After a brief sleep, I launched a GPS scan just as it turned 6:00
A.M. If they were planning to make a move, I should see some unusual activity among the freshman, including Hōsen.
"Seems like their location hasn't changed."
Only Hōsen, who shared the same table as me, was in my vicinity, but everyone else was more than three frames away. There's not much movement yet. I guess they wouldn't want to attack me in a place where they're witnesses, so at least I'm safe when Ishizaki and the others are around.
Hiyori and Ishizaki have most likely woken up by now and are starting to prepare for the exam.
When all of us were ready, we started walking together.
"It's so annoying we need to start hiking here first thing in the morning." Ishizaki complains still groggy after waking up,
"There's no way around it, we need to start moving early in the morning." Nishino says to the complaining Ishizaki.
Since this type of conversation must have taken place for the previous ten days, the others acted like it wasn't even happening.
"Ayanokōji-kun, do you ever feel lonely in this exam?" Hiyori asked as she started walking next to me.
"Not particularly. I feel rather relaxed to be perfectly honest with you."
"I'm... I feel a bit lonely and scared."
"Scared, huh? I can't imagine Hiyori being scared."
Since she's always so relaxed, it gives me the impression that she's insensitive to these issues. Even if she experienced something traumatic, she would probably clap her hands and say, "This is wonderful~."
"But I'm still pretty scared. So, I think that Ayanokōji-kun is pretty powerful."
"Aren't Horikita and Ibuki more powerful than me?"
If a person fights with solitude for a long time, their mental state will gradually become weak, and they'll start to think about things they didn't need to think about.
That person would start to care about the sound of the wind, the swaying of the trees, and things that simply do not exist.
"Indeed... living alone as a girl on an uninhabited island would... not work for me." Hiyori said as a scared expression appeared on her face.
Thanks to this uninhabited island exam, I was able to see this rare sight and learn Hiyori better.
"You guys are really close, aren't you?" At some point, Ishizaki, who was walking in front of us, turned his head towards us and said so.
"Please don't get involved in unnecessary things." Nishino told him.
"Why don't they go out? They can be boyfriend and girlfriend, and that's how you'll come to our class, right Ayanokōji? Come on, I know you want to- hey!
"Shut up bum!"
Ishizaki received a solid punch to the head from Nishino, and then he immediately screamed, holding his head.
"Ishizaki-kun is really funny." Hiyori replied with a giggle.
Well, it would be unbearable if people always accepted Ishizaki's words in their entirety.
I'll pretend like I didn't hear that."
"Ouch, that hurts. Don't you think it's necessary to get Ayanokōji in our class?"
"I don't think so at all. You're the only one who's obsessed with Ayanokōji-kun."
To Nishino and the girls, who don't know the details, Ishizaki is the one who seems strange for thinking such a thing.
"Wel what can I say... Ayanokōji and I... we basically see eye to eye."
"Eye to eye? I don't think there's anyone who's ever going to see eye to eye with you."
Ishizaki looked at us to help him against Nishino's words.
"Oh, that's not true. Don't look at Ishizaki like he's "that" type of guy."
TL Note: When Hiyori said "that" type of guy she meant gay.
Hiyori said so, but it seems like no one understood what she meant.
"What do you mean by "that" type of guy?"
"That" means "that" is all I can say."
"... sure. In any case, it's good you got praised by Shiina-san."
"Yeah, that's right! Although I don't know what "that" is, at least I know Shiina-san is on my side!"
I remained quiet because there was no way I could respond to something so cruel.
After that, my first designated area of the day at seven o'clock was the H10 area. Hiyori and her friends seemed to be in a different designated zone than J9, so it seemed like we weren't going to compete with each other.
I like that since it's not good to compete with other students in the same year.
"I suppose this is where we part ways, good by Ayanokōji-kun."
"Well, this exam is almost over, so keep up the good work and don't be careless." Ishizaki said as he came up to me.
At Ishizaki's request, we bumped our fists and then went on our own paths.
After walking a few steps, I heard a loud noise from behind. I turned my head and saw that it was Ishizaki and Hiyori waving at me.
I waved back and headed for H10.
Although I had conducted GPS scans every hour today at the expense of points, I hadn't noticed any strange movements of the first years, and it was nearly 5:00 pm.
All I know for sure is that the news that Nanase risked so much to inform me about was probably false. Did Amasawa leak information about Nanase's betrayal, or were they originally planning to act today, only to encounter some complication and ended up terminating the plan?
In any case, I can't let my guard down tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Today's designated areas were random, and I missed the third and fourth designated areas in a row. Because of the GPS scans, my ranking dropped to 16th, but that wasn't too bad.
Tomorrow, I have to step into the designated areas at all costs.