ReruoIzayoi
patreon
Chapter 65: The Special Exam Begins!
🕑 Added 2025-04-24 08:09:02 +0000 UTCThe students from classes A, B, C, and D had all gathered on the deck. Saiki Kusuo turned his head to look into the distance. The cruise ship had already docked next to the island.
The students around him were all in a state of excitement, completely unaware of the true purpose behind the school's arrangement for this training camp.
"Please disembark in order by class and gather on the island. Also, everyone must hand over their phones to their homeroom teacher," a teacher announced through a megaphone to everyone present.
"That's strange. Are they confiscating our phones this time?" Some of the students who heard this began to sense that something was off.
Meanwhile, Sudo Ken, standing nearby, didn't give it a second thought. Instead, he smiled and said to Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki, "Our school is quite considerate. They're probably just trying to prevent our phones from falling into the water."
'Seriously, anyone with a functioning brain should be able to tell that something's off. Even a monkey from the zoo would notice that something's wrong,' Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.
"Exactly!" Yamauchi Haruki immediately agreed.
'Are you from the same zoo as him?' Saiki Kusuo silently retorted.
...
After a series of checks, Saiki Kusuo and his classmates finally left the cruise ship and stepped onto the island.
Without the luxurious environment of the cruise ship, the glaring sunlight poured down on everyone, and the warm sea breeze carried a faint salty smell.
"Now, let's begin the roll call," Chabashira Sae said, half-heartedly completing the attendance. After that, another man stepped forward, standing on a temporary white platform.
His name was Mashima Tomonari, the homeroom teacher of Class A.
"First of all, I'm glad that everyone has arrived here safely today. However, on the other hand, although it's only one student, it's unfortunate that someone couldn't participate due to illness," Mashima Tomonari said slowly.
"There's always someone who gets sick and can't join the trip. How pitiful," Ike Kanji shook his head, his eyes filled with pity.
Meanwhile, Saiki Kusuo's thoughts were completely opposite.
'Damn, you can actually take sick leave? Earlier, Chabashira-sensei said that everyone had to participate... If I take sick leave, can I just rest on the cruise ship and not take part in the exam?'
Saiki Kusuo's mind raced as he considered the possibility of using illness as an excuse to leave if the exam really started.
Thinking this, Saiki Kusuo couldn't help but smile slightly.
At the same time, next to Mashima Tomonari, other school staff began setting up tents and installing various electronic devices, which left the other students somewhat confused.
Mashima Tomonari continued, "Now then—we will begin this year's first special exam!"
'These freshmen, do they really think our school would spend money just to let them go on a vacation? How foolish!' Mashima Tomonari thought to himself.
As soon as he said this, the students erupted in chaos.
"What? There's a special exam?!"
"We weren't told about this before!"
"No wonder they confiscated our phones!"
Ignoring the students' discussion, Mashima Tomonari continued, "The exam will last for one week, starting now and ending at noon on August 7th. You will spend the next week on this uninhabited island, living as a group. This is the content of the exam. Additionally, let me make this clear upfront: this special exam is based on real corporate training programs. It is highly practical and realistic."
'In reality, 99% of people would never need to experience something like survival on a deserted island,' Saiki Kusuo thought.
"Furthermore, during the exam, you are not allowed to return to the ship without a valid reason. On this island, everything from finding a place to sleep to preparing food will be your responsibility. At the start, the school will provide each class with two tents, two flashlights, and a box of matches. As for other items, sunscreen is unlimited, and each of you will be given one toothbrush. As a special exception, we will allow female students to use sanitary products without restriction. Please make your requests to your homeroom teacher."
"What?! How can we suddenly be expected to do something like survive on a deserted island? This is ridiculous! This isn't an anime or a novel! And with only two tents, not everyone can sleep in them! What about food and other necessities... This is just unbelievable!" Ike Kanji loudly expressed his confusion. In his mind, he still thought the school might be joking.
"You say it's unbelievable, but that's only because your life has been short and shallow. In fact, there are real companies that conduct training on uninhabited islands, and they are well-known corporations that everyone has heard of. They hold similar activities," Mashima Tomonari said with utmost seriousness.
'Is this guy from Class C? What an idiot.'
'While I agree with the latter part of your statement, I don't think any well-known company would conduct survival training on a deserted island,' Saiki Kusuo responded in his mind.
'Anyway, I'll just use illness as an excuse later. If I can control my body temperature so the thermometer doesn't melt, I should be able to get away with it.'
"Teacher, you said this was a trip! You never mentioned an exam!" Another student raised their hand and said.
"That's true, which is why this exam is special. It's a 'free' exam. As the premise of this special exam on the uninhabited island, we will first distribute 300 exam points to each class. By making good use of these points, you can spend the week as if you're on a vacation!"
Mashima Tomonari paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"I've prepared a list of items for you. This list includes everything you can obtain using your points. Of course, necessities like drinking water and food are included. If you want to have a barbecue, we can also provide the equipment and food. Not only that, but we've also prepared countless marine activity tools for you to enjoy. If you use your 300 points wisely, it will be no different from a real vacation."
