Teams were let off one by one onto the island so that they wouldn't clash too early on. The entire perimeter was one large beach, so the location from which one started wouldn't really provide much of an advantage.

"Well, we're here," John sighed, stretching.

He turned to look at Ryan, whose face was mildly green. It seemed he wasn't a fan of boat rides. Lilith was busy comforting him, meaning he'd have a little time to look around.

Were it not for the fact that they'd have to survive for a whole seven days, the place would've been quite nice. The sand was smooth and soft, leading into a sparkling blue ocean, the sun high in the sky. A salty breeze blew through the air, and the palm trees swayed behind.

John was comfortable enough that he actually took off his scarf and hoodie, tossing them aside, opting to go in just his t-shirt. Taking the standard sword he'd brought along, he cut his pants off at the knees, transforming them into shorts. Prota stopped and stared. It was as if he were a completely new person. She'd never seen him in any outfit besides the suit, but this felt more natural, somehow. Well, a scarf in the summer was definitely abnormal.

"I'm- I'm good," Ryan heaved, wiping his mouth and standing up straight.

"There's no magic or potion for seasickness?" John said, sauntering over.

"If there was, I would've brought it along," Ryan grimaced. "Maybe I'll invent something like that someday."

The cry of a bird rang out as the group stood there, unsure of what to do next.

"Well… let's go look for food?" John suggested, seeing as nobody else had any suggestions.

Ryan nodded. Lilith's suggestion was pretty reasonable; the whole exam was centred around using their abilities to forge through the forests and find resources essential to their survival.

"Sounds good," John nodded, peering into the woods.

The forest was more tropical in nature, filled with lush greenery and tall trees, the thick leaves blocking out most of the sun, creating a dark and wet environment. It was baffling that such a tropical region could be so close to Scholaris, but then again, the school was run by Mystics, so who were they to question anything?

John went in first, using his sword as a machete, clearing away branches and foliage. A path soon began to form that the others followed, and they headed deeper into the woods.

"Do any of you guys know what these, uh, item packs or whatever look like?" John wondered as they made their way through the greenery.

"No," Ryan admitted. "I don't think anyone does."

The group continued to forge forward in silence, following John, who seemed to know what he was doing. A few minutes later, though, they hadn't made any visible progress.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Ryan said, stopping in his tracks.

John looked back. "...no?"

Ryan sighed, putting his hand on John's shoulder. "I'll take the lead."

"Are you sure-"

"I'll take the lead."

John silently moved back, allowing the red-haired twin to head in front. He used fire magic to burn his way through, making a much more easily traversable path.

"Hey, isn't that gonna deplete your mana stores?" John said hesitantly.

"He'll be fine," Lilith said, turning around with a smile. "He's got a pretty big mana core, and he's learned how to use his magic more efficiently."

"...that's good and all, but what happens if we run into a beast?"

As luck might have it, a rustling sound came from behind a tree.

"You just had to go and open your big, fat, mouth, didn't you?" Ryan growled, preparing himself for battle.

Prota readied her staff, and Lilith similarly had a spell already cast, ready to fire at any given moment.

With a roar that shook the trees, a giant bear appeared from the bushes, charging forward with terrifying speed.

"Move!" John yelled, throwing himself out of the way.

He couldn't fight. Not without [Infinity], not against this thing. People might underestimate him and give him the upper hand, but a mindless beast would not make such a mistake. It would kill whatever it saw, whether it was as weak as a bunny or as strong as a beast equal to itself. His guns weren't an option here, either. It wasn't that they were gone or anything, but if they were being observed, one would question where it had come from.

All he had was this stupid training sword.

Luckily, it seemed the casters had it down. With Ryan and Lilith's firepower, their teamwork was more than enough to take down the beast. With one weak, final roar, it fell down, dead.

"Huff… good job, guys," Lilith said cheerfully. "That went well."

Everyone was congratulating each other, but something was clicking in John's mind. If [Story] logic held up here—

"Found it!"

The group ran toward John's voice, finding him standing over a big, wooden crate.

"I guess that's what they look like," Ryan said, staring at the supply box. "What do you think is inside?"

"With my luck?" John frowned, kneeling. "Nothing good. Well, these things aren't trapped, so we can't get anything bad, at least."

He cracked open the lid, revealing the contents inside: a portable tent imbued with runes, which made it easy to carry and set up, and four canisters of water.

That was it.

"They did not need a box this big for something like this," John grumbled, taking the stuff out.

