"Ayanokoji-senpai~"
At that moment, the voice of Amasawa Ichika rang out from behind Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
"Amasawa, is there something you need?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka turned his head, his gaze falling on Amasawa Ichika's face.
"Senpai, your eyes have been on me the whole time~"
"Well, I'm afraid that if I look away, you might do something dangerous."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spoke slowly.
"Senpai still doesn't trust me~ But I came here because I have something very important to tell you."
"What is it?"
"Yagami-kun has been expelled."
"He's already been expelled?"
This surprised Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
He had thought Yagami Takuya was only forced to withdraw from the exam due to Saiki's interference. He hadn't expected Yagami to be expelled outright.
"Yes, because he went against orders and provoked Saiki-senpai. I heard Saiki-senpai completely crushed his will."
"Crushed his will?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka narrowed his eyes slightly.
If given enough time and the right environment, he could also drive an ordinary person to the brink.
However, in the context of this exam, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't sure if he could achieve something like that.
Moreover, Yagami Takuya was supposedly the top student of the White Room's fifth generation, not an ordinary student.
"I don't know what methods Saiki-senpai used, but there's no doubt that even Chairman Tsukishiro was afraid of him. That's why he couldn't take any action."
"I see."
"But because I contacted Saiki-senpai without permission, the White Room now sees me as a traitor."
Amasawa Ichika smiled slightly.
"This means I'm even less of an enemy to you, senpai."
"Is that so?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, of course, didn't fully believe Amasawa Ichika's words.
However, there was likely some truth to what she said, such as Yagami Takuya's expulsion.
This kind of news would be announced soon, so Amasawa Ichika had no reason to lie.
"The exam will end in a few days, Ayanokoji-senpai. Do you think Saiki-senpai will maintain first place on the final day?"
"I don't know."
Although Ayanokoji Kiyotaka said this, he already had an answer in his mind.
...
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
On the other side, Nagumo Miyabi let out a scream and suddenly opened his eyes.
"President, you're finally awake."
The other students around him looked at Nagumo Miyabi.
"I just had a nightmare. I dreamed that I was slapped away by that guy named Saiki. How ridiculous."
Nagumo Miyabi shook his head and laughed.
The people around him exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.
Because what Nagumo Miyabi described wasn't a dream.
"Wait, wasn't I competing against Saiki?"
"Well, President... the match is already over."
"What?!"
Nagumo Miyabi was completely stunned.
...
Two days later, the two-week-long uninhabited island exam finally came to an end.
On the final day, many teams pushed through the exam despite the difficulties, and some students were injured, but it was finally over.
By the evening of the last day, all the students had gradually returned to the ship.
The results of the exam would be announced later, and due to the possibility of many expulsions, the school would first notify the lower-ranked teams.
In the time between returning to the ship and resting, the students would soon experience the harsh reality.
At least they wouldn't be publicly humiliated in front of the entire school.
The bottom five teams would be called in by the teachers first to confirm whether they could afford the relief measures. Students who had prepared anti-expulsion measures could avoid expulsion by paying the corresponding points.
If their private points were insufficient, or if they had enough but chose not to pay for some reason, they would be expelled on the spot. They would pack their belongings and leave on a small boat.
At dinner time at seven o'clock, the students of Class A gathered together.
"First of all... let's celebrate the successful completion of this uninhabited island special exam by all the teams from Class 2-A. Since all of us are here now, it means we've all avoided expulsion. That's great!"
Hirata Yosuke wore a bright smile as he looked at the other students present.
Saiki glanced around. Although the rankings for the last two days weren't public, his psychic abilities allowed him to clearly know the rankings of the students in his class.
The last-place team in Class A was Sakura Airi's group, but they weren't in any danger.
No one from the other second-year classes was expelled either—
However, Saiki could feel countless eyes on him at that moment.
[Saiki must be at least in the top three for this exam, right?]
[Was he hiding his abilities all along?]
[If we want to return to Class A, we'll have to defeat Saiki.]
Saiki could clearly hear their thoughts.
Because of this exam, Saiki had become the focus of everyone's attention.
This included his own classmates.
[Kusuo-kun is really amazing.]
Sakura Airi's gaze remained fixed on Saiki's back.
[I told you, Saiki was definitely hiding his abilities.]
Matsushita Chiaki was pleased that she had noticed Saiki's hidden strength from the start.
Saiki could only shift his attention elsewhere, pretending not to notice.
He looked ahead at the lavish spread of food, including high-end desserts. Saiki couldn't wait to dig in.
But the other students around him hadn't started eating yet. They all seemed very nervous.
About ten minutes later, the teachers began to gather, and the microphone crackled to life.
"Please pause what you're doing and listen to me."
The speaker was Sasaki, the homeroom teacher for Class 3-A. All the students turned their attention to him.
"First, I want to say that everyone has worked hard during this uninhabited island special exam. Even though thirteen students were forced to withdraw due to various incidents, no team was completely eliminated. You've all made it through these two weeks, and all of us teachers are very pleased."
"I'm sure some students have already noticed that some of their classmates are absent. As per the rules, we've imposed penalties on the bottom five teams: Muto from Class 3-D, Kawakami from Class 3-D, Katsumata from Class 3-C, Shinonome from Class 3-C, and Mikitani from Class 3-B. Fortunately, these students have prepared relief points, so no one was expelled."
