A man with a great body, especially among the students, ran vigorously through the forest, with only one goal: defeat Ayanokōji Kiyotaka, of second-year Class D.

He was planning to commit an act of violence that would not be respected in this uninhabited island exam, no, not in any scenario.

He was planning to commit an act of violence that would not be respected in this uninhabited island exam, no, not in any scenario.

However, unlike schools with security cameras everywhere, there are no eyes watching people on this uninhabited island. With just a single watch that emits a signal, it's unlikely that one would know exactly what is happening.

Sakurako Tsubaki conceived the siege on Ayanokōji.

Originally, this man would not have been interested in such a plan, but he found a reason to join the battle.

It isn't easy to precisely locate a single person on a vast uninhabited island.

It would take repeated GPS searches to achieve this, and the plan would be ruined if unrelated people got involved. The presence of a person to help direct the operation is very helpful to avoid these troubles.

It was because of this thought that Hōsen pretended to obey Tsubaki's command. Find Ayanokōji without any effort, and finish him off in a one-on-one without anyone getting in the way.

When the distance to Ayanokōji was within reach, Hōsen dropped the walkie-talkie he had been carrying in his hand.

This was a sign to show he will not follow Tsubaki from now on.

He takes out his tablet and performs a GPS search to do the final fill. A GPS signal emitting from Ayanokōji Kiyotaka came from 300 meters away.

Hōsen was closer than any of the other first-year students.

Just a few more minutes.

Hōsen was already trembling from the joy of get ing to participate in a serious fight. However...

As if to get in Hōsen's way, a single GPS signal blocked his path.

Thinking it was a mere coincidence, Hōsen didn't even try to see who it belonged to.

In front of his eyes appeared the figure of Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.

"Yo! Ayanokōji-senpai! I finally found ya!"

Ayanokōji heard the cry of Hōsen, who couldn't contain his excitement.

"Hōsen." Ayanokōji said as he calmly looked at Hōsen, who had stopped walking.

"I've been waiting so fucking long for this moment!"

"I thought you'd come to me earlier. You're calmer than I thought."

"Ah I had to wait for the right time. It would be shitty if someone interrupted our fight yeah?"

"What are you referring to?"

"Stop pretending. I know Nanase tipped ya off, that was my warning for you."

"I see. You had Nanase come to me a day early to tell me so I would have time to prepare."

"Damn right. I don't like doing things like that, but it was to my liking so I made an exception."

Hōsen clashed his two tightly clenched fists together and grinned in anticipation. He believed that there were less than ten seconds left before he could fight with his real skills.

"He really believes that he has the upper hand here, doesn't he?"

"Oh?"

In this place, which was supposed to be a one-on-one

fight, a man appeared from the shadows.

"Get out here, you're in my way."

The man had been waiting here for a while for this very moment.

Ayanokōji made light eye contact with the man and disappeared into the depths of the forest.

Although Hōsen wanted to catch up with him immediately, he could not leave the man in front of him alone.

"What'cha doin' here Ryūen?"

"That's my line Hōsen. You shouldn't have any business in a place like this, yeah?"

From that statement, Hōsen immediately understood what was going on.

"Hahaha, it seems my team's plan of action has been leaked." Hōsen said as he smiled in amusement.

"That means it's no coincidence that the other first year students were blocked by the second-year students." Ryūen responded with his own grin.

The students that Tsubaki sent out to chase down Ayanokōji are now in position, and the GPS signals are overlapping with a group of second-year students.

Everything showed that, just as Tsubaki controlled the first year, there was someone in the second year who also controlled the grade.

"Is it you? Are you the leader? Nah..."

If Ryūen was in command, both the tablet and walkie-talkie were essential. But he wasn't even carrying a backpack right now.

And it would be too difficult for a person fighting on the front line to also be in charge of commanding the team.

"So you finally understand what's going on?"

"Nah but why do you care? It ain't got anything to do with ya."

Although Hōsen understood the situation, he didn't understand why Ryūen was part of the effort to stop Ayanokōji from leaving school.

"Unfortunately, it has a lot to do with me." Ryūen said as he took a step towards Hōsen with a grin stil on his face.

"I have a lot I need to accomplish but my pockets are a little bit empty.

I'm just answering a call, call me a mercenary."

"So you mean money. What makes ya think you can stop me though?"

"Kukuku, you don't think I can?"

The distance was very short between them. They creepily smiled at each other.

It was Ryūen who made the first move. Without taking his gaze off Hōsen, he threw his left fist at Hōsen. The difference in strength and stamina between the two could be seen from their physiques, so Ryūen aimed at his jaw.

"Ha, that's a pretty daring left hand you got there."

Although Ryūen had taken the initiative to attack first, Hōsen had been in combat position from the start. He lightly caught Ryūen's left fist in front of his chest and opened his mouth to laugh.

"Your breath really stinks, gorilla."

"You talk a whole bunch don't ya? How 'bout you show me your strength and skill as a sophomore?"

Hōsen released Ryūen's wrist for a moment but immediately tightened his grip again and drove Ryūen's body into him.

Hōsen and Ryūen's foreheads bashed together.

"Shit!" Ryūen said as he staggered violently at the unexpected blow that shook his brain.

It would be false to say Ryūen was inexperienced.

In fact, it would be correct to say he has more experience being upfront in fights and fighting more than the average criminal.

Hōsen, however, was several times higher in that regard.

"Guh-"

Ryūen, who was already unbalanced, received a solid kick from Hōsen, which hit him square on the abdomen. He flew back and landed on the ground, making a wide gap. Hōsen, however, was unfazed and didn't move from his spot."

