Zongman: I can modify the status bar

Hirata sighed, but the other students, including him, probably shared the same sentiment. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's directness was merely stating the facts. If Class A, the top class, hadn't fallen behind, no matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't have been able to easily close the gap. Closing this nearly 1,000-point gap would have been a truly difficult and arduous task.

If the exam is passed efficiently, Class D can only obtain about 100 moral points. If the classmates are forced to do something, and with some luck, it will not exceed 150 points at most. But even so, it is far from enough. Even for them to catch up with or surpass the closest Class C is an unattainable dream.

In other words, you can go to bed now.

"I don't think there's any need to rush. Right now, the first thing is to stay united and get through the exams. Then, I can slowly look towards the next goal."

Hirata is free to decide what actions he wants to take, and many of his classmates would probably agree with this neither-or-nothing strategy.

For now, they should just make an effort to get more pocket money in the future. As long as they choose to turn a blind eye to the gap between classes for the time being, it certainly can't be considered a bad idea. Hirata simply informed Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and then left the tent.

Over the next period of time, everyone in Class D started to get up one after another, and at eight o'clock in the morning, Chabashira Sae came here to complete the morning roll call.

Perhaps because Ayanokouji is one of the few people in Hirata's class whom he can trust, he asked Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune to investigate the situation in other classes.

The two of them walked along the temporary road. Before they came out of the forest, they could see many students from Class C on the beach that was covered with dense trees.

But why does the style of painting here feel a little off?

"No way...this kind of thing...how is it possible!" Horikita Suzune still found it hard to believe the scene in front of her, and kept repeating "impossible".

This also shocked Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, because Ayanokouji had imagined many possibilities, but he never expected it to be such a scenario.

Not to mention the expensive temporary toilets and showers, they also have tents, barbecue packages, beach chairs, umbrellas, and even snacks and drinks. All the necessary equipment for entertainment is also fully available.

The fat from the barbecue dripped onto the charcoal fire in the stove, making a sizzling sound. Along with the smoke from the meat and the laughter of students having fun, buzzing jet skis were crisscrossing the sea, and the students who were enjoying the sea were screaming and having fun.

This is so cool! Are they really here for vacation? No, are they really here to participate in the survival test?

Just by roughly calculating the costs of the items within his sight, Ayanokouji estimated that these items would cost at least 150 S points.

"Is Class C crazy? What are they planning to do? Aren't they planning to save some points?" Horikita Suzune still couldn't accept the reality.

Judging from what I saw before my eyes, it can no longer be described as extravagant.

"Let's go over and check and see what their intentions are!" Ayanokouji and Horikita Suzune walked out from the bushes.

The student from Class C across from them noticed them and immediately reported to the boy next to them. The boy seemed to have slumped over the chair. Horikita Suzune and the others couldn't see his face clearly.

Immediately afterwards, the boy ran towards Horikita Suzune.

"Um... Ryuuen-san wants you to come over..."

The boy came over to talk to me, and rather than being polite, he seemed a little afraid.

"He's just like a king, treating his classmates as errand boys. He seems to welcome them even if they risk their lives to pass through. What should we do?" Horikita Suzune asked Ayanokouji Kiyotaka for his opinion. After all, in Horikita Suzune's opinion, Ayanokouji was very intelligent, and it would be more reassuring to ask for his opinion for reference.

"That's for you to decide." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka did not answer, but returned the question.

"Well, since you've said that, let's go over and take a look! I'm also curious about what this guy is up to."

Then Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka followed the male student and walked towards the other camp.

www.53dushu.com

As we got closer to the sea, the aroma of the barbecue became stronger.

"Hmph! I was just wondering who was sneaking around here and it turns out to be you! Is something wrong?" Ryuuen, lying on the chair, looked at Horikita Suzune and the others.

"How many points did you use to satisfy this level of entertainment?"

"Huh? Who knows how much I spent? Is it really necessary to calculate such things? I'm actually enjoying my so-called summer vacation!"

