"Has Hosen-kun really withdrawn from the exam..."
Nanase Tsubasa looked at the interface on her tablet and couldn't help but purse her lips.
She knew very well that Hosen Kazuomi was a student with exceptional abilities. How could he have withdrawn from the exam?
And Yagami Takuya had also withdrawn... What was going on?
Nanase Tsubasa hadn't heard the conversation between Saiki and Amasawa Ichika earlier, so she didn't know Yagami Takuya's true identity. For a moment, she couldn't understand what was happening.
However, since both Hosen Kazuomi and Yagami Takuya had only withdrawn individually, their groups could still continue participating in the exam.
Of course, their scores would be affected to some extent.
"Maybe Yagami-kun and Hosen-kun had a conflict~"
Amasawa Ichika said with a smile, shrugging her shoulders.
"After all, Hosen-kun is in the same group as us. I'll head back to the starting point to check on the situation... Ayanokoji-senpai, since things have turned out this way, I'll go back to the starting point first."
In reality, Amasawa Ichika was very worried about Yagami Takuya's condition and wanted to confirm it as soon as possible.
"But Ayanokoji-senpai, I'm not your enemy."
After saying this, Amasawa Ichika left the area and disappeared into the rain.
….
"Earlier, Yagami and Hosen's signals stopped here."
Meanwhile, Tsubaki Sakurako and Utomiya Riku had arrived at the location where Yagami Takuya and Hosen Kazuomi had been. They saw the medical team and teachers carrying Yagami and Hosen away on stretchers.
The two of them seemed to have regained consciousness, but Yagami Takuya's eyes were hollow, as if his soul had been ripped away.
On the other hand, Hosen Kazuomi had completely lost his usual arrogance and authority. He was curled up, trembling uncontrollably, as if he had experienced something terrifying.
"All other students, leave immediately."
Tsukishiro Tokinari, who had arrived at the scene, immediately waved his hand, signaling the other students to leave. Tsubaki Sakurako and Utomiya Riku could only watch from a distance.
"What happened to those two..."
Utomiya Riku looked at the scene with a puzzled expression.
He knew very well that Hosen Kazuomi was the type of person who thought he was the center of the universe. But now, he was cowering in fear, clutching his shoulders tightly.
"I don't know."
Tsubaki Sakurako shook her head.
It was she who had devised this plan, aiming to get Saiki out of the way to protect more first-year students—
Of course, that wasn't the only reason.
"Earlier, I found it strange. Hosen's GPS signal was very close to Saiki-senpai's, but Saiki's signal didn't stop at all. I can't quite understand why that is..."
Utomiya Riku's expression grew more serious.
"Could it be that the two of them never actually met? Instead, did Yagami-kun and Hosen have a conflict? I can't imagine that, because it doesn't make sense, right? After all, we've tested it—the GPS signal in the watches can't be tampered with....."
"No, the answer is becoming clearer now."
Tsubaki Sakurako seemed to have realized something. She raised her head, and her previously lazy gaze sharpened.
"You said the GPS signal in the watches can't be modified, right? Because the technology in these electronic watches far exceeds our imagination."
"That's right. So, the GPS signal isn't the issue. Saiki must have missed Hosen for some reason....."
"You're mistaken. The moment you assumed the GPS signal couldn't be modified, you formed the wrong conclusion."
"What do you mean? We've already verified it. It's almost impossible to tamper with the watches....."
"Don't forget, who provided the hardware for this exam?"
"Saiki..... Saiki's brother, Saiki-sensei. Could it be...?"
Hearing Tsubaki Sakurako's words, Utomiya Riku suddenly realized something.
"Could it be that Saiki knows how to modify the watch's location?"
"Or maybe his brother remotely modified it for him. In fact, this entire exam might be a setup by Saiki."
Tsubaki Sakurako couldn't help but click her tongue. She had only just realized this possibility.
Saiki, who exactly are you?
Although Tsubaki Sakurako hadn't had much contact with Saiki, she was also somewhat curious about him because she had noticed that some first-year students were very interested in him.
The same was true for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Tsubaki Sakurako knew about Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's past—
Because one of her relatives had also belonged to that place.
[Saiki, who exactly are you?]
[If possible...]
[Could I use Saiki to destroy the White Room?]
This thought couldn't help but arise in Tsubaki Sakurako's mind.
"What should we do next?"
"Any plans to target the second-year groups are probably impossible to carry out now. We'll just have to let things take their course."
Tsubaki Sakurako said.
….
Back at the starting point, Tsukishiro Tokinari symbolically asked Hosen Kazuomi what had happened. The latter only said that he had fallen and was fine.
In Hosen Kazuomi's memory, he had fought Saiki and suffered a crushing defeat.
But Hosen Kazuomi didn't know why he had developed an intense fear of Saiki.
It was as if he had faced a monster.
Naturally, Hosen Kazuomi couldn't say anything about this.
After dealing with Hosen Kazuomi, Tsukishiro Tokinari immediately went to where Yagami Takuya was and dismissed everyone else, wanting to question Yagami alone about what had happened.
But Yagami Takuya seemed to have completely lost the ability to communicate with others. His eyes were vacant, as if he had no consciousness left.
"What on earth did this guy go through?"
Tsukishiro Tokinari sighed. He had repeatedly warned Yagami Takuya not to provoke Saiki, but the guy had gone ahead and done it anyway.
It was no surprise that Yagami Takuya had paid the price. He deserved it.
As for Amasawa Ichika, she had repeatedly failed to take any action to expel Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. In fact, she sometimes seemed to help him. The White Room had already labeled her as a traitor.
