Uninhabited Island Special Exam

"Want to go look at the ocean from the deck?" Ishida suggested, a hint of irrepressible excitement in his voice.

"Haven't we seen it plenty of times before? The ocean's full of water, white clouds float across the blue sky, and you get some salty sea breeze. That's it." Toba Shigeru lay on his bed, lazily reading a manga.

"This time's different. We're right in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!" Ishida stressed.

"There's still no rush. You've got two weeks to look at it." Toba Shigeru remained unmoved.

"What about you, Takahashi? When are you planning to go?" Ishida asked, turning to Takahashi Ren.

"Me? There really is no rush. I'll read a little longer." Takahashi Ren leaned against the headboard, his eyes still on the book in his hands.

"Haha, Takahashi's on my side too. Looks like you'll have to go alone," Toba Shigeru teased.

"All right, then I'll do my summer homework." Ishida pulled a workbook out of his bag.

"Wait, dude. You brought homework on vacation?" Toba Shigeru asked in surprise.

"Why not? It keeps me from getting bored."

"Look, this revenge studying isn't going to work. What we need is relaxed studying, slow studying, quality studying, studying at a steady pace. When it's time to have fun, you should enjoy yourself." Unable to sit still any longer, Toba Shigeru offered his earnest advice.

"Can't help it. I'm bored."

"Do you read manga? Or I could chat with you." Toba Shigeru hurried over and snapped Ishida's workbook shut. He really was going to great lengths to stop Ishida from studying.

Watching the two of them, Takahashi Ren smiled.

After the midterms and finals, what awaited them at the start of summer vacation was a two-week trip aboard a luxury cruise ship, arranged for the students by Advanced Nurturing High School.

Takahashi Ren and the other two shared a cabin for this trip.

By ordinary standards, this trip went far beyond the norm. At this government-supported school, not only were tuition and miscellaneous fees waived, but they did not even have to pay for the trip.

The cruise ship looked magnificent, and its interior facilities were even more extensive, offering everything from first-class restaurants to a theater, all free to use.

One could not help marveling at the school's lavish spending.

Some time later, an announcement sounded over the ship's speakers.

"Attention, students. If you have time, please be sure to gather on the deck. An island will soon come into view. Before long, you should see some very meaningful scenery."

The students gradually gathered on the deck, and Takahashi Ren followed the crowd to the railing. A few minutes later, a small island slowly came into view.

The cruise ship circled the island once, allowing the students to see the entire island from every angle.

"We will shortly be landing on an isolated island owned by our school. All students are to change into their athletic uniforms within thirty minutes, check that they have the required belongings, and gather on the deck with their phones. Please leave all other personal belongings in your rooms. As the restrooms are still available for now, please attend to your personal needs first," another announcement sounded over the ship's speakers.

"Come on, let's go! It's finally starting." Toba Shigeru suddenly perked up. "Private beach, here I come."

The students changed into their athletic uniforms and returned to the deck one after another, waiting for the ship to dock.

After handing their phones to their homeroom teachers, they disembarked in order, starting with Class A.

After confirming Class A's attendance, Mashima stepped onto the white podium that had been prepared.

"Something's a little off," Ishida said quietly.

"Yeah," Takahashi Ren agreed. The teachers did not look as though they were preparing for fun; their expressions were serious.

"No way." Toba Shigeru did not believe it.

Mashima first briefly expressed his regret that a certain student had been unable to join the trip. All the students in Class A knew full well that Sakayanagi was absent due to illness.

Then he changed the subject, his tone abruptly cooling. "Now, then-we will begin this year's first special exam."

The students froze for a moment, then erupted into an uproar.

"What?"

"What the heck's going on? Wasn't this supposed to be a summer vacation trip?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake! If the school takes us on a trip, just let us enjoy the trip! What's this about an exam?"

"No, my private beach, my swimsuit babes." Toba Shigeru clutched his chest with one hand and weakly stretched the other toward the distant beach, his face filled with reluctance to let go.

Ishida patted his shoulder and said, "Wake up and face reality."

Sure enough, it wasn't that simple, Takahashi Ren thought. The school went to all this trouble to bring us to this isolated island. How could it possibly be just to give us a vacation?

Mashima continued, "For the next week, you will live together as a group on this uninhabited island. That is the content of the exam..."

In short, the key point of this special exam came down to one sentence: each class would receive three hundred points specifically for the exam, and how they used them was entirely up to the class.

They could spend them all on enjoying these seven days of island life, or budget carefully and add the remaining points to their class points.

Because Sakayanagi was unable to participate due to poor health, Class A had thirty points deducted from its starting total.

The teachers then distributed guidebooks and multifunction watches to their respective classes.

The guidebooks listed every item available for purchase with points, from daily necessities to recreational equipment.

The watches combined features such as a time display, water resistance, body temperature and pulse monitoring, and location tracking. In an emergency, they could simply press the distress button.

Mashima also explained the rules for point deductions as penalties, as well as the "occupation rights" mechanic, which allowed them to earn additional points by occupying designated sites on the island.

On the final day of the exam, each class could exercise a special right during roll call-guessing the leaders of other classes. For every correct guess, the class that guessed correctly would receive fifty points, while the identified leader's class would pay fifty points as the price. Both the risks and the rewards were considerable.

With Sakayanagi absent, the role of leader naturally fell to Katsuragi, whose hair was an extinct species.

Although the members of the Sakayanagi Faction were dissatisfied, they raised no objections.

Perhaps Sakayanagi had given them instructions beforehand, or perhaps they understood that Class A's internal disputes were to be settled internally. When facing other classes, they had to stand united.

Yet barely had the exam begun when Class A disagreed over its very first issue: whether to use a makeshift toilet built from cardboard boxes or simply buy a temporary flush toilet.

In the end, Katsuragi temporarily shelved the argument on the grounds that they should "decide on a base and occupation sites first."

Class A's group began moving toward the forest.