Upon hearing Sasaki-sensei's explanation, all the students cheered. After all, this meant everyone was safe.
It was clear that Nagumo Miyabi had ultimately provided the points to ensure these students could stay.
Saiki turned to look at Nagumo Miyabi, whose face showed no emotion.
But Saiki could clearly sense what Nagumo Miyabi was thinking.
In Nagumo Miyabi's mind, scenes from the uninhabited island exam were replaying over and over.
The scene where Saiki defeated him.
At that moment, a large screen suddenly lit up, and a figure appeared on the white display.
Tsukishiro Tokinari.
"Now, let's announce the top three rankings for this uninhabited island exam."
"Third place—Class 3-A, Nagumo Miyabi's team, with 301 points."
Hearing Nagumo Miyabi's name, all the students erupted in murmurs.
At the start of the exam, almost everyone had assumed Nagumo Miyabi would take first place without a doubt.
But in the end, not only did Nagumo Miyabi fail to take first place, he didn't even secure second place, falling to third.
After losing to Saiki, Nagumo Miyabi seemed to lose his drive. His speed and enthusiasm for participating in tasks dropped significantly, and he didn't take any special actions against Koenji Rokusuke.
This caused Nagumo Miyabi to fall completely behind in the race for first place.
At this moment, Nagumo Miyabi remained expressionless, while Kiriyama Ikuto beside him clenched his fists in frustration.
Originally, he had aimed for second place.
But in the end, he didn't even make it into the top three.
"Second place—Class 2-A, Koenji Rokusuke's team, with 326 points."
"Second place? Well, that's just how it is."
Koenji Rokusuke shook his head but smiled as he accepted the result.
"Koenji-kun, I hope you haven't forgotten our agreement."
Horikita Suzune turned to Koenji Rokusuke with a serious expression.
They had made a deal before the exam.
If Koenji Rokusuke took first place, he would be free to act as he pleased afterward.
But if he didn't take first place, Koenji Rokusuke would have to participate fully as a member of the class.
Second place was the best outcome for Horikita Suzune.
"Of course, Horikita GIRL. I'm a man of my word. And I accept the result of this exam, especially since I met someone interesting."
Koenji Rokusuke said with a smile.
This surprised Horikita Suzune, as it was the first time she had heard Koenji Rokusuke acknowledge someone's existence.
With Koenji Rokusuke's name announced, the identity of the first-place winner was no longer in doubt.
"First place—Class 2-A, Saiki, with 327 points."
As Saiki's name was called, he once again felt everyone's eyes on him.
'Yare yare, this is exactly why I don't like drawing too much attention.'
Saiki sighed inwardly.
[As expected of Saiki!]
[Saiki is our greatest enemy!]
[I really want to get to know Saiki-senpai better.]
The thoughts of the students around Saiki became increasingly noisy. There was nothing he could do but accept the outcome.
...
With the uninhabited island exam over, Saiki's class received an enormous amount of class points.
Saiki alone contributed 300 points, and Koenji Rokusuke's second-place finish further widened the gap between Class A and the other classes.
Class B, led by Sakayanagi Arisu, had been closely trailing Class A, but now catching up would be increasingly difficult.
After the exam, the students could enjoy a special summer vacation on the luxurious cruise ship.
With a movie theater, swimming pool, and spa, the students could freely enjoy any of the ship's facilities.
For Saiki, this was a great opportunity to relax, as he hadn't had much good food during the uninhabited island exam.
Saiki wasn't interested in the other entertainment facilities. He mostly stayed in his room reading books and watching movies, only coming out to enjoy the various desserts.
After the exam, the variety of desserts on the cruise ship had doubled.
This was a reward for Saiki's first-place finish.
'This makes it all worth it.'
At that moment, Saiki was happily enjoying a special dessert while muttering to himself.
But then, his phone vibrated slightly.
Kiriyama Ikuto: I need to talk to you. Meet me by the swimming pool.
Seeing Kiriyama Ikuto's message, Saiki initially had no intention of going. However, to avoid unnecessary trouble, he decided to head over.
By the way, recently, Saiki's phone had been receiving messages from various unfamiliar numbers, mostly from girls who wanted to get to know him.
After the uninhabited island exam, it seemed the entire school knew about Saiki, and many girls were interested in him.
However, Saiki had no desire to interact with them, so he mostly ignored the messages.
Saiki arrived at the swimming pool area, but Kiriyama Ikuto hadn't shown up yet.
However, Saiki picked up on a slightly troublesome thought and was about to leave when the owner of that thought called out to him.
"Saiki-kun, how have you been lately? You've become quite the celebrity at school."
The speaker was none other than Kiryuin Fuka.
"To be honest, not great."
Saiki shook his head and sighed.
He didn't like the feeling of being the center of attention.
"You took first place in the exam, as expected. It's quite interesting. Not only that, but Nagumo has been completely demoralized."
Kiryuin Fuka narrowed her eyes slightly.
"He held a position above everyone else and had far more pride than anyone. He saw you as an enemy and wanted to completely defeat you in this exam, but he never expected things to turn out this way. Not only did he lose, but he did so in such a humiliating manner in front of everyone. How pitiful."
'I didn't want it to be like this.'