS.

So--

If Hoshinomiya Chie pushes too hard...

Chabashira Sae's attitude towards breaking the rules.

Perhaps she doesn't feel any psychological burden at all.

Chapter 196: PUBG Game

After a whole semester, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka finally admitted that his exchange with Kitagawa Ryo at the beginning of the semester was an undeniably wrong decision.

The homeroom teachers for Class 1-A and Class 1-D of the first year were to be swapped. He agreed to the request at the time, and the result of the swap was that he had the right to select the top students in that round of intellectual talent.

Then, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka chose the name of the 'intellectual talent' as Koenji Rokusuke.

As a result, the other person dropped out of school after only a month in Class A. Even someone as composed as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt quite melancholy every time he thought about this mess.

If Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were to rank the four homeroom teachers of the First Year now, it would probably be DCBA, which is the exact reverse of Class D.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka closely observes Class 1-D, is well aware of the position and role that Class D's homeroom teacher Mashima Tomonari, plays in the class. Considering Mashima's previous role as the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A in the first year, it's not hard to accept.

However, Sakagami Suma teacher of Class 1-C, completely outshone Classes A and B in terms of practical execution and support for the students. He was the kind of teacher who was stubborn and inflexible. Since he had decided to let Ryuen lead Class C forward, he simply trusted and helped Ryuen Kakeru in any of his plans without any conditions.

Therefore, compared with the homeroom teachers of classes C and D, the homeroom teachers of classes A and B seemed somewhat inferior. Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had not yet investigated the past of the two homeroom teachers, he had vaguely sensed the discord between them.

They don't really have a sense of belonging or responsibility towards the class as class advisors. They are more like tools to achieve their own desires. In fact, the role they play in class affairs is no different from that of ordinary teachers of other subjects.

However, even though he had lowered his expectations of his class advisor to the lowest possible level, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still didn't expect that the advisor would actually try to do something even more foolish.

"Have a dinner party like Class D?"

When Ayanokoji Kiyotaka first heard the news from Katsuragi Kohei, he didn't realize anything was amiss.

After all, the effect of Class D's dinner party was quite obvious. If it could be displayed numerically, it would be roughly equivalent to a buff such as "[Class cohesion increased by 50%]", "[Class morale increased by 50%]", and "[Kitagawa Ryo's personal reputation increased by 100%]".

In Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's view, as the scope of activities shrinks and the number of people decreases, the class will eventually tend to stick together, since theoretically, dining together is also a way to save resources.

As long as they don't spend their points recklessly like Class 1-D, exchanging them for expensive ingredients, it'll be fine.

But upon closer reflection, it seems that these ingredients cost the equivalent of Class 1-A points.

Katsuragi Kohei was unaware of the extent to which his short remark had sparked Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's imagination. He lowered his voice and added:

"If possible, we should also invite the class advisor, Chabashira, to come, just like we did with Class D."

"Um."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka remained noncommittal. Although he thought Chabashira Sae's abilities were lacking, for most teenage boys, her physical appearance was definitely much better than that of the bespectacled uncle and the burly uncle from classes C and D.

From this perspective alone, quite a few boys in the class have a natural affinity for Chabashira Sae.

Thinking about it that way, inviting them over for a meal might have a surprisingly good effect on boosting the morale of the guys.

"But actually... the decision to have this dinner party was made by the Chabashira teacher, Chazhu himself."

Katsuragi Kohei's next words made Ayanokoji Kiyotaka frown slightly, and he asked softly:

"What happened?"

"This morning, during a certain project, Motodoi, a classmate, casually mentioned the Class D's dinner party. Coincidentally, Chabashira teacher, is the teacher in charge of that project. She agreed with Motodoi's suggestion and thought that Class A could also organize a similar activity."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded.

If Class 1-A genuinely wanted to hold a dinner party to boost class morale, like Class D, he wouldn't mind. But if Chabashira Sae actively got involved—

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka sensed that something was amiss.

"Can we still cancel this event now?"

"We've already notified the classmates, and the ingredients have all been purchased. Now... it might not be feasible."

Katsuragi Kohei spoke with some difficulty.

Unlike Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, he didn't feel that anything was wrong. On the contrary, he was quite looking forward to this dinner, seeing it as a good opportunity to regroup and bring Class A back to the top of the class rankings.

