Our unity only continued to grow further and further every time we made progress, so we couldn't naturally hold back our inner passion towards finding the other hidden locations. The next group to come forth would be Musi's.

Instead of straight-up walk towards Kawahara, Musi went to me as I was awaiting for the next group to arrive in the area. It was in the middle of the afternoon, right in-between the beginning and the end of it.

"Denko-senpai! We have found it! Teehee!"

She stuck her tongue out quickly and I praised her for efforts in a way that would be less cold than usual. I tried showing compassion for once and as such, I patted her head four times in a row; softly.

"Good, good! Make sure to thank your group too, as collective effort is very important!"

"Yesshhh!"

Musi looked extremely pleased as I patted her head and didn't hesitate in thanking her group subsequently by turning around in her opposite direction.

"Everyone, thank you so much! I couldn't have done this without your help!"

"Don't mind it!"

"We were just helping a junior out!"

As I had mentioned before, the majority of her group members felt responsible for looking out for her since she is their junior. Furthermore, they are well aware that Musi is a bright individual with a lot of potential ahead in her life. Plus, putting her in front of unnecessary danger is out of the question.

"Now, Musi, where did you find?"

Kawahara, on the look for an answer, quietly approached Musi and she had no trouble replying to him. However, the other members of her group were a bit skeptical at first, but Damian took a step forward as well to dismiss any unnecessary fears.

"Guys, don't worry. He's not a bad person! Trust me on this."

Seeing how Damian heavily trusted Kawahara, the other group members relaxed a bit, including Musi and as such, they were able to trust him a little bit more as well.

"In a ravine! You won't believe it!"

But Kawahara's answer to Musi was quite the opposite of what she expected.

"But I believe it. Is it a mini-dungeon that has green crystals all over the walls?"

Hitting the jackpot, multiple members from Musi's group and then Musi confirmed it.

"How did you know that?!"

"But you're totally right! There were also geoglyphs! We thought that we were being paid a visit by aliens or something!"

"It was awesome and it was such a cool adventure along with everyone! We found a computer there as well!"

Seeing the opportunity, Kawahara took it, as everyone would expect it.

"Everyone! Our destination is clear! Let's go!"

Once again to the south, we traveled for a grand total of almost three hours and as such, dusk was at sight. A brutal combination of numbers that far exceed 300 walked in a beach together, side by side, in harmony.

Although six group leaders, myself included were in the front lines, Kawahara was the one who was leading us to the final destination.

Basking under the orange sun that was slowly yet surely falling down into the horizon from afar, springing its mighty radiance onto the everlasting calm ocean at bay, the group leaders decided to have a quick conversation, but ironically, Kawahara was the one who started it.

"Musi, did you find out what those bars are for?"

We all kept on walking forward as we placed our gazes on the tilted ravine from afar, only a few kilometers ahead of us.

"Sorry, but no!"

"I see. Can I grasp them to see what I can draw out of them?"

Aside from Yasuda's component, Musi's component was also one that I didn't know what it did. As a matter of fact, I don't believe anyone present know what it does. However, as Musi took them out from her back pack, I could see that they could shrink in size and so on through a side button.

At last, Kawahara had them in his hands and all the group leaders were curious to see what he could conclude from watching just them.

"What do you think, Rokoro?"

"Hmm... Kawahara-dono, I have an idea! Might I have the privilege of testing it?!"

Both their eyes crossed at that moment and I already knew that Kawahara wasn't thinking about denying it.

"Sure, kiddo. What is your idea?"

"Well..."

Rokoro then explained his idea and this brings us to two minutes later, as I am walking on my own to the north while holding one of the bars. On the other hand, Rokoro is walking in the exact opposite direction of me. All the students are splitting to either the ocean's direction or towards the forest's direction to give us space here. Needless to say but in the end, no one would be standing in-between me and Rokoro and the bars.

His idea was to see what would happen should both bars collide with the same correspondent distance. In other words, he is, right now, 500 meters away from me.

Now, the conclusive point is to see what happens once I pin down the bar, which I just did on the soft sand. Though it's not fully glued to the sand, it is stable at least. As I finished that, I signaled Rokoro from afar with a hand wave.

"It's inserted! Do it now!"

I could hear his voice from afar but couldn't quite capture what he had just said, so I limited myself to acknowledging that he had placed the bar exactly in the same direction as mine; completely mirroring my bar and...

Nothing happened, which means that Rokoro's idea was a failure. The idea was to ultimately see what would happen should both bars be intersected with one another.

Kawahara, on my side halted my movements as I attempted to take out the bar from the sand.

"Ryousuke?"

"Maybe it's related to the distance. Let's try and close the distance while maintaining the exact same margin to see what happens."

"Alright. Grab my right hand then."

"Yeah."

Our two hands carefully intersected with one another and we started to walk in Rokoro's direction to see what would happen.

"Really? Out of all the claims you could have done?"

Nothing was happening and yet, I made that question as our eyes traded glares transiently.

"I am serious. And---I've been thinking about what you said earlier, about the transfer and all that."

I smiled because I was happy that he had given thought to my serious offer and didn't take it as some sort of delusional joke.

"What is your answer then?"

"I thought that I just couldn't because I love this girl really a lot."

"Ah, great. So, a no?"

"Listen."

"..."

I formed a silence as we both started to walk far more slowly towards Rokoro and thus, I prompted Kawahara to continue.

"I don't want to waste your goodwill, so I've thought of a way to make this fair."

"....?"

"When you get to the student council and get the rights for the transfer, I'll confess and explain everything to her. Then, if I'm rejected I'll transfer."

"So I'm just a compensation? You're evil and a really rude person."

He looked down a little bit and then spoke in my direction once more.

"Sorry, it's the only way I can think this will work. I say this because I am utterly confident I'll get rejected."

"How? What is she like?"

"Right now? I would say that she isn't much different from you, Shiori. But the moment I tell her that I killed her brother she will not look me in the eye anymore."

It occurred to me that he simply could've not told her about her brother but I suppose that he just can't do that for his own reasons.

"...It's whatever at this point, Ryousuke. I don't like to be a second choice. I don't see why you need to confess to transfer though..."

"It's because I want to be committed to you for the rest of life, I think. I have been committed into an act of redemption for years now and I've been thinking that maybe you're the right choice."

"Ah, that's just great, Ryousuke. You're aware I'm the better option but you are still---Geez, I don't even know what to say anymore."

"Wait, I can---"

As we were closing our distance, something began to occur that would grab everyone's attention right away.

A powerful combination of four laser beams immediately connected with Rokoro's bar from afar and just like that, we had uncovered what the bar was, ultimately.

Rokoro, happy and exultant, ran in our direction like a little child alongside with Musi as me and Ryousuke let go of our hands.

"Kawahara-dono, my idea was almost correct! Something does happen when both of the bars collide in each other's direction! I daresay that the distance is about..."

"250 meters for sure! There's no doubt about it!"

"Indeed, Musi-dono! What a discovery!"

While they were happy celebrating that, Yoh came onto the scene and decided to ask something more relevant.

"....But what exactly are those lasers for...?"

Damian as well, was present and suggested something regarding the utility of the lasers.

"Maybe whoever crosses it dies?"

"Scary!"

"Damian-dono, don't suggest something like that!"

Musi and Rokoro had similar attitudes but ultimately, Yasuda proposed something.

"How about we try something to go through it? Like a fruit or something!"

In agreement to Yasuda, I spoke this time.

"Let's try a watermelon! Maybe it'll cut it in slices!"

"That would be awesome! Let's do it!"

After that consensus, Kuzan and Rayazaki carried a watermelon that Akari and Ringo deliberately handed to them and they threw it in the horizontal line of red lasers that extended itself for a length of 250 meters while for height, only about ten meters.

As they threw it to the center, we expected the watermelon to get cut in four slices but what happened was strangely... nothing...

The first to criticize the abnormality of this was Rokoro.

"W-What?! Nothing again?!"

Feeling like something must've surely happened, Rokoro went around the bars by circulating the right bar's end and touched the watermelon ultimately.

The moment he touched the watermelon's surface, we learned that something did in fact happen.

"Aguahahahaahgyaaa!!!"

What happened was actually the following: Rokoro, by coming into contact with the watermelon, an object that had been passed through the laser beams, became quickly eletrecuted and paralyzed on the ground.

This caused all of us and the majority of the students, if not all of them to quickly go around the bars and aid Rokoro, but Kawahara was the fastest of them all as he was genuinely way more worried than anyone.

"Kiddo! Are you alright?! Hey, answer me!"

He initiated contact with Rokoro and felt a little shock by doing so all over his body, but thankfully, Rokoro came to his sense right away.

