"When exactly are you going to start doing something, Katsuragi?!"
Hashimoto rebuked Katsuragi, who had remained seated in the tent without taking any action. Though Hashimoto belonged to Sakayanagi's faction, he cared about the class's interests as well. Since the Katsuragi faction did not dare question Katsuragi, he would play the villain.
The other members of the Katsuragi faction could not help but waver internally. Five days had already passed, yet aside from arranging routine patrols and showing concern for everyone's food and daily needs, Katsuragi had taken no strategy or action. It was as though he truly regarded this exam as a camping trip.
"We have already gained sufficiently great benefits from this game. All you need to do is behave yourselves." Faced with Hashimoto's questioning, Katsuragi remained composed. However, the other students knew nothing of the deal between Katsuragi and Ryuuen, and they had not seen hide nor hair of the so-called enormous benefits.
The atmosphere in the class was therefore extremely tense. With Sakayanagi Arisu absent, the Sakayanagi faction could not pose any substantial threat to Katsuragi.
"Do you really deserve to be our leader like this? Why not step down and let Sakayanagi Arisu take charge?" Hashimoto continued attacking Katsuragi.
Those words angered the Katsuragi faction. Quite a few students were eager to act, but Katsuragi raised a hand to stop them. "Sakayanagi Arisu cannot participate in the Uninhabited Island Exam. She should have told you before the exam that everything during the exam was to follow my orders. Are you planning to defy Sakayanagi?"
"Pah, coward!" Hashimoto was furious, but he had nothing to say. Sakayanagi Arisu had indeed said they were to follow Katsuragi's orders during the exam.
"Katsuragi, what exactly are these huge benefits you mentioned?" Totsuka Yahiko, one of Katsuragi's followers, could not help asking.
"I'll tell you after the exam. It is still confidential for now." Katsuragi did not want to say more. At this stage, the fewer people who knew about his deal with Ryuuen, the better.
Meanwhile, the students of Class C had already settled into a disciplined life aboard the ship. Other than Manabe, everyone was quite satisfied with the exam.
That night, Manabe entered Ryuuen's bedroom with a nervous heart. Ryuuen asked her nothing and did not use violence. He merely made her kneel before him and read. After two hours, Manabe's legs had gone numb and her knees were red, while she had not absorbed a single word from the book.
Ryuuen then let her go. However, her legs were too numb to walk, so Ryuuen ultimately called Morofuji Rika and Yamashita Saki to carry her back.
Under Hoshinomiya's guidance, Ichinose Honami of Class B still chose to continue the exam. She and Shiranami abandoned all the food and water at their camp and started over.
These past few days had been the happiest time of Shiranami's life.
Although their life was difficult, for Shiranami, gathering wild fruit together, eating together, sleeping together, and spending every day by Ichinose's side was practically heaven. Ichinose's eyes held only Shiranami. The two of them ran their fractured class like a married couple.
"How are we supposed to figure out the leaders of the other classes?" Ichinose was deeply troubled.
"It's okay even if we can't figure it out." Shiranami washed a purple wild fruit and wiped it clean. She took a bite first to make sure it was not poisonous, then put it into Ichinose's mouth.
For the past few days, everything Ichinose ate and drank had to pass Shiranami's mouth first. "You don't have to be so careful. We ate this fruit yesterday. It isn't poisonous."
As she spoke, Ichinose chewed the sweet-and-sour wild fruit.
"How can that be? This fruit did not grow on the same tree as yesterday's. What if this one is poisonous? It's better to be cautious."
Since Shiranami insisted, Ichinose could only accept it. In truth, Ichinose was not that resistant to another girl's saliva. Her family had not been well-off before, and she and her younger sister had often shared a single apple.
Time quietly slipped by until the final night arrived, another night with a bright moon and sparse stars.
It was time to set a trap for Ibuki.
Ayanokoji deliberately exposed a flaw, allowing Ibuki to notice that he had secretly gone to see Horikita.
