In the end, those two actually settled it with a regur duel—do they both happen to be really good at ping-pong?

  After quietly slipping past the two locked in their intense match, Uesugi Gen made his way to the deck, grabbed a drink, and lounged on a beach chair, watching the chaos unfold among the various csses.

  Among all the students participating in the exam, one particur figure stood out the most…

  "Ryūen, you bastard, stop running! I challenge you to a vocabury contest!"

  "Hahaha! Catch me in your next life!"

  Css C’s leader, Ryūen Kakeru, dashed past Uesugi with a group of Css A students hot on his heels, heading straight into the ship’s interior.

  20 minutes ter...

  "Muda da, Ryūen… Stop struggling. Our Css A members are stationed on both floors. There’s no escape for you."

  "That strategy… Was it Katsuragi’s idea? But don’t underestimate me… Don’t say impossible to me—I simply refuse to understand it!"

  Css A students continued their relentless pursuit, while Ryūen executed a valiant retreat. A chaotic mass of bodies swarmed past, running from the ship’s interior back towards the deck.

  Another 20 minutes ter…

  "Hah… hah… Ryūen, just give up! You need to pay for betraying us back on the deserted isnd!"

  "Huff… huff… Catch me first before you start talking big… Anyone can say things!"

  Dragging his exhausted legs, Ryūen stumbled past Uesugi without even looking back, still making a beeline for the ship’s interior. Behind him, the Css A students were barely keeping themselves upright, supporting each other as they continued their pursuit.

  That guy Ryūen is truly a tenacious man...

  Uesugi took a leisurely sip of his drink, then pulled out his phone and aimed it toward the ship’s interior. He figured he might as well record a video of Ryūen crawling back this way in another 20 minutes.

  Katsuragi seemed to have been stalled by Css C with a video game challenge, or else this whole situation wouldn’t have dragged on for so long.

  Just as Uesugi was setting up his phone with a rexed air, a familiar figure sat down beside him.

  Turning to the side, Uesugi grinned.

  "Well, well, if it isn’t Miss Horikita. Shouldn’t you be pying the game instead of coming to chat with me?"

  "You’re really slippery, you know that? No wonder I couldn’t find a trace of you anywhere—not even a single piece of intel."

  Horikita Suzune studied Uesugi’s disguise, half-narrowing her eyes.

  As her primary target of interest, she had been trying to gather intelligence on him since the exam began. Strangely, it was as if he had completely vanished from the ship.

  After an unsuccessful search, Horikita analyzed the situation and headed to the one pce Uesugi was most likely to be—the deck. And sure enough, there he was, sitting in a waiter's uniform, leisurely enjoying the spectacle.

  "Oh? From the way you’re talking, does that mean some of your Css D members are actually willing to listen to you now?"

  Uesugi was quite interested in the bizarre situation surrounding Css D.

  "Yeah."

  Horikita brushed back a strand of hair, gazing at the vast blue sky.

  "Even though I didn’t really do anything. Ayanokōji didn’t want to expose himself, so he pushed all the credit onto me."

  "Because they think earning those 123 points on the deserted isnd was my doing, some of them are still following my orders. A few even intentionally lost points to me in this exam."

  …Only for Kushida to take those points right off your hands.

  Uesugi silently added that note to himself. If that girl found out Horikita had more points left, she’d probably come back for another round.

  "So, how about you drop out? Css D would colpse on its own."

  Uesugi proposed, a sly grin on his face.

  "…"

  This guy is seriously infuriating!

  "Yada!"

  Horikita immediately dismissed her earlier mencholic mood and clenched her teeth. "More than that, I’d rather punch you in the face!"

  "There you go. You made your choice, so don’t regret it. And you call yourself Stubborn-kita Suzune?"

  "My name is Horikita Suzune, okay?"

  Horikita replied stiffly.

  "Anyway, let’s not talk about that."

  She finally remembered her actual reason for coming here. Looking straight at Uesugi, she decred—

  "Hey, duel me!"

  Uesugi took three seconds to consider it, then smiled.

  "Yada."

  "Why?"

  Horikita frowned ever so slightly. "This whole exam was your idea, yet you don’t even want to participate?"

  "I suggested it purely because I thought it would be fun."

  Uesugi turned his gaze back to the ship’s interior. "Want to bet? In 10 minutes, Ryūen will come crawling out from there again. Make sure to record it for me."

  "…"

  Horikita sighed. "You really have a nasty personality, you know that?"

  "Exactly. Which is why I don’t feel like dueling you right now."

  Uesugi leaned back zily on his chair.

  "Or… You could just force me into a duel. You should still have one attempt left, right? Maybe you’ll even win."

  "If you’re not willing, then forget it."

  Horikita shook her head. "As long as you’re still at this school, I’ll have plenty of chances to duel you ter."

  Just then, both Horikita and Uesugi’s phones vibrated. It was a group chat created for the leaders of each css to facilitate communication.

  Ryūen had just pinged everyone.

  "Looks like your prediction’s off. Ryūen seems to be giving up and wants to negotiate."

  Horikita gnced at the message, her normally cool tone carrying a hint of amusement.

  [Ryūen Kakeru]: Oi! Don’t you guys think this is dragging on too much? I’ve got a simpler, more direct proposal to settle this faster.

  [Uesugi Gen]: Not really. I’m actually enjoying watching you jump around. By the way, I have a little video of you here. Care for a look?

  [Uesugi Gen]: "Running Monkey.mp4"

  [Ryūen Kakeru]: Uesugi, you bastard! You were nearby just now?!

  [Uesugi Gen]: Yep. Aren’t you grateful I didn’t force you into a duel?

  [Ichinose Honam: Uesugi-kun, you can’t bully your cssmates like this~ ??

  [Katsuragi Kōhe: I support Ryūen’s proposal.

  [Uesugi Gen]: ??? Katsuragi, you okay? Your css has the advantage right now.

  [Hirata Yōsuke]: ???

  [Ryūen Kakeru]: Because we forced Katsuragi to py "Cat Mario" for four hours straight. ??

  [Uesugi Gen]: …Well, in that case, I support it too. ???♂?

  [Horikita Suzune]: Oi, didn’t you just refuse to duel me?

  [Ichinose Honam: ??? Uesugi-kun, where are you now? ??

  [Uesugi Gen]: Ahem, let’s discuss that ter. Ryūen, state your proposal!