u/PrettySignificance26

We will always strive to improve and continue to Posting everything about our FMC, Suzune Horikita and spreading more love towards her.

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Congratulations at everyone from the Mod Team!

The students had already withdrawn from the deserted island, and the ship was now sailing across the ocean.

I had laid the groundwork to make the entire group believe that Ibuki was the target all along.

Then there was the widening gap in token counts caused by Katsuragi’s so-called “fairness,” which in reality amounted to cold treatment.

And finally, there were Ibuki’s genuine emotions—her anger and impatience, born from knowing nothing.

Watching all of that unfold up close, Shinohara and Ike came to a conclusion:

As long as they stayed above her, there was absolutely no way they themselves would be expelled.

What mattered was a benchmark that guaranteed survival.

Not the number of tokens held by the decoy, Ibuki, but the token counts publicly shared with the entire group—the real targets were the amounts held by Shinohara and Ike.

“I did feel like Ibuki-san had earned more tokens than expected. There were students whose actual holdings were lower than the numbers that had been reported…”

Shinohara and Ike themselves had earned relatively few tokens individually, but they also possessed the pooled tokens absorbed from Kushida.

Even split evenly in half, those still became additional stacked tokens for them.

“Adjusting all of that must’ve been troublesome.”

While acknowledging the effort involved, I explained to Horikita what had happened near the end.

As the final day approached its conclusion, Shinohara and the others began imagining something:

If it was Ayanokōji, then maybe he had already made some kind of move.

Until the moment everyone reached the goal and transfers became impossible, they kept watch to prevent Katsuragi and the others from making contact.

But their suspicions still didn’t disappear.

Were the tokens Ibuki possessed really lower than theirs?

They wanted somehow to confirm the true numbers being held.

To make sure there was no deception in the token counts displayed on the wristwatches…

There was no way to fake the display, making it the only method of seeing the exact token count with complete certainty.

That was why no tokens could be transferred to Ibuki until the very last possible moment.

The plan prepared by Ayanokōji and the others was layered in two stages: Ibuki would be the one expelled, and even if something unexpected happened, Kushida would become the fallback expulsion candidate.

As the goal drew closer, both Katsuragi and I sensed that the timing for saving Ibuki would become extremely delicate.

We had run through several simulations beforehand.

Everything depended on how Shinohara and the others would act.

In that situation, the main plan had been to have Yoshida—who had been stationed near the goal—quietly make contact with Ibuki and secretly transfer tokens to her.

If that proved impossible, then the backup would be to pick some kind of quarrel with Ibuki and prevent her from reaching the goal in order to buy time.

And among the contingency options, there had also been the possibility of using Kushida as a backup plan.

However, because the unexpected event occurred where Ibuki insisted on punching me, Sanada—who had already been sharing information with me—was quickly sent toward Yoshida to explain the situation.

Including the tokens Katsuragi had received from Ibuki, enough tokens were transferred to ensure she would survive.

“So you were prepared for me retaliating while giving advice to Shinohara and the others, huh?”

“Yes… I told them that Ibuki-san being cornered was exactly what you wanted, Ayanokōji-kun. And depending on how things developed, the target could just as easily shift toward Shinohara-san and the others…”

“You weren’t wrong to contact Shinohara. You managed to see through the possibility that my attempt to expel Ibuki was actually a bluff.”

“It just felt strange to me. Even if Katsuragi-kun said he intended to expel Ibuki-san, I couldn’t imagine him accepting something like that unconditionally. Nor could I imagine him moving ahead on his own while ignoring Ryūen-kun. So then…”

…that maybe they’d been told someone from another class would be expelled instead. Once I started thinking that way, the most likely target became our class. That’s why I repeatedly told Shinohara-san and the others to pay close attention to Ibuki-san’s token count and confirm it if possible.”

“In reality, Shinohara handled it surprisingly well despite her forceful approach. She did manage to confirm the numbers themselves.”

“But… in the end, I still couldn’t protect her. I didn’t want anyone to get expelled… even though I truly felt that way… things just don’t work out so neatly.”

“The presence of Ichinose in the same group was unavoidable. Being able to smoothly establish cooperation, while also uniting everyone around the goal of placing highly as a group, was a major advantage. On top of that, having the leader’s group receive substantial rewards created an even greater synergistic effect.”

“However, this special exam had a dual nature. Reaching the goal quickly was advantageous for winning, but if you considered the possibility of losing, then reaching the goal later became more advantageous instead. Achieving both at once wasn’t easy.”

