Chapter 107: Hachiman: I'm Being Very Gentle! The Evil One is Ayanokouji!
Mashima-sensei stepped out from behind the crowd, clutching a clipboard with the exam results. As he raised the megaphone, the beach fell instantly silent. Even the sea breeze seemed to hold its breath for a moment, leaving only the monotonous rhythm of waves crashing against the rocks.
Everyone knew he was there to announce the final scores.
The eyes of every class converged on him. Students from Class C wore expressions of anxious anticipation, while Sudo Ken from Class D stood with arms crossed, seemingly eager to see the scores of Classes A and C plummet.
The students of Class A stood stiffly; even Katsuragi found his hands involuntarily clenching into fists. Katsuragi Kohei's back was already drenched in cold sweat, his white sportswear clinging to his skin with a clammy, icy touch. He could hear his own heartbeat thumping in his chest like a heavy hammer.
According to the news just leaked by Class D, Yosuke Hirata had left the island due to injury and was replaced by Ayanokouji Kiyotaka as the leader. If that was true, their guess of "Class D Leader: Yosuke Hirata" was completely wrong.
Thus, Class A's score stood as follows: 270 base points - 50 points for guessing Class D wrong - 100 points for being guessed by B and C + 50 points for guessing Class B right = 170 points.
170 points! In the end, only 170 points remained.
The number pierced Katsuragi's heart like an icicle. From a confident goal of 690 points, they had fallen to a pathetic 170. Worse yet, they were saddled with a massive debt of 52.8 million (owed to Hachiman) plus 2 million (owed to Ryuen). This wasn't just a mistake; it was a catastrophic defeat—perhaps the most humiliating failure in the history of Class A.
"It's over... it's really over!" Totsuka Yahiko, the leader of Class A who had been entrusted by Katsuragi with the keycard, crouched on the ground clutching his head.
Usually proud and loyal, he had completely lost his composure, his voice trembling with unrestrained despair.
"How much did we suffer on this island this week? Waking up at 4 AM to patrol and scan, taking turns guarding against raids at night, not even eating a decent hot meal... and all for 170 points? We'll be paying back points every month just to cover the debt. We can't live like this!"
His face was devoid of the confidence he once had when he thought he was helping his leader secure the top spot. His words acted as a fuse, instantly igniting the desperation of the Class A students.
"Yeah! 690 points! How did it become 170?" A boy with glasses jumped up, waving his arms agitatedly. "We occupied 15 spots! We sacrificed so much! How is this the result?"
"Maybe there's a turnabout?" a girl whispered, her voice shaking as she clung to a shred of hope. "Maybe the teacher calculated it wrong? Or there are hidden bonus points?"
"A turnabout? Stop dreaming!" someone retorted immediately.
"We're lucky it's not worse! Did you forget Shiraishi's 'sixth sense' yesterday? The odds of things getting worse are high! We couldn't even protect our base points; you think we're getting bonuses?"
In the crowd, Masumi Kamuro stared blankly. She finally understood how terrifying the Advanced Nurturing High School's special exams truly were. It wasn't a simple test of strength, but a calculated battlefield where a single misstep meant ruin. Just half an hour ago, everyone was privately celebrating their high scores and discussing what feast they'd eat back on the ship. Now, they were on the verge of a total breakdown.
Hearing Shiraishi's name, she subconsciously looked toward Asuka Shiraishi, who merely tilted his head slightly. Kamuro recalled the ominous words he had spoken the night before.
"Shiraishi-kun, did you know this would happen? Why are the school's exams so cruel?" Kamuro asked.
Shiraishi Asuka glanced at her—Sakayanagi's "puppy"—and explained calmly, "The essence of special exams is screening. It filters out those who aren't cautious or strong enough. Class A was too careless; we took victory for granted." He paused, then shook his head. "Though, I think it's going to get even worse."
"What do you mean?" Ai Morishita, who had been trying to stay detached, couldn't remain silent anymore. "How can it be worse than 170 points? This gap is already beyond comprehension."
"Because Class D hasn't... No, just my intuition," Shiraishi gave a vague answer, seemingly sensing something about Class D that wasn't appropriate to say aloud.
His words only served to further destabilize the morale of Class A. Some students began shooting suspicious glares at Hashimoto Masayoshi. They remembered him suggesting to Katsuragi that Ryuen was the leader of Class C. In hindsight, for a member of the Sakayanagi faction to give such advice to Katsuragi seemed suspicious.
