Towards the center of the island, behind the old-fashioned baby-blue-colored aqueduct, lied an enormous rising sun on the furthest horizon at sight. The horizontal length of the aqueduct extended for a grand total of what it seemed to be about 500 meters in terms of length. Likewise, in height, it was supported by twenty-five pillars that had fifty meters of distance from one to another as result it would allow the aqueduct to approximately almost have a whole kilometer in terms of height.

Below it, are scouring raging watery tides as the entire area aside from that is a rock field to walk through without any sorts of highs and lows. The end of the forest would allow anyone to capture the sight of the beautiful aqueduct basking in a stunning radiance transmitted by the sun. Noticeably, on the very west end, or to us, the beginning, there is a door in the very bottom of the first pillar and that's where we found the majority of the students circulating around.

Nonetheless, out of all those students, the one who approached us was their leader, Damian. He didn't look very cheerful but instead looked extremely guilty. Without anyone having said anything to him, he began by giving a bow, which apparently, the majority of the students expected. I, however, didn't expect him to give a bow as an apology to Ryousuke Kawahara like that, which even shocked him.

"I am sorry! I doubted you and you weren't lying all along despite how ridiculous the information sounded in the first place! I am so deeply sorry!"

His voice was so strong and full of remorse that I am surprised that he didn't cry. Kawahara was stunned for a moment, but he was quick to dismiss the dramatic scenario.

"The information was ridiculous and doubting me was something that anyone would have done. But, let's skip the whole formality. Take me to the location!"

Damian was confused perhaps due to the fact that Kawahara didn't exhibit a degree of spite towards him or any other student. To further explain, I stepped forward and talked to Damian, who was now raising his posture.

"He's really embarrassed at your gratitude and doesn't know how to take it well, so..."

"Shut up. That is not it."

"Hmm, sureee."

Kawahara looked annoyed at my sarcasm which was a first because he was perhaps slightly annoyed. Feeling the need to remark something, Damian spoke, as if he saw an entire different being in Kawahara.

"You're different now, for some reason... You don't look like the same person who would sell his comrades back in that bin..."

"I've said this before and I'll say it again, they are not my comrades. They are primates. Anyway, let's go already! Why are we wasting time! Damn!"

Indifferent towards what was happening, Kawahara started to move on his own and I guided him along with Damian and the rest to the inside of the vicinity. Though I didn't expect a difference in the designs at first, the more we walked into the straight-forward linear path that didn't have a stairway-case unlike the previous section we went into, the more differences we could witness.

Surely, the widespread room contained a computer on the furthest right side but the structure was by far the most appealing part to it. Height-wise, it went above twenty meters as the ceiling was keeping all the water from the above aqueduct within; thus not allowing it to descend upon us. Contrasting that, this surface was supported by an elevated structure with fresh water below. If this current structure that we are in would not exist, then we would be in deep waters, so to say.

On the outside, it looks like the inside of what an aqueduct would be, but this truly looks like the beginning of a waterway as you can see what lies beyond the door. The illumination here isn't poor but it isn't super-great either. It looks fairly green-lighted, for some reason.

"I'll scan it, if you don't mind."

"Winner's keepers. You found it, so it's all yours, I'll have to input the password, however."

On the edge of the computer where it would be possible to see the requirement of a password to be input, Damian and Kawahara had a visible consensus.

Then, Kawahara's eyes were on me.

"Shiori, give him Rokoro's component, will you? Otherwise, there's not much we can do here."

"Wouldn't it be funny if we lost it?"

Throwing a joke, I actually managed to attract the fear out of some people.

"Y-You have it with you, right?"

Dissapointed, I sighed and confirmed the truth with Damian as I handed him the component with my eyes closed.

"Yes, Damian. Here you go. Just a joke, gosh."

Damian looked a bit confused but Kawahara gave him some words of consultation.

"She's a psycho deep down. Be careful..."

"Yeah, I can see what you mean..."

Grimmy, I chose to ignore the both of them as I found their retorts utterly false. Furthmore, they hurried up and checked the password. Upon getting the correct scan, Damian spoke out loud to Kawahara.

"Will! It's "Will"!"

Enthusiastic, Damian remarked that more than once and Kawahara silently inserted the password as an extremely high number of curious students were glaring at the computer to see whether or not it would work. Not to my surprise, it worked and the door opened.

As it did, Kawahara turned around and talked to the multitude in a loud voice tone.

"Do not go through that door! The strategy is to avoid the inside at all costs as we have concluded that the remaining criminals are more than likely attempting to bait us into walking into it!"

To add more sense to Kawahara's words, I intervened as well.

"It's quite likely that we could fall into a trap due to the temptation of walking in, so I would like to ask you to keep yourselves controlled."

"That's right, that's right. It's too strange that the other criminals have not appeared yet so we could be in massive danger."

We had to constantly repeat the same thing to make sure there wasn't anyone who would uphold unnecessary ideas.

Ultimately, after the correct password was inserted, Damian shouted something to the entirety of the students present which would be close to 150.

"There are only eight other sections to uncover, so let's return fairly quickly! The more information we get the better!"

Undoubtely, the rest of the students weren't as afraid of Ryousuke Kawahara as they were before. If I had to say, about 30% of the students present were not even afraid of him and his companions. Throughout our way towards the base, also known as the bonfire location, the students from my group would constantly engage with Kawahara, Rayazaki, and Kuzan. Needless to say, but it would soon be crystal clear that upholding a permanent fear towards them would be somewhat unnecessary.

