COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

"Fuyuji Mikage, you stop right there!"

The late morning sunlight scattered across the soft ground, blanketed with fallen leaves. Within the emerald-green forest, Morishita Ai raised high the wooden stick she had scavenged. Like a cat with all its fur bristling, she came charging fiercely toward him, treading upon the morning light. Her footsteps landed on the dried branches and withered leaves, producing sharp, rapid crackling and crunching sounds.

"I already told you—the match is temporarily suspended. We'll battle again next time."

Even as he nimbly sidestepped a low-hanging branch, Fuyuji Mikage, pursued until he was gasping for breath, shouted back behind him.

"There is no suspension! The one who wins will definitely be me!" Morishita was relentless and unyielding. The blue ponytail at her chest bounced and leaped violently with every stride of her run.

"Who ever heard of anything like this?!"

"In any case, Fuyuji Mikage has lost! Hurry up and admit defeat to Morishita-sama!"

"How about we both take a step back and call it a draw?" Fuyuji attempted to negotiate terms, yet dared not stop his feet, agilely skirting around a dense thicket of shrubs.

"Shameless Fuyuji Mikage! Down by three fish, and you still have the nerve to demand a draw!" Morishita flew into a towering rage. Her small, delicate nose flared. Her pair of thighs pumped even more vigorously.

"The outcome hasn't been decided yet—"

Without either of them noticing, through this chase of one pursuing the other, their positions had already drawn near the Class D camp.

"Phew~"

At the outer perimeter of what had originally been the river-flat campsite, Fuyuji came to a halt. He braced both hands on his knees, panting slightly, and gazed into the distance at the completely deserted, empty Class D camp. He let out a sharp, clear whistle.

"They really did pull out completely, without leaving a trace."

In the clearing, the Class D camp, which had originally been reasonably tidy and orderly, had now vanished entirely. All that remained was the pitch-black, charred marks atop the earthen stove.

At the same time, Katsuragi Kohei, who had gone out to scout right after roll call, was already leading a group of Class A students as they wandered through the camp, searching for any possible clues left behind.

"Thwack—!"

A wooden stick came striking from behind, cutting through the air with a whistling gust, and rapped against Fuyuji's skull—neither too heavy nor too light—producing a crisp, ringing sound.

Morishita, holding her stick in a two-handed sword stance, raised her small face slightly, revealing an expression of utter, blissful satisfaction.

Fuyuji sucked in a sharp breath of cold air and rubbed the back of his head, his face twisting in pain.

"Morishita Ai! This is a one-of-a-kind, priceless treasure! What if you broke it?!"

"This is just the head of a shameless cheater. It's worthless. If it breaks, Morishita Ai will fix it. And besides—whose fault is it that you didn't wait for me and ran so fast?" Morishita pursed her lips and casually thrust the stick into the sandy ground, speaking with righteous, self-assured confidence.

Clearly, she was still holding a grudge over the fact that a certain someone had fled midway through their competition.

"..."

Fine. On this matter, Fuyuji was in the wrong. He could only clutch the back of his head, file this grudge away for now, and repay it at a later date.

"What about you? What's your take on this matter?"

Fuyuji silently began shifting the topic. His gaze once again turned toward the camp as he sought Morishita's opinion.

Unlike other people, Morishita's perspective on problems was rather peculiar and unique. She could often arrive at unusual, unexpected answers.

"Nothing. I'm not interested in this." Having rapped Fuyuji on the skull, and now thoroughly satisfied, Morishita planted her hands on her hips and spoke with open, shameless honesty.

"Alright..."

Fuyuji shrugged and, together with Morishita, walked toward Katsuragi, who was crouched beside one of the earthen stoves, deep in study.

"So? Any findings?"

"None."

Katsuragi furrowed his eyebrow-less brow and stood up. Brushing the sand from his trousers, he turned to look at the black machine, buried within the boulder and currently displaying an unoccupied status.

"Judging by the state of the wood combustion, it was most likely around midnight. They deliberately chose to withdraw while all the students were deep in sleep."

"But... why would Class D do this? The attitude that Horikita-san displayed yesterday toward the exam was absolutely not one of someone who would give up." Katsuragi's voice was saturated with thick, heavy bewilderment.

Indeed. Even if you beat Horikita Manabu to death, Fuyuji would never believe that Horikita-girl would withdraw from this special exam.

And the way Cha-Cha had looked yesterday—she probably hadn't known Class D would retreat either. Was it a spur-of-the-moment decision, or had it been planned all along?

Fuyuji turned and swept his gaze across the Class D camp. Only a few earthen stoves, piled from stones, still remained where they were. From the looks of it, no further clues could be found.

The final result was as expected. After scouring the area in a full sweep, the Class A group found no useful clues whatsoever and could only helplessly give up.

Within the lush, verdant forest, the group walked along the path back to the cave campsite.

"Katsuragi."

Fuyuji opened his mouth and asked. "What's your assessment?"

