Chapter 212 Why Does She Have This Expression After Hearing Shimizu Akira's Name?
Class B chose their base camp in a relatively open clearing within the forest.
Ichinose Honami's luck was indeed quite good—two hours ago, while advancing deep into the woods, her sharp eyes caught sight of a massive fallen giant tree. Sensing this might be a landmark hint, she immediately led her class to follow the trail.
After walking several hundred meters more, several wells enclosed with stones appeared before their eyes. A decorative post stood by the wells, embedded with a card-reading device for swiping keycards.
Year 1 Class B had successfully discovered a base location on the afternoon of the first day.
Since the camp was near a river, Ichinose Honami specifically went to check the bank. The stream was crystal clear, and many schools of fish could be seen swimming about. Consequently, she immediately purchased several fishing rods from the school.
However, no one expected that almost everyone in Class B would be a novice at fishing. A few male students had just volunteered to crouch by the river with rods, but after tossing and turning for over an hour, they only managed to catch a few fish totaling less than 5 pounds. For a class of 40 people, this was clearly a drop in the bucket—hardly enough to get stuck between one's teeth.
Therefore, Ichinose Honami decided to spend Special Exam Points to purchase an additional class food package to ensure no one went hungry that night.
Once the group finished their simple lunch, Ichinose gathered everyone in a circle again—another urgent matter was weighing on her mind.
"Regarding the candidate for the Class Leader, who does everyone think is most suitable?" she asked gently, lightly rubbing her temples to solicit opinions.
Hoshinomiya Chie had stated long ago that a Leader must be determined as quickly as possible, as it was a clear requirement of the exam rules.
"Can't you do it, Ichinose?"
"Idiot, of course not! Every other class knows Ichinose is our class representative. If she's the Leader, wouldn't they guess it instantly?"
"Exactly. It's safer to pick someone unexpected so we aren't targeted by other classes."
The group began discussing animatedly. Since Ichinose Honami was extremely popular and the undisputed "face" of Class B, everyone instinctively excluded her from the candidacy. Furthermore, with the check-in device right in front of them, deciding on a person sooner meant they could complete the first check-in and secure that baseline 1 point.
Just then, a timid voice spoke up: "Um... if you don't mind, could I try being the Leader?"
The speaker was a short-haired girl. She raised her hand slightly, her face showing a bit of nervousness, but her eyes were determined. Ichinose looked toward the voice and recognized her classmate, Shiranami Chihiro.
It was clear she sincerely wanted to contribute to the class. However, the moment Ichinose saw Shiranami Chihiro, complicated thoughts inevitably flashed through her mind—she remembered the time the other girl gathered the courage to confess her feelings to her, and the scene in June when Shiranami, with red eyes, suddenly questioned her: "Who is Shimizu Akira?"
But that was all two months ago. Today, Shiranami Chihiro had regained her usual composure when speaking to her; her words and actions were as natural as if those interludes had never happened, looking as though she had truly moved on.
"Does Shiranami want to take this on proactively?"
"That seems like a good idea!"
"She really is a suitable candidate—the other classes probably won't even notice her, right?"
The group was stunned at first, but after careful consideration, they felt Shiranami Chihiro was indeed a fit. She was introverted, spoke softly, and had little presence in the grade. Very few people in other classes knew her. Moreover, as a girl who looked fragile, she didn't seem like the type to be entrusted with the heavy responsibility of "Leader." Hiding her in the crowd was indeed a stealthy move.
Ichinose suppressed her thoughts. After reflecting for a moment, she shook her head gently. "Wait a moment, everyone. Actually, one thing needs to be made clear—the Leader must come to this device to check in three times a day, roughly every eight hours. This must be done without fail, day or night. It's actually very exhausting work. And..."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the crowd with a more solemn tone.
"I plan to try and capture another base. If we succeed, we will need a Leader who is fast on their feet and can move flexibly between two bases to ensure check-ins on both sides aren't delayed."
