The Words "Uninhabited Island"

After the preliminary briefing notice was sent out, Class D first decided on four temporary liaisons in the group chat.

Gu Heng and Horikita received the most nominations, and both confirmed they were willing to go. Hirata volunteered to fill the communication role, preventing their differing directions from turning into another argument as soon as they returned.

The fourth position sparked disagreement. Some nominated Yukimura, while others nominated Sudo. Yukimura replied that he was better suited to staying in the classroom to verify academic data, while Sudo flatly refused to attend a briefing that did not disclose the full rules.

Horikita finally nominated Ayanokoji.

Her reason was specific: during the first discussion of the trial class rules, he had asked who should review complaints against the record keeper. Someone like that would at least pay attention to who, in the rules, was responsible for monitoring those enforcing them.

Hirata agreed with the reasoning, and Ayanokoji himself had to confirm before he could be added to the list.

Ayanokoji did not seem particularly enthusiastic. He only replied shortly before the deadline.

I can handle the records.

The four of them were added to the list.

This list was not an appointment of leaders, nor did it mean the whole class had accepted anyone's authority. The notice attachment clearly defined its limits: temporary liaisons were only responsible for receiving directional information. Formal rules and internal class organization would be decided separately.

At seven that evening, the liaisons from all four classes entered the auditorium of the special teaching building.

Each class could send up to four people. Teachers at the entrance verified identities against the submitted lists, and every person's liaison status was recorded.

Ryuuen was not on Class C's list. Ishizaki stood at the front, watching people, while the quiet boy beside him had already opened his notes. Only when the teacher checked the name at the entrance did Gu Heng learn that the other boy was called Kaneda.

After Class B's four liaisons entered, they first checked whether their seats and materials were complete.

Class A's four representatives also went straight to their places. No one gathered around to discuss Class D's grades. Every class was handling its own priorities first.

At exactly seven, the screen lit up.

The teacher in charge of the briefing began by stressing, "Tonight, only the direction of the exam and the boundaries for preparation will be announced. The full scoring rules will not be disclosed. No one may interpret this briefing as formal rules."

That sentence made Gu Heng pause his pen over the first line of his notes.

There were only four confirmed points.

Exam direction: uninhabited island survival assessment.

Basic unit: class-based cooperation.

Assessment areas: resources, discipline, physical fitness, organization, and on-site judgment.

Formal rules: distributed uniformly at a later briefing for all students; the written rulebook is authoritative.

The teacher did not provide resource quotas, announce a leader mechanism, or explain how points would be calculated.

"Each class may prepare in advance through physical training, basic supply knowledge, and internal communication. However, no one may spread unannounced information as though it were a rule."

Kaneda raised his hand first.

"Will temporary liaisons receive any authority during the official exam?"

"No," the teacher answered. "The list is only for this directional briefing and the delivery of later notices."

A girl from Class B then asked, "Will tonight's materials be sent to all students in each class?"

"They will be distributed uniformly after the briefing. Liaisons have no right to monopolize information."

Those two questions further reinforced the boundaries of the list. Temporary liaisons could not claim to be leaders just because they had arrived at the auditorium first, nor could they withhold materials in exchange for obedience from their class.

The murmuring in the auditorium still could not be suppressed.

The words "uninhabited island" alone were enough to make people think of dehydration, getting lost, carrying heavy loads, and moving as an entire class. But those were only directions of risk, not formulas that could be used to calculate points.

Hirata wrote beside the materials: When we return to class, first explain what we don't know.

Horikita, meanwhile, listed three preparations they could begin immediately: assess physical fitness, confirm basic outdoor knowledge, and establish a point for consolidating information.

She did not hear "uninhabited island" and immediately declare who would be the leader.

Ayanokoji's notes were the shortest.

Formal rules have not been released. The current list carries no leadership authority.

Gu Heng glanced at it and did not add anything for him.

Gu Heng divided his own paper into two columns.

The known column contained only the four points explicitly stated by the teacher. The column of matters to confirm listed resource quotas, withdrawal conditions, bases, leaders, points, and violation criteria.

Some of those terms came from his memories of the original framework, but unless the school confirmed them in the current briefing, he could not take them back to Class D and use them as rules in advance.

Memory could provide questions here, but not answers.

After the briefing ended, the school affairs page opened a read-only notification section for the liaisons, to be used only for receiving later schedule and material updates. The liaison lists for each class were also made public at the same time.

As they left the auditorium, Hirata asked first, "How should we explain this when we get back tonight?"

"Separate what we know from what we don't," Gu Heng said. "We can prepare physical fitness and communication, but we can't start calculating resources, points, and routes yet."

"The first thing the class asks won't be about the rules," Horikita said.

"They'll ask who gets to call the shots."

All four of them knew she was right.

The assessment training had just made some people accustomed to looking to Gu Heng first, while Horikita had been among the first to publicly participate in discipline and study arrangements. Putting the two of them side by side in Class D's liaison listing would only make that question surface faster.

Hirata did not immediately propose some compromise answer.

"Let's not divide up positions among the four of us first," he said. "Right now, we're only bringing the direction back. The class wasn't involved. They'll ask again tomorrow anyway."

"So we decide it face-to-face tomorrow," Horikita said.

She looked at Gu Heng.

"And you won't just hand out an arrangement sheet directly."

"Fine," Gu Heng said. "But we also can't let everyone argue first, then wait for the teacher to decide for us."

The two of them did not settle their disagreement outside the auditorium.

That made Hirata relax for the moment. No conclusion did not mean no progress. At least private divisions of responsibility would not be dressed up as something the whole class had already agreed to.

Ayanokoji, walking at the back, suddenly said, "Ishizaki wasn't looking at the materials just now."

"What was he looking at?" Hirata asked.

"Who held the materials, who answered first, who walked in front."

Gu Heng turned and glanced back at the auditorium exit.

Ishizaki and Kaneda had already left.

At that moment, a private message popped up on Gu Heng's school terminal.

The sender was displayed as Ishizaki's school account.

Ryuuen asked me to pass along a message: putting two people on the list doesn't mean Class D really has two people who can call the shots. Once you've decided tomorrow, tell me who I should be watching.

Ishizaki had plainly written both the messenger and the source.

After reading it, Hirata's brow tightened.

"He's waiting for us to choose a target ourselves."

"He's also waiting for us to fail to choose one," Horikita said.

Gu Heng did not reply.

He saved Ishizaki's verified account, the time it was sent, and the exact message, then forwarded them to the other three liaisons. Ryuuen's message could be entered into the record of external pressure, but it could not bypass a class-wide discussion and choose a leader for Class D.

Messages in the class group chat were already scrolling upward.

"How exactly is the uninhabited island exam going to work?"

"Why haven't they released the full rules yet?"

"Once the four liaisons come back, who do we listen to first?"

"What if Gu Heng and Horikita disagree?"

The briefing had only announced a single direction, but the problem Class D truly needed to deal with had already appeared.

It was not about who declared themselves leader tonight.

It was about making clear, in front of the whole class tomorrow, who would be responsible for the public role, the plans, coordination, and review.