This Is the Right Way to Spend a Vacation! (5k7)

"The reason why Class A has fallen to Class D is entirely due to one person. Ultimately, isn't it because the overall quality of the students in the class is not good enough? Especially Katsuragi Kohei, the class Leader, seems to be inferior to this student in every aspect."

"If students like this had been there ten years ago..."

Chabashira Sae's thoughts inevitably drifted from the past to the present:

"If we had a student like that in the class as Leader right now."

These thoughts kept popping into Chabashira Sae's mind, but the more she thought about them, the more she suppressed the resentment and hatred that she should have had. After going to extremes, they gradually became distorted, and she subconsciously reached out, as if she wanted to put her hand on Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder.

Reflexively taking a step back, Kitagawa Ryo felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Chabashira Sae, who looked like she had broken down and was running wildly toward corruption. He managed to say a polite goodbye before taking another step and soon left the area.

He had originally planned to go out for a walk in the evening breeze to clear his mind, but unexpectedly, this trip only made him feel more tired. With no interest in going out, Kitagawa Ryo could only sigh and return to his room. Only after burying himself in the soft blankets he had been longing for did he finally relax completely.

Starting tomorrow, enjoy a week-long Luxury Cruise Ship vacation.

By the way, will oysters be available at the breakfast buffet tomorrow?

Chapter 241: This is the right way to spend a holiday! (5k7)

It must be said that while this seven-day Luxury Cruise Ship vacation may seem like a perk given by the school to First Year students who have just finished their Uninhabited Island Special Exam, it is also, to some extent, a way of indirectly taking back the Private Points the students have just earned. Apart from basic public facilities such as the bathhouse and swimming pool, most of the other entertainment facilities are charged by the hour. It remains to be seen how many students can resist the various temptations and keep their hard-earned Private Points until they return to school.

Of course, Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School is very generous in providing free breakfast and dinner. Not only are they served in a buffet style, but the "daily menu recommendations" sent to each student in advance via text message by the school do not seem to have been compromised in quality or taste despite being free, which naturally attracts the vast majority of students.

To ensure the best dining experience, the school has also set up rules for staggered dining times and crowd control. Students can choose their preferred time from 7:00 to 8:00, 8:00 to 9:00, or 9:00 to 10:00 in the morning to make a reservation. Each meal is limited to 60 minutes. Kitagawa Ryo chose the earliest time, 7:00.

For most students, getting out of bed before 7 a. m. on the first day of their holiday after taking Uninhabited Island Exam is no easy feat. However, Kitagawa Ryo specifically chose this time because of its quiet and less crowded environment.

At 6:30, Kitagawa Ryo was woken up on time by the alarm clock on his bedside table. He got up and washed up, then walked briskly to the restaurant. After verifying the reservation SMS from the previous night with the school staff in charge, he strode into the restaurant. The magnificent decoration and sparkling tableware made the students who had already arrived walk more carefully and speak in a softer voice.

To the accompaniment of soothing background music, Kitagawa Ryo casually served himself a bowl of golden millet porridge, grabbed some snacks, and poured himself a cup of hot milk. Although he had been thinking about whether there was any fresh seafood available here since last night, it was morning and he was on an empty stomach, so Kitagawa Ryo decided to eat something first.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo picked up his chopsticks and whispered, "I'm starting," preparing to lower his head to eat, another man's voice suddenly came from in front of him:

May I sit here?

Kitagawa Ryo looked up at the sound and saw Horikita Manabu, the Student Council President of the third year. Because the scale of this Uninhabited Island Special Exam First Year students on the deserted island was much larger than in the past, the school had temporarily recruited some third-year students as assistants, and Horikita Manabu, as the Student Council President, was naturally one of them. The two had met quite a few times on the Uninhabited Island.

"Of course, I didn't expect Horikita-senpai to be up so early."

Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement, but he didn't seem nervous or reserved at all. He continued eating his breakfast while naturally starting to chat with the other person.

As he spoke, he glanced at the vicinity of Horikita Manabu again, and surprisingly did not see Tachibana Akane, the Student Council secretary who was often seen with Horikita.

"I'm just used to it."

Horikita Manabu remained as calm as ever, taking a small sip of the lukewarm water he had poured for himself before asking Kitagawa Ryo a question in return:

"I heard Suzune mention that Classmate Sakayanagi will be officially joining the Student Council next semester, is that true?"