Since reaching the goal only required a majority of the group, Horikita technically could have chosen not to cross the goal line herself while holding onto the phone.

But there were limits to what one person alone could manage.

More than anything, she probably also didn’t want to lose even a single token.

“If I had personally led Shinohara-san and the others directly to the goal, maybe the situation could’ve changed.”

“Maybe. But in the end, changing who got expelled would never have been simple. The moment you help one person, some unseen someone else becomes the next one pushed into last place. From that situation onward, shifting into a structure that could protect both Class  with 100% certainty was practically impossible.”

However, because the unexpected event occurred where Ibuki insisted on punching me, Sanada—who had already been sharing information with me—was quickly sent toward Yoshida to explain the situation.

Including the tokens Katsuragi had received from Ibuki, enough tokens were transferred to ensure she would survive.

“So you were prepared for me retaliating while giving advice to Shinohara and the others, huh?”

“Yes… I told them that Ibuki-san being cornered was exactly what you wanted, Ayanokōji-kun. And depending on how things developed, the target could just as easily shift toward Shinohara-san and the others…”

“You weren’t wrong to contact Shinohara. You managed to see through the possibility that my attempt to expel Ibuki was actually a bluff.”

“It just felt strange to me. Even if Katsuragi-kun said he intended to expel Ibuki-san, I couldn’t imagine him accepting something like that unconditionally. Nor could I imagine him moving ahead on his own while ignoring Ryūen-kun. So then…”

“…You’re right. because after that, there’s no way of knowing which class—or which person—would become the sacrifice instead…”

If there was one truly fatal flaw, it was probably that everyone had been forced to fight on the stage I had prepared.

Everything had revolved around Group 3, and the physical distance between groups became a major constraint.

“If it was you, couldn’t you have targeted Kushida-san or Wang-san instead? From our class’s perspective, losing them would’ve been a much greater blow. So why didn’t you?”

“I simply chose the easiest targets to eliminate.”

That was my answer, but the real reason was different.

As for Kushida, I had only made her appear to be an expulsion candidate. From the very beginning, I had no intention of removing her.

At the very least, she was incomparably more capable than Shinohara or Ike, and Mii-chan was also sufficiently useful.

Furthermore, another possible role for Kushida had newly begun to emerge.

What mattered to me was also developing Class A.

If too many side branches grew freely, the plant itself would spread wider, but the fruit it bore would become smaller.

That was exactly why, within Class A, it was necessary to carefully choose which individual branches should truly be cultivated.

“If you want to blame someone, blame me instead of yourself.”

Just after saying that, I sensed someone approaching from behind.

“I think that’s a little different, don’t you?”

“The one who decided the expulsion wasn’t Ayanokōji-kun.”*

Perhaps she had seen us stepping out onto the deck, because the person emerging from the darkness was Kushida.

Since I had already noticed she was eavesdropping, her appearance didn’t surprise me.

“I could’ve simply kept the tokens Sanada-kun gave me and crossed the goal with them myself. If I had done that, the one who’d have been expelled would’ve been Wang-san, after all.”

Kushida voluntarily revealed the events that had taken place behind the scenes—things she had originally thought didn’t need to be mentioned.

As if that was all she wanted to say, Kushida turned lightly on her heel, looking satisfied.

“And just so you don’t misunderstand— the only reason I left Ibuki-san alone was because I didn’t think she was a threat. There’s no other reason.”

As though making it clear she didn’t want a response, she walked away.

Horikita may have grown even more suspicious, but my impression was the exact opposite.

There was no doubt that Kushida had shed another layer of herself during this incident. No—it would be more accurate to say she had transformed dramatically.

Once Horikita learned that Kushida had exposed her true nature in front of the other classes, she would probably come to realize it too.

“There are still plenty of things I want to ask you. I’m curious about the results of your exam as well…”

“Let’s save that for another time. If necessary, I can make time for it.”

“…Right. I’ll head back to the venue. There are too many issues we can’t leave unresolved.”

Even if the class had won, that didn’t erase the fact that they had lost a classmate as the price for victory.

Not only would they need to take care of Ike, they would also have to discuss what came next.

If I returned together with Horikita, I might get dragged into unnecessary trouble, so I decided to head back a little later.

Left alone, I remained quietly on the deck.

The special exam had been full of twists and turns, but the thing lingering most vividly in my mind wasn’t Shinohara or the others.

