Chapter 51

The class all made it back to the cruise ship.

Syl checked out the class rankings after the updates to class points.

Class A (Sakayanagi): 1017

Class B (Ichinose): 831

Class C (Ryuuen): 813

Class D (Horikita): 789

Syl smirked when he saw the results.

"Isn't this way more interesting?" He thought aloud.

"Fufufu… The class is doing well, even without relying on my perfect self." A voice came from behind Syl.

Syl didn't even turn around to face him. "You really should dry off before leaving the pool area, Koenji."

"I've never used a towel before, it impedes my body."

"Whatever you say."

"Fufufu. Though, I must say, it's impressive how our class won after you betrayed them. Maybe Horikita girl isn't as dumb as I thought."

Syl laughed. "Is that so?"

"No, I wasn't wrong, it was obviously someone else." Koenji said as we walked away with a mysterious smile.

Syl laughed and walked back to his room. His roommates were Hirata and Akito.

When he got back he noticed that his room was empty.

[Congratulations on passing your first special exam, you have received 5 spins.]

[Ding! Host has received. (Marksmanship) [Usopp] x1, (Medical knowledge) [Med school] x1, (Duplicates) x3]

Syl shrugged. "Decent."

As Syl was relaxing in his room two people entered.

Both of Syl's roommates walked over.

Hirata had a huge smile on his face. "That was a great idea!"

Syl paused for a moment. "What?"

"On the special island test. We heard about your plan from Ayanokoji and Horikita." Akito added.

'That guy actually did it! He told everyone it was me! Fuck! Katsuragi's gonna be pissed!'

Sure enough, Syl got a call from an unregistered number at that very moment.

Syl sighed. "Sorry guys, gotta take this, thanks though."

The two nodded and let him go.

Akito turned to Hirata. "I'm surprised he thought of that, it's a really good idea."

Hirata nodded. "I still can't believe that Ibuki was a spy… Yamada too."

Akito shrugged. "It wasn't that surprising, especially with the way she acted around Syl. She constantly tried to fight him for no reason, it was really suspicious."

Hirata sighed. "... I still don't regret helping her."

Aktio nodded. "Well, in this case it led to us winning over the other classes."

Hirata silently nodded.

Outside the room.

Syl was on a call with Katsuragi. "... No, I swear I did nothing, ask Ryuuen's goons about it… No, that wasn't the deal, remember, no matter the results of the exam you have to pay me… I don't care if you think I scammed you. I told you before you signed, you still had to beat the rest of my class… Yeah, you guessing the leader wrong due to unavoidable circumstances isn't my fault, I also didn't even know it happened until after the exam ended… Exactly, I didn't do anything wrong, so I'd be grateful if you have my money prepared for the 1st… Love you too, bye."

Syl smiled as he hung up the call. "How exhausting! I even warned him about it before! Damn cheap bastard trying to back out!"

Just when Syl was about to return to his room he received a text on his phone.

[A new special exam will start soon.]

Syl chuckled and walked back inside. "You guys ready for round two??"

Akito and Hirata groaned in displeasure at the thought of another special exam right after that last disaster.

Syl chuckled. "Buckle up buttercups! This is gonna be great!"

Later that night, Syl had already gone to his first meeting for the exam, he was on Koenji's team. He was currently strolling on the deck when someone approached him.

"Hi! Syl right? I think we met before!"

Syl turned around at the unexpected appearance. "Yea, and you're Ichinose, if I recall."

She smiled. "Yup! I heard you came up with quite the strategy in the special exam!"

Syl sighed, he didn't really want to take credit for other people's work, but it would be more troublesome to reveal that it was Ayanokoji.

Syl smiled. "You know me! Always got something cooking in here!" He said while pointing at his head.

"Haha, sure!" Ichinose responded awkwardly.

How are you supposed to respond when a total stranger says 'you know me!'??

Syl chuckled at her response. "Congrats on reaching class B again, even though we are all still far behind class A right now, that's still a big achievement."

"Thanks! It was a class effort though!"

"Bah! What class? I'm sure you did a lot as the leader!"