Ryuuen proudly spread his arms, showing off the abundant entertainment on the beach, and answered without hiding anything.

"Tsk! The water isn't cold anymore! Hey! Ishizaki, go get me some iced water!"

Ryuuen said this, then threw the remaining half bottle of ice water onto the beach as if in a provocation. Ishizaki, standing nearby, hurried over to get Ryuuen some water.

The tent was almost open, and from here you could see many boxes of food and water. Ishizaki looked over to the ice bucket on the side and fumbled out a bottle of ice water.

"As you can see, I'm just enjoying my summer break. In other words, we won't be your enemies in this exam. Do you understand?"

……

Chapter 125 Playing the Lute to a Cow

"We're going to survive on this scorching, uninhabited island? No kidding! Just to get a few hundred or two hundred class points, you, Class D, who are at the bottom of the grade, have to endure hunger, scorching heat, and emptiness. I'm dying of laughter just thinking about how miserable you all are!"

Ishizaki ran on the beach, sweating profusely, and brought back new water. Then he handed the seemingly cold bottle of iced water to Ryuen.

However, the moment Ryuuen got the iced water, he frowned and threw the bottle at Ishizaki.

"I told you to get the chilled one, the cold one, this one is warm!" Long Yuan was arrogant.

"But...but..."

"what?"

Ryuuen's sharp gaze was like that of a poisonous snake, and Ishizaki's body stiffened as if he had met his natural enemy. Then he picked up the bottle dejectedly and trotted towards the tent again.

"...This exam is a test of endurance, ingenuity, and cooperation. You seemed to have no idea what to do from the beginning. No, it should be said that you didn't even think about making a plan or anything..."

Horikita Suzune despises Ryuuen's desperate behavior. Perhaps because she is trusted by everyone in Class D and is the "Leader", Suzune is motivated for this survival test. However, she is also very aware of her own shortcomings. It is good that she can persist until the end of the test and have a certain number of points left to make her future campus life more comfortable.

Looking at the slacking Ryuuen in front of her, Horikita Suzune naturally disliked it. In comparison, Haruki would not be like this. Moreover, Class B should be the best among the four classes in various aspects. Although everyone's abilities are not outstanding, they are surprisingly united. It is said that Class A is still splitting up. With such a horizontal comparison, Horikita Suzune felt that her Class D did not seem to be that bad.

It is impossible to maintain such casual use of points for a week, and hard times will eventually come.

"Cooperation? Don't be ridiculous. If someone easily betrays others and lies, a trusting relationship will be lost from the start. The only person you can trust is yourself. If you're done investigating, you can return. However, if you wish, I'll grant you some space. Whether it's eating meat or playing in the water, you can go and have fun."

"This is really hard to understand. Are you really the Ryuuen who declared war on others?"

"I've tried my best. Patience? Saving? Don't be ridiculous!"

Ishizaki returned from his study and handed the water bottle to Ryuen just like last time.

Long Yuan didn't make trouble this time. He took it, opened the bottle cap and drank the water in one gulp.

"Ha! That's what I do. There's no other way!"

"Really? Then it's up to you from now on. From our point of view, this is perfect!" Horikita Suzune thought carefully, and combined with the current observations, she felt that it would be okay to remove Class C from the list of imaginary enemies this time.

"You're all running around sweating just to find out what's going on in other classes. It's really hard work!"

Horikita planned to leave this uncomfortable place, but she changed her mind just as she was about to take a step forward.

"One more thing, you should know Ibuki-san, right?"

"Hey! You're asking even though you already know the answer. Didn't you see him that day? He's from our class. What's wrong?" Ryuuen was speechless when asked by Horikita Suzune.

"Her face is swollen. What happened? Who did it?"

That day, she had witnessed the beating of Albert, the bodyguard behind Ryuen. Although Horikita Suzune was almost certain that the other party was the criminal, she could still confirm it in a roundabout way.

"Huh? I just remembered that she stormed off yesterday. So, she ended up going to seek help from another class? What a shameless woman! Guess she'll have to give her some serious attention!"