"Um."

"I should officially step down as Student Council President around the Sports Festival in October. Nagumo will take over my position. Kitagawa should know some information about him, right? Actually, you can see his style of doing things from this Uninhabited Island Special Exam that you First Year were so badly modified."

"In his words, it's about absolute Classroom of the Elite Studio. Although I'm not sure what Nagumo will do after taking office, I can still give you some information at this time."

At this point, Horikita Manabu paused slightly, then turned to Kitagawa Ryo and asked:

"Before you officially enroll, each of you new students will receive an evaluation report from the school's interviewers. They will systematically assess students' abilities in five dimensions, such as academic ability and physical fitness, according to a certain standard, and then assign them to classes based on this. You should know about this, Kitagawa, right?"

"Yes, I know."

When Horikita Manabu asked him, Kitagawa Ryo nodded in affirmation without hesitation. Not only did he know, but he had also played a game of choosing 'pieces' with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka based on this five-dimensional table before enrolling in school, and had seriously tricked his opponent before the first semester even started.

"Theoretically speaking, only class advisors and Student Council members have the right to access this list, as it involves the personal privacy of the freshmen. Moreover, the true abilities of many students cannot be clearly summarized by these so-called panels."

"But data-driven approaches are indeed the simplest and most direct way to divide students into classes, which is why the school uses it as one of the underlying principles for class division. This aligns perfectly with the Classroom of the Elite Studio advocated by Nagumo."

"So, around the time Nagumo takes office as Student Council President, this scoring system, which was originally only used to roughly assess students' overall qualities upon enrollment, may be implemented throughout the entire school. In fact, Nagumo submitted a draft to me last month, named Over All Ability, or OAA for short."

"Does Horikita-senpai mean that, in the future, at least during the year that Nagumo serves as Student Council President, this so-called OAA will be a crucial point?"

That should be it.

Horikita Manabu nodded slightly.

"To represent and label each student's abilities through data and then expose them to everyone else... While it's not yet clear what changes this approach will bring to Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, it would be best if you paid close attention."

"I understand, thank you for letting me know."

After Horikita Manabu finished delivering the information, Kitagawa Ryo successfully finished his appetizer to fill his stomach. Then, under the somewhat surprised gaze of the other party, he got up and left again. Three minutes later, he returned to his seat with two large plates full of sea cucumbers and oysters.

You know what, these Luxury Cruise Ships that sail on the high seas really don't lack fresh seafood.

"Kitagawa, do you really like eating these?"

Watching Kitagawa Ryo devour his food without any manners in front of him, Horikita Manabu initially adjusted his glasses with some confusion. However, after noticing that the other man was holding either sea cucumber or oysters, he quickly realized what was going on and, after a long silence, earnestly offered a word of advice:

"... Please take precautions."

Although he really wanted to answer that the person he had invited today was not Suzune, looking at Horikita Manabu who had already adopted the perspective of his brother-in-law, Kitagawa Ryo ultimately couldn't bring himself to say it and nodded vaguely in agreement.

Horikita Manabu ate relatively quickly, finishing breakfast first and then leaving. He leisurely strolled around the deck for a while before returning to his room, only to suddenly receive a text message from his younger sister:

"Someone in the class said they saw Liang and you having breakfast together for a long time. Did you say anything to each other?"

"Some Student Council stuff... wait, Suzune, where are you right now?"

"Just woke up and am still in my room. Fourteen days on Uninhabited Island is quite tiring. I'll see if I can start picking up my morning exercise habit again tomorrow."

Seeing another text message pop up on his phone, this one from Tachibana Akane inviting him to browse the entertainment area on the second floor, Horikita Manabu, unusually speechless, gave a forced, curt reply:

"Then good luck!"

Just as Horikita Manabu was itching to manually guide his younger sister's attack step by step, Kitagawa Ryo's meeting with Karuizawa Kei wasn't exactly smooth sailing either. As he was leaving the restaurant after finishing breakfast, he bumped into Ryuen Kakeru from Class C.

... Why do I feel like I'm bumping into guys so easily this morning?

Just as Kitagawa Ryo quickened his pace, trying to pretend he hadn't seen the other person and walk away, Ryuen Kakeru clung to him like a leech, hooking his arm around his shoulder quite familiarly:

"Wow, that's early."

