29 Chapter 29

As the four of us and the Class C student, Kaneda, walked back to camp, I was genuinely thinking.

Is class B this stupid? I know Ichinose is naive and kind, but doing this during a special exam. Surely, she would have to send him away, right? For some reason, I knew I would be wrong.

As we walked back to camp, Shibata began comforting Kaneda like he was a three-year-old.

"I knew Ryuen was bad, but this is too much."

"Yeah, that guy Ryuen needs to be stopped."

I could only walk in silence and attempt to hold in my laughs. Finally, we arrived back at camp, and Ichinose greeted us, looking confused at the unknown student. 

"Ah, Ichinose, this Kaneda from Class C; we found him in the forest. That Ryuen kicked him out."

"Ah, we definitely can't leave him alone in the forest. I'll discuss it with the rest of the class, but I'm sure you can stay here, Kaneda."

"Thank you so much for your kindness, even against an enemy!"

I guess my gut feeling was right. I knew these people were blinded by kindness and morals, but this was too much even for them. Why didn't he return to the cruise ship if he was kicked out of the Class C camp? It makes absolutely no sense for him to stay on the island; he can leave.

While a member of Class B stayed in Kaneda, the rest of us huddled up and began discussing. Ichinose, being the leader, spoke up.

"What do you guys think?"

"We can't just leave him in the forest even if he's in another class."

"Yeah, he's still in his first year with us."

"I believe his story, Ryuen did take over his class with violence, so this isn't surprising."

"Alright then, it's settled; Kaneda will stay with us."

I guess that's that. Class B just lost 50 class points. I walked away from the huddle but heard Kanzaki say something interesting.

"Ichinose, I found Class C near the beach. It's like they're not even trying on the exam; they have jet skis, music, food, and speakers."

What? Knowing Ryuen's personality, that guy wouldn't give up this golden opportunity to pass Class B. Also, he just sent Kaneda here to spy on Class B.

I walked away from the Class B camp and headed to where Kanead was found to check for clues. Upon reaching the tree that Kaneda was slumped up next to, I noticed several branches unusually piled up. The school would have no reason to do this, so a student made this.

As expected, I cleared the branches and found a digital camera and a walkie-talkie. Kaneda probably used the camera to take evidence of Class B's leader and the walkie-talkie to communicate.

I piled the branches back up and put the items back so Kaneda wouldn't be suspicious. I didn't gain anything from stopping Ryuen, so I left that situation be.

Seeing that it was still mourning, I checked out the beach to see if what Kanzaki said about Class C was true. From all the walking yesterday and today, I realized how out of shape I was compared to other students; this exam was really not the one for me.

Honestly, I was only on this island to get more private points; otherwise, I would fake an illness and return to the cruise ship. Class D wouldn't even have the points.

Nearing the beach, I heard loud music blasting and students cheering and celebrating. Leaving the safety of the bushes, I saw a magical scene.

Students were riding around on jet skis, music was blaring, drinks were everywhere, and food was being served. Was this heaven? This was a true summer vacation. People were running around and playing in the river without any worry about saving points.

As I stood starstruck by the scenery, a student from Class C approached me.

"umm... Ryuen wants to talk to you."

I followed the student towards a massive beach umbrella, and under the safety of it, Ryuen was lying on a beach chair with a bottle of sparkling water.

Why wasn't I put in Class C?

As I walked nearer to the beach umbrella, I could see 3 students kneeling down and taking orders from Ryuen like he was some king. 

"Ishizaki, go get me another bottle of water. This one isn't cold."

Ryuen poured the sparkling water onto Ishizaki, who stood there taking it. To be fair, Ishizaki fell for the fake camera trick from Class D and basically ruined Ryuen's plans, so this treatment wasn't that unnecessary.

Finally, Ryuen turned his head and saw me walking towards him. Curiously, I asked.

"So what's the plan?"

"For a measly 1 or 200 class points, you people will endure starvation, heat, and exhaustion. Just the thought of it makes me want to laugh."

Like Katsuargi, the guy was putting up some bullshit act. I could see the walkie-talkie on the table next to his chair like he wasn't even trying to hide it. Why would he say spies with walkie-talkies to other classes if he wanted to give up? I was curious about how far he would take this lie, so I asked.

"So you have no intention of doing anything for this exam? Sounds foolish to me; this is the chance to pass Class B."

"Who's being foolish here? This is the way I do things. There can be nothing more or less."

As he said that, his loyal dog, Ishizaki, brought him another bottle of sparkling water. I didn't want to waste my time anymore, so I got straight to the point. I pointed to his table and asked.

"So why the walkie-talkie then? Your Kaneda back at Class B seems to have a corresponding one."