"You've been barkin' and howling for less than ten seconds. Acting like ya had some real skills, don't make me laugh.'

"Fuuu... your head is harder than a stone. Let me guess, it's filled with rocks, right? Damn gorilla."

Ryūen stood up and immediately tried to provoke Hōsen again.

After hearing this, Hōsen felt a little speechless as he scratched the back of his neck.

"I guess I was expectin' too much. You ain't all that after all."

"I don't think you'll ever find anyone whom you're happy with."

"Don't lie. Isn't Ayanokōji walking up ahead? Let me catch up to him."

"Huh?" Ryūen said as his smile disappeared.

"What, do you also know something, Hōsen?"

"Know what? That he ain't normal?"

"Not many people know the true nature of that guy, but I didn't think we would have that in common." Ryūen said as if he was speaking to himself.

"For the first time, I'm interested in you, Hōsen. When did you fight him, and how did it go?"

"So you're also obsessed with Ayanokōji?"

The main reason Ryūen was still even in this school was to get revenge on Ayanokōji. As long as he had that goal, he would not al ow Ayanokōji to lose to anyone but himself.

No matter who it was.

Even if the person standing in front of him was a master fighter with a body beyond the frame of a high school student.

Feeling Ryūen's murderous aura, Hōsen replied as if in mockery.

"Don't worry. I haven't finished with that guy yet, or I should say, I ain't even started." Hōsen said as he cracked his neck and started walking towards Ryūen.

"I've never seen someone who could catch my fist with a calm face before. And I'm sure that I'll never see someone calm after being stabbed with a knife."

From the words "knife" and "stabbed," Ryūen understood what Hōsen was talking about.

He remembered the time when Ayanokōji had a bandage on his hand, and now that there was a deep scar.

"Tch, you guys were having fun without me?"

Even though Ryūen had been hit twice by Hōsen, his attitude towards him didn't change at all.

Not wanting to drop his guard in this strange situation, Hōsen kept advancing. He had always been in a fighting stance, without any thought other than maintaining proper guard.

The enemy in front of him was Ryūen Kakeru, who had been notorious at school for getting into fights.

He was the only man Hōsen ever thought he could respect.

That's why he had to crush him.

Hōsen kicked off the ground, and with speed unimaginable for his huge body, approached Ryūen, who was in a defensive stance.

Hōsen sent his fist towards Ryūen's face, followed by Ryūen raising his hand to block the flying hand. If Ryūen hadn't raised his arm in time, he would have surely broken his nose from the attack.

Without getting a chance to regain posture, Hōsen once again knocked him back to the ground.

Hōsen understood through his punches the difference in strength between Ryūen and himself.

Although Ryūen immediately straightened his upper body, in an instant, his face was the victim of a kick by Hōsen, and Ryūen's entire body flew backwards.

"You're sleepin' and getting' up at the same time? You're quite busy aren't ya?"

The fight had only been going on for less than a minute, but it was already very clear who was winning and who was losing.

"Shit, that hurt..."

"Haha! Just like I thought, Ryūen! That's the extent of your capability!"

Hōsen screamed with joy, but at the same time, it was a scream of unrest. He had a strength that was impossible for Ryūen to overcome.

And, despite this, Ryūen's will to fight showed no sign of breaking.

Ninety percent of the people Hōsen fought had broken spirits after a single hit. The remaining ten percent would make a show of bravery. And that remaining ten percent would hit despair as soon as the second or third hit landed.

The Ryūen in front of him was extremely damaged, but there was no change in the color of his eyes. In terms of mentality, Ryūen was one step ahead of Hōsen.

"You seem to be very happy, do you think you have won?"

Although Ryūen felt no part of his body that didn't hurt, he smiled again and prepared to get up.

"Don't make me laugh. Do you really think you're at my level?" Hōsen walked up to Ryūen's body, grabbed his collar, and lifted him up.

"At the end of the day, you're a man who can only get ahead with the help of the little fish."

"In this era being able to win one-on-one is no longer a big deal. In fact, in high school, the public's opinion of you and me was the same."

Ryūen tried to unhinge Hōsen with such a fact.

"So that's why you never wanted to go head-to-head with me eh? You probably tried really hard."

Although he wasn't completely unbreakable, simple words like these had no impact on Hōsen.

Hōsen had already won an overwhelming victory in a one-on-one battle.

The restrained Ryūen swung his left hand and shot a handful of dirt into Hōsen's eyes."

It was an unexpected attack, but Hōsen blocked it with his empty hand.

"You're so pathetic."

"Is that so?"

"This time, Ryūen swung his right hand, and the sand held inside his hand flew towards Hōsen's eyes.

"So pathetic!" Hōsen roared as he stopped this at ack once again with his wrist. He had already noticed Ryūen picking up the sand and dirt when he had lifted him into the air.

"The week always fall first in a fight." Hōsen said as he dropped Ryūen to the ground.

Hōsen raised his fist and brought it down on Ryūen's face. A jab that focused on speed rather than power.

Hōsen brought down another fist and another fist after that, alternating between the left side then the right.

It was as if a boxer was practicing against a punching bag.

While receiving the powerful impacts which were about to send his consciousness flying, Ryūen's eyes crossed Hōsen's for just an instant. The killing glare Ryūen shot out was enough to disorient Hōsen for an instant.

"Shit!"

Ryūen was curling his body while being hit and unleashed a spinning kick at Hōsen. Although it was only a blow that lightly grazed Hōsen's jaw, Hōsen, who had no intention of taking a single hit, became angry and grabbed Ryūen's bangs with his left hand.