Weakly, he erupted his posture and delivered the news to us.

"Everyone, I am alright! And more importantly, we have made a discovery! As long as the two bars are aligned with each other in a distance of 250 meters or less, if something passes through them, then whoever does so is paralyzed!"

He prioritized the discovery instead of his well-being which... was not surprising.

In the end, after we had concluded that, we continued to walk to the ravine. Musi was carrying the two bars on her back pack but they were about only a few centimeters tall since they could shrink. Before we got inside the ravine by taking the short left entrance adjoined by a very small river inside it, Kawahara proposed something to Musi.

"Musi, this isn't something shocking but... If the other criminals ever act in a suspicious manner, feel free to talk to someone here so they can utilize those bars as a defensive mechanism for our safety."

"Um... Are you suggesting that we should capture them if we encounter them?"

Ryousuke Kawahara smiled and answered honestly.

"That's precisely it. How about this? Yoh and Damian will each carry one bar and should we encounter one of them, both Yoh and Damian will align their positions and maintain the same distance from bar to bar so we can successfully paralyze the other criminals, should they act suspicious."

Musi looked at Yoh and Damian as she probably pondered whether or not they would accept it, but surprisingly, Yoh accepted it and then Damian also accepted it.

"...Leave it to me..."

"You can count on us!"

Yoh for the first time ever smiled and didn't mind the fact that Damian bumped him on his back in a friendly manner.

Just like that, a strategy had been formed, in case we encountered any of the criminals. Yoh and Damian would hide their bars inside their back packs and should any of the criminals attempt anything out of the ordinary, they would paralyze them skillfully.

Aside from that, we entered inside the ravine and on the right side of the pit of the ravine, an entrance with two steps invited us in and we showed no fear in doing so. The inside was clearly a dungeon and Kawahara looked to be far more fluent into it than Musi when it came to venturing the insides of it.

As any of the hidden locations, we eventually all came across the essential computer and to Rokoro's surprise, Kawahara didn't need his scanner and inserted the password while saying it out loud.

"The password is "Ultimate". See?"

He pointed at the two doors and only one of them opened and although the strategy was not to walk into the section furthermore, Kawahara quickly contradicted himself as he said something out of the ordinary.

"I am not going to walk into the section entirely, but there's something I need to confirm. If my intuition is correct, there will be someone ahead of us in the bridge separating this part and the upcoming one. Damian, Yoh, Musi, Yasuda, can you four stay here while I go with Shiori and Rokoro? If it isn't much to ask, could you also take care of Rayazaki and Kuzan?"

For some reason, he suggested that.

I spoke as well though.

"If worse comes to worse, we'll just plead for help, but I doubt that's going to happen. This should be done quickly."

"Indeed, Denko-dono! I hope we do find someone! Maybe Hajime Hyunda-dono?!"

Rokoro looked fairly excited at the thought of meeting him face to face but I didn't know exactly what to expect.

"That's fine, why not? Remember to scream if anything bad happens."

"Got it."

As I confirmed that, Kawahara, Rokoro, and I, just the three of us, walked into the linear path that would take a curve to the left and ultimately after, continue the previous linearity.

"G-Goodness! Is this a mine?!"

Without any breaks, Rokoro had blurted that out because he came across a cart which is something quite common in mines. Furthermore, the cart is above a trail of rails that lead to a completely brighter section to our left. A dual path of rails that would brilliantly connect to another section yet that entirety was blocked by a combination of iron grids.

"Probably. Let's continue forward though..."

The more we walked into our right, underneath the dual path of iron rails, the brighter the light would bask on us. As Rokoro would conclusively come to a conclusion, we were about to become subjects of yet another artificial environmental change.

"This is midday light! Outside there is no such midday light because we are in a state of dusk currently! This is it! Yet another environmental change!"

We were now in front of the iron grids and looking in the north direction would almost blind us.

Kawahara looked ready to answer Rokoro, but a fourth voice that I had never heard before, answered Rokoro. Or rather---corrected him...

"This isn't a change in the environment. There are no "changes". What this is, however, is permanent affixation of a climatic atmosphere."

Although the blinding luminosity didn't allow us to take a clear look at the figure, he quickly revealed himself to all of us and Kawahara was the most surprised of all.

He just didn't expect to meet him, but Rokoro and I were no different.

"Hajime Hyunda..."

"Bastard..."

"Hajime Hyunda-dono! Were you the one we saw back there?!"

Now that he was closer and on the other side of the iron grids, the shadows made his appearance become more visible and he couldn't help but applause in response to Rokoro.

"Bingo. I've been looking for life everywhere inside the sections but couldn't find it no matter how much I searched for it. Which brings me to you. What are you up to?"

As he asked that, he quickly took a glance at all of us and even though Rokoro would be the one who would answer that, Kawahara stepped in and closed in on his face through the iron grids.

"That's a nice lie. Is that the best you can come up with? Come on, try harder."

Never before seen, Kawahara was demonstrating a whole new level of hostility and it was crystal-clear to him that Hajime Hyunda cannot be trusted.

"Unfortunately, this isn't a lie. I've met with Sagasuga, Tatsu, and Tsudo. I am on the look for Kan, Akihiko, and Daniel. Are those with you?"

"I don't believe you, bastard. They are in those sections for sure. You can't fool me."

Baffled at this, Hajime Hyunda sighed at Kawahara's lack of cooperation.

"Why are you being so uncooperative suddenly?"

"Maybe because you are full of shit?"

"Great... So, you are under the impression that the rest of the guys are in fact in the sections even though I just told you that I've been continuously searching for them?"

Rokoro and I traded looks amidst this as we couldn't find a place in this conversation and felt like complete bystanders who had no room here.

"What if I am?"

"Well, if that's the case, Kawahara, then you are being stupid. Sagasuga is waiting for you to come in the temple."

"Why?"

"We need at minimum five people to enter the vicinity and as such, I was looking for people since we only have four, if you include me. With you, this exam can be cleared. Again, what are you doing? Hurry up and meet up with Sagasuga already."

No matter what Hyunda said to Kawahara, it was as if Kawahara was never going to swallow it.

Hajime Hyunda realized such and spoke in my direction instead.

"Hey, you. Chain me up and take me as your hostage."

"...What? That's----I can't do that."

"Huh, why not?"

The answer to that was quite simple.

"I don't have any other cuffs to chain you. So, I can't take you as your hostage."

To this, Hajime Hyunda suggested something simple as well.

He pointed at Kawahara's cuffs and proposed an exchange.

"Uncuff him and chain me up, genius. You trust him, right?"

"........."

Suddenly, I was met in silence as this thought had never crossed my mind, but Kawahara spoke me rather quickly and didn't allow me to indulge in doubt.

"Shiori, don't listen to him. Keep me chained up, please."

"But Kawahara-dono! Didn't you say that Hajime Hyunda was the biggest threat?! How can we pass on this opportunity?!"

In agreement, I spoke to Kawahara about what Rokoro had just said.

"He's right, Ryousuke. And besides, everyone already knows you are not a threat... I'm freeing you therefore. ...Please, prove it to us that I'm not making a mistake."

Feeling like I was making the right decision, from skirt's right pocket, I took out the cuffs' keys and unlocked his cuffs.

"...Shiori..."

He was feeling a bit emotional, but while he was doing that, I suggested something to him.

"Please cuff him up for us, will you? Rokoro, go and open the gate switch. Ryousuke, should he make any weird movements, you are to take him down. That's an order."

"Got it, ma'am."

Stoic and confident, Kawahara confirmed his intent. I knew for a fact that if these two were working together all along that me and Rokoro and potentially everyone would be in deep waters, but, perhaps out of selifshness, I wanted evidence to see whether or not Ryousuke Kawahara could be trusted deep down.

That he wasn't lying to me. That he wasn't lying to everyone. Not even to himself.

"Impressive, Kawahara. They trust you quite deeply."

"Shut up... If you make a single move I will fuck you up so bad."

"Woah, I'm scared. Though, I won't. I just want this bullshit to be done with, don't you as well?"

"For once we agree."

After a while, Rokoro opened the gate and Ryousuke Kawahara didn't hesitate to circle Hajime Hyunda while chaining his wrists and ankles; now completely free to act as he pleased.

Furthermore, he took the supreme freedom in being the one who would guide Hajime Hyunda to everyone else.

"Kawahara-dono! You're finally free!"

"Yeah, kiddo, never felt better!"

Undoubtely, as Kawahara, along with Hajime Hyunda progressed to the computer room, me and Rokoro could tell that he was feeling quite better. I don't know why, but he couldn't erase the permanent smirk of his face. Maybe he saw the capture of Hajime Hyunda as some sort of major progress.

