Hachiman’s Classroom of Strength’s Supremacy

Chapter 139: Ryuen’s Class, 0 Points

The uninhabited island exam lasted for seven days, and now it was the night of the sixth day.

But for all the students on the island, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Because as long as they made it to 10 AM tomorrow, the exam would be over, and they could return to the cruise ship.

Crackle.

The bonfire burned, bringing warmth and a sense of security.

However, the students of Class A were not happy.

They had been stuck on this island, confined to a relatively small stronghold.

If it had only been for a few hours or a day, they could have endured it, but now they had been here for a full six days. Did anyone understand what those six days had been like?

“I know everyone has worked hard these past few days.” Katsuragi Kohei’s voice rang out.

It was after dinner, and the students sat around two bonfires.

His faction, the Katsuragi faction, gathered around one fire, while the Sakayanagi faction sat around the other.

The class had 40 students in total.

Divided into two factions, they never acted together, not even when warming themselves by the fire.

Class A students were excellent and disciplined, but without unified leadership, they struggled to maximize their effectiveness.

Moreover…

Before the exam, his Katsuragi faction had 22 students. Now that the exam was ending, it was still 22 students.

No change.

Sakayanagi Arisu hadn’t even come to the island.

That meant he had lost a chance to poach students from the Sakayanagi faction.

But Katsuragi understood—he still lacked the kind of leadership that could win everyone over.

So he took out a small notebook for recording assignments.

“Tomorrow, when the exam ends, the rules state that we cannot arbitrarily pollute the environment. So we need to assign some students to handle the cleanup.”

“Additionally, the tents and shower stalls need to be dismantled.”

“I’ll start assigning tasks now,” Katsuragi said.

That was why he had taken out the notebook—to organize labor.

But at that moment…

“Katsuragi, don’t you think our class has been too passive in this exam?”

“For six days, we’ve been stuck here. I’m sure there are still unoccupied strongholds, but you ordered us not to leave.”

A discordant voice came from the other bonfire.

It was from a student in the Sakayanagi faction.

His name was Hashimoto Masayoshi.

He had originally joined the Katsuragi faction but quickly defected.

This made Katsuragi’s diehard supporter, Totsuka Yahiko, immediately stand up.

“Katsuragi was only worried about your safety,” Totsuka said. “There are snakes here. If someone got bitten, we’d lose even more points. Don’t forget—your Sakayanagi faction has already cost us 80 points!”

“Uh…”

Hashimoto, who had just stood up to argue, immediately fell silent.

The other Sakayanagi faction students also looked troubled.

Class A had started with 300 points, but Sakayanagi’s absence had cost them 30 points.

Then, on the first day, due to the Sakayanagi faction’s refusal to cooperate, they had lost another 50 points, based on Katsuragi’s report to Mashima-sensei.

So altogether, the Sakayanagi faction had caused an 80-point loss.

They had no justification.

Some Sakayanagi faction students looked toward a tall girl with purple hair among the female students.

Kamuro Masumi.

She was one of Sakayanagi’s most trusted aides.

But during this exam, she had merely conveyed Sakayanagi’s instructions: listen to Katsuragi’s arrangements and do nothing extra.

Now, she showed no particular expression.

“Sakayanagi’s absence was due to health reasons. Blaming her isn’t exactly a fair argument, Yahiko!”

Katsuragi scolded Yahiko.

“As for the 50 points, they’ve already been deducted. There’s no point in dwelling on it now.”

His words made the Sakayanagi faction students feel a bit ashamed.

At the same time, they were impressed by Katsuragi’s generosity.

They felt guilty about opposing him.

But Katsuragi knew very well that it wasn’t really the Sakayanagi faction that had lost those 50 points. It was because Yahiko had eaten an apple to boost Katsuragi’s popularity.

Of course, he couldn’t say that.

So he let it go and continued speaking.

“We made a deal with Ryuen’s class this time.”

“The price is a total of 1.2 million private points per month to Ryuen.”

“In exchange, we got information on the leaders of both Class B and Class C. You all understand how valuable that is, right?”

The value?

Of course, it was valuable.

Class B was structured similarly to Class A and was a major competitor.