"... If Chabashira hints that you should speak to her alone, don't go over."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka lowered his eyes and offered his suggestion to Katsuragi Kohei.

"I know that. It's like being in a melon patch or under suspicious circumstances. If someone frames us, saying that our class advisor, Chabashira, deliberately leaked information to our class, it would be quite troublesome."

When faced with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's suggestion, Katsuragi Kohei was not surprised. After spending a semester together, he had come to see Ayanokoji as having a cautious and steady personality, someone who planned things carefully before acting.

"Um."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't say anything more. He wasn't really worried about Katsuragi Kohei; the latter's abilities were among the best in the entire grade.

His only worry was actually Chabashira Sae.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, putting himself in the shoes of Chabashira Sae), immediately realized that the key might be the incident that happened yesterday morning when Class B surpassed Class A to take first place.

Unlike him, Chabashira Sae doesn't focus all her attention on Class D. Whether from the perspective of the homeroom teacher or the class, she might only care about Class B.

In this situation, if Class B's leader Hoshinomiya Chie, were to offer some guidance, Chabashira Sae might very well act irrationally.

Having basically deduced the truth of the matter Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head slightly, but ultimately chose to walk quickly toward the place where Katsuragi Kohei had just told him about the dinner party.

By the time Ayanokoji Kiyotaka arrived, the area had already become visibly lively. The groups from Class A seemed to have received the news and were heading over in droves.

"Huh? Where's the Sumio?"

A girl who was preparing ingredients looked up and bumped into three groups walking back with heavy steps.

"Sumio... is eliminated."

Matoba Shinji was walking at the front, spoke in a somewhat somber tone.

If the other party hadn't asked, things would have been fine, but once they did, the group couldn't help but recall the 'tragic scene' from an hour earlier.

The top students in Class A were completely outmatched by the girls from Class D in the [academic ability] category, who swept all twelve of them against each other.

Although I know that Sakayanagi Arisu's level is more than enough to be in Class A, it's still a bit too humiliating to be unilaterally crushed like this.

In the [Group Speed Mental Arithmetic Competition], Sakayanagi Arisu displayed an almost effortless and perfect demeanor from beginning to end, defeating everyone without making a single mistake.

In the end, the three groups in Class A had to face the cruel choice of eliminating one student. After struggling for a few minutes, they Sumio.

"--Then don't think about that anymore, there's a big meal coming out for lunch today."

Seemingly sensing that the atmosphere among the group was too somber, the girl tried her best to smile and offer some words of comfort.

"Yes, thank you for your hard work."

Matoba Shinji took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and bowed slightly to the girl to express his gratitude.

"It's alright, it's alright. I heard that Teacher Chabashira will be coming over later too."

The girl waved her hand and then spoke.

Just as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had predicted, many of the boys in Class A had a pretty good impression of Chabashira Sae. When they heard that Chabashira Sae would be coming to this dinner party, their eyes lit up, and some even prepared to take another shower and tidy up their appearance.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka found a secluded corner and sat down.

He was thinking about something else.

If Chabashira Sae's trip was indeed intended to deliver some information to Class A, then it must mean that the class that possesses this information will have a significant advantage in this Special Exam.

If the intelligence has little impact on the current situation, even Chabashira Sae wouldn't take such a big risk.

Knowing this key information could give you a chance to succeed in the exam.

Starting today, the school is intentionally reducing the number of students on the Uninhabited Island.

Of the initial four regular cards, the [Discount Supply card.

The final shrinking of the circle on the Uninhabited Island occurred on the thirteenth day, but the exam did not end until after the fourteenth day.

Various pieces of information collided and merged in Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind, meshing together like gears.

Although a crucial piece of information was still missing, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka still vaguely guessed the outline of the school's plan.

If that's really the case--

The class that gains the upper hand will indeed have a significant advantage.

After a morning of project competition, most students across the island felt they had figured out the school's plan.

Participating in a research project could lead to elimination, but not participating means your grades will only drop, not increase. Isn't this a way of indirectly forcing us to participate in research projects?

Effort doesn't guarantee success, but not trying certainly makes life easier.

Anyway, being eliminated from this exam doesn't mean being expelled from school. With Ryuen Kakeru firmly holding onto last place, everyone's psychological burden isn't too heavy.

With this mindset, many students in the groups even voluntarily chose to give up.

Rather than suffering on Uninhabited Island and being frugal, it's better to just skip the cruise ship and rest.