Setting Foot on the Uninhabited Island

After arriving in his room, Qiuyue immediately got to work on his grand point-earning scheme.

At the same time, all four of their phones received a message.

[The school wouldn't organize this trip for no reason. There's a good chance it's the Special Exam you've been waiting for. I have a map of the Uninhabited Island. 500,000 Private Points.]

Hirata Yosuke immediately grew serious.

"We need to gather everyone and discuss this right away."

Ichinose Honami had still been wearing a relaxed, carefree smile, but when she saw this crucial information, the ease vanished from her face.

"Everyone, let's vote, just like before."

Katsuragi Kohei received the message too. He didn't give it much thought; he seemed to have already guessed that they would be facing a Special Exam. He bought the map from Qiuyue straight away.

Not long after he transferred the points, Qiuyue sent another message.

[There's a good chance we won't be allowed to bring our phones during this Special Exam, so I left the map in the men's restroom on the first floor of the supermarket, in stall number 3. The door is locked, so you'll have to figure out how to get it.

Helpful hint: You can climb right over. The door isn't very tall, so it shouldn't be hard.]

Elsewhere.

After receiving the message, Ryuen replied dismissively.

[Why should I believe you? How do you know the upcoming Special Exam has anything to do with the Uninhabited Island?]

[Whether you believe me is up to you.]

[Heh. I'm not buying it.]

Qiuyue: (??? Has Ryuen already decided to go for zero points? No, he doesn't even know the rules of the Special Exam yet, so why...)

(Maybe Ryuen has also realized a Special Exam is coming and already thought up some countermeasures?)

(Could he have already teamed up with Class A? Class A gives them 800,000 Private Points every month, and in exchange, they provide Class A with information, whatever the upcoming Special Exam turns out to be.)

(That's the only way I can make sense of it. What a shame about my 500,000 Private Points. At least I didn't set the price too low. Otherwise, I'd be worried I couldn't recoup the million Private Points I put in... Hah... though I guess I didn't actually spend any points.)

Qiuyue stayed in his room for a while, drinking two cups of tea. Finally, Class B and Class D sent their points one after another, and Qiuyue hurriedly sent them the locations of the other maps.

After finishing everything, Qiuyue began tidying up his things. Before long, an announcement came over the loudspeaker.

"Everyone, gather on the deck and prepare to set foot on the island. Take care of your personal belongings. Bring your phones, but personal items are not allowed on the island."

Qiuyue picked up his packed belongings.

"Looks like there's not much I need to bring. I already had the drone carry some things over."

"Never mind. I'll head to the deck first and see what happens."

Then Qiuyue put on the sportswear he would need for class later and headed to the deck.

Following the crowd, Qiuyue arrived at the designated area and joined the gathering.

Teacher Chabashira walked up in front of the class. After confirming that everyone was present, she said:

"Before we set foot on the island, I need to go over a few things. For now, wait here."

After Teacher Chabashira left, some students from Class D began to complain. Fair enough—standing under the blazing sun in such hot weather while waiting for the school officials was hardly something the students would put up with willingly.

Before long, Teacher Chabashira returned.

"Hand in all your phones, then put on this wristwatch. Anyone who removes it without permission will be punished."

After saying that, she looked toward the steps in the middle. A teacher holding a megaphone walked up them.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Mashima, Class A's homeroom teacher. It's unfortunate that one student is unable to take part due to illness. Now, let's begin this year's first Special Exam."

Qiuyue: (...It's Sakayanagi, isn't it?)

"Huh?"

"A Special Exam?"

"The exam will last one week. You'll live together on the Uninhabited Island. From this moment on, you'll have to make all your own decisions. All right, the exam begins now."

"Are we supposed to fend for ourselves for food and play survival games under the blazing sun until noon seven days from now?"

Hirata said as he flipped through the rules guide. Karuizawa stood beside him, watching with concern, while the others gathered around him.

"But the teachers said we're free to do whatever we want, right? That means we can go swimming or cook outdoors if we like."

"As long as we use the 300 points allocated for the exam. There are lots of things we can buy, almost anything you can think of. Then, when the exam ends, any points we have left will be added to our Class Points."

"Then... if we can just hold out for these seven days, we'll get 30,000 every month! That's 30,000, guys!"

Ike excitedly held up three fingers and waved them around in front of everyone.

"Then there are the things that will cost us points: getting sick or seriously injured, clearly polluting the environment, missing the morning or evening roll call, and using violence against students from other classes."

"Can we earn more points?"

"There are a lot of bases on the island. Every time we occupy one, we earn extra points. Each occupation lasts eight hours, and we get one point for each occupation."

"So that's what the red dots on the map you sold us mean."

As Hirata read from the rules guide, he took the map out of his bag.

The school had forbidden them from bringing personal belongings onto the island, but they hadn't searched them or checked their luggage.

Hirata continued:

"To occupy a base, we need a Key Card. We have to choose one student to be the leader, and only the leader can use the Key Card. Anyone else who uses it will cost us points."

"If we occupy another class's base by mistake, we'll be penalized 50 points. We can't change leaders without a valid reason."

"That's all the rules. No... it looks like there's more below.

"If we correctly guess another class's leader at the end of the exam, we get 50 points for each class we guess correctly.

"If another class guesses our leader, our bonus points will be voided. That means the points we earned by occupying bases will be lost, and we'll also be penalized 50 points."

"Huh? That sounds bad. We need to choose someone who won't give away their identity easily."

"Yeah... Why would they make the rules so complicated?"

"Everyone, don't panic. The other classes have already started moving. Shouldn't we choose a base first and then pick a leader?"

As he spoke, Hirata spread out the map from the rules guide and the one he had bought from Qiuyue.

The teachers were setting up temporary shelters on the beach and putting up several tents. They weren't paying attention to them.

The map in the rules guide showed the general layout and size of the island's forest, but not much else. Qiuyue's map only marked a bunch of red dots and lacked those details. The two maps complemented each other perfectly.

"Before that, Hirata-kun, it's okay to use some points, right?"

"No. We should hold back unless we have no other choice."

"But this is just too..."

Everyone followed Karuizawa's gaze. There, unmistakably, was the portable toilet they had been given.

Sakayanagi Arisu.

Before setting foot on the Uninhabited Island, Qiuyue had been selling maps of the island to the various classes.

The library aboard the ship was occupied by a single girl. There was no one else around, giving the place a particularly strange atmosphere.

The yellow lights all shone toward the center, while everything around them was swallowed in darkness.

The girl was playing chess against herself, with a phone sitting beside her.

"Thank you for the report, Masumi."

"So, what are you going to do? What do we do next? If you leave Katsuragi alone, he'll only become more entrenched, and that seller of information is still making moves."

"That's true. Let me see... I've thought of something interesting. I need you to keep an eye on a few people."

"Who? Do you want me to follow them?"

"No. The fact that he dares to sell maps like this proves that there'll be an exam soon. You just need to pay attention to what they do during this exam. Tell me if they make any moves. There's no need to follow them deliberately. Once there's reason for suspicion, that alone is a crime."

"What do you mean?"

"Just stay in Class A. They'll come to us. Even if my guess is wrong, it doesn't matter. He'll definitely make a move, after all. In a gamble, there has to be a winner, doesn't there?"

"...No... I mean, I don't understand what you're talking about. Was the information you bought from your father with points a gamble?"

"..."

The girl didn't want to humor the person on the other end of the call. Her hand moved over the chessboard, and the black pieces began devouring the white ones. When she brought a piece close to the Queen, she smiled.

"Check. How far away can checkmate be?"