Meanwhile, Kiriyama's radio crackled.
"President Nanase, what's up?"
"I see you're taking action based on the GPS. What's going on?" Nanase's voice came through.
"I think Saiki might threaten you, so I wanted to help deal with him."
"Help me?"
"No, I mean, I want to reduce your troubles."
Kiriyama quickly clarified, his voice softer.
He once hated Nanase but now followed his lead.
"Did I order you to do this?"
Nanase's tone pressured Kiriyama, who knew his rise to Class A depended on Nanase's approval.
Displeasing Nanase would ruin his future.
"Sorry..."
"I've been watching Saiki. If he wants to challenge me in this exam, let him. I'll see what he's capable of. Tomorrow, when the tasks are announced, help me with..."
Nanase gave Kiriyama his instructions, leaving him surprised.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Understood..."
The radio beeped, ending the call.
"Sigh."
Kiriyama sighed, shook his head, and led his classmates elsewhere.
---
"Saiki, what rank are you aiming for in this exam?"
Inside the tent, Tsukishiro smiled at Saiki.
"I'll aim for first place, I guess."
Saiki replied slowly.
"Really?"
Tsukishiro was surprised.
He couldn't understand why Saiki, who usually didn't care about grades, was now serious.
"Why are you so serious this time? You don't usually care about grades, right? Why aim for a good result now?"
"Because..."
Saiki hesitated.
He couldn't reveal the bombs buried under the island.
After a quick thought, he said,
"I've been here almost a year. It's time to prepare for my future."
"I see. Time to show your true strength?"
Tsukishiro patted Saiki's shoulder, smiling again.
"If you need anything, let me know immediately. Saiki, even though I'm working for the White Room, if you need help, I'm here."
*'I'll get on Saiki's good side, keep my options open, and maybe learn about his backers.'*
"Thanks..."
Saiki nodded.
"I'll take my leave. Here's my card."
Tsukishiro handed Saiki his card, bowed respectfully, and left.
"Sigh...'
Saiki didn't expect things to turn out this way, but it couldn't be helped.
"I'll deal with it tomorrow."
---
Tsukishiro walked back to the starting point.
"The uninhabited island plan is probably off."
He sighed. He planned to act against Ayanokōji during the exam, maybe teaming up with Kanzaki.
But now, he couldn't proceed.
Yagami's unexpected encounter with Saiki was too risky. Angering Saiki's backers could be disastrous.
Plus, Kanzaki's earlier attack on Saiki forced Tsukishiro to knock him out. Though Kanzaki recovered, he wasn't at his best, making the plan harder.
They had to abandon it.
One thing puzzled Tsukishiro: why hadn't Ayanokōji acted yet?
Logically, Ayanokōji should've contacted Chairman Sakayanagi by now. Tsukishiro expected external pressure, maybe even expulsion.
That would've been good—he wanted to leave this school.
But there was no pressure.
It was as if Sakayanagi had no intention of returning.
"How much longer..."
Tsukishiro sighed.
---
The next morning, Saiki woke up and checked his surroundings.
Thanks to Tsukishiro, Kiriyama didn't bother him. He prepared for the exam.
With days left, Saiki had enough time to secure first place by manipulating task distribution—but not too obviously, or he'd raise suspicions. He'd take exams in more remote areas.
On his way, he sensed someone following him: Kiriyama's group.
But their behavior was different from yesterday.
---
Yesterday, they had intended to stop Saiki from reaching the task location, but now they were merely following him from a distance, showing no signs of interference.
*"Report Saiki's movements to President Nagumo."*
Saiki heard Kiriyama's thoughts.
*'Nagumo, what's that guy up to now?'*
Saiki wasn't sure of Nagumo's location and had no intention of using GPS to find him.
Naturally, he knew Nagumo and his group weren't planning anything good—
So Saiki slightly increased his speed.
*"Wait, is this guy really that fast?!"*
*"He's faster than Mikitani, isn't he?!"*
*"Hurry, keep up!"*
Saiki had only slightly adjusted his physical abilities, and the winding path felt like flat ground to him.
