First Discussion

The first discussion session began quickly.

Everyone arrived at the designated meeting room on time. Anyone even slightly clever would realize that the theme of this special treatment exam was likely analytical thinking. In other words, it wasn't testing teamwork. Individuals could use their own intelligence to think through problems, solve them, and ultimately arrive at the correct answer, which was to identify the VIP.

The VIPs were decided by the school, but this list was certainly not random. Even each group was carefully considered by the school. Ryuuen, Horikita Suzune, Ichinose Honami, and Ayanokoji were all trying to figure out the pattern. If they could discover it, they would essentially have mastered the exam.

Finding the pattern was important, but that didn't mean group discussions were pointless. Identifying the VIPs through group discussion was also a path to the correct answer, it was just inefficient. This exam also tested students' way of thinking and perspective. Before finding the pattern, group discussions were necessary.

Because to find the pattern, they first needed to know who a few of the VIPs were, and then deduce the others.

Knowing the VIP in one's own class wasn't difficult, but to confirm the pattern, they needed to know at least one VIP from another class.

In the meeting room, when Ryuuen arrived, Katsuragi from Class A was already sitting on the sofa, eyes closed, resting.

"You're here so early, are you thinking about how to break the deadlock?" Ryuuen and Katsuragi knew each other, so there was no need to pretend to be strangers.

"We have our own strategy, Ryuuen. You should worry about your own class first," Katsuragi said, as stoic as ever.

Although Katsuragi seemed rigid, Ryuuen liked this bald man. He had strength, but in Ryuuen's eyes, he was a bit simple-minded.

"Don't you want to cooperate with me again?" Ryuuen asked, casually crossing his legs, his tone light.

It was fine until cooperation was mentioned. Katsuragi's face darkened. Although the previous cooperation had been a huge win for Katsuragi personally, Class A's interests had suffered.

Previously, Katsuragi and Ryuuen's cooperation involved Ryuuen paying Katsuragi 2 million personal points, and Class C paying Class A 20,000 personal points per person each month afterward. All Katsuragi had to do was secure fourth place in the Uninhabited Island exam.

Ryuuen offered such a significant benefit that Katsuragi weighed his options and decided to cooperate with him.

However, Katsuragi later learned that Ryuuen had also made a deal with Sakanagi Arisu, or rather, with Sakanagi's representative, Kamuro. That idiot Kamuro, completely unaware of the details of Katsuragi's deal with Ryuuen, signed another contract with Ryuuen.

Double the amount—4 million points plus 40,000 personal points per person each month. What was the difference between that and selling half the class to Ryuuen? If Sakanagi Arisu had been on the ship, she certainly wouldn't have signed such a foolish contract of servitude. But Kamuro signed it. She represented Sakanagi Arisu, and the Sakanagi faction, in signing this contract. Both Katsuragi and Sakanagi wondered if Kamuro was an undercover agent sent by Ryuuen.

But it was clear she wasn't. Kamuro simply had a weakness that Sakanagi Arisu exploited. For anything Sakanagi Arisu told her to do, she just did it, not caring about the consequences or if she made mistakes along the way.

Ultimately, Ryuuen used the contract he signed with Kamuro to exchange for the contract Katsuragi held that was signed with him. It seemed like Ryuuen was at a loss, but he wasn't, because the contract signed with Kamuro had conditions.

After the exchange, Ryuuen no longer had to pay Katsuragi a single point. As long as Katsuragi held that contract, his position in the class was guaranteed to some extent, because if he stepped down, Class A would have to pay a massive amount of points.

Finally, Class A happily secured fourth place in the Uninhabited Island exam, gaining only a guarantee. This was very important for Katsuragi personally, but it brought no benefit to the class, and even exacerbated the conflict between the Sakanagi faction and the Katsuragi faction.

There was only one winner in the Uninhabited Island exam: Ryuuen.

That's why signing contracts was something one had to do oneself. Ryuuen had personally signed every contract, big or small, back when he was at the company. This could be considered a lesson Ryuuen taught Sakanagi Arisu, who was still on campus.

"I don't like conspiring with hungry tigers," Katsuragi said cryptically.

"Hahaha," Ryuuen laughed wildly.

Horikita Suzune had no idea what they were talking about and sat there looking a bit lost.

"Since everyone is here, let's start the discussion," Kanzaki Ryuuji from Class B said, but Ryuuen and Katsuragi simply glanced at him and dismissed him.

The atmosphere was incredibly awkward because after Kanzaki Ryuuji, the clown, spoke, no one paid him any attention.