"Who said you could touch me? Give up already! I'm going to kill ya!"

Before Ryūen could raise his guard, Hōsen raised his right fist and sent it towards Ryūen's abdomen.

"There's no one who can beat me in a fight!"

After the seventh fist connected, Ryūen's alert from his watch started to ring.

"Hahaha! Although you pretend to look fine, your body can't take it anymore, right? Your watch seems to be more honest than you!"

The watch that detected an abnormal heart rate rang a warning bell.

"You really are a gorilla... I'll admit that you're strong in a fight..."

Hōsen, who saw the compliment as a surrender, loosened his grip on Ryūen's bangs with a triumphant smile. Unable to stand upright, Ryūen collapsed to the ground.

Warning bells ring through the forest.

"That's the warning sound. You should be hittin' your limit about now right? Why hide it, just admit ya can't beat me."

"Don't try and make jokes, they aren't funny. It's just a simple broken watch." Although Ryūen was smiling and looking at his watch, anyone could see the terrible state he was in.

Looking at Ryūen's miserable appearance, Hōsen spit on the ground as if he was bored.

"Goodbye, Ryūen. You're no fun to play with."

"Wait a minute. Who gave you the permission to think you'd won?"

"Huh?"

"Did I admit my loss?"

Hōsen was a bit dumbfounded by such a statement, but it made him regain his spirit. Although it was one-sided abuse, as Ryūen said, his eyes hadn't given up yet.

"Alright so you got will power. I'll give ya that. But you can't keep it forever!"

Humans are creatures who are very afraid of pain. No matter how brave the opponent is, Hōsen's powerful punch after punch must have made Ryūen feel considerable pain.

Now it's a matter of just how many hits he can take.

Since he was already beaten into this state, it was completely impossible for Ryūen to cross this overwhelming strength gap and turn the tide. Even though a second warning bell had rung out, Ryūen hadn't lost his composure, but it showed how much pain he was enduring right now.

After being mercilessly beaten by Hōsen again and again, Ryūen's wristwatch finally turned into an emergency alert. If left like this for five minutes or more, staff and medical equipment will come to the scene.

"Your body is tellin' you something. It wants you to give up and accept your defeat."

"Really? But your attacks just feel like you're scratching me..."

Ryūen didn't care about the ringing on his watch and stood up with a creepy smile.

For the first time, Hōsen realized Ryūen's true strength. Not from his body but from his unyielding spirit power.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You can't even stand up, why are ya actin' like this? It won't do you any good to be bent on your ideals."

As if to use the emergency bel to snap back into consciousness, Ryūen put his watch close to his ear.

"You're saying I'm bent on having my own way? Ha, your idea itself is wrong."

Hōsen thought that Ryūen would immediately turn off the emergency alert. However, without turning off the emergency alert, Ryūen lowered his arm and put his hands in both pockets.

"We haven't decided on a winner yet."

"Are you sane? You'll be outta the exam if the teachers come here."

"So then what would become of you?"

Ryūen was asking what would happen to Hōsen if the school saw this scene.

Hōsen was only lightly kicked in the jaw, so it can be said that he was unharmed. The school could not ignore the fact that Ryūen had been violated unilaterally.

"You're going to play the victim just 'cause you can't compete with your enemy? You're pret y lame Ryūen."

With this, Ryūen may be able to turn the tide, but there's no possibility that a simple threat like this would scare Hōsen. Originally, Hōsen came here to defeat Ayanokōji by force. The point of being scared of the consequences has long passed.

"If you're afraid I'll play victim why don't you hurry up and leave?"

"I'mma have to pass. I ain't done here yet."

Hōsen decided that Ryūen was deliberately trying to convince him to leave by not turning off the emergency bell, but unfazed, Hōsen chose to move forward again.

"My GPS was already turned off before I got here. There ain't no problem killin' you before the teachers get here."

Even if the school comes this way as fast as they could, it will take at least 30 minutes.

"Kukuku, that'll be the only way I'll lose."

Unfazed by Hōsen's threats, Ryūen kept his hands in his pocket as if inviting Hōsen to crush him completely.

"If you don't feel like protecting yourself, I'll put your body to sleep for ya!"

Not wanting to waste any more time here, Hōsen clenched his right fist tightly.

Ryūen also removed both his hands from his pocket, which were also clenched shut.

"Whatever trick you have, it won't work on me!"

Hōsen's intuition sensed that Ryūen must be squeezing something inside his palms, but that didn't stop him. In order to completely break Ryūen's steel wil , Hōsen launched his full body towards Ryūen.

Seeing that, Ryūen caught him from the front without opening the two fists he was holding. Hōsen tries to break the guard, but immediately after, two figures rushed out from the bushes and grabbed Hōsen's back.

"Woah!"

Hōsen didn't quite understand what was going on. He had done a GPS

scan a few minutes ago, and no one besides Ayanokōji and Ryūen showed up. Even if they run straight to this place right after the battle started, it is simply too late to catch up. No matter what the truth is, the two men who clamped down on Hōsen's arms appeared beside him like ghosts.

If it was only Ishizaki holding Hōsen down, it would have been fine.

However, since Albert, who has a similar physique to Hōsen, was also holding him down, Hōsen was rendered completely immobile.

His right hand was held back by Albert, and his left hand was held back by Ishizaki.

"The fuck is going on here?"

Although Hōsen tried his best to break free, he couldn't simply get rid of two men who were both physically strong.

Hōsen looked up to see Ryūen, laughing devilishly, standing on top of him with fire coming out of his eyes.

"You surely realize right? If you break your watch, the GPS won't recognize it."

