Chapter 9: Ghost Island

Flight 8; Liam's flight.

The flight where Liam ended up was spearheaded by the "9 of Clubs", Celia.

Celia is one of the Primes and is profoundly respected and known by everyone. She's a mischievous yet benevolent girl who likes teasing others without going overboard. She knows her limits.

She's currently admitted to Class-B, not because her IQ is not on class-A's level, but because she helped a student during the entrance exam which the test operators weren't happy about and gave her a penalty as punishment.

But despite the unfortunate fact that she's in class-B, her brilliance says otherwise.

Celia understood the test down to its gut. She finds a way for everyone to pass the test without eliminating anyone. After meticulously scrutinising the given rules, Celia gets a comprehensive understanding about the connection of the test to democracy the crews were blabbering. She realized that the majority doesn't have the power, which doesn't embody democracy. But then, she came to understand that the power comes from the Pawns, not the King.

And so, she informed the group and asked them to not vote. It's not stated in the rules that Pawns are required to vote. Without Pawns' support, the King wouldn't have power to kick out someone, hence everyone will survive.

Liam was the first to agree with this resolution. And of course, he did it while flirting with the 9 of Clubs.

Soon, everyone was convinced and they all passed in the end.

This is the one and only flight that concluded with no casualties.

~~~~~

Flight 6; Aaron's flight.

Right after the rules are explained through the TV and they get their roles, all of the test participants gathered at cabin 39, but someone didn't show up.

They waited for him for half an hour and he's still nowhere to be found.

Eventually, everyone got worried; even the crews. Trying to know what's going on, the crews located the room of the missing person. But when they got in, they found him lifelessly lying on his seat with his arms and legs fully spread. His mouth was spouting toxic bubbles, and the crews noticed the deceased student's hand, loosely holding a pill vial.

Aspro Academy has a policy that when a student dies during an event, test, or exam, the other students taking the same test with the one who died will instantly pass. (Only flight 6 is exempted from the test.)

(Note: this policy is only applicable when the death is an accident or suicide.)

~~~~~

Flight 2; Marco, Clyde, Jacob, and Selene's flight.

Despite being the lowest section, class-F students dominated the test under Jacob's lead.

On the second meeting, their group was also subjected to the hologram punishment where the game master revealed their secrets; in fact, every flight underwent this punishment.

As their group was crumbling, ashamed of their secrets getting divulged, Jacob stood tall and instead saw this as an opportunity.

He noticed a hole in this punishment, and so, he made some counter-measures.

One secret on the list implies that one of the students is the Rat—the same as what occurred on flight 9 (Leo's flight).

With a plan in mind, Jacob seized this opportunity and told everyone to admit their secrets until the last secret that leads to identifying the Rat will be left out, thus beating the test.

Marco and Clyde supported this approach since Jacob was proclaimed as the Alpha of class-F and is a close friend of Marco. The others were hesitant at first, but eventually, they all decided to cooperate.

After going through this resolve, the group successfully caught the Rat and all Pawns passed the test.

With that, Jacob gained more influence after the other students in his flight witnessed his cleverness.

~~~~~

Flight 3; (Gena) Queen of Club's flight.

In this flight, Gena was announced the King, and all Pawns are male students from different classes.

On the first meeting, Gena didn't bother to show up. The crews eventually went to her room on the second floor and they found her sitting nobly on the window seat, complacent about the test.

The crews did their best to ask Gena to attend the meeting, but it was no avail due to her self-centered attitude.

As everyone said, "The show must go on", so the test proceeded without her.

First meeting concluded without her. Second meeting; nothing changed. The group hasn't reached anything with this stagnant test.

That is until the final meeting.

Gena showed up after hiding for like forever.

She knew that she'll be surrounded by guys on this test, therefore she used it to her advantage.

She stayed out of sight from all the boys and only appeared in the end. Gena being unseen for two meetings developed a sense of secrecy and curiosity that caused the boys to long for her.

It made the boys want her and go crazy for her.

They met the Queen of Clubs, of course the boys will get hysterical. Some even tried to shoot their shots.

Gena toyed with them for a while. She targeted boy's weaknesses by telling them compliments. Gena even gives them seductive looks. She did that to every single one of the boys to let everyone have their spotlight, which ultimately made them feel special.

Gena toyed with them until a total simp offered to sacrifice himself. Actually, a lot of the boys offered themselves. Since Gena was the King, she just randomly picked a Pawn and easily ejected him with the loyal votes she accumulated from her toys.

She deceived them effortlessly.

Gena knew for a fact that even if she stripped up butt naked at a public place in broad daylight, the locals wouldn't mortify her, but rather, praise her enchanting, perfectly carved body.

~~~~~

Flight 7; (Xian) King of Clubs and (Floyd) 5 of Clubs' flight.

Xian and Floyd are distant cousins from both wealthy families. The two partners in crime are class-A students and they're the most feared Primes.

The King of Clubs, Xian, has a stiff yet flexible body. He's an expert martial artist who's familiar with every kind of combat. His hair was parted in the middle and he has several earrings attached on his pierced ears.

On the other hand, Floyd, the 5 of Clubs, is an unreasonably strong guy with wrestler physique. His body looks a lot like Liam's.