Back in the initial room, the moment everyone saw Hajime Hyunda cuffed up and Ryousuke Kawahara not, panic rose to the surface, but Rokoro and I quickly made sure to dispel it.

"Everyone, you musn't worry! We have captured Hajime Hyunda-dono and the biggest threat is in our hands now!"

"Furthermore, in order to chain him up, I swapped Ryousuke Kawahara's cuffs with him. I ask you to not be afraid!"

But, they were undoubtedly more afraid of Hajime Hyunda, who for some reason, didn't even bother to look at them and was with his eyes closed.

To further erase the fear present, Kawahara spoke to Yoh and Damian.

"Yoh, Damian. We are using it on him."

"...Seriously...?"

"...I don't think we have a choice, if Kawahara says he's that dangerous..."

Midst that, Hajime Hyunda laughed out loud and his maniac laughter provoked fear and paranoia simultaneously.

"Haha---Hahaha... So much emotion. Undoubtedly unworthy of the aspects of this holy land..."

But we ignored him and then, Yoh and Damian took out Musi's two bars and evenly split them between Hajime Hyunda, while Ryousuke Kawahara distanced himself from Hajime Hyunda slightly.

I expected Hajime Hyunda to put up a resistance, but in the end, he accepted the fact that he got paralyzed.

"Rayazaki, Kuzan. Keep him under you at all times."

"Yeah..." x2.

Hajime Hyunda was officially in a paralyzed state as it was different from Rokoro's previous paralyzed state. Someone who comes into direct contact with the lasers will be paralyzed for countless hours to come. Even his eyes had difficulty in opening.

Seeing how sluggish Rayazaki and Kuzan's movements were, I decided to free them as I no longer saw the necessity of keeping them under vigilance.

"I believe the majority of us already trusts you three and as such, we are putting our humble faith on you three. Don't screw this up."

Of course, it wasn't just me, as the grand number of students gathered around, they gave their comforting words to Rayazaki and Kuzan, who were still having trouble believing this was happening.

Akari, Damian, Rokoro, and many others didn't hesitate to complement them as they deeply trusted them already.

"We've seen enough! We are capable of changing how we view people and as such, we will act on that!"

"Upholding an enormous quantity of distrust to you three feels wrong and I won't do it any longer!"

"Kawahara-dono, you've been a great help thus far and I hope you'll continue to help us out!"

In the end, they were filled with circles of compassion and so on. While this was happening, I was keeping a keen eye on Hajime Hyunda along with Yoh, who is on my right side.

Feeling that it was the time to speak up, Yoh mentioned something.

"...His eyes.... They are not the eyes of a person who has just suffered defeat...."

"...What? How can you determine that just by looking at someone's eyes?"

To me, Hajime Hyunda just looked extremely defiant and rebellious. And I also thought that this was a common psychological trait amongst criminals; to be defiant and rebellious no matter the cost yet the fact that we have him paralyzed already symbolises victory to us, so Yoh's worries are a bit over the top to me at the moment but he continued to explain his point.

"....There's something wrong with him... I daresay that unless we confirm where the other criminals are, that we can't let our guards down."

Overhearing this, Kawahara agreed with Yoh.

"Yoh, you're right. All the other left are just a grand total of six criminals. Kan, Akihiko, Tsudo, Tatsu, Sagasuga, and Daniel."

With that said, we rapidly went back to the camp after a long trip.

Officially, we were only down to four other hidden locations and thankfully, as the night descended upon us, we ate dinner in the large camp. Ryousuke Kawahara, Takeshi Kuzan, and Saitou Rayazaki all ate properly for the first time in a while, unlike Hajime Hyunda, who was isolated from the rest chained up to a tree.

To say that he was still paralyzed would be an understatement. However, I expected him to start some sort of trash talk, but he was oddly silent.

Kawahara, on my front, as me and him were having dinner together, talked to me on a more persona level.

"I don't want to throw rockets in the air yet, but if we manage to get Sagasuga in the same position as him, then we are pretty much set to win, Shiori."

"You look really happy. How much do you hate him, exactly?"

He didn't hesitate to explain his point succinctly, which surprised me.

"He's a coward. An individual with the individualism that doesn't utilize it and just like that, he surrendered. Our numbers far outwit the others and he is aware of that, so he's just taking the sweet victory. Pathetic."

"...Forget about that. How about comforting everyone instead of basking in glory like that? Something so selfish like that is just..."

We both looked down on the ground as we felt the blazing fire from the bonfire on our back.

"Alright... Well---I---I think that you are right to some degree, Shiori. I don't know, I honestly expected him to be in the end game so it's something beyond my expectations, this current scenario. I'm still having trouble accepting this victory."

"....As I thought, you don't belong with the other criminals, Ryousuke. You are so human that you even are open about your fears."

"What? I am not afraid of this guy, I swear!"

I quickly corrected him as he assumed something wrong. I poked his left cheek with a chicken wing in addition.

"That's---not---it... I am saying that what doesn't go according to what you initially expect; frightens you. But good for you. If capturing him makes you happy, then be as happy as you possibly can. Now, all we need to take care of is Hiroyoshi Sagasuga, correct?"

He licked his left side of his cheek very quickly and answered rapidly.

"Honestly, I thought that those two were working together all along, but maybe I overthought this whole thing."

"Ryousuke... Do you think we can get any information out of him?"

"Not really. He's a liar and won't give you the truth."

But I suggested something positive.

"But what if he's like you, a misunderstood individual?"

".......Shiori..."

I awaited for his answer, but his face got grimmer and grimmer which just went to show much he disapproved of my take.

"He's the one who made Yulia commit suicide."

"...Are you certain about that?"

"I don't have evidence, but he doesn't like others or some shit and tries to inflict mortal punishments for his own reasons. That's why I was afraid that he would have something in store for all of you, but as long as he is in my watch, I'll make sure nothing happens."

I took a deep breath and sighed as well.

"Well, I get it now. He's on the top of your black list. Protect us then."

"...I will."

He looked reluctant but I insisted and grabbed both of his hands as I spoke my honest words.

"Please... Do you have any idea how hard this is for everyone present? We aren't like them, so we are naturally frightened. Show us that there's a spark in light in you by guiding us out of this island."

"........."

Kawahara was hesitant for a moment and just as he opened his mouth, we were interrupted by a group that had arrived onto the scene.

Rokoro was the first one to notice her arrival, at long last.

"Youjo! You're finally back with your group!"

Upon noticing her arrival, everyone quickly stopped eating and went forward in her direction yet Youjo didn't take any time to explain us what had happened and issued an order to which we all quickly complied.

"Come with me! We found something that you won't believe exists!"

She took ahold of Rokoro's hand and the great number of students began to march forward in the complete east direction in the middle of the night.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

Ryousuke Kawahara and I remained in the front lines alongside Rokoro, Youjo, Musi, Damian, Yasuda and Yoh. On our back side, Rayazaki and Kuzan took custody of Hajime Hyunda alongside with Brionac and several other brave male students who weren't afraid of Hajime Hyunda and felt the need to utilize their strength in order to protect them should Hajime Hyunda attempt anything strange.

Before I knew it, although I am the overall de facto leader, Ryousuke Kawahara was acting more like a leader as he initiated a conversation with Youjo right away as we in addition scourged the entirety of the forest ahead of us in this young night sky.

"Youjo, what does your component do exactly?"

"Huh? Hell if I know! The backside of it has been ripped off and I can't figure out what it is for..."

She was constantly switching back and forth with the front view of the object as just like Yasuda's component, it was some sort of detonator yet for purposes unknown. In face of another dilemma, Kawahara sighed.

"Oh, fantastic! If only we had a clue to work with or something..."

Unconsciously, we all looked at Hajime Hyunda, who was with his eyes closed at all times and quickly realized that he wasn't going to help us out. Assuming that he knows what the detonators are for.

After two to three hours of walking, we reached a gigantic lake but not the one we encountered yesterday. It appears that the end of this collosal forest that we are now ever-familiar with leads to a lake that has no visible side ways.

In addition to that, the lake has an enormous castle from afar, but there's just a slight problem.

"As you can all see, the castle is positioned at the very middle of the lake, HOWEVER...!"

Fearlessly, Youjo began to walk into the lake's bay and we for surely thought that she would wet her shoes as a consequence, but in reality, a combination of stelled walls on both sides emerged thus enabling a secret passage straight-forward into the castle.

"Magnificent, Youjo! Maybe we'll find more clues about the Illuminati!"

