24 Survival Test

Before the students could disembark the ship, we were told to secure our personal belongings and dress up in our jerseys bringing along only our phones. It was also announced that we will be handing out our phones right before disembarking.

Teacher Mashima started his speech when everyone was lined up on the beach, the moment a first year's trial came from his mouth, a commotion among the students broke out.

The moment the explanation of class points each class could gain arrived, the faces of all students immediately brightened.

Class D took their share of tents and Chabashira approached us to hand out the wristwatches we had to wear for the duration of the test.

While Hirata was reading the rules from the manual a blue text appeared in front of me once again.

[New Quest: Disrupt the original MC's plans and prove/improve your leadership skills.]

Huh? Why would I want to do that if he is going to do my job in my stead? Is this quest aimed at my individual growth and at solidifying my position in class?

[You don't have to complete the quest, however, you won't gain any contribution points. Aside from this quest, you may spend all your class points as you see fit, and enjoy the freedom provided by this school, that is, as long as your classmates agree with you.]

While I was thinking of the cons and pros of disrupting Ayanokoji's plans, the rest of the class began arguing about the toilet like in the original. Shinohara was the representative of girls who disagreed with using the simple toilet provided by the school while other boys opposed her, mainly Yukimura who wanted to save as many points as possible.

"What do you think, Ike-kun? You have mentioned that you have experience with Scouting once before, right?" Yamauchi asked me after seeing me acting so calmly as a bystander in the argument between boys and girls.

His words caused Yukimura to stop arguing with Shinohara and turn to me.

"You can't be seriously asking another boy who doesn't mind using this "thing" as a toilet, that's not fair!" Shinohara argued before I even opened my mouth.

Chabashira observed the argument with a calm expression as if she already expected this to happen.

*sigh* "I think we should compromise, both sides want the complete opposite. Girls want a portable toilet while most of the boys want everyone to endure using this one simple toilet for the sake of points. We will be penalized if someone decides to retire, we can't expect everyone to just endure all hardships for the whole week without them having any say in how the points are being spent. Poor mental health can affect one's body. Depression can come with headaches, fatigue, and digestive problems, and anxiety can create an upset stomach. It would be ideal if we could maintain high or at least average morale" I calmly explained with crossed arms in front of my chest and closed eyes to look as if I was thinking about the problem very hard.

"Eh?" Shinohara's expression changed to a surprised one upon hearing my response.

----Satsuki Shinohara----

Affection: 2

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"...That's understandable, however, would it truly be so bad to share this toilet only for one week?" Yukimura rubbed his chin and looked like he was slightly hesitating.

"Yukimura-kun, boys, I didn't want to say it aloud but I think some of you, I won't name, are absolute pigs who can't even aim if you know what I mean, do you really expect girls to be okay using the same toilet as us?"

"Gross..." Girls muttered and started throwing judgemental looks toward the group of boys.

"Ugh, so what do you propose? We can't possibly waste points to buy a whole portable toilet!" Yukimura didn't disagree with me and instead, he asked for my opinion.

"I say the middle ground is buying another simple toilet for the girls-only use"

Shinohara frowned and a few other girls didn't seem to like my suggestion but none of them immediately refused my proposal since I was being reasonable and from their point of view, I was on their side.

"I-I think we should accept Ike-kun's proposal. He is trying to reasonably meet our demands, we shouldn't be too demanding if one side is willing to take a step back" Inogashira spoke out.

"I agree with this"

"M-Me too"

"Count me in"

Hasebe, Sakura, and Miyake raised their hands and agreed with Inogashira's words. Upon seeing this a few more students decided to follow the train and agreed with my proposal. While there were some girls who still felt disappointed with the arrangement, none of them spoke out aloud since there were both girls and boys who were on my side. In the end, everyone agreed since they didn't want to become a burden to everyone else.

The blue text informing me of almost everyone's affection increasing startled me a little but I quickly recovered.

Eyes of the Reader lv. 1 (50/100, active) -> Eyes of the Reader lv. 1 (52/100, active)

A fully functioning toilet costs about 20 points so another simple toilet shouldn't cost more than 5 points.

I noticed Chabashira looking at me with an amused smile after seeing how I have handled the very first conflict.

Since this case was resolved, Chabashira stepped up and explained the matter about the spots and additional rules regarding the class's leader.

"Ike-kun, since you have more experience than the others, take this" Hirata handed me the manual with the outlined map of the island.

"I can fill the blank spots as we continue exploring." I nodded my head.

"How about I go look for a good spot to set up as our basecamp while the rest can form groups and explore the surroundings if there aren't any useful tools lying around?"

The most important thing around these rebellious students who have trouble cooperating is to suggest your ideas lightly, and let them feel like they have a say in this. I just have to avoid coming out too strong. I want them to accept me as their leader naturally.

"That sounds good, however, take a few people with you too" Hirata answered for the others but suggested with a concerned expression.

"I will go" Miyake came up to my side.

"M-me too" Inogashira and Sakura quickly joined our group and I was thankful that I already told Hasebe to be here and help me stop others from possibly arguing about the points, however, I was quite surprised when Sakura volunteered to go with us, ultimately getting separated from her friend.

---Airi Sakura---

Affection: 15

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???

I am slightly concerned...Why is it so high? Could it be that Hasebe ended up telling her the truth about the stalker? It wouldn't be such a big problem, however, it would show me that I can't truly trust Hasebe with keeping the secrets.

Since we formed our exploration group, we entered the forest with me in the lead.

"You should be a leader for this special test, Ike" Miyake said, keeping his voice low.

"Hm? Why do you think so?" I questioned his reasoning while I continued walking and slowly filling the blank map.

"Before you got involved in the argument about the toilet, Hirata was about to agree with the girls' demand. He isn't decisive enough to make a good leader between two conflicting sides. Your decision probably didn't please anyone but I believe it was the right decision."

"Well, you know Hirata's personality...The leader isn't supposed to just make people pleased, he is supposed to make the best decisions that the current situation enables even if some individuals will be displeased with it. Anyway, thank you everyone for supporting me back then"

"No problem!" Miyake, Inogashira, and Sakura smiled at me, though, Sakura quickly looked away once our eyes met.