Around 8 am, on the bonfire area, as we returned, we found Yasuda's group. 75 people were adjoined to yet other 150, so the number quickly overextended over 200. Yet, that was not the most surprising part. The most surprising part was that Yasuda was nervously waiting around for what it seemed to be someone and as soon as she saw that someone, she didn't hesitate in walking towards him.

Out of every student here, I would say that she would be the one who would have less trouble interacting with him. After all, she even greeted him with a smile, out of all the gestures to begin this conversation with.

"We found a hidden location just like you said!"

Yasuda, for some reason, looked unnecessarily happy about accomplishing what would perhaps be a simple accomplishment? No, I understand that there is possibly a degree of difficulty involving this task so bragging about DOES make sense.

"Oh, great! You're a savior, Yasuda."

"....T-There's no need to thank me..."

............

"Um, Yasuda?"

Managing to grab her attention for a while, I asked a question that concerned her accomplishment.

"Tell us more about the location. First of all, where is it? Secondly, how did you, or your group managed to uncover the location? And so on."

It would be more crucial and important to actually know what she had done than engaging in pointless interactions.

"It's in a cliff near a mountain! Surprisingly, it didn't take us any effort because the cliff had a visible door to be open and inside we found a computer!"

...So it didn't take her any effort? Why was she bragging like that then? Whatever.

I brushed that off and issued the orders to everyone present.

"Alright, let's move on!"

Just like that, we went to the south of our current location, which was in the north-east yet almost fully at the north. In other words, the west side of the island as a whole. The environment quickly went from a colossal deep forest containing arguably the tallest trees that I had ever seen to a mountain trail upholding uncanny rocky cliffs that would seem beyond fragile.

The mountain was not the end destination but instead the door at the bottom of the cliff. To get to the bottom of the cliff, we all had to climb to the top of the trail and then we had to descend through a stairway made out of rocks. It was a dead end with only a bottomless pit covered in thick white fog below.

To put it in perspective, I, along with Kawahara and the rest of the students were forming a line whilst climbing the horizontally large stairway only to stare down at a path to the dark right. That path would no doubt connect to something. However, the most important and deadly factor here was that anyone could fall over and as such, Kawahara felt like making a comment about the situation while we didn't reach the end destination as there were a couple more steps to go.

"If anyone's afraid of falling, feel free to hug me all you want!"

Fearless and demonstrating capacity to take care of others, he let that out to the body of students.

Of course, no one was actually really going to follow through with that, until Yasuda came in from behind me and approached Kawahara's back. Ultimately, she hugged him from behind while covering her face totally.

"See, people?! There's no need to fear! These two over here will take care of you as well!"

By "these", he was referring to Rayazaki and Kuzan, but I suppose I can understand why Yasuda would feel the need to hug Kawahara in this situation. She's afraid of falling, but I am not because the stairway's degrees are obtusly large and as such, unless you are literally on the left edge of them, you won't fall. Just walk while on the opposite side and you won't fall.

"Yeah, I don't mind! Just don't kill me off, please!"

"Same with me!"

Rayazaki and Kuzan both agreed without any problem and the students from my group began to approach them by taking ahold of their arms just like kindergarten students. It was an harmonizing sight and midst all this, I overheard a little conversation between Yasuda and Kawahara. Kawahara would start the conversation though.

"Are you that afraid of heights, Yasuda?"

He would tilt his neck every time he would speak as he had to keep his eyes on the road in order to not stumble.

Yasuda replied to that by raising her posture a bit slightly.

"Um... No, not really. Yeah, it's scary if I were to fall, but it's a bit impossible like this..."

This caused me to intervene as I was severely confused.

"Hold on, why would you do that then? If you are not afraid, then there's no reason for you to hug him. Get off him, Yasuda."

"Wh--- ...No."

Further confused, I instigated her while also walking down.

"Why not...?"

"...None of your business..."

"What? What do you mean none of my business? You're not making any sense."

She refused to explain herself and then, Kawahara explained it to me.

"Shiori, she's bolder than you in a sense. I have a suggestion where we can all happily be together without having to be in a state of arguments all the time..."

Since we are now on the border of the destination, Yasuda got off his back and went to my side. Kawahara mirrored us and suggested something stupid.

"Threeway."

I went first with the slap and then Yasuda in a more shy way. I made sure to not hold back and even managed to feel his left side teeth clearly. He let out a complaint as he didn't find our reactions plausible at all.

"Huuuh? Oh come on, I was serious!"

"You're disgusting. See, this is why you have to keep your distance, Yasuda. This guy think this is a joke and makes sexual innuendos whenever he deems it that the time for it is nigh."

"I had forgotten about it... Our first conversation went almost as similar as this one."

Midst this, Damian approached Kawahara from behind and hooked his left side of his shoulders in a friendly way with a sardonical smile.

"Being the ladies' man is rough, eh? Once we are out of here, how about you and I have a competition?"

"Oh? You're speaking my language Damian."

These two womanizers, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to start a conversation of this degree of controversy in front of these many students. Damian tried to keep it low, but Kawahara's bubbling enthusiasm would surely ruin his efforts.

"The one who gets more chicks is the winner."

"Really? I won't go easy on you, Dami---"

He attempted to confirm that, but I shackled his chains brutally thus earning his attention slightly.

"Would you stop creeping the girls around please? Go inside already."

Lamenting his attitude, he further said something unnecessary as he walked into the dark path on our right.

"Such a cold-woman, Shiori."

"Shut up."

