I have a life simulator.

People are inherently shameful, and those who lacked shame have now dropped out of school. It can be said that it was thanks to Tomoya Mashima's efforts that Class D was able to maintain its collective form to this day, despite having zero points.

"So, let's first toast to Mr. Majima."

"Of course, it's water."

Kitagawa Ryo touched Majima Tomoya's plastic bottle with his own. They didn't have that many cups, and no one was too picky. In this lively atmosphere, even the drinking water filtered by the water purifier didn't seem to have any strange taste.

Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, stripped of all its accolades and formalities, is ultimately just a high school, a school.

The purpose of school is to learn knowledge and make friends.

After experiencing two simulations with Sakayanagi Arisu, Kitagawa Ryo finally understood the selfish intentions his grandfather had left behind as an educator when he founded the school.

Class D has never surpassed Class A in any previous graduating class.

However, they still received a full three-year education at Tokyo Advanced Educational High School.

As Arisu Sakayanagi said, taking Class D of this year as an example, among the forty students initially admitted to Class D, there were students from single-parent families whose high schools had their admissions revoked because of violent incidents; there were students who were the worst students in their class during junior high and only knew how to brag; there were students with extremely poor physical fitness but great talent in electronics; and there were students from ordinary families who were unremarkable and excelled in no aspect during junior high.

The vast majority of students in Class D would have absolutely no chance of getting into a high school of the same caliber as Tokyo Advanced Educational High School if they went through the normal college entrance process.

Therefore, Class D can be called the "defective class" because most of the students assigned here have experienced varying degrees of harm in the past, either in their families of origin or in their school life, and are people with certain defects.

But from another perspective, this is also another opportunity given to them by Tokyo Advanced Educational High School.

If Dongyu hadn't accepted Sudo Ken, he would most likely have dropped out of school and ended up on the streets after his impulsive violent incident led to his expulsion from school. He might have played street basketball, but he was more likely to become a scumbag and a hoodlum.

Education is the social welfare that most needs to be made as fair as possible, or at least appear to be fair.

Because it is a platform for broadening horizons; it is also a springboard for upward mobility.

If most of the thirty-four people sitting here hadn't gone to Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, they probably wouldn't have had the experience of taking a cruise to an artificial island overseas when they were sixteen.

Only when everyone realizes this can they turn their attention away from that distant Class A and focus it on themselves.

Then, make full use of and enjoy Dongyu's educational resources.

"cheers!"

Everyone excitedly raised their plastic bottles, and the various dishes prepared in advance were served. After a hard week on the deserted island, almost everyone, men and women alike, ate heartily without any manners.

Although Class D's score was still at the bottom of the four classes, many groups had made it into the top 50% of the group rankings. Sudo Ken's group even seemed poised to break into the top three. The students of Class D chatted and ate, thoroughly enjoying themselves, discussing the various events, bizarre topics, and winning strategies that had occurred over the past seven days.

Kitagawa Ryo sat next to Majima Tomoya, seemingly to show off his status as the leader of Class D, but the real reason was that he just wanted to avoid the chaotic and disorderly girls. After all, sitting next to or opposite someone wouldn't satisfy the others.

"It seems you still remember the promise you made back then."

Majima Tomoya affectionately put his arm around Kitagawa Ryo's shoulder, referring to a conversation the two had late at night on the first floor of their hotel during one of their outings.

"It was your inspiration."

Kitagawa Ryo replied with a smile.

In fact, before that heart-to-heart talk with Mashima Tomoya, he didn't really have any feelings about Class 1-D, and it might not even be as strong as Class C, which he had been in during the simulation.

Although Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu seem like complete socialites in front of Ichinose Honami, the former joined the student council and the latter became close friends with Matsushita Chiaki. In truth, he was the one most estranged from Class D.

Even the help he gave to Sudo Ken at the time of enrollment was merely a preemptive remedy, not wanting Class D to fall into the abyss in the first month of school because of his stupidity.

Just like how, despite possessing the golden talent of "photographic memory," Kitagawa Ryo could mistakenly remember his classmate Wang Meiyu's name as Wang Xiaomei, his social circle at that time was still the same group as before.

It was after communicating with Tomoya Mashima that Kitagawa Ryo finally accepted himself into Class D. His original plan was to have Honami Ichinose or Suzune Horikita become the apparent leaders of Class D.

And now, I have indeed made many classmates who can be called friends.

"Although I don't know how far you'll end up."

Mashima Tomoya squinted, looking at the scene before him as if he were slightly tipsy, even though he was only drinking water.

"But it would be best to continue on this path."

"If I can look back on this summer vacation with a smile ten or twenty years from now, that would be the best."

-------------------------------------

Later that evening, Kitagawa Ryo left the dinner party. He took some of the food he had saved in advance and walked alone to the other side of the forest, where Ryuen Sho from Class C was already waiting.