"Are you full? I'll treat you to another meal, bro. I just got five million Private Points deposited into my account, I'm rarely being generous like this, tsk tsk, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"I'm full. I have something to do later, let's talk next time."

Faced with Ryuen Kakeru's enthusiastic advances, Kitagawa Ryo simply pursed his lips and rejected the other party's proposal without hesitation.

"Hey, hey, don't walk so fast! What could be so urgent? I want to ask you how you managed to get that guy from Class A —no, now Class D— to surrender. Five million Private Points isn't a small amount."

Ryuen Kakeru tossed his long hair and quickly moved closer with a grin. If the other students in Class C were to witness this, they would probably murmur among themselves whether their leader had changed his personality, as he wasn't like this before.

"That means the other party doesn't lack the five million. Besides, your Class C's Free Ride cards have all fallen through. You should think about how to appease these students first."

As Kitagawa Ryo walked, he casually replied that the five million Private Points that Ryuen Kakeru was referring to came from a deal he made with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka before the Uninhabited Island Special Exam. The deal was that Ryuen Kakeru, who held the Resurrection card, had to unconditionally assist Katsuragi Kohei's group during the exam, and all the Free Ride cards in the class would be linked to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. In return, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka guaranteed that he would be in the top three, or else he would pay Ryuen Kakeru five million Private Points.

In fact, this was originally a carefully designed plan by Ayanokoji Kiyotaka something for nothing. All the Private Points earned by Class A in the Uninhabited Island Special Exam would be given away due to the contract with Kitagawa Ryo. He was also confident that his group could achieve a top-three position. In other words, he not only hired a free thug for Katsuragi Kohei's group, but also eliminated all the Free Ride in Class C.

However, since Ayanokoji Kiyotaka chose to withdraw at the last minute, he had to pay a compensation of five million yen for failing to make it into the top three of his group, which is why Ryuen Kakeru is so excited now.

Not only did the Class Points increase, but he also received an extra five million Private Points. Class 1-C and he himself made a fortune this time, winning twice!

But as Kitagawa Ryo mentioned, the fact that all of Class C's Free Ride cards were scrapped was indeed unchangeable. From this perspective, although Ryuen Kakeru himself received five million yen, those Class C students who followed his orders to forcibly bind their Free Ride cards to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka were completely at a loss.

"Also, after this Special Exam, Ayanokoji will probably set his sights on your Class C. After all, they're Class D now, and if they want to get promoted again, the first thing they'll definitely have to do is take down Class C. With all these internal and external troubles, don't just leisurely stroll around like this. Go and think of a good strategy."

After a combination of coaxing and intimidation, Kitagawa Ryuen Kakeru, who had regained his serious and thoughtful demeanor, to leave. Kitagawa Ryo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

I ran into two guys early this morning. One grabbed me and talked about the Student Council, and the other pulled me aside to discuss Special Exam. If you didn't know better, you'd think we weren't on holiday yet.

This isn't like that summer when they would sneak up on the VIP Special Exam during a mock exam. The school has made it very clear that there won't be any special attacks like the Special Exam during these seven days. This is a time to have a good time and enjoy yourself for a few days.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was in a good mood and about to reach Karuizawa Kei's dormitory, another person suddenly appeared in front of him.

It's a boy!

"... Ayanokoji, is there something you need?"

Looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was standing in front of him without saying a word, Kitagawa Ryo couldn't help but recall the look in Kiyotaka's eyes on the thirteenth night of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam, and subconsciously took half a step back.

"Want to go out for dinner together?"

"Uh, I just ate."

"Want to go swimming together?"

"Um, I don't really want to go swimming right now."

"Let's get together again sometime."

"... oh."

Looking at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had nodded and fallen silent after saying those three sentences, Kitagawa Ryo took a deep breath:

"I have something to do, I'll be going now."

"Goodbye."

After having a nonsensical conversation with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who appeared out of nowhere, Kitagawa Ryo finally arrived at Karuizawa Kei's dormitory after much hardship.

Why does Liang look so relieved?

Karuizawa Kei also seemed to have dressed up carefully, was already waiting there. When she saw Kitagawa Ryo, she quickly walked to his side, asked him a question, and curiously reached out to gently poke his slightly furrowed brow.