"Eh? Why is the Class Rep suddenly so serious today?"
"Occupy another base? You mean you want to use this exam to earn even more Class Points?"
"It feels like you're at full throttle today... what's going on? Doesn't our class already have enough points?"
After all, from the first month of school, everyone knew Ichinose Honami was famously gentle and kind, usually disliking aggressive confrontation and preferring to leave a way out for others. Yet today, her words carried an unprecedented resolve. She wasn't just taking the exam seriously; she was already planning a "two-front war."
What had caused such a massive change in her? Was she really that short on Class Points?
Though the group looked at each other in surprise, they fully understood Ichinose's point: if they were going to hold two bases, Shiranami Chihiro was indeed unsuitable. If they only held this one, checking in at their doorstep was just a few steps away; but if they had to sprint between two locations, Shiranami's delicate physical condition clearly wouldn't hold up. To put it bluntly, this job requiring endurance and speed was better suited for a boy.
Class B appeared to decide things through group discussion, but because almost every boy and girl in the class harbored feelings for Ichinose, they had subconsciously grown accustomed to following her lead. If she said it was feasible, they believed it was. Naturally, they didn't insist on Shiranami being the Leader.
At that moment, a boy raised his hand, his voice carrying a cheerful tone: "Ichinose-san, how about I give it a try? I'm a fairly fast runner, and since I'm in the Soccer Club, my stamina can definitely keep up."
Everyone looked over; the speaker was Shibata Souta. As he spoke, he confidently patted his chest, his eyes full of eagerness. Shibata was a mainstay of the Soccer Club and possessed some of the top physical stats among the boys in Class B. He was almost always first in long-distance running during P.E., and the endurance and explosiveness he developed through years of soccer were more than enough for the back-and-forth between bases.
"If it's Shibata-san, it's definitely suitable!"
"Right, running between two bases won't be a problem for someone in the Soccer Club like you."
"I agree. In terms of stamina, no one in our class can probably beat him."
Ichinose pondered their words for a moment. The more she thought, the more she felt Shibata was indeed the most suitable candidate currently—as a boy and a member of the Soccer Club, no one in Class B seemed more qualified for a task requiring frequent running.
"Then... I'll leave it to Shibata-san!" She looked at him and then turned back to the group.
"As you all know, this task of running back and forth to check in is very hard work. After this island exam ends, I propose we take 200,000 Personal Points from the class funds as extra compensation for Shibata. What does everyone think?"
"Sure!"
"I have no objection!"
The crowd nodded in agreement. While Class B had no explicit reward and punishment regulations, everyone agreed that such dedicated effort for the class deserved a reward.
"Ah? Ichinose-san, that's not necessary!" Shibata waved his hand without hesitation, his cheeks flushing slightly.
"Why would I need a point reward? Contributing to the class is enough to satisfy me. Keep the class funds for when you need to make important decisions."
He actually had other thoughts hidden in his mind—stepping up to be the Leader was half for the class and half for the chance to spend more time interacting with Ichinose Honami. Months ago, he realized half the boys in class admired her. He didn't expect a successful confession; just being near her and exchanging a few words was enough to make him happy.
To that end, he would even deliberately find insignificant little troubles just to have an excuse to message her. For instance, he did this quite a bit a few months ago—especially on that Wednesday in June when he sent her many messages, but she didn't reply to a single one that day. He still didn't know what happened to her that day, only that after that, Ichinose added a specific note to her profile: "Will respond to messages collectively between 6 PM and 8 PM every night."
Actually, he thought this was good; Ichinose was human, not a machine, and shouldn't be entangled by messages at all times. But he still felt a small pang of loss—the "privilege" of receiving her replies at any time was gone.
He didn't dare ask more, as he was just a normal classmate.
'Who on earth told her to say that?' Shibata wondered secretly.
'Could it be Amakura Mako? Well... as long as it wasn't another guy.'
