I have a life simulator.

Anyway, the reason is sufficient: I feel that my abilities are not enough to score points for the team if I stay on the island, so in order not to waste extra points and resources on me, just eliminate me directly!

This idea quickly became popular in many groups.

Around noon, there was even an incident where the remaining three members of a group from Class C asked the school for help, claiming that they were feeling unwell and wanted to withdraw from the exam.

On the surface, this approach is not without merit. Although their group became the first group on the entire island to be eliminated, their score was thus fixed and stabilized in the lower half of the group rankings.

Essentially, it's still the same problem from the beginning: not every group has the idea or ability to compete for the top three. For mid-level groups, isn't it enough to just avoid being in the bottom three?

Moreover, for groups whose members have already been eliminated, participating in the project has become a vicious cycle.

Most teams that are missing members cannot guarantee points like Karuizawa Megumi, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and Ryuen Sho. They either fall to last place and continue to lose members, or they come in third place with nothing happening. They not only fail to get points, but also have to spend their points to exchange for supplies.

It would be better to just quit the exam.

Chabashira Sae heard similar conversations along the way, and simply clenched her fingers into a fist.

This is also a trap set by the school.

It wasn't until the thirteenth day that each class realized the importance of the number of students.

Each additional person provides an extra, more secure advantage.

So she has to tell Class A this information.

Tell them that she secretly read the last and largest project that the school prepared for the surviving students on the thirteenth and fourteenth days after the final exam.

Actually, it had already been hinted at before.

The final showdown unfolded with each class forming its own faction:

[Project Title: Jungle Live-Action CS]

Updates to the old book may be unstable for the next couple of days.

First of all, I am very sorry that I was unable to complete the extra updates I promised during the May Day holiday, and even the regular updates were unstable. It was my own fault. I had a big disagreement with my family about blind dates and work. After a bunch of messy things, I only had time to write around midnight every day. Because I told the editor that the book would be available for purchase this week, I could only update the book first and then write the old book.

As you can see from the release dates of my two latest chapters, they were both published quite late.

As is customary, I'll be updating more frequently when a new book is released, so I'll probably have to put the older books on hold for the next couple of days.

Since the new book will be available on Friday, the old book should resume regular updates starting on Saturday.

I'm truly sorry to the readers who have been following the updates during this time.

Chapter 197: A Net Spreads Far and Wide, An Ambush from All Sides

"You are the best class of students I have ever taught."

At noon on the eighth day of the special exam on the deserted island, the camp of Class 1-A was bustling with activity. Although a full group of students who refused to ride Kitagawa Ryomo had been lost on the morning of the seventh day, about thirty students from Class 1-A still remained. They were having a meal together, chatting and laughing. Chabashira Sae, who had been "enthusiastically invited" and "forced" to come to the scene, also made a speech with a smile:

“Even after all these years since the founding of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, I still think you are the best group of Class A students ever.”

"So even though we're slightly behind in the class rankings right now, I sincerely believe that with the remaining time in the exams, we can regain our rightful number one position."

"Students, do you have confidence?"

"Have!"

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka listened to the responses around him without any emotional fluctuation. He simply kept his gaze fixed on Chabashira Sae, closely watching her every move.

Kohei Katsuragi, sitting next to him, also noticed Kiyotaka Ayanokouji's unwavering gaze, but he didn't pay it any mind, since most of the boys in the class had their eyes on Sae Chabashira at that moment.

Just as Chabashira Sae finished her opening remarks and everyone was preparing to pick up their chopsticks and enjoy this rare and sumptuous meal since arriving on the island, two uninvited guests suddenly darted in from the side.

Katsuragi Kohei was the quickest to react, immediately standing up and asking with some confusion:

"Mr. Mashima, Mr. Hoshinomiya, what's going on here?"

"I just heard that some people are secretly coming to the students' area to enjoy a big meal behind our backs, and they want to come and freeload off us!"

Hoshinomiya Chie shouted loudly in her usual silly tone.

All three of them were graduates of Tokyo Advanced Educational High School, with Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie even being in the same graduating class. Many students had witnessed the close relationship between her and Chabashira Sae, so Katsuragi Kohei wasn't too surprised and said quite enthusiastically:

"If the two class advisors don't mind, they can also come and participate."

