Classes B and C's students remained on the beach.
The homeroom teachers of all four classes sat in their original positions.
While Class D and Class A had already set up their camps, Classes B and C's students were in a miserable state.
With nowhere to establish camp, they could only wait on the beach.
All the teachers were now staring at Sae. Class D had claimed the most spots and was dominating the competition. If they maintained control of these positions, they could earn 500-600 Reward Points from occupation alone.
Class D had proven surprisingly formidable — something neither Class B nor C's teachers had expected.
Sae kept her face expressionless.
"My students haven't cheated. They're following the rules completely."
A familiar refrain, yet the woman seemed to lack her usual enthusiasm.
Strange — wasn't her class far ahead now?
Chie stood up and started walking toward Class B's direction.
"Hoshinomiya—" Tomonari glanced at her.
"How unpleasant. I'm a teacher — I have principles."
She wouldn't resort to cheating. Besides, it seemed unnecessary now.
After resting, Class B's angels had engaged in serious reflection. They'd noticed Class C's unusual behavior and developed a strategy accordingly.
Having received information about point deductions for spots from Tomonari, Classes B and C waited on the beach.
"Ryūen can't be trusted." Ryūji said, "But we're not in a good position either. Everyone is exhausted."
Class B's angels opened their umbrellas and gathered beneath them.
Some students remembered their sunscreen and tried to apply it, but their already sun-burned skin stung at the touch.
Their cloth shoes had proven inadequate for the journey — after walking over 20,000 steps, their feet ached worse than any shoe pinching.
For Class B, the island expedition had been hellish. When they finally rested and got water, even the typically composed Chihiro broke down in tears while others tried to comfort her.
The situation was made worse by their current position on the beach. The teachers had clarified this wasn't an official spot, meaning they couldn't camp here — their current rest was merely temporary.
Night would bring even greater challenges. They needed to secure a proper spot before then.
Regarding this point...
"Ryūen's group hasn't moved — they're in the same situation as us." Honami said, "But we can still get spots now. Remember what Mashima-sensei told us: we can stay at other classes' spots for one hour, and spots need renewal every 8 hours."
"We can wait at Class D's spot thirty minutes before their time expires, then claim it when their occupation period ends. Let's secure this spot first to solve our accommodation problem."
"Yes, that's a solid plan." Ryūji nodded, "And now that I've had some water, I'm thinking more clearly. I apologize for losing my temper earlier at Class D's spot."
"It's alright." Honami shook her head, "Everyone was struggling then."
Despite everything, Class B's spirit remained strong. The difficult three hours they'd endured had only brought them closer together.
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Meanwhile, under Class C's umbrella.
"Kyōgo and Albert, select 10 boys." Kakeru said, "It's 2 PM now, four hours have passed. Around 4 o'clock, head to Class D's occupied spots and watch for their leader. They'll have to expose their leader when renewing so many spots. Also, send 5 more boys to monitor Class A's spots."
In other words, they would confirm the identities of Class A and D's leaders.
'Yeah. As expected of Kakeru Ryūen.' Kazuma remained composed.
Although Class D had impressively occupied many spots, it wouldn't matter. As long as they discovered and correctly guessed the leader's identity during the leader-guessing phase on the seventh day...
Then all the Reward Points from occupation would become zero.
So let Class A and Class D cooperate and occupy as many spots as they wanted. The more spots Class D controlled, the more likely their leader's identity would be exposed. And then, the sting of having everything reduced to zero would be even greater.
It felt like sweet revenge.
The time was now 5 PM.
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By 5:30 PM, half of Class B's students had mobilized.
Though everyone returned with tired legs, they had gained valuable knowledge about the quality of different spots along their route.
Their search led them to an ideal location — a well-maintained vegetable garden with cabbage, radishes, and water spinach. The garden's corner featured a convenient well.
The vegetables alone could save them nearly 20 Base Points. The well offered additional savings: if its water proved drinkable after boiling, they could save on water costs and use it directly for the water heater.
These resources would significantly reduce their expenses.
By Kakeru's calculations, he would only need to spend 50-60 Base Points to sustain Class B at this location for the entire week.
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Class B's students needed to find a place to sleep tonight, so securing a spot became their priority.
Kakeru joined the mission to identify Class D's leader. As a leader himself, his presence was essential — they couldn't occupy spots without his card.
He, Daichi, and Albert crouched in hiding near the beach.
"They're here!" Daichi whispered.
It was nearly 6 PM, marking the end of the 8-hour occupation period. They planned to either claim an abandoned spot or identify Class D's leader if they showed up.
But…
"Well, if it isn't Dragon Boy?"
{T/N: Ryūen (龍園) contains the characters for "dragon" (龍) and "garden" (園), hence the nickname "Dragon Boy".}
A tall, muscular man approached them.
It was Rokusuke Kōenji, known for his impressive physique and striking red eyes.
"What are you three doing crouching here?" Rokusuke smirked, "Playing hide and seek? How entertaining."
He strode to the card reader and produced a leader card.
『 Beep! 』
『 Card swipe successful, this spot has been occupied! 』
The card reader confirmed the transaction.
Rokusuke withdrew his card, cast a glance at Kakeru, and said, "I won't play your games."
Then he turned and walked away.
Kakeru watched his retreating figure intently.
Had Rokusuke just revealed himself as Class D's leader by swiping that card?
The name section on his leader card had been covered with tape. According to the rules, only leaders could use these cards — unauthorized use would result in Point deductions.
Yet Class D had formed an alliance with Class A and had already depleted their Base Points. Once Base Points reached zero, further deductions became meaningless.
In other words, Class D's Base Points were at zero.
The situation had become more complex, presenting two possibilities:
First, Rokusuke was indeed the leader, and he had just carelessly exposed his identity.
Second, he wasn't the leader, and his unauthorized card use would normally result in point deductions — but with Class D's Base Points at zero, these deductions were meaningless.
However, even through rule-breaking operations, they could still occupy card readers.
This meant Rokusuke was deliberately preventing other classes from occupying spots, essentially hoarding them without proper use.
This was getting complicated.
"..." Kakeru remained silent.
He couldn't determine whether Rokusuke was the leader or not.
"Ryūen, good news!" Daichi spoke up from the side, "Kōenji swiped the card, so he must be the leader, right!"
"..."
Hmm. This simpleton clearly hadn't thought it through.
"Anyway, let's stick to the original plan." Kakeru knew Rokusuke was quite the actor — simple observation wouldn't reveal the truth.
Besides, Class D had allied with Class A, and Class A had Houtarou Oreki.
There was no guarantee that Houtarou hadn't instructed Rokusuke to deliberately break the rules.
The island had numerous spots, and over a week's time, the Points generated from occupation would be substantial.
This left them with two possible strategies: either gain Points from occupying these spots, or prevent everyone from getting Points by directly invalidating spots through rule violations.
Don't doubt it — Kakeru believed Houtarou was capable of such schemes. That guy had proven his offensive capabilities.
After all, he'd previously manipulated Rokusuke into giving up his Points just by asking about them.
Therefore, it was time to deploy spies and confirm the identities of Class A, B, and D's leaders.
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Later that evening, when Class D and Class A students arrived at the beach for roll call, an announcement was made.
All students were notified — Class C had forfeited.
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