Surprisingly, after walking a bit into yet another straight-forward linear path, what we found was a church... Bright lights accompanied this area with a towering ceiling above us. Side windows allowed luminosity to fill the entire place which was surprising considering how none of us captured any windows on the outside but we could clearly gaze upon the scenery outside, where a clear cerulean sky above the mountains remain.

Multiple rows of seats were in-between the middle path all the way to the altar. Up there on the altar, is a cross but what caught our attention was that the cross contained something obscure to it... Students began to immediately blurt out their guesses as it wasn't hard to realize what it resembled.

"Duuuude, that's the Illuminati!"

"Lol, you actually believe in that?! It's just a myth and nothing more than an internet meme, haha!"

This is widely true as the ancient organization known as the "Illuminati", to my knowledge, is nothing more than a source of entertainment for others on the internet and occasionally the justification pillar of conspiracy theories around the world. So, how come there was a sudden mention in that?

Well, the cross would usually contain Jesus Christ crucified on it but instead of that holy figure in it, all that remained was a gigantic eye on a tiny pyramid at the top, which made everyone here think it was in fact something obscure as the Illuminati. However, to no one's surprise, that's actually not the case.

But, Kawahara stood still for a while and then he said something in regards of this...

"...Their enemy was religious influence, if we look at it in an objective way as they found more sense in a religion based on logic instead of the other way around. So, stripping Jesus Christ off the cross could very well be a symbol of their actions."

I turned in his direction and vividly spoke.

"Wait, are you serious? You don't actually believe that...?"

"No way I do. Probably just some try-hards wanting to be acknowledged by "society" for being part of a popular extinct organization. It died several centuries ago anyways."

"Yeah, I thought so too..."

Although... This island is a bit... strange? Where does all this come from exactly?

Those were the two questions I wanted to instigate yet I found more reason in pursuing our current goal and as Yasuda and Kawahara were in front of the computer behind the altar, Kawahara used Rokoro's device with my permission and we were able to decipher the password, to which Yasuda said out loud to all the students who were now taking a break whilst seating on the empty large rows in this hollow church.

"Words! The password is "Words"!"

So far, we already know three passwords. The first one being: Path. The second one: Will. And the most recent one: Words.

No doubt, there is a pattern here and as soon as Yasuda spoke that out loud, a great majority of students came near Kawahara and celebrated as he inserted the right password.

Striking a winning pose despite being utterly chained, Kawahara managed to pump the spirits of many students in a flash.

"Alright!! Seven more to go!!"

"Oh hell yeah! This is so much fun! We gotta go back and meet up with the others, man!"

"And the environments change every time! It's like I'm in a fantasy!"

An absurd amount of cheers and happy jumping motions collected by all the students was formed as I also couldn't help but smile because we had made such tremendous progress over a noticeably little time.

If everything goes well, it wouldn't be strange nor illogical to assume that we could very well leave this island sooner than expected.

"Shiori? What are you spacing around for? I swear, for such a cold-woman, you are an oddball!"

"Can you stop calling me that vulgar surname of "cold-woman"? I am not cold."

"You can't even get jealous like a normal person because you feel the need to rationalize everything and you're telling me you're not a cold woman? That's a big lie, if I've ever seen one."

"....."

As we continued to walk outside of the vicinity, I thought to myself that I don't know how to be jealous. As I've mentioned before, I am attracted to Ryousuke Kawahara, but not in a way that I would have to monopolize him indirectly like Yasuda does. I'm aware of her feelings towards him, but I can't get jealous over something like that.

It's ridiculous and it would make me look like a girl who is scared of losing attention meanwhile that's not true.

In the end, we didn't go through the door that would open itself behind the altar and continued our way to the camp as it would take us about twenty minutes to reach there. Midst our trip, Damian asked something to Kawahara.

"Hey, bro. I've been meaning to ask, but since Rokoro's component has been a great help thus far, then does that mean that the rest of our components will also be as useful?"

Kawahara didn't stop walking but the remaining students were all looking at him as he explained.

"Here is the thing you gotta understand, Damian. Those components would be the reward of venturing through each section, but the fact that we were given them so openly means that we are being instigated... With that said, to answer your question, they do. Rokoro's component is by far the best as it saves us the trouble of acquiring the passwords indirectly. Then, there are your walkie-talkies. This island doesn't transmit any signals and utilizing our cellphones is out of the question. However, those walkie-talkies can travel through countless kilometers and they serve as a communication tool which is great."

"That's true... Then, what about Yasuda's component? Do you think it can help us make any progress?"

In this iconic forest to all of us, in-between the trees, we all stopped and put our eyes on Yasuda, who took out her component fairly quick.

"I don't know... Something ominous about that switch is telling me that we shouldn't use it. If worse comes to worse, we will press the switch; otherwise, I don't think so. Sorry, Yasuda. You were a great help already though as we are officially 30% ahead of the curve as Damian would say."

Damian smiled a bit and Yasuda was quickly relieved as she thought initially that Kawahara would deem her as worthless but he instead highlighted two positive factors about them instead. He is a natural talker, as I've remarked before.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

However, something, or rather, somone's group would capture our attention as we would meet him rushing in our direction from the north side. Alongside a brutal total of 60 students, Rokoro rapidly ran in our direction as he went straight to Kawahara, out of all people.

"Kawahara-dono! Kawahara-dono! You won't believe what I found! It's incredible! Magnificent! Oh, I must show you as I want to hear your thoughts on it!"

Instead of Kawahara, Damian made a side comment while referring our previous location.