Honestly, as Rokoro said this, we all expected Hajime Hyunda to say something, but he kept his silence once again. Perhaps unconsciously, we are searching for more clues.

"...I didn't believe it, but what's inside is a bit too bizarre... Let's go."

Undoubtely, Youjo had come across something that would make her believe in Rokoro's words.

Through the secret passage we were able to walk into the castle and the tricky part was that there were immediately two spirals of staircases for us to choose. The illumination was fairly poor and it was almost the equivalent of walking into an abandoned mansion. The end destination of both the staircases would be two doors yet Youjo quickly told us the truth about the doors.

"Only one of them works as it is the right one! Don't waste time with the other one!"

Impulsive and eager for the right password to be inserted, we walked right into the door that Youjo signaled us to walk into. Beyond that door, a very straight-forward linear hall was within. That hall basked under the moonlight and as such, it was fairly illuminated and we needn't to rely on torches suddenly. In that particular hall, there were three rooms to the left, each with the door's opened...

The silence was so absurdly consistent that we felt the need to close our physical distances as we didn't know what awaited for us. Youjo also wasn't speaking to us, for some reason.

Then, in that entire silence, when no one spoke, he took the window of opportunity and captured our fear in its primal essence.

"You haven't walked in those rooms; I can tell."

He wasn't particularly speaking to any of us, however, Youjo's sweat droplets could very well be the interpretation that he was talking to her.

"Refrain from wasting time exploiting the lore here. Too much unnecessary information to my audience will make them more picky than they are."

Nobody here present had a single clue to what Hajime Hyunda was talking and then, subsequently, Kawahara made a claim that would make us understand what was going on.

"Don't listen to this fool. He's an insane psychopath who is under the impression that there is this other "audience" in his mind and will justify all of his actions according what his "audience" wants. In simpler terms, ignore him."

"......"

Hyunda formed a silence and we all moved forward into the next section where we would take the path to the right and then cross to the right side of the castle.

It would be there that we would walk into a vicinity that had only one singular purpose: to descend the spiral staircase case down and face the computer below. There was nothing else in that room except for the computer, or so I thought, until Youjo said something to all of us as we descended the stairway.

"Don't freak out, but above us, there's a literal gigantic eye..."

"........"

Slowly and skeptical we all looked up and saw the same eye as before while in the swamp.

Some of us were scared while some of us, including Rokoro and Kawahara made a more eccentric approach.

"Kawahara-dono, that's the eye of providence! But what size!"

"It's taking the size of the entire ceiling... I swear, these fanboys took this a bit too far. It's hilarious at this point."

In response to Kawahara's words, Hajime Hyunda let out a very soft laughter that almost couldn't be heard.

"Mph.. Aha...."

He then said something in addition.

"Do any of you find welcome here? Out of curiosity."

I answered to that as I turned around in his direction.

"Of course we don't. This island is a mystery but we just want to get out of it as soon as possible."

"Yet... Continuously, over and over, you've overstepped your boundaries onto places that do not beseek you. Lovely."

Noticeably, I was staying behind as Kawahara and Rokoro were more on the front side along with many other students and so, this was the first time I was solely interacting with him. Although Rayazaki and Kuzan are by his side, they are busy talking with Akari, Ringo, and the others.

"It came along the way. Do you have any attachments to this place?"

"No. Not at all."

"So, why do you complain?"

"I examine the irony present and... reinforce my thoughts more and more."

".....What......"

I quickly stopped talking to him as nothing can be overly concluded once I do so and as such I went down and met with Kawahara and he was waiting for the right password to be scanned.

"Eureka! "Ten"! It's "Ten"!"

A simple password this time around and with that, Kawahara correctly inserted the password.

"What now?"

"It's simple, Youjo. The other door in the entrance will open; however, we won't walk in as we can't be sure whether or not we aren't being ensnared by the other criminals."

"Yikes... Alright, let's just get out! I want to eat!"

Arguably three hours later, now past midnight, we returned to the bonfire and there were officially 70% ahead of the curve. Needless to say, but the entire reason we would even return would be to wait for another group to arrive and shortly after thirty minutes yet another group arrived.

Since the only three other group leaders left were: Karlos, Rena, and Zwette, the ultimate result wouldn't really matter as we only wanted to know which group came first.

Zwette quietly approached us but to me, she looked lost in words as the rest of her group looked extremely scared, for some reason.

Yoh approached her instead and attempted to confirm what she had seen with her own two eyes.

"...Zwette, what happened...?"

"....We...."

Her nostrils were inhaling a tremendous quantity of oxygen and she was having the harshest of troubles speaking.

Kawahara came to her aid as well.

"Shall we go there? We have a fair amount of people here, so we'll be here for you."

"......"

Zwette and her group were silent in the end and we could only follow through as we were committed into finding out what was eating Zwette and her group.

Towards the northeast, only when it was almost 4 am, did we reach the destination and yet another out of the roof type of location was unraveled to us. A deserted train station started to emerge the moment we exited the vast dense forest. Noticeably, it was covered with a tunnel on the right side and yet another tunnel on the furthest left but it was filled with a plethora of unused train carriages.

With all of this in mind, we had no remote clue where the computer would exactly be as it could be inside either of the tunnels; on one of the carriages or ultimately in the platform of the demolished train station.

"What the hell...? A train station in an island?!"

"But Youjo, this makes sense!"

"Huh?! A train station in an island?! That statement is beyond ridiculous, Rokoro!"

"I beg to differ! A train station would be a genius idea! In order to erase the necessity of walking on foot in an island, if multiple train stations were settled in this island from place to place, the difficulty that we constantly witness while making long trips would be gone!"

"But where are you going to find all the energy? The electricity?!"

"That can be arranged, Youjo!"

These two are quite passionate while arguing, I must say.

However, something greater caught our attention as Zwette finally gathered the courage to tell us what was in store for us. As such, she climbed on the degrees of the carriage of the first train we encountered and just like that, the attention of all of us was onto her.

She took a deep breath and went straight to the truth in a very nervous way.

"We---We---We found dead bodies!"

"Hold on, what...?"

"Seriously...?"

While everyone was somewhat panicking, I made the quick question.

"Where are they?"

Kawahara felt the need that another question had to be made, so he asked another instead.

"More importantly, do you know who they are?"

"I can tell you where they are, but... That's the issue... I don't know who they are."

This caused Rokoro to question Zwette immediately.

"Zwette-dono, did they have our uniforms?"

Rokoro's question was a crucial one because if they did, then they would be one of us and in that case...

Nonetheless, Zwette didn't answer as Kawahara issued our path of action.

"Everyone, let's dedicate our resources and numbers into finding the bodies before we secure the password entry!"

I spoke in addition to everyone present.

"If it's one of us, then we need to find them as soon as possible!"

We didn't waste any time and completely relied on Zwette's group to find the bodies.

With Kawahara, Yoh, Youjo, and Rokoro on my side, Zwette took us to where she found the first body.

Since there are nine carriages in total alongside the twelve railways, we went right into the fifth one.

Silently, we elevated our postures and took a peek into the area of the train inside. Multiple destroyed rows of seats adjoined with dusty textures within were completely visible to us yet our eyes were on the final destination which would be the fourth carriage of this train.

Scared, Zwette began to explain something.

".......Please.... try to keep yourselves from throwing up... What I found was... brutal... and inhuman... I never knew that there was a human being capable of doing such a thing to another human..."

"........"

Yoh was nervous and not even Kawahara, Rokoro, Youjo, and I could speak a word about it as we had not seen it yet.

The more we walked into north direction, the more we got scared and frightened. Trails of blood were starting to show up as the bright moonlight would sooner or later highlight them so we could penetrate our gazes upon them unfairly.

At last, in that very last row of seats, in the fourth carriage of this deserted train, we could catch a glimpse of a body.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/466312922864549890/873438810741047306/Comic28.png]

No, the current words would be.... a figment of the body---------

"Bleegh!"

Unable to resist the sight I had witnessed prematurely, I took ahold of one of the seats to my right and threw up in that corner with my eyes closed.

However, the moment I opened my eyes, on the surface of the seat, my vision captured the sight of a tormented feet with a missing leg part loosely on the top.

"AHHHH!! AHHH!!"

As I backed off and panicked, Kawahara took ahold of me and told me to get it together very quickly.

"Shiori, get it together!"

"B-But! Who would do something like this...?! This is horrible!"

It wasn't only me, but Yoh, Youjo were also throwing up while Rokoro was on the floor screaming simulatenously.

"GUUAAAHH!! WHAT IS ALL THIS?! THIS IS AN ABOMINATION!"

