“Uesugi, are we really okay just doing this?”

  Shibata Sō removed the fishhook, attached new bait, and cast his line.

  Plop!

  The hook dropped into the river, floating along with the current.

  “Every other css is working on their pns, and we’re just sitting here fishing?”

  “Stay calm, Shibata. One must be at peace before making great decisions.”

  Uesugi Gen sat cross-legged by the river, eyes closed, looking like an old monk in deep meditation.

  “So, Uesugi… you’ve already come up with a strategy for our css?”

  Kanzaki Ryūji gnced at Uesugi, seeing how rexed he was, and felt a bit reassured.

  “Nope, not at all!”

  Uesugi Gen responded with complete confidence.

  “…Then why the hell are we fishing?! Get a grip, man! We need to go find Ichinose and come up with a proper pn!”

  Kanzaki’s eyebrow twitched as he shouted in frustration.

  “No need to panic. Everything is in pce. All that’s left is for the prey to take the bait—like this.”

  Now!

  Uesugi Gen swiftly pulled his fishing rod up, revealing his catch—

  A single strand of waterweed.

  …Completely empty-handed.

  Meanwhile—

  A rge fish, over ten centimeters long, flopped violently on Kanzaki’s hook.

  Uesugi Gen stared at Kanzaki’s catch. Then at his own empty hook.

  Without hesitation, he made a request.

  “…Kanzaki, let’s switch spots again.”

  “Uesugi, has it ever occurred to you… that maybe, just maybe, you’re just unlucky?”

  Kanzaki sighed, watching as Uesugi swiftly occupied his spot.

  “Impossible. Absolutely impossible!”

  Uesugi gestured wildly.

  “This isnd exam only happens once a year! Even if the fish here only y eggs once a year, there should be plenty by now. And catching at least one King Fish within two hours should be totally doable!”

  “…Wait.”

  Uesugi suddenly paused, rubbing his chin.

  “What if the problem isn’t luck? What if there’s another reason I’m not catching anything? Like… maybe we didn’t set up bait properly?”

  “So what do we do? All our bait is just worms we dug up. Where are we supposed to get better bait?”

  Shibata’s voice trailed off as he followed Uesugi Gen’s gaze.

  Then, the two of them locked eyes on a different type of "bait."

  Kaneda Satoru.

  At that moment—

  While helping out at the edge of Css B’s camp, Kaneda Satoru suddenly shivered.

  Somewhere deep in his soul, he felt an overwhelming sense of malice directed toward him.

  He had no idea what was coming, but every cell in his body was screaming—

  RUN.

  Without hesitation, Kaneda dropped everything and blurted out, “I’m gonna go collect some firewood!” before bolting into the forest.

  “Uesugi, calm down. If we actually throw him into the river, this exam will end right now.”

  Sensing Uesugi’s dangerous thoughts, Kanzaki quickly grabbed his arm, bringing up the exam rules he had memorized by heart.

  “Yeah, Uesugi, remember what you promised Ichinose? You said you wouldn’t go too far. If you toss him in the river now, Ichinose will definitely stop you.”

  Shibata hurriedly brought up Ichinose’s name as a st resort.

  “…True.”

  Uesugi Gen backed down, but his scheming expression remained.

  “…But what if I just accidentally drop the key card in the river? Right where he can see it. Think he’d sneak out at night to try and fish it out?”

  The moment those words left his mouth—

  Not only Kanzaki, but even Shibata’s expression shifted.

  They knew what kind of person Uesugi Gen was. He would never joke about something that could actually jeopardize Css B’s success.

  The only possibility—

  Was that he genuinely didn’t care if the leader’s identity was exposed.

  Kanzaki lowered his head, quickly recalling every detail of the exam rulebook.

  The leader… the leader… There it is!

  Leaders cannot be changed without a valid reason.

  It was explicitly written in the additional rules from the school.

  No valid reason?

  Which meant…

  If a valid reason was created, then the leader could be repced.

  Everything clicked in Kanzaki’s mind at that moment.

  So that’s it. I see now.

  “Hahaha.”

  Shibata stared in confusion as Kanzaki—usually the most composed among them—suddenly burst into ughter, his face lighting up with realization.

  “Uesugi! I get it now! So this is your pn! I should’ve known. This method is brilliant! There’s no way we can lose this exam!”

  Yes!

  With this strategy, they were guaranteed to win.

  As long as they swapped Css B’s leader at the right moment…

  Kanzaki’s ughter gradually died down.

  From a triumphant, hearty ugh—

  To a regur chuckle—

  Then to silence.

  Finally, his expression went bnk.

  …Wait. Isn’t our leader… me?

  Yep! That’s you!

  Uesugi Gen didn’t hesitate for a second before delivering the killing blow.

  …Then what’s the “valid reason” you came up with?

  Oh, just something simple—like, you “accidentally” fell into the river, got a lungful of water, and were unconscious when I fished you out.

  YOU BASTARD! YOU PICKED ME AS LEADER JUST TO SACRIFICE ME!

  Kanzaki snapped. He threw down his fishing rod and grabbed Uesugi Gen’s hands, wrestling with him on the spot.

  “Calm down, Kanzaki! Think about it—only you can do this! It’s for the good of Css B! Think of the bigger picture!”

  Uesugi Gen pleaded with a dramatic, pained expression.

  Kanzaki scoffed coldly.

  “Calm down?! How the hell am I supposed to calm down?! What do you mean only I can do this? If the goal is to attract enemies, Ichinose would be the best choice! Why didn’t you pick her?! She’d probably agree with the pn, too!”

  If Uesugi had just told him this pn earlier, he would’ve totally agreed!

  Instead, this bastard did everything behind his back—set him up as leader, dragged him out here to fish, then pretended like there was no strategy at all.

  Now that he thought about it, Uesugi Gen had been toying with him this entire time.

  Bringing up Ichinose was Kanzaki’s final act of revenge.

  “……”

  Uesugi Gen pondered for two seconds, then turned away.

  “Can’t be Ichinose. She’s too dumb.”

  Kanzaki ughed in disbelief.

  Do you hear yourself?! If Ichinose is dumb, then what does that make me? An idiot?!

  Uesugi Gen, realizing he was losing the argument, shamelessly switched tactics.

  “Urusai! I don’t care! It just can’t be her!”

  “…So you just decided to throw me under the bus?!”

  ---

  T/N: i like this fic a lot!

  A true Champion knows that every battle, every choice, and every unexpected twist shapes the path to mastery. Consider this bonus chapter a rare encounter—one that wouldn’t be possible without the right support.

  That’s why you should support WiseTL at [patreon.com/WiseTL]—where every pledge helps bring more high-quality transtions to life, staying true to the original while flowing naturally in English. After all, excellence is in the details.

  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more to prepare for. But you? You should take this opportunity—you never know what rare finds await.

  Until we meet again—stay sharp, stay determined, and never stop striving to be your best.

  —Cynthia