"Don't tell me you found some sort of Illuminati location as well?"

Jokingly, he let out a laugh, but to Rokoro, this could not have been more on the mark.

"Yes, Damian-dono! Quick, quick! This is about to be revolutionary!"

Unable to ignore his enthusiasm, we all followed Rokoro.

Our path of direction would be towards the south-east and it would take us about an hour to reach our destination. Yet another change in the atmosphere was in store for us as we encountered a foggy swamp with lianas everywhere. Furthermore, some animals would be present every now and then, but they proved to ultimately be harmless. It looked like a jungle but it was nothing more than a swamp. As midday approached, we had finally reached our absolute end goal as it was the entrance to a cavern covered in sluggish lianas. Needless to say but the humid environment really made all of us start to sweat...

"Everyone, don't worry! It's fresh and cool inside!"

"Damn, let's get inside then!"

"Geez..."

Unlike previously where the halls would be simple and lack detail, the halls of the entrance were by far way too detailed in contrast. In the first place, the path was not dark as it was only a fairly linear path to a stairway case of ten degrees with a dual split path to the right or left.

Regarding the walls, they each contained...

"O-Oh my God! Are those real eyes?!"

Akari fell on the ground as the eyes on the wall stared at everyone here, but as I touched them, I said my thoughts to Akari as Damian helped her get up from the floor.

"No, but their design is undoubtedly realistic... No doubt about it, but this is pretty old..."

As I touched the horizontal eye that is attributed in various panels of the wall, I could feel a strange realistic sense to it.

Midst this, Kawahara and Rokoro had a conversation on my right side.

"Kawahara-dono, what do you think of this?! This is the eye of providence, isn't it?!"

"Well, yeah. Yeah, it is. It really is... Holy fuck..."

Then, out of impulse, Kawahara shouted something towards all the students.

"Attention, does anyone have a functioning cellphone to record this? A signal is irrelevant as the recording doesn't need a signal to begin with!"

Multiple acceptable answers came forth and many also took the suggestion head on and started to record this. Afterwards, Kawahara said something to Rokoro.

"No one will believe us once we return without evidence, but if we record everything we will be..."

"Celebrities! This is a national treasure! But, come quickly! I must show you what I really found!"

Running like a kid, Rokoro climbed the stairway case and went to the right side instead of the left side.

I asked something to Kawahara after we began to advance into the stairway case.

"Are you sure it's the right thing to take credit for this...?"

"Well---It's not. But many would pay money to have their hands on this information, Shiori."

"I get that. It's just---I don't know, I feel like this is almost no different from what Percy initially motivated us to do. Except, I'm referring to the moral value..."

Perhaps overworried that we were overextending our welcome here, Kawahara said some comforting words.

"Relax, Shiori. As I've said before, the Illuminati died several centuries ago. This is all the work of a delusional organization. All we will be doing is feeding the egos of conspiracy theorists while winning money in return."

"I can't reason with you out of this, can I?"

He transiently stopped at the top of the staircase and looked to me.

"It's a good opportunity. Plus, I'm curious now and once I'm curious, it's a very hard task for me to ignore my inner curiosity."

"You're just a kid in the end."

"....I guess..."

Kawahara finished that sentence rather meekly while scratching the back of his head. Afterwards, we all went to the right side of the dual path and we quickly found a dead end as the room would contain a computer, which symbolized already the margin of progress to many of us. However...

"A coffin?"

I blurted that out loud as many other people started to investigate the parameter of the dusty coffin on the left side of the room. It was also fairly way darker in comparison to the previous area. Though, to Rokoro, this was what he wanted to show Kawahara.

"Look at the center of the coffin closely, Kawahara-dono! There are german words in it!"

".......German words? Why german words though...?

In deep thought, Kawahara pondered why there were german words and as for me, I kneeled down and looked closely towards the center of the coffin. To all the students present in this room, I said the entire sentence out loud in german first.

"Heil dir im Siegerkranz!"

My accent completely changed for a second and it was to no one's surprise that I knew the german language perfectly since I am a block A student. After erupting my posture back up, I gave the translation.

"It means: "Hail the fatherland!" or so I think. But I doubt I'm wrong!"

This made Rokoro give his ultimate point to Kawahara.

"Kawahara-dono, we might be in front of a real Illuminati object! Since the organization was created in Bavaria, which is now a part of Germany, it makes perfect sense as to why it's in german! Furthermore, the whole sentence is a reference to how they hail their leader as the mightiest!"

However, Kawahara begged to differ a little bit.

"But that's weird because the Bavaria never recognized that whole sentence as it failed to gain the support of many German rationalists. In other words, it has to refer something else..."

Damian then made a suggestion.

"Isn't it just referencing who is in fact in the coffin? Let's take a look, shall we?"

In agreement to Damian, I spoke as well.

"That's what I was thinking too. It would make more sense for the sentence to be hailing the one inside as the "fatherland"."

Yasuda gave her opinion as well.

"Fatherland as in... leader? But, we are just going to find some bones, aren't we?"

Showing great willingness to take the initiative, Kawahara suggested something to Damian, Kuzan, Rayazaki, and Brionac.

"Damian, Kuzan, Rayazaki, Brionac, help me out here. For some reason the weight of the entrance of the coffin is absurdly outstanding, so I'll need a helping hand."

"Yeah, no problem, let's do it."

Kuzan snapped his fingers slightly and spoke after Damian.

"It's been a while since I exercised."

Rayazaki showed no hesitation and went to the bottom south of the coffin's entrance and looked ready to lift it.