He retracted each step very slowly until he stumbled upon the central seat of the fourth carriage, where people would usually seat in-between the doors and there, on the right side, he came across a compilation of intestines scattered like a Christmas tree decorations.

Quickly, before Rokoro could further panic, Kawahara took ahold of him and tapped his eyes while comforting him.

"You saw nothing... You saw nothing... It's gonna be alright..."

"W-W-W-What did I just witness...?! AHHHHHHHH!!!"

I also couldn't help but be utterly scared as this was not even the beginning of everything that was around the perimeter. I looked into Kawahara's eyes with admiration as he was able to ultimately keep his cool though hardly in this situation.

"....Yoh, can you take all of them with you?"

Yoh looked like the best of us although he also threw up a few seconds ago, but I tried to compose myself to the maximum and attempted to stay in the scene.

"W-Wait... I can do this.... You should all exit the scene and take a moment to breathe... I'll be fine, I promise!"

"Are you sure? There's no shame here, after all, this is pretty sickening..."

While I was indecisive, Yoh got up and grabbed Rokoro, Youjo, and Zwette and without saying anything he got out of the vicinity which left me and Kawahara all alone in here.

I also realized that I was super close to wetting myself as no matter where I looked I saw scattered organs everywhere.

"...This is pretty bad... We can't tell who is it because the body is... Well..."

In every seat of this carriage, there were a compilation of organs and pieces of the victim scattered all of it. On the furthest side of this carriage, to the end, only the abdomen along with the chest and the surface of the neck remained.

The genitals were clearly ripped off alongside with the torso, shoulders, hips and the continuing elements that would be adjoined to such parts.

"...We should find the head so we can see who it was...."

"You're right, Shiori. Stay here as I will do it."

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

I wasn't in a room to deny him as I was unsure of what sort of surprises there could be waiting around for me. Although I resisted the urge to look around, unknowingly, I looked to the northeast corner and there, I caught sight of the genitals and the urethra fully exposed on the right side of the window.

"Oh my God............ Who did this...?!"

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

As I blurted that out, I had expected a reaction from Kawahara, but the moment he found the face of the individual, I went to meet with him as he was at the very end of the carriage.

He was covering his face with his hair while looking down on the ground so I couldn't quite capture what he was feeling like.

In a moment of horror, as I saw the face, I could see that the eyeballs had been utterly removed forcefully. The nose was fully cut by a sharp object and as such, the nostrils became fully deranged. Only the teeth remained as the lips were eliminated. There were no ears at sight and overall it looked like the culprit was attempting to excavate the organs to the point where this would resemble a human skull.

Aside from that... the hair is... red...

That itself didn't look like proof to me, but Kawahara then said something to me in a very weak voice tone.

"....Bring me Rayazaki, Kuzan and the bastard, Shiori.... Please..."

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

I didn't answer as I wanted to respect his remorse and as such, I exited the scene and went to meet with Rayazaki and Kuzan and they both agreed to come to where Kawahara is, along with Hajime Hyunda.

"Holy fuck...."

"...What..."

Both horrified, they couldn't help but look everywhere, except Hajime Hyunda, who showed absolutely no remorse. Scared, I couldn't even trade contact with him and instead remained on Kawahara's right side.

Meekly, Kawahara started to talk while not moving from the spot.

"...Why did he have to die...? We were supposed to group up and..."

"...No way, Akihiko, but why..."

"....No, no, no!!"

In disbelief, Kuzan and Rayazaki tried their hardest to not succumb to that insane belief but I soon realized that the person that had been killed is in fact Kogami Akihiko. One of the criminals present within this island, previously.

Kawahara's rage went straight to Hajime Hyunda, who was dead silent.

"...Speak up... Come on... You always know something, don't you? Well, SAY IT!!"

In a rush, Kawahara springed his movements and bashed Hajime Hyunda into the wall but he was not phased by this whatsoever and instead attempted to explain himself.

If I were to remark his attitude, it would be a mixture of boredom and admirement, for some reason...

"Unfortunately, Kawahara, I don't know anything about this."

"LIES!"

"No, it's the truth. I have not encountered Akihiko even once while on this island. But, heh, this is a pretty stupid argument. I have no evidence to deny that just as you have no evidence to accuse me of killing him. With that said, what will it be? Will you unfairly claim that I was the one?"

"And what if I do?! I don't see why I shouldn't do it!"

He kept further and further pushing him into the window in a feat of rage whilst his teeth fangs continued to show tremendously.

"Kawahara.... Then go for it... Do you think I give a shit about what these cowards think? I don't. Wasn't he a hideout member? Isn't this your fault, actually?"

"How was this my fault?!"

"He was your responsibility. But... Let's not waste time. Do you want to beat me up so you can feel in charge?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"All yours."

It was a mistake to say the exact same words as Hajime Hyunda would say as in the next five minutes, Kawahara borderline killed him and only through my collective effort along with Rayazaki and Kuzan, was I successful in stopping his rampage.

Hajime Hyunda, on the ground, was full of bruises and undoubtedly, his nose was broken.

But still, to Kawahara, who is with his head down on the central seats, he said something with a very weak voice to back it up.

"....There... we go... Now, girl, give him a lapdance so he can feel truly in charge..."

Laughing in a despicable way despite having a multitude of injuries along with several broken ribs, he still dared to say that, but I ignored him and sat on Kawahara's right side.

I didn't know how to correctly approach him as he was feeling scared, confused, and perhaps lonely.

So, instead of saying words, I covered his back with a hug as I couldn't find any words to say and hoped that he would realize that he is not alone in this.

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

His eyes widened at my emotional comfort and he silently began to cry as I further and further hugged him for almost three minutes straight.

Softly and trembling, he grabbed my right hand with his' and spoke with a clear mind.

"....Sorry, Shiori. ...The others are waiting and they'll be confused if we take too long."

"...Yeah... They also need someone to guide them with a clear head. Do you think you are up to the charge?"

If he wasn't, I wouldn't mind assuming charge as there are only two more sections to discover, if we count this one out.

Yet, Kawahara was not defeated in the slightest and looked more motivated than ever as he was convinced that getting everyone out of this island was his absolute core action and that it had to be accomplished, no matter what.

"I am. Let's find the remaining bodies. Kuzan, Rayazaki, carry that piece of shit for me, will you? We can't stay defeated forever. Many are relying on us and in order to avoid this exact same pattern happening to the rest, we must be quick."

Kuzan wiped his tears and agreed with Kawahara right away.

"Okay, Master!"

His voice, full of rigor, resonated deeply in this hollow space as Rayazaki followed him up.

"We can't allow our friends to die here!"

They both took ahold of the defeated Hajime Hyunda and started to walk out of the train as me and Kawahara were left alone here for a while.

He looked very indecisive about something and still had his head down. After a while, he decided to finally speak his mind.

"...Hey, Shiori? Am I a piece of shit if I say that I am suddenly in love with you...?"

".......Yes... That's very wrong and impulsive. Plus, you're just saying that in the heat of a moment."

"Oh.... But it's weird... I can't think of her anymore.... I don't know to explain it but I think that once you are completely in love with someone else, it all becomes so clear..."

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

The atmosphere quickly got dense and awkward, so to dismiss it, I said something to him.

"I don't know him but was he your friend?"

"....Honestly, I didn't know much about him and I don't think anyone did, but... For someone to die without sharing his life with someone else close to him----I think that's a very sad thought to have when you are about to die and if he thought that then... he surely saw what he could've done more in his life but ultimately couldn't because someone else.... killed... him."

"...That is sad. In just a few hours, in more than a day or so, I've learned how to know others better and it's such a change for me that I just want to talk about it----but, none of that would've been possible without you. I'm not the type of person to believe in fate but.... I feel like what is happening right now, was meant to happen and... if there is a tide of fate and you are the water in that tide, then you have to follow through with it."

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

He thought and thought about it and then, after a while, he delivered his ultimate answer.

"I'm tired of being hung by the past."

Valiantly, he got up from the seat covered in blood and in this gruesome scenario, he offered his right hand to me as I looked up in his direction.

"Shiori---you're my choice. I've come to the conclusion that the only way to stop being a slave to my past is to make choices that have a future and when I look at you and think of you, I see a wider future than I see in a past without any future in store."

"...."

Hesitant at first, I distanced my hand from his and felt like not accepting at all. But then, a strange feeling consumed me and gripped me so tightly in my heart that I knew at that moment that I would take his hand. Subsequently after, our lips would taste an embrace that would be a bliss to be upon.

About thirty minutes afterwards, a concentration of students were helplessly awaiting Kawahara and I and as such, after being done with it, we went straight to the center where the majority of the group leaders are.

