169 -168- Our class will take first place

Deserted island, seaside.

At this moment, on the beach where the cruise ship is located, students from each class are beginning to emerge from the forest and gather here.

On the beach, besides the students, there are only the homeroom teachers of the four first-year classes.

After bringing the students out of the forest, the homeroom teachers immediately gathered them together.

As the homeroom teacher of Class A, Mashima Tomonari is holding a megaphone and broadcasting to all the students on the beach.

"We are currently calculating the special exam points. All classes are to remain in place."

After leaving this announcement, the homeroom teachers of each class gathered under the tent, which served as a rest area, to begin calculating the special points for each class.

However, this no longer attracted the attention of the students present.

Because all the students are staring in astonishment in one direction.

"Why is he here?"

"Didn't they already forfeit?"

All the students were bewildered.

Naturally, the students from Class D were the same.

Especially Horikita Suzune, who stared fixedly in that direction, biting her lip as if realizing she was about to fall into a trap.

Hori also raised his eyes and looked in that direction.

There, a person entered their line of sight.

His entire tracksuit was dirty and covered in mud.

His face was covered in scruffy stubble.

He was carrying a suitcase.

The man named Ryuen Kakeru bathed under the gaze of everyone, completely unconcerned about his appearance, just smiling at the group of homeroom teachers who were tallying the points.

That smile was the smile of someone who was confident of imminent victory.

Ryuen Kakeru stood there with that smile.

Beside him, Ibuki Mio silently followed, causing everyone in Class D to be unable to suppress their agitation.

"Why is there still someone from Class C on the island?"

"Didn't they collectively forfeit?"

"And Ibuki..."

"Could it be..."

The students of Class D vaguely sensed something and their faces became somewhat unsightly.

Similarly, Ichinose Honami, who was with the students from Class B, watched this scene with a furrowed brow, sinking into silence.

Only Class A, led by Katsuragi Kouhei, remained calm and orderly on the beach, not surprised or shaken by Ryuen Kakeru's appearance. Totsuka Yahiko even had the leisure to glare at Hori with a gaze of hatred, completely indifferent to Ryuen Kakeru's presence.

"What will happen next?"

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, mingled among the group from Class D, looked at Ibuki Mio following behind Ryuen Kakeru and muttered to himself.

Hori, on the other hand, never uttered a word, just watched ahead.

Finally, Ryuen Kakeru seemed to notice the attention from this side and turned his head.

Then, he smirked and, with Ibuki Mio, walked straight over.

"Ibuki, you..."

Looking at Ibuki Mio silently following behind Ryuen Kakeru, Hirata Yousuke and Kushida Kikyou spoke with uncertainty.

But what they got was this.

"Don't say naive things like I betrayed you or disappointed your expectations."

Ibuki Mio's sharp words, along with a self-deprecating yet mocking expression, appeared before everyone.

"This is competition, you know?"

Ibuki Mio responded to the confusion and agitation of Class D with these words alone.

This made the students of Class D understand.

Although they didn't know exactly what happened, it was undoubtedly not as simple as Ibuki Mio being expelled from Class C and taken in by Class D.

There was a trap that went unnoticed.

Horikita Suzune realized this when she saw Ibuki Mio with Ryuen Kakeru and remained silent, biting her lip.

As for Ryuen Kakeru, he completely ignored the reaction between the people of Class D and Ibuki Mio.

In his eyes, there was only Hori.

"How about it?" Ryuen Kakeru asked nonchalantly. "Do you like the surprise I gave you, Nanaya?"

"Surprise?" Hori smiled faintly, noncommittal. "Aren't you uninterested in this special exam and just want to enjoy yourself on the island? What's with this unkempt appearance?"

"It's nothing, just got a little carried away." Ryuen Kakeru seemed to tease Hori's reaction and said, "I'm not really interested in this special exam, but I might be interested in things outside the special exam."

After all, Ryuen Kakeru didn't care about the quantity of class points, that was a fact.

He wasn't interested in this exam used to earn class points, which was understandable.

However, even if he wasn't interested in the exam itself, it didn't mean that the exam was useless to Ryuen Kakeru.

Even if it was useless to Ryuen Kakeru, it could still be extremely important to other classes.

So, Ryuen Kakeru just needed to exchange things that were useless to him for things that were useful.

The result of this was the contract with Class A.

Ryuen Kakeru didn't say any of this.

He just said this.

"Of course, I still want to enjoy myself."

Ryuen Kakeru stared at Hori's face, his mouth curled upwards, and said, "Enjoy the thrill of the hunt."

Words filled with joy emanated from Ryuen Kakeru's mouth.

In other words...

"I still want to play with you, Nanaya," Ryuen Kakeru said with a smile, "so look forward to the surprises I'll give you next."

With these words, a wave of unease swept over them smoothly.

"What... exactly do you plan to do?" Horikita Suzune said with an uncertain expression.

And this time, Ryuen Kakeru replied openly.

"Next, our class will take first place in this exam."

Ignoring everyone's astonishment, Ryuen Kakeru made such a bold assertion.

But oddly enough, everyone heard this statement smoothly.

Including Class B.

Including Class A.

"First place?"

All of Class B exchanged glances.

"First place?"

The collective expression of Class A changed suddenly.

"First place?"

Ichinose Honami furrowed her brow.

"First place?"

Katsuragi Kouhei suddenly lifted his face.

Everyone present was taken aback.

Similarly, this included Class D.

"First place?"

"Class C?"

"Nonsense..."

"That's impossible, right?"

"Class C spent all their points on the first day of the exam, didn't they?"

The students of Class D all expressed their denial.

Wasn't that everyone's thought?

But Ryuen Kakeru ignored everyone's surprise, his expression still natural and confident.

Because...

"The first place will undoubtedly be the belongings of Class C."

Ryuen Kakeru announced an astonishing thing without caring.

"Because, except for Class C, the leaders of all the other classes have already been filled in by me."

This was Ryuen Kakeru's reliance.