"Time to show what I got!"

Excited as well, Brionac demonstrated a well-formed unity with the other four. Lastly, it would be up to Kawahara, who was right at the center of the enormous coffin, holding the very tip of it. He then started to chant a countdown as we all backed off slightly.

"Three----two---one---GO!"

They mustered all the strength that they had and anyone could see the brutal physical effort they were putting in, but the coffin did not move whatsoever. Neither did the bottom of it as it looked like permanent glue fixated on a ground.

"W-What the hell!"

Exhausted suddenly, Brionac was the first one to let out a loud complaint.

"Not again! What is this made of exactly?!"

"It's not budging! Damn it!"

"It's no good, stop!"

Issuing the end of their endeavor, Kawahara and all of them backed off from the coffin a bit as they regained their breaths quickly.

"How inconvenient, Kawahara-dono! I am now even more curious! Is there a way to possibly hack that coffin to pieces?"

Although I respect and acknowledge their curiosity, I think that they are overstepping their boundaries a little bit and so I stepped up.

"Aren't you all just being too selfish here? That's a dead person's body that's inside. We don't have the right to do any of that."

Yasuda thankfully, agreed with me right away.

"Denko's right. This is a pretty malicious thing to do. And hey! We came here for the password, not some coffin!"

Multiple students then showed agreement to what Yasuda had just said and ultimately, instead of insisting with the coffin issue, I gave Rokoro his component back to him and he shouted the password out loud for no reason as if it was some grand scientific discovery.

"Eureka! It's "Light"! I repeat, "Light"!"

After Kawahara inserted the password that Rokoro had just declared, we heard a loud sound coming from the other side of the cave. To clarify what just happened, Rokoro gave brief explanation with his right hand's index finger fully erupted.

"On the other side, there is a door and without a doubt, the door is unlocked! Now, let's go and ventu---"

Rokoro looked absolutely ready to venture to the other side, but me and Kawahara halted his tracks with our hands on each of his shoulders.

"Not so fast, kiddo. No going there."

"You heard him, Rokoro. We won't venture into the other sections because we have theorized that following our greed and ambition will most likely make us victims to their trap..."

At this point, this was a no-brainer, but it would be beyond the shadow of doubt how the other criminals are within the other sections and not the other way around. It's the correct logical move to do as Kawahara says.

On the other hand, Rokoro was deeply saddened by this.

"B-But... Weren't you the one who said that I was limiting myself by not finding out what there can be found out, Kawahara-dono?! This is our chance! We might find what the Illuminati are hiding! Perhaps the source of endless conspiracy theories could ultimately be proven at long last! The world could live in a brighter truth! Kawahara-dono, Denko-dono, I beseek you! We must continue to the other side."

Maybe feeling guilty a tiny bit, Kawahara closed his eyes and then spoke his honest mind.

"Honestly... I'm with you here. However, we have to get out of this island quickly, Rokoro. We can't drag everyone down with our selfish endeavors... I'm afraid this is what scientists call... Sacrifices."

"......I'm saddened... I've been meaning to talk with the person behind this island and here I thought that somewhere around this island there could be a clue yet..."

"Do not worry. Along the way, we'll surely stumble upon more. That's why we can't lose anymore time."

"That's true, Kawahara-dono!"

"Good!"

Pumping his shoulder twice, Kawahara encouraged Rokoro to not give up and then, to the rest of us, like a leader, he announced our progress thus far.

"Everyone! With this, only six sections are left! We are almost half-way there!"

Once again, Kawahara had successfully managed to grab the positive attention of many.

Back to our area, we all ate for a while and then had a discussion as we waited for the next group to come. It goes without saying that we were having lunch and that everyone was no longer afraid of Kawahara anymore. He had shown to be an empathic individual who feels remorse and understands the drive of others. Essentially, he is a leader to his core and I believe no one present here would dare to disagree.

I was still under charge of keeping Kawahara in his chains but I was silently eating a bag of chips as I watched Damian, Kawahara, and Rokoro have a conversation.

"Kawahara-dono, have you thought of something yet...?"

"Hold on, I'm still linking some factors..."

He is in such a deep thought that he has continuously refused Yasuda's food over thirty minutes. Damian too, along with Rokoro are deeply thinking.

The fire is now extinguished yet they are mirroring each other in a triangle.

While that's happening, Yasuda came to my right side as I am seated on the large wooden log, peacefully eating in silence.

"Uh... Denko, do you like Kawahara...? Sorry if this is brief, but you just can't take your eyes off him."

I didn't stop eating but only replied when I didn't have food left to digest in my mouth. I also didn't look in her direction and felt like being honest as lying about this would make me think that I am a ridiculous person and that's not true.

"Why, yes, I do."

"...Seriously? Aren't you like... uh, afraid?"

To this, I looked her in the eye.

"He's a good person and he's going to change into a better person. As someone who believes in his potential, I can't be afraid of him. How about you? Aren't you afraid of him, Yasuda?"

"Well, not anymore! It's impressive because Percy had marked us with the wrong impression of him from the start but in reality... maybe the real criminal was Percy and not him?"

"...."

Honestly, I think their cores are a bit too similar, it's just how they choose to treat individuals, now that I think about it.

Nonetheless, Yasuda ignored my silence and asked me a question.

"Are you going to... confess?"

I didn't look at her this time.

"I already did and got rejected. I wouldn't advice you to do the same."

"Wh--- I had no idea..."

Scared and surprised at the fact that I already had confessed and had gotten rejected, Yasuda trembled a bit.