Now, their class was about to lose 50 points.

A good outcome.

And as for Class C…

They were the biggest outlier in this uninhabited island exam.

What kind of monster class occupied 20 strongholds?

Anyone who did the math would realize that occupying 20 strongholds alone meant Class C’s stronghold points were ridiculously high.

But…

If they correctly identified Class C’s leader, Class C’s stronghold score would be reset to zero.

And then…

“Tomorrow, we can occupy another stronghold,” Katsuragi said. “So by the end of this exam, we’ll have our remaining 220 starting points, plus 18 points from strongholds, and if we correctly identify the leaders of Classes B and C, we’ll earn another 100 points in rewards.”

“That brings our final score to 338 points.”

“I believe that’s a solid result.”

It truly was.

During the first month’s behavioral exam, there had been 1,000 points available for deductions, but in the second month’s written exam, the highest possible score had been only 100 points.

So gaining more than 300 points in one go was quite impressive.

“So, now I will assign tasks for tomorrow. Any objections?”

Katsuragi’s voice grew slightly louder.

“No objections!”

“None!”

This time, the class was finally united.

All the students in Class A wouldn’t refuse to end the exam with this score.

Similar motivational speeches were happening in other classes as well.

…

Meanwhile, in Class C.

Since it was the last night on the island, the students gathered around the bonfire.

Hachiman sat by the fire, feeling the warmth it provided.

To his left sat Horikita Suzune.

Horikita looked slightly fatigued, which was understandable. Just earlier, he had taken her to visit Class B’s area.

Not to mention, she had worked hard yesterday too, as a snake-handling expert, following Hikigaya through the more dangerous, snake-infested areas of the island.

“Speaking of which…”

Karuizawa poked the fire with a stick about a meter long, causing a few sparks to rise.

To her left sat her gyaru squad—Shinohara Satsuki, Matsushita Chiaki, and Sato Maya.

Then there was the short-haired blonde, Kushida Kikyo.

After two days, Kushida had finally recovered from the underwear theft incident and returned to her usual self.

“Since it was Ibuki who stole the underwear, aside from trying to create internal discord, she must have also done it to obtain our class’s leader information, right?” Karuizawa said.

“And tomorrow is the leader-guessing phase,” she continued.

The leader-guessing phase.

If a class’s leader was guessed correctly, not only would their starting points be deducted by 50, but even the points earned from occupied bases would be reset to zero.

Their class’s starting points had already been reduced to zero long ago.

They were relying entirely on base points to score.

But now…

Could it all be erased?

“Isn’t that terrifying?”

“Hey!”

“Are you saying we’re about to end up with zero points in this exam?” The class finally realized the gravity of the situation.

“I told you we shouldn’t have taken Ibuki in back then! Now we wouldn’t have to worry about this!”

“And the underwear theft incident—so annoying!” This time, the one venting his frustration was Yamauchi.

After Ibuki left that night, he had been brought back.

The reasoning was that since another pair of underwear had been stolen, he was innocent.

Now, he was even more sick of the underwear theft than anyone else.

But…

Wasn’t it you who brought Ibuki back in the first place?

“Everyone… calm down.”

Seeing the class getting agitated, Hirata, their self-proclaimed class mom, quickly stepped in to mediate.

“We can’t calm down, Hirata! If our leader is guessed, our class is done for!”

“Hirata, do something!”

The class immediately erupted into chaos.

Hachiman remained silent, but beside him, Horikita Suzune furrowed her brows and said,

“If you’re worried about that, then it’s already too late.”

“If they have our leader’s information, then it won’t just be Class D guessing—it’s likely they’ll share it with Class A too, since they’ve allied, haven’t they?” Horikita said.

“Wow, that makes it even worse, doesn’t it?”

If their leader information was exposed, not only would they lose all base points, but they could also be targeted for additional deductions by other classes.

“Not only will we get no points, but we’ll actually end up losing 100 points.”

“That would be a complete disaster.”

“I told you we shouldn’t have taken Ibuki in! This was a huge mistake! We should’ve been more careful with our starting points—then at least we’d have some to offset the loss now.”

“But Yukimura, didn’t you also agree to let Ibuki join back then?”