Ryuuen scoffed at this, then ignored Horikita Suzune beside him and lay down on his own.

"There are incorrigible fools in this world. I don't need subordinates who will disobey the orders of the ruler. Since I have decided to use the points in the class arbitrarily, this is my iron rule. No one else can use it!"

"In other words, Ibuki-san and you had a conflict over how points should be used."

"That's what happened in a nutshell, so I taught her a lesson." Ryuuen even made a slapping gesture with his hand, and it seemed that he had admitted his guilt.

"There was another man who disobeyed me, so I expelled him along with that guy." I didn't hear any announcement of his death, so he must be eating weeds or bugs to survive.

It was a cruel thing to say, but Horikita Suzune gradually understood the reason. Even if those two were not there during roll call, it would not affect Class C, so her classmates would not worry or look for her. Horikita Suzune finally realized this.

"You...you spent all your points on the first day, right?"

That's the rule... Even if you lose 300 points in this survival test, there will be no negative score. In other words, no matter who does what, no matter where, it will not have any consequences.

That's how it works. I've used up all my points, and no matter what happens to Ibuki, I won't have to worry about losing them. Do you understand how liberating this is?

“…There’s actually this kind of operation!”

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was not very optimistic about this either, because he had made similar assumptions before, the zero-point operation to eliminate negative points, but its upper limit was very low, and there was no way to leave a good result. As long as there were no points, Class C would definitely be the last. Even if they guessed the [Leaders] of all classes correctly, they could only increase by 150 points at most.

"If Ibuki is in your place, you'd better kick her out immediately. If you feel compassion and choose to help her, you must prepare an extra portion of food, drinking water, and a bed. Anyway, if she can't bear it anymore, she will come back here. If she wants me to kowtow and admit my mistake, I will forgive her! I'm not that petty."

Even if he had disobeyed orders and run away, he would eventually return to his control. Ryuuen was sure of this, and it would actually be difficult for Ibuki to live alone on an uninhabited island like this for a week.

"What a dictator's mentality! You're just happy to enjoy this extravagant life now, right? What are you going to do after you squander it? Even if you want to buy food later, it will be difficult, right?"

Horikita Suzune found it difficult to understand Ryuuen's actions.

……

Chapter 126 The Meaning of [Freedom]

"Oh, well, who knows? Mortals are still mortals after all. They only have simple thoughts. They cling to the points given by the school, investigate who the leader is, desperately try to occupy the stronghold, and run around in the forest until they are sweating profusely. It's really boring!"

Ryuuen looked as if he saw through everything, as if he hadn't heard what Horikita Suzune said, and even mocked the other's ignorance.

"Okay, let's go, Ayanokouji. We won't get anything valuable by staying here." Horikita Suzune couldn't understand why the man in front of her was lying there so calmly and enjoying himself.

"Bye then, Lingyin..."

"I'll say it again! I don't care where you heard this from, but could you please stop calling other people's names casually?"

"..."

Ryuuen didn't say anything else, but put on sunglasses and looked at the beautiful beach in front of him with enjoyment.

Horikita Suzune glared at Ryuuen with disdain and turned away.

Before leaving, Ayanokouji took a look at the cruise ship at the dock, the students having fun on the sea, and... the food and drinks piled up like a mountain in the half-erected tent.

"It seems that Ryuuen really has no intention of abiding by the school rules..." Ayanokouji sighed in his heart.

"Class C is nothing special. Thanks to their self-abandonment, we have saved ourselves a lot of trouble!" Horikita Suzune walked forward angrily.

"That's right, and that guy has indeed used up all his points. There's no reason for him to have those almost insignificant few points left. Ibuki's absence from roll call will deduct them all." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka had just roughly estimated Ryuuen's expenses and came to a conclusion.

"Then they will have a hard time from now on. It's going to be a good show to watch." Horikita Suzune was very proud. After all, she could see Ryuuen being humiliated.