"Apparently, back in our school, there's someone he already likes. I admire how he was able to flat out tell me this without hiding it. He's not actually a coward, Yasuda. This man is very strong deep down but his surroundings often misunderstand him, that's why it's up to me, as someone who understands him to make him into a person that won't be constantly misunderstood."

"...."

Stunned, Yasuda's eyes opened wide as she wasn't expecting my words.

"...Ah, I really hate you."

"....?"

She was smiling as she said that, that's why I didn't take it the wrong way and only prompted her to continue.

"Back in school, you are always better than me at everything. Grades, looks, better lines, you name it. I thought that maybe this would be it, but you were already like ten steps ahead of me in this. I don't stand a chance against you now, Denko, because you always best me. This other girl shouldn't be a problem for you either because once you put your mind into doing something, it's like you're gonna achieve it no matter what..."

"....."

All this time, I had no idea that Yasuda viewed me like this. A few hours ago, I came to the conclusive consensus that my understanding about my surroundings is absolutely none. Unlike Kawahara, who is often misunderstood by his surroundings, I am the one who misunderstands my surroundings all the time.

No, perhaps "misunderstanding" isn't the word. It's like... I haven't tried understanding any of these people in the first place and had to rely on opportunity created by Ryousuke Kawahara to get to know others not better but just a little to start everything!

"...You look really happy now. I bet you don't even realize that you have tears in your eyes..."

"....Eh? Wh--I..."

I didn't overrreact but I noticed that in my eyes, what I thought was water, are in fact my tears.

Yasuda whipped them slightly as I made my best effort into stop them from overflowing.

"I don't know you personally but you always seem distant about others. I think that the fact that we tried to distance ourselves from Kawahara immediately after Percy told me what he was is the proof that we, as human beings, are ultimately more defensive than anything. And so, distancing yourself from others all the time is... really defensive, y'know?"

No longer with tears in my eyes, I looked at Yasuda in awe.

"Denko, can we be friends? I'll admit that my crush on him will probably last a while, but I acknowledge that your chances are bigger than mine, so I won't try anything. However, I was wondering if we could---"

Happy, I took both of her hands and with a radiant smile exposed on my face, I gave her the positive answer with a bubbling enthusiasm never before seen. I was even throwing my entire body at her to symbolize every single one of my upcoming words.

"But of course we can! For a second there, I thought we already were friends, but this is a great chance, Yasuda!"

"Great! Great! Then we---"

Although we were happily making a bond with our hands tied up and smiling to one another beautifully, our attention was quickly stolen as Kawahara, from just a few meters past us, shouted incredibly loud furthermore attracting the attention of many.

"I got it!"

"Kawahara-dono?!"

"What did you manage to uncover?!"

Excited, Rokoro and Damian couldn't help but elevate themselves as Kawahara did the same. As for me and Yasuda, we looked at each other, silently smiled since we understood what we meant to say to one another and went back to the center of the bonfire where the multitude of students gathered; wanting to hear what was going on in Kawahara's mind.

"Yoh has an ax, right?"

"Indeed, Kawahara-dono!"

"But what does the ax have to do with anything...?"

They were debating something as the three of them couldn't help but wonder about a way to hack the coffin to pieces DESPITE the fact that me and Yasuda had told them how immoral it was. I wasn't expecting Kawahara nor Rokoro to completely listen, but seeing how Damian is going along with everything they say makes me very, VERY, disappointed.

I sighed along with Yasuda transiently.

"The nature of the ax makes it different from the rest! If something correspondent with the structure of the ax collides with the ax, then it is possible that we could uncover what's in it IF the coffin's nature corresponds with the ax's! It's a huge gamble though."

"I see, Kawahara-dono! It's worth the shot!"

"Speaking of which... Look."

Damian pointed to the entrance of the forest and there, we saw a boy with an absurd quantity of black hair to his frontal face completely covering his eyes while the rest of his head was borderline shaved. That meek boy, is undoubtedly, Yoh, which is the individual that Kawahara, Damian, and Rokoro are looking for.

35 people accompanied him and he hesitated a bit in giving the good news when Rokoro came rushing at him.

"Yoh-dono, did you find it!?"

He wasn't reacting well to the brutal crowd near him which told me that he doesn't enjoy crowds at all, but Kawahara was the first one to take notice of this while serving an immediate solution.

To everyone present, he spoke out loud with rigor.

"Everyone! Give him some space! Our numbers are catastrophic but in a good sense! However, too much is too much!"

"....Right."

"Yeah, sorry..."

Acknowledging the need to give him distance, the numbers began to disperse, however, I still had to stay in the area as I am in charge at all times of keeping them under the leash. In addition to me, Rokoro, Damian, and Yasuda remained; essentially the group leaders as we are the truly important pieces.

Finally, Yoh felt comfortable enough to speak to Kawahara and Rokoro.

"...I found it... Near the volcano, there is actually an entrance in the bottom of it..."

"Near the volcano?! Yoh-dono, I understand that it's inactive but that could be too dangerous!"

"...Well, it is what it is..."

Although Rokoro was a bit shocked, Kawahara didn't hesitate to take this opportunity.

"It doesn't matter, we are going. Also, is your ax with you?"

Yoh's carrying a back pack and it's quite possible that the ax is there, but we don't know for sure.

"It's right in the back... Why?"

"...Well, there's something we would like to try with it but not now. Later, alright, Rokoro?"

"I am saddened."

His words sounded apathetic but he was utterly affirmative about being sad.