At a very early stage, Ishizaki and Albert had already destroyed their watches and had come to support Ryūen.

Since Hōsen thought it was a one-on-one duel, he had fallen into Ryūen's trap.

"You guys are really going to do a three against one? How-"

"Don't bark so loud, gorilla. Your execution is about to begin."

Ryūen said as he slammed his fists into Hōsen's face without mercy.

The fists pounded left and right at Hōsen's face until he dropped to both knees. Roaring, Hōsen endured the beating while trembling on his knees. There was simply no way for Hōsen to fight back.

Finally, the damage exceeded Hōsen's tolerance level, and he fell to the ground.

Hōsen lowered his head into a position where Ryūen grabbed it with both hands and sent a knee into his face.

"Ack!"

An expression of pain came from Hōsen's mouth, and he fell onto his back for the first time. Ryūen signaled Ishizaki and Albert to continue holding him down just as they had done when he was standing.

"Gorillas need to be handcuffed from time to time. You treated me quite nicely, didn't you Hōsen? I was only returning the favour." Ryūen said as he brushed his hair.

"You fucking bitch! Don't take me lightly you weak piece of shit!"

"Weak? What do you mean?"

"I mean you're just a shitty little fish who needs his shitty little fish friends just to stand a chance in a fight! There's no chance you'll ever beat me in a one-on-one!"

"Kukuku, don't make me laugh. I'm not stupid enough to fight a gorilla on my own." Ryūen said as he raised his fist.

Without hesitation, he attacked Hōsen's face violently.

"Don't worry Hōsen, you don't need to cry. Even if you apologize and start crying like a baby, nothing will change here."

Even though Hōsen was being beaten up in such a defenseless manner, he didn't accept it. Rather, he was even more furious now. Albert and Ishizaki had to press even tighter to hold him down.

"Shit! Get out of my way you little bastards!"

"Shhh, please quiet down. This is just the beginning, right? I'm looking forward to beating you into a pulp."

Ryūen swung several times, but Hōsen refused to beg for mercy. If anything, he only got more aggressive.

"I'm sure ya ain't going to be bragging about this fight."

Hōsen had proven that he could stand at the top of the fight, both physically and mentally. If they had started in a three-to-one situation, Ryūen knew that it would be the three of them at a disadvantage.

This was proof that Hōsen Kazuomi's strength is beyond that of a normal human.

But on the battlefield, often, a split second of judgment can affect the entire battle. A punch or a fall can make the difference between light and dark. A moment of carelessness or pride can be the key to reversing a position.

After that, Ryūen's one-sided attacks were repeated, and even the mighty Hōsen lost the strength of his body.

"Ugh, my hand is starting to hurt now." Ryūen laughed as he blew on his bruised fist.

"Ha, ha... damn..." Hōsen tried to pull his right hand out of Albert's grip, but it was futile.

"I didn't think someone like him would ever bow down to you. That took me by surprise."

In terms of pure strength, Albert is equal to Hōsen. Although power alone cannot defeat every opponent, Albert should be able to crush Ryūen in a one-on-one.

"Yo, fat pig... Why they hell do you bow to Ryūen?"

"Well it's true that Albert is an opponent that I can't win against no matter what."

"So why?"

"You don't understand do you Hōsen? To stand on the top, you don't just need strength."

Even with that explanation, Hōsen, who had always fought alone, was far from understanding.

"Kuku, well, in Albert's case, I'd say it's just camaraderie."

Albert doesn't like to get into unnecessary fights and has decided that the best way to keep the class together is to follow Ryūen. Because of this, he would not hesitate to help Ryūen with some dirty work. Even if he had instructions to hurt his classmates for a while, he would believe that it was ultimately for the sake of the class as a whole in the long run and would completely follow Ryūen. By nature, he is a kind-hearted man who does not like violence.

"Don't think you've won Ryūen!"

"I'm sure you're not happy with how things turned out. You never thought you'd lose like this. But for me, the process doesn't matter. The last man standing is the winner."

To Ryūen, who didn't have the aesthetic of necessarily going one-on-one in the first place, Hōsen's provocation was simply something meaningless. Rather, he took it as the cry of pain from a defeated man, which brought him great pleasure.

"Ah shit..."

Hōsen, who had been hit countless times, was finally reaching his limits. Even if Ishizaki and Albert let go, it would be difficult for him to defeat Ryūen now.

"Remember this... even if you win against me here, the next time I see you, I will immediately kill you."

"Revenge of the gorilla eh? Well, if you want to try, go ahead. Winning isn't as simple as it seems. If you were expelled because of violence I would win in the end."

"You skipped the sh-" Hōsen never got to finish his sentence.

Ryūen landed his last punch and ripped Hōsen's consciousness out.

Making sure Hōsen was out, Ryūen stood up and dusted off his clothes.

"Man... what a bruising battle."

Wiping away the bloodstains on his fist, Ryūen looked up at the sky and exhaled wearily with a sigh.

"This guy... he really is a monster. Facing him alone would be suicide."

Ryūen said as he turned towards his classmates.

"I suppose I need to thank you guys."

"No, no! We were just helping Ryūen-san, you did all the hard work!"

Neither Ishizaki nor Albert was seriously injured. When Ryūen decided to involve them in this battle, he had to make sure they wouldn't get hurt. If the amount of people with injuries increases, the situation wouldn't end as a simple one-on-one incident.

"It's almost time for you guys to go. I expect the teachers to show up any minute now."

A considerable amount of time has passed since Ryūen's emergency bell had rung.

"Then... what about Ryūen-san?"

"Well, I'm in no state to continue the exam, right? That's what the school will certainly think."

