The settlement screen did not display the scores first.
The first thing to appear was a status confirmation.
All final-phase statuses for the Uninhabited Island Special Exam have been received
Only then did the second line slowly unfold.
Class D final-phase ranking: Second place
The base was silent for several seconds.
Yamauchi was the first to look up.
"Second?"
No one answered immediately.
Everyone was waiting for the next line—waiting to see which factor had earned them second place, and whether Class C's leader guess would push them back down to where they had been.
The third line lit up.
Public representative: Valid Current public base: Valid Supply consumption and withdrawal records: Received according to submitted status Class C's guess at Class D's final-phase leader: Correct The impact of the guess has been included in the final-phase ranking. The specific conversion process will not be disclosed separately
Sudo tapped a finger against his knee.
"They guessed right, and Class D is still second?"
Yukimura had already scrolled down the page.
"The effect of the leader guess has already been factored into the final score gap. The exact conversion hasn't been shown, but there was no supplementary submission, resubmission, or loss of eligibility."
These lines were not a reward.
But they proved that, in their final move, they had not turned their real status into a false answer.
Horikita looked at the public representative entry without turning to look at Gu Heng.
"The public representative entry wasn't invalidated."
"Not just that entry," Gu Heng said. "The school accepted this responsibility."
"You don't need to make it sound better for me."
She scrolled down on her terminal.
The final ranking page listed Class D in second place.
Class C had guessed the leader correctly, yet they