Reefs.
The bright sun hung high in the sky.
The salty sea breeze blew head-on, and the shimmering surface of the sea was like a professional drummer rhythmically beating against the rocks.
"So beautiful."
Ichinose stood at the edge of the cliff gazing at the scene, and the eyes of the Class B crowd behind her were similarly sparkling.
Not far away on the reef, a log cabin stood tall.
At their feet was a steel ladder; Hikigaya tested it and found it extremely stable. Clearly, the school frequently sent people to repair it.
Wanting to live in such a place posed many problems.
Safety issues, noise, dehydration, heatstroke, but basically, there were solutions for everything.
In short, the pros outweighed the cons.
"I'll go down and take a look first."
Shibata followed the ladder into the cabin and returned within moments, his face full of excitement as he said:
"Everyone, inside there's not only a toilet and bathroom, but also several fishing rods! Moreover, there's a spot right below, though it's a bit a pity that the spot is right on the reef; with no cover, it might be slightly dangerous."
"It's okay, we can just buy some cloth. Besides, this way we won't have to spend points to buy food, right?"
"I know how to fish, but eating nothing but fish for seven days won't be enough, right?"
"True, but this way we can save another large amount of points. That's really great."
The corners of the Class B students' mouths curled into smiles in unison.
The points saved would all be converted into Class Points, bringing them undoubtedly closer to Class A.
"Everyone."
Ichinose raised her hand to soothe everyone and smiled:
"I've thought about it carefully. If we set this as our base, what we need to buy is one sunshade canopy, two safety ropes, one water heater shower, and some earplugs. Everyone, see if there's anything missed."
The girls would stay in the cabin.
The remaining two tents could then be given to the boys to use.
Earplugs to prevent the noise of the waves.
The sunshade canopy would block the line of sight, preventing people from using binoculars to spy on the leader, and it would also prevent the girls working below from getting heatstroke—it was much more practical than things like cloth.
As for the safety ropes.
Hikigaya felt they weren't necessary, as this ladder was already stable enough.
Furthermore, the height was only two meters.
He felt there wouldn't be much of a problem even jumping down directly.
But it was somewhat dangerous for girls going up and down, so it could be considered insurance.
The two ropes were mainly to improve efficiency; while one person was on the ladder, the other wouldn't have to just stand below with nothing to do.
Economizing where necessary, but not being stingy where spending was required.
It wasn't a major issue.
Hikigaya roughly calculated that this should only cost about thirty points, much cheaper than buying tents and toilets.
Even adding some food and drinking water.
They should be able to save about 250 points by the end of the exam, not counting the rewards for occupying spots.
Actually.
Anyone could use Special Points to individually purchase supplies from Hoshinomiya-sensei; he also wanted to buy a pack of MAX Coffee.
Unfortunately.
It would probably be rejected directly, and he would be beaten to death by Ichinose and the others.
Thinking about it, he decided to forget it.
"No, the items to be bought are very thorough."
Watanabe said somewhat doubtfully: "Is the shower really necessary? Wouldn't it be better if everyone just used the bathroom in the cabin? That way we could save even more points, right?"
Watanabe-kun.
I'm begging you, read the room.
The girls obviously don't want to share a bathroom with the boys.
If a girl were to say 'I don't want to use something Hikigaya has used,' he would want to die.
Hikigaya was a bit speechless; don't cause trouble for me here.
"Yeah, wouldn't it be better if everyone shared one bathroom?"
A girl said...
Fine, this class is full of "goody-two-shoes."
Hikigaya surrendered.
"I've thought about it carefully."
Ichinose explained: "Even if we just take a quick shower, everyone needs at least two minutes, and girls might take longer."
"This way, just washing up would take over two hours. The efficiency is too low. It's more convenient and efficient to buy a shower for the boys. What does everyone think?"
"Indeed."
Watanabe and the others nodded.
Everyone else had no objections.
"Well then, next."
Ichinose looked around the circle and said:
"It's the issue of food and water."
"According to Hikigaya's speculation, there should be some places on the island with abundant supplies. I also seemed to see an orchard on the way just now."
"Combined with these fishing rods, it should be enough for us to last seven days. If it's not enough, we can spend some points as a supplement. How about it?"
The gazes of many more people turned toward him; Hikigaya stared at the sea surface expressionlessly.
My heart is like Buddha, as immovable as a mountain.
"Good."
Kanzaki nodded and said: "I saw it too just now. I also heard the sound of flowing water; there should be a river on the island, so there's no need to worry about drinking water."
"Is there anyone who cannot accept drinking river water?"
Ichinose sought everyone's opinion.
"That... could this be a bit risky?"
A short-haired girl said somewhat hesitantly: "If someone gets a stomach ache and is forced to withdraw from the exam, 30 points will be deducted. Won't that be a case of the gains not making up for the losses?"
"Indeed, Komume's concern is very correct."
Ichinose smiled approvingly: "Then let's have one person try drinking the river water first. If it's safe, we'll drink the river water. If there's a problem, we'll continue to buy drinking water. How about that?"
"Mm, that sounds good."
The girl named Komume breathed a sigh of relief. Hikigaya keenly noticed that several girls still seemed unable to accept it, but were unable to speak up due to the current atmosphere.
Whatever.
It had nothing to do with him anyway.
There was no need to fight for the rights of these girls he didn't know well.
River water wouldn't kill anyone; as long as it was boiled, there would be no problem at all.
"Now we'll start assigning work. Is there anything anyone wants to do?"
Ichinose raised her jade-like arm and smiled with high energy.
Hey, hey, hey.
How could there possibly be someone in this world who likes working? Especially work like this with no reward.
How could Ichinose make such a mistake?
Hikigaya was simply speechless.
"I'll go check out that orchard from before."
"Then I'll fish and bring back some river water while I'm at it?"
"Then I'll explore the island to see if there are any other spots!"
"Then I'll pitch the tents."
"Then shall we clean up the cabin first?"
The Class B students volunteered one after another.
Very well.
Hikigaya nodded.
He fully understood; this class was a group of irredeemable "goody-two-shoes."
Sigh.
Nothing can be done.
After all, he was also a member of Class B; he would definitely work hard too!
Thinking of this,
Hikigaya opened his mouth but felt a bit embarrassed, so he changed to raising his hand.
This was the first time he had proposed his own opinion.
"Hikigaya."
As expected, Ichinose did not ignore him and smiled: "Is there anything you want to do?"
"Yes."
Hikigaya nodded and said: "I'll stay behind to watch the fire and boil water."
"Uh..."
Ichinose and the others were choked up for a moment.
Who would want to do those exhausting jobs? Moreover, finding ingredients, fishing, and exploring the island undoubtedly required working with people.
He wasn't doing that!
He'd rather stay behind alone to boil water.
Since work was unavoidable, then he would find a way to pick the easiest job!
A loner is never influenced by the atmosphere.