Second Day of Camping

Seeing Kushida in such a panic, Nagami couldn't help but laugh after his prank succeeded.

But the laughter didn't last long, as the atmosphere around them grew increasingly eerie with the ghost story.

"Hmph, these kinds of ghost stories are just made up to scare elementary school kids."

Karuizawa crossed her arms, looking disdainful. Yet, her eyes drifted involuntarily toward the dark corners of the surroundings.

Suddenly, a chilly gust of wind blew, causing the campfire to flicker violently, and everyone's hearts skipped a beat.

The previously relaxed atmosphere vanished completely; several girls huddled tightly together, and the boys were no exception.

"Hey, why are you leaning so close to me! It's disgusting."

The Red-Haired Ape didn't have much fear of the ghost story, likely because he hadn't understood it.

"Hey, Kiyotaka. It's really cold out here at night, you don't mind if I lean in a bit, do you?"

Karuizawa said this while moving her body even closer to Ayanokoji.

"Should we change the subject?"

Sato suggested in a low voice. Just as everyone nodded in agreement, the sound of rustling grass seemed to drift from the distance.

"What was that sound?" Everyone looked around in terror.

At that moment, a wild rabbit darted out from the bushes, scaring several girls into screaming loudly.

"Haha, so it was just a rabbit."

Ike laughed awkwardly after seeing it clearly, trying to ease the tense atmosphere.

However, the sense of unease in everyone's hearts remained difficult to dispel, so they decided to end the gathering early and return to their tents to rest.

"Little Kikyo, how long do you plan on hugging me?"

Kushida had instinctively grabbed onto Nagami's clothes when she heard the sound of the rabbit.

When the dark shadow jumped out, her body uncontrollably dove into Nagami's arms, her manicured nails digging into his back in her panic.

"Haha... ha..."

Kushida's breathing was rapid and erratic.

"You scared the hell out of me, I really thought there was a ghost."

"You bastard, I'm too scared to even go into the tent to sleep now. If you dare tell a ghost story to scare me again, you'd better prepare to die."

"Didn't you just say..."

Before Nagami could finish his sentence, he received a headbutt from Kushida.

"That hurts!"

Looking at the murderous glint in Kushida's eyes, Nagami swallowed the retort he was about to make.

After all, girls are never reasonable when they're angry.

After venting her anger, Kushida followed the group of girls back to their tent.

As she turned to head toward the tent, no one noticed that a dark shadow was standing at the edge of the woods, quietly watching her.

The next morning, the forest was shrouded in a thin mist, with sunlight filtering through the gaps in the trees.

The air was cold and damp, carrying the scent of soil and dew, as if all of nature were still fast asleep.

Cuckoo, cuckoo.

The successive calls of birds roused everyone from their slumber.

However, the campsite looked a bit disheveled—some items left out from the night before were scattered around the tents, and the students crawled out one by one with weary expressions.

"Ah... my back is so sore..."

Because the blanket wasn't long enough, Nagami had been forced to curl up to stay warm.

He said this while patting his lower back, which let out a "crack" sound, as if adjusting a stiff joint.

With the experience from the last camping trip, compared to the hardened ground of the Uninhabited Island, Nagami had specifically used an inflatable mattress, so his sleep quality was much better.

Not far away, on the other side, the girls dragged their heavy feet out of their collective tent, with messy hair and bloodshot eyes everywhere.

"Ohayou (Good morning)."

Kushida crawled out of the tent to greet her friends; her hair was messy and stuck to her face, her eyes were like a sleepy panda's, and she muttered small complaints.

If you can't find the book title, try searching for the author; maybe it just changed its name!

She must not have slept well last night. Her body was curled into a ball, and white puffs of breath escaped her lips.

Aside from their boyfriends, this was the only time one could see the morning appearance of these beautiful girls.

As a popular beauty, many eyes were cast toward her in secret.

"Damn it, I'm so jealous of Nagami!"

From time to time, there were some idle whispers.

"Good heavens, this ground is no place for a human to sleep. Let's ask Hirata to buy a few inflatable mattresses today."

Sudo muttered while rubbing his neck.

Hirata performed the routine roll call to count the heads.

"1, 2, 3... 29."

"We're missing one person."

Once he said that, a commotion broke out among the crowd as people began whispering to one another.

Recalling the ghost story Nagami told yesterday, many felt a chill run down their spines.

The class was short a person, yet no one had noticed anything amiss. This person must have had a low presence and few social connections.

Just as everyone started letting their imaginations run wild, Nagami began to explain.

"My fault, I forgot to mention this."

Nagami said.

"On the first day we arrived, Koenji felt unwell and asked me to let him keep the Trust Card for himself. He should be staying at some hotel right now."

Everyone finally came to their senses; Koenji had weak ties to the class, so it was normal that no one had noticed his absence.

Hirata nodded. He was also helpless regarding Koenji's actions. Fortunately, withdrawing from this special exam resulted in a penalty rather than a bonus, likely costing the class 10 Class Points.

"Phew, that scared me."

Karuizawa let out a sigh of relief.

"I thought the ghost story had actually come true."

"Hey, Sato. I had forgotten about that until you brought it up, why mention it again?"

Shinohara and her friends complained to Sato, and Sato offered an apology.

"Alright, warm-up over. Time to go out and explore. After a night of rest, many of the base points have probably refreshed."

Relying on his memory of the map, Nagami prepared to set off on an expedition alone.

"Wait, Nagami-kun."

"Oh, it's Mori Nene. Is something the matter?"

"Um, I also want to contribute to the class, so could you take me with you to scout, Nagami-kun?"

Mori Nene sounded a bit timid, seemingly afraid of being rejected by Nagami.

"Oh, I see. I recall your athletic ability is decent; you even snatched a headband from Class C during the cavalry battle at the Sports Festival."

Mori Nene was overjoyed; her performance at the Sports Festival had actually been noted by Nagami.

"That's fine. Your card is with Ayanokoji, right? Or are you not interested in Private Points?"

Nagami asked.

"Yes, I trust Karuizawa will supervise Ayanokoji to ensure the points are earned fairly."

"Besides, I think 100,000 points after the exam is enough."

Is she a student who prefers to coast? I hadn't noticed her much due to her low presence, but upon closer inspection, her looks actually fit my aesthetic quite well.

"Nene, I'll call you that, if that's alright."

After receiving an affirmative answer, the duo plunged into the forest and officially set off.

Class A, under the remote command of Sakayanagi, established their base at the 4 o'clock position on the map.

Class B established their base at a location between the center of the map and the upper-left corner.

Class C, in order to obtain more points and because the special exam area was too large, decided to split into two teams to establish bases in the lower-right corner and the center.

Class D established their base in the upper-left corner of the map.