“Besides, you used 5 starting points to get a small fan, didn’t you?”

“That… I was just…”

“…”

Hmm.

Hachiman listened to their discussion.

He had always thought that Horikita was a master at fanning the flames.

She spoke as if trying to stabilize the situation, but in reality, she was pouring gasoline on the fire.

Even though she was trying to elevate the class to Class A, the class itself was still a mess.

So Hachiman had to rein them in a little.

“Ibuki was likely a spy sent by Ryuuen’s class.”

“And for our class, this was a lesson.”

“We are a collective. A single decision can affect the entire group’s interests.”

“But saying that now doesn’t help, does it?” Karuizawa kept poking the fire with her stick. “You’re saying we should trust our class more and pay closer attention to it, but this time, we’re looking at a loss of over 300 base points. If our leader is guessed, that’s another 100 points gone. That’s over 400 points in total—that price is way too high.”

“The cost is indeed high, but those who are capable must take on more responsibility. You haven’t forgotten that at the beginning, Koenji took on the challenge of securing 300 points in one go, right? Of course, he had a backup plan,” Hachiman said. “You may not have noticed, but Koenji isn’t in the camp right now.”

“Isn’t this usually the time when he takes a shower?” one of the students asked.

After living together for six days, they had gotten familiar with each other’s habits.

“He’s out catching snakes,” Hachiman said. “Koenji anticipated the possibility of the leader’s identity being exposed, so he’s preparing to use the ‘injury strategy.’”

“The rules state that a leader cannot be replaced without a valid reason. But if the leader is injured, they can be replaced, right?” Hachiman continued. “So his plan is to secure the final batch of stronghold points today and then withdraw due to an injury.”

As long as the leader’s identity was changed and wasn’t leaked again in a short period of time…

The other classes wouldn’t be able to guess who their new leader was.

That meant their base points would remain intact.

Not only that—if another class guessed wrong, they would end up losing points themselves.

“Wait, this kind of strategy is possible?”

The students immediately thought of Koenji with newfound respect.

“But sacrificing himself like this… He must really care about the class!”

Even Karuizawa and her friends were moved—this was someone willingly getting hurt for the sake of the class.

Having the mental resolve to go through with it and actually harming oneself—it was a ruthless move.

Of course, it could also be seen as a noble sacrifice for the class.

“You seem to be deliberately giving all the credit to Koenji,” Horikita Suzune said, watching the fire while observing how the class’s mood was easing up. She turned to Hachiman.

She may have been blunt and socially oblivious, but…

She knew that from the very start of the exam, everything had been planned by Hachiman.

Koenji, if compared to a chess game, was just a piece that Hachiman had moved into place.

“Yeah,” Hachiman said. “In this exam, Koenji did play a crucial role. So there’s no harm in giving him the credit.”

Besides…

Hachiman had another reason.

This was a deliberate attempt to elevate Koenji’s status.

Someone like Koenji—a natural prodigy, arrogant and flamboyant—was hard to control.

Now that the plan had succeeded, he was going to accumulate millions of points over the next three years.

Getting him to cooperate again in the future would be difficult.

But if they boosted his reputation, and everyone recognized his excellence…

Then, if the class ever found itself in a dire situation, they could all go and plead with him—manipulating Koenji into taking action once more.

“It’s just a bit of a shame,” Hachiman said. “Koenji made his move, but Class B has too many saints.”

He rested his hands lightly on his legs.

There was a hint of regret in his tone.

Horikita Suzune, sitting beside him, understood.

Right now, both Class B and Class C had spies who had leaked their leader’s information to Ryuuen and Class A.

Class C had already confirmed that they were switching leaders, so because of the information gap, if Class A and Class D wrongly guessed that Koenji was still the leader, they would end up losing points instead.

Similarly, if Class B also changed their leader, then Class A and Class D would suffer a major loss.

But… Class B probably wouldn’t be willing to let one of their students get injured.

And indeed, Class B couldn’t go through with it.

“Our class leader’s identity has been exposed. It’s unfortunate, but the truth is, the student we took in—Kaneda—was actually a spy sent by Ryuuen,” Ichinose said.

The students of Class B sat around their bonfire.