"I encountered a lot of unexpected situations... well, but seeing Hui made it all worthwhile."

"Hmph, he probably didn't go to see any other girls, right? Every single second of Liang today should belong to me."

"No, actually. Phew, in fact, Hui is the only girl I've seen since I opened my eyes today."

Seeing Kitagawa Ryo's tone suddenly become inexplicably sincere, Karuizawa Kei herself was a little surprised:

Is it really that exaggerated?

"At one point, I almost thought I had accidentally wandered onto the set of some otome game."

As they walked and chatted casually with Karuizawa Kei, they soon arrived at the information and Q&A area where the school staff were located. After all, it was the first time for most students to go on vacation on Luxury Cruise Ship, and the school had set up two staff members on each floor to assist in management in order to avoid any unnecessary disputes.

"Hello, I'd like to ask about the arrangements for booking the entire venue. Our class advisor mentioned this last night, so..."

After Karuizawa Kei politely inquired, the staff member, who had been somewhat bored, immediately snapped out of her slacking-off state and began to introduce the situation with great enthusiasm:

"Renting out the entire venue? No problem. I'll get you the price list first, and then I'll check if there are any facilities and locations available for you to reserve. Are you two interested in anything? If it's a romantic date, I'd recommend a private pool and a 3D cinema. Both are 20,000 Private Points per hour. What do you think?"

"Hmm, how does it work for the theater...?"

When Karuizawa Kei asked about the theater, the staff immediately gave her a knowing smile:

"This costs 25,000 Private Points per hour. The reason it's a bit more expensive is because the entire venue, from the stage to the audience seats to the backstage, will be completely cleared for you. It's even bigger than a private swimming pool."

"Of course, you two can rest assured that all the various theatrical costumes in our backstage dressing room wardrobes are available for you to try on during the private event, as long as you are careful not to cause any damage. Speaking of which, young people these days do seem to really enjoy role-playing..."

Just as the staff member inadvertently revealed a hint of his own feelings, Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei, who hadn't yet made a decision, both received a vibration on their phones. Upon opening them, they found two text messages from the school:

[Hello, after thorough investigation and evaluation by the school, congratulations on your successful selection as a member of this 'Special Facilities Testing Program'. Please see the attached instructions for details. If you are interested in participating in this testing program, please arrive at Room 6001, Deck 6 of the cruise ship before 11:00 AM today. Participation in this test is not mandatory, but regardless of participation, please keep this information confidential from other students who have not received this message. Thank you for your cooperation.]

"What is this? If the sender wasn't from the school, I would have thought it was some kind of telecom fraud."

Looking at the strangely familiar format, Kitagawa Ryo made a somewhat subtle comment, waving his phone at Karuizawa Kei beside him:

"Did Hui receive it too?"

"Hmm, it's the same text message... Let me see the attachment: 'In order to strengthen the spiritual civilization construction of our students in the fields of money and consumption, the school plans to conduct relevant facility tests during this cruise vacation.' The picture... wait, why does it look so much like a casino?"

After reading through the attachment to the text message, Karuizawa Kei lowered her voice in surprise:

"This thing... it doesn't look like something a high school student should be exposed to, does it?"

"So the text message said at the beginning that it was 'after thorough research and judgment by the school,' right? There must not be many people who received this text message, maybe not even a few. The selected students should be those that the school deems suitable to participate in this test, who have common sense and self-control. Speaking of which, is Hui interested in this? It seems that she said that she would give some Private Points as a reward to the students who participate in the test."

"Wait, Liang, don't speak yet."

Faced with Kitagawa Ryo's question, Karuizawa Kei didn't answer immediately. Instead, she reached out and covered his mouth, staring intently at the homepage of Kitagawa Ryo's phone for three minutes before releasing her hand and nodding contentedly.

"It seems the others didn't receive this text message, otherwise they would have already come to Liang to ask about it."

"In that case, we can go and take a look."

After saying that, Karuizawa Kei gently shook Kitagawa Ryo's arm:

"By the way, when it comes to casinos, what's the first thing that comes to mind, Liang?"

"Rabbit... of course, it's a playing card!"

"Do you think the school might sell these in their testing facilities? After all, they follow the rule that you can buy anything with your Private Points!"

"... Playing cards?"