"As much as I hate to break the news, Class C shouldn't have any trouble in this exam." Ayanokouji held his chin.

"What do you mean? Didn't we calculate it? Even if we were very frugal with those points, it would be hard to last a week, not to mention that that guy is simply squandering them!" Horikita Suzune was almost questioning, as if she wanted to vent all her anger towards Ryuuen on Ayanokouji.

"First, if the school only provides 300 points, then it's completely impossible to enjoy a full week of vacation. Saving money on food and drink or giving up entertainment won't achieve the goal. The school's conditions are set forth."

"Of course I know about this!" Horikita Suzune was furious. "That's why we have to save everything we can to survive a week and still have some points. Don't you think we should focus on this?"

"Then is there a possibility that Ryuuen didn't even intend to survive a week?" Faced with the irrational Horikita Suzune, Ayanokouji gave up on guiding her and directly announced the answer.

"Don't you want to make it through a week...?"

"What if Class C's exams ended today? Don't you think that the perfect vacation Ryuuen talked about would have already been realized?"

"This... this is correct, but the key is what should they do next? It's already midnight, so what's next..." Horikita Suzune still didn't understand. The limitations of her thinking made her very confused.

"It's very simple, just do what Koenji did." Ayanokouji Kiyotaka closed his eyes and sighed.

"what?"

"I'm not feeling well, I'm not mentally stable—anything, I just need to find a reason to leave. That way, Ong-Bak can go back to his cruise life. In other words, they can enjoy their vacation without any hardship."

Ayanokouji might have been a bit hesitant at first, but Koenji's "success" was just the beginning of the experiment. Even back on the ship, he still enjoyed it.

"So... that means he gave up on the exam from the very beginning, right?" Horikita Suzune finally understood.

"This exam is as free as its name suggests. Ryuuen's idea might be one of the correct answers. With Ibuki and another student rebelling against Class C, Ryuuen might have come to terms with it. He's going to be penalized no matter how hard he tries anyway, so he might as well just go for it. Plus, he hates hassles anyway, so this way he can save energy and preserve his strength. It'll also boost morale during this relaxing break..."

Ayanokouji probably told Horikita Suzune all his thoughts. After all, in Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's opinion, Horikita Suzune was already moving towards working hard for the class, so it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to give her a push. This was also the effort he had to make in order to maintain his peaceful campus life.

"But I still can't guess when he decided to spend all his points at once."

"This isn't right!" Horikita Suzune looked unconvinced. "He should be thinking about how to bring the two people who escaped back and convince them to unite! I absolutely don't approve of him doing this!"

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wanted to say something, but no sound came out of his open mouth. Horikita Suzune's current state was exactly what Ayanokouji had hoped for. She had grown a lot more than before by now being able to think about her classmates. Perhaps the volleyball game that day had brought her a deeper transformation. Although it was a bit excessive, it was fine like this...

On the other hand, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka couldn't tell what Ryuuen was planning. Perhaps everything he did was just a smokescreen.

But it is really interesting to be able to convince almost everyone in the class to follow your own ideas. This is definitely not an exam that can only be passed to save points within the class.

Just like the question that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka asked Hirata Yosuke before, students who want to climb up and students who are content with the status quo and want to enjoy life coexist in the class. The contradiction between the two is irreconcilable and conflict is inevitable.

Ryuuen seemed to have solved this problem very well. Although there were two fish that slipped through the net, this was already a level that Ayanokouji could hardly imagine.

What is "freedom"? In fact, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has no answer. He has been living in the "white room" since he can remember. It was only with the help of someone that he successfully escaped from the cage. But is the "freedom" that Ayanokouji experienced in this school the real "freedom"?

He is also looking for answers.

Then, in order to make effective use of the extra time, Horikita Suzune and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka decided to check out the situation of Class B and Class A. Logically speaking, Class B should be the most valuable class for reference. In the eyes of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Class B can almost be regarded as a completely upgraded version of Class D.

But as the two of them approached Class B’s camp, the atmosphere seemed a little off?