Along with Hōsen, who was lying on the ground, their injuries were quite serious.

"Me and gorilla here are probably out of the running now."

"Are you fine with that?"

"I've asked Katsuragi to prepare everything. Even so, I don't think I'll make it to the top three."

If they left Hōsen here, it was highly likely he would resume his chase towards Ayanokōji. And that'll be a problem if Ryūen, the one who hurt him, was no longer in sight.

It is essential that the school sees this simply as a one-on-one fight between Ryūen and Hōsen.

"... I'm sorry to hear that."

Yesterday, Ryūen's group had climbed up to fifth place, and it was quite possible to sprint to the top three. Ishizaki felt great pity about it.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Ryūen laughed softly as if remembering something.

Ishizaki and Albert, who couldn't understand what Ryūen was laughing at, looked at each other.

"I'll tell you the reason when the time comes. Now get out of here."

Ishizaki and Albert should indeed run away now if they want to stay within the group until the end. It's crucial that they run to the start and change their watches so they can reunite with their groups.

After they both ran towards the starting point, Ryūen sat down to use Hōsen's unconscious body as a bench.

---------------------

"Thanks for the report, you can go back and continue the exam,"

Tsubaki said as she closed the walkie-talkie after hearing the report.

"It didn't go very well, did it?"

Yagami decided so after looking at Tsubaki's expression.

"When they went to check the place where Hōsen-kun was going to fight Ayanokōji-senpai, they happened to see the teachers taking Hōsen-kun back to the starting place. I heard that he fought with Ryūen of second year Class B and both of them were seriously injured. But I don't understand why Ayanokōji-senpai never stopped moving."

If Hōsen had drawn him one-on-one, the GPS would have had to stop moving on the spot.

"Even though I don't know much about that person, how could he stop Hōsen-kun?"

Tsubaki, who couldn't accept it, pouted as she pondered the reason why this battle had failed.

This was because Ayanokōji's designated areas were C3 and D2, and these were the perfect places to surround him. However, this factor also gives the opponents an advantage.

"We won't give up on the plan to expel Ayanokōji-senpai right? If we want to help the other first-year students, we also need to attack a group that acts alone other than him. If you have any other plans, please tell me right now."

Tsubaki kept muttering to herself without even looking at Yagami.

"I don't think we should increase our risks. If we force ourselves to help a group of people who are falling here, sooner or later they are destined to disappear."

"... So you're backing out now?"

"I have a bad feeling. Maybe my plan was never going to work in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"Ayanokōji-senpai is going to act alone even with a bounty on his head, which probably means his vigilance is very strong. Not to mention that our first-year students don't trust each other at all, so it's no wonder the plan failed."

Instead of Tsubaki being depressed over the failure of the battle plan, rather, she hated the unsettling sense of chaos.

"I regret not doing this on my own."

She strongly believed that everything would have gone well that way.

After that, she looked down towards the tablet and noticed something.

"Huh?

Tsubaki noticed that Utomiya-kun was no longer in the area.

"What's wrong?" Yagami asked.

"Where is Utomiya-kun?"

Hearing Tsubaki say that, Yagami also noticed that Utomiya was no longer present.

"He was here about thirty minutes ago..."

Utomiya had disappeared while Tsubaki was fighting an unseen enemy.

Tsubaki felt unrest, and she pulled up the map from ten minutes ago to look for Utsunomiya's GPS signal. She found Utomiya about four hundred meters away from her in the southwest direction.

"What the hell is he doing..."

There was only one other GPS signal in the same vicinity as Utomiya, Hayato Kitō of second-year Class A.

The moment she saw this, Tsubaki pulled out her walkie-talkie.

----------------------------------

A man with a large build weaved through the poorly lit forest. His goal was to reach the campsite where Tsubaki Sakurako, Yagami Takuya, and Utomiya Riku were situated. Sakayanagi had instructed him with the task of unmasking the person who was in charge of the first-years plan.

As Kitō approached the camp, he saw another student's silhouette not too far away from him. The student was standing stil as if to block Kitō's way. Kitō did not recognize the face of whoever it was but immediately realized that they were not an ally. He tried to change course while there was distance, but when the other student saw it, they began to move as well.

Kitō recognized the person as an enemy, and he stopped running away and turned towards the student.

"What are you doing here?" Utomiya said in a hostile tone.

Although he was facing a senior, he didn't use honorifics.

"Aren't you Kitō Hayato-senpai from second-year Class A?" Utomiya said, calming down and remembering to add honorifics this time.

Utomiya remembered that Kitō was acting alone but had decided to join a group later on. However, acting as if he knew from the beginning would be suspicious, so he pretended like he didn't know.

"I'm busy right now."

Kitō uttered these words of rejection and tried to move past Utomiya.

However, Utomiya grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back.

"What are you doing?" Kitō said as she shot Utomiya an annoyed look.

"I'm sorry, but you aren't going to go any further." Utomiya said, returning the look with a sharp stare.

"What did you say?"

Utomiya clenched his fists as Kitō moved back, away from Utomiya's grasp. He shot his hand out and grabbed Kitō by the collar of his jacket.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kitō asked, even more irritated now.

"I said, you aren't going any further."

"What's your name?" Kitō calmly asks.

"Utomiya, first year Class C."

Utomiya. One of the students, Sakayanagi, had told him to investigate.

If he was here, it was very unlikely he was the commander.

Utomiya guessed that Kitō had received instructions to find out who was leading their operation.

"Who told you to come here?"

Utomiya asked, but Kitō showed no signs of answering.

"I'm not going to show any compassion, even if you are a senpai."

