A Web Cast on Every Side, Ambushes in Every Direction / Don't Take It to Heart, Okay?

Anyway, the reason is sufficient: I feel that my abilities are not enough to score points for the team if I stay on the island, so in order not to waste extra points and resources on me, just eliminate me!

This idea quickly became popular in many groups.

Around noon, an incident even occurred where the remaining three members of a group from Class C went to the school for help, claiming they were feeling unwell and requesting to withdraw from the exam.

On the surface, this approach wasn't without its merits. Although their group became the first on the entire island to be eliminated, their score was thus fixed, stabilizing them in the lower half of the group rankings.

Essentially, it comes down to the same problem from the beginning: not every group has the idea or ability to compete for the top three. For mid-level groups, isn't it enough to just avoid being in the bottom three?

Moreover, for groups whose members have already been eliminated, participating in the project has become a vicious cycle.

Most teams that are missing members cannot guarantee points like Karuizawa Kei, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Ryuen Kakeru. They either fall to last place and continue to lose members, or they end up in third place with nothing happening. They not only fail to get points, but also have to spend their points to exchange for supplies.

It's better to just quit the exam.

Having overheard similar conversations along the way, Chabashira Sae simply clenched her fingers into a fist.

This is also a trap set by the school.

It wasn't until the thirteenth day that each class realized the importance of headcount.

Each additional person provides an extra, more secure advantage.

So she needs to tell Class A this information.

Tell them that she secretly read the last and largest project the school prepared for the surviving students on the thirteenth and fourteenth days after the final exam.

Actually, it had already been hinted at before.

The final showdown unfolded with each class forming its own faction:

[Project Title: Jungle Live-Action CS]

Updates to the old book may be unstable for the next couple of days.

First of all, I am very sorry that I was unable to complete the extra updates I promised during the May Day holiday, and even the regular updates were unstable. It was my own fault. I had a big disagreement with my family about blind dates and work. After a bunch of messy things, I only had time to write around midnight every day. Since I told the editor that the book would be available for purchase this week, I could only update the book first and then write the old book.

As you can see from the release dates of my two latest chapters, they were both quite late.

As is customary, I'll be updating more frequently when a new book is released, so I'll probably have to put the older books on hold for the next couple of days.

Since the new book will be available on Friday, the old book should resume regular updates starting on Saturday.

I'm truly sorry to the readers who have been following my updates during this time.

Chapter 197: A Net Spreads Everywhere, An Ambush from All Sides

"You are the best class of students I have ever taught."

At noon on the eighth day of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, the camp of Class 1-A was bustling with activity. Although a full group of students who refused to ride Kitagawa Ryo Ryomo had been lost on the morning of the seventh day, about thirty students from Class A still remained. They were having a meal together, chatting and laughing. Chabashira Sae, who had been "enthusiastically invited" and "forced" to come to the scene, also made a speech with a smile:

"Even after all these years since Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School was founded, I still think you are the most outstanding group in the history of Class A."

"So, even though we're slightly behind in the class rankings right now, I sincerely believe that with the remaining time in the exams, we can regain our rightful number one position."

"Classmates, do you have confidence?"

"Have!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka listened to the responses around him without any emotional fluctuation. He simply kept his gaze fixed on Chabashira Sae, closely watching her every move.

Katsuragi Kohei, sitting next to him, also noticed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's unwavering gaze, but he didn't pay it any mind, since most of the boys in the class had their eyes on Chabashira Sae at that moment.

Just as Chabashira Sae finished her opening remarks and everyone was preparing to pick up their chopsticks and enjoy this rare and sumptuous meal since arriving on the island, two uninvited guests suddenly darted in from the side.

Katsuragi Kohei was the quickest to react, immediately standing up and asking with some confusion:

"Mashima, Hoshinomiya, what's going on here?"

"I just heard that some people are secretly coming to the students' area to enjoy a big meal behind our backs, and they want to come and freeload off us!"

Hoshinomiya Chie shouted loudly in her usual silly tone.

All three of them were graduates of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, with Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie even being in the same graduating class. Many students had witnessed the close relationship between her and Chabashira Sae, so Katsuragi Kohei wasn't too surprised and said quite enthusiastically:

"If the two homeroom teachers don't mind, they can also come and participate."

