When we looked, it was not a task. It was something worse.
A drone flew above us and dropped two papers.
There was written about an Announcement: All the students need to come to the marked location on their tablet.
My tablet also have the same notification. Then why the drone is dropping papers. It doesn't make any sense.
Then I said,
"Hayato, pack your bag fast; we need to go." Saying this, I also started to pack.
Hayato took the knife, and I took the remaining meat. But we didn't put our tablets away.
Then we stood up; the tablets were in our hands. I checked the location; it was almost 500 meters away.
We started to walk.
After a few meters...
"Oiii! Itsuki!"
A voice was calling from behind. Hayato didn't call; he was on my right side.
I looked back.
It was Kaito.
"Oiii, Kaito, run fast! We don't have much time."
He was quite far.
Then he finally caught up, and we started walking.
"Itsuki, how is your progress going?"
"My progress is quite good. I have 42 points for now. What about you?"
"Mine is also good. I have 50 points. But, Itsuki, I am worried about one thing."
"What is it?"
"You know the student Minato Mikazuki."
"Yeah, he died yesterday."
"I was the last person to see him. I gave him water, and then he left. And today at 7:00 am, I saw he was dead. His cause of death was unknown."
"But Kaito, what will we do? He isn't even our classmate."
"But Itsuki, the guilt is..."
"Kaito, just erase that thing from your memory."
It's none of our business.
"Okay..."
After walking, we finally saw some drones. It was completely futuristic. There was a leaderboard at the left side, but everyone was trying to check it.
It was a screen that can be scrolled.
Kaito said, "Itsuki, I am going to check my ranking."
Saying this, Kaito left.
I decided to check my ranking later on my tablet.
Then we saw some chairs. The government had set up a few chairs to sit on.
"Hayato, let's go and sit. The chairs will be occupied soon."
We went there and sat. Finally, after walking half a kilometer, we got some rest.
Soon, many students came. I didn't see Shuko, though.
Maybe she is in the crowd.
The crowd of students was getting bigger and bigger.
All the seats were occupied. There were only 40 seats.
And there were a minimum of 6000 students.
Then a drone flew in front of everyone and made an announcement.
It was only a voice.
"Congratulations, students who have come to this place. Any student who isn't here will be eliminated."
(Gun firing)
We just heard bullet firing noise.
Everyone panicked after hearing the firing sound, but the announcer wasn't done.
"Students, the government has decided the top 280 students will enroll in a new school called Future Advancement School of Tokyo, or FAST in short."
Same name Hayato told me.
I understood Hayato didn't lie.
"See, Itsuki, the things I told you weren't lies."
You are correct Hayato.
I said with a trembling voice.
Then the voice continued.
"From today on, many students will get a special task. The special task gives a high reward, but if any student refuses to do it, the student will be killed immediately."
The voice stopped. All the students started to leave.
Before standing up, I checked the time: 5:00 PM.
"Hayato, we need to find a good place to set up our tents." it will be night soon.
Then Hayato stood up and said,
"Then why are you sitting, Itsuki? Stand up."
I stood and started to walk.
We didn't see Kaito anywhere. We didn't waste our time finding him, either.
An hour passed; the sun was starting to go down. But we didn't find any good place.
"Itsuki, we need to find a place fast. It's getting darker and darker."
Finally, we saw a small river.
"Hayato, this might not be a very good place, but for now, it's good."
"Yeah, I also think we should set up our tents here. We don't have much time left."
Saying this, we started to set up our tents. But then we heard a sound.
"Meow!!"
We both looked to our right side.
A cat.
"Itsuki, look how cute it is." Hayato started to walk towards it.
"Hayato, don't go near it. It can bite you."
"Ohh, Itsuki, don't be afraid. Cats aren't that scary. You just need to show them love."
Saying this, Hayato started to pet the cat.
The cat was friendly. It enjoyed being touched by Hayato.
"See, Itsuki? It is so friendly. You should pet her too."
"Nahh! I am fine. I don't want to get bitten by it."
"Huh? Itsuki, you are so cold-hearted. How can you say this to a cute cat?"
"I am just speaking facts."
Then I started to fix my tent again.
I finished after a few seconds.
"Itsuki, can you set up my tent too?"
"Uhh... Fine, whatever."
Then I started setting up Hayato's tent.
Hayato bought a medium-sized tent. A medium-sized tent costs 30 Echo points. Maybe Hayato was given a high-points task.
I finally finished setting his tent, too.
Hayato was still petting the cat.
"Oiii! Hayato. Can't you stop that already? You should start cooking."
"Uhh, fine. Bye-bye, cute cat..."
The cat sat there patiently as Hayato stood.
"Hayato, I am going to take some rest in my tent. If you need anything, just call me, okay?"
"Yes."
Saying this, I finally entered my tent.
Then I sat and pulled out my tablet to see the leaderboard.
I unlocked it by paying 10 Echo points. My balance is 32 now, quite good if you ask me.
I checked the leaderboard. I was shocked instantly.
The 1st name was....