Our numbers quickly exceed 250 and we were such an unstoppable force that multiple little groups were starting to be formed as the group leaders would remain on the front. Our way towards the inactive volcano was a bit too obvious as the volcano is widely visible. All we had to was go to northeast and continue to follow the path. Unlike the forest where our base starts with, our path contained a side river that would ultimately split into two once we reached the vicinity of the volcano. Aside from the trees, there was a rock bridge allowing us to venture towards the other side.

It was almost afternoon as that whole walk took us a grand total of two hours just to reach there and it surprised me how that volcano was inactive.

However, something completely visible to us was the entrance of what it seemed to be yet another cave from the frontal entrance of the volcano, from our perspective.

Before entering in the area, I glanced upon the behemoth-sized height of the inactive volcano whilst making a comment about it.

"I wonder when it was the last time it wasn't inactive...?"

"Decades ago, probably. It's inactive for good, I hope."

I didn't reply and we walked in. A far longer path with a ceiling of low height was characterized by the torchs lighting up the hall every ten meters.

A contrasting wave of cold started to greet us as we didn't know what to expect except for a computer but we knew that by this time, it would be yet another object correspondent with perhaps...

Aside from that thought, our long way came to an end when we were met with a dark abysmal end that contained a rocky stairway all the way to a section below. Just like the entrance of an elevator, the door there remained at that end, but in the middle of the stairway, there is a computer.

Rokoro, while looking towards the enormous ceiling height that contrasted the previous ceiling's low height, made a comment with disappointment all over his voice.

"No Illuminati?! Madness, what is this! Where is the clue?!"

Unable to properly grasp what Rokoro was fuming about, Yoh spoke.

"....What are you talking about...? Illuminati...? What...?"

Kawahara explained it.

"We found some connecting pieces to the Illuminati. But I've theorized that this is just the work of some hardcore fans. You can go towards the students who are recording and ask for footage while I insert the password."

"......."

Without speaking anything, Yoh retracted his movements and went back to the students recording this whole event.

Damian, Rokoro, Kawahara, Kuzan, Rayazaki, and I were in front of the computer as Rokoro scanned the entrance of the computer and got the right password.

"Eureka! "The"! It's "The"!"

A simple one this time, and as such, the door opened itself. However, we didn't spend any time looking at the door that had opened itself.

As one would expect, Kawahara briefly shouted the progress of the task as we are now officially half-way there.

Yet again posing like a champion, the words we were familiar with came to us through him.

"Everyone! This is it! We are half-way there! Only five more to go! We have made an outstanding progress and we will continue to do more! None of this would be possible without any of you!"

Kuzan and Rayazaki shouted in addition which provoked the positive reactions of many students and I was admittedly tempted to join in, but I figured I would look a bit awkward.

Maybe next time...

Anyhow, we all then started to climb the stairway as our path of action now was obvious: we go back to the camp and wait for another group to come. We repeat this until we are done clearing out the remaining password entries and then, we will see what there is in store for us.

Nobody would try and stop this objective unless something out of the ordinary happened, which was why it was odd to me how Yoh was clearing his frontal hair out of his eyes and focused his vision supremely as he looked through the now open door that had opened itself when the password was correctly inserted.

The first to question this abnormality in his movements was Rokoro.

"Yoh-dono? What are you doing? We shouldn't lose time like this."

"....What is...."

He wasn't paying any attention to Rokoro whatsoever and as such, I additionally halted my movements and asked what was going on to him.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Naturally, Damian also stopped along the way and questioned Yoh as well.

"Is there something there?"

He already was aware that Yoh was looking through the door and what was beyond it.

"...Isn't that a desert....?"

"Huh?"

Rokoro was confused, just like all of us and even Kawahara, alongside Kuzan and Rayazaki couldn't help but gaze through the open door as they saw at first a very linear line of darkness soon advanced by an overwhelming yellow color.

Yet by focusing our visions better, we could only see a yellow color.

Yoh then asked Rokoro something.

"....Can I use your cellphone? I want to zoom in on something..."

Noticeably, something about the door was that it wouldn't immediately lead to the zone that lied beyond. As a matter of fact, I wasn't aware that there was such a drastic change in environments until I switched over to my cellphone and zoomed the entrance of the door far to the maximum.

Kawahara, on my right side, noted something.

"That is actually a desert. Most impressive, Yoh. You have the eyes of a falcon. But that's the thing----the environment completely changes once we go in there."

Shocked at this, Rokoro couldn't be more baffled.

"W-Why didn't you say so Kawahara-dono?! That sort of information is beyond crucial!"

But, Kawahara did not agree one bit.

"No, it's not, kiddo. It's just a distraction from the real goal."

"No, but Kawahara-dono, this is authentically impressive! An environmental change just like that?! No doubt about it, it's artificial! This island contains technology so absurdly advanced that environmental applications under a permanent status are possible! We are talking about defying nature through artificiality! The mind behind this island is a mad genius! T-This is magnificent! Revolutionary! Fascinating, deep, astonishing!!"

It's not as if I don't agree with Rokoro as I deep down am aware that this island's contents are beyond my reckoning of initial expectations, but the reason as to why we aren't going along with him is because we don't want to boost his ego since we are not following through.

With that said, I said something conclusive to Yoh, who for some reason kept looking through Rokoro's cellphone very closely.

"We won't go there, so there's no need to instigate what lies beyond even further. We are halting our progress, so can we go now, Yo---"

As I was about to finalize my sentence, no longer in a meek voice tone, Yoh aggressively spoke as he drew something fundamental from looking towards an exact spot in the zoomed area in Rokoro's phone.