Noticeably, five minutes before this, we went to the other train carriages and saw the remaining scattered organs and so on while lastly identifying to whom they belonged to.

After obtaining the information necessary, we found out that there was yet another body.

"First of all, I'll give the good news: it wasn't one of you! So you can be less nervous!"

The fact that it wasn't any of the students in our collective number meant a lot but the curiosity of who they were still remained and Kawahara stepped forward and declared to whom the scattered organs belonged to.

"Second of all: The two bodies that we found that were horribly mutilated in a preposterous manner belonged to two of my classmates! Kogami Akihiko and Akenama Kan!"

Akari then made a question that many students would have after this.

"Wait, then who killed them?!"

"Lastly: We don't know who killed them, but if you wanna blame this piece of shit here, go for it. I already did it."

All eyes were on Hajime Hyunda, but they weren't friendly glares. However, Kawahara didn't allow the seed of hatred to grow rampant and suggested something more important.

"After the password is inserted, we are getting out of here. Zwette, lead the way."

Without wasting any time, we went towards the tunnel on the right and at the very dark end of the tunnel, we found a computer lying within.

Rokoro swiftly scanned the entrance of the computer and then shouted the password out loud.

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

A repetition of words, which was surprising.

On the other tunnel from afar, the door opened itself and we knew that this symbolism wasn't by any means coincidental.

While the others went to group up, Kawahara and I lagged a bit from behind so we could talk as we left the dark tunel.

The bright morning sun greeted us from the faraway horizon as well as illuminating the iron-colored trains disperse in this vicinity.

".....Maybe we shouldn't have done it...?"

I spoke to him rather reluctantly.

"No, it was great. Shut up."

Unexpectedly, Kawahara disagreed with me.

"Good to know. Erm--- Moving on...."

"Yeah..."

I changed subject since the atmosphere was dense and awkward again, as we stepped on a railway.

"If we take Akihiko and Kan out of the picture and capitalize on the situation... We have Hajime Hyunda on our side but he's powerless. So that's minus three."

"Rayazaki and Kuzan are with us so that's minus six if you count me in."

"Yeah, now there are only four other left!"

"Sagasuga, Daniel, Tatsu, and Tsudo. Things are going smoothly, so to say."

"Yeah!"

Perhaps confused at my sudden emotional happiness, Kawahara felt the need to ask as he turned around.

"What's gotten into you? You are way too happy."

"And?"

"And it's weird, but... not weird at the same time."

I blinked twice in confusion but then I giggled out loud.

"Haha---you're weird. So weird. Ahhh, I can already tell! Today's going to be a great day! Let's hurry up, Ryousuke!"

Hurrying to the rest of the group leaders, I ran ahead as he caught up to me eventually. For some reason, I was finally enjoying my life.

The ever-so-monochromatic life that I had to live for many years to come just because I was afraid of never meeting my mother's expectations is quickly being turned upside down as I no longer feel that way.

Part 2.

With only two more passwords to be inserted, it was fair to say that we would be at the end-game soon enough.

In the base area, Kawahara was analyzing the contents of Zwette's tablet while also explaining how he first obtained it with Hiroyoshi Sagasuga. Rokoro, Zwette, Yoh, and I surrounded him while the remaining students had breakfast. To be more specific, near the bonfire that is now once again out of fire, we were all in there.

"Mhm... Kawahara-dono, I might be missing something here but doesn't Hiroyoshi Sagasuga-dono sound like a fairly reasonable person? I mean, in all your descriptions, I could not capture malicious intent!"

"...Rokoro has a point..."

Yoh agreed with Rokoro as in all of Kawahara's lines about Hiroyoshi Sagasuga, we couldn't help but doubt his suspicion towards him. Furthermore, I added something.

"Isn't he the one who has the lowest jail sentence? Isn't the likelihood of him not being an extremely evil person deep down higher than the rest?"

Although I thought I had everything covered, Kawahara begged to differ.

"That's all he wants you to think. But he's a two-faced manipulator. However, he wants to also pass the exam, so I don't reason that he will deliberately screw us up."

"So, who do we need to look out for?"

Zwette asked a question to which Kawahara had a reasonable degree of shame in answering because he found it stupid.

"Honestly... Since Hyunda and Sagasuga aren't working together like I thought; otherwise he wouldn't have come to us like this, then the one we should "look out" for is Daniel. Tatsu and Tsudo are cooperating with Sagasuga, so they won't screw us up. Basically, get Daniel on a leash and we are good to go."

The fact that Kawahara has such a low opinion on Daniel really makes me wonder how he is.

However, I couldn't ponder that thought for long as Rena, along with her group arrived at the vicinity.

Youjo and Damian from afar, on the top of two boulders altered us of this.

"Rena is arriving!"

"Her group as well!"

Like Yoh, she wasn't too well-versed with crowds but she nonetheless went in my direction as she trusts me and gave us the happy news.

"W-We found a cave in a beach towards south-east..."

As soon as everyone heard the direction, we all fumed at the thought.

"East side again?!"

"Oh man, but we were just there a few hours ago!"

This sort of discontent was quite common as of recently because we had to make enormous exhausting trips just to get to a specific location and then we would have to go back to our base because we had previously agreed to do so in order to keep everyone united.

Kawahara didn't let Rena feel the pressure and tapped her twice on her shoulder while giving her a congratulations type of speech.

"Congrats, Rena! Believe it or not, we are just two sections away from being out of this island!"

I added some words on my own to his speech.

"After we walk into the cave and insert the password correctly, well, only Karlos remains!"

"T-That's great! Honestly, I thought it would take us so much more time, but the fact that we obtained so much in so little time just goes to show how great everyone is..."

Rena looks dispirited and upon noticing that, Kawahara and I encouraged her a little bit.

"Rena, you're the group leader. It goes without saying that at least half of the credit goes to you."

"Moreso, you managed to be faster than Karlos, who is a physically capable student. By all means, credit yourself!"

It's starting to worry me how Karlos and his group is the last one.

".....You think so?"

I bumped Kawahara's left shoulder with my head and spoke to Rena once again.

"But of course! Believe it or not, this guy over here said we would be getting out of this island today! So, you are helping him not look bad!"

In synergy with my movements, he bumped his head onto mine softly whilst also smiling.

"With that said, lead the way, Rena!"

"Alright! Ok, I will!"

Jumping around like a little girl, Rena and her group lead the way.

After endlessly walking, around 10 am, we reached the location which was the costal area of the beach on the southeast direction of the island. Containing low height, the path to it was extremely straight-forward as all we had to do was to walk forward until we found a door on the right side remodeled with rocks of great density and ultimately a computer.

The nine group leaders on the front, myself included, starred down as Rokoro deciphered the password correctly.

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

By now we were severely accustomed to Rokoro's eccentric enthusiasm and by the time the password was correctly inserted, the door clicking was a signal of celebration as multiple shouts of victory erupted from the crowd.

"Hell yeah!"

Kawahara bumped his fist onto his chest as he said that.

No one here, myself included, in their right mind would skip a chance to celebrate this and Kawahara capitalized on this and further said encouraging words.

"Only one more to go! However, this time around, we will not return because Karlos' group's location is known to us since he gave it to Shiori before they set out."

That's right.

If there's only one group left then it doesn't make any sense for us to return back to the camp when we already know in what direction the last group went into, which was, unfortunately, all the way towards the south, back where Percy was previously in.

Out of all the places we would have to go, that place was the one in store and as such, I issued the orders, for the last time.

"Listen up! Karlos' group went south way! Exactly where Percy Phoenix once held us captive by a fiendish immoral bounty game that we were all victims of! However, through cooperation and unity, we have learned that his methods were wrong and that we are better than him! But----this couldn't be done without a special person here."

That's right...

"With that said, I am officially declaring Ryousuke Kawahara as our ring leader for the reason that we are all aware of."

I expected at least an objection or two, but there was only one objection.

That being, from the proclaimed individual himself.

"But, aren't you a fine leader, Shiori?"

"Not compared to you! You are fit to lead while I... am not..."

Saddened a bit, I looked down.

"That's not true."

Kawahara said that first and then Damian followed that up as I looked up slowly.

"You are an essential part of this, Denko. I don't think that without you, we would be able to trust Kawahara the way we can now."

Subsequently, Yasuda also spoke up.

"Damian has a point but moreso, you feel like a really good supporting piece as you eased our misunderstanding regarding Kawahara."

"Denko-dono, your cool-headed judgment is such a subject of admiration for me!"

After Rokoro, Musi also exultantly said what was on her mind regarding me.

"What are you talking about, Denko-senpai?! You're an awesome leader and I would gladly do anything for you, isn't that right, everyone?!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"Hail our queen, Denko!"

