Kazuma found Chie annoying, but he still glanced at his computer. He had bet everything on Kakeru and looked forward to his student making a comeback in this island exam.
'Let this woman be happy for now' He thought confidently, 'Kakeru would soon take the lead.'
"Sakagami-sensei—"
A Class C student came running over urgently, his back drenched with sweat. It was Daichi Ishizaki.
"If we take corn from a spot occupied by another class, how many Base Points will be deducted?" he asked breathlessly, "We found a spot, but Class D students are occupying it."
"Eh?" Kazuma stood up in shock.
Was Class C already losing Points? That explained why Daichi had rushed here to ask before running back.
Kazuma was stunned when they were immediately deducted 50 Points.
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"Hehe — Looks like Class C is having a tough time." Chie said with a smile.
As Class B's homeroom teacher, she naturally enjoyed seeing difficulties plague the class that was closely pursuing them.
However.
"So Class D was already occupying that spot where Class C is now."
Earlier on Sae's computer, she had noticed that 37 of Class D's 40 students hadn't moved from their first spot. The other three had continued on, though two later dropped out. Only one student — moving like a Tarzan — kept running at high speed.
Since Class C was now at Class D's spot, those 37 stationary students couldn't be the leaders. Was that Class D Tarzan the actual leader? Could that explain how he was claiming spots? He had even encountered Honami's group.
Was Class D falling apart?
Chie thought she had discovered something important, but quickly realized she might be overthinking.
Because.
"We're taking a break!"
An hour later, Class C's students returned. Kakeru had brought everyone back to exchange supplies and wait on the beach.
He also wanted to learn the specific rules about point deductions for spots—particularly how long they could remain in someone else's territory.
"I cannot tell you more detailed rules." Tomonari said, "Since this is just one class's statement."
Kakeru: "..."
He felt the teachers were just tools arranged by the school, but they were still annoying.
He said, "Then just wait and see. Soon, Class B will experience hell. And if they can't take the exam from the start, you'll be accountable to the school."
"What do you mean by that?" Tomonari frowned.
But Kakeru ignored him and began exchanging supplies with Kazuma.
After walking for over two hours under the hot sun, they needed to replenish fluids. There was no need to skimp on these Points — or rather, they could only save sparingly...
If his guess wasn't wrong and Class D had done what he suspected, Class B wouldn't be able to save supplies. They would need to request 200 Base Points worth of supplies from him, leaving only 50 Points.
Providing mineral water for 40 students would require 5 Base Points, and a regular toilet would cost another 20 Points. The sun had grown stronger.
They couldn't stay under the sun forever, and the teachers' umbrellas couldn't shade 40 students.
"Exchange for 2 more sun umbrellas." Kakeru said.
Looking at it this way, he didn't have many Base Points left either.
This was troublesome.
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Three hours later, Chie received her class's students. Everyone from Class B had returned, not one missing.
As she had thought initially, Class B's students hadn't arranged for anyone to set up camp first — they had moved as an entire group.
However, their condition was terrible.
"Why did it turn out like this—" Chie looked at her students in shock.
Class B's students were typically mild-mannered and united, but now many looked on the verge of tears.
They had passed by many spots where they could have left their school-issued supplies — two tents, garbage bags, sunscreen, and other items — even without camping.
Why had they carried everything back to the beach?
The school-issued tents were large, each able to accommodate 8-10 students and weighing several dozen kilograms. They had carried them out only to bring them all back.
The boys looked ready to collapse, while the girls seemed about to cry.
"Teacher." Ryūji said beside Honami, unable to hold back, "We need to report this! Class D cheated! Every spot we went to was occupied by them! We couldn't find anywhere to rest."
Class B students had kept searching for spots, only to find each one taken by Class D.
Worried about losing points, they had just kept walking, not daring to rest at Class D's spots.
Rather than moving at their own pace, they had been forced to keep going.
Had they been walking non-stop since the beginning? Judging from their nearly tearful expressions, was it 5,000 steps? 8,000 steps?
No. Calculating this way, it must have been around 20,000 steps.
"Hahaha!"
Kakeru's Class C had been resting on the beach for two hours already.
Though losing 50 Points was annoying, seeing Class B's students in such a miserable state made him burst out laughing.
"Weren't you trying to conserve supplies? When we first got off the ship, I told you to exchange 200 points worth of supplies right away, but you wanted to look around and wait. Now you've wasted half a day walking without a single sip of water! Ichinose, you're all sunburned!"
Class B's students were indeed in a pitiful state.
They hadn't expected the island exam to be so harsh. Though sunscreen had been distributed, no one had applied it — everyone had kept walking to avoid wasting time.