If Floyd were to use his maximum strength, he could take on a bear by himself.

These two Prime students often work together and dominate their opponents with brute force.

At the final meeting, all test participants on flight 7 are petrified to their seat as they were stuck in a life-threatening situation.

Xian was pointing a pistol at the King's head as he watched her gazed hesitantly at her voting device.

"Obey, or I'll plant a bullet in your head," Xian sternly said.

The female King glanced over to his boyfriend who was being held captive by Floyd.

Knowing that Xian can kill someone and not be prosecuted for his crime due to his wealth, her boyfriend has no other choice.

He just nodded to her girlfriend while crying silently.

And so, the King begrudgingly clicked an icon on her device, ejecting her boyfriend.

~~~~~

Flight 1; (Hyacinth) Ace of Club's flight.

Hyacinth, a thin, flat-chested class-A student that has a super straight, shiny, sleek hair that goes down to her waist. Her pale complexion, gloomy eyebrows, sleepy eyes, and lips that never smile made her mysterious that no one knows her true potential.

Even as the Ace of Clubs, not a single soul has seen Hyacinth take action herself. She has a diligent and loyal chauffeur that works as her bodyguard and he handles everything that concerns Hyacinth.

Hyacinth's chauffeur is also a class-A student, and despite having the title of "just a chauffeur", he still prevailed and became the 3 of Clubs.

His name was Lance, around the same age as the other Clubs students. He served Hyacinth with his life and he's the reason why Hyacinth achieved her current No. 1 rank.

Fortunately, Hyacinth and Lance were assigned in flight 1.

During the test, Hyacinth stayed in her room the entire time while Lance took care of the test.

Eventually, Lance identified the Rat by himself and kicked him out. With that, Hyacinth passed the test without lifting a finger.

~~~~~

Flight 9; Leo's flight.

After realizing that her best friend was the Rat, Lyn glanced at Audrey in disbelief.

"But… but why?" Lyn stuttered, feeling betrayed. "We're best friends, Audrey, right? We've been classmates for over 3 months." Lyn's voice was shaking as she feared that the bond she established with Audrey might end right then and there.

"Yes," Audrey replied with an enthusiastic smile. "I had fun during those days, Lyn. But sadly, this is where we part ways."

"You were faking your identity all along? You lied to me for 3 months straight." Lyn was almost in tears.

Ella suddenly slammed the table with her palm.

"You, Jillian! How dare you go against us." Ella fumed.

Stephanie was shaking in anger as she tried to contain her emotions. She was staring down the voting device she was tightly clenching in her hands. Her face looks distraught as she crumbles on her seat.

A huge fight was about to erupt, until a crew in a black suit entered the cabin.

The failing students' unpaintable and disintegrating countenance lit up when the crew announced an eye-opening news.

"Congratulations to those who passed, and good luck to those who failed. I'd like all of you to be aware that this isn't the end; some of you may now have a failing grade and are currently on the verge of getting expelled. However, in case you didn't know, a student can only be expelled after the end of semester; that means those who fail can still reattain their grades until the first semester ends on October 30."

"So with that being said, I don't want any of you to break up a fight inside the plane. We will be descending in about ten minutes, you may now rest in your rooms and prepare as all of you will be officially on a vacation after this flight."

Everyone who's crumbling calmed down after knowing that they still had a chance.

However, after having a solution to their grades issue, another problem arises.

How will the failing students get back their grades when they're on vacation?

Everyone went back to their room as the crew instructed.

Leo was resting in his original room when unexpectedly, someone came into his room without notice.

Leo forgot to lock his room, therefore Jillian blatantly walked in, getting Leo's attention when she strode.

"Uhm… I'm sorry for thinking of you as a bad person." Jillian cut right through the chase. "You were helping me back there, didn't you? I knew it. It's obvious that you and Stephanie aren't friends—I know you lied. All of the hurtful things you've said to me were all white lies. I understand you now. I'm sorry for doubting you. I'm the reason you failed the test, so I want to repay you in any way."

Jillian was totally clueless that Leo only did that to gain her loyalty, not to protect her.

Leo purposely let himself lose in the process of attaining Jillian's loyalty. Knowing that Leo failed because he saved Jillian triggered her guilt. Now that Leo has Jillian's guilt on his hand, Jillian became more than a tool for Leo.

Leo saw a potential in her; Enthusiasm and loyalty, Jillian has that and that's why Leo pursued her.

Leo glanced at Jillian with his usual neutral countenance. "It's fine. You should worry more about yourself since you angered Ella. They'll surely come back for you," Leo replied.

"I'll just talk it out with them."

"That won't work. You'll definitely won't last long. Remember what they've done to you in the lavatory? They'll be more hostile than that. However, I'll be willing to help you under three conditions."

"What are those conditions?"

"First, you need to commit your loyalty towards me; that includes you have to keep that you're under my protection a secret."

"I'm already doing that."

"Second, when you're feeling uneasy or you see ominous signs, contact me immediately; I'll come."

Leo gave his original phone number to Jillian, a different phone number he gave to Ann.

"Lastly, don't get attached to me. The moment you do, I'll disown you." Leo said with intentions of abandoning Jillian once she romanticise their transactional relationship.