According to the old rules, Tsukishiro Tokinari or Shiba Katsunori would have to punish Amasawa Ichika as a failure and traitor. However, due to Shiba Katsunori's 'accident,' Tsukishiro couldn't do anything and had to let Amasawa Ichika act freely for now.
As things stood, the fifth generation of White Room students was far inferior to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
After all, at least Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wouldn't actively provoke a monster like Saiki.
"He really got what he deserved."
Tsukishiro Tokinari looked at Yagami Takuya, who now resembled a walking corpse, and shook his head slightly. But at that moment, his phone vibrated. It was an unknown number.
However, Tsukishiro knew exactly who it belonged to.
"Ayanokoji-sensei."
"Bring Yagami back."
Ayanokoji Atsuomi's voice came from the other end of the line.
He sounded somewhat panicked.
Just now, Tsukishiro had secretly sent a message to Ayanokoji Atsuomi, informing him of what had happened here.
After all, Yagami Takuya was an important asset of the White Room, so it was only natural for Ayanokoji Atsuomi to reclaim him.
This also meant that Yagami Takuya was now completely out of the picture.
"Next, I'll have to handle some withdrawal procedures for you. What a hassle."
….
Meanwhile, at a secret White Room base.
Ayanokoji Atsuomi put his phone aside and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He turned to look at the person next to him:
"Saiki-sensei, is this arrangement..... acceptable? I've already warned him. His actions were entirely his own and have absolutely nothing to do with the White Room!"
Ayanokoji Atsuomi's tone grew more agitated, as if he was desperately trying to distance himself from Yagami Takuya's actions.
"It's barely acceptable."
The direction Ayanokoji Atsuomi was looking at was a large electronic screen.
Saiki Kusuke's face was projected onto the screen.
"I just happen to need some experimental subjects. I'll reluctantly use this Yagami guy. The last subject was too trashy—what was his name, Yamauchi or something... Anyway, let's put this matter to rest for now."
After saying this, Saiki Kusuke's image disappeared, leaving Ayanokoji Atsuomi breathing heavily.
…..
On the seventh day, the exam was suspended due to the rain. After the rain stopped, the exam resumed as normal.
Before anyone realized it, the tenth day had arrived.
"Kiriyama, don't you think Nagumo's response has been a mess? By the second half of the exam, he should have already taken the lead, right? But it's already the tenth day, and his score is still neck and neck with others. It's because he's been dragging his feet on dealing with Koenji!"
Mikitani from Class 3-B said while looking at his tablet.
The tablet showed Nagumo's group's total score: 236 points, while Koenji had 224 points.
He was in a position where he could overtake Nagumo with just one more arrival order reward, keeping the competition tight.
"And even if Nagumo can easily crush him, if this continues, you'll only end up in third place. If you lose to a second-year student acting alone, both you and I will suffer in terms of external evaluations!"
Kiriyama Ikuto's expression wasn't good. He changed the topic:
"I've heard rumors about him from when he first enrolled. Apparently, he shamelessly tried to get close to second and third-year students, offering cash in exchange for personal points. What did you think of that back then?"
"At the time, I thought he was just a rich kid with too much money and a love for showing off."
"I thought he was a wealthy young man with decent academic abilities and physical skills, but he never achieved anything remarkable. The reason he wasn't taken seriously was because he didn't take anything seriously. From the start, he acted like he didn't want to take the exam."
[That's why Nagumo didn't see Koenji as a threat.]
Kiriyama Ikuto thought to himself.
"Although I don't know what happened, there's no doubt that Koenji has shown his true abilities in this uninhabited island exam. As a result, he's achieved such impressive results. Especially his seemingly inexhaustible stamina—he might maintain this state throughout the entire exam."
Mikitani spoke with utmost seriousness.
"Kiriyama, aren't you going to do something about it?"
"I..... I think it's time to use the roaming squads."
Nagumo Miyabi had previously selected five groups of three students each from Classes B to D to form the 'roaming squads.' They acted as Nagumo's hands and feet on the uninhabited island. Two members of each group followed Nagumo's instructions, while the remaining one was responsible for reaching designated areas to avoid penalties.
This was also why several third-year groups were at the bottom of the rankings. After all, not everyone could handle the exam alone.
"So that's it... How many roaming squads are you planning to use?"
"I'll use all six squads under my control. Full deployment."
"Six squads? Are you serious? He's just one person. Four squads combined with my group should be enough. The remaining two can stay with your team—"
Before Mikitani could finish, Kiriyama Ikuto interrupted,
"Only Koenji poses a threat to us. As long as we ensure that Koenji doesn't make any moves in the next few days, victory will be ours. To achieve that, it's better to be safe than sorry."
"By the way, have you heard Nagumo mention any other groups he's concerned about? If we use all the available squads to deal with Koenji, there won't be anyone left to monitor the other groups."
"There's no need to worry about that. Nagumo is probably just being overly cautious."
Kiriyama Ikuto shook his head.
He knew exactly who Nagumo Miyabi was worried about.
However, Kiriyama Ikuto couldn't quite understand why Nagumo Miyabi was so fixated on Saiki.
Saiki seemed so ordinary... completely unremarkable.
With that in mind, Kiriyama Ikuto assumed Saiki's ranking would have dropped to below 20th place by now, given how many third-year students had been targeting him.....
As he thought this, Kiriyama Ikuto glanced at the rankings.
The rankings refreshed almost simultaneously.
10th Place: Saiki