"Saiki?"
Kiriyama Ikuto's face showed a puzzled expression.
He couldn't understand why both Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Miyabi had such an inexplicable obsession with Saiki.
Kiriyama Ikuto had previously investigated Saiki as well, but the other party seemed too ordinary. He simply couldn't comprehend why such a student would be given so much attention.
"Currently, Saiki should be in 11th place."
Nagumo Miyabi spoke slowly.
Although Saiki's name didn't appear in the top 10 rankings displayed on the tablet screen, Nagumo Miyabi was well aware of Saiki's score—
Because almost all third-year students were Nagumo's informants.
The 10th, 12th, and 13th places were all Nagumo's subordinates. By using their information and doing some calculations, he could easily figure out who was in 11th place.
It was Saiki.
Previously losing to Saiki Kusuke had been a humiliation for Nagumo Miyabi, and he was eager to exact revenge during this exam.
And Saiki was the target of that revenge.
….
"Yo, the student council president is here~"
At that moment, a light set of footsteps sounded next to Nagumo Miyabi.
"It's you again..."
Nagumo's expression turned slightly annoyed as he muttered under his breath, because the person who had arrived was none other than Kiryuin Fuka.
Kiryuin Fuka was also among the top 10, but due to her independent nature, Nagumo knew very well that she posed no real threat to him.
"Kiryuin-san, what brings you here?"
As Kiryuin Fuka approached, Nagumo could only force a smile befitting a student council president.
"I saw a crowd gathered around you, so I wanted to see what you were up to~"
Kiryuin Fuka said with a smile.
She was well aware that Nagumo was employing a tactic only available to the student council president—the advantage of numbers.
With this numerical superiority, Nagumo could control the entire third-year class, allowing him to reach the exam locations earlier and secure victories without much effort.
However—
Kiryuin Fuka was more interested in something else.
"You're not the type of woman who would be interested in something like this, are you? Did you come here to say something?"
Nagumo narrowed his eyes slightly, sensing that Kiryuin Fuka had a reason for seeking him out.
"Also, I heard that on the first day of the exam, you were quite close to Saiki. Did you learn something interesting from him?"
"As expected of the student council president, you guessed correctly."
"Oh?"
"Saiki told me that this exam is a competition for him."
"What?"
"He declared to me that he would defeat you in this exam."
Kiryuin Fuka smiled as she looked at Nagumo.
"What?"
Kiriyama Ikuto, who was standing nearby, was completely baffled.
Had Saiki gone mad? How could he say something so outrageous?
For Saiki to think he could defeat Nagumo Miyabi alone was nothing short of a pipe dream, right?
But at this moment, after hearing Kiryuin Fuka's words, Nagumo's expression turned serious. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke again:
"Alright, if he's finally willing to step onto the stage and face me, I won't miss this opportunity."
Nagumo's gaze sharpened, as if flames of battle were burning within.
"The student council president is getting serious for once, huh?"
Kiryuin Fuka smiled, but at the same time, she took a step forward and lowered her voice slightly.
"But I've already warned you, if you pay too much attention to the underclassmen's performance, you might end up at a disadvantage~"
Nagumo didn't respond to Kiryuin Fuka's words and simply ignored her.
Kiryuin Fuka then turned around and left.
"I'm really looking forward to how this showdown will unfold."
….
Meanwhile, inside a tent, Saiki had just finished eating a cake, his face still filled with a blissful expression.
But suddenly, he felt a chill run down his spine, and a sense of foreboding instantly spread through his heart.
"What's going on? This chill..."
Saiki shook his head. He had a strange premonition, but he didn't know what had caused it.
Come to think of it, Saiki still didn't understand what Saiki Kusuke was trying to do by forcing him into this bizarre competition to secure first place.
How strange.
Saiki shook his head again, then lay down to rest for a bit.
….
Soon, two days had quietly passed, and the uninhabited island exam had reached the evening of the sixth day.
Saiki took out his tablet and glanced at the current rankings.
2nd Year Koenji Group: 168 points, 1st place
3rd Year Nagumo Group: 166 points, 2nd place
3rd Year Kiriyama Group: 150 points, 3rd place
...
3rd Year Kurotaki Group: 101 points, 10th place
Currently, Saiki had 94 points and was in 13th place. He wasn't surprised by this ranking.
Although Koenji Rokusuke was in first place, it was only temporary. Nagumo Miyabi could overtake him at any moment.
However, recent events had left Saiki feeling somewhat uneasy.
Over the past two days, while participating in some tasks, Saiki had sensed hostility from certain students.
Both first-years and third-years.
[So this is Saiki? Nagumo told us to monitor his actions and limit his score.]
[The second-year Saiki-senpai, acting alone in his group, is the easiest to exclude.]
'Yare yare, so I've become a public enemy out of nowhere?'
Saiki felt a bit helpless, completely unprepared for this situation.
During the exam, the third-years had teamed up to target him, and the first-years were doing the same.
Although Saiki's abilities allowed him to easily ignore their targeting and secure first place, he deliberately controlled his score to avoid drawing too much attention at this stage, which resulted in his recent scores not increasing much.
But upon further reflection, since he was already being targeted by others, his efforts to remain inconspicuous seemed somewhat pointless.
'Among the third-years, it's probably Nagumo targeting me, which makes sense—but what's going on with the first-years?'
