K & K

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was somewhat puzzled as to how the other person had managed to be assigned to Class C on the very first day after arriving on the island, based on their available resources and the exam rules.

If Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wants Class D to advance to the next class, then one day he will have to face Kitagawa Ryo, and...

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had a vague premonition that Kitagawa Ryo might have been watching him all along, or rather, had already noticed him.

I'm having a bit of a headache.

However, considering the threat posed by Chabashira Sae, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had to think of a way to break the deadlock, since from his perspective, it was impossible for him to give up his current school life.

With slightly heavier steps than before, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka headed towards the Class D camp.

To sacrifice freedom in order to protect it is a foolish, yet unavoidable, thing to do.

When Ayanokoji Kiyotaka returned to the camp, his classmates were excitedly counting the enormous amount of supplies that Class A had just delivered. It was enough for Class D to live comfortably for the next five days. Karuizawa Kei was surrounded by the girls, directing the unloading of the supplies. Considering that Horikita Suzune not fully recovered, she was allowed to rest in the tent, but she still chose to stay outside and do some simple tasks.

"Have you found out what happened?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's return went largely unnoticed, but Horikita Suzune was one of them. She threw firewood into the roaring campfire, and her pale face regained some color in the flickering firelight, indicating that she was feeling better.

"No, I just came back from outside."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head and asked in a calm tone:

"But what's the situation with these supplies?"

"It was sent over by Class A. Hirata and Karuizawa said it was the result of a collaboration between Class D and Class C."

If you had to pick one person from Class D who most wanted revenge against Class C, it would definitely be Horikita Suzune. In fact, even now, with the whole class cheering and encouraging, Horikita Suzune showed no signs of excitement or agitation. Or rather, she seemed confused and at a loss.

From her perspective, Class C was squandering points yesterday, acting as if they were going to give up and withdraw from the exam. She even criticized them with a heavy heart. But in less than two days, the situation changed dramatically. What frustrated and annoyed Horikita Suzune even more was that all of this happened without her knowledge. Class C and Class D suddenly started cooperating and suddenly achieved results. When supplies worth two hundred points were placed in front of her, she had no idea how they had accomplished it.

"I don't believe Kitagawa Ryo would be that kind."

Horikita Suzune was flipping a fish over on the grill with her hands, but she was clearly distracted. The other students in Class D had all gone to pick out food from the supplies, and the grilled fish, which was supposed to be their main dish, was left untouched.

Taking a bitter bite into the slightly burnt grilled fish, Horikita Suzune suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness again:

"Class D is now completely being led by the nose by Class C. It's less about cooperation and more like a well-fed master throwing a bone to a dog."

"Unconditional cooperation in one operation, and by class alone... that guy Kitagawa Ryo, he can cause so much trouble with just Class C..."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka listened quietly to Horikita Suzune's complaints. He had considered finding another person to cover his actions, but the few people in Class D who were publicly respected had their own flaws, and Kushida Kikyo Hirata Yosuke was connected to Class C. It seemed that he could only choose Horikita Suzune Karuizawa Kei.

At the very least, her unwillingness to accept defeat and her competitive spirit are very useful bargaining chips.

"Hey, Horikita."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka decided to reinstate Horikita Suzune to a higher position in Class D, so the first step was to have her make contributions to Class D.

"How well do you understand this rule for Leader?"

"The Leader holds a key card to occupy a stronghold; there can only be one Leader per shift, and they cannot be replaced without a valid reason."

"On the last day of the exam, each class will have one chance to guess the Leader of their class. Those who guess correctly will get fifty points, those who guess incorrectly will lose fifty points, and those who guess correctly will also lose fifty points."

Horikita Suzune glanced at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who rarely initiated conversations, with surprise, but still offered her interpretation.

"So, what are the consequences if Leader abstains?"

"If the Leader is absent... the class won't be able to capture the stronghold, but at the end, no one will be able to guess what will happen, because there was no Leader at all."

But Horikita Suzune quickly retorted:

"No, the exam must be fair; the rules set by the school must at least be reasonable on the surface."

"Yes, so a more reasonable guess is that if the Leader abstains from the exam, the class must select a new Leader."

"Furthermore, if the class does not make a selection, the school will randomly select a student who is still taking the exam, just like the rules when we arrived on the island yesterday."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to them. This was consistent with his and Horikita Suzune's situation in Class D: one was a marginalized nobody, and the other was an isolated individual.

"If we were to randomly guess the Leader, each class except ours would have forty students, making the odds one in forty. Without a firm grasp of the situation, the most sensible approach would be to play it safe and abandon the guessing game on the last Chosen One."

"But Class C's use of the Zero-Point Strategy this time is quite innovative."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka told Horikita Suzune about the conversation he had overheard in front of Class A's camp. Although he emphasized that he had only wandered there by chance, Horikita Suzune still looked at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka with suspicion. She didn't believe that Ayanokoji, who could make such a deduction, was really just an ordinary student. He must have been hiding his true abilities to guess correctly.