After hearing these words, Kitō's eyes became sharp, and his fists flew towards Utomiya's neck. Utomiya didn't panic; he simply pulled away, easily avoiding the attack. In the process, however, Utomiya's walkie-talkie fell out of his pockets?

"Not good..."

Utomiya wanted to rush in, but he couldn't have gotten past Kitō, who was maintaining a defensive stance.

They stared at each other, waiting for someone to make a move until a voice broke the silence.

"Utomiya-kun? What are you doing?"

"Tch..." Utomiya looked down at the walkie-talkie.

"Weren't you supposed to listen to my orders?"

Tsubaki realized there would be no reply and gave up trying to get through. Just as Utomiya was about to rush towards Kitō, Kitō held out his hand to show a sign of peace. He picked up the walkie-talkie and tossed it towards Utomiya.

"Why are you...?" Utomiya says in a discouraged voice.

"I got what I came here for."

Kitō saw no need to fight any longer, so he turned around and left. He had already heard Tsubaki's voice from the walkie-talkie, which was all the proof he needed.

Utomiya saw that Kitō's back was completely defenseless.

"Utomiya-kun please calm down. There's no reason to fight Kitō-senpai here."

Utomiya did not reply as he watched Kitō disappear into the forest.

When he was alone, Utomiya raised the walkie-talkie.

"He just left..."

"Why would you do something like that? You want to be expelled too?

Or are you trying to keep the second-year students away from me?"

"That's not true... Sorry. I acted without permission. Even if the strategy didn't work, I didn't want them to learn everything about us. I wanted to prevent them from reaching you."

"I don't want to talk about things that already happened, but is this really what you thought, Utomiya?"

After a short silence, Utomiya raised the walkie-talkie.

"No... yes, yes. It was just something I decided to do over an impulse."

Tsubaki could tell Utomiya was shaken, and Tsubaki fell silent.

"I see. Anyway, if you can still move, please hurry back."

"Alright."

Closing the walkie-talkie, Utomiya looked at his tablet. He picked up the walkie-talkie and changed the communication code.

"I got rid of the second-year nuisances. They should be satisfied now that they know Tsubaki is commander."

"You're really something, Utomiya-kun." Came a voice from the other side.

"So, how did Tsubaki's plan go?"

"It failed, just as expected. Even if I hadn't tipped off Ayanokōji-senpai in advance, I think it was a rotten strategy that couldn't have worked."

"Alright. I'm hanging up,"

Utomiya was careful not to let the call stretch on and turned off the walkie-talkie.

He turned around and started to walk back to camp.

----------

In the morning, I woke up on the right side of E3 and tried to check the map on my tablet. As a result of evading the first year's siege on me all day yesterday, I ended up not stepping on a single designated area yesterday.

Sakayanagi informed me that they had retreated immediately in the afternoon, but I didn't dare go to the designated area. I just participated in the challenges while I was on the run and scored the minimum amount of points.

The randomly designated area that was announced at 1:00 p.m.

yesterday was F3, followed by G3 at 3:00 p.m.

I opened the map and loaded the image from yesterday's GPS search at 1pm. There were a total of five groups of first-year students who had been following me and only Hōsen was coming towards me with his GPS turned off. There was no doubt about it. And after Hōsen was sidetracked with his confrontation with Ryūen, it was clear from the subsequent searchs that all the groups withdrew and returned to the special exam.

However... While Sakayanagi and I were focused on those enemies, several other groups of first-year students who had been scattered had gathered and were moving ahead of me to the designated area. The reason I thought these groups were suspicious was because as soon as 3:00 p.m. came around and my fourth designated area, G3, was announced, they started moving west towards F4. The road here is narrow, and it's difficult to escape if the road is blocked, but if you avoid it, you'll be forced to take a troublesome detour.

I avoided the risk just in case, but that cost me a lot on the previous day. As a result of avoiding risks, I've missed six designated areas in a row and have four consecutive penalties have accumulated. I need to get out of this situation as soon as possible. If you take three more penalties in a row, you will lose another 18 points from here.

The total score displayed is 119, but it's far from the safe zone for avoiding expulsion. The safety line I had set for myself was around 105

points. If I dropped below this point, it would not be surprising if I was expelled. That's why I forced myself to move in the middle of the night, and I succeeded in getting within range of G3, the area designated for the fourth time yesterday.

Since I couldn't see the rankings anymore, I had to imagine how I would do on this last day. There are 157 groups in total, which may seem like a good number, but in reality, many of the groups have already merged. In other words, the number of groups has already been reduced by quite a few.

Of course, on this last day, it is clear that some groups will move to rescue lower groups. If a group with almost 200 points picks up a lower group, they will surpass me at that moment.

Furthermore, on this final day, the impact of doubled scores cannot be ignored. The strategy of the first-year students is slowly driving me to the path of expulsion. There is still a possibility that the first-year students are still waiting for me, but the GPS search is no longer a possibility for me. I need to save every point I have.

At 7:00 a.m., the designated area was H3, which wasn't a great location because of the mountains, but there was nothing I could do about it. Even if I took the shortest route from here, it would take me almost two hours. There was no time to dawdle. On a day when many students would be taking on a task that had doubled in reward, I was going to have to fight to make it to the designated area. By noon, I might have dropped even further down the rankings.

As I was packing my bags and leaving, I received a call on my walkie-talkie from Sakayanagi.

"Good morning, Ayanokōji-kun. I'm sorry you had to go through so much yesterday."

"Thankfully it wasn't as bad as it could have been because you were there to help out."

"Will you be okay with the penalty? It looks like you moved around quite a bit during the night."

