[Anime? This is an unfamiliar concept. Although I have some understanding of the concept of anime itself, my knowledge about it is quite limited. In the White Room, such secular knowledge is considered unnecessary and discarded.]
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka thought to himself.
'Hey, hey, hey, you're originally from the 2D world... It seems your knowledge about this is quite limited in the White Room.'
Saiki thought to himself.
At the same time, the exam questions began to appear on Saiki's tablet.
Question 1: Which of the following is the title of episode 13 of the TV anime Mobile Suit Gundam?
Goodbye, GundamBurn, GundamShout, GundamGundan's Gundam
'This question doesn't even need to be thought about. The answer is clearly 2.'
Saiki thought to himself and immediately made his choice.
Based on the thoughts he picked up through telepathy, almost everyone in the room had already answered the question—
Except for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
[This topic is outside my expertise, but since I've taken on this task, I'll have to give it my all. I need to stay calm and composed. Since it's a multiple-choice question, there's a 25% chance of guessing correctly. If I analyze it, the fourth option is different from the first three. Only the fourth option has "Gundam" at the beginning. Could this be a hint? I'll have to choose the fourth option based on this.]
'Yare yare, he doesn't even know something so simple.'
Saiki thought to himself.
Soon, the answers were revealed, and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was one of the only two people who got it wrong.
The other person was Nanase Tsubasa.
Question 2: Which of the following is the singer of the theme song for the TV anime Maken-ki?
The confusion in their minds grew even stronger.
...
After twenty minutes, Saiki had answered all the questions correctly and secured first place in the exam.
Although Saiki originally didn't want to take first place, this exam was in the "miscellaneous" category and was related to anime. Even if he got all the answers right, no one would suspect him. Moreover, Sudo Ken's group had only gotten one question wrong.
"I didn't expect you to know so much about anime, Saiki," Sudo Ken said, looking at Saiki with admiration.
Meanwhile, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka looked at Saiki from a distance, thinking to himself:
[Saiki even knows such things. This shows that he and his group place great importance on so-called secular knowledge. Today's exam also proves that such knowledge can be useful in specific situations.]
In the recent task, both Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Nanase Tsubasa had a correct rate of less than 25%, clearly not performing well enough.
'Today, I've earned 9 points, and with yesterday's 11 points, I now have 20 points.'
Saiki used his psychic abilities to observe his surroundings. His current score was slightly higher than others, so he didn't need to earn more points for now to avoid becoming a target when the scores were made public.
On the fourth day, the scores of the top and bottom ten groups would be revealed, and on the sixth day, students would gain access to the GPS function.
"Saiki, where are you planning to go next?" Ayanokoji Kiyotaka asked.
Saiki, having heard Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's thoughts and knowing his intended route, gave a direction opposite to his own—
However, while they were talking, Nanase Tsubasa's thoughts were particularly noisy.
[Ayanokoji-senpai seems like just an ordinary student—]
[But he doesn't belong in this school.]
[No matter what, I—personally—will make him leave this school.]
Nanase Tsubasa's thoughts were resolute.
'Yare yare.'
Saiki glanced at Nanase Tsubasa out of the corner of his eye. He could sense a certain murderous intent toward Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Through telepathy, Saiki learned that Nanase Tsubasa had come to this school because of a butler named Matsuo—
However, this matter had nothing to do with Ayanokoji Kiyotaka himself. The real culprit was Ayanokoji Atsuomi, but Nanase Tsubasa seemed to have misunderstood and was now cooperating with others to expel Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
It's... a bit hard to understand?
If that's the case—
At this moment, an idea formed in Saiki's mind. Although it was just a fleeting thought, it was indeed present.
'Perhaps the White Room shouldn't exist.'
"In that case, we'll have to part ways again."
"Yeah, our next designated areas are different. I'll get going then."
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the uninhabited island.
Yagami Takuya was carefully examining the watch on his wrist.
He was thinking about how to destroy this electronic watch.
On the sixth day, all students' GPS signals would be made public, making it inconvenient for him to act further.
So, Yagami Takuya planned to take action in the next few days.
Both to vent the emotions hidden within him and to test Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Yagami Takuya planned to find an opportunity to disable the GPS in the next few days, giving himself a chance to act.
"In the White Room, we've already learned about the construction of simple electronic and mechanical devices. I can easily dismantle even more sophisticated instruments. This little watch shouldn't be a problem."
Yagami Takuya smiled and began fiddling with the electronic watch—
However, after trying for a while, his expression gradually became more serious.
Because he couldn't dismantle the watch in front of him.
Despite his extensive knowledge of mechanics, Yagami Takuya couldn't do anything to this electronic watch.
The structure of this watch was completely beyond Yagami Takuya's understanding.
"What... what's going on?"
"How is this thing even connected?"
"What kind of technology is this?"