Although she didn't know exactly why Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was telling her all this at this time, Horikita Suzune didn't think too much about it. She desperately needed a fair and square victory against Class C to regain her confidence.

"By exchanging their Special Exam Points for a steady stream of Private Points each month, and then through a scheme, forcing Class A, who have saved their Special Exam Points, to spend 200 points to exchange for supplies to give to Class D, if Class C's operation goes smoothly this time, even if they don't have many Special Exam Points in the end, they will definitely be the biggest winner."

"Kitagawa Ryo really has his own ideas."

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka expressed his opinion on the Class C plan using a declarative sentence:

"But."

His tone shifted abruptly, and for the first time, his usually calm eyes showed a change:

"The fact that almost all of Class C boarded the ship actually made it much easier for us to find Class C Leader."

"As mentioned before, the Leader must be the one who remains on the island; in other words, the one who remains on the island so far—"

"He must be Leader."

"There are plenty of Akito in classes A, B, and D; they will definitely make this deduction."

Kitagawa Ryo tossed the fruit in his hand to someone hiding in the tree:

"Ryuen, how did you sleep last night?"

"Thanks to you, things aren't going well."

Ryuen Kakeru's trousers were covered in mud and bits of grass; the day and night he had spent on the deserted island had left him looking rather haggard. This situation would continue for another four days. However, for Kitagawa Ryo's second step in his plan to be executed perfectly, the class needed to select someone who could hide alone on the island.

A true Leader.

"We don't need to capture too many strongholds; the main task is to remain undetected."

"Don't worry, I only go and get it done secretly in the middle of the night."

Ryuen Kakeru took the fruit that Kitagawa Ryo threw to him and chewed it in big mouthfuls:

"But what about you? How did you end up in Class B's camp?"

The plan that Class C had discussed before was for Kitagawa Ryo and Ryuen Kakeru to hide on the island together to confuse everyone. But now it seems that Kitagawa Ryo has food, drink, and a place to stay on a deserted island vacation, while Ryuen Kakeru is struggling to survive on the island with a scruffy beard.

"Would you believe me if I said I was trying to induce the other party to vote for me as the Leader?"

"Fart!"

Ryuen Kakeru glared at Kitagawa Ryo with annoyance:

"Aren't you the Ichinose from Class B? Tsk tsk, actually I noticed a long time ago that the way you looked at her was unusual."

"Eat a few more bites, it won't choke you. Stop talking nonsense."

Kitagawa Ryo casually waved his hand:

"I'll try to find as many opportunities as possible to bring you some food, so you don't really starve to death on this island."

"Okay, okay, get lost."

"Yes, yes, I'm going back to sleep in my hammock. Someone else can just stay in the tree and be Tarzan."

Kitagawa Ryo chuckled mischievously and teased:

"At least Tarzan had a female lead, but you only have mosquitoes and caterpillars for company."

"Whispering sound."

Ryuen Kakeru casually tossed his long hair, but Kitagawa Ryo felt that this action would only leave his hands greasy because he hadn't washed it for two days.

However, staying too long did indeed carry the risk of being discovered, so Kitagawa Ryo stopped joking and quickly circled out of the forest, Ryuen Kakeru also hid again.

"Hungry, hungry, time to eat."

On the third night, Karuizawa Kei, who had come out to meet Kitagawa Ryo as usual, saw Kitagawa Ryo sitting under a tree, looking weak and starving. Startled Karuizawa Kei quickly searched her pockets and actually found some small snacks such as milk candy and pudding.

"Alright, I'm not that hungry anymore. Where did all this come from?"

Kitagawa Ryo unceremoniously accepted the handful of snacks, casually tossing one into his mouth and chewing. He had given all the food that Class B had allocated to him today to Ryuen Kakeru, but he wasn't starving to the point of exhaustion. He was just teasing Karuizawa Kei earlier, but he didn't expect her to take it so seriously and actually plan to run back to get him more food.

"It was sent by Class A. They're quite cunning; they exchanged two hundred points worth of supplies for a lot of these desserts and snacks that can't even be eaten as a main meal. Everyone in the class got some."

Karuizawa Kei sat next to Kitagawa Ryo, watching him eat the candy she handed him with a smile, as if she were eating it herself, a sweet taste lingering on her tongue.

"Class B is going too far. They really are just a bunch of seemingly kind guys."

After explaining the origin of the candy, Karuizawa Kei was also somewhat indignant, but Kitagawa Ryo really couldn't explain it, so he could only apologize and let Class B take the blame.

"Ryo, would you like to come to our Class D camp? Because of the supplies sent by Class A, and since we only have thirty-six people to begin with, taking care of one more Ryo is no problem at all!"

"Besides, Class C is currently an ally of Class D."

