The Final Presentation: Who Is the Prey?

The air in the final presentation hall was so heavy it seemed ready to drip with water.

The lights converged on the central podium. Below it, students from the four classes sat in clearly divided sections, every face filled with tension and wariness.

This was a trial that would determine their fates.

A bloody game in the name of "betrayal."

"Now then, the final presentation will begin!"

As the host's words fell, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.

The first to take the stage was Class A.

Sakayanagi Arisu did not go up herself. She merely sat elegantly in her seat, the tip of her cane lightly tapping the floor with a crisp sound.

Her representative, Hashimoto from Class A, walked onto the podium with a confident smile.

"Class A wishes to identify the traitors as..."

Hashimoto's voice echoed through the hall, clear and powerful.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directly named two students from the Class B and Class C groups.

"Class B's Kanzaki and Class C's Ishizaki."

"Furthermore, we have sufficient evidence proving that the two colluded in private, attempting to mislead Class A by exchanging information in order to protect themselves."

The moment he finished speaking, clear evidence appeared on the large screen.

There were photos of Kanzaki and Ishizaki secretly meeting in a hidden corner of the ship, along with a muffled recording.

The evidence was conclusive!

There was no refuting it!

An uproar instantly broke out among Class B and Class C.

Ichinose Honami's face turned pale as she stared at her companion in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Ryuen Kakeru of Class C bared his teeth in a vicious, cruel smile, his eyes locked onto Ishizaki as if he wanted to swallow him whole.

"Whoa—"

The entire hall erupted!

"Incredible... Class A actually investigated something like this!"

"Class B and Class C's little tricks are a complete joke in front of Sakayanagi!"

"It's over. Those two classes are going to lose a massive amount of points!"

As Sakayanagi Arisu listened to the murmurs around her, the curve of her lips became even more elegant.

Her gaze swept over the hall before finally settling on Class D's section, carrying the amused look of a cat toying with a mouse.

Everything was within her script.

Class B and Class C were merely two clowns she had used to make an example of.

Next, it would be Class D's turn.

Before long, the system's ruling was announced.

Class B and Class C each lost 300 class points for having their traitors identified and engaging in prohibited collusion.

It was a number large enough to cripple any class.

Ichinose swayed, nearly unable to remain standing.

Ryuen rose directly to his feet and kicked over the chair in front of him, frightening the surrounding students into silence.

The atmosphere in the hall had become suffocating.

"Next, please welcome Class D's representative."

The host's voice rang out.

Everyone's eyes turned in unison toward Class D's section.

Under the complicated stares of the crowd, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka rose expressionlessly and walked toward the podium, one calm step at a time.

His pace was neither hurried nor slow, and his expression was as still as an ancient well, as though he were not about to make a presentation that would determine his class's fate, but merely answer an ordinary question in class.

"Pfft."

Someone in Class A could not hold back a laugh.

"Look, Class D sent out their most inconspicuous guy."

"Have they given up? Are they just going to accuse someone at random and call losing less a victory?"

"How pathetic. Class D's bunch of trash."

The mockery was completely undisguised.

Horikita Suzune sat below the stage with both fists tightly clenched, her palms drenched in sweat.

She stared fixedly at Ayanokoji's back, her heart pounding wildly.

Though both Natsume Yu and Ayanokoji had assured her, now that the moment had arrived, she still could not control her anxiety.

After all, they were facing that monster, Sakayanagi Arisu!

Ayanokoji stood at the podium and adjusted the microphone.

The entire hall instantly fell silent.

Everyone wanted to see what this utterly ordinary Class D student could possibly say.

Sakayanagi Arisu also watched him with interest, her eyes filled with a lofty scrutiny.

"On behalf of Class D, I identify the traitor in our group."

Ayanokoji's voice spread through the hall over the microphone, as calm as still water.

"That person is Class A's Totsuka Yahiko."

The moment that name was spoken, Class A burst into thunderous laughter.

"Hahahaha! What did he say? Totsuka?"

"Has he got it wrong? Totsuka is one of Class A's core members. How could he possibly be a traitor?"

"Have the Class D students gone crazy? Are they biting people at random because they've been driven into a corner?"

Totsuka Yahiko, who had been named, turned red with rage. He abruptly stood up, pointed at Ayanokoji, and roared, "Bullshit! What evidence do you have?!"

The smile on Sakayanagi's face deepened.

As expected, foolish Class D had run out of tricks.

However, Ayanokoji turned a deaf ear to the surrounding ridicule and Totsuka's furious shouting.

He simply looked quietly at Sakayanagi, his tone still calm.