"What is it?" Horikita did not know why Ayanokoji had come to see her at such a time, but she did not dare let down her guard. Ayanokoji's deliberately revealed strength had made her very wary of him.
Ayanokoji was quite pleased by Horikita's attitude. "I'm returning the Magnetic Card to you."
"Why return it to me now?" Horikita took the Magnetic Card from Ayanokoji's hand.
"During this time, Ibuki has already searched all the girls' belongings. She should be moving on to the boys next. It is no longer safe to keep the Magnetic Card with me. It will be safer in your hands now. After all, the most dangerous place is the safest place." Ayanokoji explained patiently.
"That's true." Horikita spoke weakly.
"Are you still not better?"
Something that did not sound like concern came out of Ayanokoji's mouth.
"The day before yesterday, I felt much better after taking the medicine, but when I took it again yesterday, my head felt even foggier."
Of course she felt worse, because Ayanokoji had added several more medicinal ingredients to ensure that Horikita would collapse on the final day.
However, unlike in the original story, Ayanokoji had not told Horikita his strategy. In other words, Horikita did not know that the class leader would change at the end.
The only reason he had not told Horikita was that he was wary of her. She had been spending too much time around Ryuuen, and it would be easy for information to leak.
Ayanokoji believed that Ryuuen paid so much attention to him because he was close to Horikita. If the rumors were true and Ryuuen liked Horikita, then any boy who got close to her would naturally attract Ryuuen's attention. Ayanokoji understood that much common sense.
Though she could not hear Ayanokoji and Horikita's conversation from afar, she clearly saw the Magnetic Card in Horikita's hand beneath the moonlight!
The Magnetic Card was in Horikita's hands. Ibuki's heart raced, her hands trembled. She had finally found it. Since arriving on the island, she had not slept well once because of this Magnetic Card.
At midnight, Ibuki stole Horikita's Magnetic Card once again. She fled into the woods again, but this time she brought her backpack with her. This time, she would not be coming back.
Horikita noticed Ibuki's movements, but her body felt heavy, and she could barely open her eyes. In the end, Horikita had no choice but to bite through her lip to force herself awake. She threw on a jacket and went after Ibuki.
This time, Horikita did not hide herself, and Ibuki noticed someone behind her.
Ambush!
Ibuki hid behind a tree and kicked Horikita as she approached, but Horikita caught the kick with both hands.
"Give the Magnetic Card back." Horikita's voice was somewhat hoarse.
"Not a chance!" Ibuki spun into a kick while balancing on one foot.
Horikita's combat ability surpassed Ibuki's, but Ayanokoji's debuff weighed on her. For a time, she found it difficult to withstand Ibuki's wild barrage.
After throwing more than a dozen punches, Horikita finally exposed an opening. Ibuki kicked Horikita in the head. Although Horikita softened the blow with her hands, she still collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Just as Ibuki, free at last from the pent-up frustration of recent days, happily prepared to leave, Ayanokoji appeared before her.
"I suggest you get out of my way! Otherwise, I'll make you lie on the ground like Horikita!" Ibuki was extremely confident at that moment and completely looked down on Ayanokoji, who did not seem to have any fighting ability.
Yet the instant she finished speaking, her head hit the ground. Ayanokoji stepped on Ibuki's back. "Do not move again. The next kick will cripple you."
With her spine pinned down, cold sweat broke out across Ibuki's body. The oppressive feeling of facing death made her afraid to breathe. Only after watching Ayanokoji take the Magnetic Card from her hand and carry Horikita away did Ibuki dare sit up from the ground.
A branch on the ground had cut a tiny wound into her neck. Ibuki wiped it with her hand, and the pale red blood instantly dried on her skin. Ibuki cried. She did not feel sad at all; tears simply flowed from the corners of her eyes.
"I guess I'm not that strong."
Wiping the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, Ibuki hugged her backpack and spent the cold night beneath a tree.
Before you continue