Seems like Sakayangi kept a watchful eye over me with the GPS.

"The first designated area is H3. There's not much room, but I think I can make it."

"H3... "

Since I didn't want to waste time, I started to move while talking to Sakayanagi.

"Ayanokōji-kun, I don't mean to burden you, but I have a slight issue.

It seems today at dawn, Ichinose-san disappeared."

I don't think you can classify that as a "slight" issue. This is a major problem, especially on the last day.

"What do you mean she disappeared? Was this accidental?"

"No, it seems to be a spontaneous action. She has been acting strangely for the past few days."

That's what Sakayanagi said, but there was still another problem at hand here.

"Why did you contact me? I don't think there's anything I can do to help you."

"I did a GPS search to find Ichinose-san's

location and found out that she was in E3, the same location as Ayanokōji. However, she was near the border of D3."

Even though we are in the same area, there certainly is a distance between the two ends. And now, I've already stepped into F3.

"What was the last designated area for you and the others yesterday?"

"D5. I'm not sure what to do."

"Why would Ichinose leave the group early in the morning without telling anyone and end up in E3? When did you find out?"

"In the morning, I noticed that I had lost a point. I checked with the people in our group, but there was no sign that anyone had used the GPS

search. It seems that Ichinose-san used it, and although we currently don't know if she was heading for E3 or an area further away, it's normal to assume that she went to meet someone."

"I suppose so. If she had stepped on the fourth designated area yesterday, that's the only reason she would have moved early in the morning."

"I thought it might have been to meet Ayanokoji-kun, which is why I thought I should bring it up..."

"I'm sorry, but I have no idea. I haven't once seen Ichinose in this exam, and I don't have a clue what she might want. What are you going to do?"

"The first designated area for us to head to is E6. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm going to have to ignore Ichinose-san for now. If she retires in the worst-case scenario, it won't have a significantly negative impact since it's the last day."

Having said that, the Sakayanagi group is a precious seven-member team. By the end of the 12th day, they were in fourth place, a perfect position for a podium finish. It would be a blow to lose Ichinose here.

On the flip side, she was acting arbitrarily on such an important final day. It's an inexplicable action that Ichinose, who acts more for his friends than anyone else, can't imagine.

"You're in trouble it seems."

"Accidents happen, you know. Well, even if I leave her alone, the special exam will be over in half a day, so I don't think there will be any problem. If you do see her, please ask what happened.

Sakayanagi ended the communication, saying that anything further would be a hindrance.

"Where is Ichinose headed...?"

I put the walkie-talkie away in my backpack as I walk, and take out my tablet this time. It's the last day, and I don't need to think about charging anymore. With thirty-one percent left, I should be fine. The map on the screen shows the designated areas I need to go to and the challenges scattered around.

For the past two weeks, challenges had been popping up all over the deserted island. However, on this last day, I can see that there are no challenges at all in the northern areas of the island, from 1 to 3. On the contrary, the central and southern areas, from 5 to 10, and even more so from A to E, are where most of the challenges are concentrated. This makes sense when you consider that this is simply the last day of the exam and they are trying to get you to return to the starting point. It is wise to quickly step on the designated area and take on a task. I was tempted to use the GPS search to find out Ichinose's location, but I was now in danger of being expelled from school.

I need to save my points to increase my survival rate as much as possible. My second destination of the day was I2, the northeast end of the deserted island. Now that I've managed to stop the penalty, I can head there with some peace of mind. After the exam ends at 3:00 p.m., we'll basically walk back to the starting point, but in some cases, they have a plan to collect the students on a patrol boat. If you're in the area, the patrol boat will come to J6 at 5pm.

"The ending of the exam is nearing, and yet they've given me such a troublesome zone..."

How could the designated area be the most northeastern, when the testing environment remains the same, with the challenges concentrated on the south side of the island? I was tempted to bemoan the fact that it was a mistake on the school's part, but I had no choice. It would have been easier if I could just let it go, but I was beginning to feel something disturbing here.

Since this morning, I had not seen or passed any of the other students.

Even though the island is large, there are still many opportunities to see or hear from them as long as you are on the move. Of course, since I didn't make it to the last designated area yesterday, I don't know why I didn't bump into any of the students following the same table as me.

This indicates that many students have already gone down to the south side where the assignments are gathered. After stepping on I2, it might be a good idea to ignore the final designated area and head for the task.

H3 has a narrow river dividing the area. This river cannot be used as a shortcut, so it is a troublesome place that you are forced to go

around. The saving grace is that you can just walk along the river and don't have to worry about getting lost. No need to panic, just walk down the river to the southwest, reach the point where you can cross, and head northeast. You can walk alongside the water until you hit the mountains. That's how I got to the other side of the river, near the center of H3.

"Ayanokōji-kun──!"

As I was walking along, listening to the sound of the water flowing by, I heard a voice calling my name from afar. The north side of the river that I had just bypassed.

There, covered in mud, Ichinose was staring at me, out of breath.

"Ichinose... what are you doing here all the way in H3?"

As I recall, according to Sakayanagi, Ichinose was in E3.

It was just after ten o'clock now, so if we take the time when the sun started to rise to be around 5:30, then Ichinose had walked for about four and a half hours to get here. That's a pretty quick pace.

"I.... I-I came to see Ayanokōji-kun!" Ichinose shouted from across the river, her words cut off by visible exhaustion.

"I'm coming over there now!" With that, Ichinose starts running along the river even though she's clearly not in a good state. She throws away her heavy backpack as if it was in the way. Her steps were unsteady. Ichinose's physical strength was probably at its limit, and it would take a lot of effort to get here. I turned back the way I had come and hurried to meet up with her.