"... ah, that idiot got caught already; it hasn't even been 2 hours."

"Nah, the Class B believed him; I just saw his digital camera and walkie-talkie, so I came over here."

"Alright, what do you want?"

Knowing Ryuen, blackmailing or threatening wouldn't work as he would just annoy me by pulling off those fake stunts like he did in Class D. I already had over 13 million private points, so it wasn't like I would die if I didn't get to 15.

There was one thing I wanted from Ryuen, though.

"Can I ride the jet skis and stay here till you guys are out of points?"

Ryuen broke out laughing and nodded his head. He called out to a classmate in the distance.

"Hey Manabe, bring over the jet ski? Seems like you know how to enjoy a summer vacation properly, Hikigaya."

I grabbed a skewer from the barbecue grill and ate it immediately. From eating amazing food at school to eating first-class food on the cruise ship, my taste buds were too spoiled to be eating those damn berries, so I savored the skewer.

Words could not describe my excitement as I rode around full speed on the jet ski. The wind rushed into my face, the water splashed behind me, and the sun shone on me. 

Is this what being rich is about? Who said money couldn't buy happiness?

After getting off the jet ski, Ryuen gestured toward me, so I returned to the shade where Ryuen had set up another beach chair. After I laid down on the chair, Ryuen asked.

"What do you think?"

"Of the 0-point strategy?"

The exam rules state that if S-points reach zero, even if actions are taken, that would cause a loss of S-points, no penalty will be applied to the class or individual, nor will there be any deduction of class points or private points after the test ends.

Since Ryuen had spent all the points from the exam immediately, he could basically do whatever he wanted. That means he could have everyone in his class return to the cruise ship and lose nothing. This would mean that the other classes would trust the Class C spies more, as after all, it seemed like Class C had given up on this exam.

But that meant that the maximum number of points he could get was 150 from guessing the leaders, but that was assuming Class C's leader wasn't guessed.

"One mistake, and it comes tumbling down."

"Guess I can't make any mistakes then."

As I looked at the Class C students crowded around each other, I noticed some of them were playing poker. Ryuen was gambling their class points while they were gambling private points. What a combination!

Seeing me staring at the poker game, Ryuen handed me some sparkling water and asked.

"Care to join."

I jumped up and, with Ryuen, walked towards the poker table. The Class C students immediately made way for Ryuen and me like we were royalty.

Sheeeit, if every special exam were like this, I think this school might be alright. Since Ryuen would have to survive alone on the island after all their class points were spent, I asked.

"What's the plan after everyone besides you returns."

"I don't know, I'll find a way. Anyway, let's play."

As soon as we settled down to play poker, another one of Ryuen's servants approached us.

"What do you want now? Can't you see we're in the middle of something?"

"t-there's s-some c-class D students here."

Ryuen got up and walked back towards the beach umbrella while I continued playing poker. After a couple of unlucky hands and some folding, I walked away bored. I didn't really want to be seen by the Class D students, so I sat down near the edge of the camp.

As I sat down and looked at the bright blue ocean illuminated by the sun's rays, I almost fell asleep, but I felt an oddly familiar tap on my back before I could.

I turned around and saw Hyori behind me with a book in her hand. How the hell did she get a book? I was somewhat surprised as I thought we agreed to ignore each other when not in the library.

Jokingly, I asked.

"Who are you?"

Her face immediately turned red as she sputtered out.

"w-what?"

"I'm joking, anyway; how did you get a book?"

"A-ah, I bought it with some class points. What are you doing over here?"

"Ah, I got interested in your strategy and came over to check it out. Anyway, what do you think?"

Just like I didn't fit in with Class B, I could Hyori didn't really match with Class C's violent tyrant. A docile girl and a savage tyrant, polar opposites.

"What strategy do you mean?"

Ah, she either didn't know or was being loyal to Ryuen by not saying anything.

"Never mind, what are you reading?"

I talked with Hyori until I saw Horikita from Class D storm off into the forest with Ryuen smiling back on his chair. What the hell did that guy do, no?

I realized that it was almost evening and that there would be a role call soon, so I headed back into the forest. I doubted anyone would notice I was gone, so I didn't need an excuse.

After reaching Class B, I learned through word of mouth that the Class D students also came here and said they had a student from Class C with them as well. I guess that's -50 class points from that Class.

As I headed back into my uncomfortable tent, I lay down, but I felt odd like I had forgotten something important.

-*-

On the other side of the island, Kushida, who barely managed to sneak away from the Class D camp, was now patiently waiting alone on the beach.

"That son of a bitch showed me up, didn't he?"

To say Kushida was mad was an understatement. She had waited for over two hours on the beach for this blackmailer not to show up, and she couldn't even let out her anger at anyone.