As they returned from their island trek, their necks and hands had turned bright red from sunburn.
In contrast, Kakeru's Class C students lounged comfortably on the beach under several umbrellas, drinking sodas and soaking their feet in the water.
Without comparison there is no harm, but once compared, Class B students' morale dropped even further.
"Ichinose! Kanzaki!" Kakeru called out, "I'll sell you two beach umbrellas now. But they'll cost 10 Base Points!"
"10 points? The umbrellas in the handbook only cost 3 points — are you trying to rob us?" The athletic Sō protested.
"Are you sure you want to say that?" Kakeru retorted, "I'm in the same situation as you. Class D occupies everything, and they're probably controlling most spots with Class A. They'll get lots of Reward Points. Don't forget that Classes A and D are allied, so Class A can maintain their Base Points. How far will the gap with your Class B widen? Can you accept that? You can't bear it, right?"
Honami and Ryūji then realized that Class C's students had gathered at the beach, buying umbrellas and exchanging Points for water and toilets...
Speaking of toilets — some people were already feeling the need to go.
After more than three hours of endless walking, their legs had gone numb. Most people could barely keep their feet flat, each step bringing burning pain.
Except for some athletic boys, no one could take it anymore. Everyone was forcing themselves to endure to avoid dragging down the class. That's why the boys had shut down and the girls looked ready to cry.
"So exchange for supplies already." Kakeru said, "I don't want to wait anymore. This stupid exam, I don't want to take it anymore."
Don't want to take it?
Indeed. Class B's students had walked 20,000 steps, and some were showing signs of giving up. Yet they still wanted to work hard together.
Honami looked at her classmates, then turned to Tomonari.
"Mashima-sensei, can you tell us more detailed rules?" She felt guilty about leading her classmates to find no spots, with many now nearly in tears.
"This time I stand with my students." Chie said firmly, "Class D's students seem to be cheating by occupying all the spots. How are other classes supposed to take the exam? I don't think the school would accept this kind of examination either."
"In that case, I also request." Kazuma quickly said after being glanced at by Kakeru.
Tomonari: "..."
He glanced at the calm Sae.
Now he understood why Class A's students had stopped after occupying just 5 spots, with one being the 10-meter white tower at the center of the island.
From that white tower, many other spots could be observed. Yet despite having such a strategic position, why hadn't they occupied more spots?
It seemed Class D's students had acquired all the spots, then Classes D and A had cooperated to divide them up — with Class A receiving 5.
And before Kakeru led Class C's students back to the beach, Class D's students had exchanged nearly 300 Base Points worth of supplies. A large portion was likely for Class A.
This meant the cake had been divided up before the exam even started.
Tomonari thought.
All the teachers and students were looking at him now. As Class A's teacher, he naturally wanted to help his class, but that same position required him to maintain fairness.
"Chabashira-sensei—" He looked at Sae.
The current situation showed Class D's dominance, occupying over 30 of the 40 spots.
"My students haven't cheated." She said, "I can guarantee that."
"..."
Tomonari remained silent.
"I understand." Then he turned to the other students, "Given this unexpected situation, I will tell you more rules."
These were rules for dealing with the current situation.
[Plundering or destroying resources at others' spots is prohibited, violators will be penalized with deduction of Base Points.]
[Excessive staying at others' spots is prohibited, with a time limit of 1 hour, violators will be penalized with deduction of Base Points.]
But these rules made Class B's angels feel dejected.
Earlier, worried about Point deductions, they hadn't dared to stay at Class D's spots at all.
Now they realized they could have rested for an hour. Perhaps then they wouldn't have had to walk until they were ready to cry.
"Hmph!" Kakeru snorted in disdain.
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After learning the rules, Class B's students had no choice but to let Kakeru exchange supplies.
There really was no other way. After walking for more than 3 hours straight, they were numb. They needed everything — food, water, umbrellas, and especially toilets.
Though Class B's students had a strong sense of unity, and the school-issued portable toilets weren't completely unusable, everyone was exhausted. With a week ahead on the island, they decided to exchange for a proper toilet.
Kakeru was being excessive, threatening to give up on the exam so he could control toilet access later. He'd told them to hold it, saying he'd charge 2,000 Private Points per person per use.
In other words, he wanted to control access to the toilets during this period.
His credibility was questionable, especially after trying to sell umbrellas at inflated prices.
The Class B students rejected this proposal. Instead, they insisted that Kakeru follow the original rules and use his class's Base Points to exchange supplies for them.
Although they had hoped to be economical, they ultimately allowed his class to use 100 Base Points to exchange for supplies.
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