Yagami Takuya's voice trembled slightly. The knowledge taught in the White Room was useless against this watch. The White Room's knowledge was meaningless.
Yagami Takuya had always been confident in his abilities, but now they were of no use.
"Strange, strange, strange!"
Yagami Takuya grew impatient but still couldn't make any progress.
He gritted his teeth, looked around, and found a sharp rock. He raised his hand, aimed the watch at the rock, and slammed it down with all his strength.
As the top student of the White Room's fifth generation, Yagami Takuya's physical abilities far surpassed those of his peers, second only to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka—
But with a loud crash, the rock cracked.
"If the watch gets damaged due to accidental physical impact, it's understandable."
Yagami Takuya thought to himself. He had already formulated a plan.
He would smear some dirt on himself and pretend to have fallen.
But when Yagami Takuya raised his hand to check the watch, his face showed a look of surprise.
Because after such a severe attack, the watch was still intact, without even a scratch on the screen.
"How is this possible?! At the very least, the screen shouldn't be this tough! Is it bulletproof glass? The school shouldn't provide students with such high-end equipment... What's going on? Even the most fragile parts are heavily protected... This watch must be extremely expensive. Although this school has substantial financial resources, it shouldn't invest in such high-level equipment for this exam. So, how does this electronic watch charge or replace its battery? The White Room didn't teach us anything about this..."
"And this island feels off. The area is too large. It should be very taxing on the stamina of ordinary students. A normal high school student's stamina shouldn't be able to handle such intense movement here."
"This is strange... There are too many unreasonable factors in this exam... I remember the technical support for this exam was provided by... Saiki-sensei, right?"
A thought occurred to Yagami Takuya.
'Could it be that this exam... is related to Saiki?'
Yagami Takuya felt there were too many suspicious points, and the one behind all this was most likely Saiki Kusuke.
Therefore, Saiki must be involved in this!
"Let me try one more time."
Yagami Takuya thought to himself and walked to the edge of the island, planning to submerge the watch in the sea to see if that would damage it.
However, at that moment, Yagami Takuya noticed two people approaching from a distance. Even from far away, Yagami Takuya had already sensed their presence and knew who they were.
He stopped what he was doing but pretended not to have noticed them.
"Yagami-kun, what are you doing here?"
The voice came from a cold-faced young man.
Utomiya Riku, from Class 1-C.
Academic Ability: B (72)
Physical Ability: A (87)
Flexible Thinking: C (51)
Social Contribution: D+ (39)
On the surface, he was the leader of Class 1-C.
Beside him was a girl who looked very lazy.
Tsubaki Sakurako.
Academic Ability: C- (44)
Physical Ability: D+ (40)
Flexible Thinking: D+ (38)
Social Contribution: D+ (40)
Her stats seemed average, but in reality, Tsubaki Sakurako was the true leader of Class C.
The two of them had been invited by Nagumo Miyabi to participate in a special mission to expel Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, but they had quickly given up.
"I was just about to head to the next designated area, but before that, I wanted to observe the surroundings—but before that, can I ask you two something?"
Yagami Takuya took the initiative in the conversation.
"What is it?"
"According to the original plan, the leaders of each class were supposed to meet on the sixth night, right? I was wondering if you could tell me the specific proposal in advance."
Yagami Takuya's gaze shifted to Tsubaki Sakurako.
"What do you mean?"
Tsubaki Sakurako narrowed her eyes slightly.
"You're planning something big, aren't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have suggested gathering all the class representatives closer to the latter half of the exam. This isn't just a mid-exam report, is it?"
Yagami Takuya said with a smile.
"On the OAA, you seem average, nothing particularly noteworthy. But during the current battles among the first-years, you've occasionally made sharp remarks. And..."
"And?"
"Class C hasn't taken any action to expel Ayanokoji-senpai, but I suspect you're pulling the strings behind the scenes, making it seem like Utomiya-kun is in charge, when in reality, it's you, right?"
"Oh? That's quite interesting, Yagami-kun. Did you support the proposal for this gathering because you knew what I was thinking?"
If it were just Tsubaki Sakurako's proposal, not many students would have participated. But Yagami Takuya had actively expressed his support for the gathering.
"I've always believed that all first-years should cooperate. Even if you don't have any deep plans, I think it's meaningful just to confirm the situation."
Yagami Takuya hid his true thoughts behind a harmless smile, appearing as nothing more than an enthusiastic and cheerful student.
Although he had unexpectedly run into the two Class C students, Yagami Takuya decided to advance some of his plans.
[Now, I just need to guide their words a little.]
"Say, Yagami-kun, I'll tell you something interesting."
"Something interesting? I'm very interested. Please, go ahead."
"However, I can't guarantee what will happen after you hear this interesting thing~"
Tsubaki Sakurako's tone was lazy, and her expression didn't change.
"Is that so? Please, tell me."
Yagami Takuya's smile remained unchanged, as if everything was going according to his calculations.