"Of course I don't mind, would Sae-chan care? Sigh, it's a pity we can't drink during work, otherwise I really want the three of us to have a good drink together."

Hoshinomiya Chie quite naturally squeezed in and sat down next to Chabashira Sae.

"The students are struggling on a deserted island, so our work is nothing compared to that."

Mashima Tomoya also smiled and took his seat, flanking Saeki Chasaki on either side.

"Really...you haven't changed at all."

Chabashira Sae looked at Hoshinomiya and sighed as if she had given up. She then turned her gaze to Mashima Tomoya:

"I didn't expect you to come too."

"Because this special exam unfolded in such a chaotic way, with so many unexpected events, we were exhausted and of course wanted to find a chance to slack off."

Hoshinomiya Chie, completely lacking in manners, picked up a piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing vigorously as she retorted.

"Giving students too much freedom is indeed a problem—although it wasn't mentioned in the report. But surely, behind our backs, the boys and girls are doing all sorts of things?"

"Right, right, Katsuragi-kun?"

"I believe no one in our class would do such a thing."

Katsuragi Kohei, who had been called on out of nowhere, replied with a somewhat dark face.

"Haha—just kidding, just kidding."

Hoshinomiya Chie waved her hand casually.

"Speaking of which, I heard Sae-chan's comment just now."

"Oh my, you've really become quite the talker, Sae-chan."

Hoshinomiya put down his chopsticks and poked Chabashira Sae under the armpit with his hand.

"stop."

Slightly annoyed, Chabashira grabbed Hoshinomiya's hand and glared at her fiercely:

"I just want to say that they are better than the classes of previous years."

"Yeah, yeah, I think what Sae-chan said is true, after all, you've always been the homeroom teacher for Class D."

"uh-huh?"

In this gradually subtle atmosphere, Tomoya Mashima calmly began to eat.

Although the students in Class A were unaware of what had happened, they didn't want to get involved in their teachers' conversation, so they pretended not to see anything and focused on eating their food.

Although Chabashira Sae was extremely anxious as she was being closely watched by the two, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he knew that these two homeroom teachers were most likely sent by Kitagawa Ryo to deliberately target Chabashira Sae who wanted to leak information, he was more afraid that Chabashira Sae would lose all rationality and actually leak the specific information.

"Do not care."

Now, Katsuragi Kohei was the one who was uneasy and kept looking in the direction of the tea stalk Sae. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka patted him on the shoulder, indicating that he didn't need to be anxious.

"Are you okay?"

Katsuragi Kohei asked in a low voice with some concern.

"Ah."

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji didn't want to explain further. Rather, the current situation was actually going in his favor. He wasn't particularly concerned about the matter between Chabashira Sae and Hoshinomiya Chie. If he weren't worried that Chabashira Sae's actions would lead to Class A's results being canceled in this exam, he would even have wanted Chabashira to break the school rules.

At that time, the school should assign a new homeroom teacher to Class A.

Kiyotaka Ayanokoji also didn't believe that there could be another Chabashira Sae in the entire Tokyo Advanced Educational High School.

Until the end of this gathering, Chabashira Sae didn't find any opportunity to pass on any information, and even when she went to the toilet, Hoshinomiya Chie insisted that she go with her.

After this subtly charged dinner, the students of Class A, having eaten and drunk their fill, bid each other farewell contentedly. In the two rounds of projects that morning, Class A had the highest retention rate among the four classes, which undoubtedly boosted their confidence.

After all, if they hadn't been ripped off by Kitagawa Ryo, Class A should still be firmly in first place in the class rankings.

With this confidence, Class A of Grade 1 quietly awaited the start of the next round of research projects.

Having witnessed the crisis averted, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji finally began his own preparations.

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

At the registration point for the "Group Dodgeball" project, Karuizawa Kei pushed aside the trees in front of her and slowly approached, concealing her figure.

If possible, she doesn't want to face an overly strong team when she's in a solo group. The "team dodgeball" challenge in front of her is actually not bad for a solo group. If she signs up, she will have the advantage of only being eliminated after failing to dodge four times.

