"Then here's the other option." Houtarou said, "Ichinose-san, if you don't accept the proposal to have your classmate fall ill, then the only path left is to accept the losses from having your class's leader guessed. But you're in luck. Those here now are students from my Class A, and Kushida-san is from Class D. Kōenji only needs 600 points from this exam, so neither I nor he has any need to guess your leader information. Therefore, your class will at most suffer a 50-point loss from Class C guessing your leader, plus the loss of Reward Points."
Ah. Those Reward Points.
Indeed, Class B had only occupied one base, and though they tried to occupy the base Kakeru had used, Rokusuke quickly taught them a lesson: they relocated overnight.
Given everyone's exhaustion, Ichinose's group didn't continue trying to compete with Class D for bases.
Looking at it this way, Class B's Reward Points from base occupation were quite low — even with one more swipe tomorrow morning, it would only be 18 points.
So the total loss would be 50 + 18 = 68 points.
That wasn't too bad.
"Plus, we can still try to maximize points." Houtarou said, "That's why I asked Kushida-san to come. For tomorrow's leader-guessing phase, I want you all to write down Ryūen's name."
"Ryūen?"
"Why? Isn't their class complete now?" Kikyō said.
"Class C has withdrawn, but aren't Ibuki, Kaneda, and Ishizaki still on the island? We now know they're all spies. For someone who would arrange spies and set all this up, do you think they've really given up on the exam?"
No. This wasn't giving up on the exam; rather, it was answering the exam according to his own understanding.
And there was only one person who could simultaneously control Satoru, Daichi, and Mio.
Class C's tyrant, Kakeru Ryūen.
So this was how everyone came to guess Kakeru.
Indeed, after going to the trouble of arranging spies, would he simply choose to return to the small boat to relax? He must be continuing with the exam.
Therefore, the probability of Kakeru being Class C's leader was very high.
Moreover, when the exam rules were first announced, he actively approached Class B. He voluntarily offered to use up their Base Points.
Everyone knew about his ambition to climb to the top. And now looking at it, he was calculating how to harvest points from Class B every month while also trying to score points in the leader-guessing phase.
"Also, according to point 5 in the manual, leaders cannot be replaced without valid reason, so even if the whole class withdraws, Class C cannot arbitrarily withdraw their leader — the leader must remain on the island to continue the exam." Houtarou added.
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During the next day's leader-guessing phase, everyone discovered that the space for guessing Class C's leader hadn't been crossed out and could still be filled in.
Without any prior agreement, they all wrote down Kakeru's name — resulting in his leader status being correctly guessed by three classes.
"What a pain…" Kakeru said.
His devastating loss came about because that bastard Houtarou had deduced his presence on the island and prompted everyone to write down his name.
With three classes correctly guessing his leader status, his score could only be 0.
Yet he didn't believe this for a second.
Kakeru listened to Honami's explanation: his biggest flaw — absolute control — meant his use of Mio and others as spies actually proved he hadn't given up on the exam.
After all, why put in so much effort if you'd given up? It made no sense.
The fact that the space for Class C's leader could still be filled in during the guessing phase meant their leader hadn't withdrawn.
When other classes discovered they could still guess Class C's leader, it confirmed he remained on the island. Writing his name was the logical choice.
It was an easy 50 points — Classes A, B, and D had no reason not to take it.
Still, this explanation left Kakeru with mixed feelings.
The deduction was extremely meticulous, drawing from both facts and his personality.
But what troubled him was that back at school, that bastard Houtarou had appeared with Suzune and asked about his points — when he'd reported 800,000 Points.
In response, they had brought in Rokusuke from Class D to challenge him.
His bullying of Ken out of anger at Houtarou had been within their expectations — they'd predicted he would lash out at others.
This exam's outcome reflected that...
Had Houtarou seen through everything when Mio appeared in Class A? Or perhaps even earlier, when Kakeru pretended to withdraw?
Now the situation stood thus: though Class D had risen, they remained far from Class A. To climb higher, Kakeru could only continue fighting with Class B and the ascending Class D.
He maintained his rule through violence.
Though he'd secured a monthly allowance of 600,000 Points from Class B, his class's decline had soured this advantage. He would face criticism from his classmates.
