The second day of the exam.
Yi Chen had barely made it through the night. There were plenty of mosquitoes in summer, and faint, intermittent sounds kept coming from around the cave.
It seemed surviving on a deserted island wasn't as great as Yi Chen had imagined.
After waking up, Yi Chen tidied up a little.
He cracked open a coconut with a stone and started drinking.
He walked out of the cave, and the morning sunlight streamed through the trees onto him.
It was quite warm.
Yi Chen got up to check the traps he'd set the day before, but there didn't seem to be any animal tracks nearby.
With no other choice, Yi Chen looked for a sharp stone and picked out a suitable stick.
He took out the few tools in his backpack.
Then he sharpened one end of the stick.
With that, he made a simple fishing spear.
Yi Chen went to the beach, hoping to avoid running into anyone who'd put him in a foul mood.
He stayed away from the waters near the Cruise Ship and headed to the other side of the island to fish instead.
The island was enormous. It took a long time just to walk there.
When Yi Chen reached the beach, he looked around.
Seeing no one, he took off his clothes, grabbed the spear, and jumped into the sea.
The water was a little cold, and Yi Chen shivered.
He quickly got used to the temperature, took a deep breath, and slowly submerged himself.
Brilliant rays of light filtered through the clear seawater, falling across the sand and stones in all shapes and sizes.
Rocky reefs stood scattered about like little towers.
The water was so clear that Yi Chen could see a long way.
He could clearly make out little fish swimming in the distance.
Yi Chen was delighted.
The water was clear, and he simply assumed the area was clean.
Yi Chen searched the sea for prey. Since he was in shallow water, he could quickly surface for air.
Suddenly, a Fingerprint Fish swam into view. Yi Chen tightened his grip on the spear.
He thrust it forward, but the fish darted away. The spear missed, stirring up mud from the seabed and blocking his view.
It was Yi Chen's first time fishing, and he hastily surfaced, gasping for air.
Yi Chen steadied himself and got his bearings before diving again.
After a while, he spotted a stingray approaching a crevice in the reef to feed.
Yi Chen seized his chance and thrust the spear with precision, impaling the fish.
Delighted, Yi Chen surfaced.
He swam back to shore and laid the fish on the sand.
He arranged some stones in a small circle and placed the fish inside.
He got up and looked at the two-pound sea bream, then plunged back into the water.
He caught a four-pound Fingerprint Fish and returned.
Yi Chen dried himself off with a towel and took the fish back to the cave.
He built a fire and skewered the fish on a branch to roast it.
Before long, the aroma filled the air. The fish sizzled and dripped with oil, and he took a big bite without waiting for it to cool.
Yi Chen couldn't help grumbling:
"It's good, but it has no flavor."
"Damn, now that I've left the class, I don't have any points to use. This sucks."
"Just you wait, Kushida. If only I'd been ruthless enough!"
"And the people in the class, too. I guess people are the same everywhere."
Yi Chen slowly finished the fish, and once he felt full,
he started avoiding Class D's territory and looking for the other classes' territories.
Yi Chen wandered through the jungle, studying the terrain and rivers to figure out where a good place to occupy might be.
He pressed on, making his way farther into the island.
Following the river upstream, Yi Chen soon reached a relatively flat area.
There were several tents not far away.
Yi Chen found a tree in the jungle and hid behind it to watch.
He spotted a green card stuck into a stone platform.
Several boys and the purple-haired Kanzaki were standing over there.
Yi Chen thought for a moment:
"Is that Class Ichinose's occupation point?"
"Is there any point in looking?"
"Ichinose seems to be a pacifist, but..."
Yi Chen hesitated.
"Forget it. I'll go see what's going on with Class A first."
As soon as he said that, Kanzaki and the others gathered around the green card.
The tree blocked Yi Chen's view, so he couldn't see what they were doing.
All he could make out was what looked like two hands reaching out beside the card.
"Who is it?"
Just as Yi Chen was about to change position out of curiosity,
he saw Kanzaki holding the card and slipping it into a bag.
Yi Chen watched from afar:
"Kanzaki, huh?"
"They're not keeping their guard up at all?"
"Where's Ichinose?"
Yi Chen shook his head and left.
Meanwhile, Ichinose was out shopping with a few girls from her class.
At the same time, the mood in Class D had returned to normal, and yesterday's tension had completely disappeared.
Only Ken Sudō was still upset on Yi Chen's behalf.
The whole class had come together again.
Yi Chen was no longer important to them.
Yi Chen continued exploring farther into the island.
He noticed plenty of footprints on the ground. It looked like people had passed through here over and over.
A group approached from ahead. Katsuragi from Class A was with them.
They watched Yi Chen with stern expressions.
Yi Chen, in turn, looked at them awkwardly.
They had done nothing at all, yet the two sides simply stood there, staring at each other.
The awkwardness got to Yi Chen, so he spoke first:
"Hello."
Katsuragi said calmly:
"You're Angela Yi Chen from Class D, right?"
"What are you doing here?"
Yi Chen replied indifferently:
"There was a problem with my class, so I left."
Katsuragi muttered under his breath:
"Class trouble? Class D really is a mess."
Katsuragi knew what Yi Chen had done for Class D, and felt sorry for him.
Katsuragi asked:
"Do you need our help?"
Yi Chen looked at Katsuragi's friendly offer and replied:
"Thanks, but no. I'm just looking around."
Looking at the people in front of him, Yi Chen no longer felt awkward.
"Class A really is nicer than Class D."
After thinking that, Yi Chen started to continue exploring.
Seeing this, Katsuragi stretched out his thick arm to stop Yi Chen from going any farther:
"Yi Chen, if you don't need help, you'd better not go any farther."
"Our territory is up ahead."
"You know you can't enter another class's territory."
Yi Chen looked at Katsuragi and understood.
He said calmly:
"So there's an occupation point up ahead?"
"I can still go take a look at the occupation point, can't I?"
At that, Katsuragi moved to stop him by force.
Yi Chen said calmly:
"Katsuragi, you're not thinking of fighting me, are you?"
"I'm from Class D. If we fight, we'll all lose points."
"Think carefully about that."
Katsuragi's opinion of Yi Chen changed at his words.
Katsuragi was a little angry:
"Yi Chen, you—you seemed like a true gentleman to me."
"Turns out you're just like the rest of us."
"But your tone is pretty rude."
"Since when does Class A let other people threaten us?"
"Angela Yi Chen, you're confident."
"We'd like to see where that confidence of yours comes from."
Yi Chen laughed instead of getting angry:
"Damn, Katsuragi. I just thought you were from Class A and that Class A people were decent."
"And now you pull this on me."
Katsuragi looked at Yi Chen with disdain:
"I misjudged you, too."
Yi Chen's gaze turned sharp.
He snapped off a branch from the bushes nearby and pointed it at the four people in front of him.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly:
"Katsuragi Kohei."
"What makes you think the four of you can teach me a lesson?"
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