Chapter 6: The Man Known As Tsukishiro

 Intro 

I woke up at the far right of E3 in the morning and tried to consult the map on my tablet. 

As a consequence of preventing the advancement of first graders the previous day, the day ended without stepping on any designated area. Sakayanagi reported that she had left immediately in the afternoon, but I did not dare to go to the designated area. I have just participated in the race challenge and had achieved the minimum amount of points. The randomly designated zone that was lifted yesterday at 1:00 p.m. was F3, and later at 3:00 p.m. it was G3. 

I opened the map and loaded the image from yesterday's GPS search at 1pm. There were a total of five groups of freshmen stalking us. And all of them were with Housen who had turned off the GPS and had approached me. I'm sure of it. And after Housen went into a confrontation with the Ryuuen and was resolved, it was evident in the subsequent search that all the groups withdrew and returned to the special exam. 

However.... While Sakayanagi and I were aware of those enemies, various groups of first-year students who had dispersed, gathered together and advanced towards the designated area. The reason I thought this group was suspicious was because as soon as 3pm came and G3, my fourth designated zone, was announced, they moved west and started heading towards F4.  

The road here is narrow, and it is difficult to escape if the road is blocked, but if you avoid it, you will be forced to take many turns. 

 "I avoided the risk just in case, but that did a lot of damage on the last day." 

I've had six in a row and I am in the middle of four consecutive penalties. I have to get out of this situation as soon as possible. If I commit three more penalties in a row, I will lose another 18 points from here. 

Since I can't see the classification, I have to imagine my classification on this last day. The classification for the night of the 12th is completely unreliable. There are 157 groups in total, so it seems fine, but in reality, many groups have finished merging. In other words, it is better to assume that the number of groups has already decreased considerably. Of course, on this final day, it is clear that some groups will move faster. If a group with almost 200 points picks up the lower group, it will outperform me at that point. 

The effect of doubling the score on this last day cannot be ignored. This means that the freshmen's strategy has gradually led them down the path of dropping out of school. 

There is still a chance for freshmen to keep waiting ahead, but GPS search is no longer available. 

At 7 in the morning the ban was lifted on the designated area, H3, which is not a good place due to the mountains, but it cannot be avoided because it is impossible to interpret. Even if I took the shortest route from here, it would take us almost two hours. 

I can't afford to waste my time. 

On a day when many students would be taking on a task that had been duplicated, I didn't know that I would be forced to fight a close battle to see if I could step on the designated area. By noon, I could have dropped further down the rankings. While packing and leaving, I got a call on my walkie-talkie from Sakayanagi 

 "Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun. You had a lot of problems yesterday. " 

 "Thank you Sakayanagi for saving me" 

 “Do you agree with the penalty? You seem to have moved a lot during the night. " 

 "I'm sure Sakayanagi is aware of my movements through the GPS." 

 “The first designated area is H3. There is not much time, but I think I can do it. "  "H3?" 

Sakayanagi muttered the designated area with interest, as if she had something to think about. I keep talking to Sakayanagi as I move. 

 "Actually, I'm in trouble. At dawn, Ichinose-san disappeared." 

That is a tricky problem for an event that occured on the last day. 

 “What do you mean that she had disappeared? Was it an accident?" 

 “No, it seems to be an involuntary action. The last few days she has been acting strange." 

 "But why did you contact me? I'm sure there is nothing I can do to help you. " 

 "Actually, when I did a GPS search to find out Ichinose-san's position, I found that it was at the same E3 as Ayanokouji-kun. However, it is the opposite D3 side." 

Even in the same area, there is a certain distance between the extremes. And now, I've already set foot on F3 

 "What was the final designated area of Ichinose yesterday?" 

 "It was D5. Ichinose-san arrived there. She started performing at dawn without telling anyone, and now she was here at E3 for some reason?....In the morning, I realized that we had lost a point. I checked with the people in the group, but there was no sign that anyone had used the GPS search. It seems that Ichinose used it. It is not known if her objective was E3 or a further area, but it is normal to think that she went to meet someone. " 

I guess so. If she had stepped into the designated fourth zone within yesterday, that's the only reason she would move first thing in the morning. 

 "I thought maybe it was to meet Ayanokouji-kun, but ..." 

 "I'm sorry, but I don't know. I haven't seen Ichinose in this special exam. If you wait, Ichinose can get to F3's side, sorry, I'm in a hurry. What are you going to do?" 

 “The first designated area we had to go to was E6. I'll discard the reward on a firstcome, first-served basis, but I must ignore it. In the worst case, if you withdraw, it will not have a great negative effect on this last day. " 

That said, the Sakayanagi group is a worthy team of seven. They were in a great position to get on the podium and they were in fourth place at the end of the 12th. Losing Ichinose here would have been a blow. 

On the other hand, she's acting selfishly on such an important last day. It is an inexplicable behavior that Ichinose, who acts for her friends more than anyone else, cannot imagine. 

 "You are in trouble?" 

 “Accidents are destined to happen, you know. Well, even if you let it, the special exam will be over in half a day, so I don't think there is any problem. If you ever see her, tell her about the situation. " 

Sakayanagi ends the communication, saying that anything else would be a hindrance. 

 "Where is Ichinose going ......?" 

I keep the walkie-talkie in my backpack while I walk, and now I take out my tablet. It's the last day and I don't need to think about recharging. With 31% charge remaining, I'm good to go. 

The map displayed on the screen shows the designated zone to which I must go and the challenges spread by the zone. 

Over the past two weeks, challenges have appeared all over the uninhabited island. 

However, on this last day, it seems to me that there is no challenge in the northern areas of the island, from 1 to 3. On the contrary, the central and southern areas, from 5 to 10, and more. Specifically from A to E, they have a large number of challenges. This is simply because it is the last day of the test, and it makes sense for students to be driven back to where they started. It's wise to go quickly through designated zones and take on the challenges. 

I had been thinking of using GPS search to find out Ichinose's location, but now I am at risk of being expelled from school. It is a good idea to save points here to increase the survival rate as much as possible.