We

ran along the river for about five minutes and arrived at a point where we could meet up. Since I couldn't let Ichinose push herself too hard, I crossed the river to the north side first.

"Hey, I'm finally... finally catching up with you... Wait for me, I'm coming!"

I wondered if she felt responsible for chasing me this far and calling me off. Out of breath, Ichinose reached in front of me, but she couldn't stand and fell forward.

"Ah!"

I hold Ichinose, who is about to fall.

"Gosh, I'm sorry! Oh, that? Why? My legs aren't... doing what they're supposed to..." She hurriedly tries to pull away, but her knees are shaking and she can't seem to stand properly.

"What's wrong with you, Ichinose?"

Ichinose looks up at me and opens her mouth, desperately trying to sort out the situation.

"I really need to tell Ayanokoji-kun something!"

"To tell me?"

"I've been worrying, worrying, worrying about... my friends, a-and I have to protect my classmates..."

What is she talking about? I don't know what it's about, but I'm pretty sure she's trying really hard to get the right words out.

"But even so, I was worried about Ayanokōji-kun, so... I thought why not?"

During this special exam, I didn't have any particular contact with Ichinose. It seems that something unexpected happened. In order to tell me whatever it was that happened, she's been walking for over four hours, desperately trying to get here.

"My watch broke, so I was going to go back to the starting point to get it replaced... That's when I saw two people, Acting Director Tsukishiro and Sensei Shiba. T-they were there...!"

Ichinose speaks in a faltering voice, she's exhausted to the point where she still hasn't calmed down her breathing. Depending on what the severity of the situation is, she probably spent a few days worrying about it. This only adds onto her weak physical condition by giving her mental strain.

"They said if Ayanokōji-kun is safe until the last day, they'll call you to I2 and bury him."

The words "I2" and "bury him." It's true that if you only hear those words, you'll think it's quite a disturbing turn of events that will take place.

The reason why Tsukishiro and the others were so carelessly overheard by Ichinose was because her watch were broken and they could not trace the GPS response.

"Does protecting your classmates... mean that Tsukishiro threatened you?"

Ichinose nodded repeatedly, though she seemed momentarily surprised by my guess.

"If I told Ayanokōji-kun about this, he... said he was going to expel my classmates, but I just couldn't leave you alone...!"

"Don't worry about it, you turn your head the other way. I'm your enemy, you know."

When Ichinose heard those words, she shook her head strongly and violently, saying no.

"You can't! Ayanokōji-kun, Ayanokōji-kun is... not my enemy!"

Ichinose clutches the shirt near my chest.

"I

think I'm an enemy, though."

"No! Because... for me, Ayanokoji-kun is..."

The hand that gripped the shirt tightly is squeezed even tighter once more.

"I'm... I'm in love with you, Ayanokōji-kun. ...!"

The words must have been something Ichinose herself had not expected to say.

After the words came out, she averted his gaze as if to cover her own mouth.

"W-what?! I-I didn't... I mean I did... but what?" She repeatedly shook her head from side to side in panic, as if she hadn't been able to catch up with her own understanding.

"What did I just say?"

As if her memory of what she had said had flown, she started to panic when she couldn't understand.

"Are you sure you want me to repeat it? What you just said to me?"

"Uh, yeah... Oh, no, no! I'm not sure what I said exactly but I remember more or less! Yes! But you see I-"

"Thank you, Ichinose."

"What, what, what?

I had to thank her, for looking out for me. She put me ahead of her classmates, ahead of the group and the exam she was trying to win.

I don't take that feeling with contempt.

"If Ichinose hadn't warned me, I don't know what would have happened to me."

This is probably a big turning point for me. If I hadn't met Ichinose here, I wouldn't have gone to I2, assuming Tsukishiro was there waiting for me. It's most definitely true that Tsukishiro threatened Ichinose. But here she is, right in front of me.

And she told me everything, without regard for the danger.

"Is it true what you said earlier?"

"Well that would mean... so, uh, no, it's not, you know?"

"If it's not, deny it now. I'll get the wrong idea."

"Ah.... misunderstood.... well maybe not...."

Ichinose was about to deny it, but she decided that she could no longer hold it in any longer.

"I like... you."

She admitted in a small, snatchy voice that seemed to fade away.

"I think I just realized that you probably won't feel that same way about me. I'm sorry."

There was nothing to apologize for.

"To be honest, I was surprised that you felt that way about me."

"Gosh, I'm sorry. You don't like me, do you?"

"That's not true. It's just that I can't respond to Ichinose's feelings right now."

"O-oh yeah, because I'm not good enough for Ayanokōji-kun..."

"That's not it. There are still several things that need to be resolved, and I couldn't answer yes or no in this situation."

Besides, I had to avoid telling her about Kei's existence here. Even if it would cause more harm and resentment if she found out later, she was in the middle of a deserted island test. There is still time left, so I shouldn't do anything that will take away her will to fight.

"It may not make sense to you, but that's the best I can do for you right now."

"Yes... I understand." Ichinose nodded her head in response, neither displeased nor dissatisfied.

"I'm going to head to I2 now. I have some things I need to do there."

"No, you can't! It's dangerous!"

"If I don't, you won't be able to protect your precious classmates, will you?"

I'm sure she knows that because she's been through so much. It's not hard to imagine that if she contacts me and tells me, Tsukishiro will find out about it. But I think I need to tell her that this isn't a last-ditch effort, it's a comeback.

"You need to take a long break and then try to meet up with the group.

Understood?"

Patting the head of the obeying Ichinose once, I decided to head to I2.