Then again, 200,000 Personal Points was a significant reward for anyone. But how could he take that money from Ichinose? She was the goddess he kept at the center of his heart. Rather than giving those 200,000 points to himself, it was better to leave them for Ichinose—she would surely put them to a more important use. Although he couldn't guess what kind of decision she planned to make with the class funds, it didn't stop him from sticking to his conviction.
"This..." Ichinose hesitated. Given her personality, she could never let someone sacrifice for the class for nothing.
"How about this, I'll give you 100,000 Personal Points. If you don't accept, I'll truly feel bad about it."
"I understand. 100,000 points it is then," Shibata nodded decisively. He knew Ichinose's nature too well—she was like that, always valuing the sacrifices of others very highly. If he persisted in refusing, she would simply keep dwelling on it. In this situation, accepting was the way to avoid making things difficult for her.
At this point, Kanzaki Ryuji from the class spoke up: "Um... even though Shiranami-san isn't the Leader, could we ask you to occasionally pretend to check in? After all, other classes might be observing us in secret. Having someone fake a check-in should greatly reduce the risk of Shibata-san's identity being exposed."
"Yes! Please leave it to me!" Shiranami Chihiro, who had been a bit down for not being chosen, instantly brightened up at these words, her tone full of drive.
"I will definitely act like I'm coming to check in every day, as if I really am the Leader!"
As she said this, her gaze remained tightly fixed on Ichinose Honami, as if waiting for confirmation. Ichinose looked at the expectation in Shiranami's eyes and smiled: "Then I'll leave it to you, Chihiro. With you helping as cover, Shibata-san can be more at ease."
Receiving the affirmation, Shiranami nodded vigorously, her earlier disappointment vanishing completely, replaced by a sense of serious purpose.
Seeing his proposal adopted, Kanzaki Ryuji also sighed in relief and added: "I think we can adjust the rhythm further. For example, Shibata-san checks in at fixed morning, noon, and night intervals, while Shiranami-san wanders over to the device at random other times. This will confuse observers without looking too intentional.
Furthermore, we must first confirm the specific locations of other bases. Since the rules explicitly say a class can occupy multiple bases, the school probably set them not too far apart—they wouldn't intentionally raise the difficulty to an impossible level. Of course, if the actual distance exceeds expectations, we'll just have to reduce the check-in frequency over there and prioritize ensuring the check-ins here aren't interrupted."
The group nodded in agreement again.
"Thinking back now, it's actually a bit of a pity," Kanzaki Ryuji frowned, his tone carrying a hint of annoyance.
"When the school had the ship circle the island at the beginning, they were probably hinting for us to pay attention to the map and those obvious man-made paths."
He was always good at deep reflection but not as good at thinking on his feet; he simply hadn't realized the importance of the map at the time. Although a simple map was attached to the back of the manual, it didn't mark base locations or state the total number of bases, making it essentially a piece of scrap paper.
"Speaking of which, I saw Shimizu Akira from Class D specifically taking photos with his phone back then!"
"Right, right, I saw him too! After all, that guy is something of a celebrity—"
"And another thing, I remember that lackey of Katsuragi's from Class A wanted to argue because Class D occupied the deck, but as soon as he saw Shimizu Akira, he slinked back!"
Several students began chiming in one by one as they recalled the details. The deck was only so large, and with 160 students from the four classes, more than half couldn't even get a spot to stand and look at the scenery.
The fact that Shimizu Akira could hold a spot and calmly take photos was impressive enough to leave an impact.
'Shimizu Akira, huh...'
Shibata Souta naturally knew who this was. Or rather, after that boxing match, there was likely no one in the entire first year who didn't know him. But in the end, he was just a student from Class D. Even if he took photos, what of it? After all, phones couldn't be brought onto the island.
However, when Shibata instinctively cast his gaze toward Ichinose Honami, he discovered her expression had clearly brightened, as if she had heard some particularly pleasing news.
A wave of inexplicable unease instantly rose in Shibata's heart.
'Wait... why does Ichinose Honami show such an expression upon hearing Shimizu Akira's name?'