"Wait, really?!"
"If we have 300 points, it's basically a vacation, right?"
"So it's just about allocating points?"
Hearing Mashima Tomonari's words, the expressions of the other students relaxed somewhat.
'In this school, things are never that easy,' Saiki Kusuo pursed his lips. He could clearly hear Mashima Tomonari's thoughts.
'If you think the exam is that simple, you're being too naive!'
'As a teacher, can you stop making statements that sound like you're trying to turn the tables on us?'
"After this special exam, any remaining points will be added to your class points."
'Remaining points will be added to class points? That means if we don't spend any points during this week, our class will gain 300 points—which translates to an additional 30,000 personal points per month. That's enough to buy a lot of sweets. For me, I don't need to spend any points. I can just spend the week at home. But for others, that's probably not possible.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.
'I'm not interested in things like survival on a deserted island. I should just say I'm feeling unwell and take a leave.'
Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to raise his hand, Mashima Tomonari continued.
"In the rules of the special exam, if someone withdraws due to illness or other reasons, their class will be penalized by deducting 30 points. Therefore, Class A will start the exam with 270 points."
'Taking a leave will deduct points?'
'Seriously, who would take a leave during such a trip?'
'30 points! That's 3,000 personal points!'
'Tch, now I can't just take a leave,' Saiki Kusuo's mouth twitched.
'If I withdraw now and cause our class to lose points, I'll probably be seen as a troublemaker by my classmates. I might even be grouped with Koenji and Sudo as the most annoying people in class. If that happens, I'd rather die.'
"Now, I will give each of you a watch. Please do not remove it until the exam ends in one week. Students who remove their watches without permission will be penalized. This watch not only tells time but also has sensors to detect body temperature, pulse, and movement, as well as a GPS system. Additionally, in case of emergencies, the watch has a function to contact the school. Press this button, and staff will immediately come to your aid."
As soon as he finished speaking, the school staff began distributing the watches to all the students.
'A GPS system? But for a psychic, that's no limitation at all.'
Saiki Kusuo lowered his head and put on the watch. With his psychic abilities, he could easily remove the watch and manipulate its readings, making it impossible for the school staff to detect any anomalies in his location.
After all, if they saw his signal suddenly teleport thousands of miles away from the island, it would probably cause panic.
At the same time, the homeroom teachers of each class began explaining how to use some of the living supplies. However, Saiki Kusuo didn't pay much attention, as he had no intention of using any of those items.
"Lastly, there is a rule about occupying bases on this island. There are several bases on the island that can be occupied. The maximum duration of occupation is eight hours. Each time you occupy a base, you will earn one extra point. However, these points cannot be used during the exam and will only affect the final results."
Chabashira Sae said with a smile.
'This island is quite large, but the hints about the bases were already given to you earlier! The ship's announcement earlier, telling you to pay attention to the scenery outside, was actually a hint to observe the locations of the bases. How many of you noticed that hint?'
'Yare yare, so that's what it was,' Saiki Kusuo thought. He had heard the announcement earlier but didn't pay much attention to it.
After all, Saiki Kusuo had already used his psychic abilities to locate all the bases.
'There are bases? The announcement earlier, telling us to look at the scenery, was actually a hint about the bases,' Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, standing next to Saiki Kusuo, thought to himself. He had also figured out the locations of the bases.
"Also, the item list we just gave you contains more details about the rules of this exam. Please take a good look at it."
Listening to Chabashira Sae's words, Saiki Kusuo opened the manual in his hand and scanned the lines of text:
To occupy a base, you need a special key card.
Only the designated leader can use the key card.
Leaders cannot be replaced without a valid reason.
Saiki Kusuo noticed that at the end of the manual, there were additional rules.
On the final day of the exam, each class member can guess the leaders of other classes. For each correct guess, the guessing class will earn 50 class points, while the guessed class will lose 50 class points. Additionally, all extra points will be reset. However, if the guess is wrong, the guessing class will also lose 50 points.
'They've come up with another set of complicated rules. It seems that the most important part of this exam isn't survival but guessing the identities of the other classes' leaders,' Saiki Kusuo analyzed in his mind. However, he had no intention of participating in this.
Whether the others in his class wanted to rise to Class A or not was none of his concern. Saiki Kusuo just wanted to spend these seven days in peace, doing nothing and thinking about nothing. Once the exam was over, he would return to the cruise ship and enjoy the delicious food he hadn't had a chance to eat earlier.
"Do we really have to use this temporary toilet... I think the girls should have a separate toilet. Otherwise, it's too inconvenient."
"This is our class's shared points! Even if we use them, we should at least get the boys' approval first!"
"This is a matter for the girls. What does it have to do with you boys?"
Meanwhile, in Class C, a heated argument had already broken out over whether to spend points on an additional outdoor toilet.
'Yare yare, has it already come to this before the exam even officially starts?'
Saiki Kusuo was well aware that this special exam was destined to be anything but easy.