"Well, not really… anyway, I was just wondering what happened?" Ichinose asked suddenly.

This seemed to be the reason she approached Syl.

"What do you mean?" he responded feigning ignorance.

"Well, you guys must have guessed our class leader based on how many points we had. I heard that you were the one who came up with a way for your class to get first place… I was just a little curious, sorry if I'm overstepping."

Syl turned around and relaxed his arms on the railing as he looked out over the ocean. "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Sorry?" Ichinose asked, confused as to why he just ignored her questions.

"I think it's beautiful." Syl responded to himself.

"Umm… am I interrupting something?" Ichinose asked awkwardly.

Syl was silent for a moment before deciding something. "Hey, Ichinose. What's more important? Reaching class A with the majority of your classmates, or being class D with all of them?"

"What… I'm not sure I understand what you're asking."

Syl pursed his lips. "Let me rephrase. Would you rather graduate as class A with 35 of your current classmates or graduate class D with all of them?"

"Umm… can't I reach class A with all of my friends?" She asked innocently.

"That wasn't the question." Syl responded calmly.

"Then, I'm not sure I can answer your question. I want to reach class A but I also can't bare to see any of my friends leave."

Syl hopped up on the railing and sat down with his legs hanging over. If he leaned even slightly forward he would fall into the water.

Ichinose immediately ran over to him in order to make sure he didn't fall.

She grabbed his blazer and tried to pull him backwards, only for him to not move an inch.

"Careful!" She screamed.

Syl didn't even turn back to face her. "You sure learn how to make a choice."

"What? No, just get down from there! You could fall!"

Syl turned around and smiled. "Isn't that your only option left?"

"...What? What are you talking about?"

"If you won't sacrifice your classmates for success then your only option is to sacrifice other classes. But you don't even seem willing to do that."

Ichinose gasped. "Are you telling me to let you fall?"

Syl smiled and leaned forwards.

Ichinose panicked and grabbed him with every ounce of strength in her body, hoping to keep him from falling.

After a minute of struggling she finally pulled him back up and tackled him to the floor.

"Are you insane?! Never do something like that again!" Ichinose screamed.

Syl smiled while lying on the floor as he looked up into Ichinose's eyes. "Ryuuen and Sakayanagi would have let me drown."

"No! They wouldn't! Nobody would just sit by and watch as that happened!" Ichinose refused to believe in such an awful reality.

"Being kind is something people look for in a person, however, naivety is looked down upon. You should learn the difference."

Ichinose shook her head violently. "You're wrong! Why can't you believe that I will win?!"

Syl stood up while pushing Ichinose off of him. "I'm not wrong. There's a reason why benevolence is one of the commandments but greed is one of the sins. That reason is people like you, Ichinose, people who possess naivety."

Syl walked back over to the rail.

Ichinose was stunned. She was sitting on her knees on the floor still.

"Wh- bu- no. He's wrong. Becau- He's wrong becaus-... He can't be right. I can do it! We can! Our class will rise to the top together! That's what we agreed."

Syl sighed. "Ah yes, the herd mentality. String them all along to their doom before they even realize they are walking the plank."

Ichinose shook her head. "That's not true. We are strong because we work together!"

Syl smiled. "If I were you, I'd learn how to answer my question soon. If you are fine with being class D then by all means, go ahead. But if you want to reach class A you need to face reality. Let go of your greed, Ichinose."

She looked up at him with a mixture of emotions in her eyes. Even she wasn't sure what to think.

He stood up on top of the railing again and leaned backwards.

"Until next time." He said as gravity took him by force and he started to fall.

As Syl was falling with his hair fluttering in the wind he saw Ichinose's figure standing over the railing after she failed to catch him.

It was so peaceful. What bliss.

He allowed himself to free fall for a while longer before he hit the water with a dive.

He popped his head out of the water and waved at Ichinose who was still staring at him, thinking he might have been seriously hurt. He fell at least 12 stories!!

"It's a good night for a swim." Syl said with a smile.

Then he gasped.

"Maybe I can catch another shark!?"

That night Syl returned to his room with 2 more shark heads in his inventory.