"So. Was everything within your calculations?"
Kakeru thought this as he looked toward Class A's direction.
"Ryūen!" At this moment, teacher Kazuma came over, "We lost this exam. And there's more unfortunate news."
"What?"
How could the current situation get any worse, Kakeru wondered?
"Though I saw your determination in this exam, your strategy has backfired. Ibuki, Ishizaki, Kaneda, and the others — Class B's students have reported your abuse. They had Class B's homeroom teacher Chie Hoshinomiya document their injuries. They plan to file a report as soon as we return to the boat. Based on my experience, this will result in a 100-point class deduction."
Class C hadn't earned any points in this island exam, leaving their Class Points at 490.
With another 100-point deduction, they would drop to 390 points.
At 390 points — a dangerous threshold — it would become extremely difficult to gather operational funds from students.
Was this another checkmate?
Though Kakeru had maintained his composure when the exam results were announced, he now covered his forehead with one hand.
How had everything spiraled like this?
When Houtarou first approached him about points and orchestrated that confrontation with Rokusuke, Kakeru had used Points to resolve the situation — leaving a record with the Student Council.
That record now made this situation far more serious. This was a repeat offense.
Kakeru realized that after this exam, with his previous record and this new violation, he would have to abstain from violence. Another offense would likely result in expulsion.
Had Houtarou identified his reliance on violence to control Class C and deliberately engineered this situation to neutralize his power?
Kakeru looked toward Class A's direction.
But Houtarou had already started walking toward the small boat with his classmates.
The island exam was over.
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As the exam ended, Houtarou stretched.
The students made their way back, boarding the small boats to return to the cruise ship.
As they were about to board the cruise ship, a voice rang out.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back! Welcome to our victory feast!"
The tall, blonde male student — self-proclaimed most beautiful and the one Kakeru could never track down — stood on the ship's deck with a wine glass in hand. Behind him, his servant wore a troubled expression.
Rokusuke was still the same as before.
Victory feast?
Houtarou, boarding the ship, pondered this. He realized Suzune might have thoughts about it, since Class D's final score had increased by 50 points from their initial 600.
And those 50 points came from—
After boarding, she stood aside while the golden-haired angel was surrounded by classmates.
"Our class got 650 points this time!"
"Even after deducting 500 points for Horikita and Kōenji, we still get to split 150 points."
"That means we correctly guessed one class's leader and got Reward Points."
"Wang said Kushida suggested writing down Class C's Ryūen's name. That got us 50 points."
"Each student gets an extra 5000 in monthly allowance."
"Thank you so much, Kushida-san."
Suzune stood with her arms crossed, watching Kikyō being surrounded by admirers.
The little angel wore a cute expression, clearly enjoying the attention. Her popularity had grown.
But Suzune wasn't interested in popularity. She had received her commission from Houtarou's exam reward — a 10% bonus.
He had received 300 Class Points (300,000 Private Points) for Class D's performance, and according to the rules, she would get 10%: 30 Class Points (30,000 PP).
Regarding Kikyō's correct guess of Class C's leader and the resulting 50 Reward Points — Suzune knew that girl couldn't have figured it out alone.
Clearly, Houtarou had guided her actions.
So while she got only 30 points, Kikyō received 50.
Suzune found herself comparing the differences between herself and Kikyō, wondering why Houtarou treated them differently.
She knew this girl had been using her feminine charms on him lately. Houtarou had asked for her help, claiming their daily hand-holding on the island was to build his resistance against Kikyō's advances.
Yet after all that hand-holding, this was the result.
Had Kikyō conquered him after all?
Suzune hated wasting effort.
"Horikita—" Kikyō finally broke free from her classmates' encirclement and approached the lone girl, "Would you like to have dinner together later? Everyone wants to have a celebration party."
This exam was indeed worth celebrating for Class D.
Even with 500 points allocated elsewhere, next month all Class D students would be able to afford meals — hence their desire for a celebration party.
And here was Kikyō, extending an invitation.
"Not interested." Suzune said flatly.
At the same time, she felt somewhat unwell.
She hadn't held hands with Houtarou today, yet her body felt strangely heavy.
It seemed like... the same sick feeling she had experienced during those two days on the cruise ship.
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