Professional Camping Team

Winter sunlight gently bathed the forest. Near noon, the air carried a hint of warmth, lacking the piercing chill of the depths of winter.

Sunlight filtered through the sparse treetops and fell to the ground in scattered golden patches.

The Class D group, led by Hirata, slowly stepped across the patches of light. He held a compass, studying the map and marking their route.

"There's a site here, but the clearing's too small for camping."

After walking for a while, the students' breath no longer clouded in the air, and their cheeks had grown faintly red.

"This feels great! The sun's just right!"

Ike stretched in his windbreaker. At around nine degrees Celsius on a winter's afternoon, the warmth from their long hike had brought their bodies into their most comfortable temperature range.

"Hey! Don't get too comfortable. We haven't found a place yet."

A fierce-looking girl beside him, Shinohara Satsuki, chided him.

"Kikyo, take the chocolate out of my right pocket."

With the winter sun warming his hair, Nagami leisurely admired the carefully maintained Primeval Forest. He also enjoyed being fed by a pretty girl, chewing as he watched the shadows of trees sway in the distance.

This Special Exam didn't restrict the personal belongings students could bring, but no one had brought an enormous tent. Most had only a handbag and a backpack—not only because space on the bus was limited, but also because carrying heavy things on a hike was foolish.

Nagami had even swapped out his beloved sparkling water for lighter instant coffee packets. The girls' luggage was heavier than the boys', so the gentlemanly Nagami naturally helped Kushida carry her handbag to lighten her load.

"Sorry for the trouble, Kagami. I accidentally brought too much."

Kushida apologized to Nagami.

"It's nothing. I usually warm up with twenty-kilogram dumbbells."

The farmer's walk was a common exercise for training the forearms. It involved gripping a dumbbell in each hand and walking around, making it an extremely effective workout for the forearms.

"Die, normies!"

The whole display drew jealous looks from several of Kushida's admirers, and their envy only grew stronger.

A few meters away, Sudo, bundled in a thick down jacket, idly prodded the fallen leaves with a branch, as if searching for something interesting.

"Oh, there's a black mushroom here! Hey, do you think it's edible?"

Every so often, he turned around and called out.

"If you want to eat it, go ahead, Sudo. Just don't get poisoned and drag the class down," Sotomura replied lazily from behind.

"In this exam, the only competition between classes is over claiming points. No matter how you look at it, keeping the Trust Cards all to yourself does more harm than good. I could understand it if graduation were near and you needed money for a Class Transfer Ticket."

"But going through the next two years like a pariah just to get a few hundred thousand points as a first-year isn't worth it. Ayanokoji, do you have any thoughts?"

Horikita pondered.

"Yeah. Either we get through the new year safe and sound, or we fall apart and never recover. That's how it feels."

"What's going on with Kushida and Nagami? I was wondering why Kushida had suddenly quieted down. Now it looks like she's fallen in love and found someone more important to her?"

"Um... It's like the relationship between a savior and someone who was saved."

Ayanokoji sounded unsure.

"That makes no sense. Can you explain it more clearly?"

"Well, I don't really understand it either. I was hoping to ask Nagami about relationships."

"Gross. I didn't expect you to be another idiot with nothing but romance on your mind, Ayanokoji. I thought you were different from ordinary boys, but I was wrong."

Horikita seemed to have misunderstood what Ayanokoji meant.

"The power lines are up ahead. Is this the edge of the area?"

To prevent students from accidentally touching them, the school had fenced off a buffer zone beside the high-voltage power lines with wire mesh. There wasn't a single weed or tree around it.

"This spot looks pretty good, Hirata. There aren't many sites, but it's suitable for camping."

Hirata checked the map. The Primeval Forest covered roughly four hundred hectares, and its sites were marked densely in areas overgrown with shrubs and weeds. Even if you went looking for one, it would be hard to find—as if the school had designed it that way on purpose.

"All right, let's settle here. The clearing's flat enough for a helicopter to land, too."

With his experience from the Uninhabited Island, Hirata prioritized comfort. He took out his phone and used Class Points to buy the tents, portable toilets, stove, shovels, and other essentials they needed for camping.

After the equipment arrived, the whole group spread out loosely under the midday sun. It was as if the Special Exam were just a pretext, and the real purpose was simply to enjoy camping in the winter forest.

As they chatted and laughed, time seemed to stretch out, moving slowly. The winter chill, soothed by the sunlight, felt impossibly far away.

By a stream in the distance, several students from Class B crouched around the flowing water, lightly touching its surface with their fingers to feel its temperature.

"It's freezing! But the water's so clear, like a mirror."

Ichinose took off her gloves and scooped up some water, gently tossing it into the sunlight. The droplets sparkled like shattered gems.

"If only we could stay this relaxed forever."

Beside her, Shiranami, exhausted, simply lay down with her hands behind her head, gazing blankly at the treetops as she muttered.

Sakayanagi from Class A was still nowhere to be seen. It felt like the school was persecuting her again.

A gentle breeze swept through, swaying the yellowed weeds in the grass and making the place look untidy and desolate.

A group of students gathered in the middle of the clearing, spreading out from the center. Gripping shovels, sickles, and brooms, they began clearing the campsite. They'd learned their lesson last time and wanted to sleep well that night.

Their feet crunched softly over the grass, leaving shallow footprints behind.

Nagami wore safety goggles and work gloves. Crouching down, he swung the sickle swiftly, its blade cutting a clean arc through the stalks. With a faint swishing sound, the dead grass fell.

A companion beside him quickly gathered the cut grass in a burlap sack and piled it into a small heap, ready to carry away.

As the sickle swept across the ground, it occasionally struck a small stone with a faint ring.

Some weeds had roots that burrowed deep into the soil. They had to dig through the thin top layer with a shovel to expose the tangled roots, then pull them out with all their strength.

As they pulled up the weeds, cold soil clung to their gloves, and a few lumps of wet mud even slid onto their wrists, sending a chill through them.

The girls used brooms to sweep the scattered dead grass and fallen leaves into piles. The brooms scraped back and forth across the ground with a rustling sound.

Dry branches were mixed in among the leaves. Someone stepped lightly on the longer ones, snapping them to make them easier to gather.

"Please, have some hot water."

A thermos of hot water sat in the middle of the clearing for everyone to use. Some kind classmates, like Kushida, even went around with cups to feed Nagami directly.

In a corner of the group, someone was handing out snacks, too.

As the clearing continued, the ground, once hidden beneath thick weeds, gradually revealed its true appearance.

Dark brown soil, speckled with tiny stones, gave off a faint earthy smell.

Once the clearing was done, several students used entrenching shovels to loosen and tamp down the ground.

The clanging of shovels echoed through the air as the students worked.

When they finished, they stood up, brushed the dirt off their gloves, and looked over the cleared ground with satisfaction.

The area was now flat and open, as if they'd prepared a warm bed for the tents they were about to set up.

The weeds and branches piled to one side were bundled together, with the thought of using them for warmth.

After all that work, the students finally realized how great industrial society was. Thirty people working for half a day only matched the output of an excavator working for an hour.

"Everyone's really fired up about this camping trip!"

Hirata exclaimed. Compared with the arguments and awkwardness of their first time, they'd quickly agreed on how to spend their Class Points.

Everyone was much more relaxed now, dividing up the work and carrying it out in an orderly fashion.

As dusk settled, the chill crept into the central campsite.

Everyone gathered around a small campfire. They carefully stacked the firewood and used a fire striker to ignite the dry grass. The moment the flames leapt up, everyone cheered excitedly.

The dancing firelight drove away some of the chill of sunset.