"I think there's someone there! No doubt about it, something's moving but it's from afar but look! You can see it! It's right there, but it's so far away!"

"Huh?"

In doubt, I blurted that out, but we all then quickly went around Yoh and glued our faces to the screen so we could see what he was talking about.

The thing about the fact that there's a desert lying ahead is that the heat haze blurs the image so it will naturally be more blurry. However, Rokoro was the first one to notice it.

"Yoh-dono's right! I can see it! Is that a person?!"

"I think so! There's someone there, at the top of the desert's dune! A small figure lying on the top----waving its... arm!?"

Now focusing more, I could see what they were both talking about as there is this one exactly tiny figure with almost two centimeters to it creating movements while the remaining desert dunes remain intact. It would be one thing if it was the wind creating a change in the dunes' structure, but I am utterly convinced that someone is there now.

"Let's get closer!"

I suggested that but was quickly countered by Kawahara, who had the eyes of someone who knew exactly who he saw.

"....No. He's inviting us in. We've debated this... Plus... I've seen this before..."

Curious, I was the first one to speak.

"What do you mean...?"

Kawahara sighed deeply and inhaled some oxygen before speaking.

"Sagasuga and I teamed up previously but we got separated. I believe he's taking refugee somewhere in those sections because of what Percy has done. And, along with him, we uncovered two sections before... But, here is what happened while we did that... There was someone else ahead of us all the time inviting us further and further in. I believe that's the guy."

"But do you have any idea who it might be, Kawahara-dono?!"

He was hesitant about answering this, but he gave his answer regards.

"Hajime Hyunda, no doubt."

"Hajime Hyunda?!"

We all exclaimed that fairly resonatingly. There wasn't any doubt but we had all the reasons in the world to make sure that we would not be bested by Hajime Hyunda. For reasons unknown, Percy placed a huge bounty reward on him unlike the others and if there's something we should do then, it is to avoid Hajime Hyunda, at all costs.

"I have not encountered that clown once in almost three weeks now. He is the master planner here and he is the only one who you should realistically look out for. The other ones, except Sagasuga, are all shit, I am telling you."

"So, aside from Hajime Hyunda and Hiroyoshi Sagasuga, we have nothing to worry about?"

"It's not that simple, Damian. There's obviously a degree of urgency, but there's something wrong with that bastard. He enjoys what he does a bit too much..."

Although Kawahara had just said that Hajime Hyunda and Hiroyoshi Sagasuga are the ones we should really worry about, something about this didn't make any sense and so I asked.

"Why are those two on your top list but Daniel Lead not? I don't understand."

In agreement, Rokoro and then Damian spoke up.

"Now that you mention it, that doesn't make any sense, Kawahara-dono."

"Enough said, the dude's got a thousand year jail sentence. How can you not fear him?"

I can't tell what's more puzzling; how a thousand year jail sentence is achieved while being a teenager or the fact that Kawahara completely dismisses him entirely.

Yet to that, Kawahara looked ready and firm to deliver the truth.

"It's bullshit. I am authentically positive that he got scammed or some shit. He doesn't have the character of someone who deserves that many years of jail. I've put him to the test a few times and he is beyond useless. Furthermore, his girlfriend killed herself almost a month ago. Dude's absolutely done."

This isn't news as I've heard in the past that a student had killed herself. Hikaru Yulia became the top topic of our school for a while but the lack of information behind it made it worthless to work around.

"Is that so? Well, in any case, I'll be sure to keep an eye on Hiroyoshi Sagasuga and Hajime Hyunda then."

"....Me... too..."

Along with Damian, Yoh showed cooperation.

"If the person back there truly is Hajime Hyunda-dono, then I must resist my urge to walk into the sections at all costs! I'll keep my keenest eye on both of them, should we encounter them!"

"Same with me, though, if they start attacking us, you better defend us, Ryousuke."

I wasn't expecting an agreement, but Kawahara showed a very high emotional degree while replying to all of us.

"Your lives won't be harmed on my watch. I will do anything to keep you people safe..."

"..........."

It wasn't only us who heard that as the rest of the students were quietly watching this conversation go down. They saw the immense compassion that Ryousuke Kawahara actually has in his soul and how our lives take priority above anything else.

To further prove his point, in this eternal silence, Ryousuke Kawahara didn't hesitate to make the boldest of claims as he talked to the remaining students scattered through the stairway degrees.

"My life is worthless! I don't mind saying this how many times it takes, but to all of you, who are vessels with unrivaled potential and haven't doomed your lives like I have, I will gladly forfeit my life for the sake of your unborn potential that has yet to spring! That is why I will say this! Under my lead, by tomorrow, we WILL be out of this island!"

Basking in complete silence for a while, no response came forward, however, I initiated a movement in his honor.

With a resonance that would echo the abysmal depths of the bottomless pit below us, I was the first one to clap in his direction. Secondly, Damian followed me up which was the successful formula in motivating several other students in doing so. Rokoro and Yoh showed no reluctance in doing so, as Yasuda clapped as hard as she could, which would ultimately bring all the remaining students to serve this banquet in his honor.

At that point, amidst this event, perhaps I realized that the brimming potential of misunderstood individuals are even greater than the potential of individuals who aren't misunderstood at all. No, aren't we all misunderstood? Then what is it that drives him to brim with such potential in his actions and makes everyone attracted to his charisma?

His individualistic worth as an individual could be beyond the margin of any human being I have ever encountered.