4.2

Kiriyama and the rest of the Free Group, led by Mikitani, were following Kōenji.

"What's Kōenji's position right now?" Kiriyama asks.

"It still hasn't moved. I've scanned it three times now." Mikitani says while looking at his tablet.

It isn't a break right now, so it's not natural for him to be still for so long.

Kiriyama decided that Kōenji, whose movements were unpredictable, must have encountered something on his path.

"There doesn't seem to be a task nearby."

"In any case, we'll reach Kōenji in about 200 meters. Don't be careless this time. Make sure you completely surround him."

"I don't need you to tell me that."

Kōenji had managed to elude them thus far, but after six hours of chasing him, they were reunited once more.

It turns out the reason why he wasn't moving was because he was fast asleep in broad daylight.

The third-years looked at each other in disbelief as Mikitani approaches Kōenji as the representative of the group.

"Get up, Kōenji! Even though we've been chasing you all day, you still decide to take a nap? You've been running for ten days straight, you must be really tired if you're falling asleep during the middle of the exam."

Mikitani falsely believed that the reason for Kōenji being asleep in the open was that he was tired of running and had given up. That he had chosen to rest because he couldn't bear it any longer.

With a smile on his face, Kōenji slowly opened his eyes.

"I'm sure you can understand. After all, I am a human being like you."

"If that's the case, then go ahead and take the rest of the day off. You must be exhausted from all this. You must listen to the kind advice of your elders."

"Take the whole day off? You really know how to say strange things."

Kōenji said as he stood up, unfazed by the situation around him.

Mikitani, who had been looking down at the resting Kōenji, instinctively backed up when Kōenji, who was more than six feet tal , stood up in front of him.

Kōenji's eyes seem to be full of energy.

"Don't... push yourself. You just have to sit and rest a little, then no one would have a problem."

Although Mikitani was feeling intimidated, he approached Kōenji.

"Please don't worry. My body has been restored to its perfect state.

Please don't compare me with ordinary people."

Kiriyama considers that was just a bluff. It would be impossible to restore energy so quickly.

"You do look in good shape. But as Mikitani said, you have been working harder than anyone in the past ten days or so. After all, you've been repeatedly acquiring first place in placement points. But no matter how much of a monster you are, you should have reached your limit by now."

"I haven't reached my limit because I'm beyond the realm of normal people. So please, once again, do not think of me as normal."

"You mean you still have stamina left?"

Kiriyama's suspicion intensifies, but Kōenji responds immediately.

"I possess an ultra-short sleep system, a system with very little REM

sleep."

"Huh? What's an ultra-short sleep system?" Mikitani asked who was confused at Kōenji's words.

For the first time, Kiriyama's expression hardened.

"Short REM phases?... If that's true, then we have a serious problem."

"What's going on Kiriyama?"

"Normal people need seven to eight hours of sleep a day. In order to maintain health, it is generally not advised to exceed this time, nor should it be lower than it. However, people with short REM phases can drastically reduce the time it takes to recharge the body."

Sleep is an alternate cycle of REM and non-REM phases. The REM

phase is the stage in which the brain is active and awake, so to speak. On the other hand, the non-REM phase is when the brain is "asleep." Because of very low REM cycles, a person with an ultra-short sleep system only needs to rest for a while to recuperate from the exhaustion of the brain and body.

"Now I understand why you were sleeping during the middle of the exam..."

TL Note: REM stands for rapid eye movement. During REM sleep, your eyes move around rapidly in a range of directions, but don't send any visual information to your brain. Your breathing becomes faster and irregular, and your heart rate and blood pressure increase to near waking levels.

Kōenji has extraordinary physical strength, but even so, fatigue often appears after a long period of intense travel and repeated challenges. He uses any time he has left after reaching the designated area or when there aren't any events nearby to sleep. This way, he can steadily maintain his stamina.

Suppose his claim that he has a super REM phase is true. In that case, it means that Kōenji is not only physically stronger than an average person, but his resilience is also beyond normal.

It was now, for the first time, that Kiriyama had started to feel a hint of anxiety.

Considering the pace of this exam, everyone was more or less exhausted at this point. Even by just walking, your feet start to hurt, and your heart will cry out for a break. This is a common feeling that all students share right now.

Therefore, it shouldn't have been hard to contain Kōenji.

If this premise wasn't true in Kōenji's case...

"By the way, is my presence required here any longer?" Kōenji spoke up.

"I don't care if you're physically strong or not, shut up or-"

"No, we don't need anything from you so please don't mind us."