"Denko-sama banzai!"

Multiple people at the same time repeated those lines as Yoh and Zwette would give their opinions on me as well.

"....You know the boundaries of others and respect them... I don't see why I shouldn't respect you..."

"I think you're cool, actually."

For the first time ever to me, Zwette smiled and ultimately, Yoh as well.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/466312922864549890/873438174263803934/Comic27.png]

Then, in a frank manner, Youjo spoke her mind to me as well.

"A bit of a drama queen but whatever, you get the pass!"

"Everyone... I..."

Unable to process the overwhelming positive emotions I was feeling on the inside, I started to cry in public which was embarrassing but they were tears of joy.

Furthermore, Kawahara quickly dismissed everyone's worries in a very efficient way.

"This is a full on experience for her! She might not admit it, but to her, you people are the best!"

An authentic combination of emotions welled up inside everyone's hearts as many felt like crying as well.

Kawahara slowly wipped my tears from my left side of the face and then, administered what was going to happen at last.

"I'll be the leader then. AS SUCH, I give you all this decree: Find Karlos' group as we move towards the south direction! Only one more to go! We will make it through this!"

As an evidence that Ryousuke Kawahara is truly an emotional empathic being, he always goes through the same lengths to make sure everyone around him feels the same way he does, which just goes to show the depth of his individualism as a person.

In the end, with a massive bombastic number of students in our hands, we moved towards the south of the island, where we would soon meet the location of where everything started for us.

The end of the jungle made us notice the vicinity that was burnt down to the ground. All of the planes were crashed and destroyed as a result of the uprising betrayal created by me and Ryousuke Kawahara.

It is now, under this midday sun that I question what sort of person I would be if I hadn't taken this sort of path alongside Ryousuke Kawahara. I like to believe that fate is at store here and brought me closer to this human being otherwise known as Ryousuke Kawahara for the sake of changing my entirety.

Likewise, I will be the one who makes him change----No---I already changed him, didn't I? He no longer resorts to emotional manipulation and confronts everything face to face. He, as a person, has truly developed. He's an entire different person who has changed for the better.

Right now, along with Kawahara, we are on the exact same place where I put the cloud reactor which is at the east side of the jungle, from our current perspective. Despite everything being burnt down to ashes, the cloud reactor remained intact.

"Impressive, so it remained like that, huh?"

"So it seems, Shiori. I'll handle it, since it's quite heavy."

"Why, thank you."

Upholding the object without any sort of physical difficulty, Kawahara started to carry the cloud reactor right to the center of the wooden podium where the majority of the students were in.

One particular student approached us in our direction, however, as the remaining students were too busy scouting the area searching for Karlos' group.

"S-Senpai! I-I can't take this anymore.... It's been several days and I haven't found them and I made sure to go on every trip towards the hidden locations, but I haven't spotted them."

We both had no idea who she was nor what she was talking about. All that we knew was that she is highly nervous and is about to cry and as such, Kawahara attempted to console her.

"What's your name?"

"...Maya."

"Alright, alright. Who is missing exactly, Maya?"

"My friends! Two of them! Koji Shurit and Ann! I haven't found them and it's worrying me!"

Unfortunately for me, I have not heard about them, but I asked a question instead.

"Maya? When was the last time you saw them?"

I expected her to take some time and think but she already knew the answer straight up.

"The first day! After a few hours had passed, they completely disappeared! It's driving me insane and I---"

"Wait, Maya. Let's ask around, shall we?"

"....Okay.... But I've already done that several times... And the answer is always negative which is a bit scary.... I just hope Ann is alright and Shurit too..."

I gave her warm words suddenly.

"They are! Let's go and ask around, alright?"

I hugged her slightly and eased her emotions and I could in addition feel that she was greatly damaged.

However, despite the fact that we would spend the upcoming twenty minutes in making sure to ask everyone around if they had seen them, the answers were negative.

Ultimately, after Kawahara left the cloud reactor with Damian, who volunteered to take care of it, we went to an individual tied to a tree, that had Rayazaki and Kuzan watching over him.

The individual, utterly defeated and brutally injured without any sort of medical assistance coming on his way, could barely open his eyes due to the outstanding beating he had taken earlier.

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/466312922864549890/873437412309753886/Comic25.png]

"Maya, have you asked him?"

Upon realizing that she had not asked Hajime Hyunda whether or not he had seen the two of them, Maya's eyes glistered with hope in response to Kawahara's question.

"I haven't! Hey, have you seen a girl with shoulder length black hair and a boy with black hair?!"

".....Do you realize how simple your description is...? Names..."

Hajime Hyunda is so weakened that I am beyond positive some of his teeth are broken.

"Shurit! Ann! Do those ring a bell?"

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

He posed a silence and then said something.

"....Nope."

"......"

In silence, Maya felt even more sad.

I looked at Hajime Hyunda once again, but didn't manage to extract anything out of him.

"Let's go. How would he know exactly? He's been running all this time like a little bitch. What the hell would he know..."

"...Heheh... Wanna beat me up again?"

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

Not feeling as mighty as before, Kawahara dismissed Hajime Hyunda's words and went to meet up with the rest of the group leaders.

As we made our way, we heard a shout from within the forest.

"We found him!"

That voice came from the northeast and several students, us included, didn't hesitate to run in that direction.

What we ultimately came to witness was a cliff that was hiding a costal area with a channeling river amounting to a fountain; containing a oasis.

To this, Kawahara sighed and blurted something out.

"Of course... Of course it's one of the initial places..."

"You've been here?"

"Very initially, yeah. Kuzan, Rayazaki, and I had a feasty meal here. Anyways, I've spotted Karlos. Our time is nigh. This is it, Shiori. Let's get down from here!"

"Alright!"

This cliff contains a rocky way down to the oasis as the oasis itself has a rocky sort of bridge that allows one to go behind the waterfall.

Karlos was waving at us constantly while being soaked by the waterfall's splashes.

As we came down, we met him as he was undoubtedly more excited about bragging his own achievement to me than sharing it with the rest.

"Denko, I did it! I managed to find the first hidden location! How's that?!"

I quickly corrected Karlos' wrong opinion in a flash.

"That's not the first hidden location, that's the last one. That's very disappointing."

Shocked and borderline falling apart, Karlos threw an emotional tantrum as my opinion failed to please him.

"W-What do you mean disappointing, Denko?!"

For some reason, he began to close in our distance and took ahold of my right shoulder.

"I did this for you so how can you say that it was disappointing! At least praise me or something!"

Not only was his voice loud and attracting attention, but his saliva balls were off the charts as he additionally grabbed my left shoulder, causing me physical distress alongside emotional distress as well.

"Let go of me... Creep..."

Despite what I had just said with a revolted look in my face, this only further kept Karlos from restraining himself and he began to try and push me around.

"W-What do you mean cr---"

His movements were halted by an even superior physical force as his left shoulder felt the physical impact just from being placed upon with a singular hand.

"You heard her, baldy. Let. Her. Go."

Very slowly, he repeated those words to Karlos, who was forced to meet Kawahara's eyeglare as fast as he could. Not because he wanted to, but because he was feeling a creeping force on his left shoulder.

As a matter of fact, Karlos even attempted to say some words, but ultimately, the staggering pain of his left shoulder as he witnessed the shoulder blade immediately fall down along with his arm made him realize that he was not only physically inferior but that his shoulder had been dislocated in the process, mercilessly.

"A-Ahhh, my shoulder....!! My shoulder...!!"

"Remember my words a few days ago? How hypothetically speaking, should I be out of the prison that you'd be my slave should I win a fight against you? How about it? Wanna fight?"

Karlos, on his knees, looked at Kawahara from below, as Kawahara's head coincidentally was in the same direction as the sun, which caused him to immediately conceded as he saw that he had no chance against someone that had dislocated his shoulder with just a hand palm press.

In conclusion, with his shoulder dislocated, Karlos bowed down to Kawahara and conceded.

"........I am sorry!"

"Don't say sorry to me. Say sorry to Shiori."

"I am sorry, Denko!"

Multiple people were watching and I found this pointless to drag on so I just gave him the truth and moved on, uncaring for his feelings.

"I don't really care, Karlos. Just don't approach me on an emotional basis, okay? Me and this guy are going out and you will never stand a chance in a million years. Also, if you ever try and flirt with my other friends, I will terminate your social life, you degenerate simp. Haha---just kidding~~!"

"Real fact: She's not kidding."

"Maybe? You think so?"

I looked in Kawahara's direction.

"That's a pretty evil thing to do, Shiori. Not even allowing him to go after your friends? That's like 25% of the school population right there."