But I always felt that the surroundings were a little too quiet.

Logically speaking, a project that isn't particularly difficult should have no shortage of applicants.

However, there wasn't enough time left for Karuizawa Kei to move to the location of other projects. After hesitating for a moment, Karuizawa Kei still chose to go and register.

But the moment she successfully registered, three groups from Class A emerged from behind another grove of trees, led by the elite group personally led by Katsuragi Kohei.

"We're signing up."

He looked at Karuizawa Kei not far away and calmly addressed the teacher in charge of registration.

the other side.

Shiina Hiyori and Ibuki Mio's duo found themselves in a predicament after the exam began on the eighth day on the deserted island. Essentially, their strengths were complementary, but the current team project emphasized either academic ability or physical strength, and participating in either would render the other person useless.

The preferential treatment given to two-person teams is not as obvious as that given to single-person teams.

Therefore, the two who did not find a suitable topic in the first two rounds of the morning's projects simply gave up participating in any projects.

Although the scores decreased rather than increased, at least no one was eliminated.

However, both of them knew that they couldn't keep running away like this. Even if they managed to survive until the end of the exam, the group's score would drop to a pitiful level, which would be nothing short of torture.

Therefore, after the afternoon's topic was updated, the two of them quickly locked onto their target.

[Topic Title: Folding Newspapers to Play Rock-Paper-Scissors]

[Topic Type: Other]

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

Place two A4-sized newspapers on the ground. Working in groups, each member must stand on the newspapers. Anyone who falls outside the newspaper's coverage area is eliminated. Each group randomly plays rock-paper-scissors against another group each round. The group with the highest score wins (e.g., if one member from group A is 'a' and three members from group B are 'bcd', then 'a' from group A must play three consecutive rounds of rock-paper-scissors against 'bcd' from group B). In case of a tie, a tiebreaker is played. The losing group must fold the newspaper under their feet in half and then stand on it again (no feet are allowed to touch the ground). The group is eliminated if all members fall outside the newspaper's coverage area.

[First Place: 2500 points, one chance to upgrade to a regular card]

Second place: 2000 points

The group whose members are eliminated first will be the last place in this project. If multiple groups are eliminated in the same round, a tiebreaker will be held until the last place is determined.

The group that finishes last must select one member to withdraw from the exam within the allotted time. If no selection is made by the end of the time limit, the school will randomly select one member from that group to be eliminated.

Theoretically speaking, a group with fewer members might actually have an advantage in this project.

Furthermore, Ibuki Mio and Shiina Hiyori are both girls, so they are naturally smaller in size.

With this in mind, the two quickly moved towards the location of the research topic.

They rushed to their seats in the last five minutes, and after learning that there were still spots available, they immediately signed up, only to realize that something was wrong.

Three more groups from Class A emerged, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

"Compared to getting points, what's more important now is—"

"Remove all known holders of special cards from the game as soon as possible."

Chapter 198: Don't take it to heart!

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji knew very well that he had a significant advantage over Ryo Kitagawa: the latter would be distracted by many other groups, and if they encountered unforeseen circumstances, Ryo Kitagawa would even abandon his own ongoing plans.

Like his previous attempt to probe Karuizawa Megumi, although it ultimately failed to achieve the desired result, it further confirmed Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's point.

His plan today was actually an upgraded version of that day's plan, with the additional target being Shiina Hiyori's group, and Katsuragi Kohei leading the team to directly block Karuizawa Megumi.

Just like Ishizaki Daichi's reaction when he advised Kitagawa Ryo not to participate in the "Team Mental Arithmetic Competition" project, most students were afraid to continue participating when faced with the three A-class groups, and instead opted to avoid the competition by letting them fight each other.

Simply place students on the route around the topic to monitor the area, and when other groups pass by, display a deterrent effect appropriately, then hide again once the target group appears.

Because most students are often unaware of the importance of the information, they may find it strange, but it is difficult for them to connect it to this level and issue a warning immediately.

Furthermore, the fact that Kitagawa Ryo has connections with these groups from other classes doesn't mean it's a common phenomenon. If a student from Class D discovers that Class A is planning to target a particular group from Class B, he generally won't care too much.