The leaders of the three classes were all present; it was hardly his place, as Class B's subordinate, to speak. Just as Kanzaki Ryuuji started to feel awkward and fell silent, Ryuuen spoke up: "Let's discuss something, otherwise just sitting here is boring. Suzune, what are your thoughts? Tell me."

"Don't call me Suzune!" Horikita Suzune frowned, but didn't waste any more time. She stated her idea: "It seems the best outcome is Result One. As long as we all correctly identify the VIP, there's no harm to any of us."

"Naive. No harm is the greatest harm," Ryuuen immediately rejected Horikita Suzune's idea, and also stated Class C's stance: they refused to achieve Result One.

"What about Class A? Katsuragi, you wouldn't agree to Result One either, would you?" Ryuuen continued to ask Katsuragi.

After a moment of silence, Katsuragi still responded to Ryuuen: "Class A will not participate in any discussions for the remainder of this time."

"Complete silence. It seems, Katsuragi, you want to pursue Result Two with the lowest risk," Horikita Suzune directly pointed out Class A's strategy.

"That's certainly typical of you, Katsuragi. Do you love being a turtle that much? This kind of defensive strategy is truly boring," Ryuuen mocked Katsuragi from the side.

But Katsuragi was unmoved. He was truly prepared not to say another word.

"Then it seems today's discussion will be fruitless," Ryuuen glanced at his phone. There were five minutes left before the discussion ended.

As if suddenly remembering there were Class B members in the group, Ryuuen tilted his head and asked Kanzaki Ryuuji, "What's Class B's stance?"

He wasn't asking Kanzaki Ryuuji personally, but Class B's overall stance. This was only the first discussion, so Kanzaki Ryuuji naturally hadn't received any instructions from Ichinose Honami yet: "I don't know."

Kanzaki Ryuuji answered quite frankly.

"Useless."

It wasn't that Ryuuen mocked everyone he met; he was subtly reminding Kanzaki Ryuuji to know his place.

In reality, Kanzaki Ryuuji and Horikita Suzune were in similar positions in this conversation; neither could represent their class's stance.

Kanzaki Ryuuji, as Ichinose Honami's subordinate, naturally didn't have that authority. Horikita Suzune was a representative put forward by Ayanokoji, and Class D hadn't truly unified yet. The outcome Horikita Suzune wanted to achieve might not be agreed upon by others in the class, so Horikita Suzune couldn't represent the class either.

The reason Ryuuen asked Horikita Suzune first was actually to see her personal thoughts, to see if she had grown after the Uninhabited Island exam. Clearly, she hadn't.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Horikita Suzune was hiding her abilities, but given Horikita Suzune's personality, that possibility was very small.

Later, when Ryuuen asked Katsuragi for his opinion again, he wasn't genuinely trying to get useful information from him. Ryuuen already knew what strategy Katsuragi would employ. He wanted to indirectly convey this information to Ayanokoji through Horikita Suzune, thereby testing Ayanokoji's attitude. He believed Horikita Suzune would receive Ayanokoji's guidance after returning this time.

And finally, asking Kanzaki Ryuuji was just a whim. Ryuuen really disliked him; he'd felt that way since their first meeting, because Kanzaki Ryuuji always gave Ryuuen a very familiar feeling—he was very much like a "simp" from a previous life.

Ryuuen naturally knew that imposing this inexplicable aversion on Kanzaki Ryuuji was wrong, but what did it matter?

He followed his heart: if he liked someone, he liked them; if he disliked someone, he disliked them. He wasn't Kushida Kikyo; he didn't need to maintain friendly relations with everyone. From another perspective, Kanzaki Ryuuji wasn't worthy of Ryuuen's respect.

At heart, Ryuuen, like Kouenji, was extremely arrogant. A little less refined, a little more haughty.

The first discussion of Ryuuen's group ended with Ryuuen's insults, and Kanzaki Ryuuji didn't even utter a single rebuttal, which made Ryuuen look down on him even more. Although, if one put themselves in his shoes, Kanzaki Ryuuji really couldn't refute anything. The other members of the group were also happy to see someone provoke Ryuuen, but luckily Kanzaki Ryuuji had some sense and knew there was no benefit in provoking Ryuuen, so he ultimately chose to keep quiet.

The subsequent discussions were even more boring, and the progress of other groups was also slow.

The only noteworthy situation was with the Rabbit Group. Through Ibuki's description, Ryuuen now had some understanding of the Rabbit Group.