"Evidence? Of course I have it."

"And this evidence happens to be something you personally handed me just now, Classmate Sakayanagi."

What?!

For the first time, the smile on Sakayanagi's face froze.

The entire hall also fell silent in an instant. Everyone had been stunned by Ayanokoji's shocking words.

Ignoring their astonishment, Ayanokoji continued on his own:

"Just now, when Class A accused the traitors from Class B and Class C, they played a recording."

"Although that recording had been processed, it still retained some background noise."

"Among it was a very faint ship horn that lasted 0.3 seconds."

"According to the rules of this Uninhabited Island exam, in order to avoid interference, every supply ship's route and horn schedule had been strictly regulated."

"That horn could only have come from a ship passing through the waters northeast of the island at 3:15 yesterday afternoon."

Ayanokoji's voice was unhurried, yet it was like a precise scalpel, cutting apart Sakayanagi's scheme piece by piece.

"Unfortunately, Class D's group was active at the northeast corner at 3:15 yesterday afternoon."

"And what is even more interesting is that at that time, Totsuka left the group for five minutes, claiming he had a stomachache."

"I believe he used those five minutes to meet with the traitors from Class B and Class C, then used equipment provided by Class A to record that audio as 'evidence.'"

"Classmate Sakayanagi, to make this evidence seem more authentic, you deliberately kept the background noise. Yet you never expected that it would become the greatest flaw in your plan."

"Your trap was layered and logically airtight. Your only miscalculation was..."

Ayanokoji paused and looked directly at Sakayanagi Arisu, whose expression had completely darkened.

"You were too arrogant."

"You believed that no one in Class D could see through your little game."

Boom!

Ayanokoji's words exploded through the hall like a nuclear bomb!

The entire hall fell deathly silent.

A pin could have been heard dropping.

Everyone stared dumbfoundedly at the boy onstage, their minds utterly blank.

Reverse deduction!

He had used the evidence Sakayanagi herself presented to turn the tables on Class A!

What terrifying powers of observation and analysis!

The color instantly drained from Sakayanagi Arisu's face.

Her perfect plan, the flawless arrangement she had been so proud of, had been so casually... torn apart by him in this manner!

Her grip on her cane tightened so hard that her knuckles turned white.

How was that possible?

How could this be possible?!

How had this man... this ordinary-looking mortal... done it?!

"Ding!"

The system notification shattered the suffocating silence.

The final ruling appeared on the large screen.

[Class D has successfully identified Totsuka Yahiko, the traitor dispatched by Class A.]

[Because Class D simultaneously exposed the internal connection between the traitors of Classes A, B, and C, a special reward rule has been triggered.]

[Class D has received a class point reward: 500 points!]

500 points!

A number that drove everyone mad!

Before the eyes of the entire school, Class D's points surged instantly!

"We won! We won!"

"Holy shit! Ayanokoji is incredible!"

Hirata Yosuke excitedly jumped out of his seat and tightly embraced the classmates around him.

Karuizawa Kei's eyes even reddened with excitement. Covering her mouth, she let out a joyful sob.

The entirety of Class D had plunged into a sea of celebration!

Horikita Suzune sat there blankly, staring intently at Ayanokoji on the stage.

The classmate she had always believed only wanted an ordinary life and possessed no ambition now seemed so unfamiliar from behind, and yet so... dependable.

Confusion, curiosity, shock... all kinds of emotions tangled within her heart.

And in the most inconspicuous corner of the hall,

Natsume Yu held a glass of juice, gently swirling the ice inside and producing a pleasant clinking sound.

There was no expression on his face.

It was as though the earth-shattering reversal before him, this magnificent contest worthy of being recorded in school history, was merely a play he had personally directed, one that had just concluded perfectly.

Nothing more.

The presentation ended, and the crowd began to slowly disperse.

Sakayanagi Arisu pushed away the Class A student supporting her and stopped Ayanokoji, who was preparing to leave alone.

Her face was still pale, but the arrogance in her eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

She stared at Ayanokoji and asked coldly, "Tell me, who is behind you?"

She did not believe it.

She absolutely did not believe that this "mortal" before her could see through every arrangement she had made by himself.

There had to be someone behind him!

A player more skilled than she was!

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stopped and looked at her expressionlessly before answering:

"Behind me?"

"There's only a wall behind me."

With that, he turned and left without looking at Sakayanagi again.

In the distance, Natsume Yu's gaze briefly met Kushida Kikyo's amid the crowd.

Kushida Kikyo's body trembled violently. She immediately understood and lowered her head, concealing the uncontrollable, trembling admiration in her eyes.