Hashimoto felt the weight of the gazes and quickly looked down, pretending to fix his clothes. Internally, he was cursing. He had expected Class A to at least get 270 points, making his 2-million-point kickback profitable. But at 170 points, the monthly debt deductions would be a nightmare. This betrayal was becoming a net loss.
"Katsuragi-kun, what is going on?" a student demanded, their voice thick with resentment. "You said 690 points was a sure thing! Why is it like this? You owe us an explanation!"
"An explanation? What good is an explanation?" another student snapped. "The only thing that matters now is how we pay the debt and recover in the next exam! I haven't earned a single thing from this exam, and now I'm over a million points in the hole!"
Katsuragi stood under the crushing weight of their resentment, feeling dizzy. He opened his mouth to speak, but his throat felt blocked.
He saw Totsuka's guilt-ridden eyes, heard the desperate complaints, and felt the mocking glares of the Sakayanagi faction. It hit him like a sledgehammer.
The first person to question him was from Sakayanagi's side, but the second—the one lamenting the million-point debt—was one of his own.
Even his own followers were lost in despair. 52.8 million plus Ryuen's 2 million—a 54.8 million point debt for a score that was worse than if they had just taken the exam normally. It was a total failure of leadership.
He knew that, as of today, he had completely lost their trust.
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On the other side of the beach, Hachiman stood alone in the Class B area. He was perfectly calm.
For him, Class B's score of 0 was a foregone conclusion. Even if he guessed other leaders correctly, being guessed by the other three classes would cancel it out.
He felt a gaze and turned to see Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Their eyes met for a fleeting second before Ayanokouji looked away, his face an emotionless mask.
Hachiman shrugged it off and looked back toward the front.
Mashima-sensei stood in the center of the beach, flanked by the other class teachers. Hoshinomiya Chie, the Class B teacher, leaned in toward Hachiman with a cute smile.
"Hikigaya-kun, how many points do you think Class D will get? That last-minute leader swap caught everyone off guard."
'You're the Class B teacher, yet you're still obsessed with Class D' Hachiman thought dryly.
Out loud, he said, "Normally, maybe around 300. However, since I wrote down Ayanokouji Kiyotaka as the leader for Class D, they probably won't have much left."
"You guessed Class D's leader?" Hoshinomiya blinked, then realization dawned.
"Oh right, you participated in that part. I almost forgot, since Class B was guaranteed a zero, I didn't look closely at your form."
"If everything went according to Class D's plan, then what I wrote should be correct," Hachiman added.
"I have you to thank for that, Hoshinomiya-sensei. You warned me to watch Ayanokouji. That's why he caught my attention when he stayed behind on the island while Class D was 'falling apart.' Otherwise, I wouldn't have identified him so quickly."
"Is that so?" Hoshinomiya's smile faltered slightly. She felt a twinge of unease.
Was Hikigaya hinting at her private talk with Ichinose Honami? Ichinose was a good girl, but she was incredibly indulgent toward Hikigaya.
Not only did she allow the shift in class representation, but she seemed to follow his every word.
Thinking back to last month's written exam—where she had confirmed Hikigaya only scored a 9 in math—she had even requested to move her seat next to him during the proctoring.
'Is this guy actually calling me out? No way, right?'
She stole a glance at him, but seeing his normal expression, she relaxed and dropped the subject.
In the Class D area, Sudo stepped back while Ayanokouji stepped forward. Sae Chabashira looked at him with a complex expression.
"Ayanokouji, what score do you expect?"
"300 points. The base points are gone, but by my calculation, we should have 302," Ayanokouji answered quickly.
"I have this exam under control."
However, he noticed that Chabashira didn't look pleased. She offered only a polite, forced smile, her eyes tinged with... worry? He couldn't understand why.
Chabashira's heart was indeed in turmoil.
While Ayanokouji's performance exceeded her expectations, she couldn't stop thinking about Hachiman's words: "As long as I'm here, Class D will never reach Class A. Class D will not rise in this exam."
She had dismissed it as arrogance then, but looking at Hachiman's calm demeanor and Ayanokouji's misplaced confidence, a thought took hold: Hachiman might have seen through Ayanokouji's entire strategy.
Mashima-sensei cleared his throat and raised the megaphone.
"Silence! I will now announce the official results of the Uninhabited Island Special Exam."
