Digging a Pit

It was another night with a bright moon and sparse stars. Ibuki held the stolen item and headed deep into the forest. Horikita Suzune checked her bag, realized her underwear was missing, and quickly ran out to follow. Horikita Suzune had no idea why Ibuki would steal her underwear.

According to Horikita Suzune's guess, it must have been Ibuki who stole Karuizawa Kei's underwear, so now she was likely repeating the trick, intending to hide her underwear among the boys' belongings. This would reignite the recently settled conflict between the boys and girls.

However, what Horikita Suzune couldn't understand was that Ibuki didn't go to the boys' tents; instead, she headed deep into the forest.

Fortunately, Ibuki wasn't moving fast, and with many tall trees in the forest, Horikita Suzune easily followed behind Ibuki without being noticed.

What Horikita Suzune didn't know was that Ayanokoji was also following behind her.

Ayanokoji had been keeping an eye on Ibuki's movements. According to his guess, there were other members of Class C still on the island, and Ibuki would surely go to meet them. But it was still too early; there were two days left until the end of the exam. Logically, Ibuki should only try to escape on the last day.

Ibuki arrived at the base of a tree, but it wasn't the tree Ryuuen had agreed upon. Ryuuen had said he would only be at that tree half an hour before the exam ended, so Ibuki naturally wouldn't go there now.

Ibuki was digging a hole!

Both Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji were bewildered. Ibuki hadn't stolen Class D's Magnetic Card, because the Magnetic Card was currently with Ayanokoji. So why was Ibuki digging a hole here in the middle of the night?

Horikita Suzune didn't reveal herself and continued to observe what Ibuki would do next.

Then Horikita Suzune saw Ibuki throw her underwear into the hole, without any protective measures, just tossing it in like a piece of trash. Then Ibuki filled the hole!

Horikita Suzune's underwear was planted in the soil by Ibuki like a seed.

Horikita Suzune rubbed her eyes in disbelief. What was this all about? She couldn't understand it no matter how hard she tried. Ayanokoji, for once, was also very confused by Ibuki's actions. Ibuki's behavior was too strange; there was no logic or motive to it, and it seemed completely unrelated to the exam.

Just as Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji were still pondering, Ibuki had already started walking back. Horikita Suzune had no choice but to quickly leave as well. She had to get back to the tent before Ibuki. As for that pair of underwear, Horikita Suzune wasn't too concerned. Since she already knew Ibuki had stolen it and buried it, there was no need to worry about other boys getting their hands on it.

Once the two girls had walked far away, Ayanokoji dug up Ibuki's hole. He still thought Ibuki wouldn't just simply bury a pair of underwear. But this time, Ayanokoji had truly overthought it. Looking at the dirty underwear covered in mud, Ayanokoji felt a slight discomfort: "There are still many things in this world I don't understand. I still have much to learn."

After restoring the site to its original state, Ayanokoji also went back to sleep. However, neither Horikita Suzune nor Ayanokoji could fall asleep, unable to comprehend it, truly unable to comprehend it.

Meanwhile, in Class B, there was also someone who couldn't sleep: Shiranami Chihiro.

She stood in front of the water buckets, feeling very anxious. There were two buckets here, both containing distilled, drinkable water. One of them, she and a few other girls would use for cooking the next day. After much hesitation, Shiranami poured out a tiny bit of the powder from the soda bottle.

After pouring it, she scurried back to bed like a thief. But after a while, she felt uneasy again and returned to the water buckets. This time, Shiranami made up her mind and poured all the powder from the bottle. To prevent exposure, Shiranami even ran to the beach in the middle of the night and threw the soda bottle into the sea.

On the way back, Shiranami's steps were exceptionally heavy.

Having not slept a wink, Shiranami woke up with dark circles under her eyes and started preparing breakfast with the other girls. However, when breakfast was ready and everyone was gathered to begin eating, Shiranami approached Ichinose Honami: "Honami, there's something I want to tell you. Could you please come with me for a moment?"

Although she was still hungry, Ichinose Honami was more concerned about her classmate, so she nodded and followed Shiranami. The other students in the class didn't pay much attention to their departure. Girls going to the restroom together was a common occurrence, and given how popular Ichinose Honami was, no one found it strange when Shiranami pulled her away.

"What is it, little Chihiro? You can tell me if you have any difficulties; I'll help you," Ichinose Honami said, still as gentle as ever.

It was this very gentleness that made it hard for Shiranami to control herself: "Honami, do you have someone you like?"

"Huh? Why are you asking that? I don't have anyone I like right now." Ichinose Honami hadn't expected Shiranami to ask such a question.

"But I heard you do have someone you like. Honami, you're not lying to me, are you?" Shiranami wanted to buy herself more time, already becoming a bit unreasonable.

"How could I? How could I deceive Chihiro-chan? If I did have someone I liked, I would definitely tell all of you." Ichinose Honami comforted Shiranami. She could vaguely sense that Chihiro was different from the other girls; she was more clingy, more sensitive, and liked to be doted on by Ichinose Honami more.

You all. Shiranami's mood plummeted when she heard those two words. What she wanted was exclusivity; she didn't want to share Ichinose Honami with anyone else.

"Okay then," Shiranami forced a smile.

"Alright, let's go back. I'm starving," Ichinose Honami said, pulling Shiranami's hand as they walked back.

From a distance, Ichinose Honami saw the miserable state of her classmates.

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, unconsciousness.

This was poisoning!

Too many students were poisoned. Ichinose Honami was overwhelmed for a moment. In the face of danger to life, Ichinose Honami could no longer care about the exam. She arranged for Shiranami to take care of the students and went to find a teacher.

Actually, shortly after the students were poisoned, the school had already arranged for medical personnel to come.

Watching students being carried away one after another, Ichinose Honami's heart sank.

Hoshinomiya Chie patted her shoulder and comforted her: "Ichinose, this isn't your fault. Don't blame yourself too much. The rest of the exam is up to you and Shiranami."

"But if a student withdraws midway, we'll lose thirty Points, and our class has already run out of Points," Ichinose Honami said, her expression desolate. She wished she were the one poisoned instead of her classmates.

"Class C also only has Ibuki left on the island for the exam, right? We still have a chance, as long as we win when guessing the leader at the end." Hoshinomiya Chie's words revealed a lot of information. As a teacher, she shouldn't interfere with the exam too much, but Hoshinomiya Chie was still too biased towards Ichinose Honami. She couldn't bear to see Ichinose Honami blame herself like this.

If Ayanokoji had been there to hear that, the outcome of the entire game would have been different. Unfortunately, he was still contemplating why Ibuki had buried Horikita Suzune's underwear.

That underwear had occupied Ayanokoji's mind for too long. Finally, Ayanokoji had to conclude that it was just one of Ibuki's little quirks.

Actually, this was very close to the answer, but it didn't matter.

Each class had its own troubles; Class A was not peaceful at this moment either.