He tossed a bottle of water to Prota, who caught it and looked at it with interest. Lilith and Ryan got theirs next. The bottle had a strap that allowed it to be carried easily, and the lid was well-secured so that water wouldn't accidentally spill out.

"Hup!" John grunted, reaching for the tent, but it was surprisingly light. "Oh."

The problem was that there was no food. Water was definitely essential, but in a forest like this, there were definitely streams of fresh water. Besides, with both Lilith and Prota being capable of water magic, it definitely wasn't the biggest of their concerns. Shelter, too, was useful, but ultimately, a campfire combined with a night watch would be enough to keep beasts away.

…well, maybe not. John didn't know how well-prepared the twins were.

Regardless, what they needed was food. Technically, they would be able to survive a solid three days without eating anything, maybe longer if they could find natural fruits or plants to eat, but the problem was that the longer they went without food, the weaker they'd get. The weaker they got, the less capable they'd be if they came across another beast or team.

"This is pretty good, right?" Lilith said, eyes sparkling. "That tent looks especially useful."

John suppressed a grimace. The twins were definitely pretty sheltered if Lilith was excited about something like this.

"We need food," John explained. "But we should also find somewhere to put this."

"Can't you just carry it?" Ryan pointed out. "If you're not going to fight anyway."

John looked at the tent, then at Ryan. "Fair enough. Let's keep going. Food is our priority here."

The group continued to plough through the forest, with Ryan still at the lead. With the fight they'd just been through, combined with the humid atmosphere and the unnaturally hot spring air, they were grateful for the water canisters they'd just been given. John was the one who needed it the most, given that his physical state wasn't being amplified by mana reinforcement. It was getting to the point where Prota offered him her own water, but he refused.

"Hey. You two. You've never been out in the wild like this, right?"

They'd been moving in silence for a while, but John couldn't take it anymore. It might've been nice for Prota, who never spoke anyway, but he needed to keep his mind occupied.

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"No, not really," Lilith replied. "So this is quite the new experience for us."

"It sounds like you've done something similar," Ryan said. "Is that how you knew to find the crate?"

"That was luck," John shrugged. "But if it comes to it, we won't need any more crates."

"We won't- what?" Lilith frowned, confused.

"I mean. Animals, right? Plus we've got an ocean and stuff. We've got food. It might not be good food, but we've got food. You guys good with that?"

"...yeah, that should be fine."

John nodded. The two weren't as sheltered as he'd first thought. Well, if they weren't stuck-up nobles, it wouldn't hurt to open up a little.

"Look, I'm gonna be straight with you," John said. "I don't- I have very little mana, if that wasn't clear."

"Wait, really?"

Lilith was the one who'd exclaimed in surprise. Now that John thought back on it, it made sense that they weren't aware of the fact. They hadn't come to watch the Fighter class midterm, so they hadn't seen how weak John was. Their only point of reference was what they'd seen during the entrance exam, and when he'd fought them, and he'd used [Infinity] at that time. With the rumours of him beating the bullies spreading around, it made sense that they'd assume he was at least somewhat strong.

Regardless, it was time to clear things up.

"Yeah. I'm gonna keep things straight. If we ever have to fight another team, I won't be all that useful. I'll fight, but ultimately, it'll have to be up to you three."

"How about beasts?" Ryan said pointedly.

"Ok, those too. The point is, I'm still useful, ok?"

John tapped his sword against his shoe, then pointed it at the twins.

"This thing isn't getting much use as a weapon, but it's a knife, a firestarter- scratch that, we have magic- it's a lot of things. I can butcher animals, I can get us meat, I can set up a shelter… but that's not the point of this exam."

Ryan and Lilith were confused now. Weren't they just meant to survive?

"Think about it. What classes are we in?"

"...Fighting and Casting," Lilith said slowly.

"That's right. Why would they be testing our survival capabilities in combat-oriented classes? Why would they give us such easy-to-use resources on a deserted island?"

"Because they gave us limited resources," Ryan said, slowly piecing it together. "They want us to fight. That's why they let us bail out. They want to see how we do under these circumstances, how we adapt and use the environment to our advantage."

"Bingo!" John exclaimed, pointing his sword at Ryan. "Look, if it comes to it, I could survive on my own. It wouldn't be hard."

"...really?"