"Of course I don't mind, would Sae-chan care? Sigh, it's a pity we can't drink during work, otherwise I really want the three of us to have a good drink together."

Hoshinomiya Chie quite naturally squeezed in and sat down next to Chabashira Sae.

"The students are struggling on Uninhabited Island, so our work is nothing compared to that."

Mashima Tomonari smiled and took his seat, Chabashira Sae on either side.

"Honestly... you haven't changed at all."

Chabashira Sae looked at Hoshinomiya and sighed as if she had given up. She then turned her gaze to Mashima Tomonari:

"I didn't expect you to come too."

"This Special Exam was such a chaotic mess, with so many unexpected events happening. We're all exhausted and of course we want to find a chance to slack off."

Hoshinomiya Chie, completely lacking in manners, picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing vigorously as she retorted.

"Giving students too much freedom is indeed a problem—although the report didn't mention it, there must be boys and girls doing all sorts of things behind our backs, right?"

"Right, right, Katsuragi?"

"I believe no one in our class would do such a thing."

Katsuragi Kohei, who had been called on out of nowhere, replied with a somewhat dark expression.

"Haha--Just kidding, just kidding."

Hoshinomiya Chie waved her hand casually.

"Speaking of which, I overheard Sae-chan's comment just now."

"Oh my, you've really become quite the talker, Sae-chan."

Hoshinomiya put down his chopsticks and poked Chabashira Sae under the armpit with his finger.

"Stop."

Slightly annoyed, Chabashira grabbed Hoshinomiya's hand and glared at her fiercely:

"I just wanted to say that they are better than any class in previous years."

"Yeah, yeah, I think what Sae-chan said is true, after all, you've always been the homeroom teacher for Class D."

"Uh-huh?"

In this gradually subtly awkward atmosphere, Mashima Tomonari calmly began to eat.

Although the students in Class A were unaware of what had happened, they didn't want to get involved in their teachers' conversation, so they pretended not to see anything and focused on eating their food.

Although Chabashira Sae was extremely anxious as she was being closely watched by the two, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he knew that these two homeroom teachers were most likely sent by Kitagawa Ryo to deliberately target Chabashira Sae who wanted to leak information, he was more afraid that Chabashira Sae would lose all rationality and actually leak the specific information.

"Ignore it."

Now, feeling uneasy, Katsuragi Kohei kept glancing in the direction of the Chabashira Sae. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka patted him on the shoulder, signaling him not to be impatient.

"Are you alright?"

Katsuragi Kohei asked in a low voice, somewhat worried.

"Um."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't want to explain further. Rather, the current situation was actually going in his favor. He wasn't particularly concerned about the matter between Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie. If he weren't worried that Chabashira Sae's actions would lead to Class A's results being canceled in this exam, he might even have wanted Chabashira to break the school rules.

At that time, the school should assign a new homeroom teacher to Class A.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka also didn't believe that there could be another Chabashira Sae in the entire Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School.

Until the end of the dinner party, Chabashira Sae didn't find any opportunity to pass on any information, and even when she went to the toilet Hoshinomiya Chie insisted that she go with her.

After this subtly charged dinner, the students of Class A, having eaten and drunk their fill, bid each other farewell contentedly. In the two rounds of assignments that morning, Class A had the highest retention rate among the four classes, which undoubtedly boosted their confidence.

After all, if they hadn't been ripped off by Kitagawa Ryo, Class A should have been firmly in first place in the class rankings.

With this confidence, Class 1-A quietly awaited the start of the next round of research projects.

Having witnessed the crisis averted, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka finally began his own preparations.

At the registration point for the [Group Dodgeball] project, Karuizawa Kei pushed aside the trees in front of her, concealing herself as she slowly approached.

If possible, she doesn't want to face an overly strong team when she's in a solo group. The [Group Dodgeball] challenge in front of her is actually not bad for a solo group. If she signs up, she will have the advantage of only being eliminated after failing to dodge four times.

But the surroundings felt unusually quiet.

