'Ah? What do you mean by "I see" again?'
Saiki was once again stunned, completely unsure of what Kiryuin Fuka was trying to say.
"You must have also seen through Nagumo's plan, right?"
'Huh?'
"Nagumo will manipulate the third-year students to ensure his first-place position—but precisely because of this, Nagumo won't let the exam lose all suspense early on. He'll definitely control the scores to give others the illusion that they might surpass him."
"In reality, Nagumo can freely choose how this exam will end. Whether it's a narrow defeat for second place or a last-second comeback for Nagumo, anything is possible. The outcome depends entirely on Nagumo's mood. However, to ensure his absolute victory, he'll target students who get close to his ranking and hinder their performance."
"And the reason you're hiding your strength is to avoid scoring too high early on and drawing Nagumo's attention."
Kiryuin Fuka smiled as she looked at Saiki.
"In this exam, you actually want to show off your abilities, don't you?"
Countless question marks floated in Saiki's mind, making it difficult for him to understand Kiryuin Fuka's words.
After a moment of silence, Saiki finally spoke:
"Senpai, you're absolutely right."
At this point, he could only go along with her words.
"How honest of you. What ranking are you aiming for in this exam?"
Kiryuin Fuka narrowed her eyes slightly.
"If we go by your previous style, you'd probably aim to stay outside the top ten... around fifteenth place. But choosing the fire-starting task was unexpected. I originally thought you'd choose the most ordinary tasks to maintain a moderate score."
'That was my original plan.'
Saiki thought to himself, but after a moment of consideration, he continued:
"Due to some special circumstances, I should aim for first place in this exam..."
Saiki believed that directly stating his goal might actually reduce some trouble.
After all, if he didn't get first place...
The island might very well be rigged with bombs, and the entire island could sink.
Although with Saiki's abilities, even if there were bombs, teleporting everyone away in an instant wouldn't be too difficult. However, Saiki was worried about the aftermath.
How could he teleport them away without anyone noticing? Or how would he explain why they were suddenly moved to another island?
'Should I just obliterate this island and replace it with another one?'
'No, that's too impractical. The environment of this island has already been recorded. If someone compares the maps and notices the terrain is different, it'll be a problem.'
'For now, I'll just have to stick to my agreement with that guy—after all, there's still luxurious dessert waiting for me.'
Saiki thought this through and then said:
"I want to use this exam to completely resolve some conflicts between me and President Nagumo."
"Oh?"
This topic seemed to pique Kiryuin Fuka's interest.
"Are you saying this exam is a showdown between you and him? Have you already made a deal with Nagumo?"
"Not yet..."
Saiki casually made up an excuse.
Kiryuin Fuka nodded thoughtfully, but then stood up:
"Well, let's part ways here. It seems like you're ready to rest."
"Yeah, the exam is quite long, so I want to make sure I have enough stamina."
"Perfect. I'm planning to explore other parts of the island and see if anything interesting happens! Also, during this exam, I'll see if you can really take down Nagumo. Don't disappoint me, Saiki-kun."
After leaving these words, Kiryuin Fuka disappeared into the forest, leaving Saiki alone.
'Yare yare, finally some time to myself.'
After using his telepathy to confirm that no one was around, Saiki immediately activated his psychic abilities. The folded tent assembled itself as if it had a mind of its own.
'Psychic powers are somewhat useful at times.'
Saiki muttered to himself, then crawled into the tent. Although he had the ability to teleport, he still needed to maintain some semblance of normalcy.
'Yare yare, after talking with Kiryuin today, I've been reminded of something. I can't stand out too much at the start.'
'It seems Nagumo is using some method to ensure he gets first place? But I'll think about what that method is later.'
'Also, if I remember correctly, Koenji is also aiming for first place this time, right?'
Saiki recalled what had happened before the exam. Horikita Suzune had approached Koenji Rokusuke and made some kind of agreement.
If Koenji Rokusuke could get first place in this exam, Horikita Suzune would no longer interfere with his actions.
But if Koenji Rokusuke failed to get first place, he would have to contribute to the class as a member from then on.
However, Saiki didn't care about this.
Saiki first used his psychic abilities to control his electronic watch, ensuring his GPS location wouldn't give him away. Then, he used his teleportation ability to return home.
"Yare yare, what a day it's been."
Saiki sighed as he walked out of his room.
"Ah, you're back, Kusuo!"
At that moment, Saiki Kusuke appeared in front of him.
'You? What are you doing here?!'
Saiki immediately used telepathy to question Saiki Kusuke, also trying to figure out what he was thinking—
But he got nothing.
Saiki couldn't read Saiki Kusuke's thoughts at all. He then noticed that Saiki Kusuke was wearing a strange-looking device on his head.
'What's going on?'