This came from Lilith, who, despite being the usual optimist, still had a hard time seeing John make it through this jungle alone.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be comfortable, but I'd be able to do it. The problem is that, like I said, survival isn't the point. It's marks. It always comes down to marks, and so we don't want to live; we want to impress the teachers. Right?"

The twins nodded. Everything John had said so far made perfect sense. But what was the point? What was he getting at? Was it simply to say that they needed to fight?

"To be honest, though, I don't know if they expect us to know that. From their point of view, we're kids struggling in a forest. So I'm gonna offer the easy way out. We go out to the beach. I fish. I hunt. I get us some crappy meat for a week, and we pass. Sure, we get shitty grades, but we pass. So, what's it gonna be?"

John shrugged as they stood in the middle of the sweltering jungle. Prota was already in agreement with whatever John chose; she wouldn't go against it. Besides, she had no reason to go for amazing marks when there was no real advantage in doing so.

John similarly didn't care which path they chose. In a rare instance of selflessness, he didn't mind putting in some work if it meant the twins got the marks they wanted. He himself couldn't care less about his final grade; all he wanted was to stay in school so he could watch over Prota.

In the end, it would come down to the twins.

"...what do you think, Ryan?" Lilith said hesitantly.

"I don't know. On one hand, it would be easier to do what John suggested," her brother said, thinking hard. "But on the other hand, if we want to…"

Prota knew what he was going to say. "Restore our family's honour." Or something along those lines. But he couldn't say that because they needed to hide the fact that their family was broken. Prota wasn't supposed to know this, either. Still, if she was going to be burdened with the knowledge, then she might as well do something with it.

"John," she said, tugging at his shirt. "Let's get better marks."

"Huh? Really? You want that?" John said, frowning. "I mean, yeah, fuck it. I don't mind. How about you two?"

"Sure, that works with me," Ryan nodded, but he was secretly relieved.

Ryan's reaction was subtle, but John noticed. It was a necessary part of being a [Reader], and it was often what allowed him to predict what was needed for the [Plot]. He didn't know why Ryan was relieved, and honestly, he didn't care. It seemed Prota had decided for the twins, but that was between them. He felt no need to intrude into whatever was going on.

"Alright. That leaves us with two options. I can still skin and cook the bear. It'll taste pretty awful, but combined with our water and our tent, it'll give us a good rest for tomorrow."

"But if we wait until tomorrow, won't there be fewer crates?" Ryan frowned.

John nodded, crossing his arms. "Good point. I'll explain while we move. We're wasting time standing here."

He was lucky that the children were trusting him so easily, but he chalked it up to either bad writing or some kind of charisma he didn't know he had. Regardless, it was good that they weren't questioning his authority, because that would've just made things harder.

With that, he began to forge a path forward with his sword. Ryan no longer felt the need to lead the group, not after seeing the confidence with which John had spoken. Besides, there wasn't a way to determine where to go next. One just had to go through the forest and hope they got lucky.

"Ok, continuing from earlier. Sure, people might find crates. But there are enough supplies for a whole week, remember. There aren't enough resources for everyone, I'd have to assume, but there's still two whole classes full of students. There are more than enough crates for now."

Lilith nodded. That made sense.

"I'm also going to make the assumption that crates are guarded by beasts."

Ryan held up his hand in protest. "Hey, you can't just-"

"Yes, I can."

"How do you know this?"

"Intuition. Don't worry about it."

Ryan protested, but John wasn't budging an inch. Prota had an inkling as to where this idea was coming from.

It was the idea of [Reading] a [Story], wasn't it? She wasn't sure on which basis John was determining his theory, but they'd met one beast, and it'd had a crate nearby. When they'd defeated the bear, John had immediately moved as if he knew something was nearby, and his theory had been confirmed. He was likely using that as a base for his current statement, and based on his track record, he probably wasn't wrong.

Still, she wished she were capable of doing stuff like this herself. Of coming up with these predictions that were almost like the prophecies of a seer, to be so confident in one's conclusion that they might as well be seeing the future.

What she didn't know was that she would never really reach that point. It required the ability to [Read] the world as a [Story], something she'd never really be able to accomplish. The fact that she'd been able to deduce John's thought process was already enough to prove that she'd come a long way.

"Fine," she heard Ryan say. It seemed he'd given up. "What's the point in this?"

"The point is that people won't just be able to run around, grabbing packages as they find them. Each time they fight, they'll be worn down just a little bit more, and eventually, they'll have to set up camp."

"Well, yeah, but wouldn't they have to set up camp regardless of whether they fought beasts or not?"