Logically speaking, a project that isn't particularly difficult should have no shortage of applicants.

However, there wasn't enough time left for Karuizawa Kei to move to the locations of other projects. After hesitating for a moment, Karuizawa Kei still decided to go and register.

But the moment she successfully registered, three groups from Class A emerged from behind another grove of trees, led by the elite group personally led by Katsuragi Kohei.

"We're signing up."

He glanced at Karuizawa Kei not far away and calmly addressed the teacher in charge of registration.

On the other side.

Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio's duo found themselves in a predicament after the exam began on the eighth day on the Uninhabited Island. Essentially, their strengths were complementary, but the current team project emphasized either academic ability or physical strength, and participating in either would render the other person useless.

The preferential treatment given to two-person teams is not as obvious as that given to single-person teams.

Therefore, the two who failed to find a suitable topic in the first two rounds of the morning's projects simply gave up participating in any projects.

Although the scores decreased rather than increased, at least no one was eliminated.

However, both of them knew that they couldn't keep running away like this. Even if they managed to survive until the end of the exam, the group's score would drop to a pitiful level, which would be nothing short of torture.

Therefore, after the afternoon's assignments were updated, the two of them quickly identified their target.

[Topic Title: Newspaper Folding Rock-Paper-Scissors]

[Topic Type: Other]

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

[Place two A4-sized newspapers on the ground. Working in groups, each member must ensure they stand on the newspapers. Members who fall outside the newspaper's coverage area are eliminated. Each group randomly plays Rock Paper Scissors against another group each round. The group with the highest score wins (e. g., if one member from group A is 'a' and three members from group B are 'bcd', then 'a' from group A must play three consecutive rounds of Rock Paper Scissors -scissors against 'bcd' from group B). In case of a tie, a tiebreaker is played. The losing group must fold the newspaper under their feet in half and then stand on it again (no feet are allowed to touch the ground). The group is eliminated if all members fall outside the newspaper's coverage area.]

[First Place: 2500 points, one chance to upgrade to a regular card]

[Second Place: 2000 points]

The group whose members are eliminated first will be the last place in this project. If multiple groups are eliminated in the same round, a tiebreaker will be held until a final place is determined.

[The group that finishes last needs to select one member to withdraw from the exam within the allotted time. If no selection is made by the end of the time limit, the school will randomly select one member from that group to be eliminated.]

Theoretically speaking, a group with fewer members might actually have an advantage in this project.

Furthermore, Ibuki Mio and Shiina Hiyori are both girls, so they are naturally smaller in size.

With this in mind, the two quickly moved towards the location of the research topic.

They rushed to their seats in the last five minutes, and after learning that there were still spots available, they immediately signed up, only to realize that something was wrong.

Three more groups from Class A emerged, seemingly having waited for a long time.

"More important than getting points right now is --"

"Remove all known holders of special cards from the game as soon as possible."

Chapter 198: Don't take it to heart!

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was well aware that he had a significant advantage over Kitagawa Ryo: Kitagawa would be distracted by other groups, and if they encountered unforeseen circumstances, Kitagawa Ryo might even abandon his own ongoing plans.

Like his previous probing attack on Karuizawa Kei, although it ultimately failed to achieve the desired result, it further confirmed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's point.

His plan today was actually an upgraded version of that day's, with the additional target being Shiina Hiyori Group, while having Katsuragi Kohei lead the team to directly intercept Karuizawa Kei.

Just like Ishizaki Daichi's reaction when he advised Kitagawa Ryo not to participate in the [Team Speed Mental Arithmetic Competition] project, most students were afraid to continue participating when faced with the three Class A groups, and instead opted to avoid them, thinking it would be better to let them fight each other.

Simply place students on the route around the research topic to monitor the area, and when other groups pass by, display a deterrent effect, then hide again once the target group appears.

Because most students are often unaware of the importance of the information, they may find it strange, but it is difficult for them to connect it to this level and issue a warning immediately.

Furthermore, the fact that Kitagawa Ryo has connections with these groups from other classes doesn't mean it's a common phenomenon. If a student from Class D discovers that Class A is planning to target a particular group from Class B, he generally won't care too much.