"But we are talking about Karlos over here. If you have a tad drop of perfume on you, he could mistake you for a girl and ask you out."

"So he's bisexual if I manipulate him to be that way?"

I giggled and answered.

"It could be."

"Phew. I can't say that's uninteresting. Big guy, get up. Believe it or not, we really need this to be done here, right here and now. Lead us towards the computer!"

Erupting his posture like a military soldier despite having one of his shoulders broken, Karlos obeyed Kawahara's order and even adopted a new name for him.

"Certainly, Master!"

Karlos then ran into the rocky bridge and led the way. Midst that, Kawahara remarked something.

"Huh, first Kuzan and now him. Maybe it's something meant to be?"

"I am sensing an over-inflated ego."

"Must be your imagination."

"Uhuh. Right, yeah."

To my sarcasm, he quickly corrected himself before crossing the bridge.

"I-I'm not overly narcisstic, right?"

"........I wonder."

Leaving him hanging behind, I advanced and went along with Rokoro and Damian, while the rest was scattered yet inside the cave.

Humid to a fault, this place contained a hot temperature.

"S-Shiori?! I'm not, right?!"

Overly simple, the inside structure of this cave would lead us to a close dead end with yet another door on the right. Noticeably, a computer was in the middle.

"Shiori, come onnnnn!"

Something that just came to my mind as I am walking towards the computer that Rokoro and Damian are currently facing is that we have forgotten to ask Rena what her component was. However, I know it was a key for sure.

Yet, where does that key go in exactly? I daresay that it's related to something in this island but I am not entirely surely.

"Why are you suddenly ignoring me?!"

"Oh, but I'm not, Ryousuke. But you're narcissistic, yes. Empathic, but narcisstic. Anyway, leader, do us a favor and give us the way to victory so we can all go home, yeah?"

"Yeah, that's up to me, but since this is the last password, it means that something will happen. Everyone, be on the look, should anything abnormal happen once the password is inserted. Rokoro, go for it!"

Prompting Rokoro to scan the computer, the last password would finally be upon us.

"Eureka! The last password is "For"! I repeat, "For"!"

As Kawahara inserted the password, he deciphered the puzzle of the words out loud.

"Ten words will light the way for the ultimate path! In other words, something crucial will happen and---"

Before Kawahara could further tell us what he wanted to, Zwette noticed something in her tablet and immediately alerted everyone.

"Everyone, something has happened in the tablet!"

Never before did we all swarm up so collectively and fast like this, but it happened.

"Kawahara-dono, what does this mean?!"

Since the tablet contains the entire map of the island, something crucial happened now that the last password was indicated. A red pinpoint at the very center of the island was beaming with a rapid consistency and Kawahara, Rayazaki, and Kuzan already knew what it is.

"That's the mystic mine! For it to be pinpointed it must mean that the atmosphere inside is no longer toxic!"

"That has got to be it! Come on, what are we waiting for, let's go, let's go!"

At Rayazaki's command, multiple students started to exit the abysmally deep cave in order for us to also exit the cave.

Lastly, Ryousuke Kawahara, our de facto leader gave us his decree.

"Everyone, follow my lead! Our destination: the center of this island, where the ultimate objective lies within!"

Part 3.

Our numbers exceed 450 at long last. Eleven people were in the front line.

First of all, I. Secondly, Yasuda. Thirdly, Damian. Fourthly, Rokoro. Fifthly, Youjo. Sixthly, Musi. Seventhly, Karlos. Eightly, Yoh. Ninethly, Zwette. Tenthly, Rena.

However, the person leading us stood in front of us all the time.

Ryousuke Kawahara.

Following back to the ten of us, Rayazaki and Kuzan are keeping Hajime Hyunda under extreme vigilance while several other members are helping them out in making sure that Hajime Hyunda doesn't do anything out of the ordinary.

At the current moment as we are crossing the deep colossal forest under this afternoon sun, on April 26th, Ryousuke Kawahara is examining Karlos' component as we make our way forward.

"Rokoro, can you come here for a second?"

"My pleasure, Kawahara-dono!"

Curious to what was going on, I adjoined Kawahara's right side and saw him take out a chip that was inserted in the glider of Karlos' component. The glider also contained a remote but we still didn't know what sort of idea Kawahara wanted to try out.

"Insert this chip onto Zwette's tablet. Yasuda, can you put your cellphone in recording mode? I want to try something!"

"Okay!"

They were all obeying his orders extremely on point and just like that, Yasuda's cellphone was put into recording mode and the chip that Rokoro gave to Zwette created something within the tablet.

"It acknowledges it, but I think something's missing..."

"Not for long. Yasuda, can you place your cellphone on top of this glider? Right in this area with the two silver lines?"

The glider was so tiny that it was made as if the purpose of it was to carry something also minuscular on its surface. However, it has a supporting carrier in it, which makes anything be stuck if it comes into contact in-between the two silver lines. In other words, Yasuda's cellphone will be placed in a manner where it will be permanently fixated onto the glider this way.

But perhaps the most important part would be how upon the cellphone being placed onto the glider, a screen popped up on Zwette's tablet.

"Wait, a screen just appeared and it's visualising the forest..."

Understanding what was happening, Rokoro excitedly applauded in Kawahara's direction.

"Magnificent, Kawahara-dono! With this we can essentially capture anything!"

"Exactly, kiddo. Which is why, I will try something out..."

"Such as?"

This time around, I asked and he delivered the truth right away instead of hiding it.

"I want to capture the surface of the temple and see if my lovely companions are there."

"You mean, Sagasuga-dono, Tatsu-dono, and Tsudo-dono?!"

"Exactly, exactly. If they want to get their asses out of this island, they have to be there."

Which brings ut to the next point: Kawahara would then take ahold of Zwette's tablet as he would watch the footage through the tablet meanwhile Rokoro would pilot the glider with the remote in the direction of the temple.

He started by going north direction while also elevating the glider. Fantasically enough, the distance did not matter whatsoever and since we are quite close to the temple, it wouldn't be long until the cellphone supported by the glider's carrier would capture the live footage of the golden temple from afar.

"I see the temple! Keep up the work, kiddo!"

"Marvelous! Ah, if only I wasn't too busy managing the glider!"

"Rokoro, you are doing a great job!"

Damian praised him out of impulse but in reality, Rokoro was in fact doing more than a good job. It must take immense skill to control that glider to such perfection yet he is doing it.

As the glider would walk into the vicinity of the temple, Kawahara would say something to Rokoro.

"Don't go to the top of the temple; instead try and see whether or not there are people down at the entrance."

Youjo then ordered something out of Rokoro.

"Go down, basically! We need to spot those three!"

Yoh then said something as well.

"....What about Daniel Lead....?"

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

None of us had a clue as Ryousuke Kawahara's aim at the moment was to secure the parameter and as such, the more the glider went down to the ground, the more cleared the image resolution became once it stopped for a while.

From afar, the tablet's image captured three individuals in a staircase. Two of the individuals immediately took notice of this and alerted the figure in the middle who was waving his hand at us instead of being particularly disturbed by the fact that there was a spying glider on their faces.

That figure walked out of the staircase and calmly walked towards the glider while we witnessed that in absolute silence. We did not expect the image to transmit sound, but the moment the figure spoke, we could hear his words loud and clear.

"Helloooo? Anybody there?"

Kawahara then had the idea of speaking through the tablet but it didn't work at first.

"Sagasuga, can you hear me?"

We assumed that Hiroyoshi Sagasuga could not hear that and as such, I made a brief suggestion.

"Try talking through the remote. Rokoro, if you may."

"Yes!"

After being given the remote, Kawahara then spoke again.

"Sagasuga, can you hear me?"

Unlike previously, this time we were successful in establishing vocal contact which was beyond the initial expectations.

"Ah, Kawahara! Are you the one guiding this thing? This is a pretty neat thing, huh!"

"Yeah... By the way, do you know where Daniel is? I've confirmed the locations of the others and several are with me, but not him. I can see Tatsu and Tsudo with you though."

"Mhm, nope? I haven't seen him a single time yet. Also, could you hurry up? We need at least five people here at minimum! Hyunda was looking for you, did you see him?"

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

This made Kawahara a bit silent as he blutered something almost silently.

"...What the..."

In addition, this caused Sagasuga to think that he was talking to him.

"Huh? Did you say anything?"

[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/466312922864549890/873437815155879936/Comic26.png]

"No. I'll be there in five minutes."

"Alright, see you soon, then."

Saying their goodbyes, Kawahara returned his remote control to Rokoro and took his eyes off the tablet.

"...What is going on..."