Capítulo 50: Chapter 50 – Battle Royale
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Early in the morning, the school broadcast on the cruise ship, as well as phone reminders, called the first-year students to get up for breakfast. While many were taking a walk after breakfast to digest their food, they could already see a small black dot in the distance.
As they got closer, the dot gradually enlarged until it turned into a lush island within their sight!
However, the school seemed to have a special arrangement. Instead of directly entering the island's port, the cruise ship turned left and circled the island, allowing students to sightsee.
Meanwhile, the broadcast explained: "All students, please change into your sports uniforms and bring an additional set of sports clothes and your personal phones. Do not bring any other items. Gather on the deck by class."
"We will circle the island for thirty minutes, giving everyone time to sightsee. After thirty minutes, we will land on time."
"Class leaders will check the items. We hope students will follow the broadcast instructions and not bring any unnecessary items."
The announcement was repeated three times to ensure everyone heard it clearly. After a while, the students, now changed into sports clothes, regathered on the deck.
Ryuen was closely observing the island, trying to get an early read on the terrain: "An entire island for the competition? That's quite a grand setup."
"Does this mean the class competition is about to start, Ryuen-san?" Ishizaki asked nervously, imitating Ryuen and staring at the island, though he had no idea what to look for.
Ryuen glanced at Ishizaki, then continued to focus on the island without a word. His silence was more telling than words, making Ishizaki and other C-class students understand that the upcoming events wouldn't be easy.
Many had serious expressions and furrowed brows, feeling uneasy and far removed from the carefree enjoyment on the cruise ship the day before: "What exactly does the school plan for us to do on that island?!"
Yukio, finding the situation amusing, mischievously threw out a scary prediction: "Maybe they're planning to have us do a battle royale on the island."
"Each person might be given a firearm and ammunition, along with some medical supplies, and we'll have to fight each other. Only the victor will be allowed to leave the island alive and return to the school."
This casual guess terrified the nearby C-class students, causing them to sweat profusely and turn pale. The more timid ones even began to tremble uncontrollably, and it seemed possible they might fall onto the deck due to the continuous rocking of the waves.
Ryuen chuckled, either amused by the joke or by his classmates' reactions: "The school wants us to compete, not to fight to the death. What are you all thinking?"
At this point, the C-class students awkwardly realized their overreaction. Of course, it was unlikely! They were students, not mercenaries in training, how could they possibly be involved in a battle royale?
Realizing they'd been fooled by Yukio and Ryuen's joking expressions, the students understood they'd been pranked: "Don't scare people like that, Yukio-san! That really could've stopped someone's heart from fear!"
"That joke wasn't funny, Yukio-san!"
"Just trying to help you all relax a bit," Yukio replied nonchalantly, offering a flimsy but unchallengeable excuse. "But a battle royale is out of the question."
"Survival in the wilderness, however, could be a possibility."
Seeing the island, Yukio's first thought was of a battle royale game map set on an island, and his second thought was of Robinson Crusoe's story of survival on a deserted island. He speculated that this competition might involve wilderness survival, but with some assistance from the school.
It was unlikely that the school would simply leave students without survival skills on their own – that wouldn't be special education, but rather murder.
Hearing this more plausible prediction, the C-class students breathed a sigh of relief. After all, survival seemed much more manageable than a battle royale, which was too terrifying to contemplate in reality. Yukio's initial joke about a battle royale actually served to alleviate their tension, as many students were now in a relaxed yet slightly anxious state.
However, Kaneda and Shiina, the class's academic aces, looked uneasy. As typical of many top students, they lacked physical stamina and strength. Faced with a survival challenge, they worried they might become a burden to their class.
Once everyone calmed down, they frantically began to search their phones for wilderness survival tips and started discussions to learn basic survival skills. They were desperate to identify edible plants and fruits, and figure out how to use simple tools for fishing.
Ryuen and Yukio, however, didn't partake in this frenzy. Ryuen expressed his frustration, "Damn, if I had known it was about surviving on a deserted island, why did Kaneda and I bother memorizing the locations of all those security cameras yesterday? There were so many, even in the rooms!"
Yukio patted Ryuen on the shoulder, "Don't worry about it. If the school installed all those cameras, they must serve a purpose, right?"
Ryuen's eyebrows shot up, "Are you saying...?"
Yukio gave him a knowing look but didn't say anything more, leaving Ryuen to ponder the implications without further questioning.
The cruise ship finally completed its circuit and docked at the pier, setting up four disembarkation passages to avoid queuing, allowing the four classes to descend simultaneously.
As per the school's instructions, Sakagami approached the students and clapped his hands to get their attention, urging them to stop looking at their phones: "We'll start checking now, and everyone needs to hand over their phones. You're not allowed to bring them this time."
"Of course, I assure you on my honor and on behalf of the school that we will not pry into any personal information on your devices. Now, please hand them all over."
After his announcement, Sakagami began collecting the phones. Everyone complied without objection, trusting in Sakagami's guarantee of privacy.
The inspection was extremely thorough; Sakagami even confiscated Ishizaki's newly purchased sunglasses, much to Ishizaki's regret and the feeling that his money had been wasted.
After being checked by their class teachers, students from each class descended from the ship and lined up in four formations according to the order of classes A, B, C, and D.
A-class teacher and English instructor, Mashima, took a loudspeaker and stood on a small mound of earth. Mashima, a stern and serious middle-aged man, seemed well-suited to be the homeroom teacher of the highest-scoring A-class.
Not keeping the students waiting long, Mashima spoke into the loudspeaker: "Ahem, the first special examination for the first year starts now!"
Upon hearing this, D-class's formation became noticeably noisy, as if they couldn't believe they had to face an exam even during the summer vacation.
The other three classes remained quiet, awaiting further instructions without surprise. They had been mentally prepared for this, so the announcement of a 'special examination' instead of a 'class competition' didn't particularly shock them.
A-class seemed to have known in advance, C-class students were indifferent, and in such a serious situation, some were internally praising Yukio for his foresight.
In B-class, many looked towards Ichinose at the front of the line, puzzled. Didn't Ichinose warn D-class? They supported the idea of Ichinose informing other classes.
But now wasn't the time to ask.
Ichinose herself was confused, wondering why D-class seemed so unprepared despite her warning to Kushida about the possible competition arranged by the school. Did Kushida forget to inform her classmates, or did something happen to her last night? Considering the safety of the school's cruise ship, Ichinose couldn't fathom what could have gone wrong.
***
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