Kiriyama said, interrupting the annoyed Mikitani.

One should avoid direct conflict and advance the plan through other methods.

Mikitani was even more dissatisfied with Kiriyama, who had such a soft attitude but still obeyed him.

"Fufu~, although you say so, it still seems you're quite belligerent."

It didn't seem like he would take heed of the third-year advice or threats.

Halfway through the conversation, the third designated zone for the day was released. Kōenji took one look at his tablet and immediately started walking in that direction.

"I don't think he'll ever listen to us, Kiriyama."

"I suppose you're right."

"And he's probably bluffing when he says he has a super short sleep."

But it's a fact that Kōenji is stil taking the exam at a pace that isn't much different from his initial pace at the beginning when most students are starting to lose their efficiency.

What is certain is that he's been exercising his strength constantly throughout our entire time chasing him, and it's entirely possible that he's using this whole exam as an exercise for himself.

"It's useless, I'm going to change the strategy."

At this point, Kiriyama finally made up his mind and instructed them to hunt down Kōenji.

However, Mikitani's lips pursed in dissatisfaction.

"Remember who's in charge, Mikitani. Do not overstep your authority."

"Tch..."

While they were puzzled by Kōenji's steady pace, the third-year students began to expand widely. The 18 formed a circle with Kōenji in the centre, and Kiriyama kept in contact with them through walkie-talkies.

Kōenji didn't seem to care about what the third-years were up to as he kept on walking.

There were three plans Kiriyama had set in place. The first plan was to convince Kōenji to give up the competition for first place. Of course, the circle was a key part in trying to pressure him to do so. The second plan is the plan to restrict Kōenji's movements by encircling him. Then the third plan was to finish all the subjects he had his eye on before he could.

With seven teams, including Kiriyama's group and Free Groups, working together to hinder Kōenji, the difficulty to reach the events will rise significantly. And if the whole team is there to crush Kōenji, his chance of winning the event will also plummet.

Although there are various conditions for participating in the event, the format is the same.

There are two types of events: "individual events" and "group events,"

In the latter case, a Free Group that doesn't have all its members together doesn't meet the participation requirements to enter. But most tasks that require group participation basically require two or more members.

In other words, Kōenji, who is working alone, can only participate in assignments that require the participation of one person, so the third-year students here can participate along with him.

For a time, the third-year students followed him without any issues, but gradually they grew impatient. Kōenji's pace was so fast that it could be mistaken for a race, and just keeping up with him consumed a lot of stamina.

By just following him, the third-years were already showing fatigue.

Because they had to keep up with his unaccustomed walking speed, they started to feel waves of exhaustion.

It would have been easier if he just ran at his full speed.

"Kōenji! Are you trying to act tough or something?" Yelled the impatient Mikitani, assuming that Kōenji was desperately trying to prove he isn't exhausted.

"Well, well, they're getting noisy again. It seems I need to pick up the pace a bit." Kōenji said as he started running again.

"Don't let him get away this time, surround him!"

The third-students who had been chasing him while maintaining a reasonable distance simultaneously started to close the gap to Kōenji.

However, the moment they were about to surround him, Kōenji rushed by them.

"You're joking right?"

The third year's words drifted away with the wind. Kōenji's was moving as he was running on a well-kept field. He was as fast as a sprinter as he glided through the trees.

Most of the twelve people who formed the free group were students who were confident in their physical strength. They were all students with B

or higher physical ability OAA rating.

These are the soldiers, so to speak; Nagumo and Kiriyama have brought together to monopolize many of the tasks.

"Chase him! Don't let him escape no matter what!"

"Wait, Mikitani, don't take action without my permission!"

"Shut up! There's no way I'm letting him get away twice, I'm going to catch him and drag him back here!" Mikitani yelled back as he chased after Kōenji with the others.

"Idiot..."

For a moment, Kiriyama wondered if he should pursue him. He calmly looked down at his tablet and rethought his strategy. It was hard to believe that Kōenji had started running for no reason. He was aiming for either the designated area or an event.

"The closest area to the subject that Kōenji can participate in is only E3, but the first place will get only give eight points...? It wouldn't be surprising if he's also aiming for the placement reward. I wonder where his designated area is?"

By the direction he ran off in, Kōenji may be going to the D4 area, but it could be any other random zone.

"This is harder to analyze than I thought..."

Kiriyama painfully understood that this is an opponent who cannot be seen using common sense. It's nearly impossible to know what Kōenji is going to do next.