COTE: Hikigaya in Classroom of the Elite

Chapter 27

I left the dorm, with Kanzaki following me, and walked towards the observing deck. The school's statement that the scenery was "highly significant" was no mistake; it surely had something to do with the special exam.

Looking off the deck, I saw a giant island with mountains and tons of forest, but I wasn't paying attention to those. Within the forest, I could see some paths that were definitely artificially made. I kept in mind their location while observing the rest of the island. Looking to my right, I could see Kushida, Ayanokoji, and other Class D members looking off.

Speaking of Kushida, I doubted we would have our phones since the test would likely be survival-related. I stepped back from the deck and went somewhere out of Kushida's sight before taking out my phone. I drafted a quick email.

[Meet me on the 2nd day we are on the island at the beach we are arriving at in the evening]

If I needed Kushida's information at all, I would meet her at the location and acquire it, but if I didn't, I would let her wait there. It was a foolproof plan.

After sending the message, I didn't wait for a response and headed to another observation deck.

The cruise ship circled the island's entire perimeter before stopping on an empty beach.

[Please get off the cruise ship and go over the entire island. Do not bring any personal belongings and wear the uniforms you were given]

After returning to the dorm room and changing, I got off the ship and headed towards the back of the Class B group. Once all the classes were gathered on the beach, the teacher, Class A, spoke to us.

"Your school IDs will be confiscated. In exchange, you'll wear these wristwatches. Those who take them off without permission will be penalized."

I'm sure the other classes have noticed something is off by now. If this was just an island vacation, why would they go through all this trouble to give us safe wristwatches and force us to leave our belongings?

"First, I'm glad all of you made it here. But it's a shame that one of you could not join us due to illness. I want to start the year's first special test!"

When the mention of a "special test" was made, the Class D students immediately started murmuring in confusion while the other classes remained calm. I mean, it was quite obvious.

"huh, special test."

"what? Isn't this a vacation?"

Ignoring the confused students, the Class A teacher continued speaking.

"The testing period will be one week. You'll be living as a group on this deserted island, and from here on out, you'll be responsible for making your own decisions. Now, the survival test begins!"

After he mentioned the survival test, I almost raised my fist joyfully; I had gotten it right on the money.

I joined my fellow classmates as the instruction pamphlet was passed around the group. The premise of the exam was simple. You are given a balance of 300 points; you may use those points to purchase things such as bathrooms and food. All your unused points at the end of the challenge will be added to this class point ranking.

One special niche about this exam caught my eye: the idea of a leader. One leader is selected per class, who claims special spots around the island that give 1 special point per day. The leader is also given a keycard that displays their identity. However, at the end of the exam, the other classes have the chance to guess your leader.

If the guess is successful, they steal 50 points from you, and if not, the guessing team loses 50 points.

If a class were to guess the three leaders of the other classes, they would gain 150 class points or an extra 600,000 private points per month.