After a standard official speech about cooperation and strategy—which the impatient students barely listened to—he finally got to the point.
"Now, the results. In last place: Class 1-B, with 0 points."
This surprised no one. With only Hachiman left on the island, they couldn't perform a leader swap. 0 points was inevitable. Class A students felt a small sense of relief; at least they weren't at the very bottom. As long as B stayed at zero, Class A would retain its rank.
"Well, at least B is still at zero," Kamuro whispered. "Otherwise, we'd be completely ruined."
"Don't celebrate yet," Asuka Shiraishi's voice cut in. "The real results are coming."
"In third place: Class 1-D, with 50 points."
The calm on Ayanokouji's face finally shattered. A flash of genuine surprise crossed his eyes. He had expected 302; he got 50. His mind immediately raced to analyze the discrepancy.
The spot points and hidden spot points should have been over 100. If they were zero, it meant only one thing: his identity as the leader had been discovered.
Confirmation: 50 points. The math clicked in his head: 150 points for guessing A, B, and C correctly - 100 points for being guessed by two classes = 50 points.
This meant more than one class had written his name. Someone had seen through his last-minute swap and convinced another class to do the same. Given Class A's current state, they weren't the ones. That left B and C.
"Class D isn't all that," students from other classes snickered.
"All that mystery for just 50 points?"
"50 points?" Ryuen smirked, but his eyes grew heavy.
He understood immediately.
Hiyori Shiina's form for Class C had listed Ayanokouji, just as Hachiman had. This meant Ayanokouji had lost his spot points and been penalized 100 points.
But it also meant Ayanokouji had correctly identified the leaders of A, B, and C.
'This guy is dangerous' Ryuen thought, noting that Hachiman hadn't left the Class C camp, meaning Ayanokouji had gathered that intel entirely on his own.
"Second place!" Mashima continued. "Class 1-A!"
The Class A students hung their heads. Kamuro muttered, "It should be 170... small, but enough to chip at the debt."
"120 points."
"What? Not 170?" The Class A camp exploded. "Where's the other 50? Is there a mistake? We guessed Class B right!"
"Silence!" Mashima frowned. "The scores are calculated strictly according to the rules. There are no errors."
The realization hit: someone else had also guessed Class A's leader. Total despair sank in. Katsuragi closed his eyes, exhausted. He had lost everything.
"Finally, first place: Class 1-C, with 350 points!"
While this was half of what Ryuen had originally envisioned, it was a victory. Class C erupted in cheers.
"We're first! We crushed Class A!"
Ryuen, however, looked like he wanted to murder someone.
"Dammit!" he hissed. 350 points. His agreement with Hachiman was to pay him private points equivalent to a 350-point class evaluation every month. He had suffered for a week and gained absolutely nothing.
Worse, because of the debt, he couldn't afford to lose those 350 class points in future exams, creating a massive vulnerability.
"So this is how it ends," Hiyori Shiina sighed. She found Hachiman terrifying. He said he'd leave Class C "a lifeline," and he left them exactly enough to pay him back. Looking at her cheering classmates, she felt a chill. They weren't losing because they weren't trying; they were losing because the opponents—Hachiman's foresight and Ayanokouji's hidden depth—were on another level.
Hachiman felt Hiyori's gaze and gave a small nod. His goal was achieved: Class B had secured venture capital, and A, C, and D were all tied up by his strings.
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As the students boarded the ferries to return to the luxury liner, Class A was dejected. Class C was happy but beginning to realize the math of their debt.
"Ayanokouji, we got 50 points! That's great!" Sudo was the only one genuinely happy. "With Horikita's merit system, you'll get 40,000 points a month now! I'm jealous!"
"Let's go back," Ayanokouji said flatly. "If I'm not mistaken, there's a second exam coming." He was calm, but he recognized he had miscalculated his opponent.
Hachiman was the first to board the luxury ship. As he stepped onto the deck, he was stunned. The entire Class B was gathered there, standing in neat rows.
"One, two, three—"
"Welcome back! Our class hero!"
Crackers went off, and colorful ribbons rained down on him. The applause was deafening. Every student in Class B looked at him with genuine admiration and respect.
"You guys realize I got 0 points, right?" Hachiman said, feeling awkward.
"So what?" Ichinose stepped forward, beaming.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the center of the crowd.
"To Class B, you are the hero of this exam."
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