There was only one person:

Shiina Hiyori

Right now, my thoughts were occupied only by her.

The students had already withdrawn from the deserted island, and the ship was now sailing across the ocean.

I had laid the groundwork to make the entire group believe that Ibuki was the target all along.

Then there was the widening gap in token counts caused by Katsuragi’s so-called “fairness,” which in reality amounted to cold treatment.

And finally, there were Ibuki’s genuine emotions—her anger and impatience, born from knowing nothing.

Watching all of that unfold up close, Shinohara and Ike came to a conclusion:

As long as they stayed above her, there was absolutely no way they themselves would be expelled.

What mattered was a benchmark that guaranteed survival.

Not the number of tokens held by the decoy, Ibuki, but the token counts publicly shared with the entire group—the real targets were the amounts held by Shinohara and Ike.

“I did feel like Ibuki-san had earned more tokens than expected. There were students whose actual holdings were lower than the numbers that had been reported…”

Shinohara and Ike themselves had earned relatively few tokens individually, but they also possessed the pooled tokens absorbed from Kushida.

Even split evenly in half, those still became additional stacked tokens for them.

“Adjusting all of that must’ve been troublesome.”

While acknowledging the effort involved, I explained to Horikita what had happened near the end.

As the final day approached its conclusion, Shinohara and the others began imagining something:

If it was Ayanokōji, then maybe he had already made some kind of move.

Until the moment everyone reached the goal and transfers became impossible, they kept watch to prevent Katsuragi and the others from making contact.

But their suspicions still didn’t disappear.

Were the tokens Ibuki possessed really lower than theirs?

They wanted somehow to confirm the true numbers being held.

To make sure there was no deception in the token counts displayed on the wristwatches…

There was no way to fake the display, making it the only method of seeing the exact token count with complete certainty.

That was why no tokens could be transferred to Ibuki until the very last possible moment.

The plan prepared by Ayanokōji and the others was layered in two stages: Ibuki would be the one expelled, and even if something unexpected happened, Kushida would become the fallback expulsion candidate.

As the goal drew closer, both Katsuragi and I sensed that the timing for saving Ibuki would become extremely delicate.

We had run through several simulations beforehand.

Everything depended on how Shinohara and the others would act.

In that situation, the main plan had been to have Yoshida—who had been stationed near the goal—quietly make contact with Ibuki and secretly transfer tokens to her.

If that proved impossible, then the backup would be to pick some kind of quarrel with Ibuki and prevent her from reaching the goal in order to buy time.

And among the contingency options, there had also been the possibility of using Kushida as a backup plan.

However, because the unexpected event occurred where Ibuki insisted on punching me, Sanada—who had already been sharing information with me—was quickly sent toward Yoshida to explain the situation.

Including the tokens Katsuragi had received from Ibuki, enough tokens were transferred to ensure she would survive.

“So you were prepared for me retaliating while giving advice to Shinohara and the others, huh?”

“Yes… I told them that Ibuki-san being cornered was exactly what you wanted, Ayanokōji-kun. And depending on how things developed, the target could just as easily shift toward Shinohara-san and the others…”

“You weren’t wrong to contact Shinohara. You managed to see through the possibility that my attempt to expel Ibuki was actually a bluff.”

“It just felt strange to me. Even if Katsuragi-kun said he intended to expel Ibuki-san, I couldn’t imagine him accepting something like that unconditionally. Nor could I imagine him moving ahead on his own while ignoring Ryūen-kun. So then…”

…that maybe they’d been told someone from another class would be expelled instead. Once I started thinking that way, the most likely target became our class. That’s why I repeatedly told Shinohara-san and the others to pay close attention to Ibuki-san’s token count and confirm it if possible.”

“In reality, Shinohara handled it surprisingly well despite her forceful approach. She did manage to confirm the numbers themselves.”

“But… in the end, I still couldn’t protect her. I didn’t want anyone to get expelled… even though I truly felt that way… things just don’t work out so neatly.”

“The presence of Ichinose in the same group was unavoidable. Being able to smoothly establish cooperation, while also uniting everyone around the goal of placing highly as a group, was a major advantage. On top of that, having the leader’s group receive substantial rewards created an even greater synergistic effect.”

“However, this special exam had a dual nature. Reaching the goal quickly was advantageous for winning, but if you considered the possibility of losing, then reaching the goal later became more advantageous instead. Achieving both at once wasn’t easy.”

