COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

The lead-grey clouds were grinding in from the horizon of the sea. The last patch of azure in the sky was about to be completely engulfed.

The entire cloud layer churned and rolled overhead like a river, punctuated from time to time by a brilliant yellow bolt of lightning that illuminated the clouds around it.

Watching the figure that had already boarded the transport boat and now appeared as a tiny dot in the distance, Fuyuji Mikage slowly revealed a smile.

Sorry, Horikita's little sister. I lied to you again. Truth is, I really did want you to withdraw.

Because with this, all the preliminary work is complete.

The deserted island special exam. Every class's leader—I now know them all.

Though the method was admittedly a bit unfair.

He looked up at the sky, where muffled thunder rumbled. Fuyuji's thighs exploded with power, and he became a dark shadow darting into the forest, heading straight for Class A's cave.

A few minutes later.

Fuyuji had barely returned to camp, and hadn't even managed to talk his way out of things with Morishita Ai and the others—

When a thunderclap boomed. The pent-up rain came pouring down. The grey-yellow earth outside the cave was rapidly covered by countless dense specks, which then spread and saturated the entire ground.

Raindrops thumped heavily against the emerald leaves. The ceaseless sound, along with the moisture, drifted into the ears of the Class A students gathered at the cave entrance to watch the rain.

"A downpour of this magnitude—Classes B and C are going to have a rough night." Hashimoto Masayoshi smirked with schadenfreude.

"This rain coming now is already a stroke of luck. A deserted island in the Pacific, August summer—going seven straight days without rain is probably a rare occurrence." Tsukasaki Taiga analyzed rationally.

"With only the two tents issued by the school, trying to fit forty people is unrealistic. If they can't tough it out, they'll have to spend more supply points to buy additional ones."

The Class A students then collectively raised their heads. The thick rock walls stretched freely through the cave interior with no sign of water seepage whatsoever. A heavy sense of security welled up from within.

While the students chatted idly near the cave's outer edge,

Class A's leader, Katsuragi Kohei, sat deeper inside the cave. Beside a simple electric lamp, he was once again calculating the points Class A could earn from this special exam.

Starting points: 300

Supply costs: 50

Occupied base points: 112

Class A's final score for this special exam: 362 points

Seeing this number in his notebook, even the ever-steady Katsuragi couldn't help but reveal a smile.

Although they had given up on guessing other class leaders because leader-switching made it too risky, the other classes were likely in the same situation. Faced with Class A, which had spent a mere 50 points on supplies, no class could possibly surpass them.

Class B. Inside the original eight-person tent, at least a dozen Class B students were now crammed together. Raindrops pelted the tent in dense bursts, producing thumping, drumming sounds.

"Kanzaki-kun, do the boys really not need an extra tent?"

Ichinose Honami sat among the group and asked Kanzaki Ryuji with a touch of worry.

The Class B boys had originally slept outside in hammocks. Because of the heavy rain, one of the girls' tents had to be vacated for the boys' use.

But even so, the boys—larger in build than the girls and greater in number—wouldn't even be able to lie down if they all slept in one tent tonight.

"It's fine." Shibata So suddenly raised his hand. "There's only one day left anyway. We'll just stay up tonight. We've toughed it out for so many days already—we can't waste precious points because of us."

These words instantly drew a chorus of agreement from the boys.

"Yeah, yeah. One sleepless night is nothing. Pulling all-nighters is perfectly normal for guys."

"Right now, our class has spent the fewest points among all four classes. If we just hold on a little longer, Class B wins."

"No problem. We're all in good physical condition right now. Even if we get sick, we can hold out until the exam ends."

After gathering the opinions of the Class B boys, even the usually stern Kanzaki revealed a faint smile.

"Ichinose-san, I assume there's no need to ask further? This is the boys' opinion."

"Mm..."

Although still somewhat worried, given their insistence, Ichinose couldn't really say more. She returned to discussing the main issue.

"Regarding the leader, Kanzaki-kun—I plan not to guess anyone. What do you think?"

"I share the same view. In the current situation, there's no way to lock down who the leader is. But—" Kanzaki seemed to recall something. His expression shifted and he asked gravely. "Ichinose, are you really not going to swap out Shiranami Chihiro as leader?"

"Although a legitimate reason is required, with Hoshinomiya-sensei here, Shiranami-san absolutely wouldn't have any problems."

This was one of Class B's small hidden advantages. Their homeroom teacher, Hoshinomiya Chie, also served as the infirmary teacher. If they asked what kind of conditions could meet the threshold for a legitimate reason, Hoshinomiya should be able to tell them.

"Say no more, Kanzaki-kun." Ichinose shook her head firmly. "I absolutely oppose it. I won't secure our class's safety by sacrificing Chihiro-chan."

"Fine."

"Naive fools!"

Unlike the other two classes, the chuuni youth named Ryuen Kakeru was still sprawled out on his hammock, limbs akimbo.

Cool raindrops dripped through the leaves onto his face, making him feel more lucid than ever before.

That's right. Class C's camp situation was indeed worse than Classes A and B. But what did that matter when they had plenty of supply points? They'd bought four tents alone.

Four days ago, using the deal of paying each person ten thousand personal points per month, they had bought Class D's original 160 class supply points. An absolute steal.

Adding the 60 points of their own class's supplies spent in the early stages, Class C still had 240 supply points remaining.

Plus, with his unrestrained, frenzied check-ins over the past few days, the final occupation points had reached an astonishing 157. Then subtract the 30 points from Ishizaki Daichi's upcoming withdrawal.

In this deserted island special exam, Class C would achieve a stunning score of 367 points. In one breath, he could earn back all the class points that had been docked because of him.

After this battle, he, Ryuen Kakeru, would truly ascend to the throne of Class C's leadership.

Hmph ha ha ha!

Katsuragi! Ichinose! Bet you didn't see this coming—the winner this time is my Class C!

As for who the leader would be going forward—he naturally wouldn't let the other classes exploit this sole opening.

At three in the morning tonight, he would have Ishizaki withdraw from the exam.

The leader—he would have Sakanoue Kazuma pick one at random. The new key card wouldn't even be handed to him. Instead, he'd ask Sakanoue to find some turbulent spot by the sea and toss it in.

This way, no one would ever know who Class C's leader actually was. He refused to believe that anyone could guess the leader out of the remaining thirty-nine students.

At this thought, Ryuen couldn't help but let out his signature triumphant laugh.

The special exam—the winner is me!

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