"For the other reasons, I'm still unclear at this point."

Katsuragi pinched the bridge of his nose and turned his head back, looking through the layer upon layer of overlapping branches and leaves toward the direction of the Class D camp.

"But I believe there are still some students in Class D worth paying attention to. They wouldn't give up on this exam so easily. And besides, even if they did withdraw—where did Class D's remaining supply points go?"

"Judging from the fact that they left in the middle of the night, it was probably to avoid being seen. That means the Class D people definitely didn't all leave. A small handful are still remaining on the island."

Indeed...

Fuyuji's gaze darkened slightly. His footsteps beneath him also unconsciously slowed as he sank into deep contemplation.

But what benefit did this bring to Class D?

That bunch in Class D were all the type who wouldn't release their hawk until they saw the rabbit. What exactly could make them give up points that were right in front of their eyes? Even with Sakayanagi Arisu and Koenji Rokusuke withdrawing and docking sixty points, as long as they conserved a little, ending with fifty or sixty class points was still achievable. Not to mention the points from occupying base points.

Wait... fifty or sixty points?

Fuyuji rubbed his chin, his eyes glinting faintly. He seemed to have discovered a blind spot.

Given the level of organization that Class D's collection of talents had demonstrated thus far, if they chose not to guess the leaders, the reward for the entire Class D's week of hard work would be a mere fifty or sixty class points—and even that wasn't guaranteed.

If, at this time, another class stepped forward and signed a contract with them...

For example: Class D currently still had one hundred and sixty supply points remaining. But by the final day, due to the consumption of forty students, only sixty would be left. So, what if Class A now came forward and signed a contract with Class D, paying each Class D student ten thousand personal points per month to buy out those one hundred and sixty supply points?

What would Class D, who had gone an entire three months without a single point of income, do?

Considering the personalities of that Class D bunch—who had burned through a thousand class points in the very first month—the answer was self-evident.

More importantly, the points from occupying base points and the points from guessing leaders were all settled uniformly after the exam concluded. Therefore, even if the majority of Class D students withdrew, this exam could still continue.

From the outcome: the majority of Class D students returned to the cruise ship to enjoy themselves, received personal points significantly higher than sixty class points, and could still gamble on the leader-guessing points as well as the occupation points from check-ins. After all, their class points had already been reduced to zero.

And another thing...

Fuyuji pressed a hand to his forehead, the corner of his mouth twitching violently.

Knowing Horikita-girl's personality, she might very well have genuinely thought—rather than having a whole group of people stuck together, she'd be better off handling everything herself.

Good lord. This plan seemed to fit Class D with absolutely one hundred percent compatibility.

The question now was... which class had signed the contract with Class D?

Class C? Or Class B? Most likely Class C. But Class B was also a possibility.

That Ryuen guy had clearly been aiming for exactly this play the day before yesterday. If Class A hadn't happened to have no need for supplies, it was, truthfully, a genuinely good deal.

After being rejected by Class A, a sudden flash of inspiration—reversing the buyer and seller roles—wasn't outside the realm of possibility either.

Adding to this the deduction that Class C already knew the leader could be changed—this way, they could guarantee their own class's leader could never be guessed. Their supply points could never be docked to zero. The remaining points could, with near certainty, be confirmed to convert into class points.

As long as they could ensure that Class C's class points wouldn't be docked to zero in the subsequent exams, this transaction was a guaranteed, no-loss profit.

If that were the case, then how Ryuen had previously managed to convince the Class C students was now explained.

In a certain sense, Class C and Class A had, without prior consultation, both chosen the same type of plan. As long as the plan proceeded smoothly, both could essentially add three hundred points to their class points.

Furthermore... there was still one matter Fuyuji had never managed to clarify. Exactly what kind of conditions had Ryuen signed with Class D back then to avoid expulsion?

As for Class B—Ichinose Honami's mind had always been quick to spin. Her relationship with Class D had always been quite good. And Class B's personal points were second only to Class A's among the four classes.

While probing Class D for intelligence, upon seeing the chaotic state of Class D, coming up with this mutually beneficial solution wasn't impossible either.

As for how to verify... there was no need.

Whichever class implemented this plan, it had no impact on the current Class A. At this stage, apart from accurately identifying the leaders of the other classes, all other actions by Class A were empty motions. Blind action would only disrupt their own footing.

All they needed to do was wait for the other classes to—

Suddenly, from the bend in the forest path up ahead, a distinct burst of footsteps and voices rang out.

The footsteps of the Class A students halted in collective unison. They raised their heads warily and looked toward the source of the sound.

Gazing into the distance, diagonally across the forest, the Class B contingent led by Ichinose was walking directly toward them.

Ichinose, walking at the very front, paused for a brief instant upon seeing Class A's main force. Then, a bright, sunny smile blossomed across her radiant face. Her fair, slender arm rose high and waved with overflowing, energetic cheer in this direction.

"Everyone from Class A, good morning!"

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