John sighed. "I have this amazing analogy with this video game and stuff, but you wouldn't get it… Put it this way. You have a certain amount of tokens you can spend. Each time you fight a beast, you spend one token. Follow so far?"

Ryan and Lilith nodded like schoolchildren.

"When you set up camp and sleep, you recover, say, two tokens. Eating gives another two. Everyone has to rest, yes, but the amount of stamina you'll have for future skirmishes varies depending on how much of it you spent earlier."

"Ok, we need stamina for fights. You're saying we need to portion it out correctly? That's pretty standard tactics, isn't it?"

"No, not necessarily," John said, shaking his head. "Now that we've decided we're in this for marks, that means that we want to put on a show, right?"

"A show?"

"Impress the teachers," John explained. "Here's where the tokens come in. Let's say we get into a fight with another team. Let's forget about skill and stuff for a second. Both teams just throw coins at each other, and the fight ends when a team runs out of coins or surrenders. Who wins?"

"...the team with more coins."

The question was rhetorical, but it seemed like John was getting into stride, and nobody felt like stopping him.

"Bingo. Now, I said that a team can surrender. That would be if a team backs out because they determine it's not worth it. Do you know when a team would feel it's not worth it?"

Ryan could see where this was going. "When a team has such an overwhelming difference that you know you're going to lose anyway."

John stopped, turned around, and grinned. "Exactly. So now it's a game of chance."

"What are you talking about?" Lilith said, following as John continued to clear a path.

"Well, put it this way. We also have to consider our wins and losses. If we run into a team, how much energy is it worth to fight them? Do we only pick on low-energy teams? But then we lose potential resources. Do we spend it all on one fight? That'd earn us good grades, maybe, but then we'd also get kicked off the island. Do you understand?"

Everyone, Prota included, was starting to understand the game theory John had just crafted.

In his mind, this wasn't about survival. This wasn't about the exam, it wasn't about getting a comfortable camp. It was just a game of tokens, resources, and survivability. Everyone was playing it, even if they didn't realize it. In fact, there was a good chance that the other teams hadn't even begun to think of something like this. They were probably figuring out how they were going to eat and sleep for the first day.

"Hey. I'm, uh… I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Ryan said timidly.

"Hm?"

"About you not being able to do anything."

John might've been the only one to turn this whole survival operation into a board game of psychology and strategy. He wasn't focused on winning fights. For some reason, he was operating on the basis that they'd win the fight provided they had enough energy to fight an enemy. That wasn't even something he was considering.

No, he was entirely focused on optimizing their performance for the professors.

"It's fine. I'd make the same assumption, to be honest," John shrugged. "But that still means we're fighting a three versus four."

"What?"

"I'm not fighting."

The twins stopped walking, staring at John. Not fighting? After the way they'd seen him fight against them?

"I'd like to, just to make things clear. But she won't let me."

They turned to Prota, who nodded hesitantly. She hated to let them down, but her priority was still John. He'd made it clear to her that he wasn't using [Infinity] in these fights, and if he wasn't going to be using that, then it was far too risky for him to get involved.

"Is this something… we shouldn't ask about?" Lilith said cautiously.

"Mm… I guess," John said as he continued to march on. "It's not the most sensitive topic, but it does have to do with our past, and this isn't really the time for that kind of story. Long story short, I'm weak, Prota's strong. I help her in my own way, and she protects me in return."

"Protects… you?"

"Yeah. She's pretty stubborn about it, too."

The twins frowned, confused, but then again, there wasn't a need to question it.

"Oh, there! Another box!" John said, then immediately covered his mouth.

He mentioned for the group to stay silent and crouch down. Nearby was a group of giant boars. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue, but these things were huge.

"Giant boars," Ryan whispered.

"Giant- that's what they're called?" John said, staring in disappointment.

"Yes. Once they start charging, it's hard to stop them."

John resisted the urge to laugh. That would probably attract the attention of the beasts. There were only three of them, and with a surprise attack, it would be easy enough to deal with. Prota had her staff, meaning she had mana for more than a few powerful attacks. Additionally, it was possible to just sneak by and grab the stuff without fighting. John was about to make a decision when something caught his eye.

"I see them," Lilith whispered. It seemed Ryan had mentioned for her to stay quiet.

Another group, making noise as they worked their way to the box.

"John."

Everyone turned to him. It seemed they'd already appointed him as their strategic leader.

"What now?"

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