For those tailing him, it was a nightmare.
...
Finally, after about ten minutes, Saiki arrived at the task location and completed his registration. Another ten minutes passed before Kiriyama and the others arrived, looking exhausted.
Each of them was drenched in sweat, gasping for breath, and on the verge of collapsing.
Mikitani, a third-year student with exceptional physical fitness, was also completely drained.
Fortunately, the registration period for the task was long, so they managed to sign up.
Saiki lowered his head to read the task details on his tablet.
Task: Rock-Paper-Scissors
Type: Other
Students compete in pairs, best two out of three rounds. Losers are eliminated until the top three are determined.
1st Place: 10 points
2nd Place: 5 points
3rd Place: 3 points
Individual registration, multiple entries allowed per group, up to sixteen participants.
Rock-Paper-Scissors was a task designed purely for students to gamble on 'luck.'
And it was perfect for Saiki.
Even if he won, others would just think he was lucky.
More students arrived to register, and Saiki noticed they were all third-year students, seemingly drawn to this location.
Over twenty people were present, but only fifteen, including Saiki, had registered.
It was as if they were waiting for someone.
Saiki knew exactly who they were waiting for:
Nagumo.
"Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting."
At that moment, Nagumo arrived with his entourage.
This was Saiki's first encounter with Nagumo during this exam.
*"Finally, I've found you, Saiki. To figure out which task you'd join today, I had Kiriyama follow you from a distance. I didn't even use GPS to ensure the information was accurate and timely."*
*"Once I determined your direction, I ordered other third-year students to head this way and block students from other grades, just to create a private moment between us."*
*"I didn't expect you'd choose Rock-Paper-Scissors. Interesting."*
Nagumo smiled and waved at Saiki.
"Saiki, what a coincidence. We meet at this task."
"Hardly a coincidence," Saiki replied bluntly.
"Haha, of course it's a coincidence," Nagumo laughed.
"I heard from Kiryuin that you're planning to compete with me in this exam? To see who gets the higher score?"
*'So Kiryuin told him... Can't be helped.'*
Saiki sighed internally and nodded.
"Yeah."
"I never thought you'd want a fair duel with me someday. Interesting."
Nagumo narrowed his eyes slightly.
"In just a few days, you've gone from outside the top ten to the top three. Impressive."
Hearing "top three," Kiriyama's eyebrows twitched.
"It seems you've been wanting to challenge me, President. Avoiding it is pointless, so I'm ready to settle this in this exam. But I have one condition. If you agree, I'll face you head-on."
"Oh? What's the condition? If it's within my power as student president, I'll agree."
"After the duel, I want you to stop focusing on me."
"Haha, got it. Deal."
Nagumo laughed.
"If you give it your all in this duel, win or lose, I won't bother you again."
"If possible, I'd like you to record that. I can't trust your word."
"Can't trust me?"
Nagumo hesitated, then smiled.
"I see. No wonder my plans during the retreat exam failed. You must've helped Horikita behind the scenes. You're truly special, Saiki. Fine, I'll agree. Record it. If you give it your all, win or lose, I won't bother you again."
Nagumo continued,
"But if you lose, you'll join the student council. Agreed? We'll decide based on the final exam scores."
Though Nagumo craved revenge against Saiki, he respected his strength.
He was a believer in strength above all.
Having Saiki in the student council would also make it easier to control him.
"Agreed."
Saiki nodded.
Nagumo smiled, turned to the teacher, and checked the task details.
"Rock-Paper-Scissors? Really?"
"I don't have any special talents, just good luck," Saiki said calmly.
"True," Nagumo replied, narrowing his eyes slightly.
*"Rock-Paper-Scissors seems like a 50-50 chance based on luck."*
*"To some extent, understanding personality and psychological control can influence the outcome—"*
*"But for me, that's not an issue. Saiki, with sixteen participants, your odds of winning are only one in sixteen—but mine are entirely different."*
All the third-year students present were Nagumo's subordinates.
Against anyone else, Nagumo could control the outcome of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
*"Let's see just how lucky you really are."*