Ryuen Sho thought that Kitagawa Ryo was going to give him some task or ask him for some information. He never expected that Kitagawa Ryo just wanted to have a chat with him.

"I made it myself, it's so much better than your grilled fish that's just salted. Want some?"

Kitagawa Ryopan laid out the tablecloth and sat down to invite Ryuen Sho.

It would be foolish not to take advantage of a good deal, especially since the dishes looked quite appealing. Having survived on the deserted island for several days and eaten baguettes as the best food he had ever had, Long Yuanxiang sat down casually and put a piece of bread into his mouth.

"It's a shame that someone with your skills isn't a chef."

While offering this compliment, Long Yuanxiang also casually remarked:

"We, Class C, owe you a debt of gratitude for what happened in the F4 area today."

Immediately afterwards, his expression darkened:

"The unlucky guy who dropped out of the exam by drinking untreated water was a student in our Class C. To make matters worse, he was in a duo with his girlfriend. Although the girl was fine and was still taking the exam on the deserted island, the overall situation was not optimistic."

"If it weren't for me being at the bottom, she probably would have fallen to last place in just a few days."

"That is indeed quite troublesome."

Kitagawa Ryo imagined it, roughly equivalent to the group of Ibuki Mio and Shiina Hiyori. Ibuki Mio was forced to withdraw from the exam due to her physical condition. Even though Shiina Hiyori's abilities should be much higher than the average girl in Class C, Kitagawa Ryo still had some doubts about whether she could survive independently on the deserted island and find research topics.

"To prevent her score from dropping too quickly, I temporarily added her to another group, which will at least save some points for exchanging supplies."

Since it wasn't important information, and there was really no one else to complain to, Ryuen Sho had a good chat with Kitagawa Ryo.

After Long Yuanxiang ate the last bit of soup from the plate in front of him, mixing it with rice, he let out a satisfied sigh and stretched.

"Alright, I don't really think you're here to invite me to dinner, Kitagawa. Stop beating around the bush, or I'm going to go out for a walk to digest my food."

"Actually, I just wanted to have a meal with you from the beginning. Just think of it as me fulfilling a promise I made a long time ago."

Kitagawa Ryo leaned against the tree, speaking with a sense of relief, then asked with a smile:

"What I'm about to say might just be me talking to myself, so just take it with a grain of salt, Longyuan."

"In the first semester of the past year, Hui and I starred in a play called 'Youth Taboo Games'. The story of the play is very simple: a group of students hope to change their graduation grades and do not hesitate to use deception, bribery, violence and coercion to achieve their goal."

"At that time, I actually felt that many students in Tokyo Advanced Educational High School were no different from those in the play. Everyone used all sorts of means in hopes of becoming a student in Class A. Even the homeroom teacher was not as principled as the one in the play, and just treated the students arbitrarily according to his own likes and dislikes."

“Yesterday you told Ayanokouji Kiyotaka that he went north, but in fact Suzune later told me that they saw Ayanokouji in the south, and at that time you even took off your watch.”

At this point, Kitagawa Ryo paused, his tone somewhat apologetic:

"Actually, for the rest of that day, I was on guard against you. I even wondered if you deliberately damaged the watch and wanted to use that blank time to do something, such as attacking other students from behind and forcing them to drop out of the exam."

"But in fact, Ayanokouji was just deceiving you at that time. You didn't do anything unusual while the watch was detached. That's when I realized that I had also fallen into that misconception and started to get used to deceiving and inducing others, and then giving it a nice name, calling it 'meritocracy'."

"Of course, I don't intend to deny any of your ideas or actions, Long Yuan. It's just that, personally, I hope you won't simply and crudely bring those street rules into this school and then take them out in their original form."

Kitagawa Ryo himself realized he had been too presumptuous. He smiled somewhat troubledly, then remembered something else:

"I remember that before this special exam on the deserted island, Ryuen, the contract you signed with Ayanokouji was as follows: you would use your own points to provide supplies and assistance to Class A, and then bind all of Class C's 'Hitchhiking' cards to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. In return, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka promised to be in the top three. In this way, the 'Hitchhiking' cards could bring a huge number of personal points to your Class C. And if Ayanokouji's own group did not make it into the top three, he would also have to compensate your class with a large number of personal points, right?"

That's the general idea.

Ryuen Sho nodded. He himself possessed the [Resurrection] card, which meant he wouldn't be expelled even if his score dropped to the bottom of his group. That's why he agreed to Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's deal.

He has always been pursuing personal points rather than class points. Regardless of whether Ayanokouji Kiyotaka can make it into the top three, Class C can obtain a large number of personal points, which is a sure-fire way to make money in Ryuen Sho's eyes.

"But it's not a sure thing."

As if he could see right through Ryuen Sho's mind, Kitagawa Ryo nodded.