As if she thought it was a good idea, Karuizawa Kei's eyes lit up, and she looked at Kitagawa Ryo with great anticipation.

"If the others in Class D disagree, I'll give you mine. I don't eat much anyway, so I won't be hungry."

"Okay?"

Chapter Thirty-Three: K&K

The fourth day of life on the Uninhabited Island had arrived. After receiving a large amount of supplies on the second night, Class D began to change little by little. Now, the loud complaints that used to rage were nowhere to be heard. In the blink of an eye, the place had become a space filled with laughter.

With the supplies provided by Class A, plus the fruit found and fish caught by the students in Class D hasn't spent a single Special Exam Points since that night. This undoubtedly saves them even more points than planned. As long as they get through this exam, Class D' s life will improve dramatically.

Including issues like Koenji's mid-exam withdrawal, Class D currently has around 80 points. If things continue smoothly, they should be able to accumulate a considerable number of points and finish the exam. Furthermore, Class C will provide the Leader of Classes A and B, adding up to another 100 points, a number that was completely unimaginable for Class D before the exam began.

Even Yukimura and others who had always opposed Karuizawa Kei stopped complaining. Not a single student was dissatisfied with the result. It was foreseeable that Karuizawa Kei's reputation would further improve after this exam. In fact, there were already signs of this in Class D. With Hirata Yosuke willing to assist Karuizawa Kei in management, Class D was now implicitly following Karuizawa Kei's lead.

However, Karuizawa Kei didn't seem to be in a particularly cheerful mood. Since this morning, she, who is usually full of energy, seemed a bit tired and was persuaded by Hirata to go back to her tent to rest.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his head. He quickly surveyed Class D's camp. Karuizawa Kei was resting in her tent, Hirata Yosuke had led the boys out, Kushida Kikyo was nowhere to be found. This was a very good opportunity.

After a day of reconnaissance, he had to take action.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, who had temporarily formed a group with Horikita Suzune, nodded. Horikita Suzune then went alone to the place where her homeroom teacher, Chabashira Sae, lived. Because the homeroom teachers needed to be able to exchange supplies for the students at any time, they were usually not too far from their classes. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, however, was watching over the place a little further away for her.

"I want to use my Special Exam Points to redeem a digital camera, preferably one that can take pictures normally at night."

Horikita Suzune stepped forward and spoke up. Chabashira Sae assumed it was a normal exchange for Class D and didn't ask any further questions, intending to record the transaction in her notebook. However, Horikita Suzune's next words interrupted her:

"However, I hope that Chabashira-sensei can keep this a secret."

Every student in Class D has the right to exchange their Special Exam Points for supplies from their homeroom teacher, but in reality, no one does it. They all agree beforehand to have Hirata Yosuke or Karuizawa Kei exchange them, and every exchange is recorded to prevent anyone from secretly wasting their Special Exam Points.

For the past four days, Class D has been adhering to this unwritten rule, but now, Horikita Suzune has taken the initiative to ask Chabashira Sae to help her keep it a secret.

"Horikita, is this your personal opinion?"

Chabashira Sae frowned. She had previously hoped that Horikita Suzune would lead Class D to promotion, but the disastrous Midterm Exam caused Horikita Suzune to lose her voice in the class. However, with Karuizawa Kei taking over and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's actions under her threat, the situation of Class D was undoubtedly improving. Therefore, Chabashira Sae now treated Horikita Suzune as just an ordinary student, and her tone even became a bit stern.

"Yes."

Horikita Suzune nodded in agreement. Under Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's guidance, she had found a strategy to target Class C: identify the Leader of Class C and then secretly coordinate with Classes A and B to directly guess the leader's identity at the end of the exam.

However, to convince both Class A and Class B, solid evidence is needed. If photos can be taken with a digital camera, negotiations will be much easier.

With this in mind, Horikita Suzune began acting on her own.

"I need to know your reasons for doing this."

Perhaps it was Horikita Suzune's firm attitude that moved Chabashira Sae, or perhaps it was because she felt that Horikita Suzune's abilities were also quite good, Chabashira Sae did not directly refuse.

"If the plan succeeds, we will strike at Class C, and the gap between Class D and Class C will narrow rapidly."

Horikita Suzune spoke earnestly, her aloof and confident tone adding to her persuasiveness.

"I can agree to that, but I need to confirm one thing."

Chabashira Sae pondered for a moment:

How confident are you?

"More than 90% chance, and even if it fails, it will only result in a loss of 20 Special Exam Points for Class D."

Yesterday, Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spent the entire day scouting most of the island. They were able to confirm that there were no more than three people from Class C hiding on the island, including Kitagawa Ryo. If they could catch the Leader Class C occupying a stronghold with a card, or directly find the key card, Class D would gain an absolute advantage and replace Class C as the biggest winner in this survival battle on the Uninhabited Island.

"All right."