Saiki was puzzled, but Saiki Kusuke had already started speaking:
"Kusuo, are you using telepathy to talk to me? Sorry, this device blocks telepathy. I can't hear you~"
Saiki Kusuke deliberately spoke in a slightly mocking tone.
"What do you want, you jerk?"
"Let's play rock-paper-scissors first?"
"I'm not interested in whatever you're planning."
"Let's play rock-paper-scissors!"
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Although he refused in his heart, Saiki decided to humor him to get rid of him quickly. So, he played rock-paper-scissors—
Even without the advantage of telepathy, Saiki still won this round.
After all, Saiki could use his X-ray vision to see the changes in Saiki Kusuke's muscle fibers and predict what he would throw.
"By the way, where is everyone else?"
Saiki realized the house was eerily quiet, as if no one else was home.
"So, this makes it 0 wins and 725 losses. But Kusuo, you've thrown rock the least, and I've only thrown scissors 104 times. It's just that the chances are low. In other games, I've lost 31 times in word chains, 59 times in shogi, 10 times in chess, 189 times in video games, 8 times in sugoroku, 4 times in mahjong, 7 times in the Yamanote Line game, and many, many more. Can you guess how many times I've lost to you in total?"
Saiki Kusuke smiled as he looked at his younger brother.
Saiki's face was filled with exasperation.
'This guy remembers all this? He's really a freak.'
"Total of 0 wins and 4,254 losses."
"What do you want, you jerk? And where are Mom and Dad?"
"I've arranged plane tickets for them to go on a trip~"
Saiki Kusuke narrowed his eyes, a sly smile on his face.
"Also, the house is going to be renovated soon. All the food and drinks have been cleared out, and even the water supply has been cut off~"
"You..."
Saiki immediately understood his brother's plan.
He wanted to completely cut off Saiki's ability to replenish supplies at home.
"Also~ since you've been at that school, you don't need pocket money, right? You're practically penniless now."
Saiki Kusuke clapped his hands.
"After all, it's an exam. All students should be treated equally, right? Sneaking home to replenish supplies during the exam is a form of cheating, isn't it~"
Saiki was momentarily at a loss for words.
"So, Kusuo, you should focus on the exam~"
Although he was annoyed, Saiki could only use his teleportation ability again to return to the tent.
'Damn it.'
Saiki began to think about his next steps.
'If I can't go home to eat or drink... then I'll have to get what I need during the exam... But if it's a 'competition' task, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.'
Saiki sighed and accepted the situation. He lay down on the bed, used his clairvoyance to check on Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi's exam progress, and then rested peacefully.
...
Early the next morning, after waking up and washing up, Saiki prepared to face the day's exams.
Without Kiryuin Fuka by his side, Saiki could move more freely.
After receiving the movement instructions, Saiki immediately set off for the target area.
The target area was quite far from Saiki's current location. For an ordinary student, it would take a long time to get there, and rushing would consume a lot of stamina.
Of course, Saiki could simply teleport to the vicinity of the designated area. However, considering that a mismatch between his GPS signal and his actual location could cause trouble, Saiki decided to walk.
Kiryuin Fuka's words from yesterday also made Saiki more certain of one thing: he shouldn't stand out too much in the early stages of the exam to avoid drawing Nagumo Miyabi's or others' attention.
After successfully reaching the designated location, the tasks had already opened. Saiki observed for a moment and then chose a task that didn't test academic or physical abilities too much.
Task: Quiz
Category: Miscellaneous
Answer multiple-choice questions with four options. All group members can participate.
1st place: 8 points, 2nd place: 4 points, 3rd place: 2 points. Additional rewards are given based on the current group size, and you can choose from a list of food or water supplies.
This task wasn't in the academic category, so there shouldn't be too many specialized or technical questions.
And since the rewards were quite generous, there was no reason to miss it.
...
Saiki quickly arrived at the task location, where a familiar figure was waving at him vigorously:
"Saiki, hurry! Only four groups left!"
Saiki immediately stepped forward and registered with the teacher.
Soon, a few more people arrived at the task location.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Nanase Tsubasa.
[Saiki also chose the quiz task?]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's attention shifted to Saiki, and he sat down.
Nanase Tsubasa's gaze also fell on Saiki.
[I've run into this guy again... I remember last time, he easily subdued Hosen... Who exactly is he? Thankfully, he's not my target. I just hope he's not on the same side as Ayanokoji—though Ayanokoji probably isn't on anyone's side.]
'To be honest, Ayanokoji did invite me to team up.'
Saiki thought to himself.
Soon, all the students had registered. Under the teacher's instructions, Saiki sat in his assigned seat and picked up his tablet.
For this task, having more group members was definitely better, as it meant a richer pool of knowledge—
But for Saiki, it wasn't necessary at all.
Then, the quiz questions appeared on the tablet.
Category: Anime.
'Yare yare, this is a category I'm somewhat good at.'
Saiki thought to himself, then turned to look at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka—
The latter was filled with confusion.