Since reaching the goal only required a majority of the group, Horikita technically could have chosen not to cross the goal line herself while holding onto the phone.

But there were limits to what one person alone could manage.

More than anything, she probably also didn’t want to lose even a single token.

“If I had personally led Shinohara-san and the others directly to the goal, maybe the situation could’ve changed.”

“Maybe. But in the end, changing who got expelled would never have been simple. The moment you help one person, some unseen someone else becomes the next one pushed into last place. From that situation onward, shifting into a structure that could protect both Class with 100% certainty was practically impossible.”

However, because the unexpected event occurred where Ibuki insisted on punching me, Sanada—who had already been sharing information with me—was quickly sent toward Yoshida to explain the situation.

Including the tokens Katsuragi had received from Ibuki, enough tokens were transferred to ensure she would survive.

“So you were prepared for me retaliating while giving advice to Shinohara and the others, huh?”

“Yes… I told them that Ibuki-san being cornered was exactly what you wanted, Ayanokōji-kun. And depending on how things developed, the target could just as easily shift toward Shinohara-san and the others…”

“You weren’t wrong to contact Shinohara. You managed to see through the possibility that my attempt to expel Ibuki was actually a bluff.”

“It just felt strange to me. Even if Katsuragi-kun said he intended to expel Ibuki-san, I couldn’t imagine him accepting something like that unconditionally. Nor could I imagine him moving ahead on his own while ignoring Ryūen-kun. So then…”

“…You’re right. because after that, there’s no way of knowing which class—or which person—would become the sacrifice instead…”

If there was one truly fatal flaw, it was probably that everyone had been forced to fight on the stage I had prepared.

Everything had revolved around Group 3, and the physical distance between groups became a major constraint.

“If it was you, couldn’t you have targeted Kushida-san or Wang-san instead? From our class’s perspective, losing them would’ve been a much greater blow. So why didn’t you?”

“I simply chose the easiest targets to eliminate.”

That was my answer, but the real reason was different.

As for Kushida, I had only made her appear to be an expulsion candidate. From the very beginning, I had no intention of removing her.

At the very least, she was incomparably more capable than Shinohara or Ike, and Mii-chan was also sufficiently useful.

Furthermore, another possible role for Kushida had newly begun to emerge.

What mattered to me was also developing Class A.

If too many side branches grew freely, the plant itself would spread wider, but the fruit it bore would become smaller.

That was exactly why, within Class A, it was necessary to carefully choose which individual branches should truly be cultivated.

“If you want to blame someone, blame me instead of yourself.”

Just after saying that, I sensed someone approaching from behind.

“I think that’s a little different, don’t you?”

“The one who decided the expulsion wasn’t Ayanokōji-kun.”*

Perhaps she had seen us stepping out onto the deck, because the person emerging from the darkness was Kushida.

Since I had already noticed she was eavesdropping, her appearance didn’t surprise me.

“I could’ve simply kept the tokens Sanada-kun gave me and crossed the goal with them myself. If I had done that, the one who’d have been expelled would’ve been Wang-san, after all.”

Kushida voluntarily revealed the events that had taken place behind the scenes—things she had originally thought didn’t need to be mentioned.

As if that was all she wanted to say, Kushida turned lightly on her heel, looking satisfied.

“And just so you don’t misunderstand— the only reason I left Ibuki-san alone was because I didn’t think she was a threat. There’s no other reason.”

As though making it clear she didn’t want a response, she walked away.

Horikita may have grown even more suspicious, but my impression was the exact opposite.

There was no doubt that Kushida had shed another layer of herself during this incident. No—it would be more accurate to say she had transformed dramatically.

Once Horikita learned that Kushida had exposed her true nature in front of the other classes, she would probably come to realize it too.

“There are still plenty of things I want to ask you. I’m curious about the results of your exam as well…”

“Let’s save that for another time. If necessary, I can make time for it.”

“…Right. I’ll head back to the venue. There are too many issues we can’t leave unresolved.”

Even if the class had won, that didn’t erase the fact that they had lost a classmate as the price for victory.

Not only would they need to take care of Ike, they would also have to discuss what came next.

If I returned together with Horikita, I might get dragged into unnecessary trouble, so I decided to head back a little later.

Left alone, I remained quietly on the deck.

The special exam had been full of twists and turns, but the thing lingering most vividly in my mind wasn’t Shinohara or the others.

There was only one person:

Shiina Hiyori

Right now, my thoughts were occupied only by her.