Ichinose held a small stick, writing numbers in the dirt.

“Tomorrow, let’s all endure our hunger and skip breakfast so we don’t have to spend any extra points on supplies.”

“Right now, our remaining starting points total 170.”

“Because our leader’s identity was exposed, our stronghold points will be reset to zero.”

“On top of that, Class A and Class D will correctly guess our leader, costing us another 100 points. However, since we also know their leaders, we can claim 100 points back. That means our final score will be 170 points,” Ichinose explained.

“But there is another way to score points,” she added.

“And that is to replace our leader. Since our leader’s identity has already been leaked, we should find a way to switch them—like getting bitten by a snake. If they’re injured, they’d have to withdraw.”

“Using this method, our final score would be 170 – 30 + 100 + 17 = 257 points,” Ichinose continued, drawing the calculations in the dirt with her stick.

“Um… I… I’m actually willing to be bitten… by a snake,” a quiet voice spoke up.

It was Shiranami.

She raised her hand hesitantly.

“It… It was me who accidentally leaked the leader’s identity,” she admitted.

Ever since finding out about the leak, her face had been pale.

But now, she forced herself to suppress her fear and volunteered.

Getting bitten by a snake…

For a timid girl like her, it was terrifying. But for the sake of the class, she was willing to make that sacrifice.

But—

“That’s not right,” Shibata said. “We can’t let Shiranami go through something like that. Besides, accepting Kaneda was a decision we all made together.”

“It’s our fault for not realizing just how disgusting Ryuuen’s tactics were.”

“Ryuuen is seriously the worst. This is just an exam, and he actually sent spies?” Shibata said angrily.

Shibata Souta—Class B’s energetic sports kid. He had joined the school’s soccer club in the second week after enrollment. A hardcore athlete.

And, as a bright, optimistic boy, he was naturally a “saint” type.

He couldn’t stand seeing a timid girl like Shiranami suffer so much.

“If we don’t change our leader, our final score will be 170 points.”

“And if we change our leader, our final score will be 257 points. In other words, the value of switching the leader is exactly 87 points,” Ichinose analyzed.

With that, she put the decision in everyone’s hands.

Letting them choose.

“If only we hadn’t accepted Kaneda back then.”

“But at the time, we had no idea it was Ryuen’s scheme,” Class B students discussed among themselves.

“We should make a decision quickly,” Kanzaki Ryuji urged.

In reality, Ichinose’s calculations were incorrect.

She had only considered their class’s score, without factoring in the potential loss of points for Class A and Class D if they guessed their leader wrong.

This was actually a strategy to close the gap between them and Class A.

So, the difference wasn’t just 87 points—it was actually 137 points.

But Ichinose didn’t point that out.

Which meant, deep down, she also didn’t want Shiranami to get hurt.

Kanzaki understood this well.

At the same time, he felt that there was no point in dwelling on past mistakes.

Instead, he thought that if they had rejected Kaneda from the start, or handed him over to the teachers back then, things might have been different.

It was their overly compassionate nature at the time that led to this dilemma—having to decide whether to let a classmate get injured for the team’s benefit.

That was his own shortcoming, too.

Kanzaki decided to take this experience as a lesson, a punishment to remind himself to be more cautious in the future.

“Alright, let’s vote,” Ichinose said. “Shiranami, thank you for your willingness to sacrifice for the class.”

“But—”

Ichinose looked around.

Some students had already raised their hands.

“I don’t think it’s necessary for Shiranami to get bitten by a snake just for 87 points,” Shibata was the first to speak up.

“I agree. Besides, aren’t there special exams every month?”

“There’s always another chance.”

“We might not have performed outstandingly in this exam, but that doesn’t mean Shiranami has to make such a sacrifice.”

“The leader’s identity being exposed is a responsibility we all share. Shiranami shouldn’t have to bear it alone.”

“And, there will be more special exams every month.”

“We can always keep trying.” More students quickly joined in agreement.

“Yeah, exactly!”

Ichinose counted the votes.

Except for Shiranami, every single student in the class voted against letting a classmate get hurt.

Because they were all comrades.

And so—

The seventh day arrived.

The exam ended, and the results were announced.