Saiki couldn't understand why the first-years had started targeting him as well.
'Ah, whatever.'
Saiki shook his head and prepared to return to the starting point to replenish his supplies.
After all, when he first set out, Saiki had only bought a few essentials to keep up appearances.
Now, after hearing that the store at the starting point offered desserts, Saiki decided to go back and indulge a bit.
After the exam officially began, the prices of items in the store would double—
But this didn't bother Saiki much, as he rarely used those points anyway.
Just then, Saiki heard a noise coming from the woods ahead.
"I asked you to investigate the situation. What did you find?"
"It seems a bit difficult. The teachers around us have started monitoring us, especially Mashima-sensei, who seems particularly wary. Additionally, Chabashira-sensei from Class 2-A has investigated all the records."
"Leaving Mashima aside, for Chabashira, Ayanokoji is a weapon she can't afford to lose, so it's normal for her to take some action."
"I've already tampered with the records, so I don't think it will be exposed."
"Good, but I feel that Ayanokoji is far from being cornered. At least from what I know, he hasn't actively cooperated with the faculty or sought help from Sakayanagi. It's likely that he sees Saiki as his backer."
"But do you know what Saiki's true identity is—"
"Ah!"
Before one of them could finish the question, the other let out a startled cry—it was Tsukishiro Tokinari.
Standing next to him was Shiba Katsunori, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D and also an employee of the White Room.
At that moment, the two of them had run into Saiki.
The two sides stared at each other, and an awkward silence filled the air.
'Yare yare, this is bad. It seems I've overheard something I shouldn't have. Will this bring me more trouble? What should I do?'
Saiki's mind was racing—
And he noticed that Tsukishiro Tokinari, standing in front of him, seemed even more panicked than he was.
[Saiki?! Why is he here?! How could a student be here at this time?!]
'I just wanted to come back and buy some cake...'
[Could it be... that Saiki has been secretly monitoring our actions? Why didn't we see his GPS signal?! The tablet shows that Saiki's GPS is still far away.]
'I just happened to pass by... GPS signal... because I teleported here...'
[Could it be... that Saiki has successfully hacked the watch's GPS? I've studied it before, and the watch's structure is incredibly precise, surpassing any cutting-edge technology I've ever seen. Even I couldn't tamper with it... but Saiki can modify and control his own GPS signal... Wait, I see now.]
'Huh?'
[The technical support for this exam is Saiki's brother. Since they're brothers, Saiki must know about the watch's hidden functions or something. With his brother's support, Saiki can do anything on this island.]
'...Do you know that he planted bombs on the island?'
[He actually used such a method... Ordinary people would never think of that!]
'I... I didn't think of it either.'
[He must have heard our conversation, right? He must have heard it, right?!]
'If I say I didn't hear it, would you believe me?'
[What should I do? What should I do?]
Sweat dripped from Tsukishiro Tokinari's forehead, and panic filled his eyes.
Meanwhile, Shiba Katsunori looked at Saiki with a serious expression.
[How should we handle this? Should we eliminate him? Although the higher-ups instructed us to avoid unnecessary contact with Saiki, keeping the White Room's secrets is the top priority. To prevent the White Room's affairs from being exposed, we must find a way to silence him.]
With that thought, Shiba Katsunori took a step forward, preparing to take action against Saiki.
'Yare yare, if you want to try something, go ahead!'
"Saiki-kun!"
At that moment, Tsukishiro Tokinari quickly came up with an idea. He loudly called out Saiki's name and stepped forward, grabbing Shiba Katsunori's arm tightly.
[You idiot, don't get me killed!]
In the White Room, only Ayanokoji Atsuomi and Tsukishiro Tokinari knew how terrifying the Saiki family was. The others didn't understand why Ayanokoji Atsuomi had issued such an order.
"Huh?"
A look of confusion appeared on Shiba Katsunori's face.
"Saiki-kun, are you lost?!"
Ignoring Shiba's confusion, Tsukishiro smiled at Saiki.
"I'm heading back to the starting point to buy some things."
Saiki felt a bit helpless but decided to play along.
"Oh, I see! Just head this way!"
Tsukishiro's forehead was now drenched in sweat. He just wanted to send this "big shot" on his way as quickly as possible.
"Is this really okay? Shouldn't I knock him out and make him lose his memory, forcing him to withdraw from the exam?"
Shiba Katsunori, still confused, asked—
"What are you saying?!"
Before Shiba could finish, Tsukishiro suddenly threw a heavy punch at Shiba's face. The latter hadn't expected to be attacked by his own teammate and instantly lost consciousness.
[You idiot, are you trying to get me killed?]
[The Saiki family is someone even Ayanokoji-sensei fears. Of course, we can't just say that outright, but can't you sense it, Shiba?!]
[If we lay a hand on Saiki, I might end up at the bottom of the ocean tomorrow! I'm just here to work, not to die!]
"....."
Now it was Saiki's turn to be stunned.
The situation had completely exceeded his understanding.
"Uh, Saiki-kun, Shiba-sensei and I need to discuss something. You can head back to the starting point first!"
Tsukishiro quickly put on a flattering smile and spoke to Saiki.
"Okay..."
"Also, have any students been bothering you recently...?"
"No."
"That's good, that's good."
Tsukishiro let out a sigh of relief.
"If you run into any trouble, you can contact me immediately!"