Then, he revealed the crucial information that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had concealed by exploiting information asymmetry, the information that had induced Ryuen Sho to agree to the deal.

"Before this deserted island exam began, I signed a contract with Class A."

The contents of the contract are—

"All personal points earned by all students in Class A of Grade 1 in this special exam on the deserted island belong entirely to me."

"In other words, even if Kiyotaka Ayanokoji gets first place in the group ranking, your Class C's [Hitchhiking] card will not be able to get a quarter of the one million personal points reward for first place in the group."

"Because a quarter of zero is still zero."

Chapter 193: The Eagle Catches the Chick Approach

The contract with Class A was actually an unintentional act by Kitagawa Ryo. At that time, he was unaware that the summer deserted island exam would be modified into what it is today by Nagumo Masashi and the school.

Since the school's arrangements from the start of the semester to the end of the first semester were exactly the same as those of the second mock exam that Kitagawa Ryo remembered Karuizawa Kei from, he naturally assumed that the special exam on the deserted island during the summer would also be similar to that one, with each class as a group, and the four classes competing by capturing points and guessing the leader.

With little change in the timeline, Kitagawa Ryo also speculated that Ryuen Sho from Class C would still use the so-called "800 million points" promotion plan, proposing a trade of supplies to Class A in exchange for a large number of personal points.

He was only aiming for that part of the points at first.

[Kitagawa Ryo is entitled to all personal points earned by Class 1-A through any means during the summer special exam.]

This is the specific content of the contract that Kitagawa Ryo signed with Class 1-A at that time.

Unexpectedly, the special exam on the deserted island during the summer vacation turned into a battle royale game, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka reacted very quickly and took advantage of this information gap to trick Ryuen Sho.

He was definitely confident that he could break into the top three in the group, and the individual points obtained by the top three in the group would be directly allocated to Kitagawa Ryo. So it was as if Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had just talked his way out of all the "free ride cards" in Class C and found Ryuen Sho as an outside helper for Class A.

Moreover, this move was quite clever, because Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought that even if Kitagawa Ryo noticed this, he wouldn't point it out.

From a rational perspective, ultimately it is Class C's interests that are harmed, while Class D can be considered a direct beneficiary.

But to his surprise, Kitagawa Ryo exposed the lie.

Long Yuanxiang also realized this, and he unusually put away his usual exaggerated smile, squinting his eyes thoughtfully.

"Ok."

He finally straightened up, his tone sounding like a sigh, but the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile:

"After the days on the deserted island, I was no longer a double agent."

"Whether you can stop Ayanokouji or not."

"I'll help you with everything, okay?"

Kitagawa Ryo responded with a smile as well:

"Then it's settled."

-------------------------------------

Day 8 of the special exam on the deserted island, early morning.

As the exams entered their second week, although Kitagawa Ryo had anticipated some of the changes the school might make, the students in Class D still felt considerable pressure when they saw the updated lesson plans for the first time that morning.

The school's attitude was even firmer than Kitagawa Ryo had imagined. It wasn't a matter of 60% or 80% at all. Starting from the first round of projects on the eighth day of the special exam on the deserted island, the number of projects was drastically reduced compared to before, and all of them became large-scale projects that were to be participated in by groups.

What shocked everyone even more was that every topic had the same punishment: the group that ranked last in that topic would be forced to select one person to withdraw from the exam.

In other words, each task will directly eliminate one person on the island.

"Then we just need to avoid falling to last place."

"Believe in your team members, we will win."

For the first time, Kitagawa Ryo gave a speech in front of the whole class, speaking like a leader.

Not far away, the homeroom teacher, Tomoya Mashima, smiled as he watched each group that had chosen their topic leave one after another. He stood there for a long time, as if he could never get enough of the sight.

"Sudo, let's go over to this topic."

After encouraging the students in the class, Kitagawa Ryo stepped forward, patted Sudo Ken on the shoulder, and pointed to a topic on his watch.

[Topic: Four-Man Horseback Battle]

[Topic Type: Sports]

[Project Description: Participation is by group. Registration closes one hour after four groups have registered or the project is announced.]

Three players act as "horse riders," and one player acts as the "rider." Both the horse rider and the rider must wear a headscarf. The team must protect their own headscarf from being taken by other teams while simultaneously capturing as many headscarves as possible from other teams. When both the "rider" and "horse rider's" headscarves are taken, that team is eliminated. At the end of the allotted time, or when only one team remains, the two teams with the most headscarves win.

[First Place: 2500 points]

Second place: 2000 points

The group that wins the fewest headscarves will be ranked last in this project. The group must select one member to withdraw from the exam within the specified time. If no selection is made by the end of the time limit, the school will randomly select one member from the group to be eliminated.

"This seems to be a sports festival event. I've seen a similar topic before, I think it was [two-person horseback riding battle]?"

Kenjiro Sudo scratched the back of his head and asked, somewhat puzzled.